I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

There was a brief moment where Ryuji’s dark past almost got broadcast live thanks to the trolling of a certain foreign ghost, but fortunately, everyone’s attention faded pretty quickly.
Which made sense. From the beginning, the arm wrestling was nothing more than filler—just a way to buy time while the votes were being tallied. As soon as both the men’s and women’s rounds wrapped up, the organizers announced that the vote counting was already complete.
And finally, the results were announced: the grand winner of the swimsuit contest, with a total prize of 100,000 yen.

The one who earned that honor was—
Not me. Not Ryuji. Not even Yoshida, the muscle man.
It was that clumsy female contestant from earlier.

“Eh? Me? No way! Score!!”
A totally unexpected twist.
Everyone had assumed that the men’s votes would be scattered, but when the results were revealed, the opposite had happened.

It was the women’s votes that had been split far more widely.
Thanks to how well I did in the preliminaries, I racked up a decent number of votes, but I got overtaken by a narrow margin and ended up in second place overall.
It was a bit of a bummer to miss out on the 100,000 yen grand prize, but the second-place reward wasn’t bad either.

And that was because the runner-up prize was a Nintendo Switch—something the whole family could enjoy.
I’d been on the fence for ages about buying one since it always felt kind of unnecessary, but now I finally had one in my hands.
“Nice. Now we can play games together.”

“Yeah.”
Ryuji, who had stayed by my side for the award ceremony, looked just as happy as if he’d won himself.
Man, he really is a good guy.

If it hadn’t been for my bias against him as the original romcom protagonist, we probably would’ve become friends way earlier.
I glanced down at the 10,000-yen bill I’d won for the arm wrestling contest and said,
“Let’s go. I’ll treat you to something on the way back to the inn.”
Ryuji whistled and grinned.

“Even if it’s expensive?”
“You worked hard, so I’ll let you have one nice thing.”
And with that, the swimsuit contest fully wrapped up, and we regrouped with the others waiting offstage and headed back to the inn.

***
After returning, we ate dinner in the yard of our guesthouse.
That night’s menu was seafood barbecue, and maybe because we were all starving, it tasted amazing.

Especially the shrimp—after eating them, we gathered up all the heads and stir-fried them in butter. That turned out to be a total delicacy.
Later, using the prize money I won earlier, we bought a bunch of snacks and drinks from the convenience store and sat around chatting while snacking.
“Wow, it’s already this late, huh.”
That was Rika, crouched in the yard, blankly staring at one of the sparklers we’d picked up at the convenience store.

Karen chimed in.
“Yeah… it’s been a while since I lost track of time like this while having fun.”
Then the class rep, who’d been listening quietly, spoke.

“This is what they call the magic of summer, right?”
“No doubt… sounds plausible,” Sasha nodded solemnly, and Satoru, who had been munching on ice cream, asked,
“So what now? We’ve eaten, had snacks, did fireworks… are we just calling it a night?”

“Probably should. It’s getting pretty late.”
I replied as I checked the time on my phone.
10 PM.

In the city, that would’ve still been early, but out here near a sleepy beach, most shops would’ve closed down right after 9.
“Alrighty.”
As her sparkler went out, the class rep was the first to brush off her clothes and stand.

“Let’s head in. If we want to play from early morning tomorrow, we’ll need our energy. Otherwise, we’ll all sleep in.”
No one disagreed—it was sound logic.
Even the bonfire had burned down to pale embers, and that seemed like a good enough signal. One by one, we all got up.

“Alright, let’s call it a night. Sleep well, everyone, and let’s meet with smiles tomorrow morning.”
With that, the class rep led the way back into the inn.
Since she took the lead, it suddenly felt awkward to be left lingering outside, and we all quietly followed.

Rika, who went in last, looked at me and waved with her usual bright smile.
“Night-night, Ryu-chan.”
“Yeah. You too.”

I gave her a nod and followed Satoru and Ryuji back inside.
***
The boys’ room was a moderately sized four-person space.

We laid out our futons on the tatami mats, and as I lay down, the flickering fluorescent light overhead slowly blinked in and out.
“Feels like we’re visiting Grandma’s house in the countryside.”
Ryuji mumbled beside me, and Satoru agreed.

