Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos - Chapter 178 - . Thoughts. Level Up!

「Shimizu-san, you dyed your hair black.」「Ah, yes.」「Why did you dye it all of a sudden?」「Because…yesterday…」Shimizu-san, who sat next to me and had dyed her hair from blonde to black gradually lowered her voice, slightly blushed, and laid her face down on the desk.

Left out during the elementary school picnic.

The Coinbound System lets him buy spells, skills, and stat boosts like a magical vending machine...But nothing comes free.Every fireball costs gold.Every body enhancement? Taxed.Even getting a suggestion comes with a convenience fee.While nobles train for years to master a single flame spell, he can just buy it off the System. From summoning spirit beasts to crafting forbidden runes, his power grows with every coin he scrapes together… and every unnecessary expense he dodges.But in a world where magic is passed down through noble bloodlines and ancient family grimoires, a broke outsider with a price tag on every spell has no business rising through the ranks.Still, he’s surviving. Thriving, even.So long as he tracks every copper and refuses to overspend on fireballs, he just might make it out alive.They call him cheap.They call him stingy.But one day… they’ll all remember the name:The Frugal Mage.

What would you do if you found yourself trapped in a world of a game?Would you panic?Rejoice?Just give up?This is a conundrum I found myself in after waking up in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, with no clue of how I got there.Magic powers?I had none of those…A cheat-like system?Nowhere to be found.All I possessed was a single skill that seemed meager at best…[ Shadow Manipulation ]