Episode 02 - "Welcome to the Creator!"

Welcome to the Creator! (クリエイターにようこそ!, "Kurieitā ni Yōkoso!!") is the second episode of the Welcome to the N.H.K anime.

Summary
Misaki Nakahara tries to convince Tatsuhiro Satou to sign a contract with her, whereby he will be obligated to listen to her as she tries to ease him out of his hikikomori lifestyle. Misaki explains that she was only assisting her aunt in the solicitation the other day because she wanted to compensate for all the trouble she caused her. Tatsuhiro rejects her accusation that he is hikikomori, and before he can leave, she tells him that she will be waiting for him in the park again the next day.

Alone with his thoughts that night, he recalls reading a sci-fi novel where aliens have wiped out human existence, and kept one as a research specimen. They simulate Earth as it had once been, and turn the specimen into a NEET as to discourage him from going outdoors, where he may realize that it is all a mere simulation. He makes this connection to his conspiracy on the N.H.K. Tatsuhiro was set on standing up Misaki that night, before he realized that a true predator might actually attack her as she waited for him. Overwhelmed with guilt, he rushes to the park to see her. To defend his pride against her, he insists that he is not hikikomori, but must remain isolated because he works in a SOHO. As she inquires about his work, he has to elaborate on his lie, telling her that he is a software designer.

Later on, Tatsuhiro becomes more agitated and confident as he drinks alcohol, and barges over next door to demand his neighbor shut off that agitating music. To his surprise, his old high school acquaintance, Kaoru Yamazaki, is his neighbor. This brings back a flashback to when he protected Yamazaki in a physical fight, but only to impress his Senpai, Hitomi Kashiwa. From that day on, Yamazaki looked up to Tatsuhiro.

When Tatsuhiro asks Yamazaki if he is still bullied at school, Yamazaki falls into a bad mood and begins to vent to Tatsuhiro. Tatsuhiro brings them over some alcohol, and they begin reuniting. Tatsuhiro learns that Yamazaki has fallen deep into the otaku world, immersing himself in hentai and erotic games. He also learns that Yamazaki attends the Kokogi Designer Institute in the Game Creation department. He sees this as an opportunity to provide an excuse to Misaki, and borrows Yamazaki's textbook.

Tatsuhiro tells Misaki that he graduated from the design institution, with the textbook as proof. This is not enough to convince Misaki and she asks to see a game he created. He claims he's too busy to find it, and she gives him an entire month to return to her with the game. Yamazaki was eavesdropping the entire conversation. Yamazaki becomes very disappointed in Tatsuhiro, between his hikikomori lifestyle and the lie he blatantly told Misaki. Yamazaki doesn't have a game to lend him, but he proposes creating a game with Tatsuhiro, which would be a good excuse as well as an escape from his NEET lifestyle. Tatsuhiro would be assigned the role of writing, and Yamazaki would do everything else. Yamazaki tells him that the only game style that's possible to make in such a short timeframe is an eroge.