Chapter 1: Is it possible to start over?

"Will I finally be able to live normally, starting anew?"

The young man gazed at the landscape before him. In the distance, the bright lights of the evening city shimmered, creating a beautiful and serene atmosphere in the quiet surroundings.

"Sora Kobayashi - that's my name now. A young man living with his younger sister in an apartment left by their parents. It's not that they died, but memories suggest they weren't ordinary people. Considering I know certain things about the future, I should be able to earn money quickly and live carefree in this world."

Through his black hair, dark brown eyes were visible, reflecting a sense of tranquility.

"No need to work so hard or waste energy trying to appear good in others' eyes. How wonderful that is."

He turned and entered the bathroom, switching on the light. His face was clearly visible in the mirror before him.

"My face is somewhat attractive, but not enough to cause trouble. It seems I can truly enjoy life for myself now."

Recalling endless years of work and unnecessary emotional investment in others, he couldn't help but smile.

"Apparently, I didn't get along with my sister. That's good - no need to pretend. I just need to live for myself. First goal: earn lots of money. Second goal: enjoy life."

He returned to the small room, carefully folded his school uniform, and fell onto the bed.

"The previous owner of this body confessed to a girl and was rejected. It seems he couldn't handle it emotionally, which is how I came to possess his body. He had just started his second year of high school. So I only need to study at an average level for two years, and everything will be fine."

Lying on the bed, his excitement from the transition finally began to subside. But thoughts in his head prevented him from fully relaxing.

Just as he was ready to fall asleep, a circular loading icon suddenly appeared before his eyes. It was very familiar to him; his eyes widened, and his brain seemed to short-circuit.

[Activation enhancement... 1%... 6%... 35%... 70%... 99%]

The information before his eyes quickly loaded, after which something seemed to be forcibly inserted into his brain. He could only lose consciousness without resistance.

---

Knock-knock-knock

"Wake up, it's time for school! I can't wait for you any longer!"

The loud sound from behind the door made Sora startle and open his eyes. It took him a few seconds to finally understand his surroundings.

"Damn... it wasn't a dream. I really... seems like I lost consciousness due to something?"

"Yes! It was the loading of the cheat I used in the game. What nonsense?"

Bang!

As he was thinking to himself, suddenly something seemed to hit the door.

"I said hurry up, or I'm going alone!"

Again came the loud girlish voice, containing not the slightest hint of friendliness.

"This must be this body's sister, Yuki, right?"

"You can go, I'll come later. My head hurts!"

He couldn't help but shout back; it seemed to be an instinct of this body. Listening, the footsteps began to recede, and after a few minutes came the loud sound of a door closing.

"Ha... seems she left. Now I need to figure this out."

Looking at the icon in front of him, suddenly a status window appeared.

[Name: Sora

Level: 3

Experience: 257/1600

Age: 16 years

Race: Human

Profession: Student

Characteristics:

Strength: 8

Agility: 7

Intelligence: 9

Magic: 5

Special abilities:

Skill enhancement 10 times

Skills:

Empty]

"I understand all the characteristics well, but why is there even magic? Moreover, it seems the cheat works, but why are there no skills? Didn't the previous owner of the body acquire any skills? Or does this only work after launching the cheat?"

After thinking for a while, he got up from the bed and pondered.

"Hmm? How can I get a skill? The simplest thing that comes to mind is regular boxing, but does that count as a skill?"

Thoughts whirled, and without hesitation, he stood in a boxing stance and tried to throw a punch. However, even after long swinging of fists and vertical fighting, not a single skill appeared on the panel.

"Eh, it seems it doesn't work, or I'm doing it wrong. Ah?"

His gaze fell on the time shown on the nightstand; it was almost half-past eight.

"Ah? School has almost started. I need to go quickly to avoid unnecessary problems." As he spoke, he had already left the room. Although he had a slightly ambivalent feeling, he quickly ran downstairs, put on his shoes, and ran out onto the street.

