Social Anxiety and the Rock of Loneliness

Social Anxiety and the Rock of Loneliness

Author: 0404

Synopsis:

No simulator, no system, what to do? Luckily, I'm a pervert!

Can you make girls like you just by pleasing them?

What about being a troublemaker?

Perverts can't have harems either?! (Shouts)

Volume 1

1. I Am a Pervert

A life of mediocrity, working, facing people I don't want to face.

The only thing I look forward to each day is an unchanging tomorrow, because change is mostly for the worse.

Even though I've been smoothed out, the rough sandpaper continues to create new scars, polishing me further.

In the past, I could numb myself with anime and games, but gradually even that spiritual food couldn't fill the ever-growing void.

"Sigh..."

Amidst this weary sigh, a dazzling, heavy light approached, and the ear-piercing, panicked honking grew louder, until...

Bang!

Ishikawa Hayato opened his eyes.

At that moment, his eyes blazed with light. He threw off the covers and jumped out of bed.

Hands on his hips, he tilted his head back and shouted.

"Today, I am also a sufficient pervert!"

"Brother! You're so loud!"

From the next room, his sister's complaining shout could be heard.

But as a pervert, how could he not respond to complaints?

Ishikawa Hayato opened his door with lightning speed, rushed into his middle school sister's room without a word, and pointed from a distance at his sister, who had just gotten out of bed and was still in her pajamas.

"Foolish sister, how dare you resist me, your brother?"

Ishikawa Hayato's movements were smooth, his handsome face filled with righteousness.

Except he was still wearing light blue pajamas.

Ishikawa Hibiki, his sister, instantly blushed. Not from shame, but from anger.

With a brother like him, she'd never have to worry about low blood pressure in her life.

"You! Get! Out!"

She yelled and grabbed the nearest hard object without a second thought. Standing up, she took a small step back, channeling the strength of her ballet club president, and with a high kick, she landed and quickly threw her alarm clock.

An alarm clock thrown at 100 km/h!

Clock Throw!

Thump.

Ishikawa Hayato calmly caught the alarm clock thrown at his face, placed it on the floor, tilted his head back, and smiled triumphantly as he walked out.

He even closed the door behind him.

Returning to his room, Hayato changed into his school uniform. The deep brown, suit-style uniform did little to accentuate his handsomeness.

But he still tilted his head back in satisfaction and picked up his small bag.

"The second evolution of a pervert, high school student, begins!"

Ishikawa Hayato walked down from the second floor.

Having experienced a terrible life, he decided to live a different path this time.

If he continued to be timid and unresisting towards the things that suffocated him, just like in the past.

Then, no matter how many lifetimes he lived, he would only be an insect.

A tiny, insignificant, yet desperately toiling insect.

"Good morning! Mom, Dad, this is a greeting from your perverted high schooler."

Ishikawa Hayato walked down the stairs, raising his hand to greet his parents, who were sitting at the dining table, one reading a newspaper, the other drinking coffee.

"Good morning, Hayato."

His mother, completely unfazed by his strange remark, responded softly.

"Mm."

His father nodded.

These two had grown accustomed to this slightly abnormal greeting after years of his perverted remarks.

Ishikawa Hayato sat at the dining table to eat breakfast, and not long after, Ishikawa Hibiki also came downstairs.

Seeing her older brother sitting at the dining table, she twitched her brow and walked over hesitantly, sitting beside him.

But she silently moved her chair a little further away from the pervert.

Ishikawa Hayato, who was eating toast with sweet ketchup, noticed the movement of her chair and turned to look at his sister, who was wearing a long autumn/winter school uniform and black stockings on her legs.

He reached out and gave her a thumbs-up with a smile.

Instantly, Ishikawa Hibiki shivered and looked at her parents in terror.

Her parents, however, acted as if they saw nothing.

For her own safety, Ishikawa Hibiki decided to shift the blame.

"When is my perverted brother going to get a girlfriend?"

Her father, a doting dad, didn't even look up from the newspaper and casually chimed in.

"Once you're in high school, it's hard to find a girl you like."

"Mom agrees too, Hayato. You can't be so perverted anymore, or girls will be scared away."

Facing the triple assault, Hayato drank his coffee and swallowed the last bite of bread.

He stood up.

"In two months, I'll show you all the power of a harem king!"

With that, he confidently walked towards his parents.

"A kiss goodbye from a high school student!"

Amidst their helpless yet relieved expressions, he kissed each of their cheeks.

Finally, he turned to his sister. Ignoring her terrified gaze and desperate resistance, he kissed her cheek as well. Then, he picked up his school bag and went to the entrance.

"Good noon! This is a pre-greeting from a pervert! Bye-bye."

"Have a good trip~"

His mother bid him farewell with a smile.

Leaving his house, Ishikawa Hayato generously raised his hand to greet the elderly neighbor watering his flowers.

"Good morning, Grandpa! Can I have your granddaughter's LINE?"

"She's only 7! Get lost, you brat!"

Hearing the neighbor's amused scolding, Ishikawa Hayato quickened his pace with a smile.

Along the way, he greeted everyone he knew. Some completely ignored the perverted part of his greeting and responded with smiles, others teased him, and some even responded in a similar tone.

He smiled all the way.

Until he saw a girl standing in front of a display window, the smile on his face turned into surprise.

"So that's how it is..."

Despite having knowledge from his previous life and various works of art, Ishikawa Hayato didn't really want to use it.

He wanted to live a different life here, relying on himself.

Perhaps he would encounter bad things, perhaps he would fail, perhaps he would still hit rock bottom.

But he felt that if he used the works of others from his memory as a stepping stone to his own success, wouldn't he become the type of person he hated the most in the past?

Acquiring wealth by any means necessary, appropriating others' efforts to elevate his own status.

Perhaps his thinking was a bit extreme, but he had his own pride.

He didn't want to be corrupted.

He had already lost everything, but if he lost the last of his inner principles, what would he have left?

Therefore, for the past decade or so, he had lived an ordinary life. Although he was a bit of a genius and occasionally wrote novels with novel plots to earn some pocket money, he had always been ordinary.

But this didn't align with his aspirations.

How exactly did he want to live differently?

He had been pondering this.

And today, seeing the girl wearing a pink tracksuit, carrying a guitar, adorned with various band accessories, and with several band badges on her bag, suddenly gave him an idea.

He knew her, or rather, he might know this girl.

If he wasn't mistaken, her name was Gotou Hitori, a person with severe social anxiety, a character he knew from anime and games in his past life.

And at this moment, she was standing right before his eyes.

Alive, three-dimensional.

She looked in the mirror with some anticipation, a smile of unknown origin on her face. Her gaze shifted, and her expression suddenly tensed, her movements stiff as she walked forward.

Ah, she'd been noticed.

Ishikawa Hayato felt no guilt for staring at the girl for so long that he'd startled her.

Instead, he leisurely followed behind her.

"As a pervert, tailing someone should be pretty normal, right?"

Ishikawa Hayato thought about it; it made perfect sense, so he followed Gotou Hitori, who was growing increasingly nervous, without a second thought.

2. Declaration of Independence

W-what should I do? I'm being followed!

Gotou Hitori nervously quickened her pace, but...

He quickened his pace too!!

Hitori felt a life-or-death crisis and desperately tried to think.

That person was wearing the same school uniform as her, so they were probably just going to school normally... No! Then why did he speed up when she sped up?

Could it be... he saw the band merchandise she was wearing and came over to strike up a conversation?

Hitori stopped walking and stiffly, warily looked back. However, her head felt like a jammed gear, completely unable to turn.

This won't do!!