Isn't starting with a setback a well-worn trope? If Minya got dumped, strung up, and beaten afterward, and people still cheered, then it'd either be a masterpiece or some kind of masochistic fantasy. But I never planned to write a formulaic story like that. If I had, I wouldn't have chosen the unrewarding first-person perspective. How could I show the thoughts of a clown, or describe the surprised looks on all the spectators' faces? Without cries of "This guy is terrifying!" and declarations of "He must not be allowed to live!", how could I show off? I consider myself an author with integrity. What gives me integrity? I don't depend on writing to make a living. I just want to write a character I believe in, that's all. When I write, I don't really consider whether you'll find it satisfying. Besides, writing a Minya I believe in while also making as many people as possible enjoy the story isn't easy. If I could do that effortlessly, would I still be writing fanfiction? I'd have long since thrown caution to the wind and started writing an all-original trilogy or seven-book series. Haha! So I chose the former. It was the same with The Irregular at Magic High School. Back then, I wanted to poke fun at the book, not write a formulaic story. I was just trying to write a joke. I never expected people to call it a rushed ending and say they wanted to continue my story, turn it into a formulaic one, and post it on some other site. I really didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I think formulaic power fantasies are all the rage now. If that's what you want to read, there's no need to be hung up on my story, is there? I'm no expert at writing power fantasies, anyway! There are surely plenty of invincible Classroom of the Elite stories on that other site: born superior, with a system that makes them invulnerable, casually punching Ayanokoji and stomping Koenji, and collecting every girl along the way. They're bound to be better than mine. But that wouldn't be Minya. What kind of person is Minya? A young man from a typical upper-middle-class family: greedy, lecherous, and a compulsive liar, but with a few endearing qualities. He's bold, decisive, energetic, and has a bit of a knack for making promises to his subordinates. That's all. As for speaking a little of another language, being good at investing, and reading people, those are practically basic requirements for someone from a wealthy family. The truth is, the upper class is just as competitive. It'd be strange if an only child like Minya hadn't been trained to the point of exhaustion, especially with such an ambitious father. So what should happen when a rookie like Minya walks into school and immediately picks a fight with Ayanokoji, the strongest character in the series? He probably won't get to enjoy a power fantasy. In fact, I did want to write about Minya growing steadily stronger as he pursued Ayanokoji, a formidable opponent. I think a story like that might not be as satisfying, but it could be more realistic and more interesting. Maybe my writing just wasn't good enough to handle their first clash? Actually, I think it's understandable that Minya was intimidated by Ayanokoji. It has to do with his personality. Maybe people didn't notice the foreshadowing because I still need to improve my attention to detail. First, Minya isn't good at dealing with violence. Second, Minya once lost to that woman, Sakayanagi. He's also good at imagining things and fighting invisible enemies (it runs in the family), which led him to form a mistaken first impression of Horikita. Third, Minya couldn't afford to gamble. The stakes were different for him and Ayanokoji. At the time, he didn't know Ayanokoji had even more to lose. Even if he had known, he wouldn't have dared to gamble. Keeping Koenji safe mattered a lot to Minya. Even a one-percent chance of being expelled was too risky for him. If he lost this time, he could win next time. But if he messed up and left the school, the whole course of events would change, and at the very least, he'd leave his father and Koenji with the impression that he was incompetent. All three reasons were mentioned earlier. I thought I'd laid the groundwork, but perhaps Minya's character had only just taken shape in the first twenty chapters, and hadn't sunk in for everyone yet. Is his intelligence inconsistent? That's undoubtedly my fault. I know Minya's personality and what he's like, but those of you who have only just started reading don't. I didn't do a good job of conveying what I wanted to express, and made the story confusing to read. I'm sorry! The other characters in fanfiction don't need as much development, since the original author has already established them. I didn't handle that difference in familiarity well, which made the story feel abrupt. In future, I'll put more effort into developing characters and try to make them feel vivid sooner. This is a common problem in fanfiction. Apart from original characters, everyone already has an established identity. Borrowing characters from the original work saves effort, but if you only borrow, and the protagonist is someone else's creation, haven't you written nothing at all? You'd hardly be able to tell people you were writing a book. You can't be too greedy. Surely you can at least write one original character? You have to leave something behind in this fictional world to prove you were here, don't you? A lot of authors think this way, which is why so many fanfics have protagonists who are hard to stomach. Compared with characters from published novels and anime, it's only natural for a protagonist you made up on the spot to fall flat. Many people write without thinking or doing their homework. They even pick names at random, just to be different. They know about the Genji clan, so they give the character the surname Genji, then tack on two kanji they think look cool. It's like a Japanese author writing a Chinese novel and naming the protagonist Aisin Gioro Wansui—"Long Live"—and expecting people not to laugh. How could a character like that not fall flat? Actually, Aisin Gioro Wansui is an incredibly vivid name. It's the perfect start for an arrogant, overpowered protagonist. If you can't write an original character, what then? Write a character who already exists? Can you reproduce him perfectly? Even if you can, he's still someone else's "son," and I don't think that's very interesting. I went ahead and wrote an original character, perhaps presumptuously. At least I put effort into choosing his name. I'll keep writing this way. You have to keep getting back up after each failure! Maybe one day I'll manage to write a character I'm satisfied with. That's how steel is made, isn't it? That's the fun of writing, too. From the innocent Ren-di, to the great villain Seimei, and now to Minya, who's a little wicked but has a bit of ability. I think my characters are getting more nuanced with each attempt. I'm almost at the level of a real writer. Haha! I've never seen anyone so shameless. I've gone back and reread my own work, too. Some parts made me smile, while others left me less satisfied. But there's no point in revising them now. I might as well leave them as proof of how far I've come. It's satisfying to revisit them now and then and see how much that inexperienced writer has grown. Volume One: A Glimpse of Brilliance: Prologue—The Weakness of Human Nature. "One of the most distinctive weaknesses of human nature is caring about how others see us." —Arthur Schopenhauer "Minya, I'm counting on you to take care of Young Master Koenji." The man who said this was my father in this life, Kitazawa Go. As an executive at one of the leading companies under the Koenji Conglomerate, he was the sort of man who knew how to seize every opportunity to climb the ladder. "Don't worry, Father. I'll get along with Young Master Koenji." There wasn't much for me to complain about. Without his hard work, I wouldn't have had such a happy childhood. Out of gratitude, and because it didn't matter which high school I attended anyway, I readily agreed to his request to change my application. Perhaps, among the children of all the toadies in the conglomerate, I was the only one who had been admitted to this school...
Before you continue