I Was Possessed By An Unknown Manga

Chapter 181: Butterfly Effect

When we met Ryuji and Maiya again, everything had already been resolved.

“What happened, exactly?”

I asked with a bewildered expression.

That’s because, earlier, when Maiya ran away, it seemed like the two had completely fallen out, but now they suddenly appeared arm in arm.

As all eyes focused on them, Ryuji sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

“We decided to date.”

“Whaaaaaat?!”

Satoru was the most surprised in our group to hear the good news that the two had finally become a couple.

“Ryuji, what kind of magic did you use?!”

Then, Maiya, who was shyly linking arms with Ryuji, answered instead.

“Ryuji, who chased after me, confessed first. He said he really wanted to date me.”

Normally, such an event would seem impossible.

A scenario straight out of a manga, where a girl, who ran away disappointed, gets caught and confessed to.

But it actually happened.

‘Is this what they call the protagonist’s privilege?’

Satoru, beside me, seemed to have a similar thought as he clutched his head and exclaimed,

“Ughhh! In this unfair world, good-looking guys get girlfriends no matter what they do!”

Ignoring Satoru’s lamentations, the members of Group D from the Interim School, now all gathered, surrounded the new couple and applauded in congratulations.

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

“Congratulations.”

“Congratulations.”

“Congratulations.”

“Congratulations.”

Swept up in the atmosphere where it felt wrong not to join in, I found myself clapping as well.

Ryuji, the man of the hour, shyly nodded and said,

“Thank you, everyone.”

‘This scene feels familiar, doesn’t it?’

Though it was a first-time situation, a strange sense of déjà vu enveloped me.

The ongoing applause finally ceased as passersby began to murmur and stare at us.

“It’s already 1:50 PM. We should head back to the parking lot.”

““Okay~””

Afterward, under the reliable guidance of our leader, Satsuki, we left the movie village that had become so familiar.

Today was a day filled with various issues and complications.

The original goal was to find a girlfriend for Satoru, but in the end, it was Ryuji, not Satoru, who ended up with a girlfriend.

Honestly, it was only a matter of time before the two started dating.

In fact, Hattori, who didn’t know about their relationship, was more surprised they hadn’t dated until now.

The only issue was that it all happened too quickly.

‘Scramble Love, the original work, was a long-running manga with over twenty volumes. But the protagonist, Ryuji, gets a girlfriend just during a second-semester school trip?’

It’s like only just defeating Dong Zhuo in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but suddenly Cao Cao ends up with the imperial seal and becomes the emperor.

If a recently serialized shonen manga suddenly wraps up quickly, it’s usually for one of two reasons.

Either due to the author’s health issues or poor survey rankings leading to cancellation by the magazine.

But as far as I know, Scramble Love had no such issues.

Although the trend in love comedies has changed a lot recently, the basic framework hasn’t changed much.

Centered around a single protagonist, various attractive heroines compete, and in the end, the last one standing in a fierce battle royale takes it all in a winner-takes-all harsh world.

And in most romantic comedies, when the true heroine is finally determined at the end, there’s a huge uproar among the core fans.

It’s not for no reason that authors delay choosing the true heroine until the very end.

‘So, is this some kind of butterfly effect?’

With the intervention of ‘Kim Yu-seong,’ a character not in the original work, it was clear that the original plot had already been significantly altered.

Usually, the true heroine, determined in the very last volume, being decided during a school trip halfway through the story, carries significant meaning.

‘Now, I really have no idea.’

I didn’t know the content of Scramble Love, to begin with, but now it’s deviated even from the basic formula of love comedies.

The already tumultuous future had become so unpredictable that I couldn’t even imagine what would happen next.

Splash!

I poured cold water over my head to clear my thoughts.

The sudden cold water somewhat cleared my cluttered mind.

“Satoru, I’m leaving first.”

“Huh? Already? Aren’t you going to soak in the hot spring?”

“Not now. I’ll see how things go and maybe come back later.”

Saying that, I waved my hand nonchalantly, opened the door connected to the changing room, and went inside.

As I was about to change into a new yukata I brought from the room, the vibration of a phone in the basket rang.

Vrr… vrr…

Curious who it could be at this late hour, I checked and saw it was the Vice President.

I looked around and then immediately answered the phone.

“Yes, I’ve answered the call.”

Soon after, I heard the Vice President’s voice from the other end of the phone.

[Kim Yu-seong, your voice sounds echoey. Where are you right now?]

“I’m in the bathhouse changing room, about to leave after showering.”

[Then keep the call going and head to your room. Our conversation might be overheard by others.]

“Understood.”

After putting back on my yukata top, I stepped outside, holding the phone in one hand and a towel in the other.

While walking to my room, I had a private conversation with the Vice President.

“How is the President doing these days? It seems like it’s been a while since I’ve seen her.”

[If you’re asking about the lady, she has lost quite a bit of weight these past few days. Probably due to the stress from an unwanted engagement.]

“That’s… unfortunate.”

[I’ll reiterate, this matter is a secret between you and me. I haven’t even told Minami. If anything happens, I’ll take full responsibility.]

“You really are resolute.”

[For the lady’s sake, I’d willingly sacrifice my life like a loyal dog.]

“…I’m not one to say this, but the President would be sad if she heard what you just said.”

[The lady?]

“The President really cares for both of you. That’s evident from her usual actions, even without saying it.”

[…….]

The Vice President fell silent after hearing my words.

It seemed like he was deep in thought.