episode_0086

[I have achieved an unbelievable feat. The status window is awakening.]

“······?”

Rubbing my eyes and opening them again, the notification window fills my vision.

Even so, the message I am seeing is hard to believe, so I pinched my cheek with my fingers.

“······Ouch.”

It hurts? It’s not a dream, right? So, is the message displayed in front of my eyes right now real?

Even though my status window has been clear about its limits, I have never lied before.

Therefore, the message displayed on this notification window, even causing pain in my cheek, is definitely not a lie.

“Me? Awakening? Me, not someone else? Really?”

Even though I understand it in my head, the message in front of my eyes is so unbelievable that it’s hard to accept in my heart.

Because the subject is me.

A failure recognized by the world, a guy who can’t do anything right, following the path of a crane that only accumulates debt no matter how hard it tries, ending up like a torn magpie trying to imitate a crane.

That was me, the Stay that I knew.

But me awakening? Is this trash-like status window ability awakening? Even though my status window has never lied before, looking back on my life, it was not easy to accept.

“So how did I awaken? Even if it’s something like ‘the text displayed in the status window becomes a bit more detailed.’”

So, it’s inevitable that I suppress my expectations while forcing myself to remain cool with my defensive mechanism in place.

I reached out towards the message filling my vision, promising myself not to expect too much.

[User’s will confirmed. Explanation of the new functions added to the status window due to awakening will now begin.]

Despite my deep determination not to expect, my expression remained cold and indifferent as I accepted the explanation of the status window.

[Unbelievable Achievement – ‘Curse EX-grade using the status window’ has caused the status window to awaken. Awakening Ability – Partial manipulation of the target’s status window is now possible.]

“Oh my god! Is this for real?!”

And the explanation of the new ability that appeared before my eyes was so shocking that it shattered my perfect cool mode in an instant.

※

It took 30 minutes for me to regain my senses after seeing the message about the ability to manipulate the status window.

Leaving behind the actions I took while losing my senses for 30 minutes in a temporary motel room, I barely managed to control my trembling heart as I opened my status window.

—–

[Name: Stay]

[Gender: Male]

[Age: 24]

[Grade: F-grade]

[Abilities: Status Window (Epic), Status Window Manipulation Ability (Epic)]

Visualizes information of contacted objects in an understandable way for the user.

!Cannot check the status window of objects beyond the user’s level.

[Current Status: Excitement, Expectation, Joy, Cheers, Excitement]

!The user is the owner of the status window.

—–

“Phew······!”

I involuntarily gasped, unable to contain my excitement at the dazzling words.

The newly acquired status window manipulation ability was of Epic grade, similar to the ability that turned Dain Adamas into the world’s strongest human.

The status window encompasses all information about the target, essentially representing everything that makes up the target in words, and being able to manipulate that was essentially being able to manipulate reality.

Although it was mentioned that only a part of it could be manipulated, where is that part? The fact that I can manipulate it is real!

Whatever it was, it was clear that things were getting better than before, and the excitement of possibly being able to dream of becoming a hero again, which had been folded up against the wall of reality, made my heart race.

“You just need to find out your limits from now on. Even if you don’t live up to expectations, there’s no need to be disappointed. The new dream you’re dreaming now is good enough.”

After setting up a barrier to prevent despair in my heart, I reached out towards the bed that the motel owner had boasted contained a tiny amount of mana, which supposedly helped relieve fatigue.

“Open status window.”

[User’s level is low. The mana contained in the target refuses to allow status window access.]

“······.”

And just like that, my ability to manipulate the status window faded before it even had a chance to shine.

※

A week had passed since the status window awakened.

It took me three days to fully accept the fact that it was the status window that had awakened, not me, and I was able to finally let go of the hero’s dream that had been rising and falling.

“Well, I didn’t really have high expectations. And I do love the dream of being a café owner.”

While it was certainly sad to have my expectations dashed, it wasn’t such a despair-inducing event.

After working as an emergency room assistant for four years, the longing for a free life and the dream of a peaceful daily routine were still precious to me.

