Chapter 2

"Brother, why are you staring blankly at this book?" His sister's voice finally woke Natsume Chikage up.

He suppressed the joy in his heart and 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..."

As expected!

Natsume Chikage thought that since this book emitting an unusual glow was placed in front of this second-hand bookstore and no one had discovered it, perhaps only he could notice the extraordinary nature of this book!

He had previously been wondering where to find the equipment shown on his panel; now it seemed this might be the special equipment the panel mentioned!

It was just sitting in this second-hand bookstore, and he didn't know when it might be bought by someone else.

Since he had finally encountered it, it was best to buy it first.

Chikage was very curious about the fact that the panel showed he could gain one attribute point as long as he collected three pieces of equipment.

He was also curious if he could really improve his attributes after gaining attribute points.

If he kept collecting special equipment, did that mean he could keep improving his attributes?

If he had enough attribute points, he might even be able to transcend a mortal!

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

If he really could, he might even be able to use this equipment to make money...

Several ways to make money had already appeared in Chikage's mind at this moment.

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

After checking the price, Natsume Chikage picked up the autobiographical novel titled "The Boy's Sorrowful Diary" and went to the counter to queue.

At this time.

The female clerk was checking out the previous male customer with boredom, and even after the person left, she didn't say anything.

But when she saw the next person, her eyes lit up, and she couldn't help but tidy her hair.

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

"Please help me wrap this up."

"Okay."

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

"Thank you." Natsume Chikage accepted it.

The female clerk's face was filled with a brilliant smile as she waved enthusiastically: "Please take care, come again next time!"

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

Natsume Ruri's cheeks puffed up slightly, and she glanced at the female clerk who was still peeking at her brother, thinking that next time she wouldn't let her brother take this route!

Inside the supermarket.

Natsume Ruri squeezed out of the crowd and happily held up two bento boxes to Chikage:

"Brother, look, I managed to grab two discounted bentos."

"Come to think of it, you definitely won't believe it, but these two together only cost 560 yen. It's such a bargain!"

Natsume Chikage fell into a long silence.

Having lived two lives, he didn't have much of a feeling for living a destitute life.

But now, seeing his sister, who was originally a rich girl, so happy about grabbing a discounted bento, he couldn't help but feel very heartbroken.

"To be able to grab them with so many people around, my sister is truly amazing." Chikage rubbed Ruri's head.

Natsume Ruri enjoyed the touch very happily.

Before long.

Chikage was pulled along by Ruri, happily browsing the various floors of the supermarket.

Thinking that it was hard to come out for a trip, he let his sister be and followed behind at a leisurely pace.

But when they reached the clothing section, Natsume Ruri looked at the beautiful women's clothes in front of her; although she knew there wasn't much money at home to buy new clothes, looking was fine, right...

Thinking this, she couldn't resist holding these new clothes against herself and looking in the mirror, imagining what she would look like wearing them.

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

Although there wasn't much money, he wouldn't mind buying one or two pieces if his sister wanted new clothes.

Anyway, the clothes in the supermarket wouldn't be that expensive; even commoners could afford them.

Just as he was waiting, his peripheral vision seemed to catch something, and he was stunned for a moment.

On the shelf selling small accessories, there was a bag containing a brand-new, fully packaged bracelet that was emitting an unusual glow.

[One-in-a-Thousand Bracelet]

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

[Effect: Head-turning rate +15%]

[Introduction: My sister says purple has a lot of charm.]

Natsume Chikage was confused—what on earth was this introduction saying?

But complaints aside, he still couldn't help but want to buy it.

After all, the panel showed that he could gain one attribute point as long as he collected three pieces of special equipment.

He had been transmigrated for almost 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.

"Brother, where are you going?"

Natsume Chikage froze in place, thinking he was done for.

But reacting quickly, he immediately hid it calmly, turned around, and smiled:

"I was just thinking that since you're picking out clothes here, I'd go downstairs to see if there's anything you want to buy."

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

"I don't mind you going downstairs to buy things."

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

"Who is that girl?"

"Is it that Miss Fujiwara Aoi from just now?"

"So that Miss Fujiwara Aoi from just now really is your girlfriend, right?"

Natsume Chikage coughed and said: "Of course not..."

"If it's not, then why are you buying it, Brother?" Natsume Ruri tilted her head slightly and smiled.

But she quickly thought of something, and her expression suddenly became a bit strange.

"Or is it... that you have other uses for it, Brother?"

Natsume Chikage's brain worked at high speed, and he quickly thought of an excuse, laughing it off:

"Actually, I wanted to buy it for you, Ruri..."

"Look, isn't school starting the day after tomorrow?"

"I was thinking about a new look for the new semester, so I originally planned to secretly buy you a new bracelet as a gift for the first day of school, but now it seems that won't work..."

Natsume Ruri's eyes lit up, and she said happily:

"So that's how it is."

"You should have said so earlier, Brother! Why go through all this trouble with little romantic gestures? You could have just given it to me directly!"

As she spoke, she happily accepted it.

Unfortunately, the bracelet was packaged and couldn't be opened before purchase, so she had to walk back to the area and try on the sample version.

She unexpectedly found it quite pretty.

She immediately felt that her brother had great taste, actually guessing that she liked purple!

Natsume Chikage looked at the bracelet in his sister's hand, thinking that this was a bit troublesome.

But fortunately, since this special equipment was with his sister, he could always find a way to get it with a little trick.