The more toilets you visit, the more you'll discover a certain truth: toilet faucets are divided into three tiers.
The lowest tier: You need to use your hands to turn it on and off. Washing your hands feels pointless. The mid-tier: Press to dispense water. You need your hands to turn it on, but not to turn it off. The highest tier: Sensor-activated—no hands required.
Aoyama Osamu's dream in this lifetime was to become a sensor faucet.
That dream shattered on his way home when, exhausted from overwork, he collapsed and hit his head on the curb.
"Brother, we're off to school. The curry's in the pot—remember to eat it," his sister, who had just started high school as a first-year, earnestly reminded him.
Dazed, Aoyama Osamu heard her mention leaving and instinctively replied, "Be careful on the road."
"Don't worry! See ya!"
After his sisters left, Aoyama Osamu continued piecing together his memories from his previous life.
Those memories were like a stubborn stone—excavating them felt like sculpting or cutting into a gamble stone. His only tool? A pair of nail clippers.
From the moment he woke up in the hospital until this week after discharge, his head throbbed relentlessly.
Even though he hadn't bled in the accident, his face remained pale.
A strange sensation at the tip of his nose—he wiped it with his hand, and it came away red with blood.
He casually wiped it away with a nearby tissue and sighed.
"Forget it."
He gave up.
The outline of his previous life was mostly complete now, with his personality largely intact. He didn't force the rest; keeping some high schooler traits might not be a bad thing.
As the saying goes, mindset shapes appearance. A youthful, cheerful personality would make him look younger than his previous life's dour one.
"But relaxing isn't an option," Aoyama Osamu muttered to himself.
This life was poor.
Extremely poor.
One thing proved it: a single pot of curry lasted three days, keeping daily meals under 1,000 yen.
For years, they'd survived on government aid, plus part-time jobs from his older sister and himself.
His collapse? From secretly working midnight shifts without telling school.
Now, exposed, not only was the job gone, but after recovery, he'd face mandatory school counseling.
But!
No problem!
His past-life memories had resurfaced—and that had nothing to do with it anyway.
What mattered was...
—What should I do?
[Would you like to activate Life Guidance?]
Along with the memory recovery—possibly from the head injury—every time he inwardly voiced his doubts with "What should I do?", a response echoed back.
His head had been foggy these past two days from memory-digging, plus constant supervision from his sisters. Out of caution, he hadn't activated it.
Today, after a hospital checkup confirming he was fine and could return to school tomorrow, his sisters finally left him alone.
The opportunity had arrived.
—Activate.
[Activating... Life Guidance activated.]
The voice faded, and a transparent panel floated into Aoyama Osamu's view.
It displayed simple info:
[Name: Aoyama Osamu] [Age: 16] [Gender: Male] [Strength: D] [Speed: D] [Vitality: C] [Intelligence: B] [Appearance: A] [Special: None] [Begin Guidance]
Focusing slightly, he unlocked more details.
Ratings ranged from A to E.
C: Average human level. B: From elite professionals to Olympic top-three athletes. A: Minimum entry? Win gold three Olympics in a row. Upper limit? Human potential's ceiling—unknown even to humanity.
One catch: Upgrading from B to A required Partial Guidance only—the system gave directions; effort was on him. No full auto-upgrade.
"So... I'm not the handsomest in human history?" Aoyama Osamu fixated on that.
But looks didn't matter anymore.
A classic macho guy, he only used plain water for washing his face—shampoo occasionally dripping down counted as skincare.
"Strength is only D!"
A man's basics: bending steel bars, right?
D? What kind of weakling tier is that?
Vowing to train hard, Aoyama Osamu focused on the panel's final option.
[Begin Guidance]
This had to be the core feature.
—Begin Guidance.
[Select category: Strength / Speed / Intelligence / Appearance / Special]
—'Strength'
The panel responded instantly, loading with flashing slogans:
[Master Your Brain] [Simplest Problem-Solving] [Live an Unrestricted Life] [Stuck on Life's Floor? System Pulls You Up]
Loading finished in a blink—like summer break.
[Beginning 'Strength' Guidance...]
"Oh! I feel it—I feel it!"
"It's moving—I'm moving myself!"
"Wait... myself?"
Feet shoulder-width, hips back, squat until thighs parallel the floor—Aoyama Osamu started deep squats.
He was possessed. Controlled.
One... two... three... 15 per set.
"True Man!"
15 sets straight.
"Abso·lute·ly·No·Fatigue!"
Then push-ups: 15 per set.
"Help!"
15 sets.
Next, plank.
"No more—no, I can't!"
He blacked out, woke in agony, and kept suffering the grind.
Sweat poured like he'd been caught in a storm.
Unable to resist or enjoy it, he distracted himself—random thoughts—then, like checking his phone on the toilet in his past life, he opened the panel.
Basic stats: [Strength: D↑], [Vitality: C↑].
Oh?
Visible progress?
Unsure, but it hypnotized him into believing it—made the pain bearable.
But... how long would this last? He'd fainted twice already!
It ended after his third faint. Waking in pain, he realized his hands were slapping his body.
Intense pain everywhere, muscles twitching.
Enduring it, he noticed: Twitches squeezed out faint heat.
That warmth repaired and relaxed the muscles.
This wasn't slapping—it was massage. Like self-harm vs. digging out a bullet!
After full-body coverage, true end:
['Strength' Guidance complete. Strength slightly improved. Vitality mildly improved.]
"Really stronger?" He tried lifting the old low table.
Weight felt... whatever. Should've tested before for comparison.
No biggie—real men ignore details.
As pain faded, he studied the panel more.
"Trainable stats mean intelligence isn't just innate—includes learning?"
He'd barely studied, all time on jobs, so grades average.
Innate smarts? Decent. Lacked effort.
For Appearance, how to improve? Skincare? Aura? Not surgery, right?
He skipped them, trying direct chat:
—Give me money
No response.
Useless thing!
—Guide 'Strength'
Panel's perk: He just endured pain; system handled the rest.
He'd aim for Strength and Speed at A! True man!
[Body recovering. Cannot guide 'Strength'.]
—Guide 'Speed'
[Body recovering. Cannot guide 'Speed'.]
"This system... gotta make do," Aoyama Osamu concluded.