Outline: In the dead zone of a defunct battle shounen world, Mira and Rion find themselves surrounded by defeated rivals—characters who were once designed to challenge the protagonist but got outpaced by a MC with absurd power spikes and plot immunity. Mira meets Zecht, a former fan-favorite rival who now spends his days waiting for arcs that never come. From him, she learns the terrifying truth: plot armor doesn't just protect heroes—it rewrites reality to make them win.
---
The sky was cracked.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
Glowing red lines split the clouds like broken glass, and every so often, the world stuttered—as if someone had hit pause, rewind, and play in the same second.
"Battle shounen zone," Rion muttered.
Mira looked around.
There were ruins everywhere. Collapsed stadiums. Half-burnt forests. Suspended cliffs that just... hovered.
And silence.
Too much silence for a world supposedly filled with epic fights and rivalries.
Rion pointed. "There's one."
A figure stood on a lone arena platform in the distance, facing an invisible crowd.
He had spiky silver hair, glowing scars, a sword too big for gravity—and dead eyes.
> **Zecht Valtoris – Rival Class A+ (Inactive)**
He didn't move.
"Do we approach?" Mira asked.
"He won't notice," Rion said. "They loop here. Replaying pre-fight speeches no one hears."
They walked closer.
Zecht didn't flinch.
"…I trained in the thunder mountains for twelve years," he whispered.
Mira blinked.
"...I watched my master die to save me. Swore I'd defeat him. That man... That man…"
He trailed off.
Rion sighed. "His nemesis was a self-insert overpowered protagonist named Blaze."
"Of course it was," Mira muttered.
Zecht's head finally turned.
"You're not Blaze," he said.
"Nope," Rion replied. "He got a gacha anime spinoff. Left you behind."
Zecht lowered his sword. "It's been 39 arcs."
Mira stepped forward. "What happened to you?"
Zecht sat on a rock that dramatically broke in half.
"I was supposed to challenge him. Push him to grow. We were equals once."
"And then?"
"Then the fans liked him more. He got power-ups. I got flashbacks."
Rion added, "He got a sacred dragon. Zecht got 'childhood trauma'."
Zecht laughed without humor.
"One time, I almost won. I broke his armor. Had him on the ropes."
Mira leaned in. "And?"
"The author introduced a new ability mid-fight. 'Emotional Awakening Mode'. Gave him wings."
"…Of course."
Zecht looked away.
"I screamed. 'This isn't fair.'"
Mira frowned. "And?"
"The system rewrote the scene to make it my 'lesson'. I had to smile and say 'You've grown stronger, Blaze.'"
He clenched his fists.
"That line wasn't even mine. I didn't say it. The script forced it."
Mira was quiet for a long moment.
Then asked, "So why are you still here?"
Zecht stood.
His cape billowed with unnecessary flair.
"Because I still believe I can win. That someday, he'll come back. That I'll finally land the hit that breaks his smile."
Rion whispered to Mira, "He won't."
Mira nodded.
Zecht turned back toward the fake arena.
"I'll be here. For the next arc. If it ever comes."
---
Later, Mira sat by a shattered statue of an ancient rival school.
Rion handed her a drink can labeled *"Limited Arc Cola"*.
She didn't open it.
"Plot armor," she said. "It's real."
"Yes."
"It doesn't just protect. It erases."
"Yes."
"If I fight the system and it decides I'm 'the wrong choice'…"
Rion looked at her. "You'll lose. Gracefully. And the audience will never know."
Mira held the can tighter.
"Then I'll need something stronger than armor."
"Like what?"
"A reason."
---
They left Zecht behind, still monologuing to no one.
As they walked, Mira's character sheet blinked.
> **Narrative Influence: 2**
> **Status: Interfering**
The system had noticed her again.
She didn't flinch.
"Next world?" she asked.
Rion nodded. "Get ready. It's a glitch zone. No plot. No arcs. Just fragments."
"What's it called?"
"Nowhere."
And they stepped into the void.