EP.39 Fuma Yukika
At the same moment.

It’s a hidden site that anyone living in the back world of Japan knows.

An anonymous post was posted by locals on the free bulletin board of a Japanese server called the Darknet Medieval Jebland Branch.

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1. Here’s what the VIP is going to do: 2017/05/03 13:27:18:47 ID:lokoisGod

I just got a call from a friend who works for EE security team, is it true that the black yasha¹ A yasha is a demon or spirit from the japanese folklore. was revived?

2. An unknown contractor

It’s real. I heard that the destroyer certified it himself. Still, rumors spread all over Tokyo after he was just seen fighting in Akihabara. No one took a video because EE was trying to control the information, but I’m sure more than a dozen of people has seen them fight.

3. Here’s what the VIP is going to do: 2017/05/03 13:28:37:13 ID:lokoisGod

So easy….

4. Mr. Unknown Hacker

Isn’t black yasha a bubble? If it’s a person from 10 years ago, honestly, I think it’s a mix of exaggeration.

5. Unknown passing by

???

6. Unknown acupuncturist

?????

7. Unknown fighter

???????

8. Here’s what the VIP is going to do: 2017/05/03 13:30:23:47 ID:lokoisGod

Lololol Look at this Newbie lolololol Black yasha is definitely a bubble. Unbelie‘bubble’.

9. Mr. Unknown Hacker

If you want to contradict me, explain yourself.

10. Unknown acupuncturist

This… young friend would like you to shut up if you don’t want to find information by yourself. It makes me want to sew your mouth with a needle.

11. Unknown fighter

I’ve never seen a creep named Bubble before seeing the Legend of the Seven Kingdoms. Is your liver sticking out of your stomach? You’re not going to go far.

12. Unknown passing by

(This comment has already been deleted by Ivan’s bodyguard)

13. An unknown patriot

(Fluttering Japanese flag GIF) If you’re Japanese, black yasha is the only Japanese among the Legend of the Seven Kingdoms.

14. Mr. Unknown Hacker

(A foreigner being surprised by an automatic door taxi GIF) Don’t you get sick of that soup?

15. An unknown patriot

(49 Surprising Things About Japan That People Around the World Are Surprised About! GIF) Yes, I’m not tired of it~ It’s always thrilling~ It’s always new~

16. Unknown passing by

Why is that fake patriot always on the bulletin board. Are you always on the forum?

17. Here’s what the VIP is going to do: 2017/05/03 13:40:55:06 ID:lokoisGod

To be honest, I think it’s kingly. Get out of your house!!!

18. Mr. Nameless who loves anonymity

The fact that the NINJA, which appears in the “Sasuke Bingo Book²Bingo Books are black books used by ninja that contain any and all information on black-listed ninja they are to target.,” kept historical evidence is also written in the classics.

19. Unknown acupuncturist

It’s driving me crazy…

20. Mr. Unknown Hacker

But like you said, if Black Yasha is such an amazing person, why did he suddenly disappear without saying anything? You said he was the strongest contractor in the back world.

21. Clubbing addict

Tsk… That’s what this old man will explain…

22. Unknown fighter

I didn’t call my grandfather. Start.

23. Unknown acupuncturist

Why am I the only one who gets angry when only old man is written in Chinese characters?

24. Clubbing addict

Black Yasha… So, it was one summer night in 1999 that the 17th head of the Fuma ninja army, Fuma Kotaro, began to stand out…

25. Mr. Unknown Hacker

Can someone summarize it in one line.

26. Here’s what the VIP is going to do: 2017/05/03 13:48:21:36 ID:lokoisGod

Ivan the destroyer said he wanted to find an opponent, he suddenly came out with the first God of Fist in 1999, went to the finals and became a legend.

27. Clubbing addict

The martial arts competition… When the world’s most powerful men gathered together for wealth and honor… A man in a black ninja suit suddenly appeared…

28. Unknown passing by

/*hahaha*/ How long are you going to explain that concept.

29. An unknown patriot

Japan’s NINJA is invincible and Black Yasha is a god.

30. An unknown contractor

You actually like it with ‘all your might’, don’t you?

31. An unknown patriot

Argh! No!

32. Unknown fighter

The book of morality makes even the bastards who used to throw ignorant patriotic gifs freak out….

33. An unknown contractor

‘Sasuke bingo book’ R.e.a.l.l.y.f.u.n.n.y.

34. Here’s what the VIP is going to do: 2017/05/03 13:55:27:53 ID:lokoisGod

Oh~ I’m not looking~ A picture that’s too old to be true, but it’s the story~

35. Clubbing addict

At the end of the century… at a time when the world was in full swing with Nostradamus’³Nostradamus was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book Les Prophéties, a collection of 942 poetic quatrains allegedly predicting future events. prophecies and the hosting of the God of Fist, the black-haired soldier of fortune, who suddenly appeared, challenged the world’s strongest men…

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“…….”

Although it was a long time ago, Fuma Yukika, who couldn’t go home because of her part-time job, skimmed through the anonymous post on the Darknet’s thread bulletin board and prepared herself to go out even though she was half in doubt.

This is because Fuma Kotaro, the black yasha mentioned in the bulletin board, was her father who left home about 10 years ago.

She didn’t know if the Black Yasha, who was seen in Akihabara, was really her father, but it was worth visiting.

‘Will he remember my face. ‘

Only 10 years ago, the Fuma ninja army, which was not in such a tight spot, naturally collapsed when her father, who was at the center, left the village.

As every one of the clans turned their backs to their hometown to find a way to live, their power gradually decreased, and now they only maintain their reputation.

They haven’t actually met yet, but all kinds of emotions swirled in her mind.

She wanted to ask why he left the village and why he abandoned her.

“Dad….”

Mumbling awkwardly a word that had not been said for a very long time, Fuma Yukika locked the door of the rented room and headed to Akihabara where a black yasha was seen.

***

Entering Akihabara’s complex alleyway avoiding people’s eyes, the place we headed to was a coin laundry.

Swoosh-

The hooded jumper ruined by dirt and kidnappers’ blood was turning into the washing machine, and I asked Sasha, who looked at her smartphone as if she was bored.

“So, what are you going to do next?”

Sasha then answered, raising her gaze that was stuck on the screen.

“First of all, I want to go sightseeing in Akihabara.”

“Aren’t you being chased?”

“You knocked them all down, so it’ll probably be fine for a few hours. For now, you just have to protect me until 7 o’clock as you promised earlier.”

Now that I had already received the advance, I could not complain about her decision.

Instead, I decided to discuss with her what had been bothering me for a while.

“More than that, the fight we had was not posted on the Internet.”

To be honest, there were so many witnesses, so it wouldn’t be strange if one or two videos were taken.

However, even if I went around a few Internet bulletin boards, it was strangely quiet without saying anything.

Sasha then said, crossing her legs with a relaxed expression.

“It was probably because of the EMP⁴ An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy..”

“EMP?”

“EE combatants start by spraying EMP pulses to turn the electronic devices into blackouts during major operations. These days, videos are spreading so fast on social media.”

“Then what about the post?”

“It must be in cooperation with the Japanese cabinet to control information. It’s possible with EE’s potential.”

I started to wonder what EE was all about, which had been mentioned through her mouth for a while now.

Don’t tell me she’s talking about a person.

Sasha explained with a serious look when she heard my question.

“EE stands for the Russian military giant Easter Egg Company.”

“…Why would they kidnap you in such place?”

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? I’m the child of someone who’s pretty high up in Russia.”

“Did you?”

To be honest, the story was so hectic that I half forgot.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Just in time, the notification rang that the laundry was done, so I opened the washing machine door and took out the clean hooded jumper from the inside.

Damp with water.

Putting it back in the coin dryer next to me and spinning it, I asked Sasha, who was yawning with her back against the washroom glass wall.

“So where do you want to go next?”

“Huh? Isn’t it obvious?”

Sasha turned the smartphone screen she was looking at and showed it to me.

“If you’re in Akihabara, it’s definitely a maid cafe.”

EP.38 Black yacha

One of the 12 Guardians, the most glorious place for those who follow Ivan the destroyer,

Captain Boris Makarov thought as he looked down at the Asian standing in front of him.

“Unexpected soldier.”

It was surprising that there was still a strong man of this magnitude in the Far East Island nation.

Although it is impossible to guess his age from the outside, the man’s body in front of him, who has been training his body for decades, was also excellent in completion.

If it wasn’t for this kind of occasion, they would have had a long conversation while tilting a glass of vodka.

But now they are enemies.

It seemed like he was hired as an escort for a day by the lady who ran away from the hotel, but it was none of his business for his subordinates.

‘I’ll deal with you sincerely.’

When Boris, who spread his feet shoulder-width apart, stretched his arms forward and lowered his trunk, the mitral and halo muscles naturally soared upward.

The figure looked like a huge tank aimed at the enemy.

Boris, a heavy tank with a unique attack posture of Sambo, a Russian martial art, was wary of the Asian still naturally standing, even though he was ready to attack.

Originally, a fight between masters is settled only by a moment’s carelessness.

Even more here because vital attacks are allowed in street fights where no rules exist.

‘Is he faking? Why isn’t he moving?’

Fighting originally begins only when someone attacks first.

However, no matter how long he waited, Boris eventually decided to take the first attack.

“Ugh!”

While kicking the ground hard, a shoulder tackle with his huge size like a bear.

Until now, most of those who thought Boris would be slow to move because of his size could not even react, and they were hit by his body like a heavy tank and taken down.

Just before colliding with each other, the Asian, who had not moved until he reached a short distance, finally pulled out his hand that had been stuck in his pocket.

*Bang*

The Asian fist had been buried in Boris’s face before he knew it.

As a result, the neck that was facing forward was bent.

‘What!’

The eyes couldn’t keep up.

No, it was faster than that.

The speed of attack was like a flash!

Boris had heard about a technique similar to this before.

