I Was Possessed By An Unknown Manga

“Did you say that the campfire is not possible this year?”

“Yes, because of the incident last year when the campfire sparked and burned part of the school lawn, the faculty meeting ultimately decided it wouldn’t be allowed.”

After hearing the Vice President’s logical explanation, the President nodded and said,

“Since it’s a matter directly related to student safety, it’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped. I assume the students were informed about this in advance?”

Minami, who was listening nearby, opened a file and said,

“Yes, some students did file complaints about the campfire decision, but once we explained that it was already finalized by the faculty, they accepted it and left.”

“Good job. That’s exactly the kind of skilled work I expect from you, Minami.”

“Thank you, my lady.”

The meeting flowed smoothly, like a ship sailing in a fair wind.

After going through a few agenda items, as the meeting was wrapping up, the President spoke to the Vice President.

“Starting tomorrow, external visitors will be allowed to enter the festival, so please work closely with the disciplinary committee to ensure safety on campus. If something unfortunate happens, it’ll tarnish the reputation of both the school and the Student Council.”

“I will carry out your orders as if my life depends on it, my lady.”

“No, you don’t need to go that far…”

The President muttered, looking a bit drained by the Vice President’s overly dedicated reply.

“Ah, by the way, Yu-seong. You’ve kept your schedule clear for the last day of the festival, right?”

“Yes. I don’t have any plans.”

“I’m looking forward to our date that day.”

The President said that in a coy voice, then stood up to leave.

Even though it was a festival for the students, it seemed like the President’s schedule was fully packed with events for the afternoon as well.

After seeing off the President, Vice President, and Minami as they moved on to their next events, I locked up the empty Student Council room and headed back to class.

The first day of the festival passed smoothly without any major issues.

For me personally, it was a bit of a disaster having to wear the maid outfit to help attract customers to the café, but since all the guys in the class were also wearing it, it wasn’t as embarrassing as I had feared.

Thinking of it as just another school memory, it wasn’t too bad.

After all, there was an ironic idea that cross-dressing was something only guys could do, making it one of the most “manly” things in the world.

Anyway, on the second day of the festival, when external visitors were officially allowed in.

Even before we opened the maid café, a cold tension hung over our class.

“Aren’t there too many customers?”

“The line’s already stretched all the way down the hall.”

“How did this even happen?”

Even if business was good, it was going too well.

Yesterday, on the first day of the festival, all the boys in our class wore maid outfits and walked around campus to promote the café. But no one expected the promotion to be this effective.

One of the bald trio from class suddenly spoke up.

“Maybe it’s because of Kim that so many customers are showing up.”

“Kim?”

Suddenly, everyone’s eyes were on me.

Even though we weren’t open yet, I was already wearing my maid outfit, so I sat with my legs demurely crossed in my chair.

“Well, with that visual, it’s not strange for him to attract attention.”

“He’s practically a walking advertisement.”

“I’m afraid I’ll see him in my dreams.”

I hadn’t done anything, but everyone seemed to accept this explanation quite naturally.

I felt a bit wronged and was about to speak up, but the bespectacled otaku from the bald trio waved his finger and said,

“No, I’m talking about the news that was released last week.”

“Ah~~”

The class let out a collective “ah” as if they finally understood.

“Now that you mention it, Kim did become a celebrity, didn’t he?”

“I didn’t notice since it didn’t feel real.”

“He was already famous at school anyway.”

“If you put it that way, it makes sense why regular people would line up. They probably wanted to see Kim, the celebrity.”

Since I didn’t usually watch TV or the news, I didn’t really understand how much my popularity had grown.

After meeting with reporters at the school gates last Friday, they hadn’t bothered me since.

Maybe the President had quietly pulled some strings behind the scenes.

“So, the reason for the long line outside is because of him?”

Ayase, observing the situation like the class president she was, neatly summarized the situation, and everyone nodded in agreement.

“Then we’ve reached a conclusion. Yu-seong will only work until lunch today, and we’ll take him off duty after that.”

“Huh? Isn’t that cheating?”

When Satoru objected, the President narrowed her eyes and asked,

“Satoru, are you planning to work the entire festival?”

After all, the maid café was meant to be something the whole class could enjoy.

Just because there were many customers, working ourselves to exhaustion wasn’t the point, and Ayase seemed determined to prevent that from happening.

In any case, being told I didn’t have to work and could rest wasn’t a bad deal for me.

“Ah, it’s time to open the café already.”

Upon hearing someone mutter this, the gathered classmates started getting up one by one.

“Make sure to hand out the number tickets and let people in by order. You know what they say: ‘The busier it is, the slower you should go.’”

