Reincarnation [1]

In our current day and age, it's survival of the smartest, craftiest, shrewdest of people. So why do I have to go to the gym instead of tempering my mind? But when I was eight years old, I became fat and found it to be problematic.

Problematic because as an introvert, walking outside with my round body was like torture. The conspicuous eyes of onlookers would always make me uncomfortable like I was guilty of some heinous crime. To make things worse, people would mistake me for a girl, saying that I have feminine features despite being a boy...

During high school, it only became worse. In my first year of high school, I would meet new students, but they treated me the same. They voiced out their sarcastic criticisms, but...

And then there was this class called P.E...! My worst enemy...

So how did I take all that? Well, the students were all sensible enough to avoid bullying. Besides,  the school wouldn't tolerate such childish behaviour. So yeah, I wasn't prone to bullying and whatnot, and continued with my daily life, completely ignoring the sarcasm, living inside my head, and tempering my mind...

In the second semester of my first year in high school, I suddenly had the will and determination to lose some weight! So I only ate once a day for a year, not going to the gym as I'm not a fan of self-torture.

As for the reason why I got fat... Let's just say I'm the epitome of laziness and ate four times a day, so...the fat built up in my never working body...

Denying myself food paid off. On the summer vacation of my second year in high school, I lost 21.3kg of weight and was now 45.4kg. I was quite proud of myself...

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The last time I checked the time it was 4:16 p.m., and it had only been a few minutes of walking from home to Chinatown.

It was an ordinary day, the sky with a tinge of orange and partially covered with white clouds, cars passing back and forth.

In this courageous endeavour of mine, I had to wear a hat to protect my eyes from the sun's bright light. But I couldn't say the same about my delicate white skin, as it was stinging from the heat.

It was a must to endure such hardship as I went to buy an SD card USB adapter because my old one malfunctioned while watching anime.

My second nephew, Leo, quietly walked on my left as he joined me on short notice. He was usually talkative but realizing the foul mood I was in, he decided to stay silent.

I have three nephews who come to visit during school vacations, and my widowed mother thinks I could learn something from them as they're quite hard-working kids. And I thank them for it, as they assist my old mother with her gardening and household chores.

"Sirs, you have been reported to be in possession of illegal drugs. Could the two of you step out and let us inspect your car?"

As we walked by, four police officers pulled over a white quad-setter Toyota Allex with two men inside.

'Wow... My first time witnessing drug dealers being caught...'

"...Yes, of course," the driver calmly obliged.

Well, that's a red flag my guy. An innocent person would start to panic and deny having drugs, but they're way too calm about this. It's either they're really innocent, or they're confident in their hiding spot. But I bet my chances on the latter, so the report is true.

Unfortunately for the police officers, they didn't have those trained dogs which could sniff out the drugs.

Enough about the drug dealers, we entered the familiar store. The store sold clothing of all ages, minor electrical appliances and jewellery, stationary, and homeware.

"Greetings my dear. Where can I find a rubber rake?" an elderly woman asked the one and only cashier.

"Ah, yes. It's over there," replied a black-haired woman in her late twenties.

I made my way to the counter. I would always come here to buy stationary so I was familiar with the cashier, not that we knew each other enough to hold a casual conversation.

"...Good evening. I would like to buy an SD card USB adapter," I said with a flat tone.

"That would be $3," she said.

She brought out a hand-sized clear plastic bag with five of the good stuff in it and placed it on the counter. She moved the blue one aside with her index finger and picked the black one. I might like dull colours, but her actions greatly bothered me.

A little expensive, but I recently earned $100 from school for an outstanding performance, and I haven't spent it on anything notable, so I quickly handed out $3 as I grabbed the adapter.

As I was about to leave, the cashier said, "Here."

I hadn't come here for a long time so I guessed they developed as she handed me a white short receipt. I grabbed that too and put it in my left pocket as I made my way to the exit.

"Dear, I can't seem to find the rubber rake?"

"Oh, It's over there next to the stacked chairs."

It's always necessary to point out specifics when directing the elderly, so I saw the rakes in front of the entrance next to the mentioned chairs...

Anyway, my mission was accomplished. But one look at the receipt told me otherwise, as it only stated the amount I spent, not the item I bought. Yep, I was cheated for sure, but I'd find out soon enough.

Now, however, was the time to continue the battle against the sun.

'Hmm?'

Going back, the police officers were still searching the car, and I guessed they must've inspected the suspect's clothes too. It seemed like they wouldn't locate the drugs, so I decided to give them a hint.

"Hey, Leo, when we walk past that car, I want you to say: 'Sometimes you gotta check the exterior too.' Make sure one of the officers can hear you, and make it sound casual as possible," I instructed my nephew and he nodded.

Walking by them, Leo said," Y'know, sometimes you gotta check the exterior too..." in a nonchalant manner. Very good of him.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said.

Well, that made-up exchange of ours would avoid being conspicuous, and help the police officers get a chance of finding the drugs. I was more curious about the one who reported them, though.

One of the police officers overheard our 'conversation' as he commanded, "Inspect the exterior!" and they promptly hopped to it. I guessed he was the chief inspector then.

Glancing at the driver, his eyes had a bit of unrest as he clenched his fists. Well, that took care of that.

And I only realized this now, but there were several onlookers, some of them shooting videos with their smartphones. They had to waste their time with something that would, later on, be on the news.

Finally entering our double-story house, the battle against the sun concluded, and the aftereffect took place as my skin began to glisten.

[No Device Storage Inserted] 

Those dreadful words were written on the tv.

I was sure the USB port was fine, and I properly inserted the memory card into the adapter.

'...I knew it...'

So the cashier gave me a defective product, and I bet she kept the money too...

Oh well, I'm not the type of person to seek troublesome disputes.

'I guess a smartphone it is...'

But watching anime on a smartphone was a bit...

In the end, I left my frustrated nephews behind as I went upstairs to shut myself inside my bedroom; turning on the AC, I laid down on the bed and read some manga instead.

Two hours later, I headed downstairs to drink some water.

"Earlier this evening, around the outskirts of Chinatown, two men were found to be in possession of illegal drugs—which were found in the wheel rim covers..."

As I passed by the living room, I heard the newswoman's voice. I wasn't interested in that, so I proceeded to walk up the stairs and happened to overhear my mother on the phone...

"...If they wanted to call you, they can always use my phone—I don't mind... Yes... Yes... Anyway, they're really helpful, unlike my defective son..."

'Pfft! 'Defective' huh...'

Yeah right. I couldn't care less.

It only took a second to know that she was talking with her grandchildren's father. It always felt like I was invisible living in this house as I wasn't that interactive with my relatives, not even with my mother.

I entered my room and locked the door. The time read 7:13 p.m., flopping on the bed, I pondered as I stared at the blackened ceiling.

The world is really boring and monotonous. It's survival of the smartest, craftiest, and shrewdest of people, like that cashier who cheated me, and the police officers who caught the drug dealers...

...Okay, I know I gave them a hint, but that's not worth mentioning.

Anyway, I could always become a great detective like Sherlock Holmes to make life interesting. But that would require me to be cooperative with others—which is not my forte at all...

...I slowly went lucid...