‘Great and mighty!’

Japanese samurai quickly plucked the sword from their sheath and honed the technique of counterattack to counter the enemy’s surprise attack.

The man in front of him reproduced it with his pants pocket and bare fist!

‘But not yet!’

The first attack was taken away by surprise, but he was not weak enough to collapse with only one blow.

Pain was a testament to life for the former Captain Boris Makarov, who successfully led various special warfare and infiltration missions, even in the Afghan war.

“Come ooooon!”

He throws up a shout from deep inside his lungs, forcing his body to fly backwards by inertia!

Boris, who barely stepped on the ground, succeeded in hanging his arms on the man’s log-like body and legs.

‘I’ll knock you down like this!’

*Thud.*

‘What─’

It was as if he were dealing with a rock the size of a house.

Despite his full push, the Asian in front of him did not move a step.

‘Where the hell does this power come from?’

Weight class is a big part of fighting.

Boris followed Ivan around the world, but rarely met anyone of a similar weight.

But the Asian standing in front of him had an incredibly great muscle strength.

As if weight difference was nothing!

In the meantime, the opponent grabbed Boris’s suit belt.

A tense confrontation between the two.

As we entered a full-fledged power struggle, a tendon popped out of Boris’s temple.

“Let’s do thiiis!”

If you can’t do it with strength, you will win with skills!

“Ugh!”

Bang!!

For a moment, he moved the center of gravity in front of him to the back, broke the opponent’s posture, and walked his legs on his to quickly succeed in taking him down.

The Asian broke his poker face for the first time as his back hit the asphalt floor strongly, but there was no room for joy.

Right after the take-down, Boris links technique with submission, the flower of the three steps.

Hold the other person’s arm, hold the body with the other two legs, and pull it with both arms!

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, Boris opened his eyes wide without realizing it because of the feeling of floating surrounding him.

The black-haired Asian, who thought he had completely overpowered, lifted Boris, who weighed as much as 150kg, with one hand!

‘No way!’

He hurriedly released his arm and tried to escape, but his body, which had already been elevated by his opponent, did not listen to him.

His huge body was turned upside down.

The cold asphalt floor was creeping in.

Boris quietly closed his eyes as he predicted his soon-to-be future as he was carried from head to toe to the ground.

‘I’m sorry, Tsar.’

*Baaaaaaaang!!*

***

Having managed to knock down the captains of the kidnappers, I had a late dry cough.

‘I thought I was freaking out.’

I usually tend to try to use the right and nice words, but I couldn’t help it for today.

It’s because I literally almost got screwed.

‘I was definitely going to lose on his arm bar at the end.’

The mere thought of the pain that would have come when the technique was properly caught gave me chills.

After realizing that I was at the same school as Ryuji Sakamoto, the main character, and started training in earnest, I’ve never saw myself as being small, but this bear-like man was worse than me.

Because we couldn’t communicate with each other, a sudden fight started without a statement.

The man waited for me to move and tried to tackle me first to see if I could stand it any longer.

Fortunately, I didn’t fall because I learned how to defend against single-track tackles from Director Nakayama before, but the man soon broke my posture with his leg and made me fell to the asphalt floor without hesitation.

To be honest, it was the first time I had been hurt like this in the last three years.

That’s why I seemed to have changed his mind.

In the end, I almost tried my best to lift the man with one arm and put him on the ground in case I got caught in his arm bar.

“Ugh… Ugh… Ugh… Ugh…”

Standing on the street where no one was passing anymore, taking a rough breath, Sasha, who entered the phone box and staged a sit-in until the end, carefully opened the door.

Then she muttered in a dazed voice.

“…Did you knock Boris down?”

“Boris? Is his name Boris?”

“What? Yes, he is very famous in the back world of Russia.”

I asked her as I shook off my dusty hoodie.

“I think he was the captain of the kidnappers, so you’re not being chased anymore?”

Sasha then replied with a strange expression.

“Maybe…I guess so?”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

At least, it was worth the pain, blood and sweat.

“I think you’re bleeding more than you should. Are you okay?”

“Oh, this is not my blood.”

As I said so, I glanced around at the other Russians lying around, Sasha exclaimed, “Ah,” as if she had belatedly come to enlightenment.

They made such a fuss in broad daylight in Akihabara, where there are many people walking around during Golden Week.

To be honest, it wouldn’t be strange if a video was taken and spread on the Internet.

This… I should believe in the kindness of the mange world, right?

“Let’s move for now. We’ve caught too many people’s attention.”

When I said that while wearing the hooded jumper’s hat, Sasha nodded and pressed her baseball cap deeply.

People who had already fallen far away and watched the fight were creeping toward us, so we decided to run away before it was too late.

***

*/Drrrrrrrrr!/*

“Hm, it’s me.”

[Captain Boris has been attacked.]

“…Boris? I don’t think there’s a martial master in Japan able to knock him down.”

[He’s about 190cm tall, and he’s an Asian man. His hair is black and wild.]

“Is that him?”

[Tsar, do you have any idea?]

“There is one person that comes to mind, a Japanese who corresponds to the description you mentioned. A guy who suddenly disappeared 10 years ago.”

[Are you talking about black yacha?]

“Yeah. If it’s Huma Kotaro, it wouldn’t be strange if he knocked down Boris. He’s one of the Seven Powers like me.”

[If the man she hired is truly Huma Kotaro, we cannot recapture her by ourselves!]

“I know. So, I’ll go myself.”

[What? The Tsar has to destroy the remnants of Shichiezan hiding in Hokkaido…]

“The work is done.”

/*BOOOOOM!!*/

[… I see. Then I’ll send a private jet over there right now.]

“Ahah, please. I’ll be playing hide-and-seek with these cockroaches in the meantime.”

[War of fortune.]

Click!

After his communication with Nikolai, one of the guards dispatched in Tokyo, the muscular man broke the radio in his hand with only his grip, smiled brutally against the backdrop of a burning factory.

“I can enjoy it after a long time.”

EP.37 Alexandra Ivanovna Romanova

‘Wait, is this the original story?’

Something was out of the ordinary.

If it was right for her to appear at this time, there would have been Ryuji Sakamoto, the main character, in Akihabara.

From what I’ve seen so far, the introduction of the event in the original seemed to happen unconditionally.

However, I met her for the first time, and the main character still hasn’t been seen yet.

If so, it is safe to say that this is the time before she first appeared in the original.

‘Are you saying that the main heroine of the original story is being chased by the same Russians?’

To be honest, I hadn’t really understood the situation yet.

When I saw them earlier, they were all extraordinary in physique, so they were like people who had proper combat training.

Maybe Sasha wouldn’t last long alone.

Not knowing the future, I couldn’t decide whether to leave her unattended or protect her.

It was when I was agonizing with such a serious expression.

Sasha, who was looking around in front of me, took out the bundle of money she saw earlier from the handbag she was wearing on her shoulder.

“I’ll hire you as a bodyguard. I just need you to protect me until 7 p.m. tonight. I’ll pay you in advance. What do you think? Isn’t it pretty good for a request that only takes about six hours?”

I suddenly felt my heart pounding with the bundle of money in front of me.

Now, hold on.

Calm down. This sounds like a trap.

You’re suddenly offering a huge amount of money to me, who you’ve never met before?

To avoid showing signs of agitation as much as possible, I asked Sasha in a calm voice.

“You’re going to hire me for this?”

Sasha then narrowed her brows and took out another bundle of money from her handbag.

“Okay. You’re saying that only one million yen is not enough, right? Then if you succeed in protecting me until 7 p.m., I’ll give you an extra 1 million yen. I can’t do more than this.”

I tried to calm down and solve it with conversation, but the amount doubled in an instant.

My eyes were spinning.

With this money, manga were not a problem, I could buy a rack that I never dreamed of buying because it was expensive.

In other words, it is money that could afford a home gym, one of the dreams of all athletes.

I grabbed a bundle of money on the table without realizing it.

“I’ll do it.”

“Huhu, then the contract is established, right?”

Well, shouldn’t we just have to wait for the next six hours?

I shook hands with Sasha, who had a meaningful smile.

***

Alexandra Ivanovna Romanova.

A girl from Russia, commonly nicknamed Sasha by her close friends, smiled with satisfaction.

‘I was lucky.’

She came to Japan for the first time in a while under the pretext of being an exchange student.

But Papa who had a lot of worries, Papa’s men wrapped themselves around her too much.

That was why she sneaked out of the hotel in Shibuya with cash from his card.

However, her escape almost ended in vain an hour after her escape due to the pursuit of bodyguards with combat capabilities that are considered as the bests in Russia.

In the meantime, she met a Korean named Kim Yoo-sung in front of her in an alley.

‘This man is strong.’

Since Sasha was young, she has been with Papa, the destruction god of Russia, so she could roughly feel the strength of others.

And among the humans in the back world that Sasha has met so far, the strength of this man, Kim Yoo-sung, is in the upper middle.

A strong man at this level would buy her quite a bit of time against Boris, whose her father himself asked him to take charge of her escort.

It could only be expressed that it was really fortunate to meet a strong man of this level in another country in this station while fleeing the pursuit of the bodyguards.

“Two tonkotsu ramen! Enjoy your meal, Gentlemen!”

Splitting the chopsticks to taste the Japanese-style ramen that finally came out, , Sasha calculated the remaining time.

‘In the next six hours… That’s enough to go sightseeing in Akihabara, right?’

Papa won’t say much if she plays moderately and come back.

In such a careful calculation, the two began to accompany each other.

***

We came back to Chuo-dori after finishing the ramen.

This was purely due to Sasha’s outfit, because she was wearing a black blouse and a long skirt with frills, making it quite uncomfortable to move.

She went into a prominent clothing store, bought jeans and a baseball jumper, and quickly changed out of the changing room.

Since she was originally pretty, it looked one her like a model no matter what she wore.

