Jack's commute to Tonosaki Academy was a jarring reminder of his previous life. The Tokyo subway was a "sardine can" of humanity, a dense, humid sea of black suits and school uniforms pressed together in a silent, collective endurance test. Despite the humming air conditioning, the air felt thick and murky.
I really need to buy a bicycle, he thought, bracing himself as the train lurched forward. Or better yet, find a way to make enough money to never have to squeeze into a train car again.
When he finally stepped out at his stop, the fresh air was a relief. The walk to the school was a picturesque dream; cherry blossoms drifted from the trees like pink snow, coating the sidewalks in a soft, floral carpet. For a moment, Jack was stunned by the sheer "reality" of his situation. He was fifteen again. He had been given a second chance at the "golden years" that people always romanticized.
He looked down and saw an ant crawling across the pavement, struggling with a crumb twice its size. He felt a sudden, cold urge to experiment. He lifted his foot and mercilessly sent the insect to the Pure Land.
He waited. One second. Two. Nothing. No copper coin popped out, and no system chime rang in his head.
"Ants don't count as monsters, I guess," he muttered, trying a few more just to be sure. "Or maybe the drop rate for an ant is one-in-a-million. Not worth the effort to grind."
He followed the crowd through the gates of Tonosaki Academy and found his way to Class 1-E. He located his assigned seat and sat down, scanning the room. In the back corner, he spotted a girl sitting quietly. She was remarkably inconspicuous, blending into the background so perfectly that most students walked right past her without a second glance.
Kato Megumi.
Her presence is almost zero, Jack thought. If I didn't have the 'Identity' knowledge provided by the system, I might have missed her too. Is that a natural talent? If so, it's probably a 'Common' grade compared to my 'Epic' one. Useful for staying out of trouble, but not exactly a game-changer.
Class began, and Jack quickly found himself bored out of his mind. The middle-aged math teacher was lecturing on basic algebra. To Jack, who had suffered through university-level calculus and the brutal arithmetic of corporate budgeting, the curriculum was elementary. He spent the time scribbling notes on a piece of paper, mapping out the connections between the various anime worlds he had identified: Totsuki, Seigaku, Beika Town, and the Seto family. He then folded the paper and slipped it into his inventory, hiding his "future knowledge" where no one could ever find it.
At lunch, Jack headed to the legendary school rooftop. It was exactly as he'd imagined - lonely, quiet, and coated in a thin layer of dust. He found a shaded spot behind a ventilation duct, away from the chatter of other students. He pulled out the mug of water he'd stored the night before.
It was still steaming. The stasis was absolute.
He ate his dry bread, washed it down with the hot water, and pulled out his phone to call Miss Mira's Jewelry Store.
"Hello, Miss Mira speaking," a pleasant, professional voice answered.
"Hello. I'm interested in a custom order of commemorative coins," Jack said, his voice steady.
"Certainly. What material were you thinking? Gold? Silver?"
"Copper."
"Copper? We can certainly do that. If you provide the design drawing, we can give you a precise quote."
Jack thanked her and hung up. He took a single copper coin from his inventory and placed it on the concrete floor, intending to take a reference photo for the jeweler.
Something strange happened. In his vision, the coin was lying there, clear and metallic. But when he looked through his phone's camera screen, the ground was empty.
He blinked, looked at the coin with his naked eye, then back at the screen. He pinched the coin between his fingers and looked through the camera again. On the screen, his fingers were curved as if holding an invisible object. He even tried recording the sound of the coin clinking against the floor; the playback was absolute silence.
"The system currency is invisible to the world," Jack realized, a chill running down his spine. "It exists on a different frequency. Only I can see, feel, or hear it. This means I can't just trade these for goods in a regular shop... but it also means I can carry a fortune and nobody would ever know."
He needed to verify if this invisibility applied to other people. He headed back to the classroom, where most students were still in the cafeteria. Kato Megumi was at her desk, quietly eating a home-made bento with slow, methodical precision.
Jack walked up to her. She looked up, her expression as flat and neutral as a calm lake.
"Kato-san," Jack said, holding out his open, seemingly empty palm. "Don't you think this coin is pretty?"
Kato stared at his hand for two full seconds. "Jack-kun... there's nothing in your hand."
Jack waved the invisible copper coin right in front of her eyes. "Look closer. The patterns? The rings?"
"That joke isn't very funny," she said softly, returning to her meal.
Jack chuckled, swapped the copper coin for a regular 10-yen coin from his inventory, and opened his hand. "Just a magic trick. See? It appeared out of thin air."
"Oh. A magic trick," Kato nodded, her tone utterly unimpressed. "That's... impressive."
"Since you were a good sport, have the prop," Jack said, handing her the 10-yen coin. Their fingers brushed briefly as she took it.
Ding--!
A notification sound echoed in Jack's mind, but this one was different. It wasn't the usual system chime. It was the loud, crisp clatter of hundreds of coins colliding, a metallic waterfall of wealth.
Jack froze, looking at Kato. Her expression hadn't changed, but the system notification was still ringing in his ears. He turned and walked back to his seat, his mind reeling. He opened his system panel and checked his wallet.
[Current Balance: 0 Gold, 0 Silver, 12 Copper.]
His balance had jumped from 2 to 12. Ten copper coins had just been added to his wallet simply by touching Kato Megumi.
Jack looked at the inconspicuous girl in the corner, his eyes narrowing with a new, predatory interest. He didn't know why touching her triggered a payout, but he knew one thing for certain:
Kato Megumi was a walking gold mine.