The next morning, Vash woke up at 6:30 AM.
The restaurant was already coming alive.
He could hear his grandmother moving around in the kitchen and his grandfather opening the front shutters.
Vash sat up and looked at the system.
---
[ORDINARY SYSTEM]
Host: Vash
Age: 14
Level: 1
Physical Attributes
Strength: 6.0 / 10
Agility: 5.0 / 10
Endurance: 4.0 / 10
Reaction: 5.0 / 10
Mental Attributes
Intelligence: 6.0 / 10
Memory: 7.0 / 10
Comprehension: 6.0 / 10
Concentration: 4.0 / 10
Recovery Data
Rehabilitation Progress: 0.3
Walking Stability: 0.2
Balance: 0.3
System Points: 7 / 100
System Integrity: 18%
Condition: Damaged
---
Vash looked at the system points.
"Seven."
He clenched his fist.
"Only ninety-three more."
[Correct.]
"I'm going to reach one hundred."
[Statement noted.]
Vash smiled.
The system still had no idea how to motivate him.
But somehow, that made him want to work harder.
A new window appeared.
---
[DAILY TASKS — DAY 4]
1. Walk 20 steps.
2. Complete 10 minutes of rehabilitation exercises.
3. Drink 500 ml of water.
4. Study for 20 minutes.
5. Help at Grandpa's Noodles.
Minimum Completion: 2 Tasks
Reward:
2 Tasks → +1 System Point
4 Tasks → +2 System Points
5 Tasks → +3 System Points
---
Vash nodded.
"Let's get started."
---
By eight in the morning, the restaurant was already busy.
Vash moved carefully between the tables.
He couldn't carry anything heavy yet, but he could wipe tables, bring light ingredients, and help his grandfather take simple orders.
"Two chicken noodles!"
"Coming up!"
"One egg fried rice!"
"Got it!"
Vash smiled.
He liked being useful.
Then something caught his attention.
A customer ordered chicken noodles.
Another ordered fried chicken.
Then another.
Vash began noticing a pattern.
The chicken noodles were extremely popular.
But the restaurant also sold several dishes that barely seemed to move.
He watched his grandmother prepare vegetables.
Some were left unused at the end of the morning.
He looked at the refrigerator.
There were ingredients that had been purchased several days ago.
Then he looked at the menu.
Vash suddenly wondered something.
"Grandpa."
"Hmm?"
"How much do we make from one chicken noodle?"
His grandfather looked surprised.
"What kind of question is that?"
"I was just curious."
Grandpa laughed.
"Well, the chicken noodles are two dollars and fifty cents."
"That's the selling price."
Vash pointed toward the ingredients.
"But how much do we actually earn?"
His grandfather stopped.
He had never really calculated it that way.
"We buy chicken, noodles, vegetables, oil, spices..."
He started counting mentally.
"Then there's electricity, gas, packaging..."
Vash nodded.
"So the two dollars and fifty cents isn't the profit."
Grandpa smiled.
"Of course not."
Vash looked thoughtful.
"Then how do you know which food makes the most money?"
His grandfather shrugged.
"We've been doing this for years."
That answer made Vash think.
His grandparents knew the restaurant extremely well.
They knew their customers.
They knew how much food to prepare.
They knew which dishes tasted best.
But they didn't keep detailed records.
They mostly relied on experience.
Vash looked around the restaurant.
Maybe there was something he could do.
---
During the afternoon, the restaurant became quieter.
Vash sat behind the counter with a notebook.
He began writing.
Chicken Noodles.
Egg Noodles.
Fried Chicken.
Chicken Fried Rice.
He wrote down the number of orders for each dish.
Then he wrote down the prices.
His grandfather watched him.
"What are you doing?"
"Counting."
"Counting what?"
"How many of each dish we sold."
Grandpa smiled.
"Why?"
"I want to know which ones people actually buy."
His grandfather looked at the notebook.
"That's not a bad idea."
Vash continued.
He compared the number of orders with the amount of ingredients used.
He quickly realized something.
Chicken noodles sold more than almost anything else.
But they also required more ingredients.
Fried chicken sold slightly fewer portions.
But the ingredient cost was different.
Then there were the dishes that sold very rarely.
They still required ingredients to be purchased and stored.
Vash frowned.
"Grandpa."
"Yes?"
"We're wasting some money."
His grandfather raised an eyebrow.
"How?"
"Some ingredients aren't being used fast enough."
Vash pointed at his notes.
"We buy them because they're part of the menu, but some dishes don't sell much."
