I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

The snow woman in front of us completely dominated the roughly 33-square-meter room.
Her seamless blend of offense and defense made her seem impenetrable—like an iron fortress.
I hadn’t even been able to get close to her.

And those mysterious psychic powers… they could freeze both Fuma-senpai and me in an instant.
She was, in every sense of the word, a formidable enemy.
“Kim Yu-seong, I’ll help.”

Maybe she’d recovered a little during our brief pause, because Fuma-senpai stepped up beside me and spoke.
“Is your body okay?”
“Feels like I might’ve cracked two ribs from that last hit, but I can still move. More importantly, it’s that snow woman’s ability we need to worry about.”

Apparently, Fuma-senpai had been thinking the same thing as I was.
She held Raikirimaru, yellow sparks flickering from it, and said,
“There’s a type of spell among onmyoji called ‘Kotodama’. It’s a technique where power is imbued into words and used like a curse. What she used just now felt similar to that.”
“But she stopped your body without saying anything.”

“Which just means it would’ve been even stronger if she had.”
Now that she mentioned it, that did sound plausible.
She was the expert in this field—her analysis would be better than mine.

“So the plan is simple: we attack together. Make sure she can’t focus on either of us.”
“Got it.”
I nodded and decided to follow her lead.

“Hoooh…”
A deep, powerful breath.
The fundamentals of Bajiquan that I’d learned from Li Mei Ling were all contained within Chongchui and Jingak.

After she returned to China, I tried studying more through videos, but it was all surface-level.
So I’d decided that rather than half-assing multiple techniques, I’d focus on mastering just one. Since then, I’d practiced Chongchui and Jingak alone in the park every chance I got.
And now it was time to put that to use.

“Hup!”
My eyes sharpened, and I took a wide, powerful step forward.
Jingak wasn’t a step technique per se.

But by stomping down as you advanced, it could launch you forward over short distances using pure recoil.
Step one.
I must’ve controlled my strength better this time—at least the floor didn’t shatter.
But the shockwave must’ve traveled through the ground, because the snow woman’s bed trembled slightly.

Step two.
Maintaining the momentum from Jingak, I continued forward.
It was a very short, straight dash—but it was enough for this situation.

Step three.
The energy from my legs surged up through my hips and concentrated into a single punch.
I became a spearpoint, driving forward in a sharp thrust—Chongchui.

BOOM!!
My punch pierced straight through the thick ice wall that had formed right in front of the bed.
“!”

The snow woman stared at me, wide-eyed in shock.
Before she could react, Fuma-senpai—clearly having learned from earlier—threw a spread of kunai and shuriken from a distance.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

『Kyaa!』
They barely grazed her, but the snow woman screamed and curled up her small frame.
I immediately reached out to subdue her—but once again, my body refused to move.

It was like my limbs had frozen in the blizzard.
“Kim Yu-seong! I’ll cover you!”
Seeing me frozen, Fuma-senpai hurled another shuriken at the huddled snow woman—but just like me, she suddenly stopped mid-air.

“Poltergeist?!”
Fuma-senpai shouted some unfamiliar term in disbelief.
『It hurts. Why are you hurting me? I’m just sitting here. I’m just waiting for my family in Tokyo…』
『Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?』

The girl-like snow woman began to mutter the same words over and over again like a broken doll.
Hearing it so close while unable to move sent chills down my spine.
And then black smoke began to rise from the girl’s entire body.

Fuma-senpai gasped at the sight.
“She’s showing signs of becoming a vengeful spirit?! That means she wasn’t a yokai at all, but just a regular ghost?!”
She kept muttering things only she seemed to understand, and I stared at her with a desperate look.

Fuma-senpai bit her lip and finally said,
“Kim Yu-seong! I think the village gave us the wrong intel! What we’re seeing isn’t a yokai—it’s a jibakurei, a ghost bound to this house! I don’t know how she got this strong, but if we don’t stop her from turning into a full-blown vengeful spirit, this could get way worse!”
Easier said than done!

Now that I had control of my arms again, I desperately reached out to the girl—no, the ghost.
But the moment she looked up, I was hit by an invisible force so powerful it felt like getting slammed by a truck, and I was sent flying.
CRASH!

