I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

It was truly a shocking encounter.
No—perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a “confrontation” than a mere meeting.

The ghost floating behind Sakamoto, with sun-bronzed, copper-colored skin, had an exotic appearance, but spoke fluent Japanese as he addressed him.
“Tsks-tsk, I told you to be more careful. Hurry and take the tissue your friend’s giving you, contractor.”
Sakamoto swatted at the ghost floating behind him like he was chasing away a fly, then took the tissue box I held out and said,

“Thanks, Kim-kun.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure.”
I nodded and handed him the tissue box, masking my confusion.

He didn’t seem to realize yet that I could see the ghost floating behind him.
Up until just now, I hadn’t been able to see it either. So what changed?
As I sat back down, still puzzling over it, I remembered the cat-shaped ornament I touched earlier.

‘Could it be that?’
I couldn’t be sure, but the only thing that fit was that object.
And judging by what just happened, it seemed that foreign ghost was visible not only to me, but also to Sakamoto.

‘Is this related to that “Jump-style battle manga drift” stuff?’
Even as I made that guess, I couldn't speak up lightly.
Sakamoto still thought I was a regular guy who didn’t know anything about ghosts or the like.

In any case, after Sakamoto wiped up the spilled drink with a tissue, we decided to play a board game in his room, since we didn’t really have anything else to do.
“Let’s make it interesting—loser gets a forehead flick?”
“Nice idea.”

There were a lot of games we could play—Life, One Card, Pop-Up Pirate, Catch the Thief—so after some deliberation, we chose “Catch the Thief” since each round didn’t take too long.
Satoru, who basically lived in the Board Game Club, skillfully shuffled the cards and dealt 18 to each of us.
It was my first time playing this game since the time I went to the maid café with Sasha and played it with Hyoneko-san.
Honestly, I got really pissed that time.

I didn’t win a single game before the café closed for the day.
“Okay, I’m starting first, yeah?”
After deciding the order with rock-paper-scissors, we took turns drawing cards counterclockwise starting with Satoru.

I checked my hand—no Joker.
Which meant either Satoru or Sakamoto had it…
“Ryuji, Satoru has the Joker.”

Thanks to the ghost's spoiler—who had nothing to do with the actual game—I now knew exactly where the Joker was.
‘What is he, the Ghost Card King or something?’
Still, I figured I might as well take advantage of it, so I kept my mouth shut.

As long as it wasn’t me losing, I was fine with it.
***
“This is cheating!”

That was the anguished cry of Satoru, who hadn’t won a single round thanks to the ghost giving me real-time updates on card positions.
“Cheating? Get over here and give me your forehead.”
“Kraaah! Let me go!”

“Sorry, man.”
Since I’d implicitly benefited from the cheating, I couldn’t bring myself to smack him, so Sakamoto handled the execution.
Smack!

Once again, Satoru’s forehead took the full force of a flick. Held still by me, he writhed in silent agony.
Having already lost three times in a row, his forehead had long since turned red and swollen.
The foreign ghost, who had orchestrated all of this, burst out laughing at the sight.

Despite his dignified appearance, he clearly enjoyed messing around.
With Satoru’s screams and tears as the backdrop, our “Catch the Thief” time finally came to an end, and we decided it was about time to wrap things up.
After all, staying too long at someone else’s house is rude, and it was nearing dinnertime.

Satoru, the only one who’d gotten flicked the entire time, begged to keep playing, but when I said I’d be the one flicking next time, he quietly got to his feet.
“Today was fun.”
“Grrr, I’ll get my revenge…”

“See you next time.”
As we said our goodbyes, Sakamoto saw us off all the way to the front door.
While he was about to drag off the still-grumbling Satoru by the scruff of the neck, the foreign ghost behind him suddenly spoke.

“What a shame. Would’ve been nice if you stayed for dinner.”
I reflexively flinched at that, but did my best to keep a straight face as I put on my shoes.
Just then, Sakamoto’s little sister quietly came out from the living room and gave us a polite bow.

