After a while, the bowl was empty, and Mikan stood, collecting the tray with practiced ease.
"Get some more rest," she said softly, adjusting the blanket around him. "Don't push yourself. I'll check on you later."
With that, she slipped out of the room, the door closing quietly behind her.
The silence returned. Only the faint hum of cicadas outside filled the air.
Rito lay back against the pillow, exhaling. His body still felt heavy, but his mind refused to settle. He closed his eyes…
And when he opened them again—
Blink.
A faint blue glow hovered in front of him. A transparent panel, like something pulled straight out of a game interface, flickering gently in the air.
Rito froze. His fever-clouded thoughts sharpened in an instant.
"…What… is this?"
The screen displayed only three tabs: [Skills], [Quests], and [Shop].
But when his gaze lingered on the last two, they appeared grayed out, faint, and untouchable, like doors sealed shut.
Only [Skills] pulsed with color, waiting.
No introduction. No manual. No voice explaining, "Welcome, Player." Just the silent glow, demanding his attention.
For a long moment, Rito simply stared, his chest rising and falling. Yesterday, the memories of another life had settled in, shaking his understanding of himself. And now, this.
"…Reincarnated, huh," he muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing faintly.
It wasn't shock, not really. More like the quiet acceptance of one more piece of a puzzle he didn't yet understand. Still, he couldn't help but wonder—why him? Why this?
He lifted his hand slowly, reaching toward the hovering glow. His fingertip brushed the tab marked [Skills].
The screen flickered, shifting—
The panel shifted as his finger brushed the [Skills] tab. Letters and numbers flickered into place, one line after another.
Skills
Football [Lv. 2] (22/100)
High School Study [Lv. 1] (2/10) — Remark: "Idiot"
Cleaning [Lv. 1] (9/10)
Cooking [Lv. 1] (5/10)
Running [Lv. 2] (4/100)
Drawing [Lv. 1] (1/10)
Charm [Lv. 0] (—)
Rito stared. His mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.
"…Seriously?"
Of all the things he expected—superhuman strength, alien tech knowledge, maybe even some kind of overpowered "Reincarnator Bonus"—this… was not it.
Football, level two. Not exactly world-shattering. High school study… idiot? He winced. Even the system seemed to mock him. Cleaning barely a step away from leveling, cooking laughably low… and "Charm" didn't even have a number.
Rito let his head fall back onto the pillow, covering his face with one hand.
"…This is just my life written down in stats…" he muttered.
And yet… he couldn't take his eyes off the screen. It was real. Tangible. Proof that something had changed, even if it looked ridiculous now.
His gaze lingered on the almost-full progress bar of Cleaning, then on the pathetic remark under High School Study.
It was frustrating. Embarrassing. But also… grounding. This system wasn't a gift. It was a mirror.
"… So if I work at it… it'll grow?"
The thought stirred something in him. Weak, fragile—but it was hope.
Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed in the hall. The panel blinked faintly and, as if sensing the approach, dissolved into the air, leaving no trace behind.
The door creaked. Mikan's voice came softly:
"Rito? You're not pushing yourself, are you?"
Rito quickly closed his eyes, pretending to drift, though his mind buzzed with the image of the blue screen burned into it.
The fever left Rito dozing in and out of sleep, but he never woke up to an empty room. Mikan had brought her school bag in at some point, settling at his desk with her notebooks spread out neatly.
Sometimes she studied in silence, her pencil scratching across paper. Other times, she sat on the edge of his bed with her phone in hand, scrolling and tapping away, her expression shifting with every new notification.
Rito watched her quietly, pretending to rest. Maybe it was the fever, maybe the weight of those foreign memories—but her presence felt… different. Or perhaps, it was his heart that was different.
"Ah, right," Mikan said suddenly, breaking the soft stillness. She glanced over at him, then back at her phone. "I've been reading this light novel lately. It's silly but kind of fun. The main character's useless most of the time, but the story makes it work."
Her eyes lit up a little as she explained, waving her hand to emphasize her point. "You'd hate him though, Rito. He's dense and clumsy, and everyone has to take care of him."
Rito blinked, caught between amusement and the sting of recognition. "…Sounds familiar," he murmured under his breath.
"What was that?" Mikan tilted her head.
"Nothing," he said quickly, hiding his face under the blanket.
Mikan gave him a small, knowing smile before returning to her phone.
The hours drifted by like that. Little pieces of conversation, light laughter, the warmth of someone choosing to stay. She didn't have to—she could've gone to her own room or left him to sleep. But instead, she remained, quietly filling the space with her presence.
Rito closed his eyes, letting her voice wash over him as she rambled about characters, plots, and silly scenes. His fever dulled the edges of his thoughts, but one thing stood clear through it all:
This… was nice.
Different from the lonely evenings in the memories of his other self. Different from the days when he never had the courage to reach out.
This time, he wasn't alone.
Two days passed. The fever faded, his strength returned, and the world outside his window seemed just a little brighter than before.
Rito stretched his arms above his head, testing his body. No dizziness, no heaviness—just the lingering memory of what he had seen. That blue screen hadn't vanished with his sickness. It was real.
And now, he understood it better.
