I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

“Welcome back, Master!”
It was a line that gave me a strong sense of déjà vu.

Suppressing the visceral revulsion and secondhand embarrassment I felt, I stepped into the café. The interior hadn’t changed much since my last visit two months ago, and it welcomed me back just the same.
Leading the way inside, Senior Fuma spoke to one of the maids who had just finished clearing a vacated table.

“Manager, this is the guy I mentioned before—Kim Yu-seong.”
“Oh my, the one who supposedly defeated the Destruction God?”
As she said that and turned her head, I recognized the familiar face.

“Ah.”
It was the black-haired maid who had guided Sasha and me the last time we were here.
She seemed to recognize me too, covering her mouth with her palm in surprise.

“You’re the one who came last time…”
I hurriedly bowed my head and replied.
“My name is Kim Yu-seong.”

“I’m Fuma Kaori.”
“Wait, Fuma?”
Hearing the familiar surname, I turned my head, and Senior Fuma nodded as she said,

“The manager is my cousin. To be more accurate, every single maid working in this café is a former kunoichi from the Fuma clan.”
Hearing such significant information, I glanced around the café.
“Repeat after me! Make it tasty~ make it tasty~ moe moe kyun♡”

“D-Don’t get the wrong idea! It’s not like I brought this to you because I like you or anything!”
“Oh my, do you really want to try the cake I baked? You’re so adorable.”
“Listen to my song, nya!”
All of these people—ninjas?

I felt my mind going blank.
***
Senior Fuma led me to a room deeper inside the café.

A single metal table stood in the middle, and the walls were lined with cabinets. It seemed to be a break room used by the maids.
“Have a seat. What do you want to drink? We’ve got tea, coffee, juice, soda, whatever you’d like.”
“I’ll have a cider, please.”

“Got it.”
Senior Fuma told me to wait a moment, then closed the door and left.
Left alone, I sat there awkwardly with nothing to do, so I pulled out my smartphone.

Normally, my messenger would’ve been dead quiet since I didn’t have many friends, but now it was filled with messages from my junior, Nao.
I was reading them one by one and replying when—
Bang!

“Ah! That was so damn fun!”
Another maid appeared—one I felt like I’d seen somewhere before.
Brown hair fluttering in the wind, a cat-ear headband, and an apron with paw print designs.

A cigarette dangling from her mouth, she had likely come into the break room without thinking. When her eyes met mine as I sat there, she froze like a statue.
“Huh? Uhh? T-This area is off-limits to non-staff, nya?”
Spitting out the cigarette in a hurry, she tried to make excuses, but just then, Senior Fuma returned and asked with a puzzled voice,

“What are you doing by the door, Hyoneko-unnie?”
The cat maid, Hyoneko, quickly clung to her.
“Help me, Yukika!”

“……?”
Senior Fuma’s gaze asked, “What happened?”
I shook my head and quietly pointed at the cigarette on the floor.

When she saw it, Senior Fuma’s eyebrows furrowed.
***
“You used to be the vocalist of an indie band?”

“That’s right.”
Hyoneko confessed openly, her expression calm.
She had come to Tokyo from the countryside with dreams of becoming a singer, but that dream and her passion weren’t enough to survive in a city with such a cold heart.

So when she didn’t have live gigs, she worked part-time at this café run by her cousin to make ends meet.
Well, everyone’s just trying to survive. It’s not something anyone can fault her for.
When I told her I’d pretend I hadn’t seen anything, Hyoneko looked at me with a deeply moved face.

“You… you’re such a good guy!”
Then she looked at Senior Fuma and said,
“Yukika! Make sure to hold on to him! Guys like this aren’t easy to find!”

“Wh-What are you even saying all of a sudden, you dumb unnie?!”
Blushing furiously, Senior Fuma cleared her throat with a loud “Ahem! Ahem!” and looked at me again.
“Anyway, the reason I called you here today is because I’ve finally finished preparing to tell you about the underworld.”

