I Was Possessed By An Unknown Manga

Afterward, as Sasha approached her father, who lay unconscious from a blow to the jaw, she told me to leave, insisting she would handle the aftermath.

I offered her my phone number in case she needed to contact me, but Sasha preemptively declined.

She assured me she would contact me if necessary.

With no further role to play, I expressed my understanding, bid farewell to Fuma-senpai, who had assisted me at the subway station and made my way home.

The next day.

Upon waking up in the morning, I clutched my head, agonizing alone over the previous day’s events.

‘Why did I say that…?’

It was as though I had been under a spell.

Even in a manga world, I believed I retained basic common sense, but to engage in such a rampage…

Most of the altercation was in self-defense, yet if I had acted that way in the real world, I would have faced incarceration without a doubt.

With a sense of foreboding, I combed the internet for keywords related to the day before.

‘Akihabara’, ‘Ueno Park’, ‘Russian’, ‘Brawl’.

No search results surfaced regarding the incident.

The daytime scuffle with the Russians seemed meticulously concealed, as though it had never occurred.

This realization sent a shiver down my spine.

It appeared that Japan, just as Sasha had mentioned, was complicit in suppressing the information.

It also pointed to the extraordinary influence wielded by the multinational Easter Egg Company.

Even when I checked smaller community forums, the situation was the same.

Driven by curiosity, I reached into the inner pocket of my hoodie.

Thankfully, the 2 million yen Sasha had handed me was still there.

Ah, shit, it wasn’t a dream, not at all.

With no means to initiate contact with her, my only option was to wait indefinitely for her to reach out to me.

As I lay on the floor, gazing at the ceiling, I noticed my body was unusually stiff and heavy.

This must be the aftereffect Fuma-senpai had referred to.

Indeed, I felt a noticeable drop in my usual energy levels.

The lethargy I had felt since morning might have been an aftereffect of the pill that hadn’t worn off yet.

Fortunately, there were still four days left of Golden Week, so there was plenty of time before school, but just in case, I decided to avoid intense exercise for a while.

Having made up my mind, I remembered that I had fallen asleep without showering the night before due to exhaustion, so I grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom.

Friday, May 5, 2017.

The nine-day holiday of Golden Week was slowly coming to an end.

After this weekend, classes would start again.

Today, being Children’s Day, houses with young boys displayed carp-shaped streamers, called Koinobori, on their balconies.

Well, it was something I only knew about in theory, having never actually done it myself.

“Seventy-seven, seventy-eight, seventy-nine…”

While doing some light exercises, I kept glancing at my smartphone, but there was still no contact from Sasha, who had disappeared with her father the day before yesterday.

Maybe she had gone back to Russia, her homeland, for her father’s treatment.

“Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!”

I wiped the sweat from my slightly sweaty upper body with a towel.

Even after resting all day yesterday, my body hadn’t fully recovered and felt quite drained.

If my usual physical condition was a ten, right now it might only be around a two or three.

By my standards, this was quite a generous assessment.

After helping my parents at the store and having lunch, I decided I couldn’t just leave the money I received from Sasha in a corner of my room, so I put on a baseball cap and went out to deposit it into my bank account.

Perhaps because today was Children’s Day, families were busily walking along the streets lined with flowers.

Maybe May 5th was the day when children’s meals sold the most in family restaurants?

The bank I usually use was about fifteen minutes away from the store, located inside an arcade shopping district, so I had to walk a fair distance.

Walking leisurely with my hands in my tracksuit pockets, I easily spotted the colorful Koinobori fluttering in the wind on the balconies of residential areas.

After a short walk, I entered the automated section of the bank.

I inserted my passbook, entered the PIN, and inserted the bundle of bills into the deposit slot.

After confirming the 2 million yen printed on my passbook, I decided to stop by a convenience store near my home to buy some snacks.

“Welcome!”

Entering the convenience store while fiddling with my smartphone, I heard a familiar voice and looked up.

Standing at the convenience store counter with a smiling face was Fuma-senpai, recognizable by her long, dark purple hair.

“Ah.”

“Kim… Kim Yu-seong?!”

Fortunately, it was a time when there were no other customers, so I managed to have a brief conversation with Fuma-senpai, who was working part-time at the convenience store.

“Thank you for the other day.”

