I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

After the first period, which was Ms. Mizuki Nanae’s Practical English class, the students of the class swarmed around Sasha.
Perhaps out of consideration for her status as an exchange student, she had been seated right next to the class president—but as a bombardment of questions flew at her from all sides, the flustered class president hastily slipped away.

“How did you learn Japanese?”
“I taught myself by watching anime.”
“Are you fully Russian? Or half Japanese?”

“I am a proud daughter of Russia.”
“What do your parents do?”
“My father runs a company, and my mother supports him.”

“Was it true when you said earlier that you liked Kim-kun?”
“It’s true. He helped me a lot, and he’s stronger than my ideal man—my father.”
Wait, that last answer sounds like it could really be misunderstood…

As I flinched and twitched at my seat, the students gathered around Sasha started whispering.
“Again with Kim Yu-seong.”
“So Kishimoto and Tojo weren’t enough—now he’s adding another girl?”

“I heard he’s also got something going on with the Student Council President.”
“She said he’s stronger than her dad—does that mean he already fought Sasha’s father?”
“Kim Yu-seong… what a scary guy…”

Stop it! You’re just adding more weird rumors again!
I’m telling you, there’s nothing going on between me and her!
Just when I thought I was finally shaking off my bad image, I was being smeared in an even more absurd way.

I glanced to my side with a pleading expression at Rika, who gave me a narrowed stare and said,
“Ryu-chan, looks like you seduced another girl while I was gone?”
“Wait, it’s not like that!”
“That’s the line rom-com protagonists use the most, you know.”

“……”
I had no rebuttal—because it was true.
How did I end up like this?

All the attention that should have been going to Sakamoto Ryuji was now being directed at me.
If I think of it as the price for altering the original plot, I guess it's still a cheap price to pay, but... isn’t this a complete reversal of roles?
I was pondering that while reading the latest Jump in my hands when it happened.

“Everyone, sit down. Class is starting.”
Our homeroom teacher, Mr. Matsuda, opened the classroom door and stepped in.
Thanks ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ to his well-timed entrance, the attention on me instantly decreased, and I was finally able to breathe again. I even felt a little grateful to him as I prepared for the lesson.

Since midterms were coming up, I had to focus even more during class.
Most teachers would start throwing out test hints around this time.
“This part will be on the exam, so make sure to remember it.”

***
After the long morning classes, it was finally lunchtime.
“Kim Yu-seong! Been good?!”

Karen burst into our classroom like usual, smiling brightly as she asked.
It felt like I hadn’t seen her in a while.
Which made sense, since it actually had been quite some time.

Seeing Karen casually throw her arm over my shoulder, Sasha, who had just gotten up from her seat, slowly approached and said,
“Sorry, but could you move away from him?”
“Huh? Who do you think you are?”

Then Sasha smiled and placed a hand on her chest.
“I’m going to be Kim Yu-seong’s girlfriend.”
Karen blinked a few times in confusion, then suddenly exploded in anger.

“Don’t make me laugh! Kim Yu-seong is Rika’s boyfriend! What nonsense are you spouting when you just met him?!”
Hearing Karen’s outburst, the class immediately broke into murmurs.
“So they were really a thing?”

“No wonder she changed seats after just a week.”
I was used to this kind of situation by now, and I opened my mouth to clarify what Karen had just said—but Rika beat me to it by a fraction of a second.
“Haa? Ryu-chan and I are not in that kind of relationship! What are you talking about all of a sudden, Karen-chan?!”

Now it was Karen’s turn to be flustered.
“What? You two aren’t dating?”
“Ryu-chan and I are just normal friends.”

“No way… so I’ve been misunderstanding this whole time…”
As the two of them talked, Sasha suddenly came over and linked arms with me.
“So that means I can have him, right?”

Rika snapped.
“Hold on! Can you not move the conversation forward all by yourself while we’re still talking?!”
“In Russia, there’s a saying. The bear that wakes early catches the salmon.”

“That has nothing to do with this!”
“…Even crabs need a chance…”
I don’t even know what’s happening anymore.

I looked toward Satoru, who was sitting up front eating lunch with the other guys, silently pleading for help.
Satoru must’ve felt my gaze, because he turned around, looked at the situation, and muttered while eating a potato:
“You’re screwed. Normie.”

