A Lonely S-Rank Explorer, Returning to His Student Days to Redo His Youth—It Seems the Strongest Loner Is Being Genuinely Loved by the Most Beautiful Girls in the School - Chapter 20: Hit With a Coffee Mill

After indulging in sweets at the Sweets Garden, Yuito and the others decided to go shopping at the station building.

“Yuito-san, how about this?”

“Yeah. I think it really suits you.”

What was brought to Hakari was a women’s apparel shop located in the building.

Hakari picks up clothes one after another. She tries them on in the changing room and asks Yuito for his opinion.

To be honest, since they all look good, the only thing he can say is “They look good.”

However, it seems that Hakari doesn’t like that reaction. She furrows her brows and groans.

“Hmm… Yuito-san’s reaction hasn’t changed…”

“Everything looks good on you. After all, you’re such a wonderful person, so I think anything you wear suits you.”

“Tsu!? Yuito-san, you really stab people without realizing it, don’t you?”

“?”

Hakari lets a smile slip from her restrained lips.

――Did I say something interesting?

When Yuito tilted his head in confusion, Hakari turned away with a huff.

“If anything is fine, I’ll choose according to my taste. I’ll go take care of the bill, so could you please wait for me?”

“Oh, then I’ll go buy a drink. Should we wait on that bench over there if one of us gets back first?”

Yuito points to the bench placed in front of the store.

It’s a space for shoppers in the station building to rest.

“Understood.”

After confirming that Hakari nodded, Yuito escaped from the apparel shop.

When he left the store, he felt a little lighter.

(For some reason, I always get nervous in clothing stores. It’s like when I enter a high-difficulty dungeon in a game even though my level is low… Maybe it’s because my fashion level isn’t high enough.)

Yuito looks down at his own clothes.

A white shirt with a black jacket. And navy pants with white sneakers.

It’s a fashion that can be described as “safe,” so to speak.

He looked at a corporate strategy site and tried putting together a Tier 1 build. That’s how it feels.

(I don’t know much about fashion, but… if I want to aim to be a “real” person, I might have to study. I’ll give it a try…)

Thinking about such things, Yuito walks around, moving his neck back and forth.

Isn’t it a vending machine?

However, what entered Yuito’s field of vision was a signboard with a familiar pattern.

(Huh!? S-Star Books!?)

That is a famous coffee chain. The memory of going there with Kirika and the others right after the entrance ceremony is still fresh.

He can buy drinks over there. Moreover, it’s a stylish bottle with a unique logo on it.

Clearly, the level of style has increased. This will bring Yuito one step closer to the ideal of a fulfilling life.

(Holding a stubby bottle in one hand and taking a break is something I long for… but—stubbies are scary!!)

Starbucks is a coffee shop with a strong stylish image.

That place is a sanctuary reserved only for the popular kids. If a nerdy outcast steps in, they’ll be beaten up while being spun around in a hula hoop.

When he says “large” when deciding the size, he ends up getting roasted along with the coffee.

…That’s going too far, but Yuito had a complex about stubs.

(Ugh… but if I take the vending machine’s plastic bottle home, Hakari-san might think I’m lame.)

The image of Hakari floated in Yuito’s mind. She looked down at Yuito with eyes that seemed to see him as garbage.

“Haa… You can’t even go to the club by yourself, can you, Yuito-san…? Well, since there’s no helping it, I’ll go with you, you pitiful Yuito-san.”

It’s a complete delusion of persecution.

Hakari doesn’t care about such things. Besides, vending machines aren’t uncool to begin with.

Even though Yuito understood that his delusions were expanding in a negative direction.

However, when negativity reaches its peak, it can transform into proactivity. Some might call it self-destructive behavior.

(If I’m going to die anyway, I might as well die fighting!! I’ll conquer the stub solo!!)

Yuito’s eyes gleamed with determination. They were eyes full of resolve.

From here on, Yuito will challenge the instant-death dungeon specialized for introverts.

Clenching his fist tightly, Yuito stepped forward to the stub.

…He’s putting too much effort into just a regular coffee shop.

In Yuito’s hands, as he came out of the store, were two bottles filled to the brim with cream.

“I ordered something amazing without really understanding it…”

What Yuito ordered was a matcha frappuccino. It was a desert mountain with extra whipped cream, topped with chocolate sauce and colorful sprinkles.

He asked the store clerk for recommendations and nodded along to some technical jargon he didn’t really understand, and this is what happened.

“Well, it’s probably stylish, right? It ‘pops’… right…?”

Holding two Mount Everests of whipped cream, Yuito returns to the bench where Hakari is likely waiting.

However, there was no sign of Hakari on the bench.

He peeks into the apparel shop, wondering if she’s still there, but he can’t find her anywhere.

“Maybe she went home… No, if it’s Hakari-san, she would at least contact me even if she had an urgent matter…”

Yuito placed the matcha frappuccino on the bench and took out his smartphone.

As expected, he hasn’t received any contact from Hakari.

He should try to get in touch and call via the app.

Ring ring ring ring♪ Ring ring ring ring♪

The rhythmic sound of the xylophone resonates. It’s not just from Yuito’s smartphone.

He looked for the source of the sound.

The man standing very close by was holding a smartphone in a flip case.

That smartphone looks familiar. It looks just like the one Hakari was using.

“Um, excuse me. That smartphone…”

“Could it be that you know the owner of this smartphone?”

“Yes. That’s true, but…”

“I see… I just contacted the police as well. This young lady with the smartphone was taken away by some unsavory person…”

“…May I ask you for more details?”

Yuito squinted his eyes and asked the man holding the smartphone.