"Here, keep the change. Your tip."
Seijirou paid for his order, tapping his phone to confirm the transaction, and handed the change as the small tip to the delivery man, who bowed politely before leaving.
The moment the door clicked shut, the apartment fell into silence again, broken only by the faint noise from the TV as Seijirou switched it on.
The warm smell of food filled the air as he unpacked the containers one by one, laying them neatly on the low table.
Steam rose from the rice, the dumplings glistened with oil, and the sweet and sour pork gleamed under the dim light of the living room.
He picked up his chopsticks and began eating, but his thoughts were far away.
The Bully Society.
That name kept circling in his mind like an echo that refused to fade.
He remembered it clearly, not from this world, but from the game he had once played.
In the original story, the Bully Society wasn't something that appeared early.
They only showed up after the player defeated the main villain, Kageyama Seijirou, the very name he now carried.
If his memory was right, the Bully Society was an underground organization founded more than a decade ago by a group of delinquents who decided to put an end to endless turf wars between high schools.
They started small, but over time, their influence spread like wildfire until they managed to unify every major gang in the Shinra Region.
It was an empire built on violence and loyalty, with structure and rules more organized than anyone would expect from a group of street thugs.
The Shinra Region itself was massive, consisting of twenty-four districts, each governed by its own leader.
Every leader had control over their local schools, gangs, and informants, operating like miniature kings in their territories.
Those who disobeyed were crushed or absorbed, and in time, the Bully Society became a shadow government of the youth underground.
In the game, Kageyama Seijirou was infamous for refusing every invitation from them.
Despite his strength and reputation, he never joined. He didn't need to. He was strong enough to stand alone.
The Bully Society saw potential in him, even offered him the position of the 24th District Leader—a rare honor considering how tightly they guarded their hierarchy—but he rejected them every time.
Ironically, it was the protagonist, or rather the player and by player he meant him, who later took that same position after defeating Kageyama Seijirou in a one-on-one fight.
That victory marked the turning point of the game's story.
With Kageyama's defeat, the protagonist gained recognition from the Society and began dismantling the gangs from within, eventually uniting the Shinra Region and becoming a living legend in the game's world.
But now, sitting here in his own living room, Seijirou frowned.
Something didn't add up.
In this reality, he hadn't received any invitations from the Bully Society. No messages, no warnings, not even a rumor suggesting that they knew who he was.
That absence didn't make sense—at least, not until today.
He thought back to the fight earlier, to the group of delinquents who ambushed Rindou.
One of them had shouted that he was connected to a District Leader of the 24th District.
That was likely the key. Maybe in the game, that fight had drawn attention to him for the first time.
If the Bully Society had been monitoring district conflicts, his involvement might have triggered interest.
As he mulled it over, the logic became clear.
The twenty-fourth district was known to be one of the most chaotic zones in the Shinra Region, filled with schools that constantly fought for dominance.
Shinju High, the school Seijirou attended, was just one of many, and while he had built a solid reputation there, it barely extended beyond the school gates.
Compared to the larger picture, he was still a small figure.
But now that he had taken out someone connected to the Society, things might change.
News like that traveled fast.
He set his chopsticks down, leaning back on the sofa, his gaze fixed on the TV though he wasn't really watching.
His expression hardened as he thought about what could come next. If the Bully Society had really taken notice of him, things were about to get complicated.
He wasn't the type to run or hide, but he also knew enough about how these organizations worked to realize that once they had you in their sights, they wouldn't just let you go.
Also, if he remembered correctly, the Bully Society wasn't just a collection of delinquents flexing power over schools.
Beneath the surface, its higher ranks had access to things beyond normal human strength: techniques that couldn't be explained.
Fights where men tore through concrete or moved faster than the eye could see.
In the game, after the protagonist joined the Society and climbed through its ranks, there came a point where a hidden questline opened—the Temple of Shinra, an ancient training ground said to unlock one's ki.
From that point on, the story shifted from simple delinquent brawls to a world laced with supernatural elements, where the strongest no longer relied solely on fists, but on power drawn from within.
The problem was, Seijirou couldn't recall where the temple was located.
The event had triggered much later in the story, and the map didn't reveal exact coordinates.
But he did remember one thing—the ones who had access to it were the higher-ups of the Bully Society.
That thought alone was enough to shift his perspective.
If he wanted to reach that temple, if he wanted to train and awaken his ki, he needed to be part of them.
Not as some subordinate, but as someone with authority.
The Bully Society wasn't just a threat anymore—it was a bridge to the supernatural world.
And in this world where he couldn't tell what was real or fiction, that power was necessary.
Because who knew what existed beyond what the human eye could see? If outer gods truly existed, if entities beyond comprehension lingered somewhere in this twisted world, then he needed strength.
Strength enough to survive whatever chaos they could bring.
He doesn't want to wake up one day and see the world getting devoured by the outer gods and he'd just feel helpless and succumbed to fate.
When his thoughts finally settled, Seijirou realized he had already finished his food.
He stood, gathering the empty containers and tossing them into the trash bin. His mind was still running, focused but restless.
The fight earlier, the Society, the strange intertwining of game and reality—all of it was too much to process at once.
He decided he'd think about it again tomorrow. For now, he needed a bath.
He headed to the bathroom, stripping off his clothes as he turned on the shower.
The sound of running water filled the space, a steady rhythm that calmed him.
Standing under the warm spray, he looked up at the mirror fogging on the wall, his reflection hazy at first before slowly clearing as he wiped it with his hand.
What stared back at him was a reminder of who he had become.
Kageyama Seijirou. 181 centimeters tall. Lean, toned muscles that carried the power of years of fights and training.
His body was a perfect balance between speed and strength, built for combat rather than show.
His ash-blond hair, slightly damp and wild, fell over sharp hazel eyes that looked like they could pierce through anyone.
His face had the kind of intensity that drew both fear and fascination, the reason why so many at school whispered his name.
He stared for a while, tracing the lines of muscle and scar, a faint smirk crossing his lips before his gaze lowered.
For a brief second, he just stood there, expression blank, and then sighed deeply, shaking his head.
It was ridiculous. Even that part of his body was beyond normal.
He wasn't sure if he should feel proud or embarrassed. In his previous life, he'd been a full-grown adult, and even then, he wasn't built like this. Yet here he was, a teenager, in a body that seemed almost unfair.
"Seriously," he muttered under his breath, "this world's balance is broken."
The water continued to flow, washing away the exhaustion and tension from the day.
After a while, he turned off the shower, dried himself, and put on a set of soft pajamas. The moment he hit the bed, the fatigue he'd been ignoring finally caught up to him.
Tomorrow, he had a group project to deal with, something annoyingly mundane compared to what he'd been thinking about.
But even so, he knew he needed the rest.
As his eyes slowly drifted shut, one final thought echoed in his mind.
If the Bully Society truly held the key to unlocking the supernatural, then he'd find his way into it.
And once he did, no one, not gangs, not gods, not fate, would ever control him again.