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

"...a friend is here to see you... um..."

"......" I had no intention of listening to the conversation between the mother and daughter, so I shifted my attention to the TV nearby.

“Crack—”

With nothing else to do, I reached out and opened the drink in my hand.

"She said you can go to her room."

"..."

Although I know that it's not surprising for her to do something like this given her personality... but as a mother, it's not normal for her to let a boy she just met into her daughter's room...

"I think it's better to let her out..."

"That's what I said, but she said it was okay, and she looked busy playing games, so she probably wouldn't come out."

"...Ah..." I thought she was sick in bed, but I didn't expect she was playing games.

"I see..."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Yohoo~ Xiaoyu, you're here."

As soon as I walked in, I heard this familiar accent, which made me feel like I was in an activity room for a moment.

Now, it seems like there's nothing special about a girl's room. No pink wallpaper, no stuffed animals, and it's pretty much the same as mine, except a little bigger.

At this time, Tongyou was sitting on the toy floor in thin pajamas, holding the handle in his hand and staring at the display screen on the wall.

"...Weren't you feeling unwell?" I asked helplessly, "Why do you look fine now?"

"...because it only got better this morning."

When she said this, her hands paused slightly, which showed that she was definitely lying.

"If you're okay, just tell me. I really can't stand you..."

However, seeing that she was alright, I felt relieved and walked towards where she was.

"Want to play together? Well, there are basically no games that can be played by two people together..." She looked at the game boxes on the bookshelf next to her.

"Where did you get the money to buy games... and the PS4 in your hand..."

"...I have my own ways." She seemed reluctant to reveal the source, but I could guess that this must be her savings over the years.

"Plus, Monster Hunter World is about to be released... Zelda has even released a trailer in Chinese... There are so many games in the world, it makes me want to sell my body."

"This idea is really..." It's impossible to complain.

"For example, selling a liver or kidney..."

"..."

It turns out that selling one's body refers to body organs.

"I thought you were going to work." It's better to play dumb at this time.

“It’s impossible to work part-time.”

"Then don't try to break the law. You will definitely get caught if you steal." From what I understand, her brain isn't very good, and she's so careless in her work, how could she possibly perform such a difficult technique as stealing.

"Don't worry..." She whispered in my ear, "As long as we don't get caught, it's not illegal."

"...That's enough. Even memes should be used in moderation." I turned my head to the side, and suddenly something occurred to me. "Oh, by the way, didn't you say you had no interest in games the last time we went out together?"

"Huh? I just can't stand those pixel side-scrolling games."

"...Well, no wonder. After all, this is a different era now."

I once remembered the line from "A Tale of Two Cities": "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." This line is so classic that even if you haven't read the book, you'll still have some impression of it. And the reason this line is so classic is that it applies to any era. No era is perfect; rather, it's impossible to judge an era by its nature.

"Hmm? What era?" She became interested in what I said and asked.

"No, it's nothing."

"What's wrong? I always feel like you're a little nervous..."

"No."

I can't bring myself to say that I lost my temper with Li Moya.

"Well, anyway, I'm glad you came to see me." She forced a laugh. "Anyway, it's kind of embarrassing to leave you here alone watching me play. Do you want to try it too?" She handed me the controller and said, "If you don't like this one, you can choose another one. I have more in my bookcase."

"...You really have a lot of free time. If you had the time, why didn't you come to my place earlier? It would be very tiring for me to help you alone." And if you were here, I would definitely not do that kind of thing.

"Hey? It's not over yet? You came so early today, isn't it because there is no more help needed?" She looked at me in surprise.

"No one said we didn't need help, really...don't take it for granted." When will she ever stop taking things for granted? She's the same way when she helps others solve problems in the club, always saying things like "it'll work out when the time comes" and making all sorts of unrealistic plans. "Can you please be considerate of me for a moment?"

"Well, then, tomorrow, I'll go with you." She still didn't take it seriously. "Let's just play games and relax today."

"..."

Although I like games, there are some things that cannot be solved by games alone.

"I'm not here to play games."

It's time to explain your intentions.

"What? When I asked you to play a game with me, you said, 'I'm not here to play games.' I think you're just scared."

"...I'm not."

Although I don't know exactly what the purpose is.

"Oh, I get it. You only know how to play those corny, outdated games, but you know nothing about this kind of game, so you want to escape, right? I understand, I understand~"

But I definitely didn't come here to see her mocking face.

"I accept the challenge." I snatched the controller from her hand. "Now let's get started."

