Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue
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Life is often so fragile that even a single puff of empty wind can shatter it to pieces.
A perfect example is the excited voice of an awakening ability examiner telling you that you've awakened a type of power that's never been seen before, so you're surely destined for something major.
Of course, a mature adult with solid self-objectivity who doesn't get easily swayed by others' words wouldn't have a life fragile enough to crumble under such false hope.
But at the time I heard those words, I had just turned twenty— an adult in name only, really no different from a kid, buzzing with excitement over the title of "adult" that I'd always admired. I was way too vulnerable to that kind of empty wind.
And so, looking back now, despite it being laughable nonsense from an examiner I'm convinced was full of it, I ended up wildly overestimating myself.
"Haaaaah... Stay, you absolute madman."
The result? The moment my twenties began, I became a debtor, forced to spend most of my youth paying off debt.
All because of the unique awakening ability that had the examiner making such a fuss—one that only I possessed.
Visualizes information of touched objects in an easy-to-understand format for the user.
! Cannot view status windows of objects exceeding the user's level.
! This is the status window of the user himself.
My ability was the Status Window— just like what's written in front of my eyes right now, it visualized information about any object I touched in a way that was easy for me to understand.
At first glance, it was certainly an ability worth the examiner's excitement.
Being able to extract that information just by touching something made it incredibly useful anywhere.
Bring in the corpse of a monster from a gate, and the Status Window would reveal everything about that monster.
I could learn the uses of newly discovered substances, and if I expanded the scope, I could even expose a spy's hidden info or motives with a single touch.
Yeah, if we're just talking potential.
It was definitely an ability with killer potential, but there was one fatal flaw that twenty-year-old me had no clue about.
That was the very line written right below the ability description.
! Cannot view status windows of objects exceeding the user's level.
This thing.
This goddamn worthless line had pretty much ruined my early twenties.
With my level— no different from an ordinary person who was just a bit healthier, with slightly better stamina and recovery— I couldn't even check objects that contained the tiniest trace of mana.
If only they'd properly assessed my abilities back then, none of this would've happened...
But unfortunately, twenty-year-old me was bloated with false hope like a hot-air balloon, thinking that if my level was insufficient, I just needed to raise it. So I spared no expense investing in myself.
Of course, my family wasn't well-off, and a twenty-year-old like me had no savings to speak of, so all the investment money came from Awakener-exclusive loans that I maxed out.
With that money, I bought and consumed spirit elixirs. Even when I saw no effects, I couldn't face reality and turned to loan sharks. By the time I snapped out of it, I had piled up an insane debt that no normal job could ever repay.
I'd thrown my life straight into the gutter the moment I turned twenty.
By the time I realized my life was ruined, I had exactly two choices left.
One was to register as a rare, multi-purpose living Awakener organ storage unit— always in high demand at premium prices— and let the loan sharks harvest my organs whenever they needed.
The other was a hellish job that no one whose life wasn't utterly wrecked would even glance at— one that made me think the first option might actually be better after agonizing over it a hundred, a thousand times.
Even rolling in dog shit is better than the afterlife, so I chose the latter.
And that's how I ended up working as a grunt in the Awakener Exclusive Emergency Room— a place only Awakeners could work, perpetually short-staffed, paying wages no normal job could touch.
Four years. Four truly hellish years.
Chronic manpower shortages meant early mornings and overtime were standard. Average sleep: three hours. No lunch breaks, no dinner breaks. You had to fend for yourself just to survive.
On top of all that, as a grunt, I had to do everything a grunt does.
Yeah, grunt.
The role that handles anything and everything that doesn't require specialized knowledge or abilities.
Really, everything. Everything needed to keep the emergency room functioning as one.
And yet, when the arriving Awakeners writhed in agony, they could smash peripherals and people (including me) to bits. The seniors were no different from me— fellow burnt-out wrecks— so feeling disgust toward people was something I experienced millions of times, with no comfort in sight.
Plus, due to the job's nature, new hires lasted half a day at best, three days at worst before bolting, so I was the baby of the team for a full four years.
