'Now then…'
Chrome deeply thought about what to do next. According to his perception of time, the jarring day that started at the school was supposed to be Saturday, meaning that only today separated him from the admission examination that would be held on Monday.
Simply said, whatever preparation he had to make for the test had to be finished by today. That being said, there wasn't much to do at this point other than…
"Let's start with a more in-depth memory recollection."
While Chrome had tried to go through the most vital memories that he received after his awakening to assess his counterpart's situation that had now become his, it was impossible for him to have recalled everything in that limited amount of time.
Everything had become part of his memory just like how the human mind technically remembered everything it saw. However, in order to use said memory, he had to recall it first, and it was now precisely the time for Chrome to deeply recall the details that he had skimmed through.
What he already knew was barely enough to base his assumptions upon, but it was lacking if he decided to actively live inside this dream of his. He needed to spend as much time as possible understanding the very basics that only Alter Chrome was aware of, if he wanted to step into the path of an aspiring Extra. This was perhaps the only preparation that he so critically needed for his endeavor…
Following that line of thought, Chrome went back to his room and changed his school clothes into something comfortable. To keep himself from accidentally sleeping, he climbed his bed and sat in the position he was most comfortable with aside from lying down, cross-legged with his back stuck to the Headboard.
'For the start, I…' Closing his eyes, Chrome cleared his mind as he started fishing in his sea of memories that had grown twice as big overnight…
`~~`~~`~~`
Several hours later…
"While I'm not the Chrome Blue of this reality, I will wholeheartedly accept the identity that you have given me!" Chrome resolutely talked to his reflection in the mirror as he opened his eyes all of the sudden.
It was still not enough to achieve a complete memory recollection, but the long hours of memory immersion allowed Chrome to understand how truly miserable the life of his counterpart was…
On top of being born untalented, Alter Chrome had to deal with the shock of his parents' untimely death from an early age. His life was a constant slope that went from worse to the worst, leaving him an easy target for the predatory bullies he met throughout his school life.
Not only an orphan but also possessing one of the lowest Exos ratings, it would have been weirder if he wasn't bullied instead. Having gone through such a harsh life in a much harsher world, Alter Chrome's personality had drastically changed by the time he started his hellish high school experience.
On the negative side, he became submissive in contrast to Chrome, silently accepting all kinds of beatings as long as the day could finally pass. However, suffering and diligence could be said to be two sides of the same coin. Living the majority of his life alone, Alter Chrome also learned to be hard-working and self-dependent!
Instead of taking the easy unreliable route of joining any of his distant relatives' families, Chrome's counterpart gave up most of the support he was supposed to receive in exchange for keeping his house as a special property. Additionally, once he grew older enough to do so, he worked several part-time jobs for the sake of his own livelihood, all while trying his best to save up for the purchase of an Awakening Pill at one point…
'Was this how I would have changed if I was in his place?'
Although Chrome found out that not all memories were complete with countless events and detailed happenings going missing in the process, what he recalled was just about enough to have a decent understanding of this world and his counterpart life, allowing him to easily take his place.
Putting aside his reason for going through an accelerated screening of Alter Chrome's mind, Chrome couldn't help feeling sympathetic. His current personality was greatly different, but he wasn't even sure if he could be as strong as his counterpart if he was put in his place, efficiently pushing towards his target while ignoring the thorns that stood in his way…
Breaking out of his contemplation, Chrome turned to the wall clock to find that it was already twenty past 2 o'clock. Having woken up at 8 AM today as well, he concluded that he spent slightly over five hours on this task excluding his little trip to the Self Reliance Palace.
'It's decided then.'
Starting from the very top of the task list that he replenished through his counterpart's memory, Chrome decided to relieve himself from his biggest burden, choosing to quit the big number of part-time jobs that Alter Chrome took on for several years.
It wasn't that he was being irresponsibly lazy after taking over, but wasting so much time just to receive the usual lousy pay wasn't feasible if he was going to take the path of an Extra.