She asked a clerk to mail her original clothes to a hotel lobby by courier, and then strutted in her baseball cap.

“What do you think? Do I look like a local now?”

“To be honest, tourists are better than locals.”

No matter how colorful hair colors exist because this is the manga world, silver hair, which is close to blue, was quite unique.

Literally, it is a color that makes you feel that it is a device to highlight the Heroin’s personality.

“Shit, the standards are tight.”

Sasha, who looked in the mirror and tied her long hair up to her waist in a ponytail, asked me.

“Is there any place to visit around here? It’s my first time in Japan.”

“Didn’t you say you’re running away from the kidnappers now? You won’t have time to relax and enjoy sightseeing”

“It’s better to have a lot of eyes. No matter how reckless people are, they won’t be able to move around among ordinary people.”

I didn’t feel like it, but I decided to go with her for now.

It’s my job to protect her if I have to.

“Then let’s move on. If you stay in one place for a long time, you’ll soon be discovered.”

“But who the hell are these people trying to kidnap you, that you’re so wary of?”

Then Sasha, who was leaving the store earlier, looked back and answered.

“Former elite agents from the KGB.”

…KGB? What’s that? The only KGB I know is lemon-flavored vodka.

***

I’ll be honest with you.

Tokyo in the 21st century.

In the middle of the crowded city center, I didn’t know that kidnappers who were aiming for Sasha would really fight so proudly.

“You said they wouldn’t be able to move if there was a lot of eyes!”

As I shied away from the fist that passed over my head, I shouted in a hurry, and Sasha, who was inside a pay phone box and staging a sit-in against men in black suits, shouted.

“I didn’t know they’d go this far!”

“Damn it!”

I hurriedly kicked the ones in front of me and pushed them away, I grabbed them by the neck and threw them away as they were trying to force open the phone box.

“Cough!”

The foreign men fainted with a painful voice, perhaps because they were caught by the collar and pressed down on the carotid artery.

But I didn’t have time to worry about it, I had to shake my fist against another bunch of strong men that rushed in one after another.

‘It’s definitely a different level from the local bully.’

The average human being is likely to break with a little force, but the men in front of me endured it a little.

It may be because of the muscles that have been developed to a tremendous level and that you could see at a glance over the clothes.

However, the current situation could only describe the opponent as bad.

It may be unreasonable for them, but in the original love comedy, the bigger muscle wins.

“Монстр!”

Even though we’ve been fighting in one place for nearly 10 minutes in a 1:majority manner, when they seemed to be pushed back, one of the Russians surrounding me frowned and shouted so.

I don’t know what he talked about in Russian, but it certainly didn’t mean well.

Most of the words coming out in this situation are curses.

As the battle entered a lull, the men only faltered, looking at each other, but failed to attack easily, so I counted the remaining number of people.

One, two, three, four…

As I fought frantically surrounded by men in black suits, the number of people who were originally close to 20 was reduced to less than half.

‘I think it’s worth a try.’

It was when I clenched my fist thinking that way.

“Все отступите.”

Suddenly, a heavy low tone came from behind the foreign men who stood in front of us.

“Капитан Борис!”

Whether they were their superiors, they hurriedly stepped back to the left and right and saluted in a disciplined manner.

I think I’m pretty tall, too, but a foreign man who is nearly 2m tall stared at me as he walked forward.

‘He’s strong.’

I’ve never met him before, but it felt like it.

The Russian in front of my eyes was a natural strongman.

When my eyes met with him, who had no eyebrows, his muscle, which were sufficiently warmed up, came back to life by knocking down the small brim.

It was as if his body was pleased.

For meeting an enemy worth dealing with for the first time.

I don’t know how the situation got to this point, but I already had only one option.

‘I’m fighting.’

EP.36 A girl who fell off the sky

Unlike the previous years, I was busy on the first and second days of Golden Week, so I stayed at home for about two days.

In fact, I went down to the first floor and helped my parents with their store work, so the expression of being confined may have been misleading.

Anyway, Golden Week has already entered its fifth day.

This year, the end of the holiday is Friday, so it was only half of the time because the weekend was stuck, and it was a total of nine days of holiday.

On the first day of Golden Week, I left home for Akihabara around 10 a.m. staggering my body out of boredom at home to buy a new manga.

***

Akihabara.

Although it is commonly known as a sacred place for otaku, it was originally a street with a stronger image of an electronic shopping mall until the early 2000s.

Although transportation is convenient because it is located in the center of Tokyo, there are so many large and small companies here that salary men in suits actively roamed the streets.

In that sense, it can be said that it is a strange position neighborhood where Otaku and salarymen coexist in many ways.

“Excuse me. Let me pass by.”

When you get off the crowded subway at any time during Golden Week, the first thing you welcome is various game advertisements and animation posters.

As if to imply that “the general public is prohibited from entering” from here, various subculture advertisements that cannot be seen in other stations disturbing the view.

If you go up to the ground along the stairs of history, what spreads out in front of you is a tall building forest.

However, unlike other streets, the walls were covered with all kinds of animation and game advertisements, giving off a heterogeneous atmosphere.

At first, I started studying out of necessity, but now I had a bookshelf of manga like an otaku.

However, whenever I came to Akihabara to buy manga, I was overwhelmed by the crawling atmosphere of the streets.

To be honest, I couldn’t stand it.

No matter how much I had the memories of Kim Yoo-sung, I couldn’t adapt to the unique atmosphere here.

“Right here or….”

Today’s destination is Shosen Book Tower.

It is a subculture bookstore in Akihabara, and it mainly deals with various manga and new books of Light Novel, so it was a perfect place for people who wanted to visit and buy books like me.

Walking along the familiar street, I quickly arrived in front of the bookstore.

When you enter the bookstore, you will see a store with a calmer atmosphere than you think.

It was because books mainly handled by Shosen were related to various subcultures and hobbies, but the atmosphere was not much different from that of general bookstores.

Compared to Enimate and Gamers, stores on the side of Chuo-dori Street, are a space that weren’t that different.

I looked through the titles of manga, which were attached to each genre and publisher, and picked up one by one if there was anything interesting

What I usually choose when I come to the bookstore is a book I enjoyed reading in the Jump or a series of love comedy published in other magazines.

Originally, even manga of the same genre have different tendencies depending on the magazine publishing them.

The shonen jump for mix a bit of battle, the shonen Sunday for a traditional love comedy, a shonen magazine with a large adult readership for a lot of skirt raised.

Therefore, it was necessary to check the information steadily in this way to not miss the latest trends.

It took me about 30 minutes to select 10 books, and after I finished paying at the checkout counter, I put all the manga I bought in a backpack I brought from home.

This is the end of my business trip to Akihabara, so I should go home after eating lunch.

Thinking that way, after leaving the Shosen Book Tower, I checked the time on my cell phone, and it was already almost 12 o’clock.

I decided to use the side road to go to my regular ramen restaurant before it was too late.

If you go out on the big street, there are basically a lot of people walking around, because it is time for all stores in Akihabara to start soliciting customers.

Golden Week, which attracts more customers because it is a holiday, was a boom time for such stores.

It was when I was rushing to go to the ramen restaurant.

“Get out of the way!”

Suddenly, I heard a loud voice above my head.

“!”

When I looked up to see what was going on, a black panty that filled my vision.

Seeing the complicated embroidery, it is a very expensive… No, this isn’t the point.

I hurriedly spread my arms to catch the falling person.

Then the girl who just yelled at me to get out of the way, said “tch!”, clicked her tongue briefly then curled herself slightly in the air.

As a result, I took it more easily with both arms, and suddenly dropped her off from the sky to the floor, trying to ask what happened.

But before I asked her a question, the ruggedly formal foreigners who had just jumped out of the place where she had jumped looked down at me and shouted:

“Милая!”

I don’t know exactly what it means, but it was probably Russian.

As soon as I lowered my head to ask about the situation, the girl in the checkered beret grabbed my arm and shouted.

“Help me!”

After saying that, she started running ahead of me, and I followed her without knowing why.

I don’t know why, but I felt like I had to help.

This is how most boy in manga are introduced.

After running so wildly, we were on the Chuo-dori Street.

As the saying goes, “If you want to hide trees, hide them in the forest”, with so many people on the street, even the foreigners just now won’t be able to find us easily.

When I went into a building nearby and took a breath, the girl I had just escaped with leaned against the wall and reached out to me.

“I’m Sasha, what’s your name?”

I accidentally shook hands with her and answered.

“Kim Yoo-sung.”

“What, weren’t you Japanese? Tourist?”

“I am from the second generation of Korean residents in Japan.”

When I explained so, the girl in the hat exclaimed, “Ah!”

“What are you being chased by them for? It looked unusual.”

Sasha then answered, scratching her cheeks.

“There are slightly complicated circumstances there, so it’s hard to answer.”

“…Then, I’ll go now. I hope you run away well.”

Then Sasha grabbed me in a flustered voice.

“Wait! It’s common sense to help a pretty girl like me without saying anything!”

“There is no such common sense in my dictionary.”

When I tried to shake her off coldly while saying so, Sasha hurriedly opened the handbag she had been wearing around her waist.

“Money! I’ll give you money! I have a lot of cash!”

I paused for a moment when I saw a bunch of blue money she had taken out of her bag.

Unless my eyes are wrong, it was all Mr. Yukichi.

That one could buy twice as many manga as I bought today.

At first, I thought it would be complicated, so I ignored it and tried to pass by, but when I saw the cash, I hesitated and asked.

“If you tell me why you’re being chased, I can help you. What do you want to do?”

Sasha then pondered for a moment and said yes and put the bundle of money back in her handbag.

“Let’s move to another place first. I think it’s dangerous here.”

***

The place where I took Sasha, an unidentified foreigner, is a regular ramen restaurant that I originally wanted to go to.

This place was pretty good in terms of avoiding people’s attention.

Because it is a restaurant located quite deep among the complicated back alleys of Akihabara, so it was a restaurant that only a few people knew.