A notorious 3D job where even the ruined-life seniors who had no better options constantly chewed me out, with no vacations, no days off, sleeping three hours a day to drag myself to work every single day for four years.
Living that life, I let go of all expectations for myself.
I cut ties with dreams of becoming a great hero everyone admired and started yearning for a simple, romantic life: opening a quiet café somewhere peaceful and working at a leisurely pace.
With that dream as my sole goal, I worked my ass off, and by some stroke of luck, I made a massive amount of money.
Enough to pay off the debt I hadn't even halved in one go.
"Life sure is ironic, huh."
I owed that windfall entirely to the Status Window.
The Status Window had wrecked my life, and the Status Window had pulled my wrecked life out of the gutter.
"Yeah, finally... debt all paid off. And now I've got the café."
Yeah, the crystallization of my dream right in front of me— this café called "Stay This Place"— I could open it all thanks to the Status Window.
"Back when I was slaving away as an ER grunt, I cursed this trash-tier ability nonstop. But now I gotta admit it. The Status Window straight-up saved my life."
Seeing the job I'd only dreamed of become reality didn't bring fulfillment— just a hollow emptiness.
"Well, that's normal, right? When the dream you've only pictured finally hits you in the face, everyone feels let down."
With no one around, I muttered those unheard soliloquies aloud to soothe my hollow heart.
And strangely, the emptiness vanished, replaced by the drive to work.
"Finally. Finally, I can live a normal life...! Sleeping eight hours a day! Taking days off! A vacation once or twice a year! That's the normal life I'm gonna have!"
A normal life that others take for granted.
That normalcy was more precious to me than anything, so with it right ahead, excitement filled my chest.
"No more grunt or caregiver Stay without a daily routine! From now on, only the owner of 'Stay This Place' remains— Stay, enjoying the leisure of everyday life!"
When the excitement peaked, I shouted it out with all my heart.
"Phew...! Alright, then. First opening. Let's do this."
That's when it really sank in: my true life was beginning. And so, I opened the café door for the first time.
Now for the real normal life, the start of leisurely days!
Surely... it should have been that way.
"S-Stay... I-I feel like I'm gonna die. I-I came to apologize. P-Please accept my apology and make up with me. If not, I really will die..."
Why.
"A-And like before, gently stroke my forehead, touch my cheeks, brush down my neck with the back of your hand, then tap my collarbone with your fingertips. Get my whole body tense like that, then with those same soft touches, unbutton my chest, lightly graze the tops of my breasts over my bra to lower my guard— then yank the bra off and roughly squeeze my tits while sealing my startled mouth with your rough lips. P-Please, I beg you...!"
"I still can't acknowledge you, Stay."
Why on earth.
"You're the weakest guy I know, Stay. One flick of my finger and you'd crumple like straw. Back then, I was cursed so I couldn't fight back, but now it's different! Now that I'm sane, I won't get played by your feeble, pathetic moves! So prove it— fuck me and show me if you're a man worth acknowledging! For the record, we stop when one of us passes out! Better brace yourself!"
"Finally, finally I met you... Finally! Stay, I'm about to make you an offer, so listen carefully, not missing a single syllable. I've lived alone my whole life without issue, but ever since waking from the curse, living solo's gotten a bit... tricky. So I thought I'd hire you as my butler, that's why I came. Salary's whatever you want, obviously. This is a scout offer— whatever modest amount your commoner senses dream up won't burden me at all. Oh, w-well, if it's not money you need, you can ask for other valuables. I can give you anything you desire. And if, if even that's no good. If you don't want anything material from me. W-well then, as a special favor. Because it's you. Because you're my benefactor, I'll allow it. You can touch my body however you want. M-my, uh, umm... ass. Yeah, you like that, right...? H-how's that? Conditions beyond your wildest dreams, huh? So obviously, obviously you'll accept? Right?"
Why... are these people I should never have to see again showing up?
All I want is a normal, everyday life...!