Volume 1: What’s wrong with Toru Fujima being a shady character

01–What’s wrong with Toru Fujima

　Toru Fujima is a shady character.

　This has been my classmates’ perception of me since elementary school and junior high school.

　The paripi guys tormented me thoroughly, and if I resisted, they turned to ignoring me. People are the kind of organisms that need to humiliate in order to survive. {TN: Paripi is a Japanese slang for party people}

　If that’s the case, isn’t the fact that I can take advantage of my situation rather a blessing in disguise? As the target of the class’s gloom, darkness, and malice, I’ve become a human sacrifice, and I should be able to hold my hands together like Shakyamuni (Buddha) who threw himself at a hungry tiger.

　However, in high school – even in the advanced schools, the blatant bullying seems to hide in the shadows.

　The paripi grow up in their own way and evolve from “I’m cool for taking someone under my wing” to “I’m cool for being nice and talking to such a negative person.”

　　In the same way, shady characters evolve from stress-relieving sandbags for Parisians to evolutionary bait. It’s the same thing with the Kaminari-no-Ishi( Thunder stone) and Tsuki-no-Ishi (moon stone). In my case, I’m pretty sure it’s the stone of darkness.

　Hmm?　I’m a little cool, aren’t I?

　By the way, my reputation as a negative person, which has been consistent throughout elementary and junior high school, did not change when I entered my first year of high school…… What’s wrong with that? I don’t even want to change it.

“Fujima-kun, do you have anything to add?”

　When I came back to myself after being abruptly interrupted, I saw a brown-haired handsome man smiling freshly at me with a sparkling aura from the blackboard.

　I don’t sense any sarcasm, but I guess he’s asking me this out of a sense of responsibility, since he’s the chairperson and I don’t participate in class discussions.

　I put my elbow back on the desk to rest my cheek, and gave him the answer I had prepared just in case.

“Oh……that’s fine, isn’t it?”

　The handsome man smiled at me once more and said, “Thank you,” before looking around the classroom and moving on to the next topic of discussion.

　….. That’s fine.

　A good looking man should just be good looking.

　I’m just going to do what I’ve been doing for the past fifteen years, continuing the story of Toru Fujima.

Again, I put my elbow on the desk and put my right cheek on the back of my hand.

I looked at the window with the background music of the handsome man’s voice and saw the sky, which must have been blue, but all I saw was a gray cloud in my chest.

The chime sounded.

　I received permission to leave the school with the sound of the chime and held my bag in my hand behind my back.

　The conversation of the girls in the nearby seats struck my ears.

“What are you going to do today?　Are we going to Arcadia?”

“Hmm, I want to earn some money, maybe I should go…”

　I clicked my tongue in my brain, left the classroom by myself, and headed to the shoe box by myself.

　Arcadia is not a video game arcade, karaoke bar, or tapioca store.

　It’s a different world that you go to by using the “dreams” that you’re supposed to have when you sleep.

　That’s Arcadia.

　When you want to go to another world, just turn on the setting on your mobile device before going to bed, and you won’t dream that night.

 “….Hah….”.

　Instead, we wake up.　

“…… Hello World.”

　To Arcadia, a different world of swords and magic.

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