[Achievement completed: Became the first class in Advanced Nurturing's history to advance to Class A through the Behavioral Standards Exam. Source Power +4]
[Source Power gained automatically this month due to long-term effects: 4 units]
[Source Power: 17→28 (current rate: 4 units gained per month)]
His total Source Power had jumped to 28. That meant he now had 18 units he could freely spend.
Without hesitation, he poured most of his Source Power into the last life-saving talent he had planned out long ago—
[Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune lv.0 (0/?) → Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune lv.1 (0/2)]
[Source Power: 28→12 (current rate: 4 units gained per month)]
Yikes~
Sixteen units of Source Power vanished in one go. The cost of solidifying this talent on his Personal Panel was even more outrageous than that of Erudition.
More importantly, once Erudition had been solidified on his panel, its starting level had been lv.3. But Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune had started at only lv.1.
Still, it made sense when he thought about it.
Skills could be developed through one's own efforts, but if you weren't born with a talent, no amount of striving could give it to you later.
At least, that was certainly how things worked in a world with no supernatural powers or advanced genetic technology!
His regret only lasted a little while.
To Aragaki Shun, Source Power was meant to be used for strengthening himself. As long as it truly improved his foundation, then this upgrade had been well worth it.
With that in mind, he decisively poured the remaining two units of freely available Source Power into his new talent.
[Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune lv.1 (0/2) → Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune lv.2 (0/3)]
And so, Aragaki Shun's entire panel was renewed—
[Name: Aragaki Shun Strength: 10 Constitution: 10 Agility: 10 Spirit: 10 Skills: Combat lv.4 (2/5), Writing lv.4 (2/5), Erudition lv.4 (1/5), Miscellaneous Talents: Danger Sense lv.5 (0/10), Immunity to Poison lv.5 (0/10), Immunity to Disease lv.5 (0/10), Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune lv.2 (0/3) Awaiting condensation: None Source Power: 12→10 (current rate: 4 units gained per month)]
The boy looked over his Personal Panel, now brimming with life-saving abilities, and nodded to himself.
In a modern, twenty-first-century society dominated by technology, he was the heir to a wealthy and influential family. He no longer had to fear poisoning or worry about falling ill, and if he encountered an accident or an attempted murder, his Danger Sense talent would warn him beforehand.
If his intuition warned him of danger but he couldn't avoid it, then his supernatural talent, Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune, could come into play.
In such a thoroughly prepared state, what could possibly kill him?
It wasn't as if a world war or an apocalyptic crisis would suddenly break out, forcing all of humanity to ascend together, right?
Aragaki Shun shook his head, banishing such an absurd future from his mind.
Anyway, once Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune reached level 5, even if an event really did wipe out all of humanity, he would definitely be among the last survivors.
He still had plenty of time before then to keep accumulating Source Power and figure out how to strengthen himself further.
With his newfound sense of security, Aragaki Shun slept soundly that night.
The next afternoon.
After school, Aragaki Shun headed for the library along his familiar route, as usual.
Nothing happened along the way. Bored, the boy pondered what his new talent could do. After all, something mysterious and tied to luck was difficult to see in action.
But as it turned out, he had been wrong. His new talent was easier to trigger than he'd imagined, and its effects seemed a little... skewed.
At a street corner, Aragaki Shun wore a strange expression as he felt the soft sensation that had suddenly appeared against his chest.
Just as he reached the corner and was about to turn, he collided with a girl coming from the other direction who was turning at the same time.
Aragaki Shun was strong and sturdy, so he was fine. The person in front of him, however, looked ready to fall, so he instinctively reached out to catch her. For some reason, she stumbled again and fell straight into his arms.
So this is the effect of Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune? Why didn't Danger Sense trigger when someone came crashing into me?
As the boy silently wondered what had caused the accident, he suddenly heard a startled cry.
"Ah!"
The girl in his arms hurriedly backed away two steps, then quickly crouched to pick up the device she had dropped.
It was an expensive-looking digital camera, but its lens had shattered, and several obvious cracks had appeared across the screen.
"No way... The picture won't come up..."
The inconspicuous girl, who wore glasses and had her long hair tied back, covered her mouth. She was clearly devastated.
It looked like the digital camera had broken when it hit the ground.
Aragaki Shun watched her press the power button several times and even put the batteries back in, but the camera showed no sign of turning on.
"Is your camera broken?" Aragaki Shun stepped a little closer. "I'll pay for the repair with my Private Points. I was partly responsible for the accident, after all."
"No... I was just being careless... Goodbye."
The girl looked up, as if only then realizing that Aragaki Shun was a stranger. But when she saw his face, she shuffled backward as if frightened and instinctively tried to get up and run away.
"Stop right there!"
Aragaki Shun gave a firm command. The girl froze as if under a spell, trembling all over and not daring to move.
The boy looked helplessly at the girl, who seemed close to tears. "You're Sakura Airi from Class D, aren't you? Why are you trying to run away when you see me? Am I that scary?"
"N-no... You're not scary at all, Aragaki... It's, it's just me..."
Sakura Airi tried to explain in a rush, tears welling in her eyes. But with her frightened, anxious expression, no one would believe a word she said.
Fortunately, this was a secluded corner of Advanced Nurturing. No one else was passing by. Otherwise, Aragaki Shun could already imagine tomorrow's rumors about him bullying a country girl.
"Forget it! Don't say anything! Give me the camera!"
Aragaki Shun sighed. He was already starting to feel worn out, so he simply held out his hand for her to pass him the camera.
Trembling, Sakura Airi held out the camera she cherished with both hands. The reluctance on her face could easily make someone think Aragaki Shun was demanding protection money.