As I handed over the canned coffee I had just paid for at the counter and said that, Fuma-senpai took the coffee and slightly shook her head.

“No, it was something I had to do. Just watching innocent people get hurt is against my principles.”

Looking at Fuma-senpai’s profile, I finally spoke up.

“So… you’re a ninja, right?”

Even in a manga world, I honestly never thought I’d say something like that.

Hearing my question, Fuma-senpai sipped her coffee and nodded.

“That’s right. To be precise, I’m part of the Fuma Ninja Clan.”

“Then why are you pretending to be an ordinary person and attending school?”

Fuma Senpai answered with a wry smile.

“It’s not a disguise. Even ninjas receive basic education in today’s world.”

Ah… I see.

Realizing I had been narrow-minded, I nodded and asked another question.

“Honestly, I have many questions for you, Senpai. And about this ‘underworld’ you mentioned…”

Despite Scramble Love being set in a romantic comedy, it seemed to have a lot of hidden backstories.

Otherwise, an incident like the one the other day wouldn’t have happened.

I was particularly curious about the ‘Qi’ I had used.

“Can I use the same power again if I take the red pill?”

However, Fuma Senpai shook her head with a troubled expression after hearing these questions.

“I can’t tell you right now. I need some time to prepare, and I also need permission from the elders back home.”

“…I understand.”

After all, it wasn’t something I needed to know immediately.

Even if Scramble Love’s original plot seemed to shift from rom-com to battle, I doubted events of this magnitude would continue.

After all, in a world based on romantic comedy, there were still many typical school-themed events ahead.

Any clever writer wouldn’t have overlooked that.

“I’ll come to you once I’m ready to explain. Please wait a few weeks.”

“Alright.”

With the conversation seemingly concluded, I stood up with the empty can, preparing to head home.

“Then, I’ll see you at school.”

“Take care.”

After the brief farewell, as Fuma Senpai returned to the convenience store counter, something struck me.

“But why are you working part-time here, Senpai?”

Seeming a bit embarrassed, Fuma-senpai blushed slightly and replied.

“I’m living on my own and need the money for living expenses…”

Ah, that made sense.

“Take care then.”

“…Yeah.”

Leaving the convenience store, I headed home with my hands full of plastic bags.

The long Golden Week finally ended, and it was the first day back at school.

Returning to Class 2-B after 10 days, the classroom felt somewhat awkward.

Arriving neither too early nor too late, I greeted Satoru, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, and asked what he did during Golden Week.

Then Satoru, his skin glowing, proudly puffed out his chest and said,

“I went on a hot spring trip to Hakata with my family.”

Fukuoka, huh? Quite a distance.

“You must have flown that distance.”

“Of course, I even had in-flight meals!”

He bragged about in-flight meals with such pride, how reminiscent of high school.

A moment later, Rika, her skin slightly tanned, entered the classroom, waving.

“Hi~ Ryu-chan~ Did you miss me while I was away?”

“…A little?”

In truth, I hadn’t really noticed her absence, but a bit of flattery couldn’t hurt.

Otherwise, she might take offense later on.

“Hmph~ You seem like a lonely soul~”

Rika teased, prodding my chest with her index finger.

Then, as the first homeroom class on Monday commenced, our homeroom and history teacher, nicknamed ‘Gorilla’, Mr. Matsuda, stormed in with the black attendance book.

“Quiet! Quiet!”

Once the classroom settled, Mr. Matsuda stood at the lectern, cleared his throat, and announced gravely,

“Today, we’re joined by a new transfer student in our class. More precisely, an exchange student from our sister school in Vladivostok, Russia. It’s her first visit to Japan, so I expect everyone to be welcoming.”

He then beckoned to the transfer student waiting outside,

“Transfer student, come in!”

The door slid open.

The classroom hushed as the foreign transfer student appeared at the doorway.

The Slavic girl with flowing silver hair entered with a demure smile and introduced herself,

“Alexandra Ivanovna Romanova. If my name is too long, you can call me Sasha.”

After her introduction, Sasha gracefully lifted the hem of her skirt and continued with a solemn expression.

“My hobbies include shooting, horse riding, watching anime, and reading. And something I’ve recently taken a liking to is…”

In a snap…

“…that guy over there, Kim Yoo-seong.”

With her startling declaration on her first day, the tranquility of my school life began to unravel.