The morning air hit his face, clearly giving him the realization that his new life was beginning. His mood improved even more as he accelerated towards the school.

His chest was breathing quickly, and his eyes became brighter under his black hair. It took 15 minutes to reach the school. By this time, classes had already started. Tidying himself up a bit, he finally reached the school gates.

Entering the school, everything looked a bit deserted as classes had already begun. When he finally reached his classroom, through the window he could see the teacher talking about something.

He gathered his courage and, after knocking, opened the door.

"Ah? Sora Kobayashi? You're late again."

Speaking, the teacher took a pen and wrote something in the papers in front of him.

"If this happens again, you'll have problems. You may sit down."

Listening to the teacher, Sora bowed his head.

"Yes, I understand, teacher. I apologize."

Speaking, he went to his seat, but he also noticed strange eyes around him looking at him with slyness.

Although it was strange, he didn't pay attention as he came to his seat.

"Why does this seem so much like a novel about the main character?"

Speaking, he finally sat down in the back seat near the window, the classic place for the main character.

The next lesson passed as he remembered in his mind, with occasional glances from other classmates. He also guessed that this was most likely the result of the previous body owner's confession.

And the target of the confession was a girl in the first row of the class, a beautiful girl with long black hair. She had a somewhat noble aura that gave her a different feeling.

Unlike the others, she didn't look at him once during the lesson. But in Sora's opinion, this was better than unnecessary attention from her.

Although the other side was very beautiful, in his opinion, communicating with such a girl would cause much more trouble than necessary.

"It's good that the previous owner was rejected... although it caused me to come into his body."

Turning his head and looking out the window, he thought.

"Even if I had a girlfriend, I would want her to be ordinary, cute, not too beautiful and not too ugly."

His thoughts were interrupted by the school bell, followed by the teacher leaving the class. In an instant, the whole class began to move. Groups began to gather around Sora. Sora wasn't part of these groups, nor was he invited; the original owner was rather introverted.

"So, this is much better. Again, no need to pretend in any way."

Thinking this, he got up from his seat and headed outside, as he was already hungry. He urgently needed to grab something to eat.

Easily leaving the classroom where there was a lot of gossip and noise, Sora began to descend the stairs.

"Come to think of it, this cheat is used for the game. And in the game where I used it, you first had to unlock the skill."

As he descended, he also continued to think about how to use the cheat.

"Wait, in the game, to unlock a skill at the beginning, you had to learn it from a corresponding master. If you think about it differently, in the game, unlocking a skill could be equated to learning a skill.

So do I need to learn the corresponding skills from someone to use the cheat?"

It seemed like a flash of inspiration occurred in his brain, followed by excitement.

"So I need to find a master in the corresponding field to check this. If skill acquisition works exactly like this, then I can easily become stronger in many areas. This will also allow me to more easily achieve the carefree life I'm striving for.

Moreover, in the game, skills were mainly focused on combat actions. Is it possible to get other skills, such as cooking or from other areas? I hope so..."

As he was thinking intently and muttering to himself, reaching the corner of the corridor, he suddenly collided with someone. The other side was also a high school student, but he looked bigger than Sora and was clearly more athletic.

"Ah, sorry, I didn't notice you..."

"Are you Sora Kobayashi?"

When he had already started apologizing, suddenly the teenager in front of him interrupted him by asking his question. Based on the interlocutor's tone, Sora understood he had some kind of distrust.

"Ah? Yes, what's the matter?"

"That's good, come with me. I need to talk to you."

Speaking, he put his arm around Sora's shoulder and pulled him forward. From Sora's side, it was more like the other side was dragging him to a certain place.

They entered the boys' restroom, where several teenagers were already standing around one who was sitting on a chair brought from somewhere.

Sora already understood; most likely this was all a consequence of the previous body owner's confession.

"Eh, so much trouble, I'll just apologize and quickly leave here."

