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Chapter 7, Idle talk 5 A certain bulletin board resident’s story
Chapter 7, Idle talk 5 A certain bulletin board resident’s story
Chapter 7, Idle talk 5 A certain bulletin board resident’s story
Tl: Jun
ED: Jun
-The First-
“Haha, I don’t get what he means with he went to another world. Then why is he connected to the internet?”
Murmured a man who was illuminated by the brightness of the monitor, in a dark room.
The daily routine of net surfing and BBS check.
What the man discovered that day was a thread called “[Growing out of] I’m kind of in another world when I went out of my home after 10 years[Hiki-NEET]”.
“As expected of a hiki-NEET, his delusions are amazing, and post”
*tack tack* the man entered the letters on the keyboard.
“Well, I’m also a Shut in NEET though…. *sigh*. How did I become like this.”
Endou Fumio, age 21.
A man who resided in Saitama prefecture, but he lived in an rural area filled with paddy fields, not in a residential area newer than Tokyo.
It was the day the shut in NEET who dropped out of high school got to know of Yuuji.
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“Are you serious, a goblin or something? Wait, this guy’s CG is amazing. He a pro? Hm? A video?”
A meal and bath when dawn breaks and both parents leave for work. Fall asleep once done and get out of bed before evening. Watch the internet, chat in the BBS, occasionally enjoy net games or recorded anime and dawn breaks. The man lead such plain life.
When he was looking at the thread that insisted on being in another world, which became his daily routine, there apparently was movement.
A monster that was well known in all sorts of games, fantasy novels and movies, the goblin. An image and video of it was uploaded.
“Now let’s see here… ooh, it really is a picture. Hey wait a minute, are you serious? Isn’t it seriously moving like that one? And yet you feel like doing that thing in? A weapon huh… Your enemy is unarmed you know, and post”
*tack tack* the man hit the keyboard and posted a message.
Although he didn’t have a fixed name, apparently posting a message became his everyday life.
“Hey wait a minute, did the goblin seriously leave, damn that’s boring, you hear?” The man murmured in soliloquy in front of the monitor.
It seems he was the confident type on the internet.
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“Heyheyheyhey! Are you kidding me!”
The next day after the image and video of the goblin was uploaded.
“Isn’t this guy revealing his face? Or rather what is this blue blood?” the man retorted on his PC.
“But really, the quality is friggin high. Uooooh, this dog is cool! It’s thanks to Kotarou no matter how you look at it, and post.”
Having seen the video where Yuuji and Kotarou exterminated a monster for the first time, the man greatly raised his voice.
He did not notice it himself, but it had been several years since the man’s emotions were moved this much.
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The man who knew of Yuuji by the bulletin board he peeked at unintentionally.
Since then, the man took permanent residence on the bulletin board.
Days where he’s troubled whether he should report after hearing he picked up a little girl, days where he flowed tears of blood after hearing the little girl became his adopted sister, days where he laughed hard at Yuuji’s sister’s nasty identity verification, days where he felt envious when he learned Yuuji was a rich man.
The man completely stopped caring of things like “whether he really is in another world”. It’s interesting so why not, is what the man really thought.
When he noticed it, it was close to a year since finding the thread saying he had gone to another world.
Not even agitated, the man heartwarmingly enjoyed Yuuji’s life in another world.
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“Hey wait, adventurers, is it seriously a game? Where can I retort at, and post. Oh, the threat has sped up. Or rather, there were this kind of people in this thread?”
Nearly one year since the man discovered Yuuji’s thread. Apparently there was movement again in the BBS, or rather Yuuji who was in another world. A gang of three adventurers came to Yuuji’s house.
“Or rather Yuuji, you lack too much sense of danger, don’t you think?” murmured the man. Who also lacked sense of danger was the man who was similarly a shut in NEET.
“Ooh, the adventurers are still here? Wait, are they going to stay here!?”
Without a delay, the man retorted “Hey, Yuuji’s not reflecting at all you know?” Before he knew it, he became passionate. Seeing the unreliable Yuuji with my own eyes, I can do this more successfully. Let’s give him advice. Such feelings were born.
“Oh wow, this cool NEET is great. Why is this guy in this thread? Requesting the adventurers and a reward for having them bring along someone huh… Things he has in the house that has value in another world… Jewels, gold and silver accessories, and post. Kuh, they’re obvious so it’s not interesting!”
