There's a message on Line.
Uesugi Sakura reached into his pocket for his phone.
The avatar on the screen was a cartoon shark holding a fiery red chili pepper, a message from Hanamaru Hanabi.
"Uesugi-kun, is Aunt Nobuko not coming home today?"
"No."
After Uesugi Sakura replied, a (read) receipt quickly appeared after the message.
"Then Uesugi-kun, why don't you come over for dinner at my place today? Mom has already prepared the food."
"Will it not bother you?" Although Uesugi Sakura wanted to go, he asked out of politeness.
The message was quickly replied to.
"Not at all, Mom always welcomes you. If it's Uesugi-kun, it's no problem."
"Alright, I'll come over tonight."
"Uh-huh."
After seeing Hanamaru Hanabi's last message, a cartoon expression of anticipation, Uesugi Sakura put the phone back in his pocket.
The Hanamaru family was always so warm and welcoming. As Uesugi Sakura looked back at his empty home, a touch of loneliness grew in his heart.
His parents were always working overtime at night, and there were rarely even leftovers at home.
He grew up not having many good meals in the evenings; it was always cup noodles, bento boxes, and bread.
Because of this, Uesugi Sakura also began to learn to cook himself, although the taste... well, it left much to be desired, but at least it was edible.
The truth is, there was another reason why Uesugi Sakura wanted to go to the Hanamaru family to mooch a meal.
It was because of Hanamaru Hanabi's mother, Aunt Meiko, whose cooking was exactly to his taste.
Ever since his first visit, everything like cup noodles, bento boxes, and bread bought from outside seemed like sewer grime, utterly revolting.
He sometimes quite envied Hanabi, who got to eat such delicious dinners every day.
Thinking about his own parents, while he shouldn't talk behind their backs, the disparity made Uesugi Sakura sigh.
"Sigh~."
18:24:56
Uesugi Sakura looked at his watch and saw there was still some time before the seven o'clock dinner at Hanabi's house. He lay back on his bed to continue studying his system.
He went to the character interface and opened his attribute list.
[Name: Uesugi Sakura]
[Age: 16 years]
[Height: 174]
[Intelligence: 7]
[Strength: 5]
[Speed: 4]
[Charm: 7]
[Constitution: 5]
[Skills: Reading lv5 (5/10), Cooking lv0 (-10/0)]
Reading lv5: Enhances memory ability, learning ability, and immersion to a certain extent while reading.
Cooking lv0: No one would like to eat the food you cook.
[Special Skills: None]
[Current Status: Normal]
Uesugi Sakura carefully examined each of his stats; he had to admit they were quite accurate.
For example, that intelligence of 7, which matched the deviation value of 71 he assessed during the entrance exam—pretty close.
...
Alright, actually when he saw that his cooking experience was -10, Uesugi Sakura completely believed in the accuracy of this panel.
Lately, the meals he cooked had been getting progressively worse.
They say people ought to look forward, so how come it felt like he was learning backward?
Uesugi Sakura also noticed a '+' sign behind each attribute, along with progress indicators.
For instance, Speed 4 was (0/8); Speed 5 was (0/10); Speed 6 was (0/20); Speed 7 was (5/40);
Speed 8 would be (1/80)
Speed 9 would be (1/160)
The value of 5 marked a threshold; the further he progressed, the more attribute points would be needed.
Uesugi Sakura understood this point, and after reviewing the character panel, he returned to the main menu and clicked into the inventory.
He found the Black Gold Card and clicked to use it.
A prompt sounded immediately in his mind.
[You have used Yog Sotos's Black Gold Card (Gift Version), drawing now, please wait...]
[Drawing in progress...]
Then, Uesugi Sakura heard a unique sound effect.
[Attribute Point ×1]
[Attribute Point ×1]...
This repeated, and after the 12th time, the mechanical prompt suddenly changed.
[Precise Skill Activation Card Lv1 (Advanced)]
[Attribute Point ×1]...
