Winter evenings always carried a certain chill.
A city far from Tokyo—prosperous Osaka.
Inside a shabby but tidy rental apartment.
The rapid clack-clack of a keyboard rang without pause.
Asai Yu sat in front of his computer, working on his novel while indulging in fantasies of living in a luxury mansion bought with mountains of manuscript fees.
Unfortunately, it seemed that people in Neon Japan weren't exactly buying into the whole "Three-Year Dragon King" power fantasy trope. The number of new bookmarks was pitifully small.
Come to think of it, today's luck really wasn't great.
In the morning, he'd beaten up over a dozen delinquents from a neighboring school while standing up for someone—and promptly got sent home by a teacher to "self-study" for a month.
In the afternoon, while out, he ran into two girls—one older, one younger—who had fallen into the water. He jumped in to save them. After pulling them ashore, he was just about to start CPR—
When the older girl suddenly woke up and smack!—slapped him across the face.
Could anyone tolerate that?!
He immediately returned the favor with ten slaps of his own, then turned around and left without a second thought.
Thanks to that whole fiasco, by the time he reached the convenience store, he was extremely late—and got fired on the spot.
Soaked to the bone, he returned home. The only things that brought him any comfort were the fact that he'd saved a drowning little girl, and the steaming cup noodles sitting in front of him.
Well. At this point… might as well eat first.
He closed the webpage. Just as Asai Yu peeled open the lid of the cup noodles, he accidentally tugged on the mouse cable—
The noodles tipped over completely, spilling everywhere. Some even splashed onto the keyboard.
…End it all already.
Asai Yu collapsed onto his bed in despair, then immediately grabbed tissues to try and salvage the situation.
Having transmigrated into this world half a month ago, starting out with nothing but a student ID and making it this far, Asai Yu felt his luck had actually been pretty decent.
So why was today this disastrous?
Asai Yu lay there, contemplating life.
Then, suddenly, a mechanical voice echoed inside his mind.
[Ding]
[Detected that the host feels pessimistic about the future]
[Second Life Experience System loaded]
[Please read the following notes carefully:]
[This system allows the host to enter other people's bodies and experience their lives]
[If the host causes strong aversion from the target, the host will be forcibly ejected]
[Daily experience time limit: 12 hours]
Staring at the words that materialized before his eyes, Asai Yu jolted upright. The soft texture of the bedsheets told him that all of this was real.
After transmigrating for half a month… the system finally showed up?
Second Life Experience System?
Experiencing lives? Whose lives?
Some isekai wish-fulfillment protagonist?
A kind Tokyo nice-guy MC?
And only 12 hours of experience? Then that's it?
Before Asai Yu could finish sorting out his thoughts, the system's voice rang out again.
[During the experience, the system will automatically select the target's strongest ability for special enhancement]
[The enhancement will be fed back to the host]
What did that mean?
Confusion stirred in Asai Yu's mind.
The explanation that followed quickly cleared it up.
For example, if the target excelled most at playing the guitar, then while experiencing that person's life, practicing guitar would grant him a super-genius-level BUFF.
[Additional special functions await discovery by the host]
[Please begin drawing an experience target]
[Remaining draws: 1]
"Draw, draw, draw!"
Without hesitation, Asai Yu slammed the draw button, unable to suppress his anticipation.
[Drawing]
[Draw complete]
[Experience duration: 12 hours]
[This session will end at 12:00 a.m. tonight and cannot be exited midway]
[If the host causes strong aversion from the target, the host will be forcibly ejected]
[...]
[Please confirm whether to begin the experience]
It was 7 p.m. right now—five hours until midnight. No loss there.
Asai Yu nodded. "Confirm!"
The moment the word left his mouth, darkness swallowed his vision.
A few seconds later, a dizzying, swelling pain exploded inside his head.
When he opened his eyes again, what greeted him was a dim, rundown rental room—and empty beer bottles scattered behind a sliding door.
…Whose life was this?
It looked even worse than his?!
A bad feeling surged through Asai Yu. He suddenly missed his own cozy little room.
He steadied himself against the wall for a few seconds until the dizziness faded.
[Selecting target ability for enhancement]
[Selection complete: Piano]
[Enhancement acquired: Piano Enhancement Lv.1 (0/100)]
[Each enhancement session lasts 1 hour]
[Enjoy your experience]
The system's voice faded away. In its place came the trembling voice of an unfamiliar girl.
"I… I can't move… Who are you?! Why are you inside my body?!"
There was unmistakable fear in Togawa Sakiko's voice.
The sensation she felt was like sleep paralysis—she could see everything in front of her, yet had no control over her body.
Could it be… that monsters capable of controlling other people's bodies really existed in this world?!
And it was a girl?!
Asai Yu thought the voice sounded oddly familiar, but before he could think further, another voice from beyond the sliding door drew his attention.
"Sakiko… did you buy the beer?"
A hoarse voice came with a wave of sour alcohol stench as the door slid open.
A middle-aged man appeared before Asai Yu. He looked terrible—sunken eye sockets, drooping eyelids, and dull, lifeless eyes hidden beneath.
"Nothing? You didn't bring anything back? Even you look down on me now, Sakiko…?"
Seeing the blue-haired girl standing there empty-handed, Togawa Kiyotsugu's face twisted with rage. He grabbed a beer bottle from the floor and hurled it.
You bastard—!
Asai Yu dodged toward the bathroom door.
Whether by accident or intent, the bottle flew exactly in that direction.
Better to catch than to dodge badly.
With a dull thud and the sharp crash of glass against the wall, Asai Yu felt a wave of dizziness slam into his head.
This is bad. Feels like a brain hemorrhage coming on.
Is he trying to beat me to death?!
Without the slightest hesitation, Asai Yu picked up another beer bottle that had rolled to his feet and strode straight toward the middle-aged man.
At that moment, Togawa Sakiko's voice echoed desperately in his mind.
"What are you doing?! No… don't…!"
Asai Yu ignored her. Screw it—anything goes now.
He raised the bottle with both hands and smashed it down onto the man's head with all his strength.
A direct hit.
The hollow beer bottle shattered instantly.
Togawa Kiyotsugu sobered up on the spot.
"S-Sakiko… I didn't mean to… wait… let's talk this through…"
By now, Asai Yu had figured it out.
He was experiencing Togawa Sakiko's life—the legendary troublemaker who single-handedly blew up both CRYCHIC and Ave Mujica.
The man in front of him was her father, Togawa Kiyotsugu—an even more inhuman existence.
Without thinking further, Asai Yu bent down and picked up yet another beer bottle.
"Just now… n-no… please don't hit him anymore!!"
Togawa Sakiko's voice cried out in his mind.
Suddenly, Asai Yu's vision went black.
A few seconds later, when he opened his eyes again, he found himself back in his own rental apartment.