Novel Toon
Volume 11, Idle talk 4 A certain bulletin board resident’s story The fourth
Volume 11, Idle talk 4 A certain bulletin board resident’s story The fourth
“Yo, long time no see~. Ah, one ramen!”
“Welcome, wait, it’s Akira-kun! Long time no see~”
The suburbs which were a little over an hour to the north of Kumamoto city by car.
A man appeared at a ramen shop.
Whenever the man went home, he would go to the ramen shop here to eat.
By the way, this store was not the so-called “Kumamoto Ramen” store. They were popular for their local ramen of rich tonkotsu soup and medium fine noodles, but they were still minor. Moreover, despite their location that was in the suburbs, the store seemed to be thriving.
“Aah, like I thought, the ramen here is delicious. I’ll get used to the thick soup that’s shining golden with the pork fat. Ah, occhan(uncle/middle-aged man), another serving of noodles!”
“Sure thing~. Akira-kun, where did you go this time?”
“You know, it was winter. I worked at a resort in Hokkaido!”
He was not speaking to himself.
He was conversing with the shopkeeper across the counter.
“Free and enviable as always, eh! And so, are you going to be here for a while? Here, another serving!”
“I saved up money too, so maybe!”
It was a very non committal man.
Moreover this man was over thirty years old.
Though he wasn’t punished to be single, he was too free.
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“I’m home~”
“Ooh, It’s you Akira! Welcome home”
The man, having finished eating the ramen to his heart’s desire, again returned to his house for the first time in several months after moving.
Once known as the producer of Japan’s number one watermelons, it has now become a town of Kumamoto City.
Nevertheless, it was frivolous despite being a greeting of his return after four months. The person himself and his family were both frivolous.
Cheerful and pure, but obstinate individualists who would not give up to whatever anybody says once they themselves have decided once.
As expected of a Higo mokkosu. (TL: 肥後もっこす; apparently it’s what they call the uncouth people from Kumamoto prefecture)
Both the family and the man gave up saying anything. In the end, the whole family were individualists.
“Righties, I guess I’ll start the PC for the first time in a while”
Having returned to his room, the man headed to his computer desk as soon as he unpacked.
There were no deep reasons for it.
It was just that he somehow felt like doing so.
“My emails… Well, I’ve seen them on the other side. Time to kill some time I’d say”
Immediately the man began surfing on the net.
He was an utterly free person. Is someone in his thirties okay with this?
Well, the person himself did not seem to worry about it at all though.
“The first bulletin board after a long time away…hm? No way, found an interesting one!”
He was speaking to himself in his room and yet he was cheerful for some reason. In a sense he was a more dangerous man than Yuuji or the other shut-in NEETs.
And that man achieved a meeting that changed his own life.
That day, the man discovered a thread.
That was the thread titled “[Growing out of] I’m kind of in another world with my house when I went out of my house after 10 years[Hiki-NEET]”
“Oh, I’m not like a NEET, and post. I’m working after all! It was a temporary part-time job though!”
Fukasako Akira, age 30.
Currently he was keeping a certificate of residence in his house that was part of Kumamoto city, but the man lived as he liked, going on a trip or doing a part-time job at a resort.
The person himself said he was a dreamer.
It was the day that a free person with unspecified occupation- no, an ordinary freeter learned of Yuuji.
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In the basement of a Kumamoto urban area multi-tenant building, there was a man.
Within the roars of machinery, the man walked with a Zima in hand.(Zima is a brand of drink)
Could he have found an acquaintance?
They shook their hands, bent their elbow to move their clasped hands, drawing them towards each other’s chest. After shortening their distance they exchanged words.
“Ooh, you’re back, Akira!”
“Yeah, long time no see! I’m planning on being over here for a bit!”
The series of actions from the handshake they exchanged in the club was not just them trying to look good.
It was too noisy, so they would not be able to follow the conversation at the usual distance.
The man exchanged words as if shouting.
“Oh really!? Then come join the next event!”
“Sure, call me please!
It appears that this man seemed to be a singer enough to be called in local events.
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“Damn, you’re interesting as usual, Yuuji!”
Checking the bulletin board became the man’s daily routine.
On the computer in his room, on his smartphone.
He posted his excitement seeing Yuuji struggling hard in the other world.
Well, the person himself didn’t feel like he was being lively though.
Even so. did he not ruin the scene because he had flowingly completed short term part time jobs, went on trips and was influenced by various places and various people?
He sang songs, went on a trip and when he was out of money, he would go to a resort and do a part-time job.
He had many friends, but had no girlfriend.
It was not that he was unpopular.
Rather, with his behavioral pattern it would not be strange if he had made as many girlfriends as he liked.
However, the man had no girlfriend.
No, he had never had a girlfriend.
He had gone past his thirties and was still a praiseworthy virgin wizard.
He had many friends, but he had no close friends who he socialized with deeply.
There was a sole reason for that.
He did not feel like coming out of the closet.
He accepted that he was different from others, but he had no intentions of disclosing it.
That was why.
Because he was unable to love, he would at least live freely, enjoy his life and die alone.
It doesn’t matter what others say, that is fine.
That was the man’s decision.
Fukasako Akira, or Anonymous MEAT, age 30, virgin.
His body is male and so was his heart, but his object of romantic interest is men.
A man who had decided to live without coming out of the closet, without revealing it to anybody.
He had no intentions to disclose his secret, and yet he had an ironic name of Akira (明;clear/clean/pure)
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The bulletin board, which made a meme out of Yuuji who insisted he had gone to another world.
The man was enjoying that.
In his hometown Kumamoto, in a resort in Okinawa during summer, in a ski resort in Honshu in the winter.
Both the uploaded images and videos as well as the posts in the days when there’s nothing.
