47: My Stepsisters

Natsuo returned to his room after dinner. He was a little disappointed that his parents still didn't want to quit their jobs immediately. Too bad he wouldn't get to witness the cliché scene of them cursing out their bosses and coworkers before handing in their resignations.

Wait! This wasn't China. Perhaps that shit wouldn't happen in the first place.

His parents were getting old too, and Japanese work culture tended to place a lot of value on seniority and respect for older employees.

He didn't immediately go to bed. Instead, he took his laptop out of his Inventory and sat down at his desk to do some work. Every night, he spent around an hour working on the business plan for the company he intended to start soon.

In this era, one of the fastest ways to make money was through cryptocurrency. Everyone from the future knew that. If you dropped someone from 2026 into 2010, one of the first things they would do would be to buy a shitload of Bitcoin and sit on it until each coin was worth $900,000, making an absolute fortune.

Natsuo had already bought a large amount of Bitcoin a long time ago, but he wasn't planning to sell it anytime soon. However, there were still plenty of ways to make money from cryptocurrency without cashing out his holdings. His plan was to build a cryptocurrency exchange platform where people could buy, sell, and trade different currencies.

At this point in time, there were still no major cryptocurrency exchange platforms around, so if Natsuo could successfully establish one, there wouldn't be many businesses more profitable than it. The initial capital required was also relatively small. Natsuo estimated that he would only need around $100,000 to $500,000 in operating funds, along with a very small team to handle the platform during its initial stage, perhaps five people at most.

The part that would really require a lot of money, however, was advertising. He would have to burn through a considerable amount of money to make his platform known and attract enough users to get it off the ground.

If he charged a 0.15% trading fee and handled $100 million in daily trading volume, that would generate $150,000 per day, or more than $54 million a year. As the platform grew, those numbers would eventually look like rookie numbers.

More importantly, however, that wasn't what Natsuo was after.

What he really wanted was to quickly increase the platform's valuation and eventually sell a minority stake in it. If he played his cards right, he could potentially raise a few hundred million dollars in cash while retaining control of the company, then use that money to fund his other projects.

With relatively little initial capital and knowledge of the future, Natsuo could easily build a massive fortune in this world.

Knock! Knock!

Just as Natsuo closed his laptop and was getting ready for bed, someone knocked on his door.

"Natsuo, are you awake?"

"Hina-nee? Come in." Natsuo was surprised to hear her voice and paused for a moment before answering.

Hina opened the door and slipped inside before quietly closing it behind her. She was wearing her pajamas. She walked over and casually sat down on his bed, looking at him as he remained seated in his desk chair. "You're still working?"

"I just finished." Natsuo stretched his stiff shoulders.

"Hmm, you really are amazing, Natsuo," Hina said.

It felt as though she were getting to know Natsuo all over again. When they had first met on the rooftop, she had thought he was just an ordinary student with a talent for writing. The two of them had gradually grown close there, and she had even been given the privilege of reading his stories before they were published.

But now, as she watched him, Hina couldn't help feeling that she had known very little about him after all.

"Maybe I am," Natsuo chuckled.

He felt that Hina was acting somewhat strange tonight. He was curious about why she had come to his room so late, but he decided to wait and let her explain it on her own.

"I'm sorry for causing you and Rui so much trouble," Hina suddenly apologized, lowering her head. Her hands rested on her knees, clutching the fabric of her pajamas tightly. "I... knew that my relationship with Shu was wrong, but I couldn't help it. He was my first love, after all."

She felt deeply guilty about it. She thought Natsuo must have left the house because he was so disappointed in her. He had always been there for her, comforting her whenever she was sad or heartbroken after arguing with Shu. Yet, in the end, he had discovered that she was actually dating a married man.

Of course, that was only her misunderstanding. Natsuo couldn't have cared less.

"It's alright, Hina-nee. You're still young and still figuring things out, so don't be too hard on yourself." Natsuo stood up and sat beside her. He put an arm around her shoulders, comforting her with a soft, gentle voice.

"First love is always special, and it's very hard to move on from it. Take things slowly. I'll be here for you, and so will everyone else."

"Hmm!" Hina suddenly hugged him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face against his chest.

