I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

Sakamoto's atmosphere suddenly changed.
And as if to prove that the feeling wasn’t just in our heads, his movements became much faster than before.

‘Was he holding back this whole time?’
With a dodgeball that flew in like a bullet, one of the team members who had been sticking out in front was instantly taken out.
"Graaaah!"

"Damn it! What the hell is that speed?!"
The members of Team A were thrown into confusion.
But Sakamoto, as if everything until now had been mere warm-up, calmly stretched his arms and legs with a leisurely attitude.

Perhaps instinctively frightened by the sight, a male student on his team threw the dodgeball not at Sakamoto, but at someone else behind him.
"Too slow."
But Sakamoto, standing in the center of the court, not only intercepted the ball mid-air as it flew toward the back—but also launched an immediate counterattack at one of our male teammates, showing off a high-level technique.

He looked like a tyrant ruling the court!
"What the—!"
Team A, which had five members left, was now down to three in an instant.

With only Sasha, the class rep, and me remaining on the field, an awkward silence settled—until Team B’s eliminated players, acting as outfielders, cheered from behind us, sensing victory was near.
"Kyaaaaaah! So cool!"
"We believed in you, Sakamoto!"

As the cheers poured in, Sakamoto puffed out his chest and confidently declared, as if it were only natural:
"Of course. I am the strongest warrior."
And just like that, the mood froze as if someone had poured cold water.

"'I am'? 'Strongest warrior'?"
"This is kind of cringe. Still talking like that with middle school syndrome at his age?"
The class’s opinion of Sakamoto plummeted at lightning speed.
At this point, I realized something was definitely off—but I couldn’t figure out why the protagonist, Sakamoto, was suddenly acting like this.

That’s when Sasha, behind me, whispered quietly.
"This might be a dangerous situation."
"What? What do you mean?"

I looked to the side, confused, and Sasha, glancing slightly toward Sakamoto in the opposing field, answered in a low voice.
"I can roughly sense how strong people are. And that guy's gotten way stronger than before. At least B-rank Fighter level."
"How strong is B-rank supposed to be?"

"That Captain Boris you fought last time—he’s A-rank."
Once she explained that, I got a clear sense of just how strong Sakamoto had become.
As expected of the protagonist?

It was only just after Golden Week, right at the start of the new school year, and he was already massively powered up.
"To be thinking of something else with me in front of you… you’ve got guts."
As I stood lost in thought, Sakamoto suddenly said that while glaring at me with a combative look in his eyes.

He seemed to be burning with a desire to fight me.
I didn’t know how things had come to this, but at this point, it seemed I had no choice but to face him.
I picked up a dodgeball that had rolled across the floor.

Cool and heavy to the touch.
In the past, I’d always given up on ball sports because I couldn’t control my strength, but now I felt like I could at least manage.
Holding my breath, I tossed the ball high into the air.

Then I jumped up and smashed it with a powerful spike.
BOOM!!
With a loud noise, one of Team B’s remaining players was blown backward by the hit.

I’d adjusted the force just enough, so they shouldn’t be hurt.
But judging from the expressions of the others, they didn’t seem to see it that way. They looked on in horror, muttering:
"Was that real…?"

"I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!"
It looked like some of them were slipping into panic.
The student who had actually been hit got up, rubbing his stomach, and mumbled with a dazed look:

"I’m… alive?"
Come on, it was just dodgeball—what are you even talking about?
Anyway, the ball rolled back to Team B’s side, and Sakamoto, who picked it up after one of his teammates had been eliminated, muttered to himself with an amused tone:

"So it’s not gonna be easy after all."
With a look burning with competitive spirit, he threw the ball once again.
This time, he aimed for the class rep, who was hiding in the corner.

Sasha, standing behind me, quickly dove in to block it—but the ball suddenly twisted at an unnatural angle, hit the class rep, then bounced off and struck Sasha’s right arm as well, scoring a double kill in one move.
This was now clearly a one-sided battle.
Because I was the only one left.

But in another sense, it meant the shackles that had been holding me back were finally gone.
"Sorry, Yu-seong. I couldn’t stay with you until the end."
As Sasha walked off with the class rep, I shrugged and said:

"Don’t worry. I’ll avenge you in no time."
***
What started as a simple dodgeball game over ice cream was now heating up more and more with each passing moment.

It looked like Team A was about to be wiped out thanks to Sakamoto Ryuji’s sudden middle-school-syndrome-fueled power spike—but Kim Yu-seong, the last remaining member, was simply impossible to break through.
As members of Team B also began to fall one by one, it finally came down to a one-on-one showdown between the two.
The eliminated students of Class 2-B watched nervously as the titanic clash unfolded.