“Welcome!”

As soon as we entered the store, we picked up a corner and sat down after hearing the boss’s loud greeting.

Since there was a partition in the middle, it was a place that was not noticeable unless you came inside the store and looked at it.

Maybe because she was a foreigner, I asked Sasha, who had an awkward Japanese accent, what she was going to eat.

Then Sasha replied, “Tonkotsu,” without any hesitation.

Well, the restaurant’s signature menu was Tonkotsu ramen made with pork bone broth that had been boiled for 10 hours, so it was the right choice.

Likewise, I chose Tonkatsu, and when I pulled out the meal ticket from the food ticket issuing machine in front of the store entrance, Sasha, who was sipping water from the cup, looked at me with a sullen eye.

I put the meal ticket down on the table, sat across from her and asked.

“So, what were you being chased for?”

Sasha then said as she took off her hat, which she had been wearing deeply on her head.

“My papa is quite famous in Russia. I think that’s why he tried to kidnap me for money.”

Blueish silver hair, naturally flowing down her shoulders.

“…….”

I was speechless for a moment.

I didn’t notice it until just now because she was wearing her hat deeply, but now her face was familiar.

A Russian character who was one of the main heroes of “Scrambled Love” and was ranked second in popularity.

It was Alec something.

EP.35 The story between you and me

The story of Rika’s embarrassing past ended with me promising not to tell anyone, but there was still an awkward atmosphere in the room.

Currently, Rika had been unilaterally exposed to her embarrassing past and had become less talkative than usual.

What method should I use to make her come back to her original energetic self?

Agonizing alone in an uncomfortable atmosphere, I soon found an answer.

If she was ashamed because I knew her embarrassing past unilaterally, I could just open up my embarrassing past to Rika.

“Don’t be so embarrassed. Everyone gets the 8th grade syndrome at least once. I was pretty serious for me when I was in middle school, too.”

“…really?”

Rika, who was burying her face in a teddy bear, took the bait.

I nodded and showed a picture of my middle school years on my smartphone as evidence.

This is Kim Yoo-sung (3rd year of middle school) when he was immersed in urban fantasy manga and grew his bangs long.

It was taken before I was possessed, so he had rebellious eyes.

Kim Yoo-sung must have thought it was cool.

“What? This is Ryu-chan?” You’re lying!”

As she said so, Rika pushed her face closer, and opened her eyes wide.

Then she alternately looked at the old pictures in my smartphone and what I was now and looked like a child who knew the truth about Santa Claus.

“You were this small and cute in middle school, but how did you turn into a bumpy one?”

‘No, it’s weird to be surprised.’

Whining inwardly at her response, which was completely different from what I intended, I defended myself as sincerely as I could.

“When I was in middle school, I didn’t think I was very manly, so I started exercising during spring break before I entered high school. It just happened to overlap with my growth period and my height exploded.”

I was 167 centimeters tall when I was possessed.

In that state, when I started exercising with Director Nakayama, I started to grow explosively, and in my first year of high school, I was 180cm tall and now 186cm.

What was more surprising was that I was still growing.

After hearing my explanation, Rika looked at me in the picture as if it was a waste.

“If I had transferred two years earlier, I could have seen Ryu-chan at this time, right? What a shame.”

“So, you don’t like me now?”

“Oh, of course, Ryu-chan is okay now, too! But my face doesn’t match what I usually show”

Rika, who shook her hands and said so in a hurry, lowered her head, saying with a red face, “Wow, I think it was a too disorganized excuse” even if she thought about it.

Now that the rigid atmosphere seemed to be relieved, I told her with a simple smile.

“Everyone has a shameful time. So, you don’t have to be so distressed.”

“Ugh… If I could erase only one picture in my life, I would definitely choose that one.”

As Rika complained, she ate a Pocky, a snack she had brought from the first floor.

Still, she felt much better than before.

As expected, it seemed more comfortable to share the embarrassing past of both sides.

It was like holding the other person’s secret.

Having managed to have a normal conversation like that, I bowed my head and thanked Rika.

“Thank you for inviting me to your house today. Thanks to you, I was able to meet my respected Kishimoto-sensei and get his autograph. Today will probably be a memory that I will never forget.”

Then Rika said shyly, scratching the back of her head.

“Don’t make me laugh too much. I just asked Papa for everything. Rather, if I can repay you for being helped by Ryu-chan from the first day of transfer, I will invite Ryu-chan to my house as much as he wants.”

As a fan, there was no story that made me feel more overwhelmed than him to meet Mr. Kishimoto at any time.

“Wouldn’t it bother you if I come too often?”

“That’s all right. When I was in middle school, my friends always came to play once a month and had a pajama party!”

The conversation seemed a little different between a friend of the same sex and a friend of the opposite sex visiting often, but I decided not to point it out for Rika’s innocence.

“Then I’ll take care of you again next time I have a chance.”

“Hehe, feel free to come and play.”

When the conversation between us ended, to some extent, there was silence in the room.

However, it was not as awkward as before, but just a comfortable silence, so I felt comfortable.

I couldn’t think of anything to talk about, so I got up from my seat because I thought I’d read something from the bookshelves full of manga.

As I approached the bookcase that occupied one side of the room and began to look carefully, Rika, who sat on her bed, instead of a cushion on the floor, and ate snacks in a comfortable position, asked.

“What made you like manga?”

I answered, looking through the title of the manga.

“When I was young, I often stayed home alone. I think I naturally read manga because my parents were both working and there was no one to play with me since they weren’t at home.”

I picked a book that looked moderately interesting and sat on the cushion again, so I asked Rika in reverse.

“Rika, what made you like manga?”

Then, Rika, who was hugging the cushion and watching a humor video on her smartphone, turned her head, saying, “Huh?”

“Me? I’m just… Since my father is a mangaka, I naturally read it. When my mom went out and my dad saw me alone, he always showed me manga. Well, is this also the power of early education?”

I opened the first chapter of the manga and said teasingly.

“You don’t call them Papa and Mama now.”

Then Rika blushed.

“I don’t always call them Papa and Mama?!”

“Wow, calm down. No one said it was wrong.”

While chatting like that and reading the manga recommended by Rika, two hours passed by.

***

In fact, the signatures, which was the original purpose, has already been resolved immediately, and even though it was a friend’s house, it was rude for a guest to stay for too long, so I closed the book at the right time and got up from my seat.

Then Rika, who was reading a manga like me, tilted her head and asked.

“Are you going to go?”

“Yes, I’ve been around for quite a while. I’ll have dinner at home.”

When I pointed to the clock hanging on the wall, Rika murmured, “It’s already this time.”

It had already been four hours since I came at 12 o’clock.

“Then I’ll send you off.”

Rika stood up from the bed saying that.

I asked because I suddenly thought of something while packing the bag I put on the floor.

“Come to think of it, did you say you were going to travel abroad with your family from tomorrow? Where are you going?”

Then Rika proudly said, drawing a V with her finger.

“Hawaii.”

“Have a good time. Make sure to put on sunscreen.”

“Hehe, sometimes Ryu-chan acts like a father.”

In reality, I felt like I was looking at my younger sister with a slight age gap, but I didn’t bother to correct it.

After saying goodbye to Kishimoto-sensei in the study and Maria, who was watching a drama in the living room, I was putting on my shoes in front of the front door, and Rika said with a cat-like smile.

“Then we can’t see each other for a week. Ryuchan, can you cry because you will miss me?”

I stared dumbfounded at Rika telling such a joke, and then made a phone shape with my right hand.

“Call me if anything happens. I’ll be there to help if you don’t mind.”

“Are you going to swim to Hawaii?”

“…I’m going to fly normally. I’ll break my pocket money account.”

When Rika heard that, she giggled and nodded.

“Yes, then I’ll see you at school. Ryu-chan.”

“Yes.”

I said as I opened the front door.

“See you at school.”

***

As Rika Kishimoto looked at Kim Yoo-sung’s from behind, her heart clenched.

‘Call me if anything happens. I’ll be there to help if you don’t mind.’

She honestly thinks she was a foul.

She was careless because she thought it was over, but he suddenly said that.

The reason why she became fond of Kim Yoo-sung was apparently because of his appearance as the main character of a shonen manga.

But it wasn’t love at first sight or anything.

At first, He was just going to be a comfortable friend.

However, as they walked together laughing and chatting, at one point, her eyes were naturally chasing Kim Yoo-sung’s back.

She liked the gap, he was blunt on the outside, but secretly cared on the inside.

It was like a big bear, but she was never scared and like the reassurance.

Countless people had confessed to Rika Kishimoto throughout her 17 years of elementary, middle and high school.

However, she hated the insidious gaze toward her body, which was better developed than his peers, so she refused and pushed them away.

On the other hand, Kim Yoo-sung looked at her eyes first when he talked to her.

There were times when her eyes went down, but she was so embarrassed that she quickly turned her eyes away.

She wasn’t afraid.

Rather, she was slightly happy that he paid attention to her.

‘I like you.’

She mumbles silently as she looked away at his back.

She had practiced alone several times at home, but it didn’t come out in front of him.

Fortunately, there was still a lot of time left until graduation.

‘Someday, for sure.’

With that determination, she rubbed the back of Taro’s neck clinging to her feet and acting cute.

EP.34 The embarrassing past in the album

After the meal, Kishimoto-sensei showed me around his studio as promised.

Materials for human reference, various collections of oriental paintings, various manga and tablets, etc.

It was very impressive to see in person the studio that I had only seen in pictures.

“At home, I usually only work on the content, and I actually draw manga in the studio next door. I’m the type that’s hard to concentrate at home.”

While saying that with folded arms, Kishimoto-sensei smiled.

However, as I was satisfied enough to see the studio of my favorite mangaka, I didn’t want anything more.

“Oh, sensei, can I have your autograph, please?”

“Fine, as much as you want.”

