One-in-a-Thousand Bracelet

"Brother, why are you staring blankly at that book?" His sister's voice finally snapped Natsume Chikage out of it.

Suppressing his inner joy, he asked his sister curiously, "Ruri, what do you think of this book?"

Natsume Ruri tilted her head slightly, looking confused. "What do you mean, what do I think? Is there something special about this book?"

"No, it's nothing..."

Just as he thought!

Chikage thought to himself that since this book, which gave off an unusual glow, had been sitting in front of this secondhand bookstore without anyone noticing it, he was probably the only one who could see how extraordinary it was!

He had been wondering where to find the equipment displayed on the panel. Now, it seemed this might be the special equipment mentioned by the panel!

But if it stayed in this secondhand bookstore, someone might buy it at any time.

Since he had finally come across it, he had better buy it first.

Chikage was extremely curious about the panel's claim that collecting three pieces of equipment would earn him one attribute point.

He was also curious whether gaining attribute points could really improve his attributes.

If he kept collecting special equipment, wouldn't that mean he could continuously improve his attributes?

With enough attribute points, perhaps he could even surpass ordinary humans!

And could he really use the special effects of this equipment?

If he could, perhaps he could use this equipment to make money...

At that moment, several ways to make money had already surfaced in Chikage's mind.

But before that, he had to buy this special equipment first.

After checking the price, Natsume Chikage picked up the autobiographical novel titled Young Boy's Painful Diary and went to line up at the counter.

At that moment.

The female clerk listlessly checked out the previous male customer, not saying a word even after he left.

But when she saw the next customer, her eyes immediately lit up, and she unconsciously smoothed her hair.

Natsume Chikage took out 800 yen from his flat wallet and handed it to the female clerk.

"Please wrap this up for me."

"Certainly."

The female clerk scanned the book's barcode, wrapped up the novel, and handed it to Natsume Chikage.

"Thank you." Natsume Chikage took it.

A brilliant smile bloomed on the female clerk's face as she warmly waved goodbye. "Take care, and please come again!"

"Mm." Natsume Chikage replied politely, then said to his sister, "Ruri, let's go."

Natsume Ruri puffed out her cheeks slightly and glanced at the female clerk, who was still sneaking looks at her brother. Next time, I'm not letting Brother take this route!

Inside the supermarket.

Natsume Ruri squeezed out of the crowd and happily held up two boxed meals for Chikage.

"Brother, look! I managed to grab two discounted boxed meals."

"Come to think of it, you definitely won't believe this, but these two only cost 560 yen altogether. What a bargain!"

Natsume Chikage fell silent for a moment.

Having lived two lives, he did not feel too strongly about living in poverty.

But seeing his sister, who had once been a rich young lady, so happy over snagging discounted boxed meals made his heart ache.

"You managed to get them with so many people around. My sister is amazing." Chikage rubbed Ruri's head.

Natsume Ruri happily enjoyed his touch.

Before long.

Ruri pulled Chikage through the supermarket's various floors, happily browsing around.

Since they had finally gone out, he let his sister do as she pleased and followed behind her at an unhurried pace.

But when they reached the clothing section, Natsume Ruri looked at the pretty women's clothes before her. She knew there was not much money at home for new clothes, but there was no harm in just looking...

Thinking that, she could not resist holding the new clothes against herself and looking into the mirror, imagining how she would look wearing them.

After noticing his sister's actions, Chikage took out his wallet and looked inside.

There was not much money in it, but if his sister wanted new clothes, he did not mind buying her one or two pieces.

After all, the clothes in a supermarket would not be too expensive. Even ordinary people could afford them.

But as he waited, something seemed to catch the corner of his eye, and he froze.

On a display case selling small accessories sat a brand-new, fully packaged bracelet, giving off an unusual glow.

[One-in-a-Thousand Bracelet]

[Quality: White] (White < Blue < Green < Purple < Gold)

[Effect: Increases head-turning rate by 15%]

[Description: Little sister says purple has a lot of charm.]

Natsume Chikage was confused—what exactly was that description supposed to mean?

But complaints aside, he still could not help wanting to buy it.

After all, the panel showed that as long as he collected three pieces of special equipment, he would receive an attribute point.

He had been transported here for nearly half a month, and now that he had finally encountered another one, he had to get it no matter what!

Then Natsume Ruri's voice came from behind him.

"Brother, where are you going?"

Natsume Chikage stiffened on the spot. I'm done for.

But quick to react, he immediately hid it without changing his expression, then turned back with a smile.

"I was thinking that while you were picking out clothes here, I'd go downstairs first and see if there was anything I wanted to buy."

Natsume Ruri pointed at the bracelet behind him, tilted her head, and smiled.

"I wouldn't mind if you wanted to go downstairs to buy something."

"But this bracelet... could it be that you wanted to buy it for another girl?"

"Who is that girl?"

"Is it that Miss Fujiwara Aoi from earlier?"

"So Miss Fujiwara Aoi really is your girlfriend, isn't she?"

Natsume Chikage coughed. "Of course not..."

"If she isn't, then why are you buying it?" Natsume Ruri tilted her head slightly and smiled.

But she quickly thought of something, and her expression immediately turned somewhat strange.

"Or... does Brother have some other use for it?"

Natsume Chikage's mind raced, and he quickly came up with an excuse. He laughed awkwardly and said, "Actually, I wanted to buy it for you, Ruri..."

"Look, school starts the day after tomorrow, right?"

"I was thinking, new semester, new start. I wanted to secretly buy you a new bracelet and give it to you as a gift on the first day of school, but it looks like that won't work now..."

Natsume Ruri's eyes lit up, and she said happily, "So that's what it was."

"Brother, you should've just said so. Why go through all these twists and turns for some little romance? You could've just given it to me directly!"

As she spoke, she happily took it from him.

Unfortunately, the bracelet was packaged, and it could not be opened before purchase. She could only return to where she had been earlier and try on a sample bracelet.

To her surprise, it looked quite nice on her.

She immediately felt that her brother had such good taste. He had even guessed that she liked purple!

Looking at the bracelet in his sister's hand, Natsume Chikage thought that things had become a little troublesome.

Still, as long as the special equipment was with his sister, he would have a chance to get it with a little cleverness.