Thankfully, we had a sharp-minded leader. As long as we followed her lead, nothing would go wrong.

The students of 2-B busily started moving according to Ayase’s orders.

10 AM.

As soon as we opened for business, the customers started pouring in at a terrifying pace.

Because of that, unlike yesterday, I couldn’t take a single step out of the kitchen and was stuck standing in front of the stove.

“Two Chinese-style omelet rices here!”

“Coming right up!”

“Add one more tantanmen!”

“Got it!”

As soon as I finished one order, two more would come in right after.

It felt like I was working in a restaurant during the peak rush hour, as I kept processing orders without a break.

“Restock the ingredients before we run out!”

“I’m about to head to the store. Do we need anything?”

The kitchen was like a battlefield.

The only saving grace was that, thanks to the Class President’s foresight, we limited the number of customers entering, preventing an overwhelming flood of people.

On top of that, we set up a ticketing system where customers would get notified when their table was ready, so we avoided having lines in the hallways that would disrupt the flow of traffic.

After working tirelessly without a moment to breathe for about two hours, the kitchen suddenly became noisy from outside.

“Na-na-na, it’s Naotan!”

“Minato Nao!”

“Is it a holiday? What’s she doing here?”

I heard a familiar name.

It was the name of my junior, whom I had met not too long ago.

The reason she had come to our class was obvious.

She was probably here to see me.

I handed my apron to someone else for a moment and stepped out of the kitchen.

Whoosh!

Even though it was just a makeshift kitchen divided by a tent, the difference in temperature between the inside and outside was significant, probably because I’d been standing by the stove the whole time.

As I instinctively reached up to wipe the sweat from my cheek with my sleeve, someone suddenly handed me a handkerchief.

“I came as promised, Senior.”

The owner of that handkerchief was none other than Nao.

“…Thanks.”

Oooohhhh!

The people around us suddenly burst into cheers at the sight.

To those who didn’t know the situation, it must’ve looked like a famous actress being kind.

When I returned the handkerchief, Nao took it and looked me up and down.

Then she gave me a big grin and said,

“Senior, that maid outfit suits you surprisingly well.”

“I’m not taking that as a compliment.”

“I personally like how your bulging muscles can’t be hidden by the outfit.”

As she said that, Nao poked my chest with her index finger.

I furrowed my brows at the sudden touch but responded politely.

“Don’t act so casually like that. People might get the wrong idea.”

Nao just laughed and said, “Oh? I don’t mind at all.”

I had a bad feeling and tried to stop her from speaking, but Nao was quicker.

“It’s true that I’m acting this way to be misunderstood.”

It was essentially a confession.

And since she was treated like the nation’s little sister in Japan, the impact of her statement was huge.

“No way!”

“Why Nao-tan?!”

“NOOOOOO!!”

Cries and groans erupted from all around.

Among them was Satoru, practically crying tears of blood.

I looked around in confusion at the sudden chaos.

Sasha and Rika, who were already familiar with Nao, were looking at me in disbelief.

“No, this is a misunderstanding!”

I was genuinely frustrated.

After all, I had already turned down her confession before.

But it seemed like Nao was deliberately taking advantage of the situation, as she suddenly linked her arm with mine and spoke to my classmates.

“Then I’ll be borrowing Senior for a bit! See you later, Class 2-B!”

And just like that, I was kidnapped.

“So, where exactly are you taking me?”

While leading me to a secluded area of the school, Nao spoke.

“I’m not taking you anywhere specific. I just wanted to talk with you for a bit, Senior.”

“I’m serious. You need to stop messing around like this.”

“I’m not joking. I’m being serious.”

“…Do you even know what you’re saying?”

“Of course.”

“Like I said before, I can’t accept your feelings.”

“I know. But… I haven’t given up yet.”

Seeing my troubled expression, Nao smiled mischievously and said,

“But talking about something serious while you’re wearing a maid outfit makes you look kinda cute, Senior.”

“Can we talk seriously, please?”

“Alright, alright.”

Nao sighed and then pulled something out of the bag she was carrying.

“Here, this is for you.”

What she handed me was a small box.

“What’s this now?”

“Oh, it’s that new game you asked me to get for you. I thought you’d like it, so I bought it.”

“Thanks. But you didn’t have to go out of your way to get it for me.”

“I wanted to thank you, Senior.”

“Thank me? For what?”

“For a lot of things. You’ve always been kind to me.”

Nao smiled quietly as she said this.

“So this is just a little gift from me to you, from my heart.”

“…Thanks.”

After that heavy conversation, my talk with Nao ended on a calmer note.

“Well, I’ll be off now.”

With that, Nao said her goodbyes and left.