When I heard that, I took out the entire collection of the golden samurai I had in my bag.

The 28 manga were quite stained after reading them several times.

Teacher Kishimoto left a signature on the inner cover of the books one by one.

After getting all 28 copies signed, I bowed my head with great satisfaction after getting my autograph.

“Thank you, sensei! I’ll keep it forever!”

Then Mr. Kishimoto smiled politely and waved his hand.

“Haha, it’s just a signature of someone like me. Just stay close to my daughter.”

“Yes!”

After looking around the studio like that, I went up to the second floor, led by Rika.

“Ta-da! This is my room!”

Should I say that it was kind of unexpected?

Her room was entirely decorated in a relaxed tone.

Although the cute props stood out, it felt incredibly modern for a 17-year-old girl’s room.

‘Is it Rika’s mother taste?’

I stepped into the room thinking so and was surprised to see manga volumes filling one wall.

“Hehe, a little disturbed? When my friends first came to my house, they showed the same reaction as Ryu-chan.”

I usually thought Rika liked shonen manga a little.

However, now that I saw it, it was not a little, but a lot.

It was simply spectacular to see shonen manga, which can be known by their names, being separated by genre and stuck in the bookshelf.

People would mistake it for a library, not a room.

“Now, sit here and wait. I’ll bring some tea and something to eat.”

I sat on the cushion in front of the sitting table, as Rika recommended.

It was my first time visiting a girl’s room, but I felt unexpectedly comfortable.

Was it because of the shonen manga? It felt like I was at one of my friend’s houses.

Rika, who was leaving the room to go to the kitchen, looked back and said,

“While I’m gone, can you not touch anything? I’ll get really mad if you get caught.”

“Got it.”

Perhaps because we were at an age sensitive to privacy, I guess she was worried about leaving her room alone.

When I nodded, saying okay, Rika left the room saying she would go quickly.

“Hm…”

It was not until I was left alone in the room that I felt a little conscious of reality.

It’s a life that I wouldn’t have imagined in the past to come to my friend’s house on a holiday.

I never had that kind of feelings for Rika, but I felt strange staying alone in a girl’s room.

Maybe it was just my feeling, but I thought the room smelled fragrant.

My room usually smelled like sweat.

I decided to play games to clear my mind until Rika came back.

It was when I just ran a game on my cellphone thinking that way.

“Hi~”

Suddenly, Rika’s mother came into the room.

“Oh, ma’am?”

When I panicked and tried to get up, Rika’s mother closed the door slightly, telling me to sit comfortably.

“I look too old when you say “ma’am,” so feel free to call me Maria.”

… Can I call my friend’s mother like that?

I hesitated to speak for a moment, but with the constant urging, I was forced to call her Ms. Maria.

“Well, what brings you here all of a sudden, Ms. Maria?”

Of course, I thought she’d be on the first floor.

Since Rika went down to the first floor to prepare refreshments.

Then Maria, who heard my question, said playfully with an evil smile.

“It’s just to show my daughter’s embarrassing past~”

“Her embarrassing past?”

I couldn’t imagine it well, so when I blinked, Maria smiled and showed what she was hiding behind her back.

“Ta-da! This is the photo album that shows Rika’s growth process. Aren’t you curious as a friend, Yoo-sung?”

It was a very obvious event to go to a friend’s house and look at a photo album, but it was a trial that I wanted to experience at least once as a reader.

Eventually, when I nodded shyly after being tempted, Maria sat across from me and opened her secret photo album.

The album, which chronicles Rika’s growth, started from infancy.

“This is Rika when she was 1 years old, this is Rika when she was 2 years old, and this is Rika when she was 3 years old, and this is a picture taken when she went to England with me.”

Maria recounted the faded memories, pointing out the pictures one by one, and telling an anecdote related to them.

“Ah, this is Rika from the school arts festival. It was so cute that she came home with a sad face and complained about the role of a tree she got by drawing lots.”

Maria laughed as she said so and slowly moved the album to the next page.

“Oh, I miss this, too. I took this picture when I went to the Comiket for the first time with Rika.”

Yes?

When I heard something completely unexpected, I turned my head unconsciously.

In the photo, a blonde mother and daughter in twin tails were posing with a modern cane in a black costume.

It is a rival character of Magic Girl, which was popular about 10 years ago.

I had never seen it, but I remembered it because of Kim Yoo-sung’s memories.

When I looked at Maria with a perplexed expression, she smiled proudly and said,

“I used to be a first-generation cosplayer. Since I was young, I wanted to cosplay with my daughter when I got one.”

Very naturally, Maria, who revealed her old job, continued to explain the following photos.

“Oh, this is the picture I took when I was in C73. My husband took this picture when I was in C78.”

In the photo, Maria was cosplaying all kinds of foreign characters, taking advantage of being a blonde foreigner.

Rika, her daughter, was always next to her.

“Huhu, isn’t my daughter so cute? She had a talent for cosplay because she looked like me.”

To be honest, it was nothing else than a culture shock in many ways to say that cosplay was taught early to her.

Is she talking about Rika’s embarrassing past?

When I was nodding my head, somehow convinced,

“Ah, I finally found it. My daughter’s embarrassing past.”

“What? There’s more?”

I was surprised that there was a worse embarrassing past than this.

Honestly, at this point, I was wondering what the picture was.

Perhaps because she was satisfied with my response, Maria nodded her head and showed me a picture of the album.

In the picture, Rika, a middle school student with an eye patch on her right eye and a black gosroli costume and a red lens, looked so cool…

“Mama!”

Hearing a pointed voice from behind my back, I hurriedly closed the album.

“Oh my, you’re already here?”

Maria welcomed Rika with a calm expression.

Rika, who walked with a red face, hit the tray she was holding while putting it down on the table to make a sound and asked Maria.

“Did you show them?”

Then Maria smiled tenderly and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Kyaaaaaa!”

Rika was bursting with shame.

She wasn’t as bright and playful as usual and looked genuinely ashamed.

That’s right, it’s understandable if a friend in the same class discovered a picture of you with the 8th grade syndrome.

If I were in the same situation, I’d find a rat hole first to hide.

When I hesitated because I didn’t know how to console her, Rika said with a tearful look.

“I don’t do any cosplay anymore It’s true! That’s just… It’s a mistake I made during a stormy period!”

“Uh, yeah. I trust you.”

As I nodded saying so, Rika was somehow in even more pain.

Is it the cry of someone who got caught with her embarrassing past.

Maria, who was happily watching her daughter suffer, put the album on her side and waved her hand slightly.

“Then Mama will get going. You two have a good time~”

Then Rika jumped up from the bed and shouted to the back of Maria’s head as she left the room.

“Don’t ever come into my room again!”

However, Maria closed the door slightly and walked out without any reply.

Rika, who was huffing to herself, asked me with a tearful face as if she still couldn’t relieve her anger.

“You’re going to keep this a secret, right?”

I nodded with a bitter smile.

“There’s no one to talk to anyway.”

EP.33 Wrecked dignity

“Wow… that’s amazing.”

I was amazed by the variety of dishes on the table.

In general, there is a strong image that British cuisine is tasteless.

But that doesn’t mean the British are bad at cooking.

In fact, there are quite a few British chefs in the world.

And in my view, Rika’s mother was clearly in the latter.

“Ohoh, I tried my best because I heard a guest was coming.”

While saying that, Rika’s mother raised her chest with a proud expression.

Looking at what she was doing, it was just like Rika.

Would this happen when Rika gets older and becomes an adult?

As soon as I started eating, Rika’s mother approached the study in the living room and asked us to wait a moment, because Kishimoto sensei hadn’t left the room yet.

“Honey! Hurry up and come out! The rice is going to get cold!”

Then, a sad-looking man in his mid-40s opened the tightly closed door and came out.

It was a weak impression in appearance, but I knew exactly who it was.

Because while surfing on the internet, I had seen him several time in magazine interviews.

Musashi Kishimoto, a mangaka.

Sojiro Kishimoto, his real name.

A common name.

Having already been active for more than 20 years, he had been one of the greatest masters in the shonen manga industry.

When Mr. Kishimoto saw me, he looked surprised.

“Are you Yoo-sung? You look just like a manga character from the 80s.”

“It’s an honour to meet you. Kishimoto-sensei.”

I was so happy that I met my respected mangaka rather than my friend’s father, so I used extreme honorifics without realizing it.

“Haha, it’s hard to talk standing up, so sit down. My wife paid a lot of attention to you coming home this time.

“Oh my, really.”

The couple had a good relationship with each other and had no sorrow in expressing their affection for each other.

And so, Mr. Kishimoto sat down at the table, and it was only then that we could start lunch.

“Try this, too.”

“Oh, thank you.”

What was placed on the table was mainly Italian cuisine converted into a light Western style.

It was a little ironic that an English woman married her husband in Japan and made a Japanese-style transformed Italian dish.

When I was admiring the taste while eating the lasagne that Rika’s mother made herself, Kishimoto sensei, who was slicing the tenderloin steak with a knife, spoke first.

“These days, whenever Rika sits at the table, she talks a lot about you Yoo-sung, so I really wanted to meet you. This is the first time my daughter has shown herself to be close to a boy.”

After swallowing the food in my mouth, I spoke in advance to prevent any misunderstanding.

“Rika and I are normal/just friends. On the first day of transfer, she was wandering on the subway, so I helped her a little, and we became close as we are now.”

Then Rika’s mother rolled the pasta with a fork and said,

“In the morning, I didn’t know because I took her near the school by car, but she came home in the evening, she told me she got help from Yoo-sung. It’s because I’m thankful that I’m inviting you to dinner today.”

“Haha… I see.”

Something, something felt uncomfortable.

Obviously, when I first came, I was overwhelmed by the excitement of actually meeting Mr. Kishimoto, but when I ate with Rika’s parents like this, I felt like I was under pressure in an interview.

When I silently swallowed in the food without hiding my trembling voice, Rika, who was watching from the side, intervened.

