I don’t see the self-cucking personally.
Dude said exactly what he felt and was sincere to his own feelings, and was straight up about his beta behavior before. Lying about dumb shit like what books you like is pretty weak.
Sure, the asshole deserved to be reemed but the bitch he called out as a bitch deserved it too. Pretty much “bros before hoes” even if the “bro” here is a bit of an asshole. Would be pretty lame if he went easy on the dude too.
I mean, yeah. Dude is awkward as fuck but he’s getting over it. Can’t expect perfection out the gate