I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

8:00 PM sharp.

The test of courage had finally begun.
My current position was the last of the four scare points arranged along the straight forest path—right before the turnaround point.
Start                       Turnaround

◎──○──○──○──●──◎
Because of the way the route was designed, each pair would pass my spot twice in a short period of time. So the plan was to let them go on their way the first time, and then scare them after they turned around at the handkerchief-tied tree and came back.
If it had been daylight, this would have been a short, 15-minute walk. But now, in the dead of night, deep in the woods filled with insect chirps, it naturally made everyone walk slower.

A boy and a girl walking together, relying on a flashlight as they follow the trail.
The suspension bridge effect sets in. The girl's ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) heart starts pounding, and when the boy shows an unexpectedly dependable side, the girl goes Oh my! and falls for him…
Yeah. I’ve seen this romcom plot before.

Anyway, it looked like it’d still be about ten minutes before the first group arrived, so I hid behind a tree and turned on my phone.
[Senpai, what are you doing?]
[You’re not ignoring your cute underclassman’s messages to hang out with other people at forest school, right?]
[Senpai?]
[Senpai?]
[Senpai?]
Despite being a working actress, Minato kept sending messages like clockwork every ten minutes. I finally replied with: [Playing the ghost in the test of courage.]

Then I took a photo of myself wearing the oni mask and sent it to her.
Immediately, the stream of messages stopped like someone had flipped a switch. Then a completely different message came through.
[Senpai, are your classmates okay?]

I tilted my head at the unexpected concern and asked:
[Is it really that scary?]
[Yes. Imagine a huge guy suddenly appearing in a pitch-black forest at night wearing a red oni mask.]

"……"
Now that she said it, yeah—it did sound terrifying.
I could suddenly understand why those kids from the other classes freaked out earlier.
If I looked that scary even in daylight, I must be absolutely nightmare fuel when I jumped out in the dark.

Feeling the weight of my own intimidating appearance for the first time in a while, I replied to Minato with thanks.
[Thanks for the feedback.]
[Senpai… go easy on them, okay?]
[Got it.]
I replied and pocketed my phone just in time—footsteps were approaching in the distance.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Still hiding up in a tree, I lowered the red oni mask over my face.
It was time to greet tonight’s first guests.

***
Akagi Shun was number 2 in Class 2-B.
Because his name started with "A", he had always been one of the first on every class list since elementary school.

And honestly, having a front number had more drawbacks than benefits. You always got called on first in class or chosen to lead activities.
But today, he was grateful for it.
Forest school’s test of courage.

Most guys secretly want to be paired up with the girl they like for it.
And thanks to his position as number 2, Akagi had the privilege of drawing first in the partner lottery. Miraculously, against 12-to-1 odds, he ended up paired with Aizawa Minami.
To him, meeting Aizawa at the start of the semester had felt like fate.

She was always number 1, and he was always number 2.
Couldn’t get more destined than that.
Akagi was already giddy at the thought of impressing Aizawa by showing how brave and dependable he was.

"Group 1, begin."
With that command from Matsuda-sensei, who was overseeing the event, Akagi and Aizawa started walking the forest trail.
"It’s scarier than I thought…"

Aizawa had seemed fine at first, but as they entered the deeper part of the woods where not even shadows of people could be seen, she started glancing around nervously.
"Really? I’m not scared at all."
Akagi, on the other hand, was too busy feeling happy to be afraid.

Naturally, the two of them were walking closer together.
People tend to seek reassurance from whoever’s beside them when they’re afraid.
And the test of courage—at night, in the forest—was basically engineered for the suspension bridge effect.

About five minutes into their walk, relying solely on their flashlight, something wearing a white cloth suddenly jumped out from the bushes.
"How resentful I aaaam—!"
"KYAAAAAA!"

Aizawa screamed and leapt into Akagi’s arms.
His heart soared, but he kept his composure and gave the ghost student a subtle thumbs-up.
The ghost student, clearly deflated, retreated back into the bushes.

"It’s okay. The ghost’s gone now."
Akagi soothed Aizawa, who cautiously turned her head toward the spot the ghost had appeared.
Then, in a slightly trembling voice, she asked:

"Really?"
"Really."
Blushing slightly, Aizawa stepped away from Akagi’s chest.