For the man who had decided not to disclose his secret to anyone, that may have been one of his escapes.
He would make merry each time information of the other world is uploaded, and would enjoy the enthusiasm of the bulletin board residents.
Even if they found out, I don’t have to write it on the bulletin board. And besides, if it’s them then maybe.
Their carefree connection, the loosely gathering of people pushed out of society, may have felt comfortable to the man.
And then.
A little less than two years since knowing Yuuji in the bulletin board.
March.
A thread was made which became a large turning point for the man.
‘ [Main thread] Yuuji Related Thread Community Offline Meeting Convention part 1 [verification thread community]’
It was the thread Yuuji’s sister Sakura’s friend Emi had started.
Location of the offline meeting was Utsunomiya.
Where the man was working at was Japan’s leading winter resort Naeba.
Utsunomiya is relatively close compared to the other bulletin board residents. In terms of distance alone that is.
“Okay, shall I go then! My part-time job’s over too!”
Frivolous.
He was a proactive man by nature.
He would be like this if he did not think about coming out.
By the way.
He made money with part-time jobs in resorts and was proactive, but he would not enter places he should not enter.
Rooms that were forbidden to enter were not particularly an unavoidable part in part-time jobs in resorts.
Well, there were countless rooms and locations with a shady history though.
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“Seriously, it was fun! The gyoza was good, the barbecue was nice and everyone were good guys! About the maids… ye-yeah, the day before yesterday was by chance!”
His way back from the offline camp.
The man was at Tokyo station, Yaesu exit.
He was waiting for the bus. For the overnight bus from Tokyo to Hakata, which takes approximately fifteen hours.
Why did he take that choice despite having earned money doing resort work?
“I’d say I’ll splurge a bit” while saying such words, he selected a bus with seats separated in three rows and furnished with electrical outlets.
He is an idiot.
Incidentally, after the offline camp, the man went north of Utsunomiya for some reason.
He was in this place after staying a night at Kinugawa hot springs and enjoying the hot springs.
He was a free man.
No, perhaps he cared about the smell of the barbecue and himself though.
“Oh, the bus is here! Oooh, ain’t it extravagant!? Yahoo!”
He was an idiot.
Hereafter, the man regretted it extremely.
No matter how well the environment was set up, a night bus of over ten hours is still a pain.
Moreover, for the man to reach his home city Kumamoto, he would have to transfer again from Fukuoka.
The man thereafter, could’ve seen dream where the meat of his buttocks came off.
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The third offline camp, where he participated as the snake group and performed songs at the campfire.
Afterwards, the man wandered aimlessly in Utsunomiya.
The man was called out by Cool NEET after hearing that he went outside relatively normally, moreover that he was a freeter who eked out a living with short term part-time jobs.
“Would you try working part-time at either Cerisier Co. or the non profit organization?”
It was the temptation of the devil.
No, it was not that bad when he was invited.
There, the man was aware of the contents that Yuuji will be obtaining a large amount of money.
Yuuji’s story would be adapted into a movie. In Hollywood even.
“Seriously Yuuji! Eh? Odd jobs in relation to that and helping in the offline camp? I’ll do it, I’ll do it, sounds interesting!”
The man said, and began working in Utsunomiya.
The participants were Gunji, the attorney like Gunji, Cool NEET, Well-informed NEET, Formerly talented businessman, Clothes group member B, and several office workers that Gunji had prepared.
The man’s job was being on call, simple data input, miscellaneous affairs and a gofer when it is necessary to exchange documents.
“Somehow… this is amazingly simple though. I, I may be a genius in office work!”
It was his imagination.
However, when the non-profit organisation were to begin moving all-out, the man’s experience until now would become helpful.
Cool NEET’s planned camp was already a small event rather than a camp.
A large monitor, audio equipment, lighting, power generator and a number of people to install and dismantle them.
It was definitely not a stage, but the necessary equipment was already a common event.
And within both the company and non profit organisation, only the man had gone to outdoor events.
As expected of members who were stuck indoors.
Incidentally, though it was a local small-scale one, the man had participated in events on the performer side.
The slow offline camp that was sponsored by a non profit organisation for when it gives opportunity for shut-in NEETs and NEETs to come alive.
Before he was aware of it, the man became in charge of preparing that.
preparations of equipment, securing personnel in a temporary staff recruitment agency, studying means of transportation, and the announcement.
Well, there were no entertainers, so he did not have any considerable workload though.
And then.
A message came to Cerisier Co. and the non profit organisation.
It was a call and mail from Sakura.
Thereafter, Utsunomiya’s office hired more personnel, and Gunji, Cool NEET, Formerly talented businessman and such were all occupied.
“That place seems serious~. Well I’ll be preparing for the camp for now I guess! Right, secure a large monitor! Then I’ll tell Cool NEET and have him announce the settled date~”
The free man, while enjoying it on his own, silently continued the preparation.
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Username, Anonymous MEAT.
A freeter who earned money with short-term resort jobs and lived freely in travels and music.
The man had many friends, but had no friends who understood each other intimately and showed no signs of making any.
His body and mind were male, but men were his romantic interests.
The man decided not to come out of the closet and decided to live freely with the exception of that.
The nature of the man who is cheerful and moreover would not ruin the scene, became to make the bulletin board lively.
Participated in the first offline camp.
Thereafter he participated in every offline camp.
Since the third offline camp, he began working as staff of Cerisier Co. and the non profit organisation.
The offline camp that was sponsored by the non profit organisation from thereon was based around the equipment the man arranged and the temporary staff recruitment agency he talked to.
Inspired by Yuuji going to the other world, the man found fellow comrades who were forced out of society.
It was a trifling tale of a certain bulletin board resident.
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