Soft drizzle fell across Tokyo in April. The air was filled with a mix of cherry blossom and earth scents. On the streets, students of all types, dressed in brand new school uniforms, walked toward their respective schools filled with aspirations for the future, their cheerful laughter carrying through the thin veil of rain.
"Achoo!"
Looking at the students below the apartment, brimming with youthful energy, Natsukawa Sosuke felt no joy, only annoyance at their noise. The joys and sorrows of people are not shared; he just wanted to wrap himself tightly in his blanket. It had been 5 days since he arrived in this world, and he hadn't had a single peaceful day—oh wait, he hadn't had a peaceful day for a long time even before this.
Natsukawa Sosuke's last memory was working as an embedded developer at a major company, finally completing the urgent new requirements requested by the client after several consecutive days of working overtime until 3 AM. Feeling that he could finally rest, he relaxed and slumped onto his workstation, planning to catch a quick nap before heading to the downstairs cafeteria for breakfast when work started.
When he woke up, he was facing an unfamiliar ceiling. Fortunately, there was no nurse beside him telling him, 'The surgery was a success, you are now a ***.'
Then, a piece of good news and a piece of bad news were presented to him. The good news was that he had transmigrated (probably, unless his second personality had awakened past life memories), meaning he no longer had to be forced by his boss to work overtime daily to complete new demands. The bad news was that he had none of this body's memories and knew nothing other than his own gender.
"This shouldn't be happening. Isn't retaining memories standard equipment now? I hope I don't have to follow this up by pretending to be the original owner and playing mind games with parents and relatives. No way! Who watches that kind of drama? More importantly, I can't act!"
...Natsukawa Sosuke flicked his right hand, tossing a student ID onto the table. Just now, he had learned his current name through the ID. After rummaging through the room, he actually found a diary.
"Who writes a diary these days, anyway?"
By reading the diary, he learned that Natsukawa Sosuke originally came from a happy family.
Having just graduated from middle school, he had happily gone on a trip with his parents. Unexpectedly, they were in a car accident, and both parents died. Because he had fastened his seatbelt in the back, he only suffered a head impact and was released from the hospital after a few days. The diary stopped on the day he was discharged. He estimated the original owner had been depressed throughout the entire spring break, succumbed to excessive grief, and then it was his turn to appear.
In the past few days, Natsukawa Sosuke organized the items left by the original body and used the computer to learn about the outside world. Tokyo still held a slight chill at the time. Because this body had not left the house for the entire spring break, its physical condition could not be called robust; it could only be described as frail. Du Fu would be considered strong and healthy compared to him.
Although his body was weak, his wallet was also very clean. Natsukawa searched the entire house and only managed to scrape together enough money for one month of normal living expenses. Not to mention, he was currently physically weak and desperately needed a large amount of nutrition to recover.
"It looks like I'll have to experience the Sakurajima specialty—working part-time at a convenience store."
Today, while Natsukawa Sosuke was browsing the web looking for part-time jobs, he suddenly came across a piece of news about 'Tokyo Koudo Ikusei High School.' Initially, he didn't pay attention, but when more keywords like "State-Supported Project," "One Hundred Percent Employment and University Acceptance Rate," and "Isolated Campus Environment" appeared, a shocking realization instantly popped into his head.
Wasn't this the light novel he read before transmigrating, titled *Classroom of the Elite*? At that instant, illustrations of characters like Sakayanagi Arisu and Ichinose Honami flashed through his mind, countless scenes of showing off and face-slapping played back, and his heart began to beat uncontrollably... However, reality immediately elbowed him out of his fantasy. How could one enter Koudo Ikusei High School just because they wanted to? He hadn't transmigrated into the body of a chaebol young master who could receive an invitation letter with a snap of his fingers. Moreover, school was about to start, and the roster was already finalized.
"Sure enough, not everyone who transmigrates gets to enjoy a beautiful, youthful, and sunny school life. A poor little mouse like me should just stick to working honestly."
Just as Natsukawa Sosuke became disheartened and prepared to face the cold reality—
[Ding! Detecting strong desire from the Host. System functionality module activated.]