"Oh wow, you're quite ambitious."

She sneered again and took out another game disc from the box beside her.

"..."

I decided that before I told her about my troubles, I would bet my years of gaming experience and faith on defeating her in her own area of ​​expertise.

Inferring others from oneself

“I want to experience as many different things as possible in my limited life.”

When I introduced myself, I expressed my thoughts in this way, and my classmates just applauded me, as if they didn't think it was anything worth paying attention to.

"You said you wanted a different experience, right?"

Just when I thought the matter was over, my homeroom teacher called me to her office after school. To my surprise, she seemed to have premeditatedly repeated what I had said to me.

"Um..."

I nodded for some unknown reason.

"So, what do you think about studying?" she asked me again with interest.

"...There's too little to learn from books at this stage. So... maybe I can learn more by interacting with others."

"So, what do you think you can accomplish on this campus?"

"...Caring about classmates? Respecting teachers and elders?"

"Have you ever thought about helping your classmates? By solving their problems, you should be able to get a good experience, right?" She took the initiative to offer me advice.

"Ah... that does sound good."

After all, it was the first time a teacher said this to me.

"But how am I supposed to do that?"

"I'm not sure, I'm just offering a suggestion. Your speech is quite unique compared to others, and you seem talented, so I thought there might be a club that would be perfect for you." She pulled a key from a drawer. "If what you say is true, and you truly want to help others, I'll leave this club to you."

"..."

I have always been decisive in doing things, but I actually hesitated about this proposal.

"What's wrong? Do you think you can't do it well?"

"No..." That's not the case.

"I just want to gain some experiences that are hard to come by normally... But can helping others really get me anything? And isn't helping others just a thankless task? And what if I can't do it?"

I still expressed my concerns.

"Regarding this... I can't give you a clear answer, as I never did anything like this during my student days. Of course, I can't guarantee that it will be as you envision."

She smiled at me sheepishly.

"I see..."

"But, in this process, you're bound to meet different people, and they're bound to have different stories. Once you figure it out, isn't it the same as if you've experienced it yourself? And won't it be completely consistent with what you expect?"

"..."

"I'm not forcing you. As a teacher, I just want my students to study hard. It's best not to think about anything else..." She smiled bitterly. "But if you can say that, will you really study hard?"

"...I think it's a bit difficult, hehe~"

The teacher actually noticed this.

"Being frank is a good thing." She just smiled at that. "So, do you think school is just a place for teaching?"

"...Isn't it?"

"Beyond that, it's also about educating people. A senior of mine once told me that a person's character has nothing to do with their grades. Yet, most teachers overlook this point..."

"..."

"As you can see, there are a lot of students in this school. The administrators can only ensure they don't do anything out of line, and the school rules only formally restrict students' actions. But at this age, they're bound to have worries. We teachers worry, but students won't talk to us. These worries won't just affect their studies; over time, they'll also take a toll on their mental health."

"...That makes sense..."

"So, I think it's necessary to try this club that focuses on helping others. And you seem to be the most suitable candidate at the moment."

"...That being said, if my grades drop because of this..." I doubt my parents would agree.

"If you have any questions, you can come to me. Helping students improve their grades is my forte... although no one bothers me at all."

"..."

"So, what's your choice?"

After a brief period of depression, was it really depression?

Anyway, she asked about my decision again.

"...I..."

Chapter 24: Pushing Others by Oneself

After I chose to help those in need and accepted the cooperative, I don't know whether it was by chance or necessity, but I accidentally met someone who was very important to me... no, to the entire club.

Although I just wanted to make up the numbers at that time, after he actually joined my club, I gradually realized...I am a genius in decision-making.

"That won't work at all!"

Even though he was a member of the club, he had absolutely no respect for me as the club leader. Rather, he was completely in denial about me, repeatedly rejecting my solutions to the problems I was trying to solve.

However, after denying it, he would come up with a better implementation plan. In view of this, I did not pursue his disrespectful words to me.

In my opinion, he is indeed a person with great ideas. He is able to put himself in other people's shoes, make assumptions and make analyses, which is far beyond the average person, but he never takes it seriously.

"Isn't that normal?"

This is how he responded to it.

"This is impossible..." Xun Yu looked depressed after I easily overtook him and turned defeat into victory. Then he looked at me unwillingly, "This round doesn't count, let's try again!"

"No problem~" I responded with a smile.

Yes, although he has some ideas, he has some irreversible prejudices in some aspects.