Chapter 1: I Have No Money!
And therefore, I have made my decision.
I will take on this job offer.
❃❃❃
I am facing my interviewer while sitting in this about 8-tatami-wide1 room, with a two-way mirror in the middle separating between us.
1 3.5 x 3.5 in meters, according to my calculations.
「 What is your name? 」
Like I would expect, he is using a voice changer.
「 My name is Aokura Arihisa. 」
To the emotionless voice, this is what I answered matter-of-factly.
No matter how calm I may look right now, my heart is actually screaming inside.
After all, I did not expect that I would get all this way to the interview phase.
❃❃❃
Job Offer #30182
Company Name: ‘Antares’
Type of Occupation: Mascot Stuntman
Recruiting: Full/Part-Time Employees
Our Mission:
To obtain and dominate intelligence, might, authority—all kinds of power.
In simpler terms, like the evil organization that usually appears on TV.
Vacancies: 50 persons (subject to change)
「 Totally shady. 」
This is my first comment when I come across this job offer.
It is just like when I saw that one shocking recruitment poster a long time ago.
And of course, it was easy to tell that the poster was fake.
However, this time is different.
The reason being, this offer is posted on an online recruitment website like it is normal.
Like a prank, but genuine at the same time.
「 This is h.e.l.lo Work2, right? 」
2 A popular website to search for jobs in j.a.pan.
I read and re-read the site name, displayed on the lower left side of the monitor.
And every time, I see the same words: ‘h.e.l.lo Work’.
「 Still, in the evening from 6 until 11.30. And holidays are according to the company calendar&h.e.l.lip; huh. 」
I am not going to complain about the harsh mornings that I will need to go through every day with this schedule as a high-school student.
Best of all, it has a good salary.
Call it shady, but the amount is still worth the shot.
Salary: 138,000~210,0003
3 ≈ USD 1,350 – USD 2,050 (per month)
The lower number is for a part-timer, I guess.
Earning that much from working part-time is surely abnormal.
Really, just why am I so fixated about money?
Although, I do have my reason.
Both of my parents died in an accident when I was still a child.
Just kidding, it was nothing that serious.
I was abandoned in front of an orphanage.
Still with my umbilical cord attached, by the way.
And so, I was raised by said orphanage.
However, it went under when I was in middle school.
It did when I have not repaid any of my favor yet.
As for the reason, it seems to be due to the subsidiary aid from the country becoming less.
I heard about the budget cut being mentioned by a politician in the TV news.
Fortunately, I was already close to graduating, and my high school had been decided.
I am really lucky that my matriculation fee had been settled before it happened.
(Including my uniforms, jerseys, etc.)
I survived my middle school life by killing time as a pool lifeguard during summer vacations, and the fact that I also delivered newspapers for the whole three years.
However, the amount I have is totally not enough to fulfill my tuition fees every month starting from now.
So that, is my reason.
&h.e.l.lip;actually, there is another.
A place to live.
If I cannot decide on a part-time job and make a down payment, I will have to join the homeless guys.
So, I made myself at home in this internet cafe with those two reasons in mind, when I found the job offer that I just mentioned.
「 The age requirements&h.e.l.lip; there isn’t any, I see. 」
Alright, with everything cleared, it is time to apply.
Sacrifice for success.
I should make a call to the hiring company right away.
「 Hm? 」
What is this?
The section where a telephone number should have been provided has been replaced with something else:
「 For applicants only, please click here. 」
Okay?
Have I ever seen a recruitment with such words written on it?
Nope, never.
This shady job offer is getting even shadier.
But I have to click there if I want to apply.
Oh, well. I will apologize to the shop employee if it actually contains a virus.
Resolving myself, I move the mouse cursor to where it asks me to, and click.
Please answer the questionnaire below.
This is NOT a screening survey whatsoever.
You are confident in your stamina.
Yes No
You believe that G.o.d exists.
Yes No
You are interested in rape.
Yes No
&h.e.l.lip;etcetera etcetera.
