When all three had finished setting the breakfast on the table and taken their seats, Itou Makoto finally strolled out of the washroom at a leisurely pace. His eldest sister, Itou Rin, who hadn't seen him come downstairs earlier, gave a barely noticeable frown when she saw him, but quickly replaced it with a smile and called out, "Makoto, come eat!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Itou Makoto nodded lazily and pulled over the nearest chair to sit down.
Seeing that everyone was seated, their mother, Itou Eriko, led the family in the traditional Japanese pre-meal phrase: "Itadakimasu!"
While eating, Eriko, the eldest sister, and the second sister chatted warmly. As someone who had only just fused with this body's memories—and whose inherited memories didn't include any specifics about mealtime conversation—Itou Makoto stayed quiet, eating silently while listening closely, hoping to trigger more memories through their exchange.
After ten minutes or so, the eldest sister stood up first. "I'm full. I'm heading to work. If I don't leave now, I'll miss the bus."
"Be careful on the way," Eriko said softly with a nod.
"Got it." Rin placed her used dishes in the sink, grabbed her handbag from the living room sofa, slipped on a pair of black high heels at the entryway, and without looking back, called out, "I'm off!"
"Take care."
Bang—the door closed.
"You two should get going as well," Eriko said, glancing at the clock in the living room.
"Yes," said Reina, the second sister, with a nod. When Eriko looked at him too, Itou Makoto also silently nodded.
"These are your allowances for today. Try not to spend it all at once," Eriko said, getting up and pulling a few 1,000 yen bills from the pocket of a red coat hanging on the rack.
"Only this much?" Itou Makoto blurted out instinctively when he took the money. It wasn't something he meant to say—the words just slipped out, a reflex buried in the body's memory. He frowned and thought to himself, Looks like this is one of those memory influences…
Eriko didn't seem surprised by his complaint. She just gave him a flat look and went back to her seat without a word, continuing her meal.
"I'm full," Reina said, setting down her bowl and getting up. She placed her dishes in the kitchen sink, grabbed her schoolbag from the sofa, and left just like Rin did. A moment later, the sound of the door closing marked her exit.
"I'll head out too." Now alone with his mother, Itou Makoto felt oddly uneasy. After all, as someone who had crossed over into another body, facing this person's biological mother for the first time brought no real emotional connection. The guilt-like feeling of impersonation made him uncomfortable. He quickly finished his food, tossed his dishes into the sink, grabbed his bag from the sofa, threw on his shoes, and rushed out the door.
Watching him disappear from view, Eriko frowned slightly in puzzlement. "AMakoto seems… a bit different today."
"This is seriously awkward…" Itou Makoto muttered as he walked slowly toward the bus stop. He glanced over at Reina, who completely ignored him, and wisely decided not to strike up any conversation.
"2,000 yen… Barely enough for lunch. And considering the portion sizes in Japan… Looks like I'm in for a feast-one-day, starve-the-next lifestyle."
Leaning his body against the bus stop's metal post, he closed his eyes and began organizing the information he'd gotten from the Cube.
Its name was the Special-Type Multiverse Component Conversion Rubik's Cube — or just the Cube for short. A creation of an extremely high-dimensional universe, its presence on Earth was completely unexplained. As for how he got it, that was pure coincidence.
The Cube's main function was to scan for dimensional worlds attached to the one he resided in—Earth—and allow him to enter them. Once inside, he could collect any material or immaterial resources he desired. These resources could then be used within the Cube to build a personal, independent world governed by his own rules and powers. Technically, the Cube wasn't limited to just Earth—it could access any surrounding dimension within the universe he currently existed in. But as of now, he was just a regular Earth-dweller, with nowhere near the power needed to search on a grander scale.
The energy required to power the Cube came from something called "World Force."
This "World Force" was a mysterious energy that leaked from all self-operating universes and life-bearing planets. Depending on how lifeforms used it, it took on different names and forms—like ether, spiritual qi, etc.—but it was all the same base substance. Naturally, because of differences in understanding and power levels, the way living beings utilized it was often much weaker than its original form. Those few who could use it in its purest state were often considered divine.
Anyway—back to the Cube. So, how does it absorb this energy? Two ways. First, passive absorption from the surrounding world. But that's incredibly slow—might take an eternity just to get enough juice to do anything useful. So, that's where the second method comes in.
Once the Cube has passively absorbed enough energy to activate its basic scanning function, it uses the wielder's mental focus to select nearby dimensional worlds. Entering those worlds as a "foreigner" disrupts their natural flow of fate, causing large bursts of World Force to be released—perfect for rapid absorption.
That's the real power source.
Once he'd sorted all this out, Itou Makoto mentally connected to the Cube to check how much energy was available. A thermometer-like gauge appeared in his mind. A bright red bar hovered near the bottom, not even close to the first threshold mark.
"Looks like I'll need to collect for a while…" he muttered. "Good thing I can use this time to get in shape. This body's not bad health-wise, but compared to my last one, it's way too weak."
Opening his eyes just in time to see the approaching bus, he sighed again.
"Money… Damn it."