I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

After the boys' short-distance sprint ended, the girls' measurements began shortly after.
If the average time for the boys was in the 7-second range, then for the girls, it was somewhere between 8 and 9 seconds.
Well, it was inevitable that boys were faster than girls, but there were exceptions among them.

That was none other than the Russian exchange student Sasha, who had transferred today.
Beep!
"6.43 seconds!"

Ooooooooh!
Both boys and girls let out gasps of admiration upon hearing her time.
That was because she crossed the finish line only 0.02 seconds behind Sakamoto Ryuji, who was the fastest in the class aside from me.

As everyone showered her with praise, Sasha proudly tossed her long straight hair back over her shoulder, chin held high.
"Hmph, of course. I’m perfect."
Had it been anyone else, that kind of behavior might have come off as arrogant—but when she did it, it somehow looked like a painting.

Anyway, once the physical fitness tests for boys and girls ended, we used the remaining time to split the 26 students of Class 2-B in half and play dodgeball.
Surely, dodgeball is one of the few sports ideal for full class participation.
If we did partner exercises or sports where only a few excelled, we'd definitely end up with deserters who’d lose motivation.

Two students, one boy and one girl, were chosen by Ōnuma-sensei to represent the class and take turns picking team members via rock-paper-scissors. The teams were quickly divided.
Team A and Team B.
I was assigned to Team A, and the protagonist Sakamoto Ryuji ended up on Team B.

"Kim-kun, I’ll be counting on you."
"Huh? Uh, sure."
The kids who normally didn’t even bother talking to me started treating me like the team ace just because we were on the same team.
"If Kim Yu-seong is on our team, it's an easy win, honestly."

"He’s the scariest opponent but the most reassuring ally."
The bald trio—ever the comic relief—muttered and nodded their heads in agreement.
Only two of them said anything, by the way, because the third one ended up on the opposing team.

For reference, Rika and Satoru were also on Team B.
"Let’s do our best."
"…Yeah."

Sasha, who had ended up on the same team as me somehow, said that as she patted my shoulder.
Maybe because she had a model-like frame over 170cm tall, but there wasn’t much of a height difference between us.
Thus began the dodgeball game.

"Everyone, scatter!"
Following the command of our class rep—who acted as both the leader and brain of our team—everyone spread out.
Since Team B had the first move, now was the most dangerous time to get hit by a blind shot and be knocked out.

"Kyaaaah!"
As expected, one of the girls got hit by the ball and was immediately out.
Now it was our turn to attack.

One of the bald trio picked up the ball from the floor and began to make a big show, spinning his body dramatically.
"This is my power pitch!"
The ball flew straight toward a clustered group and struck someone on the shoulder, bouncing and knocking out two people at once.

"Osshaaaaa!"
Baldie #1 jumped with joy at his unexpected contribution.
As the turns continued back and forth, the pace of the game started picking up.

Team B seemed to think that if they gave me the ball, someone would absolutely get eliminated, so none of them targeted me.
Instead, they focused on steadily reducing our numbers by aiming at others nearby.
We did fight back, but Team B had more athletic members overall, so they managed to retain more players.

Just like that, Team A’s numbers quickly dwindled.
"Kh! Damn it!"
The last baldie, who had been doing well enough, shouted in frustration as he was taken out by one of Team B’s side attackers. That left only 5 members on Team A.

In contrast, Team B still had 8 players.
Clearly, Team A was at a disadvantage now.
That is, aside from me.

With most of our team out, I had more freedom to move around, so I began to warm up.
Seeing this, the other team began to stir.
"…He’s finally moving. The Academy’s strongest."

"Don’t panic! We’ve got more people!"
"Focus on hitting the ones behind him, avoid Kim Yu-seong!"
It seemed Team B planned to stick with their current strategy.

And that was the correct choice.
If they threw the ball at me, I’d just catch it and launch a counterattack.
Soon, one of their attackers let out a yell and hurled the dodgeball.

"Uryaaah!"
Their target was our class rep hiding in the corner.
I had thought it was impressive she’d survived this long, but considering her total lack of athleticism, there was a high chance she’d fail to dodge this time.

"Hmph!"
Standing in the center and observing the situation, I moved.
Pop!!

The ball that had been flying toward the rep stopped in my hand.
And once the ball was in my grasp, the turn belonged to our team.
I added a spin to ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) it and immediately aimed at Rika, who was hiding behind one of our teammates.

