I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

Two days later, in the faculty office.
Mizuki Nanae, the assistant homeroom teacher of Class 2-B, was flustered by the sudden responsibility she’d been given.

“What? Career counseling?”
“Well, you see, even if I wanted to do it, I just don’t have the time.”
Matsuda, who rubbed his stubbly chin as he spoke, patted her on the shoulder while still seated in his chair.

“Besides, Mizuki-sensei, if you’re going to keep working as a teacher, don’t you need experience doing career counseling? Just think of it as practice and take it easy. Honestly, career counseling at the beginning of the school year isn’t all that important anyway.”
“Y-yes…”
As the youngest in the faculty room and a fresh rookie to the workforce, “yes” was the only thing she could say from the start.

In truth, since she had fewer teaching hours than most, it made sense for her to be the one in charge of career counseling.
Matsuda, the school’s sole history teacher, had a full schedule across multiple grades, so he was extremely busy preparing for classes.
But understanding something logically and accepting it emotionally were two different things, so Mizuki let out a deep sigh as she sat at her desk, burdened by the sudden responsibility.

‘Alright! If I’m doing this anyway, let’s do it properly! Nanae!’
With renewed determination, she opened the attendance register for Class 2-B.
The register listed students in hiragana order, from numbers 1 through 26.

Normally, the photo in the register was taken in first year, so the students often looked a bit younger compared to how they looked now.
‘Number 1: Aizawa Minami, Number 2: Akagi Shun…’
Though three weeks had already passed since the school year began, she hadn’t memorized all her students’ names and faces yet.

Still, she was working hard, so she figured she’d probably have them all down by mid-May.
‘Number 11: Sakamoto Ryuji…’
As she pointed along with her finger, memorizing the students one by one, she quickly reached the final number on the list.

This student was the only one in class whose name was written in katakana, making him the last.
‘Kim Yu-seong.’
It should’ve only been a year ago, but in the ID photo taken at entrance, he didn’t yet have the ridiculously developed muscles he did now. At most, he just looked like someone who did a bit of exercise.
To think that such a boy had turned into what he was now—what on earth had happened in just one year?

Teacher copies of the attendance register usually included special notes about the student.
Mizuki naturally read the description below Kim Yu-seong’s photo, and involuntarily spoke out loud.
“No way! Top student of the year?!”

Startled by her sudden outburst, the other teachers in the faculty room turned to look at her.
“S-sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to shout!”
She broke into a nervous sweat as she bowed in apology, then sat back down and took a deep breath before continuing to read Kim Yu-seong’s special notes.

‘Full scholarship. Freshman representative last year. Has never lost the top academic ranking since enrollment. Student council secretary. Extremely diligent in class. Honestly, there’s nothing left to teach him…’
She figured that last comment must’ve been written by Matsuda-sensei, and couldn’t help but agree wholeheartedly, falling into thought.
‘Could the rumor be true? That he’s a favored next-generation elite yakuza under the boss of some shadowy organization?’

There was probably a reason why such rumors existed.
Still, on the surface, he was an honor student—so it wasn’t exactly a situation where she could point fingers or offer scolding.
As someone only in her third week of teaching, she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by a student like that.

The idea that someone who could barely take care of herself was now expected to provide career counseling to such an exceptional student made her feel like her head was going to explode.
Alone in the faculty room and filled with doubt, Mizuki finally decided that no matter how much she thought about it, she wouldn’t get anywhere—so she resolved to just go for it.
‘Screw it, I’ll figure something out!’

***
Wednesday afternoon, during lunch.
Maybe because Golden Week was just around the corner, but the class atmosphere felt more floaty than usual.

After returning from lunch with the student council members she hadn’t seen in a week, the class president was standing at the board writing something huge.
Career Counseling.
“Oh, it’s already that time, huh.”

Karen, who had become strangely close with us after last Saturday’s incident, had come to our classroom to see Rika and murmured those words after seeing the writing on the board.
Career counseling—now that’s a phrase I hadn’t heard in a while.
Honestly, after coming into this manga world, I hadn’t really thought about the future much.

Before the possession, I’d just followed my grades into a local engineering college and became a grad student-slave to my professor. But now, with my current grades and physical ability, I honestly felt like I could succeed no matter what I did.
“Ryu-chan, what’s your dream?”
Lost in thought, I snapped back at Rika’s sudden question.