Since he already received an Awakening Pill and achieved his miraculous awakening, there was no need to be rigid with the small details. The savings that his counterpart had kept aside to buy the expensive medicine was more than enough to cover over a year's worth of expenses, so he didn't need to worry about starving.
'That also shouldn't be a problem as long as I get accepted into the Academy, and even if I don't…'
Regardless of how things went with the examination, Chrome was bound to earn a lot more money as long as he invested enough into his ability. Even if it wasn't his fate to join the Academy, the growth that the Self Reliance Palace could offer in a year would be more than enough to kickstart his career as an independent Extra!
'I hope it doesn't take too long.' Chrome got off the bed before opening his empty closet to choose one of the two changes of clothes that he had. Putting it on, he grabbed his keys and stormed out of the house…
`~~`~~`~~`
Creak… Slam!
Getting back home, Chrome closed the door in irritation, changing his clothes back before throwing himself on the bed.
The wall clock's hand had already turned to indicate that it was already 5 PM, only an hour or so away from the advent of night. Chrome wasn't sure what to expect, but quitting several jobs on the same day was far from being a pleasant experience as one may think…
'That sure was disturbing…'
From the exact 5 jobs that his counterpart had filled his day with, starting from the very minute he finished school till 2 past midnight, a total of three bosses refused to give him part of the pay for the week which he worked five days off, while the fourth only gave him three days' worth, claiming that the rest was the contract termination fee.
Things indeed worked that way in Chrome's reality where quitting out of nowhere might cause a wage deduction. However, in this world where everyone preferred to spend their time in the safety of their home or training their abilities as aspiring Extras, employees like Chrome were quite rare. Not only were they supposedly giving the benefit of immediate termination, but they were also supposed to be paid more!
Unfortunately, all that Chrome could do was accept their condition in order not to waste more time and money than he would receive just as his counterpart had done so far. He even had to endure their nagging advice to continue working for them for the sake of his own well-being and so on since they didn't want to lose cheap labor like him…
'I might consider continuing that one though…' Chrome thought about his last boss who was the only one to pay him his dues as well as give him a bonus. Considering that the job only consisted of watching over the Bookstore down the street while having the highest pay of the five, it didn't seem too bad to accept the store owner's suggestion to come to take a shift whenever he could.
"That's for later though, time to move on to the next task."
Although he didn't really have anything else that was urgent to do before knowing whether he would get accepted into the Academy or not, Chrome still had something to do that wasn't particularly related to his life here.
'Let's try sleeping,' Chrome gave his body the order to lay dormant after he closed the light. While he hadn't completely accepted his current situation as a person living a double life, he at least wanted to understand the rules behind his transfer between realities.
After prepping the timer on his not-so-fancy phone to wake him up in over two hours at 8 PM, Chrome's consciousness slipped into the world of dreams affected by the fatigue caused by his earlier memory recollection…
`~~`~~`~~`
Ding, ding, ding! Ding, ding, ding!
"I seriously need more sleep…" Chrome woke up to the unfamiliar ring, his mind craving some more rest.
"This ringtone, and my clothes… I really didn't go back." Chrome looked around him as he faintly recalled the short dream that he had, having already forgotten half of it once he fully opened his eyes. Just like he got some normal sleep time when he went to bed early from his side, his mind had truly rested. Only, he didn't return to his own reality.
'It must be time-restricted, probably only starting to take effect after ten… Possibly at midnight.'
A theory was already forming in Chrome's mind as he took all of his experience into consideration. The first time, he had only put his phone down before midnight by minutes before directly getting his first transfer experience. The second time, he got to normally dream before he was transferred again after sleeping at 10 PM.
With these trials acting as guidelines, he already recognized a certain pattern. Unfortunately, he didn't know much about the reverse transfer as he had haphazardly slept due to his agitated emotions. As such, he could only test it out today.
"Let's wait till midnight."
By sleeping exactly at midnight, Chrome believed that he would come much closer to accurately pinpointing the truth.