Night in Shibuya.
Natsume Chikei had just finished his shift at the coffee shop and was walking down the street, looking at the neon-drenched avenue as memories of the past slowly surfaced in his mind.
One day, after touching a golden glowing orb of light, he discovered that his physical body had transmigrated into a parallel world version of Japan in Tokyo.
He’d displaced a boy who had been about to commit suicide, inheriting that boy’s memories and identity.
Because of that, in everyone else’s eyes, he was now called Natsume Chikei.
In this world, his predecessor’s family had been single-parent, but quite wealthy.
Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last long.
His father’s IT company suddenly went bankrupt, and the man passed away from depression, leaving only the original Chikei and his younger sister to barely scrape by.
It was ironic, really.
The relatives who used to visit so enthusiastically before had become just as cold and distant now.
They even worried that the family might still have debts after the bankruptcy.
If they happened to run into the two siblings on the street, they’d immediately take a detour to avoid them.
It’s easy to go from frugal to living large, but the reverse is a nightmare.
Combined with his father’s sudden death, the already timid and weak-willed original body couldn’t withstand the enormous shock and chose to reset his life.
And then he had transmigrated here.
“I really didn’t expect to transmigrate…” Natsume Chikei let out a soft sigh.
Before crossing over, he’d graduated from a top university and had actually been doing pretty well for himself in society.
Now, after transmigrating, he’d suddenly been thrown into hell difficulty mode.
He was completely thrown off.
Fortune and misfortune came hand in hand.
After transmigrating, it wasn’t all bad, though.
Even the wealthiest people in the world couldn’t achieve eternal youth.
Yet his body had actually become quite a bit younger after the transmigration.
As for the other matter—he gently closed his eyes, and the mysterious glowing orb from before the crossing instantly appeared in his mind.
With a thought from him…
The orb transformed into a translucent interface panel.
[Character: Chikei]
[Strength: 4] (The average for a normal adult is 5)
[Agility: 4]
[Spirit: 5]
[Constitution: 5]
[Charm: 9]
[Equipment: None]
[Until Next Attribute Point Reward: Still need three more pieces of equipment!]
From what the panel said, it seemed that as long as he collected more of these special pieces of equipment, he could obtain attribute points to strengthen himself.
But where was he supposed to find these things?
Natsume Chikei felt a bit lost.
While he was deep in thought, a cool night breeze blew past, lifting the strands of hair around Natsume Chikei’s handsome, refined face.
The sight caused quite a few girls walking by on the sidewalk to steal glances at him.
Some even looked like they wanted to come over and strike up a conversation.
But before any of them could make their move, someone else beat them to it.
A girl with wheat-colored skin and a vibrant, energetic aura, wearing a loose-fitting top and denim shorts that highlighted her slender legs, came jogging up from in front of him.
It was Fujiwara Aoi.
The chain strap of her crossbody bag traced a delicate curve across her front, and her chest rose and fell gently with her breathing.
She stopped right in front of Natsume Chikei.
“Chikei-kun, why are you walking so fast?”
Natsume Chikei looked up and recognized his coworker from the coffee shop, Fujiwara Aoi.
“Fujiwara-san, did you need something?”
Fujiwara Aoi’s eyes flickered with a hint of shyness:
“You got off work a bit early today.
You haven’t eaten dinner yet, right?”
“I know a pretty good place nearby.
If you don’t have anything else important to do… how about we go grab a bite together?”
Natsume Chikei remembered that the supermarket was having a sale today, and his sister had mentioned wanting to go shopping with him.
With that in mind, he was about to refuse.
But at that exact moment…
He suddenly felt someone grab his hand.
Natsume Chikei turned his head and saw a petite, adorable figure standing there.
Her soft, silky long hair had been carefully cut into neat bangs, perfectly framing her small, delicate oval face and making her look especially cute.
She was wearing a light goose-yellow long dress.
The fresh, elegant color made her skin appear as white as snow, like a flower bud just beginning to bloom on a spring day.
Natsume Ruri was looking at Fujiwara Aoi with a wary expression.
“Who are you?”
Fujiwara Aoi’s face instantly turned pale as she made a wrong assumption:
“Chikei-kun, don’t tell me this is your girlfriend?”
Natsume Chikei didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“She’s my little sister!”
Fujiwara Aoi’s face lit up with relief, and she quickly bowed her head in apology:
“I’m so sorry!
I completely misunderstood.
She’s your sister!”
“I’m really sorry about that!”
Natsume Ruri puffed out her cheeks slightly, looking a little unhappy:
“Big brother, who is this person?”
Natsume Chikei explained:
“She’s my coworker from the coffee shop.”
Fujiwara Aoi stared at the cute little Natsume Ruri, her eyes sparkling with barely contained excitement.
She really wanted to rush over and hug this adorable girl.
But since this was the first time meeting Chikei’s little sister, she didn’t want to leave a bad impression, so she forcefully suppressed the urge.
Putting on an energetic smile, she introduced herself:
“Nice to meet you!
My name’s Fujiwara Aoi!”
Natsume Ruri had initially thought this girl was just like all the others who’d tried to hit on her big brother.
But now it seemed like she’d been mistaken?
Realizing that, she straightened up and gave a polite, proper bow:
“Nice to meet you.
I’m Natsume Ruri.”
Fujiwara Aoi happily dug a few snacks out of her small bag and handed them to Natsume Ruri:
“These snacks are really tasty.
Here, take them!”
Natsume Ruri paused for a second, not entirely sure why she was being given snacks out of nowhere, but she still accepted them very politely.
“Thank you, Fujiwara-neesan.”
Fujiwara Aoi asked curiously:
“Chikei-kun, since your sister came looking for you, does that mean you two have other plans tonight?”
Natsume Chikei nodded:
“Yeah, I was going to take my sister to the supermarket nearby to buy some stuff.”
Fujiwara Aoi looked a little regretful, but she quickly recovered and smiled:
“Oh, got it.
Then I won’t keep you guys any longer.”
“Ruri-chan, let’s hang out next time!”
Natsume Chikei waved:
“See you later.”
Natsume Ruri’s expression darkened.
What the hell was “Ruri-chan”?
But since her brother was still standing right there, she maintained a polite smile and said:
“Goodbye, Fujiwara-neesan.”
Once Fujiwara Aoi had left…
“Big brother, was that girl your girlfriend just now?” Natsume Ruri asked, pretending not to care.
“No chance.” Natsume Chikei shook his head.
Natsume Ruri smiled brightly: “Yeah, that tracks.
You’ve been single for so many years now—there’s no way you’d manage to get a girlfriend just from working at a part-time job for a few days!”
“Thanks.
I feel personally attacked…”
After that.
The two of them started heading toward the supermarket.
While they were on the way…
Natsume Chikei caught sight of a second-hand bookstore and suddenly froze in place for a moment.
Then, looking surprised, he walked straight toward it.
“Big brother, did you go the wrong way?
The supermarket’s right up ahead!”
He acted as if he couldn’t hear his sister’s voice at all and walked up to the entrance of the second-hand bookstore, picking up a book that was emitting a strange glow.
[The Boy’s Sorrowful Diary]
[Quality: White] (White < Blue < Green < Purple < Gold)
[Effect: After use, you can accurately recall a portion of painful and distressing memories, and you will never be able to forget them again.
(2 uses remaining)]
[Synthesis Requirement: Requires at least three pieces of equipment of the same type]
[Description: That small town was the boy’s abyss, and the source of all his pain.]