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 3

What do you think magic feels like?

Is it like air—indispensable yet invisible, always present but unnoticed? Or is it more like a ghost—harmless until you acknowledge it, and then it becomes impossible to ignore? Or perhaps it’s something entirely different…
As I sat isolated in the corner of my kindergarten classroom, the high-pitched chatter and laughter of children filling the air, my mind drifted to thoughts of magic. My first day back at kindergarten as a six-year-old had been… eventful.
To be honest, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about mingling with other kids.

Kindergarteners are a mystery.

When I started doing push-ups, sit-ups, and squats in the corner to level up my skills, one of them tattled, “Teacher! Yasushi-kun is doing something weird!”

Then, when I was told that a boy named Shouma wanted to play with me, I replied, “Sorry, I’m busy and don’t want to play.” For some reason, I was the one scolded with, “That’s not acceptable!”

Kindergarten is a chaotic, incomprehensible jungle. All I wanted was to train and level up my skills!

Fearing a scolding—or worse, a dreaded “spanking”—from the teacher, I reluctantly proposed a game.

“Teacher, do you have a deck of cards?”

“Cards? Are we playing Old Maid?”

“No, I want to play a calculation game.”

The game involved dealing four cards to each player. The goal was to use basic math operations—addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division—to match the target number on the table as quickly as possible. It was a game my father had introduced when I was young, possibly as a way to avoid playing with me more directly. Despite its origins, I had enjoyed it and often played it alone.

When I explained the rules, Shouma immediately protested, “I don’t know how to do math!” Even the teacher looked irritated. Undeterred, I dealt four cards to each of us, including the teacher.

“Well, if you don’t want to play, I’ll just play by myself.”
My tone clearly conveyed my preference for solitude, but the teacher raised the stakes.

“If I win, Yasushi-kun has to go outside and play tag with Shouma-kun.”

Her challenge caught me off guard. A grown adult competing with a kindergartener in math speed? It was almost laughable—though I was hardly in a position to judge. Confident in my skills, I accepted.

“Fine by me.”

The target card was an Ace—1. I glanced at my cards: 9, 7, 3, and 4.

“Got it! Nine minus seven is two, four minus two is two, and three minus two equals one!”

The teacher frowned at her cards, visibly struggling. I couldn’t help but chime in.

“You can use King and Jack to make two, then divide four by four. That works.”

The teacher’s expression darkened. Losing to a kindergartener—and a cheeky one at that—was clearly too much for her pride. In retaliation, she gave me a thorough spanking.

It was… an experience. Let’s just say that if I hadn’t earned the skill [Calculation Lv. 3], I might have “awakened” something inappropriate that day.

I quickly learned that staying inside the classroom invited too much attention. Instead, I spent my time doing push-ups and squats in secluded areas, mentally solving equations during storytime, or experimenting with magic. Early mornings were dedicated to running, while afternoons were filled with muscle training at the park.

Over time, my efforts bore fruit. [Super Recovery] leveled up to 2, my stats continued to improve, and I even gained [Mental Resistance Lv. 5]—likely a result of enduring countless spankings. The thought that this skill might carry over from my past life, rather than my current misadventures, was a bit of a relief.

Before I knew it, winter break arrived. It felt sudden, given that I’d only been six years old for a few weeks, but I welcomed the respite. And with the break came an exciting breakthrough.

“I… I can feel it. This is magic!”

I had finally succeeded in perceiving magic within myself.
It wasn’t tangible or visible in the conventional sense. It felt like a flickering flame deep within, a soft white light that appeared when I closed my eyes and focused. When I used [Appraisal], the system confirmed it: Magic. There was no doubt—this was it.

Sitting cross-legged in meditation, my hands forming a lotus pose, I focused on the faint light. As I concentrated, my entire body tingled as though charged with electricity. Slowly, the flame began to waver, almost as if responding to my will. It wasn’t much—like blowing gently on a candle—but it was enough to confirm I could control it.

Hours passed as I immersed myself in this new sensation. Morning turned to afternoon, and for once, I remained perfectly still, lost in focus. My mother, however, seemed deeply unsettled by my unusual behavior.

“Enough of that! Dinner’s ready!” she scolded, pulling me out of my trance with a smack.

Name: Sashima Yasushi
HP: 12/15
Strength: 9
Magic: 3
Agility: 9
Level: 1
Skills: [Appraisal Lv. 3], [Agility Boost Lv. 5], [Stamina Boost Lv. 6], [Strength Boost Lv. 5], [Super Recovery Lv. 2], [Calculation Lv. 3], [Mental Resistance Lv. 5], [Magic Boost Lv. 1]
Unique Skill: [Repetitive Trial]

My stats showed clear growth, and a new skill, [Magic Boost Lv. 1], had appeared. My magic capacity had tripled, and my physical stats continued to improve thanks to training. Even [Appraisal] had leveled up—perhaps from observing my own magic?
The progress fueled my determination.

From that day on, I officially added magic training to my daily routine. Though I couldn’t cast spells yet, I was confident that with time and effort, I could harness this mysterious force.
The possibilities excited me, filling me with an unstoppable sense of anticipation.