A Man Who Lost Confidence, to a Gentle Chastity-Reversed World - Chapter 5: Whether a Dream or Reality

Chapter 5: Whether a Dream or Reality

After browsing the internet, I finally grasp the worldview of this dream. It’s quite an unrealistic setting.

First, the biggest piece of information is that men are in decline. Not exactly rare, but the current gender ratio is about 1:4, men to women.

Decades ago, the gender ratio of newborns began to tilt gradually, and since no way to stop it was found, this is the current situation.

Naturally, experts in various fields researched extensively, but no method to alter gender was discovered. The reluctant conclusion is to wait for nature to balance itself out.

As a result, women across countries have become more proactive in seeking the few men available. The era of “beware of men, they’re wolves” is long gone, and “carnivorous women” have become the norm. Though, not everyone is like that, apparently.

At the same time, men have become more “herbivorous.” Being taught from childhood that women are sexually assertive, or learning it from their surroundings, has made men more timid.

Especially regarding sexual acts, many men feel like they’re being preyed upon. The feeling of being “erotic” has largely become exclusive to women.

Consequently, free love and sexual relationships between men and women have continued to decline. Naturally, this has led to a low birth rate, making artificial insemination a common practice. Getting sperm from men for that, though, seems quite challenging.

In this situation, giving birth through free love and sexual relationships has become very rare. For women, it’s almost treated as an honor.

Moreover, surveys show that women yearn for relationships where men actively pursue them, a desire that comes up frequently in search results.

Having gone through all this information, I lie on the bed. Fully convinced this is a dream—a conveniently perfect situation—I let out a sigh.

It might be interesting if this dream continues tomorrow, I think lightly, drifting off to sleep. Even in a dream, talking face-to-face with a beautiful woman is exhausting for me.

Surely, if I fall asleep here, I’ll return to the real world. That’s how dreams work, I think, closing my eyes, aiming to wake up from this dream.

And then, I open my eyes again. I assume I’ve returned to the real world—the dull, painful world—as I wake from sleep.

But when I wake, the scenery is exactly the same.

“Why…?”

The word slips out of my mouth. Falling asleep in a dream should wake you up—that’s the usual rule. If not, how am I supposed to wake up? I have no idea.

Could this world actually be reality? Could something as absurd as being transported to another world really be happening?

I try to think it through, but in the end, I give up. A dream I don’t know when I’ll wake from feels almost like reality, so there’s no need to force myself to wake up.

Fortunately, my consciousness is clear, and I can even taste food. I can sense the sweetness of rice, something I barely noticed in reality.

Between a colorless reality and a dream that might have color, I’d rather stay in the latter. I convince myself it’s like being thrown into another world.

Starting to think about this world bit by bit, I decide to return to the living room. The woman who seems like my mother and the one who seems like my sister—two people who, for now, feel like allies—should still be there.

Maybe this is a chance to rediscover the emotional communication I’ve forgotten how to do. I indulge in that small luxury of a thought.