Why?!
***
In the end, I spent today’s lunch surrounded by the three original heroines—Rika, Karen, and Sasha.

Blue, yellow, and red hair… it was like a traffic light of coloring.
Even after we finished eating in the school cafeteria, Karen and Sasha, who had clashed from the start, growled at each other like cats and dogs and quickly dispersed as soon as the bell rang.
People say that guys become friends through fighting—but I’m not sure if that logic applies to girls.

Well, if they keep seeing each other, I guess they’ll get along eventually.
Anyway, time passed quickly, and it was already 6th period.
Monday’s 6th period was P.E., so the entire class changed into gym uniforms and headed to the field.

Our P.E. teacher, Mr. Ōnuma, stood at the front with a completely unmotivated expression.
“Uh… yeah, so today we’re doing a simple physical fitness test, and then we’ll split into two teams for dodgeball. If anyone’s not feeling well, let me know in advance and I’ll excuse you.”
But although a few kids glanced around, no one raised their hand.

“Okay, we’ll start with the boys’ fitness test. Everyone move to the track.”
Following Mr. Ōnuma’s lead, the boys of Class 2-B shuffled over to the track.
As we lined up in two rows by gender, Mr. Ōnuma scanned us—and when our eyes met, he flinched.

“Uh… Kim-kun? Could you zip up your gym jacket, please?”
“Sorry, sir. It’s too small, the zipper won’t go up.”
When I bowed slightly and said that, Mr. Ōnuma muttered, “Ah, really? Well… if that’s the case, nothing I can do,” and looked away.

“We’ll start with the 50-meter sprint. Line up in attendance order.”
“Yes, sir!”
“First up… Akagi Shun.”

Following his call, a boy with a short haircut stepped onto the track.
That was Akagi Shun, the student with the earliest number among the boys in our class.
Maybe conscious of the girls watching from behind, he pulled up his collar to his chin and struck the coolest face he could as he took a crouching start position.

After confirming that he was ready, the teacher gave the signal.
“Ready… Go!”
Beep!

As the stopwatch was pressed, Akagi launched forward.
He moved smoothly from his crouch into a sprint, clearly used to physical activity.
He completed the 50 meters in an instant, then swaggered back and asked the teacher,

“Sensei, what was my time?”
“7.38 seconds. Right on the average.”
Akagi blushed and returned to his seat.

As expected, how fast it feels and how fast it actually is are two very different things.
***
The 50-meter sprint continued one by one after that.

Beep!
Mr. Ōnuma finally made a sound of genuine surprise.
“Impressive. That’s almost a pro-level time.”

The one who stood out most among the boys was none other than the protagonist, Sakamoto Ryuji, who managed to break into the 6-second range—the only one to do so—maintaining his pride as a rom-com lead.
“Sakamoto-kun’s kind of cool, isn’t he?”
“Right? You think so too? Honestly, his face is above average.”

“Maybe I’ll try hitting on him later.”
As the girls whispered praise, Sakamoto walked back to his seat. He didn’t look particularly pleased, but that wasn’t really my concern.
Since I was last among the boys, I sat quietly on the grass, waiting my turn. Just before me, Satoru clocked 7.18 seconds and returned in high spirits.

“……”
Suddenly, things felt a little quiet.
Whenever we do stuff like this, I feel like everyone gets too focused on me—and honestly, I wish they’d tone it down a bit.

Even being the center of attention isn’t all that comfortable.
After doing some light stretching, I stepped onto the track. Mr. Ōnuma approached me with a serious expression.
“Please… just don’t destroy the track.”

“I’ll show mercy.”
If I went all out here, it wouldn’t just be the track—I'd end up drawing attention from the entire school. So I decided to hold back as much as possible.
Since I had fully recovered after resting during Golden Week, I was in top shape—but thanks to the aftereffects of the red pill, I’d learned how to suppress my physical abilities to normal levels.

“Ready…”
The moment I heard that, I tensed my loosened thigh muscles.
To reduce air resistance even a little, I leaned my upper body forward.

As I prepared to sprint, Mr. Ōnuma gulped and pressed the stopwatch.
Beep!
“Sta…”

In that moment, I became a gust of wind.
“…rt!”
Tap.

And just like that, the sprint was over.
I glanced back and asked,
“Sensei, what was my time?”

“Huh? Uh, let’s see… 5.38 seconds.”
Fortunately, it was just a little above average.