My alarm went off at exactly 5:00 AM. I didn't hit snooze.
I stared at the dark ceiling of my bedroom, letting the dull ache in my ribs remind me of exactly what was at stake. The bruise from the Grade 4 curse yesterday was a massive, ugly purple across my frail torso.
I hadn't slept much. After staggering home from my terrifying encounter with Karla Kure, I had waited until midnight to sneak out of the Ichijou estate. Without Cursed Energy, tracking was impossible, so I had spent three hours prowling the empty parks and dark alleyways of my neighborhood, hunting the weakest Fly-Heads I could find with a steel pipe.
I was incredibly cautious, running at the first sign of anything larger than a baseball. By the time I crept back into my bed at 29:00 AM, I had crushed exactly 40 of the pathetic Grade 5s.
It was a painfully slow, exhausting grind for my sickly body, but the math finally lined up.
I opened my status screen in the dark.
[Current EP: 20.0]
My initial plan had been to hoard every single point to upgrade my Spirituality. I needed to reach Level 6 to unlock Cursed Energy, the only real weapon against the monsters of this world.
But reality had hit me like a truck yesterday—literally.
If I kept my Constitution at a pathetic 4, I wouldn't survive long enough to ever unlock Cursed Energy. Worse, Karla Kure had promised to train me tomorrow on Saturday.
She had explicitly warned me that I might die during the warm-ups. If I showed up with a body completely unaccustomed to physical stress, the Kure assassin would probably snap my brittle bones by accident.
I made my decision.'System. Upgrade Constitution to Level 5.'
[Attribute Upgrade Confirmed.]
[Constitution: 4 ➔ 5]
[Cost: 10.0 EP. Remaining EP: 0.0]
The effect was instantaneous. A sudden, deep warmth flooded my veins, radiating outward from my chest. I felt a strange shifting sensation in my muscles and bones, like my fragile frame was rapidly knitting itself tighter, becoming denser.
I sat up and looked down at my ribs. The massive, ugly purple bruise had already faded to a dull yellow, the accelerated recovery rate of a Level 5 Constitution kicking in immediately. I took a deep breath. My lungs, historically prone to respiratory infections, expanded fully without a single wince of pain or a rattle of a cough.
Level 5 was the benchmark for a fully grown, peak-healthy adult. I wasn't superhuman yet, but for the first time in my life, I was no longer fragile.
I threw off the covers and dropped to the floor to test it. I started with the absolute basics. Push-ups. Sit-ups. Squats.
The burn in my muscles came much slower than it would have yesterday. I pushed through the sets, laying the physical foundation I desperately needed. Afterward, I threw on a tracksuit and went for a grueling two-mile jog around the perimeter of the estate.
It was highly entertaining. The early-morning Yakuza guards on patrol practically dropped their walkie-talkies. Seeing the "fragile phantom" of the Shuei-gumi—a boy who usually spent half the month bedridden with fevers—sprinting past them at 6:00 AM without collapsing left them completely stunned.
By the time I finished and headed to my bathroom, I was sweating profusely, but I didn't feel exhausted. I felt incredibly energetic. The blood was pumping through my veins, my mind was sharp, and the lingering terror from yesterday had been replaced by a quiet, focused determination.
I stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around my waist, and wiped the steam off the bathroom mirror.
I took a moment to actually look at my reflection.
Messy, raven-black hair fell slightly over my forehead, framing deep, piercing ocean-blue eyes. My build was still relatively average, not overly bulky, but the recent Constitution upgrade had stripped away the 'sickly' edge.
My shoulders sat a little squarer, my posture was naturally straighter, and the faint outlines of lean muscle were beginning to tone up across my chest and abdomen.
It was a good face. Combined with a Level 7 Charm, it was a very useful tool for navigating the elite social circles of Shuchiin Academy.
The walk to school was much more calculated today. My *Perception* was constantly scanning the rooftops and alleyways, ensuring I gave a wide berth to any shadows that looked too dense.
As I walked up the long, cherry blossom-lined avenue leading to the main gates of Shuchiin Academy, I spotted a familiar, rigid posture walking a few paces ahead of me.
Raven-black hair cascading freely down her back. Kaguya Shinomiya.
She wasn't wearing her usual ribbon today like in the anime, letting her long hair flow naturally. I immediately focused my *Spirit Vision*, scanning the space around her head and shoulders. I let out a quiet breath of relief. The massive, terrifying centipede curse that had been hovering over her in the locker room on our first day was entirely gone, and no minor pests had taken its place.
I sped up my pace slightly, my silent footsteps falling into sync beside her.
"Good morning, Shinomiya-san," I said smoothly, keeping my tone perfectly polite and conversational.
Kaguya didn't flinch, but her crimson eyes slid sideways to look at me. Her expression was completely guarded, an icy mask of aristocratic perfection. She clearly remembered our intense staredown, and she was still trying to figure out what my angle was.
"Good morning, Ichijou-san," she replied. Her voice was like a winter wind—cold, crisp, and completely uninviting. "I see you managed to avoid returning to your sickbed today."
"I did," I smiled faintly, enjoying the energetic spring in my step from my morning workout.
"The morning air is actually quite refreshing. I see you're not dealing with any... pests today."
I meant the curse, but she obviously took it a different way.
Her eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch. "I make it a habit to keep my environment thoroughly sanitized. I prefer not to be bothered by annoyances, though it seems some people lack the situational awareness to realize when they are intruding."
It was a sharp, beautifully articulated jab telling me to get lost. The 'old' Ren would have stammered, and a normal high school boy would have been crushed by the rejection.
But I wasn't a normal high school boy, and after being thrown into a chain-link fence by a rotting monster yesterday, her cold shoulder was honestly a breath of fresh air.
"A very efficient way to live," I agreed seamlessly, not breaking my stride or my relaxed posture. "Though I've found that keeping your walls too high sometimes makes it harder to see what's actually hovering right above you."
Kaguya paused for a fraction of a second, her pristine loafers faltering on the pavement. She turned her head fully toward me, her red eyes searching my face for the hidden meaning behind my words. She was a genius; she knew I wasn't just talking about her social barriers, but she couldn't possibly guess I meant invisible monsters.
Before she could formulate a sharp retort, we reached the shoe locker room.
I gave her a polite, shallow bow. "Have a productive Friday, Shinomiya-san," I said, turning away to walk toward my locker.
"Wait."
Her voice was quiet, but it commanded attention. I stopped and looked back. She was holding her briefcase tightly in front of her, her expression an unreadable mix of suspicion and that same, lingering curiosity from yesterday.
"Why did you approach me, Ichijou-san?" she asked coldly. "Are you attempting to curry favor with the Shinomiya group on behalf of your brother's syndicate?"
"No," I answered honestly. "I just noticed you looked a little less burdened today than you did yesterday. I thought it was worth saying good morning. That's all."
I turned and walked away, leaving her standing there, slightly stunned by the blunt, entirely un-political answer. I had successfully engaged the Ice Queen without backing down, planting a seed of genuine intrigue in her mind.
But more importantly, I had made it inside the building without a curse trying to kill me.
Friday was already off to a much better start.