I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

The next day.
As usual, I woke up at 4 a.m., only to despair when I realized my body still hadn’t returned to normal.

It was Friday now, and with school starting again on Monday, I had roughly three days left.
The last time I took that medicine, my body had returned to normal after about three days. So why was I still stuck like this?
'No choice, huh.'

For now, the only thing I could do was stall for time.
Before my parents woke up, I quietly brought the vegetable crate I’d carried home yesterday into the living room and left it on the dining table with a note:
[These are vegetables I got for helping out at Senpai’s farm. Feel free to use them.]

Then, I woke up Saya—who was still fast asleep—and dragged her out for my morning jog.
[Ugh, I’m so sleepy…]
A ghost who loves sleeping at night… this girl was definitely strange.
I glanced at Saya, who floated in the air rubbing her eyes, then started running lightly.

“Huff, huff, huff, huff.”
My body felt heavier than usual.
Probably because I was stuck in a child’s form.

Two years of hard-earned training had turned to dust in an instant, but, surprisingly, I didn’t feel as upset as I’d expected.
I had already gone through all this once before. If I started over, I knew I could build my muscles back faster this time.
'So this is what they mean by going back to basics?'

A course that normally took me thirty minutes now took me an hour. When I finally finished, I collapsed onto the grass, lungs burning.
The sky hadn’t yet fully brightened, the first light of dawn only barely peeking through.
Saya hovered above me with a bored expression.

[Why do you train so hard?]
“Just because I like it.”
Originally, I started exercising to survive this unpredictable rom-com world. But now… I simply enjoyed it.

There’s something called a “runner’s high” in exercise terminology—at a certain point, your brain releases endorphins, giving you a sense of euphoria after pushing past the pain.
For me, that runner’s high came from weight training.
Saya tilted her head and said,

[You’re addicted to working out.]
“I know.”
After catching my breath, I sat up abruptly, my whole body drenched in sweat.

Yeah, my usual high-intensity cardio routine was too much for this current body.
After drinking from a nearby faucet, I moved to a quiet clearing and began practicing Hayate.
“Ha!”
Hayate consisted of seven techniques.

The First Form, , was originally a technique for slashing someone’s neck in a single motion when they let their guard down at the sight of an unarmed hand—similar to a quick-draw sword strike.
Of course, without coating my hands in qi, it was nothing more than a simple knife-hand strike.
And this was a rom-com world; there was no way I’d ever actually kill someone, so it would stay sealed most of the time.

The next form I planned to learn was the Second Form— itself.
A one-hit assassination technique: a lightning-fast rush to rip out an enemy’s throat.
As expected of a killing art designed for assassins, its lethality was terrifying.

Was it really appropriate for a peaceful rom-com world? Probably not. But considering this world had that ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) typical Jump-style drift into fighting arcs, it didn’t feel that out of place either.
'Am I unconsciously getting influenced by this world?'
The thought gave me chills.

Thankfully, Hayate shared some similarities with I-mun Jeong-ju from Bajiquan, which I already knew.
In essence, you closed the distance in the blink of an eye and grabbed your opponent’s collar.
Compared to , which had been hard to understand at first, this one was easier to grasp.

I practiced Hayate until the sun rose, stopping only when people began gathering at the park.
There was always tomorrow, after all.
“Now… time to head home.”

Honestly, I felt uneasy.
Even if my parents spent most of their day running the restaurant, there was no way I could avoid running into them forever.
Still, I had to go back—I needed breakfast and a shower.
So, with a worried expression, I returned home with Saya.

***
“I’m home…”
I spoke quietly, scanning the house.

Fortunately, my parents didn’t seem to be there.
Heading into the kitchen for some water, I noticed the vegetable crate was gone—Mom must’ve seen my note.
After drinking a glass of barley tea, I quickly showered.

Then, after scarfing down some instant curry, I changed clothes to head back out.
Watching me, Saya asked,
[Going out again?]

“Yeah. I need to do something about this body first. After that, I’ll go meet Ryuji.”
[Then let’s hurry.]
This girl switched moods fast. She’d been complaining just a moment ago.

I gave a wry smile at her shameless attitude, picked up my phone from the desk, and opened my contacts.
There was only one person I could turn to in this situation.
Alexandra Ivanovna Romanova.

I tapped Sasha’s name.
After a few rings—
Click!

[Kim Yu-seong? What’s going on all of a sudden?]
It had been a while since I’d heard Sasha’s voice.
***

Sasha had chosen a luxury hotel near Akihabara as our meeting spot.
Apparently, she was renting out an entire top-floor suite.
Something only someone filthy rich could even think of.

At the hotel lobby, I gave the receptionist Sasha’s name, and the staff guided me politely.
Taking the elevator up to the highest floor—
Ding!

The doors slid open, revealing Boris’s massive figure.
He looked even bigger now, especially with me in this shrunken body—I had to take several steps back just to look up at his face.
Expressionless as usual, he raised an eyebrow when he saw me, then spoke in his stiff voice.

“Follow me.”
Surprisingly, Boris had learned Japanese during the time we hadn’t seen each other.
His pronunciation was awkward, but understandable.

However, for some reason, he was speaking like a high school girl.
Probably Sasha’s influence, considering she was an otaku. It was amusing, so I decided not to say anything.
When she found out later, she was going to be mortified.

I followed Boris down a short hallway until we reached a spacious living room, where Sasha sat on the sofa with a relaxed expression.
“You came, Kim Yu-seong.”
She turned her head to look at me—and froze.

“You really… got smaller.”
I sighed.
“Why would I lie about something like this?”

Ignoring my retort, Sasha stood and leaned in close, her eyes sparkling with interest.
“You’re still kind of cute like this. Though I prefer muscles.”
I leaned back to avoid her face, realizing too late that my escape route was blocked.

Saya whispered beside me,
[Want me to help?]
I nodded quickly.

She blew her icy breath into Sasha’s ear.
Sasha’s body stiffened instantly.
I slipped out of her arm trap in a flash.

Five seconds later, Sasha moved again, looking curiously at herself.
“What did you just do to me?”
“I didn’t do anything.”

That was true—it was Saya, not me.
Sasha stared at me suspiciously for a moment, then sighed.
“Well, I’ll find out eventually. Sit down.”

I did as she said, settling onto the sofa, while Saya wandered around the suite, examining everything with interest.
“What would you like to drink?”
“Ah, I’m not picky.”

“Then I’ll have tea prepared.”
At her glance, Boris headed to the kitchen.
“Now, let’s get to the point…”

Sasha crossed her legs and asked,
“Can you tell me how your body ended up like this?”
I nodded.

“It’s kind of a long story. It started when my school senpai, Fuma-senpai, invited me to her ninja village…”
“Ninja!”
Sasha perked up instantly.

“Is it that kunoichi I saw before?”
Apparently, Fuma-senpai had left quite an impression on her.
“Yeah, that’s her.”

At least she didn’t question the ninja part, which made explaining things easier.
“I went to the ninja village, and Fuma-senpai’s grandfather ordered me to exorcise a yuki-onna in the mountains.”
“Whoa! A yuki-onna!”

…She didn’t look like the type, but her reactions were surprisingly lively.
What could I even say to that?