A Hikkikomori NEET Quest

[Akumura]

[X] What do you think of the rendezvous?
-[X] Good. Too good, if you're honest with yourself. Why did Akari want to meet with you so suddenly?

She offered to meet you after you mentioned that you haven't been out much recently, and she would like to also catch up with an old friend. There is insufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis in favour of an alternative possibility, and you do not want to jump to conclusions and falsely give yourself hope. The meeting itself went way too well, though, and you are extremely uncertain how to proceed, and want to be as careful as possible not to cause yourself far greater hurt down the line.

[X] You really want to do this again sometime. How?
-[X] First, try to confirm what Akari's intentions are. She want to be your friend or something else? You do not want to get excited again.

You have no idea how to do so, or at least without just directly asking the question. There is also the possibility that you might have a chance eventually, but it is premature and asking such questions may be detrimental.

[X] What should you say when you message her later?
-[X] Just, try to not be a creep and keep it causal.

You tell her that the experience was throughly enjoyable, and that you would be keen to do so again at a later date, when she has the time. She replies in the affirmative, and agrees to do so if she is free sometime. It is left open-ended, however, and you have no idea if there really will ever be another in the foreseeable future.

[X] Anything else you want to do?
-[X] Talk with Rei.
-[X] Make more exercise.

You make small talk with Rei, but the entire conversation lacks substance, and nothing meaningful is said.
Your mind is in turmoil, and you decide to calm yourself with some exercise. You feel slightly unwell, and have been sneezing the entire day, but you perform your new routine, albeit slightly slower than you would otherwise have.

[X] Recall how much money we currently own.

You look under you pillow and begin to count out your money. You find a total of $3204.18. You do not want to drain this money too much without having a reliable source of income first.
By now you are hungry, and you make yourself some lunch to eat.

 

[Akumura]

Your Mother has designated your dog to do his business in your shower, for convenience of cleaning, but insists that it shouldn't be washed until you take your shower, and to let the urine only be washed off during the shower. You know that the family is not so hard pressed for money that you have to conserve every last drop of water to such an extent, and honestly you think she is slightly insane, but you have been just obeying her instructions. As much as you love your dog, though, you find it rather demeaning to be showing in a puddle of your dog's piss, and want to broach the subject with your mother. However, you are afraid of her getting angry and insulting or hitting you for daring to question her.
What do you do?
[ ] Just...bear with it
[ ] Attempt to politely beg for a change
[ ] Attempt to use logic and reason to convince her that this is unfair to you
[ ] Firmly insist that this is too much for you, and that you can't handle it anymore
[ ] Raise your voice and shout back at her when she gets angry at you
[ ] Run away from home
[ ] Write-in

Your experience yesterday really inspired you to want to improve yourself, so that you would be less inept as compared to Akari, as in your current state, even if she did accept you, you would just be a burden on her life. Perhaps you wouldn't be able to surpass her, but you could at least try to slowly close the gap between the two of you.
[ ] Other than exercise, what else do you want to do to improve yourself?

 

[Akumura]

You complete your new daily exercise regimen. You turn to the mess in your room that you have been deliberately ignoring, and begin to tidy it up. If you don't even have the resolve to bother tidying up your own room, how could you expect to make yourself do anything more?

As you tidy your room, you discover an extra $17.80 and an old class photo, containing you and Akari.
Old class photo added to inventory! Current balance is $3221.98

You have been trying to improve your physical condition, but your mind has atrophied over prolonged inactivity, and you wish to regain it too. How shall you engage your mind?
[ ] Learn
-[ ] A new language
-[ ] A new skill
-[ ] Write-in
-[ ] Write-in
[ ] Write-in

Voting for the previous post is still ongoing. As a reminder, the options are:

What do you do?
[ ] Just...bear with it
[ ] Attempt to politely beg for a change
[ ] Attempt to use logic and reason to convince her that this is unfair to you
[ ] Firmly insist that this is too much for you, and that you can't handle it anymore
[ ] Raise your voice and shout back at her when she gets angry at you
[ ] Run away from home
[ ] Write-in
And
[ ] Other than exercise, what else do you want to do to improve yourself?

 

[Akumura]

You begin the day at 4am with a mind-numbing headache and fever, and your bones are aching. It pains you to even move over slightly to reach for the tissue paper to blow your nose, and you spend the next few hours drifting in and out of consciousness. At noon, you drag yourself over to a clinic, and are prescribed a series of different medicines, which eventually seem to take effect by evening, when you finally feel well enough to use your computer for a bit to type some stuff.