I tumbled back, knocking over a bookshelf with my large frame.
Thankfully, thanks to Indestructibility, I was able to get up right away.
And for the first time, I felt the full force of the ghost girl’s presence as she stood from the bed.

About 160 cm tall.
Probably slender due to the illness she suffered in life.
With her white hair and icy blue eyes, she looked like a delicate work of art—something crafted by a master artisan from glass.

Except for the hair and eye color, she looked almost identical to the girl in the photo downstairs. It had to be her.
『Leave this house. Or I’ll kill you.』
She raised her right hand, icicles forming like claws from her fingertips, and slowly advanced.

Frost spread rapidly with each of her steps.
The air was so cold now that even breathing became difficult unless I cloaked myself in yang energy. My lungs felt like they were being squeezed from all sides.
I clicked my tongue and looked back at Fuma-senpai.

“Fuma-senpai, do you still have that medicine you gave me last time?”
“You mean the Spirit Pill? Yeah, I always keep one for emergencies.”
She slipped her hand between her breasts and pulled out a red capsule.

“Hand it over.”
I snatched the pill from her.
“Wait! That’s the new prototype version!”

Gulp!
I popped it into my mouth before she could even finish.
There was no time to listen to explanations.

Thump!
My heart began pounding loudly.
The moment the pill kicked in, my blood flow surged—I could feel the booming heartbeat echo through my chest.

My whole body started to burn again—it had been a while since I felt this.
“HRAAAAAAHHH!”
As the heat built up, I tore off my T-shirt to let it escape.

HSSSSSSSS!!
Steam rose from my flushed muscles.
The heat of my body clashed with the cold, creating billowing vapor.

It felt like a third eye had opened in my forehead—my senses were wide awake.
It wasn’t quite the full-body orange radiance from before, but I’d regained a similar sensation.
A strength I hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Fuuuuh…”
Taking a deep breath to cool my blazing body, I stared down the ghost girl.
Startled by my sudden transformation, she widened her eyes—but quickly scowled.

『So… you’re not leaving?』
I cracked my yang-infused knuckles and replied.
“What if I’m not?”

『Then I’ll use force.』
FWOOOOOOOOSH!
A blast of icy breath, like diamond dust, shot toward me.

“Breath attack! Get to the corner!”
I shouted and turned around—Fuma-senpai rolled backward to safety.
But I had no room to dodge in the cramped space, and took the full brunt of the blast.

SHHHHHHHH!
Unlike earlier, my body didn’t freeze. Instead, steam burst forth from the impact.
As Fuma-senpai explained: yin is opposed by yang.

By overcharging my body with yang energy, I’d gained the strength to resist the ghost girl’s overwhelming yin aura.
I rushed forward and delivered a punch—gender equality style.
『Guhk!』

My fist landed squarely in her stomach, folding her body into a sharp “L” shape.
I swept her legs out, slamming her to the ground, and pinned her down with my full weight.
『Kyaa! Let me go! Get off me!』

She thrashed and kicked, but it was useless.
No matter how much spiritual energy she had, she was no match for my physique and raw strength.
From the moment I could hit her with my bare hands, the outcome was set.

I looked over at Fuma-senpai and asked,
“Fuma-senpai! How do we lay a jibakurei to rest?!”
Still stunned by how I’d overpowered the ghost, she replied after a pause.

“Spirits stay in this world because they have regrets! If you resolve those regrets, they vanish naturally!”
I shouted back,
“How the hell do we fix her regrets in a situation like this?!”

“Jibakurei usually have simpler regrets than normal spirits! They just cling harder!”
I looked down at the ghost girl still trying every trick in the book to wriggle out from under me.
『Get off, you pervert!』

She’d fully turned hostile now. No way she’d answer calmly if I asked.
I scanned the room for a clue—and then I saw it.
A photo frame on the floor.

It was the same picture we saw downstairs, but behind it, another old photo was peeking out.
Something told me this was it—I reached for it.
『No! Not that!』

The ghost girl reached out in panic—but too bad. My arms were way longer.
I looked at the weathered photo.
It showed a younger version of the girl, throwing a peace sign between two other kids.

A birthday picture.
And then I froze.
Because the two other faces in the photo looked… familiar.

Spiky orange hair like a sea urchin, and a girl with that signature “always looks like she’s about to lose” vibe.
Sakamoto Ryuji and Yaguchi Maiya.