It started with a single book.
Tattered. Dog-eared. The cover was faded and smelled like it had lived through three decades of chain-smokers.
"How to Learn Anything: A Framework for Self-Education."
I found it at a flea market in the slums, stacked under a broken desk and a plastic bag of rusted utensils.
Cost me 100 yen.
Best investment I'd ever made.
I didn't have time to sit in a classroom.
Didn't have the luxury to "go back to school."
But the system kept nudging me—not toward strength or wealth, but something subtler.
Mastery.
And mastery didn't come from lifting bricks forever.
It came from understanding.
Understanding myself.
Understanding skills.
Understanding how to grow.
That night, I sat cross-legged in the center of my small room.
No noise.
No distractions.
Just a notepad, a pen, and the book in my lap.
I read for four hours straight.
The book wasn't magical.
It just gave me what I never had before: structure.
How to break down information.
How to focus.
How to teach yourself when no one else will.
And as I read, a soft chime echoed:
[Mental Activity Detected: Focused Study – 3 Hours Achieved]
[Skill Gained: "Self-Taught Lv. 1" – Increases effectiveness of solo learning by 10%.]
[Intelligence +1]
I sat back, eyes wide.
"…It worked."
This was it.
This was the path.
Not dungeons. Not magic. Not cheap tricks.
But slow, earned, self-forged evolution.
The next day, I added a new step to my routine:
Train.
Work.
Study.
Reflect.
Sleep.
I found more secondhand books.
• A math review for university entrance exams.
• A beginner's book on personal finance.
• A worn-down copy of "The Art of Breathing" by a Japanese martial artist.
Each one added something.
New patterns. New insights.
New ways to connect the dots in my system.
[Self-Taught Lv. 1 → Lv. 2]
[Skill Gained: Study Rhythm Lv. 1 – Studying in routine grants 5% bonus stat efficiency per week.]
[Title Unlocked: Student of the Streets]
I didn't need a teacher.
I had myself.
Week three came and went.
The construction site started trusting me with more complex tasks—measurements, formwork, tool use.
They stopped looking at me like I was just another lost dog and started calling me by name.
"Yo, Ryou, grab the cutter."
"Hey, your lines are clean. You been practicing?"
I didn't respond much.
But I nodded.
And I worked.
And I learned.
Because even there—even in sweat, dust, and concrete—I was studying.
Footing. Leverage. Balance.
Everything was a skill.
And if it could be learned…
It could be mastered.
At night, I'd practice movements.
Push-ups weren't just to build muscle now.
They were drills.
Controlling my breath.
Feeling the tension in each fiber.
Aligning mind and body.
One hundred sit-ups.
One hundred slow crowbar swings.
Fifty minutes of silent breathing.
Every action, I logged it in my notebook.
[System Notice: Self-Discipline Tracker Updated]
• Routine: Maintained (21 Days Consecutively)
• Milestones: Physical Training ✔ | Study ✔ | Financial Survival ✔
• Progress toward "Discipline": 18.5%
[Reward: +1 to Strength, +1 to Intelligence]
[New Trait Unlocked: "Self-Driven" – You do not require external goals. You generate internal motivation passively.]
The changes weren't visible to others.
I still looked like a nobody.
Wore secondhand clothes.
Still walked through back alleys to save bus fare.
Still slept on a futon thinner than a bath towel.
But inside—I was different.
I didn't chase people anymore.
I didn't need anyone to believe in me.
Because I believed in myself.
For the first time in years.
By the end of week four, I had enough saved to buy two things I never thought I'd touch again:
• A used laptop
• A pocket Wi-Fi stick
It wasn't fast.
Took fifteen minutes to boot.
But once it turned on, I saw the light of a screen that didn't belong to someone else.
And that night, I stepped into a new world.
Not fantasy.
Information.
I devoured everything.
Free courses. PDFs. Productivity channels. Training regimens. Mind-mapping techniques. Sleep optimization.
I built a new folder on my desktop:
"Ryou's Upgrade Plan"
And every night, I added to it.
I wasn't becoming superhuman.
I was becoming efficient.
[System Alert – Development Milestone: Self-Sufficient Learner]
Path Update: Self-Mastery 0% → 2%
Subpath Unlocked: Mental Growth
• Focus
• Absorption
• Pattern Recognition
I didn't feel stronger.
But I felt clearer.
Like a fog I'd lived in for years was starting to lift.
One morning, while stretching in the early light, I noticed something new.
My hands didn't shake anymore.
I used to tremble after long shifts.
Used to need five minutes just to stop the ache in my wrists.
But now?
Steady.
Calloused. Scarred.
But strong.
I curled my fist.
And for the first time…
I wasn't afraid of falling anymore.
[Status Update]
Name: Ryou
Age: 23 | Level: 3
Titles: Broken Soul / Scrap Warrior / Student of the Streets
Stats:
• Strength: 9
• Agility: 9
• Endurance: 9
• Intelligence: 7
• Perception: 5
• Charisma: 4
• Luck: 2
Passive Skills:
• Mental Fortitude Lv. 3
• Body Awareness Lv. 2
• Breathing Control Lv. 2
• Sleep Recovery Lv. 1
• Self-Taught Lv. 2
• Study Rhythm Lv. 1
• Self-Driven [Trait]
I still had no future.
No dream job.
No girlfriend.
No one texting to ask how I was doing.
But I didn't need that yet.
I had direction.
I had habits.
I had momentum.
And when you've lived as nothing—
Momentum is everything.
That night, I wrote something in my notebook.
In big, shaky letters.
"I will become undeniable."
Not famous.
Not admired.
Not liked.
Just so competent, so self-mastered, that no one could ignore the man I was becoming.
I'd make a name that couldn't be erased.
Even if the world never said it out loud.
End of Chapter 7