NOVEL NEXT chapter 39
39 Efficient and Inefficient Consumption of Time
Phew.
Time is a limited resource for everyone.
I believe that individuals should decide how to use this resource based on their reasons for living—however, there are living beings for whom that’s not possible.
Primarily, it applies to living beings belonging to “society.”
Those belonging to “society” sometimes find themselves unable to decide how to use their own time—just like me right now.
The consecutive holidays that started in May were filled with strong sunlight.
Exposed to strong winds and direct sunlight, my lips were dry, and my body was parched. Despite the temperature being somewhat hot, I felt like I was in a desert mentally.
Midway through the holidays, I went to the cinema.
A movie is an entertainment that shows videos on a large-scale magic board (screen).
While it’s true that watching video works with high volume and a large screen can be powerful, they are often later released for home viewing. So, I don’t feel the need to go to the cinema and spend money and magic power.
In short, watching movies is not a valuable use of time for me—however, the problem arises from the pressure of “socializing,” which requires me to allocate my time even if I don’t personally value it.
Now, there are less than ten minutes until the movie starts.
As someone who wants to be fully prepared for anything, I feel like I should take my seat soon. The sunlight is strong, the wind is strong, and people are flocking to the cinema. I’m getting anxious. Or rather, will I make it in time to buy a ticket? Should I have bought one in advance?
I don’t want to rush… Rushing causes stress. I need to live for about ninety years in this lifetime to avoid the “natural life span assessment,” so I don’t want to shorten my life due to stress.
Seriously, why isn’t anyone coming?
Martin is fine. He’s always late. But Sheila never seems to be late… No, wait, that’s just my impression. In fact, I’ve never arranged to meet Sheila before.
I jumped the gun…!
It’s been twenty minutes since the meeting time. I’m here alone, but perhaps this was Sheila’s cunning trap to steal my study time.
I firmly believe that “Sheila wouldn’t do such a thing,” and that’s why I should consider the possibility of a trap.
Whether it’s a trap or an attack, malicious actions always come unexpectedly from an unexpected direction.
So, the ideal is to always be suspicious of everything, but I want to avoid the mental exhaustion that comes from constantly being suspicious in every direction.
That’s why I carefully choose what to be suspicious of and what not to be suspicious of, and I concluded that Sheila doesn’t use cunning… but has that judgment been surpassed?
Could it be—Sheila is an “enemy”?
So many ideas come to mind when I think about it.
I have always lived with the purpose of **”not standing out”**… but during elementary school, when I competed with Sheila in grades, that intention was shattered.
In middle school, I had relatively unremarkable days (aside from becoming the student council president). However, as soon as I entered high school and reunited with Sheila, I found myself in a position like the representative of the escalator group, clashing with Sheila, who had settled into the role of the representative of the external group, and continuing to stand out…
But, but, something is a little strange.
If Sheila is the “enemy,” there are clearly odd points. It’s that the “enemy” is supposed to “take away the fighting spirit,” yet Sheila openly exposes her fighting spirit and stirs up my fighting spirit.
Which one is the mistake?
Is it the judgment that Sheila is the “enemy”?
Or is it the analysis that the “enemy” is moving with the strategy of “taking away the fighting spirit”?
Which one is it…
As I pondered with a troubled look, a red-haired woman appeared at the edge of my field of vision.
It’s Sheila.
She is arriving **twenty-five minutes late** compared to our meeting time—probably because she ran. She stopped in front of me, breathing heavily and sweating, needing a few seconds to catch her breath.
And then…
“Sorry. The two people who were supposed to come today suddenly said they can’t… I was confirming the situation, so I came late.”
Two people suddenly?
If it was one person, I could understand. But two people at the same time? Is such a coincidence possible?
As I felt skeptical, the mobile device that I had been gripping tightly in my hand rang.
It was a message from Martin, the guy who was supposed to watch a movie together today, sent through our group chat. He and the other person expressed this:
“I’m sorry, I can’t make it today.”
…Think.
Such a coincidence is impossible. Would four out of the six people suddenly announce their absence?
Moreover, Martin is always late. However, even though he is often late, he always contacts me before the meeting time.
It’s a trap.
It’s without a doubt some kind of trap—but I don’t know what the purpose of the trap is.
Looking at Sheila, she seems to be unaware of the situation. That means Sheila, like me, has become a victim of the trap.
Of course, there could be other possibilities, but there’s no time to spare for thinking. Both Sheila and I have no choice but to proceed with our analysis from the perspective of being victims.
What will the person who set the trap do after sending Sheila and me to the movie theater?
What do Sheila and I have in common?
Why did Martin and the others set a trap for Sheila and me?
…I see, that’s what it is.
I tell Sheila –
It seems that Martin and the others are aiming for the top grades in the upcoming test.
“What does that mean!?”
Sheila and I are the top two in the class (for the sake of my honor, I’ll mention that I’m the top in the grade, and Sheila is third in the grade).
Sending only the two of us to the movies… it’s clear that there’s an intention to make us waste time on something other than studying.
Time is a finite resource. For about two hours while watching a movie, we have no choice but to watch it… it’ll be dark inside the theater, so it’ll be difficult to study there.
So the purpose is clear.
Martin and the others are trying to take away our study time and win in the upcoming test.
This can be evaluated as a clever and despicable act.
As we, second-year high school students, aiming for a significant meaning of grades in life, and those aiming for university admissions, would want better grades than others.
For external exams, ultimately it’s about ability, so there’s little meaning in trapping us, but for those aiming for recommended entrance exams, the position of “top in the grade” would be attractive…
“Are they really going to do such a cowardly thing?”
Sheila, you just don’t know the cunning of living organisms.
Causing harm to others with trivial feelings, and stabbing the weak with the blade of goodwill, that’s the usual behavior of living organisms that form “society” – well, it’s pointless to say this around here. Sheila is experiencing life for the first time, so she probably has a strong desire to believe in her own kind.
But being caught in this vile trap, I couldn’t feel frustrated or betrayed at all.
Rather, I feel like saying “Good for you!” and welcoming it – yes, because the true duty of a student is to study.
The fact that Martin and the others set a trap for Sheila and me means that there was prior consultation between the two guys and two girls.
And what that means is that, after all, involving me in the movie was just an excuse to “be concerned about Martin,” and it proves that there wasn’t a single girl in this world who wanted to confess to Martin.
Are there any other such exhilarating events in life like this one!
…Of course, I want to maintain my top grades, and I believe that studying is important for the purpose of “living through.”
In reality, Martin did something that could be considered a threat to my existence by setting a trap –
What’s going on?
At that moment, I had a very aggressive feeling of “crushing them with grades and making them regret setting the trap.”
So I call out to Sheila.
Hey, Sheila – let’s study.
To crush the clumsy trap set by Martin and the others, let’s study.
“A trap? Really? I don’t think they would do something so sneaky…”
Sheila seems to want to believe in people.
It was dazzlingly pure. In my first life – maybe there was a time when I was like Sheila, but for me who continued to walk in the darkness, the first life was so dazzling that I couldn’t see it anymore.
And so, we who had gathered to watch a movie began studying at a nearby café.
I also brought study materials as a matter of course, which made it feel like our “awareness” was different.