Was it Sakamoto Ryuji the ‘spear’?
Or Kim Yu-seong the ‘shield’?
The boys were busy arguing over that very topic when—

While the match continued, the class rep—who had been periodically checking her wristwatch—suddenly shouted.
"Three minutes until break! Only three minutes left!"
Hearing that, Mahes thought:

‘It’s about time to end this.’
He was reluctant.
If it were up to him, he would’ve liked to spend the whole evening crossing swords with the warrior before him.

Even if he was only borrowing his contractor’s body to fight, facing a strong opponent like Kim Yu-seong made him feel as if he’d returned to life.
Rough breaths, pounding heartbeat.
They hadn’t exchanged a single word, yet they had already acknowledged each other as warriors.

So Mahes, as one warrior to another, decided to put everything into this final blow as an expression of his deepest respect.
"Here I come!!"
He threw the ball high into the air.

At the same time, he sprinted forward and leapt.
It was a replication of the move his contractor had used earlier.
But added to this attack was another technique: a different application of the Tut-Ra he had honed as a warrior of Atum-Ra.

Fwoosh!
The white dodgeball, with the sun at its back, caught fire.
The spectators gasped in horror at the sight—but Mahes, already in a state of perfect focus, heard nothing.

BANG!!
Using his entire palm, he smashed the ball in a massive spike.
Wrapped in flames, the dodgeball shot forward like a comet.

And Kim Yu-seong caught it—barehanded.
"Kh!"
The spin, the fire, and the overwhelming power caused Yu-seong’s massive body to be pushed backward helplessly.

But he didn’t fall.
He endured.
And because of that, the climactic fireball shot ended in failure.

Mahes felt some regret that he hadn’t broken through Yu-seong’s defense—but he told himself it was okay, since now it was his turn to defend against Yu-seong’s counterattack.
"It’s your turn now."
Kim Yu-seong readied his throwing form.

Sakamoto Ryuji, who had lent his body to Mahes and was watching from within, shouted in panic.
「Wait! Can we actually block that?!」
"No problem. With my Pharaoh martial arts and your karate combined—"

「It’s not karate, it’s jujutsu! And quit saying stuff that makes my skin crawl!」
Letting Sakamoto’s screams go in one ear and out the other, Mahes spread his arms wide and bent his upper body slightly, ready to receive Yu-seong’s final strike.
And then—

BEEEEP!
"Foul."
"Huh?"

Mahes blinked, confused, and looked toward Ōnuma-sensei, who had suddenly interrupted.
Ōnuma-sensei scratched his head with a tired look and shoved a red card at Mahes, who just stood there blankly.
"Setting school property on fire is taking it too far, no matter how intense the game gets. Come to the gym office after this, Sakamoto."

"……."
A sudden and unexpected decision.
Team A’s victory.

All because Mahes hadn’t fully understood the rules of the game.
And so, the first real battle between the two ended anticlimactically due to a completely unforeseen variable.
***

After sixth period, Sakamoto—who had been summoned to the gym office—came back to class and immediately spoke to me.
"Uh… I’m sorry!"
I stared blankly at the back of the protagonist, who suddenly clasped his hands and apologized with no context whatsoever.

Sorry for what? Did this guy even do anything to apologize for?
As I played twenty questions in my head trying to figure out the reason, Sakamoto, now back to his usual self, awkwardly scratched his cheek and said:
"I got too fired up and broke the rules without realizing. I just wanted to apologize for that first."

Was he talking about the fireball shot?
I mean, can you even just set a ball on fire because you feel like it?
Well, I decided to accept his apology for now.

Otherwise, these curious stares pointed our way probably wouldn’t go away.
"If it’s about that, it’s fine. You don’t have to be so sorry about it."
Sakamoto looked at me with a deeply moved expression.

"Kim-kun, you’re actually a really good guy, huh."
"What?"
I had no idea how the conversation had gone in that direction.

But regardless of my baffled look, Sakamoto thanked me for forgiving him and beamed brightly as he held out a fist.
"Today was fun! Let’s hang out again sometime if ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) you’ve got the time!"
"Uh… sure."

Somehow, I felt like I’d been overwhelmed by his energy.
But I couldn’t very well say something mean to his face, so I hesitantly bumped his fist—and Sakamoto returned to his designated seat by the window, looking genuinely happy.
…Is this okay?

That was the first thought that came to mind.
Somehow, I had the feeling that after today, he’d be the one to approach me first from now on.