In this Second Chance at Life, where I can see skills as clear as day, everything feels like a breeze. And to make it even better, I’m spending my days joyfully with my First Love. - Chapter 12

It has been about four years since I reverted to my younger self. The date is Saturday, October 23, 2004. For some, this date might immediately strike a chord.

I will never forget it. It was the day of the Chūetsu Earthquake.

In my previous life, I was also a fourth grader at the time. That Saturday, as usual, I had accompanied my parents to my grandparents’ house in Niigata to help with farm work. It was later that evening when it happened.

A violent tremor, registering a magnitude of 5 in our area, shook the ground. I still vividly remember crying my eyes out as the card tower I had painstakingly built up to nine levels collapsed before my eyes.

Of course, the epicenter experienced far more devastating impacts, with seismic intensity exceeding level 7. However, at a distance, we only felt the fringes of its true ferocity.

As for me, I had completely forgotten about it until this evening, around 5:30 PM, when a sudden, intense shaking reminded me: Oh, right…

As it happens, I was once again at my grandparents’ house, just like in my previous life.

However, now, with the mental age of a 26-year-old (even though my time in this world has somewhat regressed my mental sharpness), I no longer cry over card towers. At most, I lost balance during a push-up and bumped my head on the tatami floor.

But it was during this moment of triviality that I felt an overwhelming sense of unease—or perhaps, discrepancy.

My magical power, which exceeds nearly one million units, naturally spans across Niigata Prefecture with ease. Somewhere near the epicenter of the earthquake, I detected a faint anomaly in the magical field. It felt like something was caught within its net.

Could it be due to the earthquake’s epicenter? It didn’t seem so simple.

With an unsettled feeling gnawing at me, I resumed my push-ups to stabilize my thoughts.

“Yasushi, are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah!”

My grandfather, concerned, peeked into the room to check on me, only to find me stubbornly continuing my push-ups. His expression suggested he thought I was an odd child.

It was right after an earthquake, after all. Running off outside would undoubtedly worry my family. Besides, I didn’t have any concrete proof to act on.

Carrying the unease in my heart, I decided to go to bed early.

◇

Late at night, after my parents and grandparents had fallen asleep, I quietly rose from my futon.

Skipping dinner earlier and excusing myself with a suspicious “I’m just really tired today” had certainly raised some eyebrows. But surely no one suspected I planned to wander outside right after an earthquake.

In my previous life, my mother loved to recount stories like, “And there was this one time I thought, ‘What an idiot,’ only to realize it was my own son!” But in this life, the most foolish things I’d done were running until I almost passed out, accidentally spinning too hard and hitting my head, or eating so much protein I nearly threw up.

Wait… Am I actually a bit of an idiot?

Pushing aside this alarming realization, I silently slipped out of the house.

My stealth skill is at level 22. There’s no way I’d bungle this and wake anyone up.

Once outside, I removed the magical restraints I usually place on myself to cap my full-speed running ability to 50 meters in six seconds. Unleashing my agility stats, I moved faster than the speed of sound, heading toward the epicenter where I’d felt the magical disturbance earlier.

The distance was about 50 kilometers. Even suppressing the sonic booms caused by my movement with magic, it took less than three minutes to arrive.

What I found at the epicenter was nothing like the scenes I remembered from the news.

There were no cracks in the ground or collapsed buildings. Instead, a massive mountain loomed with a gaping hole at its base. Pacing near the hole was a hideous, green-skinned dwarf-like creature, about the same height as me.

The creature wore a crude loincloth made of animal hide. Curious, I appraised it with my Analysis skill, and its details were displayed before me.

Species: Goblin
Name: None
HP: 82/84
Strength: 72
Magic: 17
Agility: 47 ▲
Level: 5
Occupation: None
Skills: None

A goblin? Its level is 5! I’d never seen a creature with a level higher than 1 before. While it lacked any skills, its stats far exceeded those of my father in every aspect.

Granted, factors like intelligence and physique might tilt the scales, but even so, its strength was enough to pose a significant threat to an average adult.

If a creature like this were to attack a town…

Why did such a monster appear on the day of the Chūetsu Earthquake? What was that strange hole? And why could I now see these stats and skills after reverting to age six?

Since returning to this life, everything has been an endless series of mysteries.

I had trained myself tirelessly, motivated by the sheer joy of seeing tangible results, much like leveling up in a video game. No, it was even more thrilling, as it directly affected my life. But deep down, I’d always thought this power was unnecessary—a hobby at best.

Yet now, I wonder. Did I, the 26-year-old me who died of a stroke, return to this younger body and gain the ability to see skills just to face moments like this? To dispel the dangers before me?

As that thought crossed my mind, an undeniable sense of excitement began to bubble up.

Power that I once thought I’d never use… It turns out humans naturally crave opportunities to test their limits.

“Let’s start with… Muscle Intimidation.”

I flexed slightly, directing my presence toward the goblin. That alone was enough to make it tremble in fear before collapsing unconscious.

As I crushed the goblin underfoot, I stepped into the dark abyss of the hole.

Name: Yasushi Sashima
HP: 13,575/13,575
Strength: 9,900
Magic: 1,346,400
Agility: 9,900 ▲
Level: 2
Occupation: None
Skills: ▼
Full skill list omitted for brevity.

For the first time in my life, my level increased.