Chapter 1

April, the season when cherry blossoms are in full bloom.

In the early morning, a gentle breeze carrying the fresh fragrance of petals blew into the living room through the open windowsill. A boy with short black hair, rather handsome, was sitting on the sofa, holding a phone to his ear, listening to a call from his friend.

"Mufan, it's not good!"

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded somewhat urgent: "The restaurant we worked at was recently investigated by the authorities for using expired ingredients. The boss, seeing the situation turn sour, has fled with the money and his mistress! We won't be getting our wages this month!"

"What now? Is there nothing we can do to remedy the situation?"

Hearing Mufan's calm response, the voice on the other end was slightly taken aback and sighed, "There's nothing we can do. The restaurant's management has all left. We're just employees, and we have no involvement in these matters... But if you're short on money, Mufan, I can help you a bit..."

"It's okay, it's just a minor issue. I'll think of something. Thanks, Renge-kun." After thanking him, Mufan hung up the phone and leaned back on the sofa, looking at the tidy living room in a daze.

"So, time travel really does exist!"

Mufan was speechless. He was originally just a struggling writer on "Qi Dian Chinese Network," a struggling little fish who had no time to rest. After working all night, he fell asleep from exhaustion, only to wake up in this unfamiliar place...

However, he had been in this body for a few hours and had roughly accepted the memories of this body.

This world was not the one he had lived in before, but a parallel dimension very similar to the former Earth. He was now living in Tokyo, Japan, not in China.

His current body was also named Mufan, a genuine Chinese person, seventeen years old, and a second-year high school student.

A year ago, his father, who ran a restaurant, brought him from China to Japan to develop their business. Not long after arriving, his father married a beautiful woman with a child, and then left him and his sister at home, going on a honeymoon that seemed like a happy high school couple.

However, a dramatic and novel-like scene unfolded: both of them met with misfortune during this trip...

As a result, only a two-story house, Mufan, and a sister named Izumi Sagiri remained at home.

Unfortunately, after the car accident, Sagiri, the only family Mufan had left, was so traumatized that she hardly stepped out of the house, essentially becoming a hikikomori. She didn't even go to school and wouldn't see Mufan, who had been taking care of her in place of their parents.

Such a seasoned hikikomori, Mufan thought, only existed in novels. Yet, Sagiri was indeed very clean, and Mufan believed that if he didn't go to school, Sagiri probably wouldn't leave her room or even take a bath.

Speaking of his sister, Izumi Sagiri, she had waist-length silver-white hair, sky-blue eyes, a delicate face, and skin as smooth and white as snow, making her an extremely adorable and beautiful girl.

Of course, this was only the image in Mufan's memory... because he hadn't seen Sagiri in a year.

Finally, Mufan summarized his memories: he had a sister and a house, but his parents were dead, and this sister was—

Not! Blood! Related! At! All!

Although Mufan, as an only child, had always said that being a sister-lover was great and had always wished for a cute sister, he was still a bit overwhelmed by suddenly having a hikikomori sister who wouldn't even leave her room.

Moreover, Mufan was now facing a significant crisis.

The crisis of survival.

Originally, his daily wages from his part-time job this month were enough to cover his daily expenses, but he had just encountered the unscrupulous boss who fled with the money and his mistress...

That damned unscrupulous businessman—

Mufan reached into his pocket, took out all the money he had, and found only 10,000 yen. Over the past half year, the family's savings had been spent, and this money was all that was left. Once it was gone, he and Sagiri would face the risk of starvation.

"Knock, knock—"

Suddenly, a low thud on the floor above pulled Mufan out of his thoughts.

"Wait, I'm coming!" Mufan instinctively called out.

"Wait... Why am I so familiar with this?"

Mufan couldn't help but laugh bitterly, rubbing his forehead. In his memory, Sagiri never left her room, and the only way they communicated was through the thuds on the floor. His predecessor had developed a talent for this.

Floor language, max level!

With his max-level floor language talent, Mufan understood the meaning of the thuds: "I'm very hungry, why hasn't the food been prepared yet?"

Checking the time on his phone, Mufan's face changed. He realized that he had spent too much time thinking and was now running late. If he didn't hurry, he would miss the first day of the new semester.

Today was the first day of his second year of high school, and it would be embarrassing to be late on the first day.

Mufan, who was in his twenties, never thought he would return to a seventeen-year-old life in high school.

However, despite his complaints, Mufan had to adapt to his current life. He hurried to the kitchen, which was next to the living room in the two-story house.

"The kitchen facilities are quite advanced."

The clean kitchen facilities made Mufan feel refreshed. He turned to the refrigerator to look for ingredients. There were some eggs, cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, and other vegetables, but no meat. This was probably because Sagiri didn't like meat, so the former Mufan didn't prepare any.

Of course, the current Mufan couldn't afford meat either!

"At least I have a sister who's easy to feed!" Mufan couldn't help but complain. Thanks to his predecessor's cooking skills, Mufan, who had no experience in cooking, was now quite proficient and wasn't worried about not being able to cook a meal for himself and Sagiri.

Mufan put on an apron and was about to start preparing food for Sagiri when a sudden electronic voice rang in his head:

"Ding—The fantasy system has detected the host's mental thoughts. The corresponding system is loading."

"Ding—The dimensional fantasy system is activated. Since this is the host's first time activating the system, the first required talent is granted for free—

"Culinary fantasy system talent activation is loading—

"Culinary fantasy system installation is complete—

"Confirming host—

"Complete—

"...

Ding—First activation of the culinary system, a beginner's gift pack is granted.

Beginner culinary system task one: [Give a perfect feeding play to the cute sister Sagiri! Task objective: Cook a meal that makes Sagiri so satisfied she can't resist. Reward: Culinary level upgrade, and a random first-level beginner culinary skill and one fantasy point.]