His grandfather became quiet.
Vash continued.
"What if we buy less of those ingredients and buy more of the things people actually order?"
Grandpa stared at the notebook.
It was a simple idea.
But it was something he had never seriously tracked.
"We could."
Vash smiled.
"And maybe we can make a special offer."
"Like what?"
Vash thought.
"Chicken noodles with tea."
Grandpa laughed.
"You want to sell tea with noodles?"
"Tea is cheap."
Vash pointed at the numbers.
"If someone already wants noodles, they might buy tea too."
Grandpa looked at him for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"You've been awake for only a few days and you're already trying to run my restaurant."
Vash grinned.
"Someone has to."
---
That evening, Vash counted the day's sales with his grandfather.
He entered the numbers into his notebook.
Then something appeared in front of him.
The system interface changed.
---
[Pattern Detected]
Business-related activity identified.
Analyzing...
Sales Data: Available
Expense Data: Partial
Customer Data: Partial
Inventory Data: Partial
Basic Business Analysis activated.
---
Vash froze.
"What?"
His grandfather didn't react.
The system continued.
---
[GRANDPA'S NOODLES — BASIC ANALYSIS]
Estimated Daily Revenue: $86.50
Estimated Food Cost: $37.20
Estimated Gross Profit: $49.30
Best-Selling Item: Chicken Noodles
Second Best-Selling Item: Fried Chicken
Lowest-Selling Item: Vegetable Fried Rice
Potential Ingredient Waste: 8.4%
---
Vash stared at the numbers.
"So that's how much we actually make..."
The system wasn't simply counting money.
It was connecting everything.
Sales.
Costs.
Ingredients.
Customer choices.
Profit.
Vash suddenly understood something important.
A business wasn't simply about selling something for more money than it cost.
It was about understanding why people bought something, how much it cost to provide it, how much was wasted, and how all those small decisions affected the final profit.
He looked at the restaurant differently.
Before, he had seen tables, chairs, food, and customers.
Now he saw a system.
Customers came in.
They chose certain dishes.
Those dishes required ingredients.
Ingredients cost money.
Food took time and labor.
The restaurant had expenses.
Whatever remained after those expenses was profit.
And even a small improvement repeated every day could become a large difference over a year.
Vash's eyes widened.
The system appeared again.
---
[Understanding Detected]
Host has successfully connected:
Sales → Cost → Demand → Waste → Profit
Business-related understanding has increased.
---
Then another notification appeared.
---
[New Skill Acquired]
Business Sense — Beginner
Description:
Improves the host's ability to understand basic business operations, including:
- Revenue
- Expenses
- Profit
- Pricing
- Customer demand
- Inventory
- Waste
- Sales patterns
Current Proficiency: 1.0
---
Vash stared at the skill.
He didn't suddenly know how to run a giant company.
He couldn't build a corporation.
He couldn't predict the stock market.
He couldn't magically understand economics.
But he now understood the basics of how a small business worked.
And that was enough.
"System."
[Yes.]
"Did you give me this skill?"
[Incorrect.]
Vash frowned.
"What do you mean?"
[Skill acquired through observation, study, and practical application.]
Vash looked at his notebook.
The system hadn't given him the knowledge.
It had simply recognized what he had learned.
He smiled.
"So that's how you work."
[Correct.]
Vash looked at the restaurant.
His grandparents had spent years building this place.
Maybe he could help them make it better.
Not overnight.
Not with some magical business ability.
But one improvement at a time.
---
That night, Vash completed his final daily task.
The system appeared.
---
[DAILY TASKS COMPLETE]
Tasks Completed: 5 / 5
Reward: +3 System Points
System Points:
10 / 100
---
Vash looked at the number.
Ten.
He smiled.
He had started with one.
Then four.
Now ten.
There were still ninety points left.
But the number no longer looked impossible.
He looked at his new skill.
Business Sense — Beginner
Then at the restaurant.
Then at his textbooks waiting nearby.
His body needed training.
His mind needed studying.
His grandparents' restaurant needed help.
And the system needed points.
For the first time, Vash realized that all of these things could move forward together.
Slowly.
Step by step.
Just like his recovery.
He leaned back in his chair.
"One hundred."
He smiled.
"I'm coming."
[Statement noted.]
Vash laughed.
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
Outside, the sign of Grandpa's Noodles swayed gently in the evening breeze.
The little restaurant had survived two difficult years.
Now Vash was finally awake.
And perhaps, little by little, he could help it grow.