The following morning…
Mario was already sitting on the same bench in the small neighborhood park.
A paper cup of hot coffee rested beside him, its warmth slowly fading in the cool morning air.
His eyes never left Yuuya’s house.
Patience.
The most important part of any plan.
At exactly seven twenty-one…
The front door opened.
Yuuya stepped outside wearing his school uniform, his backpack hanging loosely over one shoulder.
His posture was exactly the same as yesterday.
Head lowered.
Shoulders slightly hunched.
Trying to make himself as invisible as possible.
Mario watched silently.
The teenage boy locked the front door before walking toward the main road.
He never once looked back.
Mario checked the time on his watch.
Seven twenty-three.
He didn’t move.
Not yet.
He gave it another five minutes.
Long enough for Yuuya to be well on his way to school.
Short enough that he wouldn’t risk the boy returning because he’d forgotten something.
Only then did Mario stand.
“Let’s begin.”
He crossed the street at an unhurried pace.
There was no reason to act suspicious.
A middle-aged man taking a morning walk wasn’t unusual.
Someone nervously looking over his shoulder every few seconds…
That drew attention.
As he approached the house, Mario casually scanned the neighborhood.
The elderly woman watering her flowers yesterday wasn’t outside.
No children played in the nearby street.
Only the distant hum of traffic reached this quiet residential area.
Good.
He walked past the house.
Turned the corner.
Circled the block one last time.
Old habit.
Verify first.
Act second.
When he returned to Yuuya’s gate…
He finally stepped inside.
The metal gate gave a faint squeak.
Mario immediately froze.
His breathing became almost imperceptible.
Nothing.
No windows opened.
No curious neighbors appeared.
Satisfied, he gently closed the gate behind him.
The yard was modest but well cared for.
Although weeds had begun reclaiming parts of the garden, traces of Yuuya’s late grandfather remained everywhere.
Flower pots.
Pruned shrubs.
A small stone pathway leading toward the entrance.
This house had once belonged to someone who genuinely loved living here.
Mario stood quietly for a moment.
“…Sorry.”
It wasn’t enough to justify what he was about to do.
Nor was it meant to.
It was simply an acknowledgment.
Then he continued.
The front door was locked.
As expected.
Mario walked around the side of the house.
Traditional Japanese homes often relied more on neighborhood trust than elaborate security.
Sure enough…
One kitchen window had been left slightly open.
Just enough to let fresh air circulate.
He carefully slid it upward.
Slowly.
No unnecessary noise.
After confirming the room beyond was empty, he climbed inside.
His shoes landed softly on the polished wooden floor.
Silence.
He remained perfectly still.
A clock ticked somewhere deeper inside the house.
The refrigerator quietly hummed.
Nothing else.
Mario removed his shoes and neatly placed them beside the window.
Even now…
Old habits refused to disappear.
He wasn’t here to vandalize the house.
Only to borrow something.
Forever.
He moved carefully through each room.
The living room looked exactly as one would expect from an elderly man’s home.
Simple furniture.
Family photographs.
An old television.
Books neatly arranged on wooden shelves.
His eyes lingered on one framed photograph.
Yuuya.
Standing beside his grandfather.
Both smiling.
Mario quietly looked away.
“I really am changing your future.”
There was no point pretending otherwise.
Once he walked through that basement door…
The original story would cease to exist.
Whether that was good or bad…
Only time would answer.
Finding the hidden basement proved more difficult than expected.
His memory wasn’t perfect.
He searched one storage room.
Nothing.
Another.
Still nothing.
Fifteen minutes passed.
Mario never became impatient.
He simply continued eliminating possibilities one room at a time.
Finally…
He entered a narrow storage room near the rear of the house.
Old gardening tools leaned against one wall.
Several cardboard boxes occupied another.
His attention shifted downward.
Tatami mats.
“…Here.”
He crouched.
Running his fingers carefully across the woven flooring.
One section felt ever so slightly uneven.
Almost impossible to notice.
Unless someone already knew it existed.
Mario gently lifted the mat.
Beneath it…
A heavy iron ring.
His heartbeat quickened.
“There you are.”
He gripped the ring and slowly pulled upward.