"L-let’s keep going."
Akagi nodded, practically floating.
***

Even after that, other ghost students kept jumping out from the shadows.
Each time, Aizawa screamed and clung to Akagi.
Truthfully, Akagi was startled by the last one too, but he gritted his teeth and held back from screaming—he couldn’t let Aizawa see him panic.

After three scares in total, the pair finally reached the turnaround point where the handkerchief was tied.
"This must be the checkpoint Matsuda-sensei mentioned."
They took a small paper slip with a red circle on it from a box beneath a massive pine tree and slipped it into their pockets.

All that was left was the return trip.
Honestly, the way there had been the scariest part. Now that they were retracing their steps, it didn’t seem nearly as bad.
Relieved, the two of them started walking back with lighter steps.

About five minutes after they had turned around…
Rustle!
"Hm?"

Akagi looked up, curious about the sound above—and froze.
A giant figure stood atop a tree branch, backlit by the moon, wearing a red oni mask.
Their eyes met through the mask’s eye holes.

And then, suddenly, the masked man leapt down.
"How resentful I aaaam—!"
A deep, resonant voice that pierced the eardrums.

Akagi had definitely heard it somewhere before, but right now, that wasn’t important.
Even though he was just standing there, the man in the oni mask exuded an overwhelming aura of fear.
Shiver shiver shiver—

His limbs began to tremble involuntarily.
Aizawa, too terrified to scream, stared at the oni-masked figure with pale, shaking eyes.
They say you can be so scared that no sound comes out—and this was that moment.

Step.
The sound of footsteps echoed unnaturally loud in his ears.
The man in the wooden clogs took one step closer and spoke.

"Hand over your neck."
Akagi couldn’t take it anymore.
"I’M SORRY AAAAAAARGH!!"

And he ran.
Without looking back.
Like a man possessed, he sprinted the 500 meters of trail at full speed.

Only as he opened his mouth to ask Aizawa if she was okay did he realize—
He had abandoned her and run off alone.
"Ah…"

Later, Aizawa Minami returned alone, sniffling, and didn’t even glance at Akagi as she headed straight for the waiting group of girls who hadn’t started yet.
It was no surprise that Akagi’s reputation among the girls took a nosedive after that.
***

"…Did I overdo it?"
I might’ve gone a bit too hard on my first customers. It felt like I had unintentionally broken up a couple.
I explained the situation and took off my mask for Aizawa, who had collapsed in fear.

She seemed like the type to regress into childhood when she got too scared—she kept sniffling but nodded earnestly, then used her phone flashlight to walk back along the trail.
After that, I reined it in. I only gave light scares from the shadows, just enough to spook the pairs who were letting their guard down after reaching the turnaround point.
Even so, a few of them still bolted in blind panic, which made cleanup a little tricky. But at least no one else ended up sobbing like Aizawa, so I managed to send everyone back safely.

Eventually I got the hang of it. From the sixth group onward, I’d hide my presence, then call out “How resentful I am” with a delay before stepping out—giving them time to mentally prepare.
Surprisingly, that approach worked better. They were still scared, but not traumatized.
Of course, people who were naturally jumpy still screamed and ran no matter what.

After seeing off the seventh group, I was waiting for the next when I muttered to myself:
"Should be about time for some familiar faces."
I was fiddling with my phone, waiting for Satoru, Sasha, and Rika—when I heard hurried footsteps approaching.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
…Something was off.
The third scare point and the turnaround point were far apart, so no one should’ve been running this frantically.

But someone was—frantically, breathlessly, unmistakably terrified—sprinting in my direction.
I shone my flashlight toward the trail.
A black blur came barreling toward me at full speed.

"YU-SEOOOOOOOOOOOONG!!"
I recognized those faces.
One was Satoru, the other was the class president.

Both of them were pale as sheets, screaming as they sprinted toward me like they were being chased by death itself.
At first I couldn’t see clearly in the dark, but then I noticed it—something massive and dark was charging after them.
ROOOAAAAARRRR!

A roar echoed from the pitch-black woods, loud enough to shake the trees.
The thing chasing them was a bear.
A wild bear.

"???????"
What the hell is a bear doing here?!