He comforted himself for a while, forced himself to do some mental pep talk, and at least didn’t get so depressed that he hit rock bottom. Then he touched his stomach, looked up at the window, and realized it was already completely dark outside. So he simply got up to find something to eat—he didn’t have a kitchen here, nor was he interested in cooking, so all three meals a day depended on takeout.

After leaving the house, he strolled to the convenience store and bought instant bento meals—three of them. He’d been training his body intensely to avoid being killed on the spot by tree spirits when invading the forest, so now he had a huge appetite and was a hidden glutton. But since he was wearing a half-finished character template, no matter how much he ate, his figure still looked normal; he hadn’t turned into a muscle freak or a fat guy, which was a small blessing in misfortune.

After using the convenience store’s microwave to heat up the bentos, he carried them back to his apartment. Smelling the faint aroma of food, he felt even hungrier and quickened his pace. But just as he reached his door, the door next to his suddenly opened a crack. Below the security chain, a small, oval face appeared—a little girl of about three was peeking out.

She was peeking out very cautiously, very carefully, like a little animal hiding in its den.

Autumn Whitman tilted his head and made eye contact with the little girl for a moment, a bit puzzled. But since she was a neighbor, and just a child, even though he wasn’t in the best mood, he still managed a smile. The little girl looked at him timidly with her big, clear eyes, seemed a bit shy, didn’t say anything, and then, with a hint of fear, closed the door again.

Autumn Whitman felt even more puzzled, not understanding what that look meant, but didn’t think much of it—he figured the kid was just curious. After all, he’d only just moved in a few days ago; it was normal for children to be curious about new neighbors.

He went straight back to his room and buried himself in his food, wolfing it down.

Cultivating immortality was out of the question, so after eating, he had to seriously consider whether he should just go to college and enter the workforce, or start a business right after high school.

Or maybe become an athlete?

He’d trained hard for two years and his physical fitness was still a big advantage. Becoming a sports star didn’t sound bad at all.

That path actually seemed promising!

Chapter 3 Meddling

Stuffing yourself can relieve stress, drive away sadness, and soothe your mood. That’s how people gain ten pounds after a breakup.

After eating and drinking his fill, Autumn Whitman’s mood improved greatly. He flopped down on the tatami, grabbed his phone, and started searching which sports in Japan were the most lucrative.

He’d never thought about these things before. If he could cultivate immortality, if he could gain supernatural powers, who would care about worldly power and wealth?

If you had to choose between being the richest person on Earth and being the only cultivator on Earth, 99% of people would choose the latter, right?

What a pity—his urban cultivation life had been abruptly cut short before it even began, and now he could only switch to a typical urban wish-fulfillment plot.

The plan to marry nine wives was probably out the window, too.

What a shame...

He scrolled for a while and found that the most profitable sports in Japan right now were baseball and soccer, neck and neck for first place. Next was horse racing, then basketball.

Horse racing could be ruled out right away. Top jockeys had to be built like monkeys, and whether you succeeded depended mostly on the horse. Not suitable.

So it was down to baseball, soccer, or basketball.

He’d never played baseball and wasn’t interested, but top baseball players earned huge salaries—hundreds of millions of yen a year, with several making over a billion. Plus, the career span was long; many played into their forties, so the earning period was lengthy. It seemed like a good deal.

But the sport didn’t require especially high physical fitness, at least not decisively so. It was more about using your brain and teamwork, so his advantages wouldn’t really shine.

Soccer was a bit less lucrative, but growing fast, with more and more fans and players earning more and more. It was a great choice, but the career span was shorter and it relied more on talent. Just being fast or able to jump high wasn’t enough; you needed great footwork, and starting late was a disadvantage.

Basketball, on the other hand, wasn’t that popular in Japan. Fewer spectators, lower player salaries, but it was the most suitable for him. With the physical fitness he’d developed in the “world in a jar,” even if he suddenly started playing basketball now, knowing nothing, he could at least be a Hanamichi Sakuragi, right?

First, join the school basketball club, then win the regional IH tournament, make it to nationals and take the championship, then win three consecutive titles, and finally, as the super MVP of the IH national tournament, enter the December draft, go pro, head to the NBA, and make a fortune...

Yoshi, that actually sounds pretty good!

Oh right, there’s also Haruko Akagi...

That’s important too!

Autumn Whitman lay there browsing online, occasionally letting his mind wander, but he was past the age of confusion and knew how important it was to choose a direction in life. Overall, he was taking it seriously—he even looked up his school’s basketball club’s past records. They were actually pretty good; they’d been to the national tournament. Even though they only played once and got knocked out right away, they were still one of the region’s established strong teams, with a solid foundation.