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 51

“What?! The operation to suppress Cherished Star failed?!”

It seemed unbelievable that Yasushi Sashima, who had incapacitated fifteen armed police officers with a single glare, could fail—even against a group of elite militants. Moreover, reports confirmed that Yasushi had returned to school as usual after the mission, which ruled out the possibility of his defeat.

This could only mean…

“Yasushi Sashima has been swayed by them…”

If Yasushi had indeed allied with Cherished Star, it would make the group unstoppable. Yet, based on everything Sumida knew about Yasushi, the young man seemed utterly disinterested in concepts like domination or supremacy. He couldn’t fathom Yasushi supporting criminal activity. If Yasushi had such tendencies, he would have already declared war on the police and crushed them with his overwhelming strength.

The truth was that Yasushi’s power far surpassed that of Cherished Star.

“Actually, sir, ever since Yasushi took the assignment, Cherished Star has been actively engaged in dungeon exploration and participating in community service, like park cleanups. One member reportedly said, ‘We’re still incredibly weak. Lord Yasushi made us realize that. From now on, we’ll dedicate ourselves to becoming truly strong like him!’”

“…What on Earth?”

Sumida pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to make sense of the situation.

It seemed likely that Yasushi had effortlessly subdued Cherished Star. Overwhelmed by his sheer power, the group must have begged for mercy or vowed to change their ways.

Although Sumida’s understanding wasn’t entirely accurate, it was close enough.

“Well… Yasushi probably acted in accordance with his own conscience. He’s still a student, after all—young and idealistic. He likely doesn’t have the cold detachment to apprehend people who surrender.”

This, however, posed a problem. Ideally, Cherished Star should have been arrested and made to face justice, ensuring the public no longer lived in fear of them. Yet their high levels and resistance to bullets made them incredibly difficult to subdue unless they willingly surrendered.

Chasing them down recklessly could provoke retaliation, resulting in casualties among police officers. Given their apparent reform, leaving them be for now seemed like the most pragmatic approach.

“Sigh… Even so, the police lack the means to handle violent offenders who misuse their professions or skills. We have no choice but to rely on Yasushi Sashima.”

Apprehending such criminals alive was far more challenging than eliminating them outright. Lethal force raised ethical and legal concerns, while non-lethal measures like tear gas or firearms often proved ineffective. Options like poison gas, while potentially effective, were unsuitable for urban environments due to the risk of civilian casualties.

As professions and skills became more powerful, more criminals emerged who far outmatched ordinary police officers. Organizations like Cherished Star may have been pacified for now, but the police still lacked the capability to fully contain them.

Sumida sighed again. “We need to buy time. Until the police gain the strength to handle these threats, we’ll have to keep relying on Yasushi—even if it means working on his terms.”

Despite my “failure” on the first assignment, the police continued sending me requests.

Every case involved groups like Cherished Star, with extremist ideologies, or violent syndicates resembling organized crime.

I traveled as far south as Kyushu and as far north as Hokkaido, but my success rate hovered around 40%.

The issue was that many groups with ideologies similar to Cherished Star surprisingly revered me. Apparently, I had become a figure of worship among these extremists. Just showing my face was enough to make them surrender outright.

For violent gangs and thuggish groups, Intimidation and magic usually sufficed. Kneeling under my pressure, they’d immediately admit defeat, declaring, “We’ll be your subordinates!” or “We’ll reform!”

To my astonishment, many of them genuinely did reform.

I knew that, ideally, I should turn them over to the police to face justice. But when people bowed their heads and begged for forgiveness, I just couldn’t bring myself to force them into custody.

Maybe I wasn’t cut out for this kind of work.

To be frank, I’m not a police officer or anything like that, so the safety of strangers is less important to me than waking up refreshed tomorrow morning.

One reason for this is that dealing with criminals takes a mental toll, and the rewards—both financial and otherwise—don’t even come close to what I get from dungeon exploration. No items, no experience points, and not much money—it’s hard to feel motivated for such jobs.

As a result, I only hand over about 40% of the people I confront to the police.

This 40% is reserved for cases where I personally witness them harming civilians, dealing drugs, or extorting protection money. Alternatively, if Ichika shakes her head and says, “These people can’t be forgiven,” they go straight to the authorities.

If Ichika says no, then no amount of begging or groveling will save them.

To me, Ichika’s words carry more weight than the entire planet.

And so, I continued to accept police requests at a steady pace of about once a month. Meanwhile, I tackled dungeons roughly twice a month, balancing my life between the two.

The unopened box of condoms I bought back in my first year of middle school remained untouched, gathering dust in a drawer. My days were filled with flirting with Ichika, working off any pent-up frustrations by sparring with my duplicates in the dungeon, and engaging in casual banter with Koumei at school.

Sometimes, Koumei helped me locate criminal hideouts. Other times, I’d assist him with dungeon exploration. Despite this, Koumei and I consistently scored perfect marks across all subjects, though Ichika’s grades started to dip slightly around the second semester of our first year in high school—probably because her advantage from past-life knowledge began to wear thin. Even so, she still ranked eighth in the entire grade.

Interestingly, the 23-year-old (as Ichika once told me) Saotome turned out to have the worst grades among the four of us.

As for me, while I was getting slightly better at controlling my Intimidation skill, my ever-increasing stats made mastery a moving target.

Foreign intelligence agents and organizations still occasionally tried to make contact with me, only to be swiftly dealt with. At least the domestic ones were either reformed or eliminated. Now that I was more accessible to national authorities through the school, the foreign groups were the only ones still meddling.

In other words, things hadn’t changed much.

No major crises, no shocking developments—just the same routine.

Though “peaceful” might not be the best word for it, for someone with my absurdly high stats, life had been relatively uneventful.

And so, my first year of high school passed without incident.

Today is March 10, 2011.

I will never forget this date. In my previous life, it marked the eve of one of Japan’s greatest tragedies—the Great East Japan Earthquake, an unprecedented disaster that claimed countless lives.

If the dungeons that appeared during the Chuetsu Earthquake and the Niigata Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake weren’t mere coincidences, then tomorrow may bring something similar—or something even more catastrophic.

And I can’t even be sure this disaster will be limited to Japan. Thinking otherwise feels overly optimistic.

Tomorrow, for the first time in this life, I might have to fight with everything I’ve got.

The thought sent a shiver through my body—a mix of genuine excitement and undeniable fear.