“Alright, the contract is complete. Now this café is yours. We’ve already cleaned up the equipment, machines, and the store, so all you need to do is change the sign.”

And now, I was finally on the brink of realizing that dream.

“Yes, thank you.”

“No, we’re the ones who are more thankful. There are too few people here… Oh, ahem! Anyway, now that the contract is done, we’ll be on our way!”

“Really? Oh, yes, I’ll send the final payment right away. Goodbye!”

“Yup!”

During my time working as an emergency room assistant, falling asleep as soon as I got home was a daily occurrence, but on the few holidays I had, I had the luxury of daydreaming about my dreams.

On those days, I would look for a place suitable for opening a café and even search for cafes in locations that caught my eye.

The café I had just signed a contract for was one of the places I had found, and I liked it so much that I immediately approached the owner to sell me the store.

The owner, whose face I had originally thought was grim, brightened up like the summer sun, and the contract proceeded smoothly, allowing us to finalize it so quickly.

“By the way, I was hoping we could talk a bit more and maybe learn some tips for running the café. But they left so quickly. Do they have something urgent to attend to?”

Anyway, I now owned a café.

It was a small café in a remote area with very few people, but it was still my own place.

I had become a landlord!

“Of course, I did burn two-thirds of my severance pay to get this place… Once I put up the sign, my wallet will probably be empty, but… Oh well! I’m about to achieve my dream!”

I was simply happy to have acquired my own place without going into debt and to be on the verge of realizing my dream.

Now, with the sign set to arrive in about three weeks, I wondered if I should start practicing making drinks. Thanks to the previous owner leaving the equipment, machines, and ingredients behind, I had more than enough materials to practice with.

Starting from scratch and only watching YouTube videos to learn, it definitely wouldn’t be easy, but when I think back to my days as a part-timer in the emergency room, there was nothing I couldn’t handle.

“Of course, before that. I should probably check the machines in the shop first.”

But before practicing making drinks, there were things I had to do.

“Open status window.”

The first thing I had to do was manipulate the status windows of the machines in the shop.

——–

[Commercial semi-automatic coffee machine]

It has the function of pouring hot water over finely ground beans to brew coffee.

——–

“Alright, as long as it’s not just filled with mana, the status window should open. Now, if I add the phrase ‘deep flavor, smooth finish, and delicious’ here…”

Vroom-!

“Huh?!”

With a sudden rush of energy leaving my body and a sensation of irresistible weakness, I almost stumbled, but managed to hold on somehow. After that, I checked the status window of the coffee machine.

——–

[Commercial semi-automatic coffee machine]

It has the function of pouring hot water over finely ground beans to brew flavorful, smooth, and delicious coffee.

——–

“…Alright.”

Status window manipulation complete.

Thanks to the awakening of the status window, the new ability I gained was only to add new phrases.

It was impossible to remove or change existing phrases, and adding phrases that altered the status was also impossible.

The limitation that the status window couldn’t be opened if the target had even a little mana remained.

Despite the grandiose name of status window manipulation, it was a skill with many limitations, but it was definitely a good skill.

“Sip. Gulp. Wow, this is so delicious! It’s amazing!”

Because, as someone who had only made instant coffee before, I was able to make such a delicious Americano.

“Haha, I can’t help but succeed! But I shouldn’t get too carried away, right? If the word gets out that it’s a great place, and customers increase, my peaceful daily life will be disrupted.”

With that happy thought in mind, I sipped the hot Americano.

“Sigh… Alright. I should check the other machines after drinking this.”

Yes, it was peaceful and happy.

※

“Ugh, ugh… Huh! Aaahhh!!!”

Crash! Creak! Sizzle!

The bed broke, the blanket tore, and the feathers inside the pillow scattered.

From the bed to the blanket, and even the pillow, nothing was not top-notch, and the one who destroyed it all in an instant gasped heavily amidst the scattered feathers.

“Haa, haa, huff, huff… Huh, huh…”

The rough breathing soon turned into a frightened sob, and the girl, drenched in cold sweat, desperately whispered a name that was absent in this place.

“St-Sta… Stay… Huh. Stay… Stay…”

It was the limit now.