Chapter 1

In the classroom of Class 2-B at Toyosaki Private High School in the district of Tokyo, the students' playful chatter filled the air as usual.

"Hey, Kazuki, it's been a week. Did you miss your good friend, Kawaishi?"

Near the back door of the classroom, a young man who had been lost in thought looked up at the newcomer, clearly taken aback for a moment before responding irritably, "You're not a woman, so I'd have to be crazy to think about you during the Golden Week."

Golden Week, a unique holiday period in Japan that spans from late April to early May, is formed by a series of public holidays. It's somewhat like a combination of Labor Day, Qingming Festival, and a weekend, making it one of the few long holidays in Japan. It's a great time for long-distance travel and family activities, and is much loved by the Japanese.

"That's a rather disappointing answer," the boy calling himself Kawaishi said as he pulled out a chair and sat down, facing Kazuki with a pout. After a pause, he continued, "By the way, how did your exam go? Did you pass?"

"Yep, I passed," Kazuki nodded at him.

"Passed? So, you're a priest now? Congratulations." Kawaishi's face showed a flash of surprise, and he quickly congratulated him.

A 17-year-old priest, this must be breaking the record for the youngest priest in history, right?

Even the girl sitting in front of Kazuki, who had been facing away from him, turned around to look at him.

Unfortunately, Kazuki didn't notice, or even feel her gaze, making her efforts in vain.

"So, are you going to be a priest from now on?" Kawaishi asked again.

"Unless something unexpected happens," Kazuki thought for a moment and replied.

"Really enviable, deciding on your future career so early, unlike us who are still lost." Kawaishi said, half joking, half serious.

"You can do it too," Kazuki glanced at him and said casually.

"Thanks, but I don't want to think about that just yet. I want to enjoy the next two years."

"Two years? You'll probably have to seriously consider your future in less than half a year."

"Ugh... career counseling... what a downer."

After staying for a while, Kawaishi got up and went to find other friends when the original owner of the desk arrived.

"Even though it's been half a year, it's still a bit hard to get used to."

What was hard to get used to? The harmonious and peaceful school environment, of course. In his previous life, he had already graduated from university and had been working in the real world for several years, long forgetting the beauty of school life and the innocence and vitality of being a student. Even after merging with the original soul, memories, and some personality traits, making him very different from his original self, and even regaining the body and some thoughts of a high school student, he still couldn't fully integrate into the school environment.

Not to mention, during the half year since he had come to this world, he had been in a high-intensity learning state, leaving no time to pay attention to or familiarize himself with the surroundings, let alone integrate and get used to it.

"Whatever, since I'm here, I might as well enjoy this new life from today."

With that thought, Kazuki gathered his scattered mind, took out his phone, and started browsing social news.

...

The learning content and schedule during the compulsory education stage in Japan are relatively relaxed—especially compared to the high school stage in China, where the difference is like heaven and earth. In China, if you want to go home from high school in the afternoon at three or four o'clock, it's like a dream!

Not to mention sports classes, elective courses, and extracurricular club activities, which are like dream arrangements.

But in Japan, this is the norm.

Of course, that's only for ordinary students. For those who really want to go to university and get a good future, the academic pressure is not much less than in China. They just move the knowledge and extended points that should be learned in class to cram schools, or so-called juku.

Not only does it cost money, but the competition is also very intense, fully demonstrating the polarization of the education system under capitalism and the class固化 situation in Japan.

Truly, the lower class finds it hard to rise, while the upper class enjoys eternal benefits.

Fortunately, Kazuki is now relatively an upper-class person—a middle-class individual. His family has a house, land, and even a temple. With the compensation from his parents' death and the recently obtained priest certification, even if he doesn't study hard or go to university, he won't starve and will have a stable future, allowing him to enjoy the differences between Japanese and Chinese education without forcing himself to relive the school life.

What?

Naturally, it's the club activities.

So, after the day's classes ended, Kazuki didn't go home as he had in the past half year. Instead, he appeared on the school tennis court for the first time.

That's right, the club he joined was the tennis club!

As a standard facility for a private school, the tennis court at Toyosaki High School was large and clean, not much different from a regular sports venue for tennis, except for the lack of a dedicated spectator stand.

The red plastic court, green playing area, and a group of young people with exposed arms and legs were doing warm-up exercises on the court.

...

"Ryoko, look over there."

"What?" The girl with a ponytail, wearing a white sports outfit with red, yellow, and blue stripes, frowned.

"That guy still doesn't seem to have given up," the girl with short, neat hair beside Ryoko said with a teasing smile.

"Leave him alone, let's continue warming up," Ryoko said indifferently, turning her gaze away.

"Poor guy."

The short-haired girl shrugged and continued her warm-up with Ryoko.

At the same time, a boy walked up to Kazuki.

"What are you doing here?" The boy stood in front of Kazuki, his brows slightly furrowed, and his expression cold and almost indifferent.

His attitude wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't too bad either. Given the original body's situation, not being driven away was already a sign of leniency. So, after a moment of surprise, Kazuki smiled awkwardly, "Just came to take a look..."

"Then stay quiet and don't cause trouble. If you do anything disturbing, don't blame us for being unfriendly." The boy turned and walked back to the court without another word.