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 6

When did you first fall in love?

For me, it was in sixth grade. It was my one and only experience with romantic feelings. Reflecting on it now, I can’t help but chuckle at how immature I was back then. Despite my reputation in my previous life as “cold,” “emotionless,” and “robotic,” I guess I wasn’t always so detached.

In the end, I never mustered the courage to confess, and my first love remained a bittersweet memory. Even at 26, I would sometimes find myself reminiscing, thinking, I still like her, don’t I? …Yeah, it was embarrassingly pathetic.

Why am I bringing this up now? Well…

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“P-pull-ups…”

It was her—Ichika Kobayashi, my first love.

Instead of my usual route through the park, I had decided to do some muscle training at a different park with monkey bars. Ever since starting elementary school, I’d developed a fondness for the horizontal bar. It was perfect for pull-ups, dragon flags (a brutal core workout), and even showier exercises like spins and giant swings—though I hadn’t tried the latter yet.

But the last thing I expected was for Ichika to show up and talk to me. In my previous life, I met her when we were 11, but even now, as a seven-year-old, I recognized her instantly. She was my first love, after all. I didn’t need [Appraisal] to confirm it.
I’m not a creep or anything, but with the nostalgia filter on, I couldn’t help but find her incredibly cute.

“Is it fun?”

“Yeah, it’s a lot of fun.”

As I continued my pull-ups, I casually glanced at her—not out of weirdness, but to use [Appraisal].

Name: Ichika Kobayashi
Stamina: 15/15
Strength: 6
Magic: 1
Agility: 5
Level: 1
Job: None
Skills:
• [Flexibility Lv. 1]
• [Stamina Boost Lv. 1]
• [Strength Boost Lv. 1]
Unique Skill: [Keen Eye]

A unique skill? That’s rare.

I’d appraised my parents, classmates, and even random passersby, but none of them had unique skills. While I couldn’t see the specifics of [Keen Eye] yet, it fit my memory of Ichika. She’d always been observant, the kind of person who made you feel like she could read your mind.
Whether she had this skill in my previous life, I couldn’t say, but it made sense.

“Watch this! I can do a giant swing!”
She had been watching me quietly, and as a boy, I couldn’t help but want to show off in front of a girl I liked. Even though I’d never done a giant swing before, my stats and skills gave me confidence.

“What’s that?”

“Stand back. It’s like this…”

I kicked off the bar with a wide arc, building momentum. Swinging up and over, I felt the thrill of the motion. This might actually work! I thought—until disaster struck.

Slip.

Whether it was sweat on my hands, nervousness, or a lack of grip strength, my hands lost their hold on the bar. With the momentum of the swing, I tumbled backward and slammed the back of my head against the ground.

“Agh!”

“Is this the giant swing? Wait, are you okay?! M-mom! That boy fell really hard!”

“What?! Oh no! Somebody call an ambulance!”

I heard Ichika’s panicked voice and that of an alarmed adult. The sound of sirens soon followed.

I screwed up… I thought, my head throbbing in pain. It was the same kind of pain I felt in my previous life before I died. Was this the end for me again?

It wasn’t.

I’d only knocked myself out. Thanks to my [Super Recovery] skill, the pain faded completely after a good meal, and my life was never in danger.

“Don’t scare me like that!” my mother cried, hugging me tightly.
“Honestly, you’re such a handful,” my father muttered, though he seemed more worried than angry.

For once, I wasn’t scolded for my recklessness. Still, I couldn’t blame them for being concerned. Running to my limits, pushing myself with training, and now cracking my head open? Yeah, that’s a lot.

At least there was a silver lining: I would get to visit Ichika to thank her and her family. As someone who’d never acted on his feelings in his previous life, the chance to build a friendship with her as kids felt like a second chance.

Wait… does this mean we’ll be childhood friends?
In my previous life, I’d never had anyone I could call a childhood friend. But now, by meeting Ichika early, I might just change that. The thought made me smile like an idiot.

Current Stats
Name: Yasushi Sashima
Stamina: 23/49
Strength: 42
Magic Power: 42
Agility: 36
Level: 1
Job: None
Skills:
• [Appraisal Lv. 6]
• [Agility Enhancement Lv. 3]
• [Stamina Enhancement Lv. 5]
• [Strength Enhancement Lv. 4]
• [Super Recovery Lv. 6]
• [Calculation Lv. 9]
• [Mental Resistance Lv. 8]
• [Magic Enhancement Lv. 4]
• [Farming Lv. 4]
• [Physical Resistance Lv. 2]
Unique Skill: [Repeated Trials]

Hitting my head seemed to have raised my [Stamina Enhancement] and [Strength Enhancement] levels, boosting their respective stats. My stamina had dropped significantly from the injury, but I’d also gained a new skill: [Physical Resistance].

While I’d been hoping for a new skill, did it really have to come from such an embarrassing failure in front of my first crush? To make matters worse, [Mental Resistance] had also leveled up, as if mocking me for how much this bothered me.