I Only Want to Focus on Studying!

"Yoichi! Why are there so many study guides in your room? What are you trying to do!?"

"Old man, don't be so loud. You're annoying."

"Shut up! Don't call me old man! Tell me! What's with all these study guides?!"

"I want to get into Todai."

"What!? You want to go to college!? You actually want to go to college? Aren't you going to inherit the family business?!"

"I'm going to college. That's nonnegotiable."

"How dare you say something so outrageous!? Do you think about how I raised you? If you don't inherit the business, who will!"

"Forget it, old man. Your business only covers a few shopping districts. Why even call it a family business?"

"Shut up! As my only son, you should be stepping in to take over already, shouldn't you!?"

"Stop it, old man. I don't have time to argue with you. I'm going to school."

"You're not going! You have to skip school today! Do you know what the guys in the group say about you? They say you're polite and cultured, Yoichi! How can you let them look down on you like that!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure!"

"Hey! Yoichi, are you listening to me? Hm? What are you looking at! What's that in your hand!"

"Oh, this is a little notebook of English vocabulary."

"What! You're studying English too? Are you planning to go abroad!? Throw it away!"

"Stop it, old man. Give me back my schoolbag. I'm going to school. Drink less and smoke less. It's getting cold, so I put your clothes on the sofa. Your lunch is on the table too, remember to take it."

"Shut up! You! Don't you dare be good to me! It makes me sick!"

"..."

Too lazy to deal with his pathetic father any longer, Akimoto Yoichi slung his schoolbag over his shoulder, walked down from the second floor, and left the house.

"Yoichi! Get back here! Who said you could go to school? Get back here!" He hadn't gone far when his father, Akimoto Yosuke, shouted at him through the window.

The passersby and neighbors nearby all poked their heads out.

Ignoring his father, Akimoto Yoichi greeted the neighbors politely and with a friendly smile. They promptly shut their windows.

Yoichi wasn't surprised. He kept walking toward school with his bag over his shoulder.

He knew perfectly well that he looked like someone who could easily be misunderstood.

He was 185 centimeters tall, dressed in a wrinkled uniform, with naturally fierce eyes and an unusual hair color.

Students and adults passing by instinctively lowered their heads and avoided him. Akimoto Yoichi had more or less gotten used to it.

"Man, I never thought I'd end up transmigrating into a dating sim, and as a lousy character, too."

He had transmigrated. Akimoto Yoichi hadn't originally belonged to this world.

He never imagined that he'd close his eyes, open them again, and find himself transmigrated into a dating sim as a villain.

Why not the male protagonist? Maybe it had something to do with his own love life.

From elementary school through high school, he'd only ever dared to admire girls from afar, never confessing. He'd been so innocent that just walking beside a girl or brushing arms with one was enough to make him blush.

At university, he fell for a goddess. This time, he stopped being a coward and pursued her bravely.

He was good to her in every way. He never missed a holiday gift, and always sent his greetings at exactly midnight.

He'd been too young back then, still believing in love.

She'd strung him along until he was practically wagging his tail. Whenever he ran out of living expenses, he'd get a part-time job. Goddess Day, Christmas, May 20, May 21—he had to spend money on all of them.

He put his studies aside entirely so he could go shopping with her.

Then, after graduating, he spent another three years fawning over her on credit, until she said he had no ambition and ran off with a rich kid.

That humiliating clown act made him stop believing in love—or any of that crap. What even was love?

After coming to his senses, he looked at the payment reminders popping up on his phone and had no choice but to become a wage slave, working as a low-level programmer at a game development company.

And so, at thirty-seven, he was still unmarried.

Back pain, diabetes, high blood pressure—he had the whole set.

Then, while working late into the night at the company, he kicked the bucket and transmigrated into a villain in a dating sim that was still in development.

Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it. Thinking it over, he decided transmigrating wasn't so bad.

Today was the first day of the dating sim's story.

The character he'd become, Akimoto Yoichi, was so young that it was practically a chance to start his life over.

Although the game had made him a textbook villain, Akimoto Yoichi had no intention of following the script. Romance? What a load of crap!

If he didn't work hard now, would he be hauling bricks after graduation?

He was going to college. He'd get into Todai, learn useful things, and find a good job so he could live an easy life.

He'd been given a second chance. Who would waste it on romance?

But if Akimoto Yoichi wanted to focus on studying, his biggest problem was undoubtedly his family.

His father was uneducated and not too bright. His mother had divorced and disappeared. It was a broken family.

How could Akimoto Yoichi possibly study properly in a family like that? The old man was doing everything he could to hold him back and make him take over.

He'd gone to the bookstore early that morning and bought a pile of study guides, hoping to catch up.

But after spending the whole morning reading, he'd discovered he couldn't even understand his middle school homework.

The only reason he'd managed to attend a decent high school was that he hadn't gotten in through his exam scores.

Even so, Akimoto Yoichi had no intention of giving up so soon.

At worst, he'd start from scratch.

Just as Akimoto Yoichi was thinking this, he crossed at a crosswalk and heard a commotion behind him.

He turned and saw a girl surrounded by several students in another school's uniform. She wasn't backing down or showing fear, but she was clearly at a disadvantage.

A few students from another school had cornered her beside a utility pole. The office workers and students passing by didn't seem inclined to help.

Wasn't that Suzuran Ayano? One of the heroines.

Akimoto Yoichi recognized her: the canine teeth, high ponytail, and sharp, upturned eyes that made her look so strong-willed. The Inari plushie hanging from her schoolbag was another of her signature traits.

The heroine getting harassed right at the start—this was classic dating sim plot.

Soon, the game's protagonist would show up and play the hero, probably getting hurt and earning the heroine's sympathy.

Sure enough, Akimoto Yoichi spotted the male lead nearby, looking timid, with messy, spiky hair.

It was none of his business. Akimoto Yoichi turned and prepared to leave, the English vocabulary notebook in his hand.

Instead of stepping in to help the heroine, he'd be better off memorizing more English words. He couldn't remember the ones in his notebook at all, but surely repeating them a few dozen times would help.

But as he turned, Akimoto Yoichi suddenly saw a system panel appear over Suzuran Ayano.

[Character: Suzuran Ayano]

[Height: 164]

[Weight: 92]

[Health: Normal]

[Number of Kisses: 0]

[Personality: Tsundere, strong offense and weak defense, afraid of loneliness]

[Academic Rating: A]

[Athletic Rating: B]

[Likes: Karate, craft videos, desserts, yellow/orange]

[Heroine Entry: Unforgettable—She still remembers their promise from when they were three]

[Effect: When the two of them are together, both their memories improve by 20%, and neither will forget]

New author, new book! Please be kind!