Please note that the "Hirata" mentioned in this volume, as well as "The World of Hirata," refers to the character and chapters in "Increasingly Humorous Manga Dayori." It has no connection to the story of "Hirata Shuichi" mentioned earlier.

...

Feng Wang and the other were still reeling from the surprise when the scene changed again.

And this time, the scene change was like the opening CG.

They suddenly lost control of their bodies and entered a first-person viewing perspective…

Soon, a gray sky appeared before their eyes, then the camera moved down… and a three-dimensional street scene appeared in the picture.

In a place like a rooftop, there was a left hand… or rather, a human left hand… picking up a manga book. A second later, a right hand turned the page.

At that moment, the camera "entered" a two-dimensional world.

The art style of this world was simple and rough… it looked like a comedy manga world.

[Our, tomorrow's…] Along with the change of scene, a piece of music rang in the players' ears.

[Light's, ahead's…]

[Eyes', depths'…]

The song was singing, and the camera was constantly moving and changing…

[Under the vast sky's…]

[The door to dreams'…]

The scene in this CG shifted from a four-eyed guy wearing green and eating ramen in a shop to baseball players with gloomy faces on the television screen in the ramen shop… then back to the four-eyed guy… then to a female anchor on the television… then back to the four-eyed guy…

Repeating in this way, switching between the ramen-eating guy and many seemingly unrelated characters and scenes.

[Glory, surely…]

[Tears' power's inner power, surely…]

[Freedom's end's… prom!ised! hand's grease's com…]

[Increasingly Humorous Manga Dayori!]

The song wasn't very good. Whether it was the lyrics, melody, or arrangement… everything revealed an atmosphere of "serious parody," but… it made people feel—cool!

When the whole song was over, the chaotic, incomprehensible montage of shots ended.

The next second, Feng Bujue and Wang Tanzhi regained control of their bodies.

The environment around them had become an open meadow.

The terrain here was slightly sloped, and the green grass was lush.

The sky looked a little gloomy, and the breeze made the two feel a chill.

[It's about time… to come clean with you, isn't it?] Suddenly, a slightly hoarse, lazy male voice rang out.

"Did you hear that?" Feng Bujue asked Xiao Tan.

"Yeah…" Xiao Tan replied, "I heard it very clearly…"

The reason for this exchange between the two was that… the voice they "heard" at this moment was unusual.

This sentence was not received through their "ears," but appeared directly in their minds. Like… a system voice.

[My name is Hirata Hirao.]

[I am a little different.]

[I have realized…]

[I have realized that I am actually a character in a manga.]

"Oh? Is it Hirata-kun?" Feng Bujue's eyes changed slightly, and many clues strung together in his mind, sweeping away the accumulated mental fatigue at this moment. "Heh… now… everything makes sense."

"Ah! I think I've seen this story before." Wang Tanzhi's eyes lit up at this time, and he whispered to Brother Jue, "It's called *The World of Hirata*, right? I think I watched the Chinese dub version."

Pfft—pfft pfft—pfft pfft—

Xiao Tan hadn't finished speaking when several strange noises came from not far away.

At the same time, he caught a glimpse of… several black shadows falling from the sky, landing on the grass only a few meters away from him and Brother Jue.

"Oh? This is beyond my expectations…" Feng Bujue turned his head, looked at the "things" on the grass, and said with a sneer.

"Hey… Brother Jue… what's going on?" Two seconds later, Xiao Tan also saw the true faces of the black shadows. His horror value soared, and he suddenly felt that… this so-called "comedy manga" world was in some places… even more frightening than a real horror movie.

[At first… I was full of curiosity about this world.]

[Based on my understanding of ordinary manga, I imagined some possible scenarios.]

[And all of that… happened one by one.]

As Hirata spoke, Feng Bujue's gaze moved over the pile of bloody corpses on the ground.

[I wanted a nemesis, and he appeared.]

Listening to his words, Feng Bujue's gaze stopped on a corpse with white underwear on its head. This corpse was rather fat, with a pair of blue shoulder pads, white shorts, white (with black knees) knee-high socks, and cyan sneakers. It also wore a pair of white wristbands.

