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3. Exchanged Life
“……This is?”
Inside the forest?
When I opened my eyes, my field of vision was filled with green.
Large trees with plenty of leaves were scattered, obstructing the sunlight.
Birds’ sounds could be heard nearby.
And A small shrine was in front of me.
『”How is it? You are now, “Taketo Souya”, How is your memory? Are you confused?”』
The Goddess told me to explore my memory.
I had the original memory of my unpopular self and the memory of this body.
Yeah, no problem…
“It seems, all’s going well.”
At the same time, I knew where this was.
It was the place that the owner of this body often used to hide from women.
The decayed shrine in front of me was steadily repaired over a year and made into its current shape.
Quite persistent huh?
Apparently, I’d been praying here every day these days.
Rather, the last memory of the real owner of my new body was praying here.
Meant that, the Goddess had replaced our soul without the consent of the person.
『”Good. Your memory seems to be okay.”』
“Well, seems I have my own memory, and the memory of this…body?”
At this moment, I understood why the owner of the body came here hiding from the women.
Certainly, he’s popular. Yeah, popular. Not wrong at all.
And as the goddess said, he seems to be handsome and has high specs.
As for his communication skill… well, perhaps, that’s because there are only women around him…!
『”What happened, Taketo-kun?”』
The goddess was grinning at me.
“Oi, Goddess! Here! It’s not Japan, isn’t it?!!”
『”Oh my, that can’t be, this is, Japan, you know? Taketo-kun lives in Tokyo, and he speaks in Japanese, you know?”』
The goddess posed as if she was surprised by my remarks. But I couldn’t be fooled.
“Even though here, is indeed Japan, but, his address is in Special Ward Tokyo! Tokyo isn’t supposed to be listed among 23 Special Wards! More so, the gender ratio is strange in this world!!!” [TN: Yes, Tokyo has 23 Special Wards, But none of the Special Ward is named “Tokyo”]
『”Of course, that’s the case. This is a parallel world of Japan, so some “errors” are unavoidable. It’s all just a small different condition, very small. Ah, look, tomorrow, it’s the high school entrance ceremony. It’s a co-education, a co-ed high school. You must be happy, right?!”』
Only half of the words of the Goddess went into my ear. She wasn’t telling a lie, but she wasn’t telling me something important either.
The more I explored the memory of the owner of the body, the more I could understand all this. The reason why he was popular. No, He should be popular, or it would be strange.
After all, there were extremely few men in this so-called Parallel World.
“Are you for reeeaaaaallll?!!”
I screamed.
As I organized my memories, I learned more and more.
“That’s why, you’re looking for someone to exchange your life with someone from a parallel world. It doesn’t matter what kind of man will replace you. After all, this world is…”
The strange gender ratio distorted society.
Because of that, the way of thinking of a man living here, was also very different from those living in my original world.
『”That’s right! And that’s why, I am very grateful. I can’t stand to see Taketo-kun, getting worse day by day…”』
The Goddess made a crying gesture, but it was clearly a fake cry.
From the fact that she brought me here with sweet words only, this Goddess could be called, a scammer.
However, the owner of this body was really pitiful.
Probably because it was spring break. He had been coming here three times a day, praying with all his heart.
And if this continued for a while, he would get a mental illness or be prepared to commit suicide. It could be said that the person himself was cornered.
Perhaps feeling pity, the Goddess appeared in front of him, albeit only once.
But he fainted when he saw the Goddess.
In the fading consciousness, there was the face of the Goddess panicked. It was like Edvard Munch’s art called “The Scream”.
After regaining consciousness, he thought he had a dream, caused by his fear of women that was getting worse.
Since then, the Goddess didn’t appear in front of him.
With that kind of mentality, I’m surprised that he can reach 15 years old.
“Let’s see… when in junior high school… he managed to spend his days normally… Oh, that’s what it is.”
It seemed the girls in the same group were very careful with him.
Rather, it could be said he was being outcasted――In other words, all negotiations with other girls were left to the group members, and it seemed that the number of females he interacted with was reduced as much as possible.
And before graduating from junior high school, fate waved cruelly.
Men could go to high school without an exam. However, they couldn’t choose the school.
There were boys’ schools, girls’ schools, and co-ed schools in the Special Wards. But men, only men, were assigned by the government to decide which high school they would go to.
Only a few men were sent to co-ed schools.
It seemed that high specs and good-looking would only backfire on those who didn’t like girls.
Basically, those who were in good shape were given priority when being sent to a co-ed school.
Until now, he was protected by his family and at school by good girls.
Even though he was in such a calm sea, suddenly a wild wave sent him into the fierce sea.
… I see. Of course, the mental stress is understandable.
But, that’s not the only problem.
『”University male students and co-ed school boys must take part in “Male Service Activity”. For Taketo-kun, it was a heavy responsibility on his heart.”』
The goddess was nodding with her arms crossed.
Did you read my thoughts?
“Male Service Activities”, or “MSA” in short, was an obligation to the few men recognized by the state.
At university, for men, it would be a mandatory credit for graduation, and the same was true for co-ed high schools.
If men didn’t complete the prescribed number of times before graduation, they would be called the “Rejector of Service Activities” or “Rejector” in short.
In that case, graduation would be postponed until the prescribed number of times was completed, or eventually, the student would drop out as the “Decliner of Service Activities”, or “Decliner” in short.
Men who dropped out of high school or college would be pointed out by the public.
If one couldn’t do a simple thing such as encouraging the girls who were working in a company or studying in school, working and living in a female-majority society in the future would be hard.
Well, in a sense, that’s true.
But, seems like, no matter what, the owner of this body couldn’t bear to enter the swarm of women.
In the olden days, this “MSA” was imposed only on slacking working adults who didn’t fulfill their obligations and college students, but many females… strongly, desperately appealed for more. And, thus, somehow, the male students of the co-ed schools, who were said to have some immunity against women were elected to join the “MSA”.
…If that’s is the case, of course, the Goddess will certainly want to interfere before the enrolment, but well…
“It wasn’t what I expected but… surely I’ll be popular, so all is good, I guess?”
I decided to think so.
After all, talking to a woman, was only a reward for me.