Appraiser 1

Test

Prologue

Kugimiya Yuuri was what you might call a girly boy.

He loved beautiful and cute things. He also loved home economics class. Cooking, sewing, cleaning, even laundry, he loved them all. However, it's important to note that he was just a girly boy, not gay, not suffering from gender identity disorder, and not wanting to become a woman. He simply liked home economics, beautiful and cute things, and that's it.

In his early childhood, up until kindergarten, his life was peaceful. Boys were busy playing sword fights, not interested in playing house with girls. Among them, Yuuri, who happily played without complaint, was actually quite popular. Invited with smiles like "Yuuri-chan is the dad!", the days of enjoying playing house were peaceful and happy.

But as he approached upper elementary school, things changed.

Girls were expected to act like girls, and boys like boys. Who decided that, no one knew, but societal norms dictated so, and children followed suit. Yuuri, who openly admitted liking things considered girly despite being a boy, was seen as different. Called "creepy for being girly like a girl" by boys, and "weird for being a boy but acting strange" by girls, he was denied his existence. Yet he couldn't change his nature, and Yuuri enjoyed his solitary life.

Being alone wasn't so bad.

Just looking at cute and beautiful things made him happy. Helping his mother with household chores was very enjoyable. Home economics class was his favorite time. He was praised by the teacher for working hard. Yuuri was somewhat introverted and had low self-esteem, but he excelled in academics and sports. His introversion stemmed mainly from being a girly boy who preferred indoor activities. Unfortunately, the only downside was his girly boy nature.

However, Yuuri was indifferent despite his love for cute and beautiful things. Perhaps he had the potential to shine if he polished himself, but he remained indifferent. His hair was casually grown out, longer than typical for a boy, with bangs covering most of his eyes. Even if his eyes were visible, all he wore were plain black-rimmed glasses.

So, with his girly boy nature and indifference to himself, he was looked down upon by both girls and boys.

Now, let's return to the present with Kugimiya Yuuri, the girly boy.

"Where... is this place...?"

Suddenly enveloped in light on the way home from school, he found himself standing in an unfamiliar place (resembling a stone dungeon).