The teenager sitting among them was quite handsome in appearance.

"A pretty boy leading others, why is this so similar to manga? All that's left is for this pretty boy to be stronger than that big teenager."

Thinking about the manga he had read, it seemed like a cliché was unfolding before him. However, he shook his head and cleared his thoughts. The teenager in front of him had light hair, a handsome face, and green eyes. If he were to comment, it would be the face of a main character or villain from some manga.

"So, what do you want from me?"

Sora spoke, realizing that this light-haired teenager was the leader here.

"Most likely he has a lot of money, which is why he was able to win the leadership position in this group. But that doesn't concern me."

"Sora Kobayashi, why did the quiet guy from our class suddenly confess to the most beautiful girl in school?"

"Ah? He's also from my class? Ah, I seem to remember."

Finally, the name of the teenager in front of him popped into his head.

Makoto Sato, wealthy parents, good academic performance, and an excellent reputation at school. Most were afraid of him, just like the previous body owner, but having taken on the memory, he already knew what this guy was thinking.

On the internet, he had seen a video saying that it's better to confess and get rejected than to do nothing.

"But why did you get so upset after the rejection, clearly aware of the difference in social status and other aspects."

Taking a breath, he thought and finally spoke.

"Um, I saw a video that said it's better to try than to keep it to yourself. Finally confessing, I realized the reality of this world."

Speaking, he showed an embarrassed gesture by scratching his head.

In response, the other side just looked at him for a few seconds before speaking.

"Since you've realized the reality, we'll let you off this time."

Speaking, he stood up and came closer face to face with Sora.

"However, if I see another such stunt from you, you won't get off so easily."

Настроение Соры вообще не колебалось; будучи взрослым, он уже пережил такие сцены, так что страха не было. Он просто кивнул и заговорил.

"Я понимаю."

Услышав его слова, Макото несколько секунд смотрела на него, прежде чем пройти мимо, столкнувшись плечами, и выйти из туалета.

Когда они ушли, Сора тоже посмотрел им в спину. Движение другой стороны было воспринято им скорее как бунтарское подростковое поведение.

«А? Мне нужно торопиться».

С этими словами он также вышел из туалета и поспешил в кафетерий.

........................

К этому времени там уже все было занято.

Краем глаза он также увидел свою сестру из памяти, старшеклассницу с длинными каштановыми волосами и карими глазами. У нее было овальное лицо, милый носик и пухлые губы; школьная форма ей очень шла. Однако, увидев его, она, казалось, повернулась в другую сторону, явно не желая его видеть.

«Это лучше, чем ожидалось, нет причин для опасений».

Думая так, он наконец добрался до витрины, но там осталось только несколько блюд. Вздохнув и почувствовав голод, не оставалось ничего другого, как взять то, что осталось.

Позавтракав, он вышел из кафетерия, направляясь в укромное место. Это было небольшое дерево на школьном дворе. В это время там было мало людей; предыдущий владелец тела всегда сидел там и ел.

Он сидел, прислонившись спиной к дереву, и начал есть, одновременно доставая телефон другой рукой. По воспоминаниям он уже знал, какой сейчас год, наблюдая небольшой подъем интернета. Однако многое еще не произошло, если вообще произойдет.

«Мне нужно найти способ заработать деньги. Биткоин и тому подобное уже начали привлекать внимание, это одна из возможностей для меня разбогатеть. Хотя сейчас я получаю немного денег, все зависит от того, на что я их трачу».

«Отношение родителей к своим детям неясно. Хотя они и давали деньги, по воспоминаниям, тратить их можно было только на необходимые вещи. Кроме того, они предупредили Сору, что по достижении 18 лет ему придется съехать с квартиры и жить самостоятельно. Последние слова о том, что это самое большое дело, которое они для него сделают, тоже живы в памяти.

Но для меня это не так уж и плохо. Главное — успеть запрыгнуть в биткоин-поезд».