"Relax. I'm the dignified Leader of Class A. I'm not going to covet something like this!"
Aragaki Shun took the camera from her with an exasperated look, but the red-haired girl didn't seem to have heard him at all.
After all, in Sakura Airi's eyes, the boy was a demon king who had swept aside their upperclassmen and then forced all three first-year classes to pay him Private Points.
How had she been so unlucky as to offend him out of nowhere?
75. The Effects of Combining Two Talents
Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune was a talent Aragaki Shun had upgraded only last night.
But for a high school student who came from a wealthy family, had financial freedom, and lacked neither fame nor status, not to mention good health, what could even count as a stroke of good fortune?
Watching Sakura Airi beside him, trying to make herself less noticeable, wanting to run away under his gaze but not daring to move, the boy seemed to understand a few things.
By the standards of ordinary high school students on Sakurajima, Aragaki Shun was undoubtedly at the very top of the school, in a league of his own and lacking for nothing.
In that environment, if there was anything he still lacked, it would be what people called youth.
Or to put it bluntly, given his age and circumstances, wasn't it strange that he didn't have a girlfriend by his side, someone to spend every day with?
After all, plenty of people on Sakurajima had already been in several relationships by middle school, let alone high school.
With the country's declining birthrate and the influence of the broader social climate, schools rarely interfered with the romantic feelings between boys and girls.
Students didn't feel embarrassed about dating, either. Quite a few boys and girls even showed off their relationship histories like badges of honor. On the other hand, those who were still single in high school were more likely to become the butt of jokes in their social circles.
And it had to be said: although Aragaki Shun had been treated as a son-in-law candidate by his adoptive family in this life, that didn't change the fact that he had never experienced a complete romantic relationship in either his previous life or this one.
He hadn't been entirely against marriage in his previous life. It was just that, due to the various pressures of reality, he had always planned to establish his career first and start a family afterward—to make sure he could support himself before thinking about marriage.
So whenever his family urged him to find someone to marry, Aragaki Shun would put it off if he could, and run away if he couldn't.
Then things hadn't gone according to plan. While he was working toward establishing his career, he'd fallen asleep and suddenly crossed over into another world.
In this life, before he had shown enough talent, his adoptive parents had simply taken a liking to him. Since they had more than enough food to go around, they brought him to the Aragaki Family and raised him as their son under the pretense that he was a distant relative.
It wasn't until later, when Aragaki Shun proved himself far more capable than his peers in every respect, that someone in the Aragaki Family suggested that they might as well match him with Ayase and have him become the family heir.
Before then, he hadn't had any other feelings toward his adopted younger sister, Ayase. After all, she was two years younger than him and was still a second-year junior high school student. That was especially true back when his adoptive parents had first hinted at their plans for the future.
In fact, even now, he didn't think his feelings for Ayase included any romantic love.
The two of them were simply too familiar with each other.
After Aragaki Shun had crossed over, his physical age had reverted to three. He had spent only two years in an orphanage before his adoptive parents brought him to the Aragaki Family.
By that reckoning, he had known Ayase for eleven years, ever since he became her older brother at the age of five. He could still recall many of the interesting things that had happened over those eleven years.
Before he knew it, the little dumpling had grown into a graceful young woman. It was hard to believe how powerful time could be.
Under the circumstances, Aragaki Shun considered his feelings for Ayase to be something other than romantic. Still, when the Aragaki Family had asked whether he was willing to change from an adopted son into a son-in-law, he had only needed a couple of moments to think before agreeing.
He didn't care about inheriting the Aragaki Family's resources and connections.
But if he didn't take on that responsibility, the Aragaki Family would eventually pick another husband for Ayase.
Rather than let Ayase marry some stranger who might not be reliable, he'd rather take care of her for the rest of her life.
They had already spent eleven years together. Continuing to walk side by side for decades, even centuries... that shouldn't be a problem.
"Aragaki... um..."
Just as Aragaki Shun was reminiscing about his life, a timid voice suddenly rang out beside him, jolting him from his thoughts.
Aragaki Shun looked the red-haired girl up and down. She was so nervous that her eyes darted around, and she hunched over as if she were curled up in a corner.
He couldn't understand why the first person his Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune talent had chosen to affect was such an inconspicuous country girl.
Ever since Danger Sense had reached level 5, Aragaki Shun had never again been caught off guard by an accident like bumping into someone at a street corner.
Before these accidents could find him, his intuition would warn him to stop, telling him that he would get caught up in trouble if he kept going.
But just now, his intuition had failed him.
The first thing he thought of was Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune, the talent he had upgraded only yesterday. It was the only recent change in his life.
[Danger Sense]: If you keep going, someone will bump into you. Warning the host to stop!
[Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune]: The danger is minor, the gain is significant. Overruling the warning above.
Imagining how these two talents might have interfered with each other, Aragaki Shun didn't know what expression to make.
Had his decades of being single across both lives really gotten so bad that even his talents couldn't stand it?
Or was this actually his own suppressed desire, deep down, causing trouble...
"Go ahead and ask whatever you want. I'm not going to eat you."
Watching Sakura Airi hesitate, wanting to speak but too timid to do so, Aragaki Shun couldn't take it anymore.
Hadn't she just called his name?
Why had she gone quiet the moment he looked at her?
"I'm really sorry!" the red-haired girl hurriedly bowed in apology, then tentatively asked, "May I ask... where are we going now?"
Aragaki Shun: "..."
She didn't even know where they were going, yet she'd timidly followed him here?
Why did she seem so easy to kidnap?
"Didn't I just say? Since I broke your camera, I'll make sure I return it to you in working order."
"I remember there's an electronics store at the shopping center. They should accept it for repairs."
Before you continue