High school study had ticked upward. Five points in two days. A small thing, but more progress than he'd ever made sitting half-asleep in class.
High School Study [Lv. 1] (7/10) — Remark: "Idiot"
"…That's fast," Rito muttered to himself, staring at the invisible screen only he could see. "At this rate, I could actually…"
The thought trailed off into silence. He didn't dare say it aloud, not even here, alone in his room.
There was more. Yesterday, on a whim, he had scribbled a nonsense story across a notebook page. Random characters, strange plots, and an adventure about a boy who got lost inside a shopping mall for eternity. Silly, pointless… but when he checked the screen—
Writing [Lv. 1] (1/10)
He still couldn't believe it. Even something like that counted.
So now, whenever Mikan wasn't watching, he jotted down strange little stories—gibberish adventures, fragments of half-baked worlds. He didn't care about the content. What mattered was the bar, crawling slowly upward.
But he kept it hidden. Always closing the notebook quickly when Mikan entered the room, shoving it into a drawer before dinner. If she caught him scribbling fantasy stories with a feverish grin, she'd give him that look—the one that said, "My brother is a hopeless case."
Or worse… she'd call him a chuunibyou.
Rito shivered at the thought. That was the last thing he needed.
So, he trained in silence. Reading, writing, watching the numbers rise, little by little.
For the first time in both his lives, progress didn't feel impossible.
Morning sunlight spilled into the room, and for once, Rito didn't groan at the thought of another school day. Instead, his eyes immediately flicked toward the notebook tucked under his pillow.
Last night, after finishing his homework, he had written another ridiculous short piece. Something about a mysterious hero who battled an army of pigeons armed with bread crumbs. Utter nonsense—yet when he checked his system…
Writing [Lv. 1] (4/10)
Just three scribbled stories, and the bar had already climbed.
"…This is… kinda addictive," Rito muttered, smiling faintly despite himself.
The same thing happened with studying. Normally, reading even a single page of his textbook made his brain go numb. But now, every new fact he memorized nudged that number upward.
High School Study [Lv. 1] (8/10) — Remark: "Idiot"
"Still an idiot, huh?" Rito sighed. "Guess the system isn't pulling its punches…"
Even chores around the house were different. When he helped Mikan sweep the living room yesterday, the bar for Cleaning reached its cap and flickered—
Cleaning [Lv. 2] (0/100)
The sudden jump had startled him so much that Mikan asked if he was feeling sick again. He brushed it off, but inside, he was buzzing with excitement.
Level two. His first.
The difference wasn't dramatic, but he felt it—his hands moving faster, his eyes noticing dust in corners he used to overlook. A small improvement, but real.
And strangely enough… satisfying.
Now, each day followed a pattern: read just a little more than usual, then write absurd stories to push his writing skill. It wasn't much, but each time he checked the screen, he could see proof that he was changing.
For once in his life, progress wasn't invisible.
Still, he kept it quiet. Mikan already raised an eyebrow when she saw him glued to a textbook without being nagged. If she caught him smiling at scribbles about pigeon wars in his notebook, she might really call a doctor.
So, Rito simply carried on in silence. Grinding. Watching the bars creep higher, little by little.
The alarm buzzed faintly in the quiet of the morning, but Rito was already awake. For the first time in days, his body felt light, his head clear. The fever had vanished completely.
He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Before even reaching for his uniform, he willed the familiar screen to appear.
Blink.
The blue panel hovered before him, calm and silent, waiting.
Skills
High School Study [Lv. 2] (12/100)
Football [Lv. 2] (25/100)
Cleaning [Lv. 2] (6/100)
Cooking [Lv. 2] (3/100)
Writing [Lv. 2] (30/100)
Drawing [Lv. 1] (2/10)
Charm [Lv. 0] (—)
Rito's lips curled into the faintest smile.
No more remark mocking him as "Idiot." That alone felt like an achievement worth celebrating. High School Study at level two—progress that would have been unthinkable before. Football had nudged higher during gym practice before his fever, Cleaning rose after helping Mikan around the house, Cooking ticked upward when he practiced chopping vegetables with her guidance, and Writing… Writing had grown the fastest, his notebook filling with bizarre, half-finished stories.
"…Not bad," he muttered, leaning back. "I guess effort actually shows results now."
It wasn't magic, not really. But seeing his life written in numbers, rising steadily… it gave him a clarity he never had before.
He closed the panel with a thought and stood, stretching.
Today was the day. Back to school. Back to the noisy classrooms, the crowded hallways, and the girl he could never bring himself to confess to.
But this time, he wasn't going back as the same Rito. Maybe not much had changed on the outside—but inside, the quiet progress was there, pushing him forward.
When he walked downstairs, Mikan was already at the table, tying her hair back as she placed breakfast on the plates. She looked up as he entered.
"You're up early. Feeling better?"
"Yeah," Rito said, slipping into his seat. His voice came steadier than before, surprising even himself. "Thanks for taking care of me, Mikan."
She blinked at him, then smirked slightly. "You're acting weird again. Don't overdo it."
Rito laughed awkwardly, scratching his cheek. Maybe she was right. But even if it was weird… maybe it wasn't so bad.