AUTHOR'S NOTE: Welcome to Youjin, The Cautious VOLUME 3, readers!
We are now in the first chapter of Volume 3. Also, another character is coming (who was actually a debut in the final chapter of Volume 1 without revealing the name).
PS: ENJOY READING, everyone!
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Youjin Kinoshita's POV
The author is like Kami-sama, a god… or so they say!
I, Youjin Kinoshita, wasn't only a high school student, but I was also a web author. But why did I become an author on an online book platform? Simple! Because of the people I loved and trusted: My friends and family.
At first, my dream was to become a comedian. I wanted to make people laugh, to make them smile. But that dream died because of my childhood friend, Yurika Nonaka-san, who was also my former girlfriend.
Back when we were in our third year of middle school, we were dating. Then she suddenly betrayed me as she cheated on me with my former best friend name Haruka Kutake-san. To make it worse, she protected her reputation by falsely accusing me of cheating. Her lies destroyed everything. Even my own family believed her, and my life changed forever, thanks to Nonaka-san.
However, what Nonaka-san didn't know was her actions were recorded my miniatures drones, the devices that I had secretly purchased even before we started dating. They monitored me. I mean, only me alone or with any people around me anywhere at all times. But I didn't show the evidence to everyone who was involved with Nonaka-san as I wanted her to confess the truth on her own. Of course, she never did, not even years later.
When I executed my revenge, Nonaka-san finally admitted that she lied the whole time. But she claimed that cheating on me and falsely accusing me were just pranks. I mean, seriously? Pranks?! That was the stupidest excuse I had ever heard, so I refused to believe her at all since she had no proof. Because of her, the girl who ruined my life in the first place, I despised her so much that I regretted trusting her for so long.
Next, another girl who falsely accused me name Naomi Susami-san, the former three things: School Idol, Student Council President and my friend.
After Nonaka-san's betrayal, I believed having at least one genuine friend would be enough. But I was wrong!
In the past, I had many friends when I was in the middle school, including Nonaka-san and Kutake-san. But they were instantly turned into my enemies after those two betrayed me.
Susami-san and I had been friends for a year. Then one day, she suddenly confessed to me that she had a crush on me. But her confession reminded me of Nonaka-san and it triggered the worst memories of mine. When I rejected Susami-san and tried to explain, she falsely accused me of assault.
Because of her, the high school principal Shinohara-sensei suspended me. Much worse, I became a target for brutal bullying by everyone, the students who were fans of Susami-san, the school idol, even my own step sisters. And I nearly died from those devils' brutal attacks that it was the most traumatic experience I ever had.
When I got revenge on Susami-san, of course, including Nonaka-san, she admitted she lied about the assault and she also admitted that she harmed herself after I rejected her. But she claimed that she never asked those students, her fans, to attack me. I refused to believe her, like I did to Nonaka-san. Clearly, when those students bullied me, they said 'For Naomi-sama', so it was very obvious that she ordered them to assault me for her sake. And not even a teacher or principal stepped in to save me.
And finally, my step sisters, Hana-san and Sakura-san, the twins. Both of them believed the lies from Nonaka-san and Susami-san without hesitation. Even though we were family, they chose outsiders' lies like them over their own brother's truth like mine.
Hana-san and Sakura-san planned to get rid of me by falsely accusing me of molesting them. Thanks to my step sisters, my biological father beat me and kicked me out of the house. But the worst thing he ever did was he blamed me for my biological mother's death due to my birth that made my heart broken.
Of course, once again, as I finally got revenge, including Nonaka-san and Susami-san, at once, my step sisters finally confessed that it was set up accordingly.
To this day, I still don't know what they felt when they found out that Nonaka-san and Susami-san falsely accused me. Upset? Angry? Ashamed? I didn't care, anyway.
Thanks to those girls who betrayed me, I discovered a new dream: To be an author on the internet.
By the way, I couldn't even begin to share the full details about the other girls like Kurin Onimatsu-san, the current Student Council President, and Tomoe Hibino-san and Nayori Abe-san, Nonaka-san's friends, who ruined my life during my summer vacation. But still, it was all those girls' fault for making me hate women, with one exception: The landlady name Hayashi-san, the one and only person who believed the true story without demanding evidence.
Speaking of the landlady, I thought Hayashi-san had betrayed me by telling my family and friends that I was living in her apartment, but she hadn't. It was actually Nonaka-san's friends who secretly told them… WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! Because of that, those traitors, including the principal Shinohara-sensei, showed up my new home to apologize. Of course, apologizing wouldn't fix anything. I never forgave them at all since their crimes were unforgivable.
To me, besides the cheating, the bullying and the neglect from everyone, false accusation is the most serious crime of all that destroys innocent people, especially men such as myself. There's nothing to choose not to forgive them. It's not a sin to reject their apologies. Why? Because history always repeats itself!
Anyway, I asked Hayashi-san to ban my so-called family and friends, and the principal from coming back. I threatened them that I would call the Board of Education and police if they returned to my apartment. With that, my peace finally returned.