The man retorted to himself while posting a message. Certainly the details he posted were too ordinary. “Just because there are many mirrors, ‘You have a magic mirror in your house?’ this guy must be a genius,” murmured the man. He seemed to be envious of the other residents’ talents. But normally one does not need such talents.
“Kuh, I’m getting sleepy. But just because it’s decided, that Yuuji’s doing negotiations… Yuuji on his own is impossible don’t you think? And post.”
In a sense the bulletin board welcomed a feast. The man seemed to have decided to watch over Yuuji who received a lecture on negotiations.
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“Looks like the peddler is also cleared, so with this Yuuji is stable for now. …But really, human beings can really kill when they’re driven into a corner… I also… “
Suddenly averting his eyes from the monitor, the man surveyed the dark room.
The desk he used since his elementary student time, books and manga lined up in the bookshelf. He caught sight of the high school reference books set against the corner.
“ … That time. That time, if I had acted, would it have been different I wonder…”
The man whispered.
There was no one to hear that voice.
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Slowly, the man walked the dark street at night.
His destination, the nearest convenience store. Well, even if one says nearest, a one way trip from the house the man lived to the convenience store was 30 minutes. This may have be Saitama, but this area was a rural area.
“Going out and all, how many years has it been? As I expected the night doesn’t have any people I guess… What I have my eyes on are the premium steamed meat buns!”
The country road that had no street light. With a flashlight in hand, the man in jersey gave forth a monologue with a loud voice.
Walking the streets at night on his own and a monologue with a loud voice.
That he was a suspicious person, the man also knew. But to him it was his first trip in three years. His heart would seem to break if he did not speak of his determination and objective even in monologue.
His unchanged house. His room undamaged by anybody.
Although it was the country road at night, it was outside.
To the man, it was a world that was by no means gentle.
“ … Even that good for nothing Yuuji did his best and went out. I’m more capable than him right, me?”
Apparently the good for nothing manner towards Yuuji gave the shut in NEET self-confidence.
Nononono, that guy’s more capable than me you know, was what the shut in NEETs permanently residing in the BBS were thinking.
The man safely returned to his room with premium steamed meat bun, fries and iced cafe au lait he made at the counter of the convenience store in his hands. Nevertheless they had so many of choices. For the purpose of ascertaining the true ability of the convenience store since several years, he apparently purchased the latest popular goods.
A one hour round trip on foot.
The time he was inside the convenient store was less than ten minutes.
A safe plot of land that could not be compared to the other world Yuuji was in.
Even so, to the man, it was an adventure.
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Late at night.
The man left his room today as well.
Since he had set out to the convenience store since several years, his late night stroll became his daily routine.
Meeting a person was frightening.
However, walking the road late at night when nobody was there made him feel better. He advanced ahead. To the man, such sensations were given birth.
The man descended the stairs from his room on the second floor. He caught sight of something placed in the entry hall. He approached and checked it.
A brand new jersey and sneakers. And then 10,000 yen put inside a brown envelope.
Who had placed that, the man immediately knew.
“Mom… What is this… hahaha, things like a generic jersey and sneakers nowadays…”
Did the mother notice the man going out late at night, or was it known by the neighbourhood network for rural areas?
The letter was empty.
Even so it was his communication with his mother in a long time with the exception of the delivery of his meals and tableware that was put in front of his room.
From the man’s eyes, tears dropped quietly.
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March.
The thread that became a great turning point to the man was opened.
‘[Original thread]Holding a Yuuji related thread community offline meeting part1 [verification thread community]’
It was the thread Emi, the friend of Sakura, Yuuji’s sister, had opened.
Location of the offline meeting was Utsunomiya.
A single train from the man’s house without transfer.
He was blessed location-wise compared to the other residents of the bulletin board.
However.
Late at night, he came to go out either for a stroll where he won’t encounter anyone or for the convenient store.
Even so, the man did not come close to leaving during the day or to a place with many people, until this very day.
“I wanna go… But as expected that might be impossible…”
People who had been tied together by the bulletin board with Yuuji in the center. Roughly two years after sending advices to the incompetent Yuuji, reprimanding him and pushing his back. The man felt a sense of fellowship with them.
