Some argue from a neuroscience perspective that video games and light novels are utterly useless for studying, but I wonder if that's actually true. Thanks to a certain warring states game and some history-themed light novels, I found them somewhat helpful during middle school for questions covering the period from Azuchi-Momoyama to the Edo period. There was even a miracle where the answer to a question a teacher threw in specifically to prevent anyone from getting a perfect score turned out to be a common item from a game. I still haven't forgotten the rush of exhilaration I felt when I nailed a question that even the smartest kids in class couldn't answer.
The same goes for recent fantasy works. They often deal with a country's political issues, which has led me to Google things like, "Well, how does Japan handle that?" more than a few times. It wasn't uncommon to discover that something I thought only existed in a game was actually a real-world policy. In Modern Japanese, I've even reached the point where I can predict a character's state of mind to some extent without having to hunt for the answer in the text.
I have something to say to all those students who shun subcultures out of prejudice and spend all their time with their noses in reference books. Surrounded by all that stiffness, I’d ask them: "Can you really maintain your motivation like that?"
I can't. I'm going to play games.
"Ahhh, this is healing my soul..."
It was the simple task of mindlessly mashing through enemies to progress the story. Crap, this game has absolutely zero elements that could provide feedback for my studies... Well, it was rated for all ages, after all.
But man, it was fun... Oh, I died.
"Ahhh... huh?"
When I don't use my brain, my consciousness starts to drift. While I was immersed in that dangerous, floaty sensation, the smartphone on my desk vibrated, letting out a loud, rattling clatter. It scared the crap out of me whenever it made such a sudden noise.
"Gah... since when?"
Ignoring the notifications on the lock screen, I navigated to the home screen and saw that my messaging app was showing a staggering "+999." What was this? Did I suddenly get more friends? Jeez... being an extrovert is tough!
"Is it from the class group?"
I usually muted the group chat every night before bed. Ever since Summer Vacation started, there were people who talked non-stop from midnight until morning, which was a pain....Wait? I had a direct message. I hadn't noticed at all. Let's see... Huh? Iiboshi-san? That was incredibly rare. She was a total rare character; I wondered what was up.
[Since it gets noisy late at night, a separate group was formed... I tried to invite you along with the others we chose, Sajou-kun, but I was vetoed by another girl. (;´`) I'm sorry.]
O-Oh... I see. (;´`)
Ah—well, I mean, yeah. I spent more than half the time since enrollment being a loud nuisance, so it wasn't surprising that some people found me annoying. I even joined in on the midnight talk on the first day of Summer Vacation, so I guess it couldn't be helped. But she said "another girl," so it was definitely a girl who blocked me, right...? Ugh, I really didn't want to know that.
[It's fine, I'm one of the noisy ones anyway.]
It wasn't that I was particularly obsessed with my reputation, but I didn't want to be hated. Before, my world revolved around whether Natsukawa was okay with me, but now I cared about maintaining at least a baseline of social decency... It was pretty rough knowing there was a girl hiding in my class who wanted to exclude me. Nee-chan, I really am not suited for the Student Council after all.
[Actually, I'm surprised you even thought of including me?]
Iiboshi-san must have seen me participating in the late-night conversations too. I wondered why she thought to add me despite that. Oh, the message changed to "read."
[Sajou-kun, aren't you the type who reads people's faces quite a bit? You were mostly passive even when things got noisy at night. I didn't see any particular problem with it.]
Ehh...? Is that how I was perceived? I didn't know if it was because she was the Class Rep, but Iiboshi-san really did observe people closely. I’d have to be careful if our seats ended up close together in the future...
[Is Natsukawa in that group too?]
[She is. Oh, Ashida-chan was rejected too.]
Well, it made sense for Natsukawa to be there... Wait? Ashida was? Just what kind of judge was this girl? Ashida could be noisy, sure, but I had the impression the girls relied on her... How strange.
[Oh, you did it, Sajou-kun! As soon as Natsukawa-san said a word and left the group, everyone else followed her! I guess that's the end of the new group!]
Wait, hold on... what was with this sudden development? Just what kind of play-by-play was Iiboshi-san giving me...? Well, I couldn't deny that I felt a little happy about it... but Natsukawa left, huh. I guess it would be hard for her to stay in a group that rejected Ashida. Even so, Natsukawa’s influencer status had reached that level, huh? This "father" is proud of you.
[Was that Judge Girl just rejecting people left and right without saying a word to anyone?]
[Judge Girl (lol). Well, she was silently refusing them. Ashida-chan isn't exactly a buffer, but she's the kind of presence who can blow away a weird atmosphere when things get awkward. Personally, I find her irreplaceable.]
Yes, exactly that—her ability to not read the room in a good way. Well, silent rejection was pretty nasty. Maybe the girl just got carried away with the momentum of "not letting noisy people in," but Ashida was the most energetic person in the "girls who aren't crude" category. It was only natural she’d draw resentment.
That Judge Girl was going to have a hard time from now on... She was probably turning pale looking at her phone screen right now. She was likely trembling, wondering how she was going to act once the Second Semester started.
[That Judge Girl looks like she's in for a rough time.]
[I'm getting a Crying SOS Message from her, so I'll follow up with her.]
[Ah, so you're that type.]
You even look after people like that, Iiboshi-san... She didn't feel like a central figure in the class, but I wondered if she secretly controlled the girls from behind the scenes. I’d better make sure I never cross her...
[But Sajou-kun, you've been completely ignoring messages lately too, haven't you? That's actually rated quite negatively among the girls.]
[Wait, you're calling me out specifically?]
Oh boy, I was getting criticized all of a sudden. Eh, was it really limited to just me? Weren't there others who didn't participate in the conversations at all? If I was going to be hated for every little thing like that, I wouldn't be able to take it.
[Ashida-chan tried to talk to you about three times, but you probably didn't see it, right? Everyone else followed up for Ashida-chan, and now the Sajou-kun Death Rumors are circulating.]
[Death Rumors.]
Didn't that happen a little while ago too? Why were they so quick to kill me off? Since when did I become a sickly character... Ah, right, since before Summer Vacation. I did have a strong memory of collapsing from a cold. I really needed to be careful; it wasn't like me.
[I'm going to start bawling, so please grant me a Resurrection.]
[Zoom.]
[Don't move the corpse.]
Jokes aside, what was with that cold-blooded comeback? Do you have zero intention of helping me? Please follow up for me too, Class Rep...! I was terrified because I'd drawn resentment from a central figure in the class! I hated being the center of attention, but I also hated being bullied!
Prompted by Iiboshi-san, I skimmed through the +999 messages. Especially late at night, I could see why someone would get fed up with the guys' constant stream of low-IQ dirty jokes. Oh, did a group of guys and girls go to karaoke at night? These guys were really cutting loose. And then, yesterday's...
[Sajocchi, aren't you looking?]
[………(T ^ T)]
No, sorry, Ashida. She’d reached out to me right in the middle of the day. If there was no word from me for a full day after that, I guess it did look like I was ignoring her. Yeah, that was definitely a bad impression. There usually was no such thing as a high schooler who didn't open their phone. I should send a reply while I was at it.
[My bad, Ashida. I met a college girl and was busy having fun.]
Yeah, that should do it.
[K has removed Sajoo from the group.]
Oh.
Oh.