“Please get home safely.”
I gave a small wave in response, then opened the firmly closed front door and stepped outside.
“Phew…”

I hadn’t felt it while we were hanging out, but now it was like I’d just escaped from some kind of demon’s lair.
It was probably the sudden appearance of that foreign ghost.
Satoru, walking alongside me after leaving Sakamoto’s place, adjusted his bag and asked,

“Come to think of it, your family restaurant’s around here, right? Mind if I stop by for dinner?”
“…No.”
Was this guy planning to cling to me now that he was done leeching off Sakamoto?

When I gave him a wary look, Satoru let out a long sigh and said,
“Man, you’re stingy. I thought we were pretty close. Don’t tell me I’m still not friend enough to get invited to your place?”
He grumbled like that, but I didn’t have anything to say in response.

Truthfully, I’d known Satoru longer than even Rika.
After a brief moment of consideration, I decided to take a small step back.
“You can come eat, but you’re heading home right after, got it?”

“Is dinner free?”
“You’re paying.”
“Psh, cheapskate.”

Still grumbling, Satoru pulled out his wallet and checked how much cash he had.
Looked like he really was planning to pay.
Feeling a bit bad seeing that, I waved my hand.

“Never mind. Friends don’t pay. I’ll cook, so just come.”
His face instantly brightened.
“Seriously?!”

“Yeah.”
Once he got the confirmation from me, Satoru started humming and cheerfully pressed the elevator button like he’d never been sulking.
I was glad he was the simple type who could be won over with food, and stepped into the elevator with him.

***
After Kim Yu-seong and Satoru left, the Egyptian ghost, Mahes, who’d been trailing behind protagonist Sakamoto Ryuji, muttered with interest.
“That boy… he can see me.”

Ryuji, who was cleaning up the trash-strewn room, spun around in surprise.
“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Mahes pointed toward the cabinet.

“When you spilled your drink earlier, Kim Yu-seong reached for the tissue box and touched the statue of the goddess Bastet. Right after that, his eyes turned toward me.”
“Isn’t that just your imagination? Nothing happened when Satoru touched it last time.”
Mahes nodded thoughtfully at Ryuji’s point.

“Perhaps. But it’s true that he was acting strange. And after that, he reacted now and then to what I was saying.”
Ryuji sat in his desk chair and countered.
“Okay, let’s say Kim-kun really can see you now—then why didn’t he say anything?”

“Maybe… because he was scared of me being a ghost?”
“Do you really think Kim-kun would be scared of a ghost?”
Mahes readily admitted that was a misstep.

“True. Someone of that level wouldn’t tremble just from seeing a soul.”
“Then what’s the reason?”
Mahes stroked his chin and said,

“Maybe… he just didn’t want to get involved with me?”
It was more convincing than “he was scared «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» of ghosts,” but Ryuji still wasn’t convinced.
“That sounds like you’re saying Kim-kun already knew about ghosts from the beginning.”

Mahes tilted his head and asked in return,
“Then let me ask you this—why do you assume he doesn’t know about ghosts?”
That question hit Ryuji like a brick to the back of the head.

“Uh… because he’s just a regular guy?”
“In this age, do people call someone that strong a ‘regular guy’?”
Now that he mentioned it…

Mahes had said before that Kim Yu-seong’s Tut-Ra was on par with his own.
Someone with that kind of power couldn’t possibly be just a normal person. So why did he assume Kim Yu-seong was?
As Ryuji reflected on his own naïveté, he started to feel a flutter in his chest.

If someone else could see the ghost only he could see until now, then that would prove he wasn’t hallucinating.
And if Kim Yu-seong really had known about ghosts all along, then he could ask him what was going on.
Even if he’d ended up bound to Mahes by sheer coincidence, there were still many mysteries about this Pharaoh ghost.

As if pleased by how things were unfolding, Mahes said to Ryuji,
“You mentioned going on a trip this summer, didn’t you? Why not test it then?”
“Test?”

“Whether or not he can see me.”
With that reply, Mahes crossed his arms and gave a meaningful smile.