Benefit of Level Up [ part 1 ]

I'd accumulated a lot of mental fatigue over the course of the day, so I fell asleep quickly when it was bedtime, but I woke up again from a sudden discomfort.

"Hmm? Why am I so…?"

My body felt very hot as if I had a high fever. When I tried to move my neck, intense pain shot through my entire body. It was so extreme, I immediately started screaming. The pain wasn't localized to just the part of me that moved; absolutely everything hurt.

My body started making weird sounds all over it, like my bones, muscles, and nerves were shifting and changing… No, it was more like being transformed at a genetic level while I was awake. The pain continued for quite a while because of that.

It sounds crazy when I say it like that, but my instincts insisted that my impression of what was happening was correct.

Unusual groans and growls came out from my mouth. I couldn't even speak properly. With one final whimper, I blacked out from the pain.

＊＊＊

"Mmm… huh?"

It was morning. When I woke up, the pain in my body was completely gone, making the pain from last night seem like a bad dream. My body actually felt extraordinarily light.

"What even happened last night…"

I didn't have a clue why I went through that much pain. I only moved my neck, after all. I was hungry, though, so I got up to make breakfast.

"…Hmm?"

As soon as I stood up, my pants and underwear slipped right off. Moreover, when I looked down I saw an incredible set of six-pack abs, and my privates were rather… majestic.

H-huge…

When I touched the abs involuntarily, it certainly felt like I was touching my own stomach, so it was definitely my body.

There was a long pause before I finally shouted in amazement. What the hell was this!? Was this really my body!? I ran my hands over my stomach over and over again, but it really was me, and the other parts… When I touched my face and head, my acne, ulcers and the like had vanished without a trace, and even my hair now had a healthy volume to it.

I was dumbfounded by my body suddenly changing so much, but my stomach growled, so I decided to just go ahead and make breakfast. When I went into the kitchen, I realized my height had changed, and I almost stopped again, but I managed to keep going and start cooking.

However, when breakfast was done, I sat in a daze, eating without thinking. If you asked me how it tasted, I wouldn't be able to tell you. After finishing, I took a break to think some more about the changes I just went through.

No matter what perspective I took, I could only conclude that yesterday's level-up must have been the cause.

I remembered that my level had increased, and that thought calmed me down, so I immediately thought that it was the cause. Other than that, there's no other reason for this to happen.

As of yesterday, there was no change aside from leveling up, and what happened while I slept last night was some kind of growth process, wasn't it? It was a dramatic change.

"I wish I had a mirror ― oh, right…"

I was trying to find a mirror to see how I looked now, but right when I said it, I remembered I broke it yesterday. It was only now that I realized there was no other mirror in the entire house.

However, even if I couldn't see how my appearance had changed, there was no problem so far. My appearance was terrible in the first place, but I didn't care how it changed anymore, and I didn't know what to do about it, either.

Right now, I had more important things to worry about. Specifically…

"I don't have any clothes…"

Yeah, the only clothes I had didn't fit my new size. I could still wear my big jacket for my top clothes, if I wanted to, but I had no idea what to do about my pants and underwear. They were too big, and no matter how hard I tried, they would slip down.

I never needed a belt before, so I didn't have a way to fix it to my waist. Well, as a last resort, I might be able to manage it with string or something, but… Either way, I don't want this situation to continue. It's very troublesome.

I can't go shopping for clothes that fit, nor can I go shopping for food. I can't even wear my uniform, it doesn't fit me anymore either. Oddly enough, high school uniforms were the same design as junior high school uniforms; you distinguished them by the color of the name tags distributed every year. So even my junior high school uniforms wouldn't possibly be the right size for me.

"Seriously, what am I supposed to do now…"

I really started to worry, but then I remembered something.

"Oh yeah, now that I think about it, there were some clothes in that other house's closet, right…?"

The house in the other world had a closet, in which there were some clothes and underwear that were too small to wear at the time.

"I guess I'll just wear that, then…"

Since I had no other choice, I immediately went through the otherworld door into the other house and opened the closet. Some clothes and underwear were still inside, including a white shirt and black pants. They were simple clothes, but somewhat modern-looking.

"I'm saved… I can just wear these, for now, right?"

It doesn't mean anything, but for some reason, I thought to appraise them.

[Royal Silk Shirt] :: A very soft shirt made of the highest quality royal silk. Automatically adjusts size according to the body shape of the wearer. Maintains a comfortable temperature for the wearer. Immune to dirt. Contains an auto-repair function. Contractor: Tenjou Yuuya.

[Royal Silk Pants] :: Very soft pants made of the highest quality royal silk. Automatically adjusts size according to the body shape of the wearer. Maintains a comfortable temperature for the wearer. Immune to dirt. Contains an auto-repair function. Contractor: Tenjou Yuuya.

"You're kidding, right?"

What kind of broken ability is this? Clothes shouldn't be this incredible. When I first found this, I was still fat, but with that function, if I wanted to wear it, I still could have. Whether it's cold or hot, I'll be perfectly comfortable if I wear it, huh? That makes no sense. And it says it won't even get dirty? That would bring a huge amount of joy to the housewives of the world if that was typical.

By the way, I didn't specifically pick these clothes because of the explanation, I just felt that they had a strangely elegant atmosphere. I really just felt it. I don't have an eye for aesthetics, normally.

Now, what about even the clothes treating me as their contractors? Is this normal in this world? It can't be, right? I'm sure it can't. If the clothes have this ability, how about the underwear? I thought about it and used appraisal on the underwear, but it was just an ordinary pair of comfortable underwear, with no special effects on it. However, as usual, I had become its contractor as well. By the way, the underwear consisted of black boxers and other black underclothes.

"It really is perfectly useful, huh…"

No, I don't think that Mr. Wise Man used it practically like this, but it was a big help to me. In addition, when I looked in the closet again, there were even shoes and socks. The socks were comfortable, and its effect was that they wouldn't get stuffy. There was a golden spot on the back of it, so it was really cool. Again, I became its contractor.

But the shoes were even more amazing.

[Dragon God's Leather Shoes]:: Shoes made from the skin of a dragon god, the pinnacle of the dragon species. It ignores environmental effects or features. No matter how much the wearer walks or runs, they won't get tired, and the shoes won't be damaged. The size changes to fit the wearer. Immune to dirt. Contractor: Tenjou Yuuya.

I finally found equipment made from a godlike material. So, what should I even do when I find something like this? As a matter of course, I'm still its contractor, so really, I'm very grateful, but still… Isn't it just too much? This goes far beyond the scope of ordinary shoes, right?

However, these shoes are also glossy bluish-black, and they're very cool. I really want to wear them. Actually, my foot size had also changed, so I had to wear it anyway. I got clothes, shoes, and so on, so with that, I could go out for now.