At her serious tone, I straightened up.
It was a story about the world of that I didn’t know—so I couldn’t afford to miss a single word.
Clunk!

Senior Fuma stood and retrieved a package from her cabinet, stamped with international postage.
She untied the string securing it and took a deep breath before pulling out the item inside.
“This is called a ‘Hunwon Mirror’. It’s a tool that shows the nature of a person’s energy (ki) when they look into it.”

Hyoneko chimed in from the side.
“It was invented during China’s Ming Dynasty, but there are barely any people even in the homeland who can make it now. It’s really hard to get.”
“Is this why you said it would take a while to prepare?”

Senior Fuma nodded at my question.
“Getting permission from the elders back home was one thing, but obtaining this mirror itself wasn’t easy.”
Saying that, Senior Fuma handed me the Hunwon Mirror.

“Go ahead and touch it once. You’ll be able to feel the ki inside your body.”
Nodding nervously, I reached out and carefully touched the mirror.
Thump!

At that moment, my quiet heart pulsed loudly.
It felt similar to when I had taken the red pill Senior Fuma gave me before.
But this was a little different.

When I fought Ivan, Sasha’s father, it felt like my whole body was a boiling volcano. This time, it was more like a dormant one—calm but warm.
I felt a tingling in my chest and a gentle warmth moving through my body.
This must be the “ki” she was talking about.

As she watched me quietly from the side, Senior Fuma finally spoke.
“Kim Yu-seong, you were born with a ‘Polar Yang Body’.”
“Polar Yang Body…?”

“In simple terms, it means you produce much more yang energy than the average person. In yin-yang theory, yang represents masculinity. So for someone like you to become such a powerful fighter at a young age, your constitution played a major role.”
Hearing her words, my head started to spin.
< Scramble Love > was supposed to be a romantic comedy world, but there were hidden backstories like something out of a martial arts manga?

It was far beyond what I had vaguely imagined.
“Normally, people need long years of harsh training to handle ki. But during your fight with Ivan, the Destruction God of Russia, you handled your inner ki freely. Even with the help of the Spirit Pill, that’s something no ordinary person could ever do.”
“Um… what exactly is this ‘ki’ you’re talking about?”

“It’s a power that originates from the soul—what most people call a spirit. In the underworld, people who manipulate this ki are called martial artists.”
Thanks to watching lots of anime and manga, I could sort of follow what she meant.
“I think I understand what you’re saying. But what does my ability to use ki have to do with this underworld you’re telling me about?”

Senior Fuma nodded.
“The underworld is a society built by those who wield ki. All the historical figures and great men you’ve heard of were deeply connected to this world from the very beginning. That’s how they held such power.”
So there really had been a secret force ruling from the shadows, completely unknown to ordinary people?

It felt like something straight out of a shounen manga.
“Kim Yu-seong, you are, without a doubt, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ an ordinary person. But because you now possess strength beyond imagination, you can no longer remain one. That shift happened the day you defeated Ivan, the Destruction God.”
“But you told me yourself that the power I showed that day was only temporary.”

Senior Fuma nodded.
“That’s true. But to those who saw it, that doesn’t matter. What matters to them is that you defeated Ivan and ascended as a divine being of the underworld.”
“So you’re saying…?”

“Those seeking honor and power will start coming after you. If they can defeat the one who defeated Ivan, they can prove they are the strongest.”
At the time, I had fought only to survive.
But now that act was becoming a boomerang aiming right at my neck.

“Then what should I do now?”
Senior Fuma answered with a firm tone.
“Become strong—so strong that no one can ever touch you.”

“That’s easier said than done.”
“Of course. Just going to the gym like you do now isn’t enough to beat the real monsters out there. That’s why I want to make you an offer.”
“…What kind of offer?”

Senior Fuma took a deep breath, then looked straight into my eyes and said:
“Kim Yu-seong, become the successor of Fuma-ryu Assassination Fist.”