I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

My name is Sakamoto Ryuji.

I’m a completely ordinary high school student who just turned 17 this year.
During Golden Week, I had the rare opportunity to travel to Egypt at the invitation of my parents, who are archaeologists.
But what awaited me there was the tomb of an unnamed pharaoh, discovered in the Valley of the Kings.

Resurrected warrior mummies!
A life-or-death battle!
In order to protect my little sister, who got caught in a despicable trap set by tomb robbers, I willingly threw myself into the desert sands—only to find the stone coffin of a pharaoh from an unknown era waiting for me.

While trying to escape from the secret chamber where the pharaoh's coffin was enshrined, I accidentally touched a cat-headed ornament while pressing various parts of the wall.
'Who dares disturb My eternal rest!?'
A muscular ghost with brown skin and black hair suddenly appeared before my eyes.

The ghost turned out to be the pharaoh and owner of the tomb. After hearing my explanation, he grew enraged and asked to borrow my body.
So I lent him my body, and together we defeated the tomb robbers and rescued my parents and little sister who had been captured.
That part was fine.

But what I never expected was that the pharaoh's ghost would cling to my body and follow me all the way back to Japan.
'In My time, a pharaoh was not only the ruler of a nation, but also the strongest warrior. Thousands of years have passed since then—surely many powerful warriors must have been born in this world by now.'
Burning with competitive spirit, he said he wanted to fight the strong outside the tomb.

'Sakamoto Ryuji! Form a contract with Me! If you grant My wish, I shall promise you happiness in the afterlife!'
Overwhelmed by his intensity, I ended up agreeing to the contract before I even realized it.
And so, my peaceful daily life was completely ruined by the sudden appearance of a pharaoh’s ghost.

***
I had a dream.
I couldn’t quite remember the details, but I was sure it was the pharaoh’s memory, not mine.
He was offering a ritual in what looked like a wide, open oasis.

“…Brother!”
I slowly opened my eyes to the faint sound of my little sister’s voice and the sensation of someone shaking my shoulder.
As always, my little sister Yuika had come to wake me up, standing at my bedside in her school uniform, looking down at me.

“If you don’t get up soon, you’re gonna be late again.”
'Your sister is right. You’re far too lazy, My contractor.'
Seeing the brown-skinned pharaoh nodding next to my sister, I wiped my face dry and sat up.

“…Thanks.”
What a horrible morning.
***

I had gone to Egypt for 3 nights and 5 days to visit my parents during Golden Week, and got involved in some kind of incident that caused this pharaoh ghost to attach himself to me.
He said he had forgotten his original name, and asked me to call him “Mahes.” This eccentric ghost of a pharaoh quickly adapted to modern society.
'Ohh! To think people in this era revere cats even in their homes… are they all devotees of the goddess Bastet?'

'My contractor, you cannot become a fine warrior if you’re picky with food. Make sure you eat your vegetables.'
'Don’t turn your clothes inside out when doing laundry. Sort them by color and put them in the basket, My contractor.'
“Shut up! Are you my mom or something?!”

'Hmph. The goddess Bastet’s blessing is both everywhere and nowhere.'
The way he calmly responded with his arms crossed was unbelievably annoying.
After hurriedly eating the breakfast Yuika made, I took a quick shower and got ready for school.

Golden Week had lasted ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) for a full 9 days, so it had been 10 whole days since I last went to school.
I live in Chitose-Funabashi, which is in the Setagaya area.
To get to Minato Ward, where my school is, it takes about 30 minutes by train—so unless I leave home by 7:10, I’ll definitely be late.

Since I didn’t even have time to dry my hair, I just wiped off the moisture with a towel and left the house with Yuika, who was already ready to go.
'The world has become quite wondrous. Iron carriages rolling through the streets, humans flying through the sky despite not being gods…'
If not for the ghost of a pharaoh following me around, I might have believed that I had finally returned to my normal life.

“Ryuji!”
Maiya, who had been waiting in front of the station, spotted me and Yuika from afar and waved happily.
Seeing her, Mahes rubbed his chin and said in a sly tone,

'Is that your woman, contractor? With hips like that and a large chest, she looks like she’d be good at bearing children.'
“I’m not in any sort of relationship with Maiya, okay?!”
“Brother, what’s with you all of a sudden?”

