HoloWorld: Alternative!

Chapter 1 (Vol 1) - Life Short-Lived

It was the usual Friday all students would experience — boring, yet anticipated. The excitement of Saturday coming, knowing they all would have free time, filled their hearts with at least the smallest possible happiness. Even if they did something trivial or time-consuming, the weekends were more than enough of a blessing from the mental labor that school would give them.

As for one guy whose name was Hajime Kumoyama, he was just waiting for that sweet moment when the bell would ring. It's not like he didn't pay attention to class, but at this point, the teacher was just elaborating on her lesson, so Hajime could zone out for the remainder of the time.

It was only 1 minute left, but the students felt like it took forever for the clock to just signal the bell that it was finally time to go home. The teacher could practically hear their murmurs and whispers going, "Come on, come on!"

Then, once the clock landed at 4:00, a ringing noise filled the hallways as the teacher stopped writing on the whiteboard and placed down the marker on the pen tray as she dismissed the whole class. Everybody packed their bags, put their books in their desks, and went out of the classroom like a stampede was occuring. Hajime didn't wanna get involved, so he stayed back until he could safely go out without being pushed accidentally by any of the students.

It finally marked the weekend. Everybody could relax and rest, and not have to worry about school for a while.

Hajime considered himself an ambivert, but he wasn't that much of a party animal. Where others would invite friends to play games like League of Legends or Valorant, or go somewhere and have fun like window shopping or Karaoke, Hajime enjoyed being alone most of the time. Exercising, reading, watching shows or videos on Youtube, these were some activities he would do — all which he could enjoy without the need for company.

His way to the train station involved a street where it was near a river, and so he could enjoy not only the warmth of the sun in all of its glory, but also to hear nothing but the water streaming along and his footsteps. There wasn't that much traffic at that part fortunately, so he could freely dive deep into his thoughts without worrying about distractions from the outside.

Man, if only every day was like this... Hajime mused as he gave a little chuckle.

After he had arrived at the train station, he looked down at his phone and turned it on to check the time.

...I can still make it...

What Hajime was referring to was a person very dear to him. If he had to put it into words, it was his dad — the one who had been taking care of him ever since the day he was born into this world. He wasn't living with him anymore though, but he made sure to visit his place monthly.

Once the train had arrived and he had secured his seat, he was just listening to music through his earphones. Though, he was able to overhear a young girl talking to her parents. Hajime honestly felt a bit shocked upon hearing it.

"Dad, you think mom will like the present?"

"Of course, honey."

It wasn't anything special to them, but to Hajime, it was something he yearned to have back. It had been a while since Hajime had ever experienced a conversation like that with his dad. Not like he didn't have a conversation ever in his visits, but to have a nice moment where they could talk like that normally was something he strived for. While Hajime was living alone in an apartment, his father would be living alone somewhere else, staring out the window of his room as his carer would check on him from time to time. As for Hajime's mother...let's just say he also visits her, but in a different way.

As he was deep in his semi-melancholic train of thought, he felt his phone vibrating. This prompted him to check it out. It was a live stream from a famous streamer.