“How can Papa and Mama keep asking questions to someone eating? He’s going to have an upset stomach while eating!”

Then, Kishimoto’s mood suddenly changed.

“Wow~ Right? I was worried if Papa was doing too much. It’s just that it’s the first time Rika get along with a friend of the opposite sex, and I was wondering if he had bad intentions.”

“Ryu-chan is not that kind of person?!”

In the friendly conversation between the father and the daughter, words of nuance that seemed to keep me in check came out, but I had no choice but to laugh it off.

Because it was one of the regular subjects in love comedy, at first a father with a daughter would be suspicious to opposite sex friends.

If I had a pretty daughter like Rika, I would think that all the men approaching her looks like wolves.

Still, thanks to Rika’s intervention at the right time, the rigid atmosphere of the table was loosened, and I was able to finish the meal with a more comfortable feeling.

After lunch, when I was eating the fruit that Rika’s mother cut for dessert, Kishimoto suggested first.

“I heard from Rika that you’re my fan. If you don’t mind, why don’t you just eat this and then take a look around my studio?”

“If I can do that, of course I’d be happy!”

When I said so unconsciously with excitement, Mr. Kishimoto nodded with a slightly softer face than the first time.

“You can look forward to it. My studio after I moved to Tokyo has never been released to the mass media.”

“Thank you! Sensei!”

I couldn’t believe I could see the studio of my respected Kishimoto sensei with my own eyes, as a respected fan, I would have no regrets even if I died.

***

Sojiro Kishimoto was a very popular mangaka who was turning 45 years old this year.

Since he first won the prize at the age of 20 and entered the manga industry, he has been actively engaged in his work for about 25 years, specializing in shonen manga.

He was so successful that he was said to have achieved a price in one field, he boasted that he had an extraordinary eye for people.

Since he was young, he had been running on the road of success, so there were many people approaching him for his money.

In that sense, the first impression that the mangaka Sojiro Kishimoto had as soon as he saw his daughter’s friend Kim Yoo-sung was “he’s big.”

In middle school, he was not very short because he joined the basketball club, but there was something about the young man in front of him that looked huge beyond his original height.

It was a unique atmosphere, just by being there he felt an unprecedented power that could make a person surrender on its own.

He thought he might be a bully who approached his daughter by looking at her daughter’s appearance or her background, but after having a conversation while eating, it didn’t feel like that.

He didn’t know if contrary to his appearance, he unexpectedly was a naïve young man.

Still, when his daughter was admiring herself, saying she thought she had a good eye for people because she looked like him, and choose him as her first friend of the opposite sex, his wife suddenly started talking.

“In the morning, I didn’t know because I took her near the school by car, but she came home in the evening, she told me she got help from Yoo-sung. It’s because I’m thankful that I’m inviting you to dinner today.”

Because of the nature of the weekly series, he didn’t even know it had happened between the two because he was always going back and forth between his house and his studio.

When he heard that this young man took care of his daughter in a place he didn’t know, he felt grateful.

Since then, he asked the young man a few more questions.

What are your parents doing, where do you live, and if their Rika was doing well in school.

They were questions that you could ask your daughter’s friend, but it seemed that it was not the case for the daughter next to him.

“How can Papa and Mama keep asking questions to someone eating? He’s going to have an upset stomach while eating!”

It seemed to be embarrassing for everyone.

Sensitive to the emotional state of his wife and daughter, he soon realized.

He realized that Rika really liked this young man.

Probably because his wife knew it right away, he intervened more actively between the two.

He was touched that his daughter was already old enough to know love, but he felt a strange bitterness.

Because Rika, who used to say she will marry her father when she grows up since she was young, brought a young man who would become her boyfriend before he thought.

Still, Sojiro Kishimoto said with a smile, because he wanted to be a good father to his daughter.

“Wow~ Right? I was worried if Papa was doing too much. It’s just that it’s the first time Rika get along with a friend of the opposite sex, and I was wondering if he had bad intentions.”

“Ryu-chan is not that kind of person?!”

He didn’t they were in that kind of relationship yet, but it was cute to see her actively defending him as if it was her job.

Sojiro Kishimoto smiled happily at her daughter’s fresh appearance and suggested to the young man who did not seem to have noticed her feelings yet.

“I heard from Rika that you’re my fan. If you don’t mind, why don’t you just eat this and then take a look around my studio?”

Then, a visibly bright expression.

“If I can do that, of course I’d be happy!”

The fact that he was a fan of his was not a lie to ingratiate himself with his daughter, and he seemed genuinely happy, so he eased his expression without realizing it.

“You can look forward to it. My studio after I moved to Tokyo has never been released to the mass media.”

“Thank you! Sensei!”

Since it was like this, He was definitely going to help his daughter, who was an amateur in a relationship.

---

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EP.32 Rika’s counterattack

Yesterday, I ate and played well with the president and the members of the student council until late at night.

After dinner, the three of them ate fruits that my mother cut for dessert, chatted, and left around 9 o’clock.

Anyway, that was how it went, the first day of events passed and the morning of the second day of Golden Week dawned.

“…I’m bored.”

Again today, I woke up at 4 a.m. and was bored because of the extra time, even after finishing my daily routine work.

I had no complaints about living by the rules, but it was also worth considering that there was suddenly nothing to do during Golden Week.

Except for reading manga, I didn’t have any hobbies.

I didn’t have a computer or game console in my house.

Thanks to this, I had nothing to do but lie on the floor and search a video on my cell phone, but I suddenly jumped when I received a message.

Ring!

「Hello! Ryu-chan! You didn’t forget your promise to come to my house today, right?」

I replied right away.

「Rather, I was waiting for you to contact me.」

「I asked Papa the other day, and he said it’s okay if it’s today. So come to my house by 12 o’clock. Mama wants to treat you to lunch because I’m always indebted to you.」

After sending the message, Rika sent the address through the messenger.

It was a map from Seijo, where she lived.

The road was simple, so I thought I didn’t have to worry about getting lost.

I checked the time on my phone, it was only 9 o’clock.

Moreover, Seijo Station was only two stops away from Chitosefunabashi Station, where my house was located, so unlike the day before, I would not be late if I left around 11 o’clock.

I took out all the golden samurai I had on the bookshelf and packed them in my bag in advance.

When I would meet Mr. Kishimoto, I was going to get all his signatures.

On top of that, I also packed a marker for signing and a signature paper.

With this, I was all ready to go to Rika’s house.

I was invited, but I was wondering if I could go empty-handed, so I decided to buy a box of nutritional tonics at the mart on the way.

Like professional writers, he looked like he would eat nutritional supplements and pile it up next to his desk.

Excited at the thought of meeting my esteemed Kishimoto-sensei¹In general usage, it is used after a person’s name and means “teacher”; the word is also used as a title to refer to or address other professionals or people of authority, or to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill, like a writer. in three hours, I went to the bathroom to wash, with my clothes that I picked with much more effort than usual.

***

Dressed up neatly, I left home at 11 o’clock as scheduled.

Setagaya is the most densely populated area in Tokyo.

The floating population was quite dense, and when I approached the subway ticket gate, the people in front of me slowly moved away.

To be honest, I was usually uncomfortable with this situation, but I was grateful that it shortened my time.

I put my Suica on the IC reader, stood in front of the subway platform and waited for the next train to come.

It wasn’t long before the train arrived in the platform, and after the passengers got off like a low tide, I was able to crumple myself into the train.

As I stood holding the pillar by the door, I could feel the people around me glancing at me curiously.

I knew better than anyone what kind of eyes people looked at me with.

Well, I couldn’t give up now on the muscles that I’d worked so hard on, and I didn’t thought I looked bad like that.

Because I was afraid of other people’s eyes and prejudice, it was weird to force my body to fit it.

I decided to focus on my cell phone screen until I arrived at my destination.

***

It was only two stops away from home, so it took only about 10 minutes to get to Seijo Station.

When I got out of the subway platform and came up to the ground, even thought I was in/it was the same Setagaya, the neighbourhood that unfolded in front of me seemed to have a completely different atmosphere.

It felt like I moved from Gangbuk to Gangnam in Korea.

Just by looking at the clothes of the people walking around, I could see that they were wealthy.

I stopped by a mart near the station and bought a box of tonic.

It was a pretty painful expense for a high school students’ pocket money, but it was worth it if you thought it would be eaten by your favourite writer.

Seijo was one of Tokyo’s most famous rich villages, large detached houses were the main ones rather than apartments.

As I passed the sidewalk, I peeked over the wall on tiptoe feet, and there were common two-floor houses with swimming pools that could only be seen in movies.

And today’s destination, Rika’s house, was a little away from the subway station.

Due to the nature of the job of a writer whose privacy is important, it seemed that he purposely bought a house far away from the station, with a large floating population.

As I walked eagerly up the hill following the map Rika sent me earlier in the morning, I finally stopped in front of a three-floor house surrounded by a large wall.

“It’s here.”

When I rang the doorbell in front of the gate, a familiar voice came from beyond the speaker.

「Ah! Ryu-chan! You’re finally here! Come on in!」

Rattle!

Rika manipulated the lock from inside, and the gate opened on its own.

I carefully opened the door and went inside.

“Wow….”

I wasn’t often admiring things, but I thought I should do it that day.

It was as if I could only see it in a movie.

A spacious green lawn, a private swimming pool, a garage packed with foreign cars, and a three-floor duplex house.

Thanks to the monotone painting of the entire building, the first impression I had was that it was neat.

I walked slowly along the stone path leading to the front door.

A golden retriever running around the yard came running and waved his tail at me as if he was glad to see me.

Considering that most animals were afraid of me, I could say that he was really easy-going.

I gently scratched the back of the cute guy’s neck and started walking to the front door of the house.

Before I reached the front door, the tightly closed door opened, and Rika in her casual clothes popped out.

“Surprise!”

