As July comes to an end and August arrives, I have been working on my physical fitness for about a week now.

I started running to improve my athletic ability to gain popularity among my classmates, and I've been running the same course twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

I wanted to run three times a day, morning, noon, and night, but I refrained from doing so because it was not safe for a first grader to go out at night.

After all, the body of a first grader is limited in its activities, which is inconvenient. However, there are also some advantages.

What's more convenient is that my body doesn't get sore muscles!

I've heard that there are various biological reasons for this, such as because the muscles and body structure are different from those of adults, but I don't know the details.

If I was 28 years old and doing this kind of thing every day, I would surely have muscle pains somewhere in my body, or at worst, I might have suffered from fatigue fractures.

Even as an adult, I didn't get enough exercise.

At any rate, thanks to my convenient body, I can run every day.

And I'm growing fast.

The speed at which I run and the distance I can run is improving as I go.

They say that children are fast learners, but no one can feel it in their childhood.

After all, children only know how fast they are growing at that time.

But not me.

Once I've experienced adulthood, I'm able to realize how fast my body grows.

That's part of what makes me work so hard.

Actually, I don't know anyone who's ever done that before in their life, there are probably a lot of people who play games.

If you're one of those people, you'll understand how I'm feeling right now.

――If I were to use a game analogy, my time right now is like a 5x experience gain campaign.

If you're a gamer, you'll almost certainly be working hard to level up during such a period.

You may only get 100 experiences per quest, but if you do it during this period, you can get 500 experiences.

If that's the case, they will naturally work hard during the campaign period to make their future strategies easier.

And that's exactly what I'm doing right now.

"The difference between elementary school students and me" is that I am aware of the fact that if I work hard now, it will be easier later.

That's the difference between ordinary elementary school students and me. In other words, the difference is whether or not you realize that the rate of gaining experience is five times higher.

To be aware of how fortunate you are.

I guess I never knew how important this was in my first life.

It was really a waste of time for me.

I can feel it now.

My body doesn't need the intervals of sore muscles, and my growth rate is much faster than when I was an adult. I didn't realize how blessed I was to have a child's body.

Hmmm... I got a really good body.

I can't help but smile broadly like a villain who has succeeded in taking over the body of a strong person.

A body that is so efficient. It's a body that specializes in growth.

――But that's why I think it's a waste.

The only thing I do now is run in the morning and afternoon.

At most, I get an hour of exercise.

The rest of the time is spent lazing around watching TV or working on summer homework.

It would be nice to do some muscle training, but too much muscle training when you are a child can hinder your growth, so I prefer to just focus on building my strength.

However, even though I don't get sore muscles, I can't move all the time because I don't have unlimited energy.

It's also dangerous to keep moving under the blazing sun during the hot summer season.

I don't want to die early for the second time in my life after collapsing from heatstroke.

So what should I do at home?

The first thing that comes to mind is studying.

But there's no need to study first grade subjects.

Even though I got a lot of red marks in junior high and high school, I've already mastered at least elementary school studies.

And as for the summer homework, I've already finished it.

I finished my summer vacation homework two days ago.

Writing hiragana and adding and subtracting are no problem for a 28 year old like me.

So there was no need for me to study.

No, wait a minute.

No rule says you can't do anything other than elementary school studies just because you're in elementary school.

That's right! If you don't need to study for elementary school, why not study for something other than elementary school?

So let's start with high school, or even middle school.

But there was a problem.

There are no teaching materials.

In this day and age, it's not so convenient to find materials on the Internet for free.

Besides, with me in the first grade and my sister in the third grade, there's no way I can find junior high school materials in this household.

I looked in my piggy bank to buy some from my pocket money, but there were only 300 yen in there.

This means I can't even change a single manga book, let alone a junior high school textbook.

"Mother! Please give me a little money for these pitiful children!"

Dogeza. It was a beautiful, clean dogeza.

I never thought I'd experience dogeza for the first time in my life in the first grade.

But I'm a man who left all my pride, self-respect, and pride behind in my first life!　I'm not weak enough to get hurt by one or two kneelings now!

This is what the eldest son of the first grade of elementary school does.

I'm sure my mom would understand...!

――But reality, or rather mother, is a cruel thing.

"No."

She firmly refused.

I refused, not stopping her hands from cooking lunch, not even looking at her beloved son who was on his knees.

It was as if there was nothing I could do.

But there was no way I could give up at this point!

"I'll do something!"

"No."

"I'll rub your shoulder!"

"No."

"I'll wash the dishes!"

"No."

"I work like a horse and rider!"

"No, no, no."

Geez! What kind of stubbornness is this...?

I guess I'll just have to lick her feet. No, or get down on the ground!

(Dogeza... a higher level of apology than getting down on your knees. (For more information, see "Ba●"))

"You're going to say you want a transformation belt again, aren't you? I don't buy those things except for birthdays, you know."

"No, I don't! I just want a textbook!"

I raised my forehead, which was scraped on the ground, to clear up my mother's misunderstanding.

When a child asks for pocket money, it is only natural that he would want a toy.

In fact, I've never asked my mother for a study textbook until today.

"Textbook?"

Mom's eyebrows twitched.

She looked at me, though with a quizzical look.

"Why do you want that thing again? You've never even taken the initiative to study before."

Mom was right, I already had no desire to study at that time.

It was only natural that she would be suspicious if I suddenly asked for a textbook.

The reason I didn't want to use this technique too much was not only because I had to throw away my pride, but also because I risked that my slow mother might think I was suspicious.

I didn't want to do anything that would make her suspicious.

"You're probably going to sneak out and buy some toys or something with that allowance you got."

Mom mentions as she looks down at me, sitting upright with the stove off.

"No, I wouldn't! I'm so cute and innocent, I would never do such a thing!"

"Don't you think you have too high an opinion of yourself?"

I was given a rather harsh rebuke.

I certainly think I'm overestimating it myself.

"Anyway, I'll never do that! I swear to God! If you buy me a toy, I'll commit seppuku!"

I mean, at my age, I don't want a toy.

I'm not maniac enough to want a children's toy at the age of 28.

"........."

After about ten seconds of silence, my mom slowly left the room.

When she came back a few seconds later, she had two 1,000 yen bills in her hand.

"You must tell your mother what you bought, get a receipt to prove it, and return the change to your mother. If you can keep up with these requirements, I'll buy it for you."

With these conditions, she offered me 2,000 yen.

"!!"

That was the moment of victory.

Yes! Now I can proceed with my studies!

I almost did a gut-punch by reflex, but I refrained from doing so for now.

"Of course, Mom!"

I carefully took the precious 2,000 yen with both hands and immediately ran to the nearest bookstore.

At the bookstore, I bought a textbook for junior high school students that contained all five subjects of Japanese, Mathematics, English, and Social Studies, but at a reasonable price of 1,500 yen.

When I returned home, I showed the textbook to my mother, handed her the receipt, and refunded her the 500 yen in change.

When I showed her the textbook, my mom pointed out, "You bought the one for junior high school!", but when I told her that the product was exactly what I was looking for, she half-heartedly understood.

I happily took the textbook back to my room and started to study immediately.

At that time, I thought that my mother's suspicions about me were completely confirmed.

Her suspicions about me buying toys were confirmed.

However, there was a new suspicion in her mind.