A wooden hatch rose with a low creak.
Cold air drifted upward from the darkness below.
An old staircase descended into the earth.
Mario quietly closed the storage room door behind him.
Then began walking down.
Each wooden step groaned softly beneath his weight.
The deeper he descended…
The colder the air became.
Finally…
His feet reached solid stone.
Dust covered everything.
Old shelves.
Forgotten furniture.
Wooden crates.
Time itself seemed to have stopped inside this basement.
Then…
His eyes found it.
Standing alone in the center of the room.
A single wooden door.
No surrounding wall.
No doorway.
Simply…
A door.
As though someone had taken the entrance to another building and placed it inside the basement.
Mario slowly approached.
The carvings covering its dark wooden surface were unlike any language he had ever seen.
Ancient.
Beautiful.
Timeless.
His hand stopped inches away.
“So…”
He whispered.
“This is where everything began.”
Not just for Yuuya.
For him as well.
He wrapped his fingers around the brass handle.
Warm.
Oddly warm.
Almost…
Welcoming.
Click.
The lock released.
Mario slowly pushed the door open.
Golden sunlight flooded into the basement.
Fresh air followed.
Rich with the scent of grass.
Wildflowers.
Moist soil.
A breeze brushed gently against his face.
Mario smiled.
“It really exists.”
He stepped through.
The world changed.
The basement disappeared behind him.
Instead…
He found himself standing beneath an endless blue sky.
Birdsong echoed peacefully across the landscape.
Fresh green grass swayed around his feet.
For several seconds…
Mario simply stood there.
Taking everything in.
Unlike what many people imagined when they heard the words “legendary Sage’s residence”…
There was no magnificent castle.
No towering fortress.
No luxurious mansion.
Only…
A modest wooden farmhouse.
It wasn’t large.
Nor was it extravagant.
Weathered wooden walls reflected years of careful maintenance.
A small covered porch stretched across the front entrance, just wide enough for someone to sit quietly with a cup of tea.
Mario estimated the interior almost immediately.
One bedroom.
A combined living and dining room.
A simple kitchen.
One bathroom.
Comfortable.
Practical.
Nothing more.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
“…I like this.”
It felt less like the home of history’s greatest Sage…
And more like the peaceful retirement home of someone who had already accomplished everything worth accomplishing.
His attention shifted toward the front yard.
Neatly organized planting beds spread across the property.
Vegetables unlike anything on Earth grew in perfect rows.
Fruit trees carried colorful harvests despite having no visible season.
Some plants emitted a faint glow beneath the sunlight.
Others shimmered ever so slightly whenever the wind passed through them.
Even without Appraisal…
Mario knew.
Every single one of them was magical.
Beyond the gardens stood a sturdy wooden fence surrounding the property.
Simple.
Unremarkable.
Something any ordinary carpenter could build.
Yet…
The moment Mario walked toward it…
He felt it.
His fingers touched empty air.
Or rather…
Something invisible occupying empty air.
He gently pushed.
Nothing happened.
An unseen barrier stood just beyond the fence.
Completely transparent.
Completely immovable.
Mario looked past it.
Only then did he notice the forest.
Ancient trees towered toward the heavens in every direction.
Their massive trunks blocked much of the sunlight, casting long shadows across the forest floor.
It wasn’t peaceful.
It was oppressive.
The kind of place where even silence felt dangerous.
Then…
A roar echoed somewhere deep within the woods.
Powerful.
Ancient.
Predatory.
Several flocks of birds exploded into the sky moments later.
Mario instinctively stopped breathing.
“…That…”
He quietly laughed.
“…definitely isn’t something I’d like to meet.”
His gaze returned to the invisible barrier.
“So this is why.”
The Sage hadn’t built a home beside a dangerous forest.
He had built it in the middle of one.
Everything outside the barrier wanted to kill him.
Everything inside…
Was perfectly safe.
Mario slowly looked back toward the humble farmhouse.
Simple.
Peaceful.
Almost ordinary.
Yet hidden inside that modest home…
Waited the greatest opportunity of his second life.
He walked toward the front door.
One step at a time.
Without hesitation.
End of Chapter 10