On Parents Day, I declared that I was cutting ties with my family, as well as those girls who falsely accused me. My life became peaceful again without them.
As for school, everyone, including the teachers and the principal, was still afraid of me since I threatened them to report to the Board of Education if they tried to mess up with me again. Even if they made a small mistake, I would give each of them a one warning only with small mercy.
But now, nobody, not even those girls who betrayed me, interacted with me anymore, unless absolutely necessary, even that was rare.
*
"Guys, have you heard that Koushasu-sensei published another chapter of his novel recently?"
"You mean, the one where MC snapped after the principal told him to try making new loyal friends?"
"That's right! What do you guys think of that latest chapter? Man, I feel bad for him. The way he collapsed from stress."
"Me too! That scene hit hard."
"I know, right? He still has trust issues. No wonder he fears having friends again."
During lunch break at school, that conversation echoed among the male students. The novel they were talking about was trending.
But what they didn't know was that I, their classmate, Youjin Kinoshita, was actually the author name 'Koushasu-sensei' they admired.
That's right! My pen name was 'Koushasu-sensei'.
I chose 'Koushasu' because it sounded like the English word 'cautious'. Like I said earlier, I wasn't just a high school student, but I was also a web author.
Months ago, I started publishing my novel online. It was based on my life, though not entirely. I changed some events, added alternate plotlines and rebuilt my world the way I preferred it.
Believe it or not, after paying for promotion with my e-money, my web novel slowly became popular, despite my writing still having few grammatical errors.
Most of the readers were men. Many of them related to the protagonist, or rather, to me. Because of the main topic of my web novel: False Accusation.
My web novel mainly focused on drama and psychological that the male protagonist had severe trauma that was caused by his past, just like my own trauma with Nonaka-san.
However, I changed certain things. In my story, the protagonist, who was a third-year high school student, used body cameras he secretly bought back in first-year high school, to monitor his surroundings and record his point of view. But not the miniature drones like the ones I used.
I also gave him a different family from mine. He had both biological parents and a younger sister who was a first-year high school student, unlike me who only had a biological father.
To summarize the web novel I created, it was based on my traumatic experiences with some scenes altered.
*
The main protagonist had biological parents and a younger sister who was two years younger than him. He began dating his childhood friend during their second year of high school, only for her to cheat on him with his own best friend. Then she falsely accused him of cheating on her to save her reputation and publicly continued dating the MC's best friend.
Everyone believed her lies. The bullying, both verbal and physical, destroyed him. Even his own family believed the false accusation from his childhood friend and began to hate him.
One year later, now a third-year student, the protagonist was still being bullied. His childhood friend and former best friend were still happily dating.
MC's younger sister, a first-year high school student who still believed the lies from his former girlfriend, tried to get rid of him by falsely accusing him of sexual assault. His own father beat him and kicked him out of the house. Then he found a cheap apartment and decided not to return to school.
But what everyone, especially the protagonist's family and friends, didn't know was that the he had a secret: He had purchased multiple body cameras to record his surroundings and point of view the whole time. This meant the lies, betrayals and false accusations from his childhood friend and sister were captured in full.
He had undeniable proof that he never committed the crimes they accused him of. The main character waited for those two girls to confess the truth on their own, but, of course, they never did.
So he executed his revenge by sending all of his evidence to the high school's official email.
The principal, who knew he was being bullied but didn't help him, was shocked. She learned that both his childhood friend and sister had lied, causing him to be bullied and forcing him to leave school. With no choice, the principal punished everyone who was involved with the mess. Then she searched for him, apologized and begged him to return to school.
The protagonist agreed to return, but never forgave her for not helping him.
When he returned to school, the students felt guilty and wanted to apologize, but they were too afraid to approach him. Their hatred shifted from him to his childhood friend, sister and even his best friend after the truth was revealed. Because of the people he once loved and trusted, he hated all of them deeply.
Finally, during Parent's Day, protagonist declared to everyone, especially his classmates' parents, that his own parents were no longer his because they had chosen not to trust him. Not to mention his parents actually attended in his classroom, but he pretended they weren't there.
After class, he faced his family and former friends, who apologized to him again and again, inside the Principal's office. But, of course, he never forgave them, including the principal and teachers, as always. He became furious when the principal suggested that he should make new friends, especially the loyal ones, because he was still far too traumatized to trust anyone. Lastly, due to the stressful event, he collapsed and was taken to the clinic. THE END… but, of course, the story of my novel wasn't over yet.
*
Anyway, what surprised me was that the students, who read my web novel, didn't think the story felt familiar at all, despite being based on my life. I simply changed the certain scenes.
The good thing was my web novel became popular. I had many followers and received positive messages.
I even had received some negative messages that they sent me death threats, because they were offended over false accusation. But I believed they were female audiences since false accusation was commonly done by women, according to the news I had found. My response to them was to delete their messages and block their accounts immediately.
As my novel became popular enough, something even better happened: Monetization.