He patted her head, staring at his stepsister and teacher with a doting look. Honestly, for an adult, she really was quite a piece of work. Still, that was alright. Compared to college students these days, some of whom had an average body count of fifty, she was actually a very innocent person.

"Thank you, Natsuo." Hina raised her head and looked up at him, her eyes slightly red. "I'm really a useless older sister. You always end up being the one comforting me."

"Yes, you are. But if you secretly give me a copy of the next tests, maybe you'll change that." Natsuo ruffled her hair and said with a smirk.

"In your dreams! I won't let you cheat!" Hina immediately crushed his hopes of cheating on his tests and stood up. "It's getting late; you should go to bed early."

She walked toward the door, then stopped before leaving.

"Good night."

"Good night, Hina-nee." Natsuo watched her leave.

Once Hina left his room, she hurried back to her own room and closed the door behind her. She leaned against it, clutching her chest as her heart pounded wildly.

She didn't know what had come over her. When she had hugged Natsuo earlier, she had suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to kiss him.

"Wait, what am I thinking?!" She quickly shook her head, then slapped both cheeks. "Hina, get yourself together! He's your stepbrother!"

She walked over to her bed and slipped beneath the quilt after turning off the lights. As she closed her eyes, she muttered to herself.

"Still, I didn't think head pats would feel this nice..."

...

Hilda: [Hilda sent you 69 Mana Recovery Potions!]

Hilda: [There has recently been a shortage of Mana Potions. They're becoming harder to find, and the prices have gone up as well. These alchemists are starting to get lazy. They aren't even willing to work anymore!]

Natsuo: [Sorry for troubling you, Mom. I have enough Mana Potions to last me for a while, so you should focus on yourself more.]

Early in the morning, while getting dressed for school, Natsuo chatted with Hilda. Ever since he had received the Super Soldier Serum, the amount of sleep he needed had decreased significantly. He only needed two to three hours of sleep each night to feel completely rested.

He received the potions from his foster mother and then sent her tons of candies, sweets, drinks, and alcohol that he had been keeping in his Inventory.

These cheap things were actually much more expensive than Magic Potions, and the demand for them among nobles and wealthy merchants was extremely high. Ever since Hilda brought them with her and gave some to her friends and family, they had all become addicted to the diabetes inducing sugary food and chocolate.

Alcohol was no different. The food and liquor industries in Hilda's world were too backward. It was strange that alchemists could create freaking Magic Potions, yet they couldn't produce simple alcoholic drinks that were pure enough, or even decent sweets.

Maybe those things simply weren't a priority for them.

Hilda: [Eris really likes the sweets. She has been asking to see you recently, so you should come visit soon.]

She had been using these sweets to get Eris and Ghislaine to study. The two of them didn't even know how to read or write. They were completely illiterate! Aside from fighting, they had practically no other skills at all.

Natsuo: [Yeah, but I can't right now. I don't have enough points.]

He also wanted to go to Hilda's world, but not because he wanted to see a brat like Eris. He wanted to go there so Ghislaine could teach him swordsmanship.

Hilda: [{Hilda sent you a World Travel Ticket!}, Use this.]

When Natsuo saw the message, he was surprised. He hadn't expected her to actually give him the reward she had received from the mission.

Natsuo: [Are you sure?]

Hilda: [Yeah, I don't really need it, so use it and come visit me. All I want is to see my son.]

Natsuo: [Sure. I'll come in a couple of days.]

Hilda: [I'll be waiting for you!]

Natsuo walked out of his room while chatting with Hilda. He stepped into the living room, tossed his schoolbag aside, then headed into the kitchen and started preparing breakfast for everyone. Since he had woken up so early, he figured he might as well do them a favor.

He quickly prepared breakfast along with lunch boxes for his two stepsisters and his parents. By the time he finished, Rui walked into the kitchen, her face still drowsy and her hair disheveled.

"Natsuo?" Rui looked at him, then at the table. "You made all this?"

"Good morning, stepsister." Natsuo sat down at the table. "Go wash your face before eating. Wake up Hina-nee while you're at it."

"Stepsister? Why does it sound strangely lewd when you say it?" Rui gave him a strange look, but she still grabbed her morning kit and headed to the bathroom.

"As long as you don't get stuck in the washing machine, nothing would be lewd," Natsuo watched her leave and muttered under his breath.

---

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