After repeating 17 more times...
And that was the end of it.
After waiting a little longer, Uesugi Sakura confirmed that the so-called highest-grade Black Gold Card was fully drawn.
[Drawing Result Statistics in Progress, Please Wait...]
The drawing results were: [Attribute Point ×29], [Precise Skill Activation Card Lv1 (Advanced Rare)], please check your inventory.
Note: In the first three card draws, except for the Skill Cards, all other times will purely yield attribute points.
Was the so-called highest quality really just this?
However, Uesugi Sakura was not overly disappointed. He was prepared for this when he saw that black-heart capsule system—it was a gift from heaven, after all.
[Precise Skill Activation Card Lv1]
Description: Allows a correction in executing an understood target, increasing the odds of perfect execution.
Current Probability: 10%
Note: This probability applies to additional precision enhancements and does not affect personal judgment.
After quickly skimming through the description of [Precise Skill Activation Card Lv1], Uesugi Sakura clicked to use it.
[Skill Activated: Accuracy]
Returning to the character screen, Uesugi Sakura found the attribute named 'Accuracy' in his skill line.
[Accuracy Lv1 (0/5)]
Seeing it was indeed activated, he closed the system interface as he didn't have anything pressing to do now, not in a hurry to allocate his attribute points.
18:46:23
He got up, went downstairs, and changed his shoes in the entryway before heading over to Hanabi's next-door.
It was a typical Japanese detached house, with a stone wall around the building and a small garden outside full of flowers and plants. A white sign with the words "Hanamaru" hung beside the front fence.
Such a house in Shinjuku District was by no means cheap.
Uesugi Sakura went in and pressed the doorbell.
With a ding-dong, Hanamaru Hanabi's voice came through the small speaker by the door: "Uesugi-kun, please hold on a second."
Soon after the sound of light footsteps downstairs, Hanamaru Hanabi, dressed in a pink jacket, reached out to open the door.
"Good evening."
"Good evening... Uesugi-kun."
Hanamaru Hanabi spoke softly, and after taking a glance at Uesugi Sakura with her bright eyes, she flashed a sweet smile and continued, "Uesugi-kun, please come in."
"Okay."
Uesugi Sakura nodded slightly, not saying much, and followed Hanamaru Hanabi inside.
The two entered the living room.
The Hanamaru home leaned towards a more modern style, with the living room and kitchen connected and the overall layout quite spacious.
Upon entering, they saw a middle-aged woman in her thirties busy in the kitchen.
"Good evening, Aunt Meiko," Uesugi Sakura greeted politely.
Hanamaru Meiko, who was cutting vegetables, turned her head hastily upon hearing Uesugi Sakura's voice and smiled at him, saying:
"Kaede, you're here. Good evening, let Hanabi take you to the living room first, the food will take a while."
"Alright." Uesugi Sakura nodded back to her.
Hanabi's mom had a pleasant smile, with purple eyes just like her daughter's, not particularly tall, and her straight shoulder-length hair looked exceptionally soft.
Though he frequently saw Aunt Meiko, every time he saw her smile, Uesugi Sakura would recall that little girl from the past who clung tightly to her leg, gripping her clothes, with trembling pupils and a timid expression.
That was over ten years ago, when they first met...
Just as she finished speaking, the soup Hanamaru Meiko was making began to boil, producing a dinga-donga sound. She quickly turned back to turn off the heat.
Watching Hanamaru Meiko bustling in front of him, Uesugi Sakura couldn't help but ask Hanabi beside him:
"Auntie still prefers to make several dishes at once, huh?"
"Mom says it speeds up cooking, letting her manage time better."
Hanamaru Hanabi peeked over before turning back to continue talking to Uesugi Sakura:
"Uesugi-kun, why don't you sit in the living room for a bit? I'll go get some barley tea. Would you like some appetizers?"
"No, no need, just the barley tea is fine."