A NEET's Seven Sins 1 (Patreon)

A NEET's Seven Sins - “Life in this mundane world, with my sanity reduced to Zero” (Re:Zero Reverse!Isekai Witches)

Natsuki Subaru was a productive member of society.

Such a sentence was, no less than two years ago, a lie and a pathetic claim for someone like him to push for considering the lazy nature he was bestowed through a happy life with a hard-working father, a morally-good mother and never once the fear of having to put himself into creating himself a life.

That was… until a month before the end of school.

Subaru had already set himself to finish high school and surrender his mind and body to the thing that many youths his age and mind were keen to rely on: pure and utter NEETiness. He was one with it, bathed with it, shaped by it and…

His parents set him up for an ‘intervention’. His father was not the kind of individual that would plan this sort of thing but… seeing him wearing his work outfit and his mother giving Subaru a stern look was enough to put the boy in a very nervous circumstance.

Natsuki Kenichi was a relatable and charming man, and Natsuki Naoko was a nightmare for those that tended to ‘overslack’ as she tended to call the practice of being too lazy.

Right now, even as Subaru hoped to find mercy in his father’s own reaction to the topic, he was stunned to suddenly be ushered into a very dreadful topic out of the blue.

“A-A job? But I am still in-”

“It doesn’t matter, son,” Kenichi interrupted, knowing that his wife’s simplified explanation on what their only child-turned-young man had to deal with was in the right, and showed no interest to backtrack on this topic. “You have been given plenty of opportunities to start building a career. And I get it, you don’t want to stress yourself after what you went through these last few years but…”

“But we can’t always cover for you.”

The reprimand was… expected. It hurt as equally as thinking of this beforehand, but now he felt it and Subaru felt his mind shut down for a moment. He wanted to hurl words back at them, to make excuses, to say he couldn’t do it and so on. But he couldn’t.

They talked for long, Subaru’s own responses meek and curt as he just listened. They did reprimand him, yes, but they weren’t actually trying to kick him out of the house. They ‘understood’ him, they wanted to ‘help’ him. But Subaru was… not sure they could do either due to the fact he couldn’t exactly understand what was wrong with him.

An hour or so later, he found his face pressing against his pillow, the dark room that was his bedroom having just a light coming from the still active computer waiting for him to do something. Anything.

But Subaru was stuck in his own thoughts and he felt his parents had raised a good point. That wasn't what was leaving him stuck on his own steps. It was his own inability to handle this sort of responsibility and… yet, in that storm of thoughts, a single one stood out more like a brain fart and less of a serious commitment.

…What if I make a game?

His parents said something that he had pushed back due to school being a pain in the butt. He had mentioned it, he could remember telling this to his mother, then his father and… then losing track of it.

On how his friends had dabbled in some game programming, light stuff and nothing that could throw him in some Triple A-Game industry but… enough to give it a shot. So, he ended up tinkering around some programs with a few of his friends in the previous year.

Shifting in his bed, he stared at his PC’s screen and desktop.

He didn’t need to make anything complicated. A small test, one that would steal a few months from him- from the nearby freedom that he got. It would be an investment, but not risky enough to discourage his thought at it.

I could give it a try.

He pushed his frame out of bed and into his chair and sat down. What kind of game Subaru felt like giving a go with?

The question fell short as he thought of his father. One thing that stood out to him was how ‘absolutely manga-like’ his father tended to be with his flamboyant behaviors that he couldn’t mimic the way he did. He would smile, flex and show utter confidence… and Subaru would only be able to show this at a fraction of that much ‘social power’.

What if… the game was about that? A simple game where the player had to listen to the advice of a ‘coach’ that told him how to do things, only for the player to take alternative routes that could go either good, bad or even… better?

A hum itched in his throat as he just started the ‘planning phase’ for the game. With school still not done yet, he had to spend a lot of time studying, but the next days up to graduation would always see Subaru sitting down and contemplating this idea. It was a silly thought at first, then it became something a bit more… monumental when he started to tackle the ‘coding and testing phase’.

His parents slowly started to notice that something was ‘off’ about him, but Subaru held back from speaking. Not because he didn’t want them to know, but to hold himself from letting his own pursuit of praise ruin it for himself. If it had to be a good try, then he had to put himself in this.

And then… Four months after graduation, he received some interesting mail.

Just a month before, Subaru had loaded the beta version of ‘Life Coach Sim’ on Steam, making sure that there were no major bugs and actually putting a basic English translation to the game.

The price was purposely ‘humble’ despite the hard effort he put in it but the end result was him sitting by the kitchen’s table, his mother frowning at the sight of her son frozen in place while reading the mail he had on his phone’s notification and, as she went to check what it was all about, they both paused with a similar reaction.

