Chapter 2: High School Debut
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 2: High School Debut
Leaving behind my shocking first encounter with the protagonist, I deliberately applied to a private high school far from my original school district in order to live a normal life.
There was a public high school just ten minutes from my house, but I felt it was a necessary choice, as too many people there would know the Kim Yoo-Sung from middle school.
The private high school I applied to was not only notorious for its expensive tuition, but its academic standards were also higher than average, making admission impossible with mediocre grades.
This was basically burdening my parents for my own selfish desires, but by entering as the top student, I proudly secured a full scholarship.
I'll never forget the look on my parents' faces when I told them.
They were overjoyed, saying they had no idea their son, who did nothing but fool around at home, was so good at studying.
They never said anything, but it seems they were secretly worried.
As soon as I graduated from middle school, I cleaned up my overly otaku room, just as I had planned.
Of course, I didn't throw everything away. I just took down things like the posters on the walls and sold the physical items like figures and merch on a second-hand marketplace.
I couldn't just arbitrarily erase the only traces left behind by the boy named Kim Yoo-Sung, and besides, I'd grown rather fond of it all after desperately immersing myself for half a year to imitate his behavior.
The samurai manga by an author named Kishimoto Musashi was especially fantastic.
I became a fan before I even realized it.
After I finished cleaning my room, I brought in some workout equipment to fill the empty space.
It's something I realized during my past life in graduate school: physical fitness is national power.
You have to start exercising while you're young if you don't want to suffer from minor ailments in old age.
Kim Yoo-Sung's body, that of a typical homebody, was quite frail compared to my original one, so I wanted to build up a decent amount of muscle.
If I bulked up, the number of guys who'd look down on me for being a Zainichi Korean would probably decrease.
And so, during my last semester of middle school, I began the radical transformation of Kim Yoo-Sung's frail body.
*
Ichijo Academy.
It's one of Tokyo's most prestigious private high schools, known for being a place originally attended only by the wealthy.
And it was where I would be spending the next three years.
In April, with the cherry blossoms in full bloom, I stood on stage as the freshman representative, a title I had proudly earned by beating out the best and brightest applicants to this school.
As I stepped up to the podium and gripped the microphone, I could feel hundreds of eyes on me.
Honestly, I was a little intimidated.
I wasn't used to standing in front of people and being the center of attention.
"In this blossoming April, we, the new students, await the new encounters before us…"
Without even registering what I was reading, I quickly recited the welcome address someone else had written and stepped down from the podium.
Even after returning to my seat, my heart was still pounding.
Despite that unwanted event on the very first day, I was able to adapt to my new school life quickly.
Perhaps because I had stood on stage as the freshman representative, many people approached me and struck up conversations.
Of course, most of them came to ask questions about schoolwork, but I much preferred getting attention this way.
In middle school, I was so busy playing the part of the old Kim Yoo-Sung that I had no one to talk to besides the few friends and teachers I already knew.
About half a year passed like that.
Having never neglected my daily training, I had a massive growth spurt since middle school and was scouted by the newly appointed student council president to be the student council secretary.
I had already joined the board game club, so I politely declined. However, the student council president, who had black hair in a hime cut, thrust her ever-present fan at me and laughed, "A commoner daring to refuse my invitation! You've got some nerve! That makes me like you even more! Ohohoho!" before forcibly changing my club affiliation.
At the time, I was dumbfounded by the antics of a student council president with a suspicious amount of power, but once I got used to it, it wasn't so bad.
The president, who came from a prestigious noble family, was a bit vain but never stingy with her own people.
Thanks to her, I gained a lot of advantages in school life, so it was a net zero.
I could still visit the board game club even if I wasn't an official member, so I didn't have any major complaints about being forced to switch.
While working as the student council secretary, I naturally had many opportunities to look at the school's student roster. It was then that I belatedly realized that among this year's freshmen were Sakamoto Ryuji, the protagonist of 'Scramble Love,' and his childhood friend, Yaguchi Maiya.
A major reason I'd gone out of my way to attend a private high school a thirty-minute train ride away was to avoid getting involved with the original protagonist. I never imagined we'd end up at the same school like this.
'I have to be careful not to get involved with them, starting now.'
My current goal was to graduate from high school like a normal person and get a normal job.
It was for the sake of the deceased Kim Yoo-Sung, and for my own future.
If I got entangled with the original protagonist, Sakamoto Ryuji, and started getting caught up in incidents, my peaceful school life would be as good as over.
That's just how the romantic comedy genre works.
From that day on, I doubled my personal workout time after school.
It was to prepare for an uncertain future.
My parents, who had initially been happy about me exercising, started trying to stop me, saying it was getting excessive, but that wasn't enough to extinguish my desire for muscle.
After all, in a manga world, it was entirely possible to build muscles of a size that would be impossible without steroids.
My body, changing day by day, motivated me to diligently consume protein, even if I skipped carbs.
About half a year passed of me slaughtering hundreds of chickens, hitting the gym right after school, and repeating high-intensity workouts—
A ghost took up residence on my back.
*
Looking back on it now, my first year of high school felt like the most fulfilling year of my life.
My height, which had been shorter than most girls in middle school, shot up to a whopping 186 cm once I started training in earnest, and my entire body was now covered in solid, hard-earned muscle.
Compared to my previously scrawny self, I had obtained an overwhelmingly powerful physique.
I might have gotten a bit carried away with the training, but in the world of a romantic comedy, anything can happen, so it couldn't be helped.
At least, in the rom-com manga I'd read, it was common for aliens, ghosts, or even yakuza to show up.
I hadn't actually read 'Scramble Love,' the most important one, so I didn't know the details, but since it fell into the shonen manga category, it wouldn't be strange for it to have some crazy premise.
Anyway, the first, second, and third semesters flew by in a blur.
I became a second-year student, still holding onto my position as the top of my grade.
People around me wondered when the hell a guy who did nothing but work out all day ever studied, but unfortunately for them, I'm a man who does both at the same time.
For example, when memorizing ten English vocabulary words, I'd give myself a penalty of ten squats for every word I got wrong. The desire to avoid the squats would make me grit my teeth and memorize them.
That method was effective for me, and I became particularly strong in subjects that required memorization.
But as if to mock all that painstaking effort, I faced the biggest crisis of my life the moment I became a second-year.
And for good reason—I ended up in the same class as Sakamoto Ryuji, whom I'd never had to interact with in our first year because we were in different classes.
Sakamoto Ryuji, true to his role as a manga protagonist, sat in the back row by the window.
The distance between us, even with a desk in between, was barely three meters.
My tall sitting height had naturally landed me in the back of the class, and that was the root of the problem.
If I'd known this would happen, I would've had one less scoop of protein powder.
"Ryuji! We're in the same class again this year!"
"What, you again?"
The one who called out to Sakamoto Ryuji with a cheerful voice was Yaguchi Maiya, the final winner in the original story.
As if to prove she was the very definition of a classic childhood-friend heroine, she had a look that was simple at first glance, yet pleasantly pretty.
Her only distinguishing feature was the checkered headband she wore, which made it clear that Yaguchi Maiya wasn't the type to be sensitive to the latest trends, unlike most high school girls these days.
Fortunately, the first day of school ended with just some simple recreational activities, so no major incidents occurred.
But the very next day, a blonde transfer student who was obviously the main heroine made a surprise appearance, and I was certain.
The original story of 'Scramble Love' had already begun.