After the final bell rang in the afternoon, Jack wasted no time. Since he hadn't committed to any of Tonosaki Academy's numerous clubs yet, he wasn't bound by the grueling schedules of after-school activities. He simply shouldered his bag and blended into the stream of students heading for the gates.
Walking down the road lined with cherry trees, Jack watched the pink petals spiral through the air. His gaze, however, eventually drifted down to the pavement. He spotted an ant scurrying across the concrete and was reminded of a question that had been bugging him since he arrived.
He bent down, carefully pinching the tiny insect between his thumb and forefinger. The ant struggled frantically, its legs flailing against the giant's grip.
Store.
Jack issued the mental command, focusing on his [Inventory]. A familiar prompt flickered in his mind, but it felt cold and unresponsive.
[Action Failed: Living entities cannot be stored in the inventory.]
So that's the limit, Jack thought. He'd suspected as much, but confirmation was better than guesswork. He squeezed his fingers slightly. The ant was crushed instantly, its struggle ending in a microscopic smear.
Store.
This time, the ant's tiny corpse vanished without a hitch. A new icon appeared in his inventory: [Material: Ant Corpse x1].
"Only dead things, then," Jack muttered, wiping his fingers. It was a crucial distinction. He couldn't use his inventory to kidnap people or store live animals, but as a portable morgue for his "materials," it was perfect.
He pulled out his phone and checked the navigation. He didn't head straight back to Beika Town; instead, he chose a bustling wet market near the school. While Beika's local markets were closer to his apartment, they were also magnets for the town's legendary crime rate. For a simple grocery run, Jack preferred the relative safety of a school district over the risk of being caught in a jewelry store heist or a poison-induced homicide.
Upon arriving at the market, Jack began a methodical patrol. He moved through the stalls, his eyes scanning for live targets. He soon noticed a problem: there were no live chickens or ducks for sale.
He stopped at a poultry stall and asked the owner, "Do you have any live birds in the back?"
The stall owner, a man with a weathered face and a stained apron, looked at Jack's Tonosaki uniform and shook his head. "In Japan? Not a chance, kid. Law says poultry has to be processed in a licensed slaughterhouse before it can be sold. Disease prevention and hygiene, you know? Selling live birds in a wet market is a one-way ticket to getting your license revoked."
Jack looked at the pre-packaged, vacuum-sealed chicken breasts and let out a disappointed sigh.
"However," the stall owner added, seeing the boy's dejection, "it's not impossible."
"Oh?"
"If you have a professional chef's license or a student ID from a culinary school like Totsuki, you can buy directly from the local farms. They have different regulations for professionals."
"I see. Thanks for the tip," Jack said, offering a polite nod.
Going to a culinary school just to buy a chicken was a bit of a stretch, even for him. He was already juggling his life at Tonosaki. Still, the information was valuable. He might need to make friends with some chefs in the future or perhaps look for a part-time gig at a slaughterhouse.
He moved on to the seafood section. Here, the situation was much more promising. Large tanks filled with aerated water held a variety of live fish and shrimp. The prices here were significantly lower than the high-end "Seto Marine Products" branch he'd seen in Beika Town.
"What can I get for the young man?" a fishmonger asked, skillfully gutting a sea bass with a heavy cleaver.
Jack stepped up to the stall. "Are all the fish here killed fresh when ordered?"
"Best in the district! You pick it, I prep it."
"If I buy one," Jack said, leaning forward, "can I kill it myself?"
The fishmonger stopped his work, his bloody knife hovering in mid-air. He studied Jack's uniform again. "Kill it yourself? Kid, we don't charge extra for the gutting service."
"I know," Jack insisted. "But I need to do it myself. Is that alright?"
The man's eyes softened suddenly. "Wait... do you want to be a chef?"
In a world where culinary stars like the Totsuki elite were treated like celebrities, the path of a chef was considered a noble, albeit brutal, calling.
Jack leaned into the lie. "Yes. I want to be a chef. I need to practice my knife work."
"I see," the man said, a hint of nostalgia in his voice. "Gutting fish isn't as easy as the pros make it look. I once had that dream too, you know. Before the joints in my hands started acting up..." He sighed, looking at his calloused fingers. "Alright, kid. I'll let you have a go. But be careful, that knife is sharper than it looks."
"Thank you, sir. I appreciate it."
Jack chose a three-pound bonito. He pressed the slippery fish onto the wooden cutting board and gripped the heavy kitchen knife provided by the stall owner. He'd prepared fish in his previous life many times, so his movements were confident.
He positioned the blade behind the gills. One sharp, decisive stroke.
Clink! Clink!
The familiar, crisp sound of metallic impact rang in his ears. To anyone else, the fish had simply ceased moving. But to Jack, two bright copper coins had just erupted from the bonito's scales, clattering onto the floor.
The fishmonger nodded, impressed by the clean kill. "Not bad, kid. Your hands are steady."
Jack smiled, making sure the man was looking away before he casually brushed his hand against the floor. With a flick of his wrist, the two coins were swept into his system wallet.
[Current Balance: 0 Gold, 0 Silver, 14 Copper.]
Confirmed, Jack thought. Fish are monsters. Snakes are monsters. Size and 'life force' definitely matter.
He finished gutting the fish to maintain the facade, paid the man, and left the market. He headed for a nearby public park, found a secluded area behind some dense bushes, and stowed the bonito in his inventory stasis.
Then, he began the "Great Insect Massacre."
He spent the next two hours hunting. He caught beetles, spiders, butterflies, and even a particularly aggressive caterpillar. He killed them all. He crushed them, sliced them, and stepped on them.
By the time the sun began to set, casting long, orange shadows across the park, he hadn't seen a single copper coin.
Jack stood up, rubbing the small of his aching back. "It's not a drop rate issue," he muttered. "Insects just don't drop money. They're too small, too insignificant."
The "Ant Farm Infinite Money Glitch" was officially bankrupt. It seemed his farming would require targets with a certain level of biological complexity or physical mass.
Tired and unwilling to face the subway rush again, Jack hailed a taxi. His new "salary" of 14 copper coins, plus the yen in his wallet made the luxury feel justified.
When the cab dropped him off at the apartment building in Beika Town, he saw Sayuri. The tiny landlady was bent over, meticulously sprinkling a trail of white powder along the base of the exterior walls.
"Sayuri-chan? What are you doing?"
"Jack-kun!" she chirped, standing up and wiping her brow. Her elementary-school-sized frame looked even smaller next to the giant woven sack she was dragging. "I'm laying down snake repellent! After what happened yesterday, I'm going to encircle the entire building! No more monsters are getting into my tenants' rooms on my watch!"
Jack looked at the heavy sack. It was clearly a struggle for her to move it.
"Here, let me help with that," Jack said, stepping forward.
"Oh, thank you, Jack-kun! You're so helpful!"
Jack reached out to take the heavy bag from her. As he grabbed the rough fabric, his fingers accidentally brushed against hers.
Ding--!
The sound that followed wasn't just a chime. it was the heavy, satisfying thud of a full bag of coins being dropped onto a table.
Jack froze, his eyes widening. He didn't even need to open his panel to know what had happened. The "Heroine Payout" wasn't just limited to his classmates.
Sayuri was a gold mine, too.