I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

‘Wait, does that mean this is an original event from the manga?’
Something felt off.
If this was the correct timing for her appearance, then the protagonist, Sakamoto Ryuji, should have been here in Akihabara.

Based on what I’d seen so far, the opening scenes of events that happened in the original story always occurred no matter what.
But I was the one who met her first, and even now, the protagonist hadn’t shown up.
Which meant it was probably still before her official appearance in the original timeline.

‘So, one of the main heroines from the original ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ is being chased by fellow Russians, huh.’
To be honest, I still didn’t quite understand what was going on.
Those guys from earlier all had abnormal builds—they definitely looked like people trained in actual combat.

Sasha probably wouldn’t be able to hold out for long by herself.
Not knowing what would happen in the future, I couldn’t decide whether I should leave her alone or protect her.
While I was brooding with a serious expression, Sasha, who had been watching me, pulled out the bundle of cash from her handbag again.

“I’ll hire you as my bodyguard. Just protect me until 7 p.m. tonight. I’ll pay you up front. How about it? For a job that lasts just six hours, it’s a pretty sweet deal, right?”
My heart thumped the moment I saw the bundle of bills placed in front of me.
W-Wait.

Calm down. This is the classic bait of resonance.
She’s offering me a huge sum of money on the very day we met?
Trying not to show how shaken I was, I asked Sasha in a calm voice.

“You’re seriously hiring me with this?”
Sasha furrowed her brow, then pulled out another bundle from her handbag.
“Fine. A hundred thousand yen isn’t enough, huh? Then if you successfully protect me until 7 p.m., I’ll give you another hundred thousand. I can’t go higher than that.”
I’d been trying to resolve this calmly through conversation, but the payment just doubled in an instant.

My eyes spun.
With that kind of money, forget manga—I could buy a graphics card I’d only ever dreamed of.
It was enough to build a home gym, the dream of every fitness freak.

Before I realized it, my hand had already reached for the cash on the table.
“I’ll do it.”
“Fufu, then it’s a deal.”

Whatever. It’s just six hours, right?
I firmly shook Sasha’s hand, who was smiling with a look of deep satisfaction.
***

Alexandra Ivanovna Romanova.
A girl from Russia who usually went by the nickname Sasha among those close to her, grinned in triumph.
‘Lucky break.’

She’d finally managed to come to Japan under the pretense of being an exchange student.
But her overprotective papa and his subordinates wrapped her in cotton wool.
So she snuck out of her hotel in Shibuya with a wad of cash she withdrew using his card.

But her little escape nearly came to an end just an hour later thanks to the pursuit of elite bodyguards with combat skills that ranked among the best even in Russia.
And that was when she ran into the Korean boy named Kim Yu-seong in that alley.
‘This guy is strong.’

Having grown up under the Russian "God of Destruction" that was her father, Sasha had developed a decent sense for people’s strength.
Among all the underworld types she’d met, this Kim Yu-seong guy placed in at least the upper-middle tier.
Someone of his level could definitely buy time even against Boris, the bodyguard personally assigned to protect her by her father.

To run into someone this capable in a foreign country, while being chased… it could only be called divine luck.
“Two tonkotsu ramen! Enjoy!”
As the Japanese-style ramen was served at last, Sasha broke apart her chopsticks and began calculating the time remaining.

‘Six more hours… That should be enough to explore Akihabara, right?’
If she just played around a bit and returned, Papa probably wouldn’t scold her too harshly.
And thus began the partnership between the two of them, born of a careful calculation.

***
After we finished our ramen, we returned to Chuo-dori.
It was all because of Sasha’s outfit. She had originally been wearing a black blouse and a frilly long skirt that made it hard for her to move around.

She walked into the first clothing store she saw, bought jeans and a baseball jacket, and quickly changed in the fitting room.
With a face like that, she looked like a model no matter what she wore.
She asked the store clerk to ship her old outfit to her hotel lobby, then pressed a baseball cap down on her head and marched back over.

“How do I look? Do I pass for a local now?”
“Honestly, more like a tourist.”
Even in this manga world where people had rainbow-colored hair, her bluish silver hair stood out as pretty unique.

It felt like a classic heroine’s distinct trait.
“Tch, tough crowd.”
Sasha tied her waist-length hair into a ponytail while checking her reflection in the mirror and asked:

“Is there anywhere around here worth visiting? It’s my first time in Japan.”
“Didn’t you say you were running from kidnappers? This doesn’t feel like sightseeing time.”
“Actually, the more people around, the better. Even those kinds of guys won’t act up in the middle of a crowd.”

I wasn’t thrilled about it, but I decided to go along with her for now.
Worst case, I’d just protect her myself.
“Alright, let’s get moving. Staying in one place too long will get us caught.”

“But who are the people trying to kidnap you? Why are you so on edge?”
Just then, Sasha—who was walking ahead and opening the store door—glanced back at me and said,
“Former KGB elite agents.”

…KGB? The only KGB I know is lemon-flavored vodka?
***
Let me be honest.

This was 21st century Tokyo.
Right in the middle of a busy urban center, surrounded by crowds—and I did not expect the kidnappers to just pick a fight so brazenly.
“I thought you said they wouldn’t make a move if there were too many eyes on us!”

I shouted as I narrowly dodged a fist flying past my head. Sasha, hiding inside a phone booth and yelling at the suited men outside, shouted back:
“I didn’t think they’d be this reckless!”
“Damn it!”

I kicked away the brute in front of me, then grabbed the one trying to pry open the phone booth by the collar and flung him.
“Guhk!”
He let out a groan and slumped to the ground, probably from the pressure on his carotid artery when I grabbed his collar.

But I didn’t have time to care—I had more brutes charging in.
‘They’re definitely a cut above street punks.’
Normal people feel like they’d break with just a little force, but these guys were holding up better.

It was probably those muscles—so developed you could see them through their suits.
Still, the problem wasn’t me—it was them.
Unfair as it was to say, in romantic comedies, the guy with more muscles never wins.

“Монстр (monster)!”
Despite fighting one-versus-many for almost ten minutes now, they were clearly the ones being pushed back.
One of the Russian men surrounding me scowled and shouted that word.

I didn’t understand Russian, but it obviously wasn’t a compliment.
Stuff people yell in situations like this is almost always a curse.
As the fight lulled and they all began to hesitate, I started counting how many were left.

One, two, three, four…
We’d started with close to twenty men in black suits. Now, there were less than half remaining.
‘Alright. I can manage this.’

Just as I clenched my fist with that thought—
“Все отступите (everyone step back).”
A heavy, low voice rang out from behind the men blocking our way.

“Капитан Борис (Captain Boris)!”
Apparently someone of higher rank—they quickly stepped aside and saluted sharply.
I’d always thought I was tall, but this foreign man was nearly two meters, and he stepped forward, glaring straight at me.

‘He’s strong.’
I’d never met him before, but I could feel it immediately.
This Russian man was a natural-born warrior.

When our eyes met—his brow hairless, his stare sharp—my already warmed-up muscles came alive.
It felt like my body was excited.
For the first time, I was facing an opponent worth fighting.

I had no idea how things got to this point, but the choice left to me was clear.
‘I fight.’