“Subaru-kun, what is that?”

“The money I made with the game I made, Kaa-san.”

…

“Subaru-kun, is that money already subjected to taxes?”

He merely nodded, unsure of what else to do. “Hai.”

…

…

“S-Subaru-kun, what kind of game did you make?”

“...A tiny one.”

“That’s not the money one makes from a ‘tiny game’,” Naoko refused to believe that, and Subaru just showed her the game he made.

She looked at it, then frowned even more and… went to call her husband.

As lunch happened and some of the shock had subsided, Subaru found his peace interrupted when his father arrived at home and then suddenly rushed him.

“Subaaaaruuuu~!” The man greeted proudly as he just raised him up and then twisted him in a wrestling move mixed with a hug. “You became a man!”

“T-Tou-san!”

“Dear, don’t stress him that much,” Naoko meekly stated, only smiling happily and with pride.

So much pride, so much meaning behind their smiles.

Subaru’s life was bound to change through this and, as he became 19, he was able to move to his own home. The process was planned and it took a while- enough months went by just preparing the departure with his parents and yet the last hug he gave both his mother and father sure felt like a massive jump.

As mentioned early on, the first sentence is all but a claim.

Natsuki Subaru tried to be a productive member of society, but fate accommodated him in a position where he could be both a NEET and a successful young man. He continued to work on the game, plan new ones and was able to be lazy for the remainder of the day.

That didn’t stop him from going through some of the training his dad told him to keep on doing to keep himself in shape, and thus he looked fairly slim but far from muscular due to how light the exercises were.

Likewise, his lifestyle had influenced the way he got his current new home.

It was no small flat by any means, but he refused to move into an expensive villa despite the money he got. He just settled for a fairly big house with independent electric and heat systems and the right space for his ‘work room’ to be fully operative.

He had books, both artistic ones and about programming, and an improved PC to take things to the next level… and play better games on the side whenever he felt he needed a break.

All in all, Natsuki Subaru was a happy NEET with a life that had luck, money and… no love.

He was still the same idiot when it came to talking with people, so it was no surprise he couldn’t make any consistent progress in getting some girls to be more than mere acquaintances.

He was alone. He was… not exactly the happiest.

…So, how did ‘this’ happen?

Two years had gone by since he graduated, and his loneliness had vanished-

“Subaaaaruuuu~.”

A whispering childish voice tickled at his nose, causing the young man to slowly break away from his slumber and open his eyes to… mirthful pink-red eyes owned by a tan-skinned little girl with green hair.

“...Typhon.”

“Yes, Suba-nii?”

He sighed, slowly waking up to realize that Satella had already taken her comfy place by hugging his left arm tightly while the little girl sat on his chest.

“Isn’t it a bit too early for you to be awake?”

“Yeah. But Echidna went out to buy some odd stuff and she said that I shouldn’t tell you.”

Memories from last time that Echidna went out to ‘buy odd stuff’ always lead to explosions.

…Shit.

He slowly lifted himself up, with Typhon bolting out of the room, giggling as she knew that retribution was around the corner. Yet, Subaru had to stop to stare at Satella as the girl just latched even more at his arm.

“...Tella-chan, I can tell you’re awake.”

A pout appeared on her face, eyes still closed. “No you don’t.”

He groaned. “Echidna is doing dangerous stuff again.”

“...”

She let go, and yet kept on pointing as she followed him, both still wearing their sleepwears while they wandered through the house. At this hour, Minerva and Daphne had to still be asleep, Carmilla was sitting by the kitchen and getting herself some coffee for herself and Sekhmet while Echidna was… doing chaotic things.

Usually.

But as Subaru and Satella arrived at their destination, finding the door to Echidna’s room half-open, they both stopped as they found themselves witnessing a sight that was beyond… well, what they would normally expect Echidna to be doing at this unholy hour of the morning.

“Almost done… yes!” The girl known as Echidna beamed at the self-reflection offered by the mirror, admiring the current outfit she had on- a playboy bunny girl one. “With this I will seduce Subaru and secure more funds for my experiiii-”

Echidna’s amusement died when she realized that she had spectators giving her flat looks. To Subaru, she looked pretty, but considering the months he lived with an utter Gremlin like the ‘Witch of Greed’, he could definitely say that the girl was more trouble than any kind of ‘rewards’ she could offer.

“Wait, I didn’t mean-”

Subaru just closed the door and spared a flat look to Satella, the girl returning it with a flatter one.

“Coffee?”

She nodded, still groping at his arm as they both left for the kitchen while ignoring the panicked apologies from Echidna as the girl rushed to wear something to cover herself before chasing after them.

Yes, Natsuki Subaru was indeed a NEET, but witches were not what he expected to find to fix his life of solitude.