Similar faces even if he peeked at it at noon or in the evening. The fact he considered they must have similar circumstances like his shut in NEET self, the resistance towards the offline meeting participation decreased.
“There are… there are people who are similar to me. I know, I want to go too. The people in the thread are fine, but it’s scary until I go and money… and post. Haha, miserable aren’t I.”
On the internet, the man repeated strong words. However, if he really was strong, then he would have not become a shut in NEET.
“Are they…bringing a car… A clothes shop too… what are these guys, they’re too kind aren’t they… Heyhey, what is this with taking out money with Yuuji’s social standing. … dammit, in that case I’ll just go!”
The man murmured in feelings of desperation.
He opened a freemail and sent an e-mail to the exposed Camera Ossan’s address.
Going out of his room since several years. Conversation with other people.
What made the man decide, was likely not the kindness of the thread residents, but the fact that the incompetent Yuuji would take out money.
You think I’m going to be defeated by someone like him? It was certain the man had such feelings.
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“*sigh* it was, quite fun, yep.”
The day the offline camp was over.
The man had Camera Ossan take him along with his car until Utsunomiya. On his return he used the train.
By arrangements of Sakura’s friend Emi, he bought clothes. His hair was cut as well. None of the people he passed by on the shopping center noticed him. According to each one he met offline, “I should’ve gone with the clothes group too, I’m feeling jealous.” At the barbeque, he spent his time slowly talking with the men of the same clothes group.
It’s not crowded during daytime in weekdays, so I want to do one more challenge in the end.
Thinking so, the man made use of the train. Since there were at most several people riding the same train, he was not alone however.
Fuuh, the man took a large breather.
He knew there was nobody, but it was the first time he had spoken this in several years.
“I’m home”
The fact he went out during the day.
The fact he could converse with those on his first meeting.
The fact his inferiority complex faded after buying clothes, cutting his hair and seeing the responses of other people.
It may have been ordinary as far as people were concerned.
Even so, to the man, it was a great adventure.
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After going outside during the day and having participated in the offline meeting.
The man came to be able to go out at noon.
Little by little, the man corrected his life to one of daytime.
Encountering the man with his hair cut and wearing the outdoor clothes bought at the offline meeting in the living room in the morning, the mother was surprised, casted her eyes down and shed tears without saying anything.
And then, one month later.
The time when the father, the mother and the man had their meal while still awkward.
Timidly, the mother began to talk with the man.
“I wonder if you remember, Fumio, the old liquor store mister you got attached to long time ago. He said he’s now doing a convenience store and he said he’s recruiting people. Fumio, do you want to try a part time job for as long as you want?”
“I’d like to think about it for a bit,” the man responded to his mother.
Being troubled for a few days and consulting the BBS, he recalled the workstyle of a late at night convenience store clerk he himself went back and forth to.
And then the man, thought about Yuuji.
Yuuji was living with his life at risk in a world where there are hostile creatures aiming for his live, while being good for nothing. That shut in NEET had now killed monsters, cultivated the forest and went as far as doing negotiations he wasn’t accustomed to.
He thought about his previous self.
Even though he was driven to a corner, he did not act. He shut himself in.
That he would recruit without caring about his experience and personal history, he understood that there’s no such good thing even with part-time jobs. He understood that the situation that he would be accepted just by telling them he will do it was an unimaginably blessed fact. He also remembered him having a good time with the old man when he was a boy.
The man had decided.
“Mom. I…’ll try it.”
The man informed his mother.
“I can’t be defeated by Yuuji after all” the soft murmur was not heard by anybody.
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Fixed name, Clothing group member A.
Discovered the bulletin board, became its resident and rid himself from his shut-in NEET life.
Participated one offline camp.
That was the trigger that started his part-time job in the convenience store and him ridding himself off his NEET life.
Because his work started, he abstained the second offline camp without desiring to go to another world.
Then he participated in not the third offline meeting of Yuuji’s house site group, but the forest park camp group who did not desire to go to the other world.
Hereafter he continued his work in the convenience store where a relative served as owner and shop manager.
One man took advantage of the fact Yuuji went to another world and quit being a shut in NEET like Yuuji.
It was a trifling tale of a certain bulletin board resident.