Since Mahes couldn’t be seen by others, Yuika tilted her head in confusion as we walked together.
To any outsider, I probably looked completely insane—so I blushed and stammered to explain.
“Ah? Uh, it’s nothing. Just felt a weird spiritual signal or something.”

“Pfft, what’s that supposed to mean?”
Thankfully, I managed to play it off somehow—but I needed to be more careful not to mess up like that in public again.
After meeting up with my childhood friend Maiya in front of the station, we took the subway toward Minato Ward, where my high school is located.

“Hello, Gorilla-sensei!”
“Who are you calling a gorilla?!”
In front of the school gate, our homeroom teacher and second-year student supervisor, Matsuda, was standing in a tracksuit inspecting students’ uniforms.

“Sakamoto, Yaguchi, welcome back.”
“Good morning, sir. You look even more muscular than usual today.”
“Huhu… you noticed? Over the break, I asked a friend to put me through some hellish training.”

Flexing his biceps as he spoke, the teacher swiftly grabbed a first-year student trying to sneak past him and said,
“Try getting here early like this more often. Wouldn’t that be great?”
“Haha, sorry sir!”

As I bowed and passed through the gate without issue, Mahes, who had been silently observing, suddenly asked,
'That man—was he a warrior? His muscles are no joke.'
“He’s just a teacher who likes working out. He’s thirty-six and still single.”

'That’s… tragic.'
Hearing his age left Mahes speechless, and he covered his mouth with his hand.
Considering the average life expectancy in ancient times, Matsuda-sensei would probably be old enough to have grandchildren by now.

“Brother! See you tonight!”
“Yeah.”
Since the middle school building was separate from the high school, we split up at the fork in the path, and I entered the school building with Maiya.

Class 2-B.
Every time I looked at the nameplate hanging outside the classroom door, it still didn’t feel real that it had already been a month since the new semester started.
Slide—

When I opened the classroom door and stepped inside, the first thing that caught my eye was Kim Yu-seong’s back—broad and wide like the Pacific Ocean.
Every time I saw it, I thought how impressive it looked. I walked over to my desk by the window and sat down, while outside the classroom, Mahes was gazing at the high school girls with a loosened expression—until he suddenly narrowed his eyes and asked me seriously,
'Ryuji, who is that man?'

Following his gaze, I saw that he was referring to Kim Yu-seong, who was sitting in the very back seat by the hallway-side window.
I whispered back,
“That’s Kim Yu-seong, the strongest guy at our school.”

At first, I didn’t have a great impression of him because of the nasty rumors going around, but after meeting him personally, I realized he was unexpectedly a good person.
Most likely, those who didn’t know him were just making assumptions based on his appearance.
He had helped me a lot when I went on a date with Karen from the class next door, so I personally felt quite fond of him.

To be honest, I kind of wanted to call him “Hyung-nim!” just once.
He felt like he’d jumped straight out of an 80s or 90s bancho manga.
Hearing my explanation, Mahes crossed his arms and murmured with interest,

'To think there is still a man in the modern age with that much Tut-Ra.'
“Tut-Ra?”
'It’s an Egyptian term referring to the shape of the sun—in other words, the energy of the sun. The stronger this energy, the closer one was considered to Atum-Ra among ancient Egyptians.'

“Okay… but what about Kim Yu-seong?”
Then Mahes closed his eyes deeply and answered,
'His Tut-Ra is equal to or greater than mine. It’s practically at the level of a great warrior.'

Hearing that, I found myself staring at Kim Yu-seong in a whole new light.
I already knew he was strong, but to be evaluated like that by this macho pharaoh who once took down twenty tomb robbers in a single blow…
'If we actually fought, I would win—but still, the fact that such a powerful person exists in modern times makes My heart pound with anticipation.'

“…Like I said before, you need to hold back for now. I can’t help you until at least two years from now—after I graduate.”
Then Mahes nodded and said,
'Waiting is nothing to Me. Do you realize how many thousands of years I spent in that tomb?'

“Well, good for you. I’m gonna take a nap. Wake me up when Matsuda-sensei arrives.”
'Understood.'
Relieved that I could communicate surprisingly well with this ancient guy, I decided to close my eyes and rest until homeroom began.

…Honestly, at that time, I never could have imagined.
That I would actually end up fighting Kim Yu-seong.