I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

After hearing everything, Sasha’s first words were:
“So, what will you give me if I help you?”
For a moment, I was speechless.

“You weren’t planning on getting my help for free, were you? If that’s really what you thought, I’d be disappointed.”
I had no excuse.
She was right—it would be shameless to ask without offering anything in return.
“What do you want from me?”

Sasha smiled faintly, resting her chin on her right hand.
“Give me three wishes.”
“…Wishes?”

“The deadline is before graduation. How about it?”
“Do I have to grant any wish you ask for, no matter what it is?”
“Fufu, you don’t need to be so cautious. I won’t ask for anything unreasonable.”
“Well… if that’s the case.”

I nodded, and Sasha clapped her hands.
When I looked up, puzzled, Boris was already holding out a contract.
“Something like this should be in writing, not just a verbal agreement, don’t you think?”

“Uh… yeah.”
I hadn’t expected her to be this formal.
I was about to sign the simple contract, but out of habit, I reread it carefully.

[Failure to fulfill the contract without a valid reason may result in financial compensation.]
“…”
Was this really okay?

There weren’t any other dangerous clauses, so I signed without protest.
Satisfied, Sasha handed the contract to Boris for safekeeping.
“Then, as promised, it’s my turn to help you.”

Sasha stood up and walked straight toward me.
“Take it off.”
“…What?”

“Your clothes. I need to examine you.”
Her commanding tone made me instinctively glance at Saya for help, but she only rubbed her chin with interest, making no move to intervene.
Unlike earlier, she clearly had no intention of helping.
“W-wait, hold on! Listen to me, Sasha. There are plenty of ways to examine me without taking my—aaaargh!”

***
Trained in Systema, her firm grip disarmed me instantly.
It all happened in the blink of an eye—I couldn’t even resist before my T-shirt was pulled off.

“Your body seems fine overall.”
Sasha finished palpating me with a serious expression and took a step back.
Meanwhile, I felt like I had lost something precious after being thoroughly manhandled.

After regaining my composure, I asked,
“So, what do you think caused my body to shrink?”
Crossing her arms, Sasha replied,

“From what I can tell, it’s definitely that ghost possessing you. Normally, your body should be continuously producing qi, but right now, it’s just barely pulsing.”
“Just pulsing?”
“There’s a Korean proverb—‘like pouring water into a bottomless jar,’ right? That’s exactly your situation. Your yang qi is being used up constantly to suppress the yin energy that invaded your body before it can even accumulate. Normally, your abundant yang qi would handle it easily, but now that it’s temporarily depleted, the opposing forces are clashing.”

I couldn’t help but admire her clear explanation.
Even as someone completely ignorant of this stuff, I understood perfectly.
“Then… is there a solution?”

Sasha nodded.
“It’s simple. Since the cause is the ghost possessing you, you just need to temporarily separate it from your body.”
“…!”

There really was a way.
I turned to Saya.
She sighed and nodded.
[Fine. I’ll step out. If that’s what it takes.]

She was a very reasonable ghost.
***
The feeling of Saya leaving my body was… strange.

It was like something inside me had been gently pulled out, leaving me briefly lightheaded.
Saya moved into Sasha’s body as a temporary host, and surprisingly, they seemed to get along just fine.
Fuma-senpai had warned me that if Saya possessed a normal person, it could cause severe health issues, but Sasha looked completely unaffected.

When I asked if she felt okay, Sasha simply waved her hand.
“Russian winters are harsher than this. This body temperature is just right for vodka.”
She was dead serious.

I felt like I was the weird one for worrying.
“I always thought ghosts would look scarier, but she’s surprisingly normal.”
Sasha glanced at Saya’s face, intrigued.

Since she was now the host, her spiritual senses must have awakened.
[Honestly, your hair color is stranger than me.]
“My hair color is a proud inheritance from my mother.”

[…Sorry.]
Saya actually apologized.
I was stunned—Saya was usually more of a tsundere than this.

Still, they didn’t seem to dislike each other, so I felt reassured leaving Saya here.
“Then I’ll count on you for the next three days. She’s a bit foul-mouthed but basically a good girl, so treat her well.”
“Leave it to me.”

I looked at Saya floating in the air.
“I’ll come back in three days, so listen to Sasha and behave.”
[…Am I a pet to you?]

“Kind of feels like it.”
[Hissss!]
Saya hissed like a cat, and I bolted out of the room.

I planned to recover as much yang qi as possible over the next three days and pick her up again on Sunday.
***
On my way home after meeting Sasha, I called Fuma-senpai.

[Kim Yu-seong? What is it all of a sudden?]
“Nothing serious. I just wanted to ask you something.”
I explained my current situation.

[So, you want to recover your depleted yang qi as quickly as possible?]
“Yes. School starts in three days.”
Fuma-senpai was silent for a moment, then spoke.

[Normally, the only way to recover depleted qi is to eat and rest well. Aside from… Yin-Harvesting Nourishment Art… no, forget it. Anyway, I’ll recommend some food.]
She cut herself off mid-sentence, abruptly changing the {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} subject.
[Eat lots of meat and garlic—they’re great for boosting yang qi. Turtle soup or stewed eel works too.]

Everything she listed was notorious for being stamina food.
Still, I got the idea.
“Thank you, Senpai.”

[I’m glad to help. I’ll hang up now—I’m busy with my part-time job.]
“Okay, take care.”
Click!

She hung up rather abruptly.
I slipped my phone into my pocket, ready to follow her advice, when I realized something.
Normally, I’d eat at my parents’ restaurant, but in this shrunken form, that wasn’t possible.

“Guess I’ll go to an all-you-can-eat place…”
I changed my plan and decided to eat alone.
***

All-you-can-eat.
An oasis for students with tight budgets.
The money you’d spend on two small portions at a regular barbecue restaurant could fill you to bursting here.

After visiting Sasha in Akihabara, I stopped by a famous beef all-you-can-eat place nearby—only to run into an unexpected problem.
“Hey, kid. Are you alone? Where’s your guardian?”
Ah… right.

I looked like an elementary schooler.
In other words, I needed a guardian to eat here—because who would believe a child came alone to gorge on unlimited meat?
I quickly scrambled for an excuse.

“My big sister’s coming soon! She told me to go ahead and wait for her.”
“Really?”
The overly friendly part-time worker crouched to meet my eyes.

“Then I’ll show you to your table while you wait for her, okay?”
“…Yes!”
I wanted to die from embarrassment, pretending to be a little kid at my age.

***
Sitting at the table, I sighed.
So much for eating boldly alone—I had no choice but to call someone.

Plenty of faces came to mind, but the problem was exposing my shrunken form.
I needed someone familiar with the underworld, available right now, and unlikely to freak out at my appearance.
The options narrowed naturally.

'Wait. There’s also… her.'
I was about to call Sasha again, but stopped and scrolled down my contact list.
Luckily, the number was there.

After a moment’s hesitation, I pressed call.
[Hello?]
A familiar voice answered.

I spoke.
“Minami? Can you come out for a bit?”