When I looked calmly at her bright face, Rika put her hand on her waist, inflating her cheeks in a dull way.

“Don’t you have to act surprised in this situation?”

“No, I’m sufficiently surprised. I just don’t know how to react.”

When I answered like that and rubbed the golden retriever’s head pulling on the crotch of my pants to play with him, Rika called his name.

“Taro!”

Then the guy who didn’t want to let go of my pants immediately ran to Rika and tangled like a gum.

When I looked at her with envy, Rika smiled like a cat and said with open chest.

“Our Taro is so cute, right?”

I admitted the fact frankly.

“If I have a chance, I want to raise one too.”

“Hehe.”

Rika, who raised her nose pleasantly as if she had been praised, beckoned and said to come in.

At her suggestion, I closed the front door carefully and went inside.

“Excuse me.”

Then someone approached from the living room.

“Oh my~ welcome~”

I turned my head there to say hello, and then flinched when I found a blonde beauty that was completely identical to Rika.

“Uh… We…”

I was trying to guess if it was Rika’s sister, but I was in a moment of conflict.

Because at this timing in love comedy, there was a high probability that it was the mother, and not an older sister.

However, she looked too young to have a 17-year-old high school girl as a daughter.

She looked like she was in her mid to late 20s at the most.

Wasn’t it Rika’s real sister, not her mother?

I was going to ask if it was Rika’s sister as I originally thought, but I stopped again like a broken robot because I wondered what I would do if it was really her mother.

If you make a mistake in calling someone when you first meet them, the atmosphere is bound to get weird/awkward afterwards.

Then should I ask if she was her mother, like a cliché?

What if she was really her sister?

It would be an even more irreversible awkward atmosphere.

When I thought of all various possibilities, I thought the answer was to ask if it was her sister.

Not to mention her real sister, a mother could look younger than her natural age, so she couldn’t take my question in a bad way.

OK. I made up my mind.

“You’re Rika’s older sister?”

When I asked so, the blonde foreign beauty, who looked just like Rika, smiled and waved her hand.

“Oh, my, look at him. You’re going to start with flattery when we first meet? I look a little young, but not enough to hear the sister talk about my daughter.”

Fortunately, with a light sigh of relief after I made the right choice, I held out the nutritional tonic box in my hand.

“I didn’t want to come here empty-handed, so I bought this on the way here.”

Then Rika’s mother looked slightly surprised when she saw the nutritional tonic box I was handing to her.

“It’s okay to come empty-handed. Why do you have to do this? Come on in. I was a bit nervous with my daughter in the morning because she said you were going to visit.”

“Mama!”

Rika’s mother smiled as if she is having fun teasing Rika, who blushed hurriedly blocked her mother’s mouth.

I thought that the love comedy world was amazing because no matter how much I looked at it, they didn’t look like a mother and a daughter, but like sisters with an age difference, and while appreciating it, I followed them to the kitchen.

---

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EP.31 Next time

We later took a group sticker picture to keep it as a souvenir and went to the bowling alley.

There, the president and I were going to team up by drawing lots, and the Akagi siblings were a team.

It was quite a fierce battle, but in the end, the Akagi siblings won, so the president and I paid for the karaoke.

Because it was our first-time playing bowling for both of us.

After that, we went to karaoke and sang alternately for about two hours.

What was slightly surprising here was the president’s singing skills high level.

When I asked her how, she said she learned it as a basic skill when she was young.

Basically, it was omnipotent, as expected from the daughter of a noble family.

After staying at the karaoke like that, it was already 6 p.m.

We ate ramen around 3 p.m. and had been playing since then.

It was almost sunset time, so when I asked what we should do for dinner, after coming out of Nakano Broadway, Minami suddenly gave an idea.

“How about having a get-together at Yoosung’s house for the first time?”

Then the president opened her fan and laughed.

“That’s a good suggestion. Minami. The last time we went to Kim Yoo-sung’s house was last year.”

The vice-president, who was listening to what they were saying next to him, also agreed by pushing up his glasses.

“I think it’s okay, too. We’ll have to eat dinner anyway.”

When the three people’s opinions were unified like this, it naturally became a flow to eat at my house.

When I appeared to hesitate, the president naturally pulled a black card out of the fan.

“Of course, I don’t want to get it for free like last time. I’ll pay the right price this time.”

“No, I wasn’t worried about that. Just, I thought my mother would be surprised if I suddenly took my friends.”

“…Will it be difficult?”

The president looked at me with pitiful eyes as she said so.

Honestly, when she looked at me with these eyes, how could I say no?

I asked them for their understanding and called my mother.

「What? Of course, you can. Bring them all!」

Mrs. Lee Mi-ja’s generous permission seemed to have been heard around even if it was not in speaker mode.

When the group dinner was decided, Minami immediately called seomeone, and soon after, the limousine we saw was brought in front of us.

I was on my way to the limousine when I asked a question.

“By the way, what did the vice-president and Minami ride to come here?”

Then the vice-president flinched and opened his mouth.

“You mean us?”

“We came here by taxi. I’m not used to the subway.”

Well, both of them said they used to serve the president, so they rarely took the subway.

When all four of us got on board, the limousine began to glide out of the darkened street.

A lot of things happened, but in the end today’s final destination was my house.

***

“Welcome!”

When I opened the door and entered the store, my mother, who was in the hall, welcomed me with a bright smile.

Because I called in advance before I came, side dishes were already set on the table.

“Oh my, it’s been a while. Mother.”

“It’s been a while for you, too.”

When the president naturally stepped forward and greeted her, my mother was very happy and held her hands.

It may have been a coincidence, but my mother and the president’s names were all the same except for one letter.

Lee Mi-ja and Saionji Kumiko¹Lee Mi-ja (李美子) and Saionji Kumiko (久美子) are both written with the Japanese kanji 美子 and the one which differ are 李 and 久, the one meant with “except for one letter”..

Maybe it was because of that, that the two of them had quite a good chemistry.

“I heard that the president and his friends from the student council were coming today, so I prepared our representative menu.”

Saying that, my mother, who sat us at a table set up in advance, called my father in the kitchen.

Then, my father came out with a furnace containing charcoal.

“It’s hot so be careful.”

When he gave us a little warning while saying that, the president folded his fan and looked at the furnace in the middle of the table with a fluttering expression.

“This is yakiniku.”

“Is this your first time grilling it yourself?”

“Yes, I’m embarrassed.”

The president said she had still many things she had never experienced before, with a self-help smile.

Well, I thought it would get better soon because she was learning pretty quickly.

Whenever she had time, she continued to experience the common people things, and these days, she was doing things that she wouldn’t have thought of before.

I grabbed the tongs to feed them meat.

“Eat and tell me if it’s not enough. I’ll grill it for you as much as you want.”

Then the vice-president said, flashing his glasses.

“Ohoh- You’re sure you won’t regret it, right?”

“Sure.”

In response, I put the meat on the plate all at once on the grill.

My house was a Korean-style yakiniku restaurant, so it sold menus with names familiar to Koreans such as pork belly, neck meat, seagull meat and pork neck meat.

And it was natural for the son of a meat restaurant to grill meat well.

The meat was sizzling on the grill.

As a result, when the delicious smell came out, the three high school students, who were hungry after playing in the middle of the day, swallowed their saliva.

The best of charcoal-grilled meat were pork belly and pork neck.

Due to the layered fat, the greasy, savoury pork belly, and the slightly dry, yet unique flavour, were grilled back and forth and cut into bite-sized pieces.

There was often a rumour that it was better to turn the meat upside down only once when it was grilled, but it was okay if it was grilled golden brown.

Thanks to the firepower of charcoal fire, the grilled meat was moved to the edge of the grill in an instant, and new meat was put on top.

I gave a signal that they could eat to the three people, who were just holding chopsticks and swallowing their saliva, and everyone started eating meat.

“Take your time. There’s still a lot of meat left.”

Maybe it was because everyone went on vacation, but there weren’t many customers at the store that day.

In the midst of that, there were three high school students, who were hungry, so there was no worries about meat remaining in stock.

Once I started eating, I tend to eat a lot.

I explained various side dishes to them.

“It’s called Myeongi herb and perilla leaf pickled vegetables, and it’s delicious if you wrap it with meat. Oh, that’s Ssamjang, it’s a sauce mixed with red pepper paste and soybean paste. It goes really well with meat.”

Still, unlike the Akagi siblings who seemed to have eaten a lot of yakiniku, the president seemed to be wandering a lot because it was her first experience, so I wrapped a wrap myself and gave it to her.

“Go ahead, president.”

Then the president said, blushing.

“How shameless of you to do such a rude thing in public!”

“My arm is falling off. Come on.”

Then, the president hesitated and ate the wrap I made.

Munching-

“How is it? It’s good, right?”

The president nodded shyly to my question.

Minami, who was watching from the side, suddenly brought it up.

“Yoo-sung, don’t you need to eat too? I think you can hand over the tongs to me.”

I appreciated her meticulous consideration, but I decided to be stubborn for today.

“No, thank you. It’s better if it’s someone who’s good at grilling meat, right? Don’t worry about me and eat a lot. I’m eating well on my own.”

When I picked up a piece of meat with chopsticks and put it in my mouth, Minami nodded with a reluctant look.

“Hahahahaha! I can still eat more! Kim Yoo-sung!”

“Please eat slowly vice-president. I feel like someone is chasing me.”

Even if he was criticized like that, the speed at which the vice-president ate meat did not decrease.

Because of this, I was constantly putting meat on the grill.

The president, who was looking closely at me, suddenly made a wrap and gave it to me.

“Uh, I can wrap it up.”

“You keep saying that, but you don’t eat.”

As she said that, I had to eat it when she gave it to me again.

When I ate the wrap, the president asked with a nervous look.

“How is it?”

I chewed up everything in my mouth and raised my thumb.

“It’s delicious.”

That’s when she laughed shyly.

