I, who advocate giving up, feel like a disqualified person

"...If you try hard enough, it's still acceptable."

"Ha..." An expression of surprise.

"Anyway... just count skipping rope."

I couldn't help yawning as I said this.

"Oh... okay." He looked at me. "Speaking of which, Sheji, you don't seem to be in a good mood. Did you stay up late again?"

"...Sort of."

How should I put it... I couldn't sleep because of my worries, so I tossed and turned until the early hours of the morning.

"That's not good. What if I get tired while running?"

You don't need to worry about this... Well, speaking of the reasons for insomnia...

"Oh, Sheji, isn't that the girl over there that you have a good relationship with?"

Liu Yan suddenly patted my shoulder excitedly.

Looking in the direction he pointed, I spotted Ye Hui. She was talking to her classmates and seemed very happy.

"Aren't you going to say hello?"

Liu Yan asked me.

"...No need."

I'm a little... hesitant to face her now.

"what happened?"

Maybe it was because my tone changed a little, Liu Yan beside me also noticed something strange.

"...fine."

It’s just that there are some questions in my heart that cannot be explained.

"Hey, Liu Yan, do you know what Capgras delusion is?"

In Liu Yan's opinion, this question seems a bit nonsensical.

"I don't know...what is that?"

"...Nothing, just the title of a novel."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Na..."

That night, I went downstairs around ten o'clock, which was rare for me, to meet my parents who had just returned home.

"Are you still awake?"

"Well...I have something I want to ask you guys."

Maybe it was because my tone was a little serious, the two of them couldn't help but look at each other.

"When I was... around six or seven... did you have a childhood sweetheart or something?"

They were stunned for a moment and then laughed, and because of their laughter I felt ashamed of the question I had just asked.

"Son, have you watched some anime again?"

Dad asked me.

"...No..."

"Then why are you suddenly asking this? And why are you being so serious?" Mom said as she sat down on the sofa.

"You were very withdrawn when you were little, and I never saw you bring any friends home. And our neighbors didn't have any children your age..."

"So you won't have any childhood sweethearts."

. . . . . . .

"Huh...what..."

I inadvertently turned my gaze towards the gate.

"what..."

The third year student seems to be back.

The journey must be walked alone

Not everyone can happily stand out in front of a crowd.

Anyone who's read a shonen manga probably already understands that no matter how hard the supporting characters try, it's always the protagonist...or the protagonists themselves who ultimately save the world. And I wasn't even a supporting character; at best, I was just a bystander.

There are indeed many people with a strong sense of justice, but there are only a few who can save the world. In other words, no matter how hard we try, those who can stand out are capable people.

At this time, someone will definitely stand up and refute:

"If you don't work hard yourself, why do you insist on saying you're not the protagonist? This is nothing more than complaining about the world."

Oh... What great words! Maybe I am really blaming others and not striving for progress, but... In this situation, it would be impossible to get first place even if I wanted to, right?

After all, the first ones to come back among the third graders were the seniors from the Sports Department. Compared with the other participants, they not only did not look tired, but also seemed to be at ease. This was something that could not be compensated by willpower and hard work.

Something like working hard...it's easy to say and doesn't seem difficult to do, but it's different for different people.

Well...for example, if you want to do a simple control experiment, you must make the conditions except the comparison items completely consistent, so that the results will not have errors.

However, people in reality often ignore this point. When they compare themselves or others with others, they only see the gap between the two, but ignore that the conditions for growth are not the same.

In other words...people are simply incomparable, and the results of comparison are always wrong.

"Anyway..."

I muttered to myself unintentionally.

Anyway, what...

I stared blankly at the third-year seniors who were returning one after another, and forgot the thoughts that had just occurred to me.

...ah...

Okay, I remember.

In short, the world will be a better place if we give up comparison.

Chapter 10: The journey must be walked alone

After a while of waiting, there were not many third-year students returning from the door. On the other side, the third-year students who had returned were gathering together after a short break, waiting for the teacher to call the roll.

"Attention, second-year... no... first-year class one students, line up at the school gate."

Such a notice sounded on the radio, and the noisy crowd became even more lively, followed by the flow of people.

"Oh, it seems they are leaving in groups."

Liu Yan suddenly stuck his head out from the side and put his chin on my shoulder.

"That's how it was originally arranged... and they ran one by one..." I said, pushing his face away.

"...Why..."

He made a sound of surprise, but it was unclear what he was surprised about.

"Why...are you afraid of getting lost?"

I looked at him impatiently.

"No, no, no, I'm not really lost." He brushed his bangs back, "It's just that without a beautiful woman by my side, I feel like I've lost something I can show off."

...what do you have to show off...

But...if there wasn't this requirement, I would probably be with Rinsenkawa and Ayasan.

I don’t know whether I should be sad or happy.

"But it will probably take some time before it's our class's turn, right?" I looked at the teacher who was trying hard to maintain order and the students who didn't want to cooperate.

"Yeah...it feels like waiting in line for a vaccination."

Liu Yan expressed his feelings.

"It looks like you're not very good at running either."

Seeing Liu Yan say this, I actually felt a little comforted.

"I'm really not good at it... After all, the school just wants us to study hard, and we just need to participate in activities like this. They don't consider our feelings at all."

I quite agree with this point.

"If we were to write about it in the school newspaper, the most we'd be described as would be 'Students Running Hard', right?"

School newspaper? Do you still read that kind of stuff... I couldn't help but think of the so-called campus newspapers that I stuffed directly into the trash can.

"How should I put it...the people in the News Department really work hard."

It seems that this is the only response.

"Hmm..." Liu Yan nodded. "Come to think of it, it seems like you haven't been to the music club for a long time."

"After all, I have my own club activities..."

Although it's nothing serious.

"That's great... It's obviously a tea ceremony club, but there are two beautiful women accompanying you. I wonder how many people will envy you."

"Huh?" I frowned at that. "Do you want to join us? Or maybe we should switch?"

"Forget it..." He waved his hand, "Lingcan is fine, but I'm really afraid of Rinquanchuan..."

You know you're afraid...

"So my life is not easy either..." I sighed.

"I thought you were enjoying it."

"..."

"How did you know that?"

I asked somewhat helplessly.

"There's no need to speculate... Besides, all the boys in the class are convinced that you're a masochist."

So this is how these guys think of me privately...

"Being provoked by Linquanchuan all day and yet not going crazy, what else can this be but a masochist?" Liu Yan added, "That's their reason."

When you put it that way, I actually think it makes sense... No wonder!

"Hey...you don't really believe this, do you?"

"How could I believe it?" He said with a nonchalant expression.

"Oh oh..." I was inexplicably touched...

He smiled, put his right hand on my shoulder, and gave me a thumbs up.

"I know you're just too thick-skinned and don't care at all."

....I really want to hit him.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Students from Class 3, Grade 1..."

"Ah...it's our turn." Liu Yan subconsciously glanced at the crowd not far away, "It's time to go."

"Um..."

I followed him towards the school gate.

"Wow! Sheji, what a miscalculation!"

Ling Can's voice could be heard from a distance.