Why not just ignore the instruction? Its not like anyone sees

Click to shrink...

Due to the shower door and knob placement, you are likely to have to step on the puddle while trying to turn the water on anyway.


Sorry for short post.

-$118 for medical bills

 

[Akumura]

You think back to the recent week, and it has certainly been an interesting one. Compared to the previous months of sitting in your room all day and accomplishing nothing, it certainly seems like you life is a step towards improving.

You begin the day with some light exercise, just enough to get your blood going. You still arent completely recovered yet, so its best not to push yourself too hard.

[X] Attempt to use logic and reason to convince her that this is unfair to you
You attempt to try to talk to your mother, and on the upside, she doesn't get angry at you. On the other hand, she completely ignores you and continues using her phone to post on facebook, even when you are standing right in front of her trying to get her attention. You wait patiently for five minutes, before giving up.

[X] Learn
-[X] Coding
In this era of technology, learning how to code seems like a useful skill you could acquire. However, you aren't sure if its really a good idea, how far you should go if you try, and how to go about doing so. On one hand, it is an area that seems relatively secure in the near future, and you do have a passing interest in it. On the other hand, however, it is a field where work is incredibly specialised, and although there are some translatable skills, dealing with things like the backend, user interface, web development and game development are extremely different areas requiring much relearning. Furthermore, any passable venture into the area would likely require a University CS course and subsequent internship in order to be familiarised with the teamwork crucial in a programming project. You aren't entirely certain that this is what you desire yet, or if you could even manage to get in one.

Akari has been taking over a day to reply after each of your messages, and her responses are brief and concise. You know she has been rather busy lately, but now you are worried she just doesn't want to talk to you. All the mixed signals you are receiving from her is confusing you, and you have no idea how to proceed.

[ ] Write-in (for anything)

 

[Akumura]

As of the 9th of April, Hideaki will no longer be a NEET, and as such this quest will come to an end. Or at least the title would become a lie. I had an interesting experience attempting to write something for the first time, among other things, and my thanks to all who participated in this quest.
Finally,
[ ] Is there anything you would like to do before the quest ends for good?

Do you have any suggestions about how I should improve my writing or writing style in any possible future work?
[ ] Write-in

Would you be interested in continuing to follow and guide the journey of Hideaki's non-NEET life, even if the quest can only be updated on occasional weekends?
[ ] No, I came for the title and that would be a scam
[ ] No, this quest is too boring and simplistic and would rather not see this anymore
[ ] Maybe, but only if there is something interesting
[ ] Maybe, but learn how to write and how to be a decent QM first
[ ] Maybe, but
-[ ] write-in
[ ] Yes, this interests me, and I would be willing to read and participate, even if the tone and frequency changes

 

[Akumura]

Honestly, you did have some reason to be a hikkineet. Well, at least the NEET part. You had been conscripted into compulsory national service, and had known for quite a while that you would be. There wouldn't have been enough time to complete university before you were drafted, and you were too lazy to search for a job that you would have to leave soon after. As it became your turn to serve your country, you were chosen to be part of the Police Service, and your previously slack lifestyle quickly turned into a whiplash as you attempted to rapidly adapt to the stark difference in environment.
In camp, you are first immediately made aware of the emphasis on regimentation in various ways, and it immediately becomes apparent that you are no longer a civilian with your own thoughts and ideas. Each day is filled with drills, physical training, and most importantly, classes to educate you of police procedure and the law. With the rigorous training you have, and you understand why the police is so respected and trusted in your country, and why the city is consistently rated as one of the safest in the world. The food quality is surprisingly good, but there is nowhere near enough time to enjoy it, as you have to wolf it down and fall back in in minutes.
Your first squad is great, but due to certain logistics, you end up having to change to a differnt squad, and you are slightly less enamoured with the new one. Fortunately, you are still able to get along with your squadmates decently.

With parental emotional support still to be desired, having no girlfriend, and having no close friends in or out of camp, an emotional breakdown may be imminent in the forseeable future
[ ] How will you cope with the daily stress without breaking down eventually?

