[Question: If you were to transmigrate into an anime world, what kind of character persona would you use to take the top spot in popularity?]
This was a query thread buried in a corner of the forum, almost completely ignored.
Perhaps because the overall response to the new January anime season that just passed was mediocre, hypothetical questions with a touch of fantasy like this seemed to have increased lately.
There were only a few scattered, joking replies beneath the post, drowned out by the flood of more popular discussions.
Lychee leaned back against the cold metal seat of the subway, his thumb aimlessly scrolling through his phone screen. When he saw this post, his fingertip paused. Out of a sense of boredom to pass the time, he simply clicked in and typed a line in the reply box.
[Losing heroines and the heavy-hearted types, of course. What else could it be?]
Send.
He thought it would sink into oblivion like countless other replies under other posts, but to his surprise, the phone vibrated slightly a few seconds later.
[Why?]
Ho, that was a fast reply.
Lychee raised an eyebrow, and his body, which had been lazily slumped in the chair, couldn't help but sit up a bit straighter.
Could the OP be camping in front of the screen, staring at this dead thread?
The reason? Did that even need to be asked?
Because the heavy-hearted types and losing heroines both have quite a dramatic effect.
They're relaxing to watch and provide a lot of entertainment.
Human joys and sorrows are not shared; watching others be unwise can sometimes make one temporarily forget their own troubles.
Besides, would anyone really not want a girl by their side who is wholehearted, unreserved, and whose entire world revolves around just one person? Even if you don't like her.
Perhaps such aloof or rational people exist, but Lychee knew clearly that he was not among them.
That feeling of being extremely needed, of being the absolute focus—just imagining it had a guilty sort of attraction.
Once his thoughts were opened, they were somewhat hard to contain.
He deleted the slightly mocking comment he just made and reorganized his words, as if confiding in that anonymous OP, or perhaps sorting out the strange delusions in his own head.
Actually, seriously, if conditions permitted... I'd kind of like to try being the heavy-hearted type myself.
Lychee typed this line.
Loving someone recklessly, unreservedly, even a bit pathologically... it would probably be quite a pure experience, wouldn't it? No need to calculate gains and losses, no need to weigh pros and cons. Only that one target in your eyes and heart, the entire world gaining its sole anchor of meaning because of it.
Sounds... not bad, actually, right?
However—
There were too many things to consider.
Although he was all alone, an orphan, the trivialities and weight of life itself did not decrease by half because of it.
Rent, utilities, where the next meal would come from, the uncertainty of the future... Unless one was truly destitute to the point of being prepared to give up on life, it was impossible to pull away and try that kind of extreme, obsessive lifestyle.
But how could that be possible?
You only live once. Fantasies and dreams... it's fine to have them occasionally, but once you wake up, you still have to face what you have to face.
His finger hovered over the send button for a moment.
...Wait.
Why am I saying all this to a complete stranger of an OP?
A delayed wave of embarrassment suddenly gripped him.
Without hesitation, he pressed his thumb firmly onto the delete key.
The long-winded discourse that had just flowed out with his thoughts vanished rapidly from the screen, like pencil marks erased by a rubber, leaving only a blank reply box.
His fingertip moved again, and Lychee typed a line that was completely opposite to his previous thoughts.
[It's caused by long-term vegetarianism. (Laugh)]
Send.
Then, as if trying to escape something, he quickly swiped his thumb up, exited that post, and jumped to a new page filled with various memes and trending topics.
The action was crisp and decisive, as if that brief internal monologue had never happened.
The subway continued to travel through the tunnel; the rhythmic roar and swaying were sleep-inducing.
Lychee tried to focus his attention on the newly refreshed funny GIFs, but his eyes were still a bit unfocused.
Speaking of which, did a scream just come from the carriage ahead? Did something happen?
Seemingly forcing himself to snap out of the earlier embarrassment, Lychee looked up with some annoyance.
Immediately after, his movements froze.
"?"
...Why is there a scruffy man holding a boy, floating in the air?
Are they filming a movie?
Lychee only had time for that thought to pop into his head before his vision became blurred.