Weren’t You Only Using Me As A Stand-in? [10]

At 6 a.m., the alarm on the bedside table blared loudly—beep beep beep—

Kitahara Takeru rubbed his eyes, silenced the alarm, tossed back the covers, and got out of bed.

Human sleep works in cycles, from light to deep and back again, each lasting around 90 minutes.

Science says the optimal sleep time for most people is about 7 to 8 hours. Any more or less, and your risk of sudden death or illness increases.

But out of those eight hours, only one or two count as deep sleep. People who can get three or four hours of deep sleep in one night usually have enough energy to stay sharp all day.

Of course, there’s a small group of people with unique constitutions—outliers at the top of their fields—who only need half the sleep of normal folks.

Takeru wasn’t one of them.

His best sleep window was between 10 p.m. and midnight.

“Glug glug—ptooey.”

After rinsing his mouth, Takeru strapped on his Fitness Band, changed into workout clothes, and headed for the entrance.

“Woof!”

As he passed through the living room, a sleek and fluffy black-and-white border collie came bounding toward him, circling and pawing playfully.

“Morning, Tiny,” Takeru said with a smile, scratching the dog behind its ears.

At the entrance, he picked up the leash and clipped it on.

In Japan, leash laws for dogs are strictly enforced—non-negotiable. Walking a dog without one can get you up to 30 days in jail.

Takeru actually liked this law.

He loved dogs, but he hated the kind of people back in China who let their dogs run around off-leash.

As he tried to put a muzzle on, Tiny kept shaking its head side to side, clearly refusing.

Takeru thought about it for a second and let it go.

He stepped into his sneakers at the entrance. Before heading out, he asked, “Did you go to the bathroom already?”

“Woof!”

Tiny nodded enthusiastically.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Takeru patted its head and headed out the door with the leash in hand.

A light early summer breeze greeted them as they exited the building, instantly lifting his mood.

He looked up. The sky was blue and clear.

Looks like it’s going to be a good day, he thought, as he strolled forward with Tiny trotting alongside him.

The border collie bounced around happily, sniffing left and right with a curious energy, as if searching for invisible adventures.

When they reached a crosswalk, the signal turned green just in time. Takeru crossed with the flow of office workers.

A few blocks later, a dense grove of trees came into view.

It was the largest park near his home—and his go-to jogging route every morning.

After a few light stretches, Takeru slipped in his earbuds and started his run.

Tiny kept pace slightly ahead of him.

Together, the boy and the dog jogged in loops around the artificial lake.

Sunlight filtered through the thick foliage, scattering golden shards across the path. Birds chirped cheerfully in his ears.

Stone benches glistened with dewdrops as he passed them.

They moved through a corridor of ginkgo trees, the breeze rustling the leaves and lifting the hem of Takeru’s shirt and tousling his hair.

Mid-run, a girl appeared up ahead.

She had a fit, slender build, long legs wrapped in tight running pants.

A green ribbon bounced on her head with every step—like a pair of playful rabbit ears.

Don’t recognize her. Must be new.

Takeru had been running this park for months and had never seen her before.

Not that he cared much.

He was just about to look away when a familiar pop-up appeared in front of him:

[Target: Nakano Yotsuba]
[Age: 16]
[Intelligence: 2]
[Charm: 8]
[Stamina: 6]
[From: The Quintessential Quintuplets]
[Crush: Uesugi Fuutarou]
[No boyfriend. Eligible for dating.]

What’s going on lately? One potential date after another.

This made three in just two days.

At this drop rate, maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket after school.

Spurred by that thought, he picked up speed to try and catch up—only for Nakano Yotsuba to suddenly dash ahead.

Whoosh! She bolted like a deer.

Takeru didn’t bother keeping his pace—he launched into a sprint after her.

Tiny had no idea why his human suddenly sped up, but it didn’t matter. The dog joyfully tore off into a run.

But even then, Takeru couldn’t catch her. The best he could do was keep from falling completely behind.

So this is what a stamina stat of six looks like? That’s insane!

Takeru had always thought that his own stamina—ranked at five—was top-tier for his age. But this girl? She was on a whole different level.

Don’t let the number fool you. His “five” wasn’t your average teenager’s “five”—it was adult-tier.

Normal high schoolers hovered around a stamina of three. Someone like Yukinoshita Yukino, a physical weakling, probably had a one. Only athletes hit four or five.

If this were a cultivation novel, Takeru’s stats would make him the genius of Cloud Mist Sect or something.

They ran circles around the park—she in front, he chasing behind.

Eventually, sweat gathered on Takeru’s brow, sliding down his cheeks into his shirt collar.

He watched her figure fade farther and farther away.

Just as he debated letting Tiny go chase for him, Yotsuba rounded a flowerbed and finally began to slow down.

She went from a jog to a brisk walk.

Takeru adjusted his breathing, gritted his teeth, and forced his heavy legs to sprint the last stretch.

As he passed by her—

Crack.

His ankle rolled.

“Shit!”

He cursed instinctively, eyes squeezing shut.

But the impact never came.

Instead, he felt a hand circle around his waist from behind, catching him just in time.

“Are you okay?” Yotsuba asked, concerned.

“Let me die.”

Takeru wanted to bury himself alive out of sheer embarrassment.

This kind of stumble-into-your-arms moment was supposed to happen to girls, wasn’t it?

Why was it happening to him?

This wasn’t some matriarchal fantasy world.

He’d just embarrassed transmigrators everywhere.

At least—at least—no one else saw.

He tried to comfort himself with that thought—

“Tut tut tut. Look at young love these days.”

“Right? Hugging and cuddling first thing in the morning.”

“Ah, youth. So sweet.”

—when a group of early-rising aunties strolled by and, upon witnessing the scene, immediately began whispering among themselves.

Takeru was done.

Are you NPCs on a fixed spawn timer or something?

Why now of all times?!

Don’t you people have husbands to tend to?

And can you please whisper a bit quieter?! From two meters away I can hear every word—how’s that “whispering”?

---

T/N: LMAOOOO

This is a fan translation of 不是说只拿我当替身的吗？by 雪碧加冰. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!