[Do you wish to exchange for an Entrance Invitation Letter to Tokyo Koudo Ikusei High School?]
[Required Cost: 20,000,000 Yen (Twenty Million Yen Only)]
[Payment Deadline: Until the day of graduation and departure from school]
[Yes/No]
Looking at the sudden System screen, Natsukawa Sosuke's mood brightened considerably, like coming upon a village after a winding path. Seeing the invitation letter that could be obtained with just a tap, Natsukawa felt enlightened, but as for the so-called cost... In his previous life, he had worked himself to death and still couldn't save that much. Was it appropriate to start the game by saddling him with such a loan? Looking at this astronomical figure for an average person, which had to be repaid within three years, it was simply impossible.
Was he going to be a coward for a lifetime, or a true man for three seconds?
Natsukawa Sosuke remained silent for a long time, and finally, with a very heavy heart, he clicked... [Yes].
'It's impossible to work part-time; I'll never work part-time in this life. Everyone at Kouiku is talented, and they speak nicely. I super love it here.'
Natsukawa, who felt he had probably died suddenly at his workstation in his last life, would never think of repeating the same mistakes, especially in the unfamiliar Sakurajima.
Although he wasn't sure if this was the same year he was familiar with, he at least knew the school's rules. Furthermore, Koudo Ikusei High School provided free room and board, which was enough for him to adapt to his new body and environment.
'Even with a frail body and a 20 million loan hanging over me, I, Natsukawa Sosuke, am still invincible in this world.'
"Grrr~"
Just as Natsukawa was thinking this, his stomach suddenly growled, as if saying:
'I've given you too much face.'
"Since things have come to this, let's eat first."
Natsukawa Sosuke pushed the keyboard aside, went to the kitchen, fried two eggs, and made do with a bowl of noodles. As he ate, he asked:
"System, what happens if I can't repay the loan?"
[At that time, all rewards granted by the System, including all income generated by the Host using this reward, will be reclaimed.]
"That's good. It's not the kind of system that forces you into black market labor if you can't pay. System, can I still make exchanges now, and what can I exchange for?"
[The Host can only conduct one transaction at a time. The next transaction can only proceed after the previous one is concluded.]
[Given that this is the Host's first time using this function, this transaction will not count toward the limit.]
[Anything the Host has the potential to achieve, this System can exchange for. The cost of payment is determined by the difficulty of the Host achieving it.]
"The potential to achieve it, huh."
Natsukawa Sosuke pondered inwardly. He was about to enroll, so this exchange couldn't be random; it was crucial for quickly raising enough money for repayment. Although three years was a long time, Natsukawa Sosuke never liked carrying a debt he couldn't repay... "Ding-dong~"
The doorbell rang outside. Natsukawa Sosuke had just finished lunch. He opened the door but found no one, only a package lying quietly at the entrance. Natsukawa brought the package inside and opened it. Inside lay an Entrance Invitation Letter to Tokyo Koudo Ikusei High School, along with an enrollment handbook and two sets of red uniforms beneath it.
"I didn't expect the System's efficiency to be this high, settling the enrollment and delivering the uniforms so quickly. I wonder which unlucky soul was replaced."
Natsukawa Sosuke rubbed the uniform thoughtfully for a long time before finally deciding:
"System, exchange for programming-related abilities."
[Acquired: Elementary Programming Mastery]
[Required Cost: Write a program that runs normally, prohibiting the use of variable names longer than 3 letters, with an effective code line count exceeding 3,000 lines.]
[Payment Deadline: One month]
Natsukawa Sosuke was stunned for a moment. This time, there was no 'Yes/No' option; the exchange was mandatory.
"It seems I need to be careful with exchanges in the future. Fortunately, not all costs require monetary payment."
Natsukawa secretly felt fortunate. After all, carrying a 20 million loan meant his repayment pressure was significant, so if a problem could be solved without money, it should be. Although the current cost was "a little" difficult, it was still acceptable.
"The day after tomorrow is the start of school. Let me see what kind of future I can carve out with this qualification bought for twenty million."