“Ohoh, of course. I’m the one who made it.”

For the first time in a long time, the student council spent a pleasant night together.

***

“Goodbye!”

“Come again~”

Saionji Kumiko and the Akagi siblings left the store, receiving a farewell from Kim Yoo-sung and his mother.

The sky was already dark.

Considering that she went to Asakusa from the early morning, she was outside almost all day.

Although her body was tired, Saionji Kumiko felt that something warm remained in her heart.

On the way back to the mansion by car, Shinjiro Akagi and Minami Akagi, who sat on the opposite seat of the limousine, bowed their heads at the same time.

“I’m sorry, miss. We should have left you in the middle.”

“I was so focused on playing that I couldn’t get out of it.”

At the sincere apology of the two, Saionji Kumiko shook her head with a subtle smile around her mouth.

“No, I’m fine. I’m already satisfied enough for today.”

Saying so, Kumiko recalled what happened today.

She waited for someone for the first time in her life, ate ice cream with Kim Yoo-sung in Asakusa, they laughed and chatted with each other while choosing things, and she showed herself wearing a kimono to Kim Yoo-sung who told her that she was beautiful.

It wasn’t just that.

“It’s been a long time since we spend time together like this, so I recalled a lot of old memories.”

The student council basically revolved around Saionji Kumiko.

It was quite natural, but she felt strange loneliness from time to time.

Because she thought they didn’t treat her like they used to.

But it was all an illusion.

“It was fun to find the wrong picture with Minami today. It was fun to play a game called bowling, and it was a good memory to go make sticker photos and to sing together at the karaoke.”

The date with her beloved Kim Yoo-sung was good, but today’s day spent in a group under the name of the student council meant more than that.

“Thank you for always being with me. Shinjiro and Minami. I will always be thankful.”

When Saionji Kumiko lowered her head slightly as she said so, the two became disconsolate.

“…I’ll follow you for the rest of my life.”

“Miss….”

When a strangely warm atmosphere flowed, Saionji Kumiko, who could not overcome the awkwardness, said while clearing her throat.

“Anyway, I’m satisfied with this much for today. This won’t be my last chance. Of course, you’re going to help me, right?”

Then the two nodded at the same time.

“Of course!”

“Sure.”

The first night of such a memorable Golden Week ended with three people, once again, consolidating their ties.

EP.30 Student council’s gathering!

Ring! Ring!

“Oh, you’re finally here…”

Saionji Kumiko turned her head and was surprised when she heard the store door opening.

That was because two people, who had to secretly support her, were standing next to Kim Yoo-sung.

The two avoided her gaze as if they were sinners.

On the other hand, Kim Yoo-sung, who didn’t know the situation, explained about the two.

“I ran into the vice president when I went to the bathroom. It seems that they went out to Nakano today. Since I’m indebted to him, I brought him because I wanted to buy him a meal.”

Fortunately, it didn’t seem that he noticed they were following them.

When they naturally joined the group, the four of them sat down at the counter seat, and Minami, who sat right next to her, whispered to Kumiko about the situation.

‘I’m sorry. He accidentally got caught because he bumped into Kim Yoo-sung when he went to the bathroom.’

‘It already happened, so it can’t be helped. Let’s act together for now. We can naturally part ways later.’

‘Yes.’

After a while, Kim Yoo-sung’s and her share of ramen were placed in front of them first.

She had seen it on TV a lot, but it was the first time she’d eaten it this way.

When she hesitated because she didn’t know how to eat, Minami helped.

“Excuse me.”

She took out the wooden chopsticks stuck in the barrel, broke them in half, and put the spoon to scoop the soup and the chopsticks into her hand at the same time.

“Miss, ramen is a food that tastes both soup and noodles. Although the order of eating varies from a person to another, usually you taste the soup first and then eat the noodles.”

“…I have a rough idea of what you’re saying.”

In other words, ramen is a food in which soup is as important as the noodles.

Recalling the memory of eating soba, Kumiko carefully took a spoonful of the soup and put it in her mouth.

“Hmm!”

It was neat and thick.

A slightly salty taste based on chicken broth spread in her mouth, conveying a pleasant warmth to the stomach.

After that, she took a bite of the noodles as Minami told her.

The chewy noodles that absorbed the soup were sucked in her mouth and formed an exquisite harmony.

“Aah.”

Möbius loop, which can be completed by repeating a series of actions.

She couldn’t stop eating!

When she ate the ramen, she had experienced for the first time in her life, the three members of the student council who were watching the scene smiled happily without realizing it.

***

After the four of us ate ramen, and since we met like this, it felt like we had to play together, so we headed to the arcade on the first floor.

There was a total of three arcade rooms on Nakano Broadway, the arcade on the fourth floor was specialized in fighting games, so ordinary people usually used the other two arcade rooms on the first floor.

In the arcade on the first floor, there were various rhythm games and shooting games, and various arcade games, sticker pictures, and UFO captures which were the principal games that literally comes to mind when you think of arcades.

The president spent 1,000 yen in 10 minutes to pick the doll she wanted, when she used the UFO capture for the first time.

In fact, I didn’t know how much more she would have spent if Minami didn’t pick one for her.

The vice-president proudly challenged me to see if I had a strange pride in fighting games.

And there was a first winner,

“Oh, Kim Yoo-sung! Is that all? I guess it was all false rumour that Koreans are good at games!”

At the same time as he was bragging about his stunning control skills, the vice-president was doing T-bagging on the defeated character.

In fact, I didn’t think much at first, but I couldn’t stay still when I heard that I, a Korean, couldn’t play games.

For a fair game, I took out the main character and the vice president was literally unable to reach out his hands and feet, so I had my revenge match.

“Ooooh! I just let my guard down! Let’s play one more round!”

Since then, the vice president had repeatedly changed his character and tried again twice, but in the end, he never won again.

When I was in college, I used to always play this game at the arcade when I had a drink with my friends.

When I went back to the place where the president was, with the vice-president, who was disappointed by losing all games after his confident challenge, the president who was playing the wrong picture game with Minami asked.

“Are you done now?”

“Yes. I won all of them.”

“Ohoh, I think Shinjiro needs to train a little more. You used to love playing games.”

While waiting for the president to find the wrong picture, I was thinking about what to do next, and I noticed a punch machine lying at the entrance of the arcade.

I didn’t know if it was the same for the vice president, because after losing the games he followed me with his shoulders drooping, but suddenly his eyes shone.

“Kim Yoosung! Let’s compete one more time with that!”

“What? With a punch machine?”

“Yes! If you’re a man, you should compete with your body, not with a game!”

“No, I don’t want to…”

As I tried to say no, the vice-president said, flashing his glasses.

“Ohoh, are you scared to lose against me?”

I was a little angry hearing those words, but I nodded.

“I don’t want to break the machine.”

“Then I’ll hit it first.”

Saying so, the vice-president trudged forward to the punch machine.

A hot spot, a punch machine that boys could never ignore when they were together.

Standing in front of it, the vice-president laughed and said, unbuttoning the shirt he was wearing.

“Kim Yoo-sung. I didn’t tell you but I…”

When he took off his shirt, the vice president’s muscular body, which was hidden in his clothes, appeared.

“I look skinny when I wear it.”

Huh?

I couldn’t help but look blank when I saw the vice president’s muscles, which seemed to completely ignore the laws of physics.

I knew that the vice president was very strong compared to his slender body, but I didn’t know there would be such a turnaround.

Were all those muscles completely covered by wearing his clothes?

Blinking his eyes like a manga character, the vice-president, who evolved from an ordinary four-eyes to an end-of-the-century four-eyes, took a perfect punch posture.

A straight punch carrying all the weight was stuck in the machine’s red target!

*Baang!!!!*

The score of the punching machine got up steeply with an unusual roar.

Diririririri- ding!

960 points.

The vice-president, who broke the punch machine’s best record with just one shot, told me, wriggling his big arm muscles.

“It’s your turn now, Kim Yoo-sung.”

Perhaps surprised by the unusual sound, passers-by who were walking around stopped for a moment and watched curiously the score we were doing.

It felt like I had to accept the challenge.

When I looked at the president and Minami with an expression of hope for help, the two were also looking at the punch machine with interest.

“I’ve been curious since before. What kind of power will come out if Kim Yoo-sung does his best?”

“If you’re worried about breaking it, don’t worry. If it breaks, we will compensate it fully.”

Minami said so and took a card out of her arms.

‘No, she’s not going to lay it out like this?’

It seemed to force a duel that I couldn’t escape from because of the flow.

Everyone had a look of anticipation.

I had no choice but to make a decision.

“…Okay, I’ll do it.”

I stood in front of the punch machine, turning my wrist.

I felt this while walking around the sports club to try them out, I had already reached a level beyond the scope of common sense because my body was made for me to be the muscled character.

It is said that the strength of the legs is usually three times that of the arms.

As such, punch power was bound to be weaker than the legs, but for some reason, I thought it would be possible to smash that punch machine with a blow.

But it was going to get too much attention, so I had to break it down a little differently.

“Sss…”

Raising my fist at waist level, I took a short deep breath and twisted my back to power.

*Bang!!*

As soon as the straight fist collided with the mitt of the punching machine, the steel structure that supported the mitt bent in the opposite direction with the heavy sound, snapped, and fell to the floor of the arcade.

Diririririri- ding!

0 point.

The calculation of the score itself seemed to have been invalidated due to device damage, but the people watching breathlessly, cheered belatedly.

“WAAAA!”

“I believed in you, damn it!”

It seemed that breaking down the machine with the impact was greater than just having a high score like the vice president.

As I breathed a sigh of relief, the vice-president, who was watching from the side, said to me with his tongue clapping.

“I’ll give it a draw for today. Kim Yoo-sung. But I won’t lose next time.”

“Ah, yes.”

I nodded with a puzzled face when I heard the vice-president who seemed strangely conscious of me.

He was so upset that he lost the game.

---

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