Chapter 3

"Where am I?"

When I opened my eyes, a sea of green rushed into my view.

Tall trees with lush foliage stood densely, blocking out the sunlight. The chirping of birds could be heard nearby. This must be a forest.

In front of me was a small shrine.

"How do you feel? You are now Sōya Takeharu. How are your memories? Are you confused?"

The goddess asked, and I searched my memories. Hmm, no problem. I have both my original memories and the memories of this body.

"I seem to be fine."

At the same time, I understood where I was. This was a place the original owner of this body often used to hide from women.

It seems he spent a year repairing the dilapidated shrine to bring it to its current state. Quite skilled, I must say. Apparently, he has been praying here every day recently.

In fact, the last memory I have is of him praying fervently here. This body was switched without his consent.

"That's good. It seems your memories are fine."

"I still have my original memories and the memories of this body... huh?"

I understood why the original owner of this body would hide from women here. Indeed, he is popular. Very popular. There's no doubt about it.

He is a handsome, high-spec individual, just as the goddess said. His social skills are questionable, but that's only because there are only women around him...

"What's wrong, Takeharu-kun?"

The goddess smiled slyly.

"Goddess, damn it, this isn't Japan, is it!"

"Of course it is. You live in Tokyo, and you're using Japanese, aren't you?"

The goddess took a pose as if to say, "How could you think otherwise?" But I wasn't fooled.

"Even if it's Japan, the address is Tokyo Special Zone. There's no such ward in the 23 wards! And the gender ratio in this world is off the charts!"

"That's true. This is a parallel world version of Japan, so some discrepancies are inevitable. Everything is a discrepancy, a discrepancy. But, your high school entrance ceremony is tomorrow, and it's a co-ed school. Isn't that great!"

I only half-listened to the goddess. She wasn't lying, but she wasn't telling me the important things. The more I delved into the memories of the body's owner, the more I understood. Of course he's popular.

In this world, men are extremely rare.

"Seriously!?"

As I organized my memories, I understood more.

"Of course, you'd look for a body to swap with from a parallel world. In this world, no matter which man you swapped with, the situation wouldn't be much different."

The skewed gender ratio has distorted society. As a result, men's thinking is very different from the original world.

"That's right! I'm very grateful. Seeing Takeharu-kun deteriorate day by day was unbearable for me..."

The goddess made a gesture as if she were about to cry, but it was clearly fake.

From the way she brought me here with full intent, it's clear this goddess is quite devious. The original owner of this body is indeed pitiful.

It's probably because it's spring break. Recently, he has been coming here three times a day to pray fervently. If things continued like this, he would have become mentally ill or committed suicide. He was that desperate.

Feeling pity, the goddess appeared to him once. But he fainted upon seeing her.

In his fading consciousness, I saw the goddess's panicked face, like Munch's "The Scream." After regaining consciousness, he thought he had had a nightmare due to his fear of women.

Since then, the goddess hasn't shown herself.

With such a fragile mental state, it's amazing he made it to 15 years old.

"Middle school... he managed to get through it... oh, I see."

He was taken care of by the girls in his class. It's a pitiful situation, but he relied on his classmates for all external interactions, minimizing his contact with women.

Before graduating middle school, fate smiled cruelly. Men can go to high school without exams, but they have no choice in where they go.

In this special zone, there are boys' schools, girls' schools, and co-ed schools. Men are assigned to their high schools by the administration. Only a few men are sent to co-ed schools.

His good looks and high specs must have worked against him. It seems that those with good looks are prioritized for co-ed schools. (The reason is obvious.)

Until now, he was protected by his family and close female friends at school. He was in a calm sea, but now he had to navigate rough waters.

I can understand the mental stress. But that's not the only problem.

"College and co-ed high school boys are required to participate in male service activities. This was a heavy burden for Takeharu-kun."

The goddess folded her arms and nodded. She must have read my thoughts.

Male service activities, or "service activities," are one of the few obligations for men recognized by the state.

In college, it's a mandatory graduation requirement, and the same applies to co-ed high schools. If you don't complete the required number of sessions, you are called a "service activity refuser."

This can lead to a delayed graduation or, ultimately, expulsion as a "service activity rejector." Men who are expelled from high school or college are shunned by society.

If you can't even give encouragement at companies or schools, you won't be able to work in a society dominated by women. That's true.

But for the original owner of this body, the thought of being among a group of women was unbearable.

Originally, these service activities were only required for men who didn't fulfill their obligations in society and college. However, due to the strong, almost desperate appeals of women, they were limited to co-ed high school boys who have immunity to women.

Given this, it's understandable why the goddess would want to meddle before he started school.

"Things are different from what I expected, but being popular is a fact... well, it's fine."

I decided to think this way. After all, for me, talking to women is a reward in itself.

This is a "gentle story," as I mentioned in the synopsis.

If a young person from the modern world were to go to a world with a skewed gender ratio, how would they live? I built the world while thinking about this.

Considering why the world became this way, its history, and its society, the prototype of "A Gentle Story" was formed. Now, it's just a matter of advancing the story.

In this work, I want to carefully follow the emotional changes of him and the women around him. I tried to make the story as realistic as possible. Given the absurd setting, I imagine what the world would be like if it actually happened.

And one more thing.

This is not a story about an unpopular man living as he pleases in a world with a skewed gender ratio. Because he knows the pain, sadness, and emptiness of being unpopular.

Knowing pain makes a person kind. I hope you enjoy the story of him and them.