"Kyaaah!"
"There it is! The Snake Shot!"
"Damn it! I thought that was only possible in tennis!"

With that, Rika was out, and the ball returned to the opponent’s side.
This time, Team B’s ace, Sakamoto Ryuji, grabbed the ball and leapt high into the air.
I instinctively looked up to follow him—but the sunlight pouring straight down caused me to squint reflexively.

"There it is! Solar Flare!"
"Dammit! I thought only bald guys could use that!"
The dodgeball flew toward me at high speed.

Still squinting from the sunlight, I started to stretch out my right arm to reflexively snatch the ball, but—
"MY BALL!"
Someone suddenly leapt out from behind me.

I saw the familiar back and shouted without thinking.
"Sasha!"
Pop!!

Sasha caught the dodgeball that Sakamoto had thrown with both hands and instantly countered.
"Graaaah!"
One of the boys behind Sakamoto was hit and taken out just like that.

With a clean counterattack, Sasha turned and gave me a thumbs-up.
I nodded at the truly reliable sight and turned my eyes toward the enemy field.
Now it was 5:6.

The match was finally getting interesting again.
***
Sakamoto Ryuji felt a creeping anxiety over the failure of his trump card, Solar Flare.

‘What now? I didn’t expect there’d be a dark horse other than Kim Yu-seong.’
That Alexandra-something who transferred today.
He’d taken note of her during the 50-meter sprint earlier too. Her overall physical ability seemed no worse than an average adult male.

Team A currently had 5 people left.
Team B still had 6.
The male-to-female ratio still favored Team B, meaning they had the advantage in raw power—but on the other side was that Kim Yu-seong, plus an unexpectedly powerful Alexandra-something.

Sakamoto turned to ask Momochi Satoru, who had gone to the same middle school and was now beside him.
"Hey, Momochi. Got any ideas on how to beat Kim Yu-seong?"
In response, Momochi Satoru—who had always been treated like the class info broker—pushed up his glasses with his middle finger and said:

"From what I know, there’s no way. Yu-seong is both the strongest attacker and the strongest defender."
"…Then why the hell are you acting like you're cool?"
"Because that’s the rule."

Sakamoto stared at Momochi, who was quoting the sexy line of some politician famous for being fun and cool, and decided he needed to keep a level head.
No matter what, Kim Yu-seong was still human—made of flesh, like him.
There had to be at least one weakness.

As he scanned the enemy team for an opening—
「Kukuku, do you desire power?」
A familiar voice suddenly echoed in his head.

Sakamoto flinched and frantically looked around, but the Egyptian ghost—whom he’d gotten somewhat used to—was nowhere to be seen.
As if teasing him, the voice once again whispered in his ear.
「I reside within you now, contractor. And do not make me repeat myself. If you desire power, I shall lend it to you. The power to defeat that man, Kim Yu-seong.」

The seductive voice of the Black Pharaoh was like a devil’s temptation.
Clutching the dodgeball in his hand, Sakamoto asked in a low voice:
"…What’s the catch?"

「Lend me your body for a short while. I simply wish to test myself against a man who possesses a Tut-Ra of great warrior class.」
Sakamoto calculated the risk.
What would happen if he let Mahes borrow his body here—and what would happen if he didn’t?

‘If I let him take over, I can beat Kim Yu-seong. And maybe I’ll win the ice cream bet too.’
The class had never been this enthusiastic about dodgeball because the losing team had agreed to buy the winners one ice cream each.
‘On the other hand, if I lose, the risk is that my already thin wallet gets even thinner.’

He had recently bought a newly released game, so his monthly allowance from his parents was in a pretty precarious state.
As an older brother, he couldn’t bring himself to ask his little sister for money—so he had no choice but to endure with what he had left.
"Fine. Deal."

「…Deal? Don’t use difficult words all of a sudden. I’m a man from thousands of years ago.」
"It means I accept the trade."
「Very well. Then the contract is sealed here and now.」

The moment Sakamoto accepted Mahes’s offer, the ghost that had lain dormant within his body seeped into his flesh.
As he relinquished control, Sakamoto Ryuji closed his eyes for a moment—then reopened them with a completely different aura and muttered:
"From this moment on, it is my time."

It was the moment when, overhearing those words by chance, Momochi Satoru gave birth to a new nickname:
“Dark Ryuji.”