Yuko's shift at RonarudoMakuronardo's finished after roughly 14 hours, and it was already 11:30 in the afternoon. Yuko finally left her job and made her way outdoors before going home to relax.
When you consider that Yuko worked all the overtimes and graveyard shifts he could find and was still only paid 3,000 Yen an hour while some of the other workers at RonarudoMakuronardo's get paid 5,000–8,000 Yen per overtime, there was clearly discrimination at his place of employment. Nevertheless, he was unable to complain because, well, how could he? Yuko made the decision to end things there because she thought that if he were to be mocked, his pay would even be reduced as a result.
But instead of going home right away, Yuko made the decision to wander the backstreets and public parks in Tokyo at midnight. Of course, if he did so in the afternoon when there were lots of people around, he might be mistaken for a pervert or a kidnapper, and to top it all off, his appearance—his body, his stature—might even make matters worse because people's perceptions of him might get worse. Not that it was already worse, mind you.
Yuko previously resolved to visit a manga cafe whenever he leaves his physically and mentally taxing job in order to go to his happy zone. This was a haven for loners, offering reasonably priced accommodations for 500 Yen each hour, complete with a room, computer, and even a huge library with all the Manga you could possibly want. This served as the haven or, as you may put it, the safe haven for those like Yuko who were considered outsiders.
He rented a room for about 13 hours which totaled to about 6,500 Yen and got like a whole 500 Vol. Manga Book set from his favourite manga series with a ridiculous title called “ I am a nerd, but I am very strong, secretly and I hide my power to not get attention and blend in like normal people in a high school filled with the most top students and world ranker teachers, I have a limitless harem and limitless potential EX rank SSS, XXX, God rank, EMPEROR RANK AND FANTASIA RANK SPIRITS AND ARSENAL OF TRANSCENDENT WEAPONS, GOD KILLING SLAYER WEAPONS and a harem of infinite girls”.
After reading all 500 volumes of that manga book set, playing some MMORPG games, and possibly binge watching 10 CD's of cultured Japanese Adult Video's, it was now midnight and it was time for some night exploration, which pumped Yuko up as he was pumped to breathe air for the first time since his 13 hour escapade inside the cafe, it was literally a breath of fresh air to him again.
He returned his borrowed books and respectfully returned them to where they came from, paid at the unmanned desk, and proceeded out; but, before exploring, he dropped by a convenience store or a Konbini to pick up some snacks to eat while wandering.
Yuko did not hold back when purchasing snacks at the Konbini. He really went all out for the full immersion and experience since he had never really explored Tokyo when he first arrived there eight years ago. The hatred, disgust, and scorn he had experienced from many people had made him terrified of the outdoors; in fact, the mere thought of stepping outside his comfort zone terrified him to death. However, for some reason, he felt compelled.
At midnight, Yuko went nuts buying food for the ultimate exploration experience. He purchased a box of green tea KitKats, thirty famichiki chicken at a cost of roughly 178 yen each, three Calpis sodas, and these items. He smiled as he walked away, grinning as he examined his Konbini purchases. When he was finished, he went directly to the parks, but not before taking a detour through Tokyo's back alleyways to investigate every nook and cranny he could discover.
Weird alleyways with miniature shrines
Gachapon machines, vending machines with all the types of juice and soda you could want, vending machines with crazy things inside of them, and oh, there was also canned soup, which is still boiling hot even inside a vending machine. Yuko's journey into Tokyo's narrow, congested backstreets yielded a plethora of items and hidden treasures. Yuko really took his time, and since walking was too taxing for him, it took him between one and three hours to explore the backstreets. As a result, he arrived around three hours late.
It was now between three and four in the morning, so he walked to the park that was the most remote and even deserted so that no one could trouble him there and he couldn't annoy anyone either. He discovered a deserted park not far from the narrow alley he had just come out of, and although it was absolutely silent—not even a cat could be seen—it was the ideal place for Yuko, who was an outsider and a social reject.
He didn't waste any time in gorging on his 30 famichiki chicken fillets, his Calpis Soda, and his one box of KitKats while he sat on a fairly worn-out bench. Everything Yuko purchased in the Konbini vanished in an instant, leaving not even crumbs behind.
Yuko must have been pretty hungry after all the walking and sightseeing she had done in Tokyo's quiet neighborhoods. Yuko needed to leave, but he chose to remain a little longer to see the sun rise. However, he was stopped by people who had to get up early for work, so he made the decision to leave right away. It was now around 4:30 in the morning, and the sun was slowly rising from the horizon, You could say that Yuko is weird for them because of Japan's philosophy of "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down," which states that "The people who work from the office don't really like a presence that is “different” at all, all of the people seem to be annoyed of people who just stick out in general, just because he looks different, and is an entirely different existence from all of them."
Yuko, noticing that there were now people approaching the park, rushed to the opposite side to the rear exit, leading to additional backstreets, where there were more gangsters living, but he had no other choice because people were approaching. The lifelong anguish that numerous people in his village and his family induced in Yuko was ingrained in his psyche, and he would choose to make things difficult for himself rather than burden and bother others.
When he looked back to where he was running, he saw a giant tree branch that was about to hit him in the head. He quickly ducked and swerved to the left, where a giant tree root was located, and tripped himself. He got up from his seat and ran as quickly as he could from the people who were approaching the park.
Yuko hid behind the large tree to prevent others from seeing him because he ran out of time given that they had already been going by the public park at 5 a.m. and had also hurt his foot and twisted his ankle. He stepped out from hiding to examine his hurt foot when he discovered that something more than a tree root had caused him to fall.