“For real. Especially that mosquito coil smell—it’s intense.”
Yeah, the mosquito repellent the inn provided had a pretty strong, musty scent that burned right into your nose.
If there had been a mosquito net too, the countryside vibe would’ve been complete.

As I listened to them chatting, I asked Satoru,
“By the way… you still mad?”
He responded with an incredulous tone.

“Do people usually ask that so bluntly?”
“Well, I wouldn’t know if I didn’t ask.”
A moment later, Satoru sighed.

“Forget it, man. I was the one who overreacted earlier anyway.”
Surprisingly, Satoru admitted his mistake without fuss.
After hearing that, I thought for a moment and said,

“Let’s go hang out sometime, just the three of us. Next time, I’ll go along with whatever you want—even picking up girls.”
Satoru smirked.
“Sure. Next time, let’s do a guy’s bonding trip or something.”

“I’m down,” Ryuji said.
Satoru yawned as he lay back, probably starting to feel sleepy.
“Anyway, let’s «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» crash. Just like the class rep said, we better sleep early if we want to do stuff tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Night.”
I replied, sitting up slightly to turn off the only light in the room.
As darkness filled the space, all that remained was the sound of quiet breathing.

Eventually, someone started snoring, and I slowly closed my eyes.
***
I had a dream for the first time in a while.

And the dream wasn’t mine—it was a memory from “Kim Yu-seong.”
In the faded recollection, Kim Yu-seong’s grandmother was still alive. Since his parents were always working, he had grown up in her care.
Her face in the dream was deeply wrinkled, and her hands—weathered from life—gently stroked his hair as she told old stories.

It seemed like Kim Yu-seong had really loved his grandmother.
There was no other reason the emotions in the dream would feel this painfully sad.
Maybe it was the mosquito coil’s smell that triggered his memories.

Of course, that’s just a guess at this point.
***
I opened my eyes in the dark.

Rubbing the corners of my eyes, I realized a single tear had fallen.
Maybe it was just my body reacting to the dream’s content.
Quietly, I got up and left the room alone to wash my face.

The hallway was utterly silent.
With each step I took, the floorboards creaked, adding an odd atmosphere to the night.
I washed my face at the nearest sink by the restroom and turned to return to the room—

Only to bump into someone completely unexpected.
“Eh? Ryu-chan?”
It was Rika, in rare pajamas.

***
Since we were both up anyway, we decided to take a walk outside.
We’d both just gone to the restroom after waking up, and neither of us was feeling particularly sleepy.

We walked along the white sand stretching out beside the night sea.
The fine grains slipped between our toes and sandals, soft and scattered.
Even though it was summer, the sea breeze at night felt surprisingly chilly.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought so—Rika, walking beside me, shrank slightly from the cold.
Good thing I’d brought a cardigan just in case.
“Here. Wear this.”

“Oh, thanks.”
I handed her the cardigan I was carrying in my right hand, and she draped it over her shoulders without hesitation.
A subtle silence followed.

I’d hung out with Rika plenty before, but this kind of mood was new.
To break it, I looked up at the moon.
“The moon’s really pretty tonight.”

“Huh?”
Rika suddenly looked startled.
“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”
She quickly brushed it off and picked up her pace.
I followed her small back and asked,

“Why are you walking so fast?”
“I just… felt like getting some exercise.”
That was such a transparent excuse, it was almost cute.

Still, I played along.
“Wanting to exercise at this hour? Impressive.”
“Hehe, I got praised.”

She glanced back at me with a bright smile.
“So, Ryu-chan. What brought you out here?”
“Me? My head was kind of messy.”

Walking like this helped me clear my thoughts.
Sometimes, fragments of Kim Yu-seong’s memories would float up and make me feel like I’d done something terribly wrong.
Even though I’d just been swept up in something I never asked for.

Living someone else’s life—it wasn’t something you could do lightly.
And it wouldn’t be any easier for anyone else either.
Looking out over the quiet night sea, I said,

“It’s nice out here.”
“Right?”
We walked in silence, exchanging casual small talk.

Then, suddenly, Rika turned to me with an unusually serious expression.
“Ryu-chan, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
“…Something you want to say?”

“Yeah. It’s something I’ve wanted to say for a long time.”
She hesitated briefly, then finally—