[He had underwear on his head, a pair of demon ears, and a moe hairstyle like a ball of fluff full of loopholes. He was clearly a complete loser, but he called himself my rival in love.]

[Although I didn't know his name, he said the name of my "lover"… Koyo (pronounced Yo-chan in Japanese).]

Brother Jue moved his gaze again to another corpse. This corpse was simple to describe… a middle-aged uncle wearing blue swimming trunks, tall and thin, with a buzz cut.

[Koyo is an uncle who chews strange things in his mouth. It's more like Uncle Koyo than Koyo.]

[Just when I was thinking about whether to simply give Koyo to that loser, my nemesis said that I was a "pugilist," so I wondered… whether I had a master or something.]

Hearing this, Xiao Tan couldn't help but look at the ground… The corpse he was looking at was no longer human in shape. It felt like… this could only be considered a humanoid creature that the author had tried to draw as a person but failed.

This creature's head was a roughly drawn oval, with eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth filling the entire face; its body was thinner than its head, like a long strip; the front of its torso had a dozen or so interlocking abdominal muscles like fish bones; all its limbs were very short, with arms thicker and longer than its legs.

[Then, a disgusting master appeared and said that I was the heir to the Wo Xi Yo Xi Yo Fist.]

[There was nothing I could do… I could only try to unleash a special move. As a result, when I put my palms together, I released my master's twin brother.]

"Ah… I see it…" Feng Bujue looked at a corpse lying next to the "master" that looked exactly like him and muttered.

[After defeating the vulnerable nemesis, the masters said something that seemed to be the main plot… defeating the Demon King.]

If the "master" still looked like "trying to draw a human but failing," then the style of the "Demon King" could be described as "giving up on treatment." He had a face similar to "Koyo's," and although he was only wearing underwear on his lower body, he was still considered normal. However… his torso was like layers of stacked mochi, with two rows of slender, soft hairs floating on both sides of his torso… From a distance, he looked like a centipede with a human head and long legs.

[However, not long after the Demon King appeared, he coughed blood and died due to his years of old illness…]

"Yeah… it really is *The World of Hirata*…" After hearing the voice say so much, Xiao Tan basically remembered the plot of the animation completely, "But… as far as I remember, only the 'nemesis' and the 'Demon King' died… the other three characters should be alive…"

[When Koyo and the two masters threw me into the sky and shouted "Hurray," I realized…]

At this moment, Hirata Hirao's tone changed…

It became low and sinister…

[I am a character in a parody manga.]

[From the beginning of the story, I was just a joke.]

[A ridiculous nemesis, a ridiculous lover, ridiculous masters, a ridiculous demon king.]

[A ridiculous, short life…]

[There are no inseparable bonds, no unforgettable love, no inherited kindness, and no passionate battles.]

[All I have is the ability to make retorts about everything that appears before my eyes.]

[I can't bring people to tears, and people don't care about my feelings.]

[I don't want to accept this life, but I can't escape this cycle.]

[Whenever someone opens a manga, opens a webpage, opens a file, or plays a video… I have to repeat this endless nightmare again.]

[I've had enough!]

[So, I killed them…]

[I want you to understand, I…]

"...am not a tsukkomi role for you to amuse yourselves with."

That last sentence changed from a "system voice" style narration to a dialogue form.

Before the voice faded away, Feng Bujue and Wang Tanzhi both looked in the direction of the voice.

But they saw… on the lawn behind them, a figure had appeared at some point.

It was a man wearing a light green long-sleeved sweater, gray trousers, and medium-length hair. He looked very ordinary, very unremarkable. Just like his name… Hirata Hirao. If he were in some kind of passionate manga, he would only be an extra character.

But here, in *The World of Hirata*, he is the protagonist.

"Heh… what do you mean, amuse ourselves with…" Feng Bujue smiled, looking at Hirata calmly and replying, "I don't understand what you're talking about?"

"Denial is useless." Hirata's tone became fierce. "Furuhata Ninzaburo, Imaizumi Shuntaro…" His gaze swept across Brother Jue and Xiao Tan's faces, "Those aren't your real names, are they…" He raised his head and sneered, "I know, you are… players."