Apr 27, 2024
Author's Commentary #16:
Time to talk about Chapter 16: Nero the chūnibyō.
In the original, this was actually two separate chapters, those being Chapter 104 and Chapter 105. It was also the last chapter I wrote before beginning the rewrite. While Nero technically debuted in Chapter 71 of the original Spice of life, Chapter 104 was where he was properly introduced. Now let's talk about him.
ネロ (Nero) is how his codename is spelled in Japanese. However, he is actually the infamous 0mni-god, Muramasa Jouzu. As such, 村正 上手 (Muramasa Jouzu) is how it is spelled in Japanese.
上手 means "skillful" while 村正 means "village" and "correct", however, it is also the exact same surname of Sengo Muramasa, a famous Japanese swordsmith.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
Nero's birthday is October 10th, which he notably shares with Naruto Uzumaki from Naruto, Xanxus from Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, and Gintoki Sakata from Gintama.
His favorite food is mangoes, while his favorite drink is a tropical fruit smoothie.
As I was writing the remake, I actually decided to give Nero a larger role in the story, which is why I felt he needed to be introduced much earlier than in the original. Him being 0mnipotent (yes he does spell it with a 0) was also how I planned to explain away how Mimi's world merged with the current one. Speaking of which, Muramasa Jouzu is much more powerful than he seems, though this series won't properly showcase that. Though I might end up writing a novel that does, so look out for that.
Speaking of which, since Muramasa Jouzu is what ultimately ties my novels together, the universe all of them take place in could be referred to as "The Jouzu-verse".
Finally, Murr Mantis is dead. Since he was destroyed by the dark flames of destruction, he can't be revived either, except by Muramasa Jouzu. Speaking of which, his dark flames of destruction could be comparable to Yogiri Takatou's power from My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, however, unlike Yogiri, Muramasa Jouzu can choose to revive those he's killed. His flames of destruction also have various levels to them with the most basic level essentially being on par with Yogiri's ability. His next level up can erase all memory of the thing he destroys with his flame, essentially erasing it from existence, while the next level erases the target across all timelines, dimensions, and universes, and the next level up after that erases the target from existence across all timelines, dimensions, and universes.
Sometimes, Muramasa Jouzu actually destroys some of the surrounding air and space, but simply restores it since that's also effortless for him. In short, he's very skilled at destruction, but he can also restore things as he chooses.
As for why he chooses to have his alter-ego be Nero, entertainment. That's also why he chooses to pay for smoothies instead of making them himself, though to be fair, he is using his powers to create money out of thin air, and real money at that. None of Nero's cash is counterfeit as he simply rewrites everyone's minds that the money he creates is legit. As such, using money created by Nero would be like using standard cash, and best of all, he can create as much as he wants and the markets wouldn't be affected in the slightest. After all, creating a fortune of cash and circulating it without having the markets being affected in the slightest is 0mni 101 for Muramasa Jouzu.
Next chapter, a new mini-arc with a spotlight on Mimi will begin. This mini-arc was only added to the original Spice of life as a bonus arc so it technically originates from the remake. I hope you look forward to it.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
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![Spice of life [Remake] cover](https://honeyfeed-novel-images.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/novel_image/file/14558/cover_thumb_e0f19edc-753a-4f65-bd0e-b68dc349af99.jpg)
