After Sayuri left, Sora glanced at his system wallet.
— [0 Gold Coins, 2 Silver Coins, 13 Copper Coins] — Hm?
Something seemed off.
Every time Sora killed a fish and picked up the coins it dropped, he always paid attention to the changes in his wallet.
Just now, after processing that sea bream for Sayuri Sawamura, it had dropped 3 copper coins.
After collecting them, the wallet had shown: — [0 Gold Coins, 2 Silver Coins, 8 Copper Coins] — Comparing that to now, it had only increased by 5 copper coins.
Strange.
Why was Sayuri’s drop rate different from everyone else’s?
Sora couldn’t understand it.
But he didn’t have time to think about it.
Another customer had arrived to buy fish.
Sora sat back down and continued helping with the fish processing.
After nearly another hour of work, he earned 83 more copper coins.
His wallet now displayed: — [0 Gold Coins, 2 Silver Coins, 96 Copper Coins] — As the sky gradually darkened, Sora prepared to head home.
After all, Beika Town wasn’t particularly safe at night.
Takagi quickly washed his hands and handed him some money.
“Takagi-san?” “Take it!
You’ve earned it!
I can’t let you work for free.” “Then thank you very much.” “Come by whenever you have time.
I hope you’ll achieve your dream of becoming a chef.” “…Yeah.” Leaving the market, Sora counted the money in his hand.
It totaled 4,000 yen.
Tokyo’s average hourly wage ranged from roughly 1,163 to 1,300 yen.
He had worked about an hour and a half today and a little over an hour yesterday.
Takagi had apparently rounded it up to three hours of work and paid above the normal rate.
“Takagi-san is a generous man.
Too bad becoming a chef isn’t actually my dream…” Shaking his head, Sora put the money away and headed toward the train station.
Passing a bookstore along the way, he walked inside.
“Excuse me, do you have a copy of Love Metronome?” The clerk thought for a moment.
“I think we do.
Please wait a moment.” Several minutes later, the clerk returned carrying a brand-new book with a light layer of dust on it.
“Sir, is this the one you’re looking for?” “That’s right.
I’ll take two copies.” “Certainly.” The clerk fetched another copy.
“That will be 1,400 yen.” Sora paid and stuffed both books into his school bag.
—— The train wasn’t crowded.
With nothing better to do, Sora took out one copy of Love Metronome, removed the plastic wrapping, and started reading.
After only a short while, his eyes began to feel strained.
Reading at night really wasn’t ideal.
He put the book back into his bag, closed his eyes, and began performing eye exercises.
A girl sitting across from him watched curiously as he rubbed around his eyes with his fingers.
After all, Japan didn’t have anything like eye exercises.
Sora silently completed the full set of massage movements.
His eyes gradually felt warm.
The muscles around them relaxed.
Even the surrounding noise seemed to fade away.
Slowly opening his eyes— He discovered that he was no longer on the train.
Instead, he stood within a familiar sea of mist.
A glowing panel floated before him.
Displayed on it was a series of somewhat mysterious finger massage techniques.
Then an extremely enthusiastic sales pitch exploded into his ears, sounding exactly like a livestream shopping host.
“How long has it been since you could clearly see the veins on a leaf?” “How long has it been since you’ve seen your loved one’s face clearly without glasses?” “The embarrassment of fogged lenses while eating hot pot in winter!
The frustration of glasses slipping down your nose during sweaty summer days!
How much longer will you endure it?” “Look over here!
Our Bright Vision Eye Exercises are not ordinary massages!” This…
Sora froze.
Then he realized it resembled the strange “advertisements” he had seen after dying before.
Only this time, the product wasn’t a Devil Fruit Blind Box.
Instead, it was a strange item called Bright Vision Eye Exercises.
“It produces immediate results!
Every session reduces your prescription by one degree!” “It doesn’t require large chunks of your time!
Just ten minutes before bed each night.
Listen to relaxing music while following along.
It’ll feel like tucking your eyes beneath a soft blanket…” “Don’t hesitate!
Buy now!
Originally priced at 9.9 silver coins!
Now discounted to only 1.9 silver coins!
Instantly receive one copy of Bright Vision Eye Exercises!” A button labeled [Purchase Now] appeared on the panel.
Sora looked at the upper-right corner of the advertisement.
A countdown timer was displayed there.
[00:00:20] Twenty seconds remained.
So…
Should he buy it?
The discounted price of 1.9 silver coins wasn’t expensive considering its miraculous ability to improve eyesight.
He currently possessed: — [2 Silver Coins, 96 Copper Coins] — Or 2.96 silver coins.
He could afford it.
The problem was that his eyes weren’t nearsighted anymore.
He used to be.
But after becoming ten years younger, his eyesight had reverted to what it had been back then and naturally recovered.
He didn’t really need this item.
Sora recalled the advertisement’s wording.
“It produces immediate results!
Every session reduces your prescription by one degree!” The description never specified that it could only be used on himself.
If these eye exercises worked on other people too…
He immediately thought of Eriri.
She was extremely nearsighted and normally wore contact lenses.
Then there was Utaha.
Although the anime never explicitly stated it, she frequently wore glasses and spent long hours writing novels, making nearsightedness highly likely.
If he learned these eye exercises, he’d have a perfectly legitimate excuse to touch their eyes.
And if he encountered other nearsighted heroines in the future, he could use the same method.
They would regain better vision.
He would collect copper coins.
A win-win situation.
With that thought, Sora immediately pressed the [Purchase Now] button.
The next moment, a notification appeared.
— [Purchase Successful!] [Current Wallet: 0 Gold Coins, 1 Silver Coin, 6 Copper Coins] — The surrounding mist rapidly began to disperse.
Sora found himself still sitting on the train.
The other passengers remained around him.
Yet everyone was frozen in place.
The air was completely silent.
Looking out the window, he saw that even the scenery outside had stopped moving.
The wind itself seemed frozen.
Everything except him had entered a state of complete time stop.
Several seconds later, the mist vanished entirely.
Time resumed.
The passengers began moving again.
The girl across from him blinked.
Then she suddenly realized Sora was looking at her and shyly lowered her head.
Smiling, Sora opened his system panel and checked his inventory.
Inside one slot rested a thin booklet radiating blue light.
[Bright Vision Eye Exercises]