“…Dunno. Maybe I’ll just inherit my parents’ shop.”
“Ehh—so plain. I thought you’d say something like ‘I want to be the strongest man alive.’”
“What manga are you talking about this time?”

When I looked at her in disbelief, Rika said, “Here, look,” and held out the Jump magazine she’d been reading.
On the cover, a muscle-bound man stood against a barren wasteland, his right fist raised high in the air.
“It’s a new fighting series that just came out—it’s super good, so make sure you read it!”

“…Sure.”
Just then, Karen, who had been listening to our pointless back-and-forth, asked:
“Come to think of it, Yu-seong, your family runs a restaurant, right? What exactly do you serve?”

“Yakiniku and a variety of Korean dishes. Plus a few simple things if customers request.”
“Hoo… So your cooking talent runs in the blood.”
Sitting on my desk, Karen nodded as if that explained everything.

Even though she had spats on under her skirt, it was still a dangerously unguarded position—honestly, I didn’t know where to look.
“If you’ve got time, come by sometime. You’re a friend, so I won’t treat you poorly.”
“Yeah! Yu-seong’s mom makes this dish called ‘cheonggukjang’ and it’s super delicious!”

“Cheong…?”
“It’s not what you’re thinking, so calm down. Karen.”
Karen, who had momentarily made a face like a cat staring into the void, returned to normal as I reassured her. Then I glanced at the wall clock.

While we’d been chattering, lunch break was almost over.
Students who had visited from other classes during free time were starting to head back to their rooms, so we said goodbye to Karen.
“Well, good luck with career counseling.”

“You too, Karen.”
~♪
Soon, the familiar bell tone flowed from the speakers, signaling the start of fifth period.

***
At Ichijo Academy, periods five and six on Wednesdays were set aside for self-development.
Typically, students just did self-study during this time, but it was also used for things like career counseling or guest lectures from outside instructors.

Just as the class president had written on the board at lunch, it seemed today’s plan was career counseling. As soon as fifth period began, students were called out one by one in order to head to the second-year faculty room.
‘Then I’m last, huh.’
I didn’t really have anything to study, so I spent the time reading the Jump magazine Rika had already finished and passed to me.

From what I observed, each student took at least five minutes, up to eight. Even when they tried to keep it short, conversations naturally ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) ran long sometimes—it couldn’t be helped.
But there were 26 students in class, and if each got 5 minutes, that totaled 150 minutes.
Even if you used the ten-minute breaks between periods, there physically wasn’t enough time. Some sessions would inevitably have to be rushed.

“Sakamoto, you’re up next.”
By the time it was number 11, Sakamoto Ryuji’s turn, fifth period had ended and sixth had just begun.
That meant my turn would come no sooner than 80 minutes later—meaning I’d definitely be late to the student council meeting that began in seventh period.

Not knowing what Saionji or Akagi would say, I figured I should stop by the student council room after sixth period to explain I might be late due to career counseling.
***
“Right. With your grades, you should be able to get into your target university. I’ll be cheering for you, so let’s work hard together.”

“Yes!”
After two grueling hours, Mizuki finally wrapped up the counseling session for student number 25, Yaguchi Maiya. She slumped against her desk in exhaustion.
‘It’s already 3:10. Seventh period will start soon.’

Only one student remained.
But for a rookie teacher like Mizuki, this last one might as well have been the final boss.
‘You can do it, Nanae! You’ve got this!’

To steel herself, she slapped her own cheeks and then fixed her gaze on the faculty office door, where Kim Yu-seong would soon enter.
From beyond the hallway, footsteps began to echo.
Click!

The moment he opened the door and stepped inside, it felt as if the temperature in the faculty office dropped by about three degrees.
“W-welcome.”
Mizuki lifted her head with the most cheerful smile she could manage.

‘Huh? Huh? Huh?’
But her gaze kept going up. And up.
She’d only ever seen him standing behind the podium, so she hadn’t realized how tall he actually was. Flustered, she watched as he slowly approached her.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Mizuki couldn’t tell if the sound pounding in her ears was her heartbeat or Kim Yu-seong’s heavy footsteps.
But one thing was certain: her past self had no idea what she was getting into.

‘No waaaayyyyy!’
She wanted to run away immediately.