I finally earned money from the number of reads and from the support of my fans. The income was enough to cover my necessary daily expenses, including the monthly rent for my apartment. If I had enough large money, I would ask Hayashi-san to renovate her apartment building.
To be honest, I wasn't really proud of my novel. I didn't write it to be praised or treated like some masterpiece, but all I wanted was to make people understand how destructive false accusations are, especially the ones made by those who exploit their gender to ruin innocent men's lives with crimes they never committed.
By the way, since I wanted more people, especially outside Japan, to read it, so I translated the entire novel into English myself. It was exhausting, but worth it.
But there was one thing that kept bothering me. Among all the fans who supported me, there was one fan, or rather, a hardcore fan who sent me far too much money and flooded my inbox with messages every single day.
The username was 'Shizuka_Suki'. Judging from her username, she seemed like a girl. I appreciated her support, but something about her felt off. Creepy, more like she watched me from somewhere I couldn't see. Even nothing was suspicious on my drones that monitored me all day.
Still, ignoring her messages would feel rude since she sent me too much support, so I continued replying.
That evening, as I was about to sleep, a online message popped up on my phone.
Shizuka_Suki: Good evening, Koushasu-sama! ♥♥♥
Koushasu: Good evening, Shizuka-san.
Shizuka_Suki: Are you done eating dinner?
Koushasu: Of course. I'm about to go to sleep now.
Shizuka_Suki: Aww! Sorry for disturbing you, Koushasu-sama.
Koushasu: It's fine, really.
Shizuka_Suki: Anyway, I read the latest chapter. I was shocked that the MC was so stressed.
Koushasu: I know. I already read your comments there. Thank you for reading once again.
Shizuka_Suki: You're welcome, Koushasu-sama! I will send you more money, so please keep it up.
Koushasu: Okay, really. You don't have to send me more. It's more than enough, you know.
Shizuka_Suki: Ara ara! But I must insist, Koushasu-sama. And I will send you more love! ♥♥♥
That last sentence gave me chills and made my shoulder tense. More… love? She loved me? Even though we had never met?
No! Even if she loved me, she didn't know the real me. I wasn't going to fall for something like that again. I was still traumatized for falling in love with someone.
Then she sent one more message.
Shizuka_Suki: Anyway, I'm going to sleep now. I hope you update your novel soon. Sweet dreams! I love you, Koushosu-sama! ♥♥♥
I froze. Her last reply caught me off guard.
I was right! She really said it. She loved me! Wait, no!
My heart clenched, not in excitement, but in alarm.
I knew this feeling. This danger.
It reminded me too much of Nonaka-san, the moment before everything shattered.
I forced my hands to reply calmly.
Koushasu: All right. Good night, Shizuka-san.
Of course, I didn't say it back. How could I? I didn't even know who she was. Still, her messages lingered in my mind, stirring old memories of Nonaka-san and everything she did to me.
Just what I needed before trying to sleep tonight.
The next day, when I entered the school gates, I heard some whispers from the students. But what I heard wasn't about me, but something else.
"Did you see her?"
"Yeah, she's so tall."
"She's beautiful, but kinda scary."
"More like she's Hachishakusama."
"No, that girl's height is too short for Hachishakusama's, you know."
"I know! But still, she's too tall for a high school girl."
"Yeah, she asked where the principal's office was. But I doubt she will enroll here."
A girl? Tall girl? Tch! I wasn't interested that, anyway.
Later, I saw a group of male students standing in the hallway near the principal's office that blocked the entire path. Some even pressed their ears against the door like idiots.
"Guys, what's going on here?" I asked them politely.
Some boys flinched when they saw me. Others pretended not to hear.
"Don't get me wrong. I just asked you guys what was going on." I added calmly.
Then they exchanged glances and one of them finally answered.
"Haven't you heard, Kinoshita-kun? There's a tall girl inside the principal's office."
So the students I had heard outside earlier were right. But still, none of my business.
I was about to tell them to move when one of the boys suddenly gasped in front of the door of the Principal's office.
"What's wrong? Did you hear something?" One of them asked.
"That girl… I think she asked Shinohara-sensei where Kinoshita-kun's classroom is."
That reply caught me off guard. Even I stayed calm, the hallway fell silent and everyone looked at me.
"What? I'm not interested in that, all right?" I narrowed my eyes at them. "Now, move. I need to get to class."
Those students nodded and moved to clear my way.
Entering the classroom, none of my classmates looked at me. They just went to their usual business. Peaceful, but temporarily since I still planned to destroy this rotten school.
That male student must have misheard what the girl in the principal's office said. But I hoped he was wrong… or so I thought!
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Author's Note: There you have it, readers! The next chapter will fully reveal that girl, especially her name.
If you want to see her whole face, you are INVITED to my Discord Server! I put some leaks on my web novel Youjin, The Cautious. Here is the link of my Discord Server: https://discord.gg/k2bV9MmgmB
And if you want to support me, PLEASE go to my Ko-Fi profile. Thank you! Here is my Ko-Fi Link - https://ko-fi.com/ganimanovel
PS: ADVANCE MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!