There will be a monthly physical test consisting of 60 seconds of push-ups, 60 seconds of sit-ups, and a 2.4km (~1.5miles) run at the end of the month for the next three months. Note that each push-up and sit-up must be perfect in form, with the body entirely straight and chest having to touch the floor each time for pushups, and elbows touching the top of knees for situps. Depending on your results, there will be different rewards after each test, and a penalty for failing. If all tests are failed, there will be a large penalty. To obtain the different levels of rewards, here are some possible configurations of scores:
S: <8:30 run, 60 pushups, 60 situps
A: <8:50 run, 59 pushups, 59 situps
B: <9:50 run, 56 pushups, 56 situps; <11:30 run, 60 pushups, 60 situps; <8:30 run, 35 pushups, 35 situps
C: <11:30 run, 42 pushups, 42 situps; <13:20 run, 60 pushups, 60 situps
D: <12:50 run, 34 pushups, 34 situps; <15:00 run, 60 pushups, 60 situps; <14:10 run, 44 pushups, 44 situps
F: any lower
To benchmark yourself, you gave it a shot and got around a 19:00 run, 45 pushups, and 45 situps
Due to certain logistical issues, you will not be allowed to run on weekdays until further notice.
[ ] How should you train?

As you return home this weekend, your father takes time out of his busy schedule to talk to you and even polish boots with you, and you are really grateful for that, and give him a hug.



Really tired still and not feeling very well, so i'll end post here and maybe try again tomorrow if i remeber the rest of what i wanted to type.

 

[Akumura]

[X][COPING]
-[x] Find a girlfriend
You certainly would like to, but easier said than done. Especially if you lack the time to really acquaint yourself with new people outside of camp

-[x] find a hobby, like painting or airsoft games
Your best attempt at a painting would probably come closer to modern art than anything else, and although you do have a heavily discounted rate at airsoft games, the problem here is finding people to do it with

-[x] cuddle the dog
Who's a good boy! *huggggggggggggs*

-[x] meditate on how far you've come
Just remembering all the training you have had so far tires you

-[x] if all else fails go break some stuff at a junkyard for relaxation
It would be awkward and slightly problematic if the police came if you get reported for suspicious behaviour or something

-[x] if all else fails, try to focus your attention on being the best of your squad, in giving 100% in everything you do. Hopefully, that will keep you busy enough so you do not have to think about your loneliness.
You will try your best. However, do take note that although pushing yourself might help your mental and physical condition, it also raises the probability of both giving out

[X][TRAINING]
-[x] train everyday with 30 minute rest intervals for every hour of training
-[x] if you feel your muscles start to ache, do a stretching exercise for one hour before continuing.
You dont have the freedom to do so on weekdays, but you could do so on your weekends out of camp. What are your concrete targets to aim for each week, though?

You will book back in with stats of:
Stress: 25
Physical condition: 70
Happiness: 35
Motivation: 65
Energy: 85
(open to suggestions of a better list of stat names and types to use instead)

 

[Akumura]

You have spent the weekend doing nothing but polishing boots the entire time. With not enough motivation to even switch your computer on, you didnt even bother to game, and you haven't communicated with anyone in a while.
Physical condition: irrelevant
Happiness: 25
Motivation: 5
Energy: 100
When stats reach 0, certain penalties to the character's actions may begin to be imposed.

[ ] What should you focus your thoughts on?
-[ ] Studying the law
-[ ] Akari
-[ ] Rei
-[ ] Your current situation
-[ ] Your squad
[ ] How should you train?
-[ ] Put your full effort into training, ignoring anything else
-[ ] Put in some effort
-[ ] Just do the bare minimum required
[ ] What should you do?
-[ ] write-in

 

[Akumura]

[X] What should you focus your thoughts on?
-[X] Studying the law

[X] How should you train?
-[X] Put in some effort

[X] What should you do?
-[X] Jogging while listening to rock music
You aren't allowed the freedom to do either as a trainee yet.


Your mental game is faltering, and you have had repeated lapses of concentration and judgement throughout the past week; constantly forgetting to bring important items with you from location to location. Fortunately, you have yet to get into any trouble whatsoever, but with the entirety of the coming week being live-firing practice, there would be no room for error, and it is imperative that you get back your form.
The environment is great, but the loneliness can be rather depressing at times, with you not really having anyone on the outside to talk to now, and no longer being able to spend time with your 2D waifus either. The weekend is spent doing naught but boot-polishing, and nothing else is accomplished. Ironic, really, to feel even more alone when constantly surrounded by people, and to spend what little free time there is in an even more inane manner. Perhaps if you had an actual salary after all this training, instead of a basic "allowance", you might feel better, but as it is, you are beginning to favour your previous lifestyle over what you currently have.

[ ] Halp wat do?
-[ ] (cant concentrate)
-[ ] (lonely)
-[ ] (sad)