I answered all the questions, honest to a fault.
Of course, this way is much better than having it come back to me if I manage to have an interview later.
But I will make this clear.
I am not interested in rape at all!
And so, I finished around 50 questions in total.
At the end, there were text fields for my name and gender for me to fill.
Then I click on the submit icon.
The cursor changes into an hourgla.s.s.
So I close my eyes while I wait.
3 to 5 minutes later, I open my eyes.
There, I can see the interview venue, date, and time written on the screen.
In addition, there is a number, maybe my examinee id.
And I am surprised to know that&h.e.l.lip;
「 It’s 30 minutes from now! 」
I promptly look at the clock.
There is no mistake, I only have 30 minutes until the specified time.
「 Uh oh. 」
I murmured in front of the computer and I stand up.
Thankfully, I can reach the location from here in 15 minutes if I run.
I have no time to think about my attire.
Still in my casual wear, I run towards the interview venue.
Besides, I have no money to buy a formal wear.
Because 4,835 yen is everything I have.
Mission impossible.
「 I don’t have the time to think right now! 」
I re-straighten myself as I keep my running pace to a level where I will not lose my breath.
Running time: 10 minutes. I have reached the office building where the interview will take place.
The building clearly looks aged.
The walls have small cracks, with ivies all over.
It has five stories.
Using an abandoned building as a temporary place to hold interviews is really shady. It is like the company itself wants to make me feel doubt.
「 I’ve long been aware about how shady it is, though. 」
My worries about tomorrow’s living expenses have won against my skepticism.
I push the gla.s.s door and enter the building.
This building really is an old one, seeing how the entrance still has to be opened manually.
Entering the front door, I see a reception desk right in front.
I make haste towards it.
「 Are you here for the interview? 」
A young lady who was sitting at the desk diligently stands and inquires me.
「 Yes, I am. 」
I answered right away.
「 I shall make a confirmation on my list. Your examinee number, please. 」
On that note, I answer her with a series of digits that I have stored in one corner of my mind.
I memorized it with a mnemonic.
「 It is 59603. 」
As if the number has already been arranged beforehand4.
4 The number 59603 can be read as go-ku-ro-o-san, which can be liberally translated to ‘Thank you for your work’ in j.a.panese.
The receptionist makes an input into a laptop placed on the side of the desk.
「 I shall confirm your name. 」
「 Would it be correct to call you Aokura Aruhisa-sama? 」
Now that I think about it, there were no fields to write a ruby for my name.
「 Um, instead of ‘Aruhisa’, it is ‘Arihisa’. 」
The lady immediately inputs it into the laptop.
「 Please pardon me. Well then, walk down these stairs to B1F and have a seat while you wait. When you hear your number, please enter the inner room. 」
I face right, and I can see the stairs she mentioned.
So I ask her.
「 Excuse me, I believe there were no stairs over there earlier. 」
Right.
I was wondering at first why the first floor only has a reception desk. I was actually going to ask about how they would go to the second floor, but I refrained.
This transformation is too abrupt that I just have to ask.
「 Pa.s.sing marks for observation. 」
She muttered something, but I could not hear it well.
「 You must be imagining it. Are you slightly tired, perhaps? 」
Is how she answered me, with a beaming face.
Tired? Yeah, maybe she is right.
I was running after all.
「 Yes, that must be it. Thinking that I was going to be late, I ran all the way here. 」
And I smile back at her.
「 That is the reason, then. 」
The lady returns my smile with another smile of hers.
「 Yes, I know. I will going ahead now. Thank you for your help. 」
Not forgetting to send my grat.i.tude with smile, I head towards the stairs leading to the bas.e.m.e.nt.
I know, the interview starts the moment you arrive at the company.
You must not forget your manners even for a second.
And so I walk down the stairs towards the place for interview.
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The receptionist lady saw off the still young juvenile with a smile.
Afterwards, she immediately faces her laptop.
「 Observation: B, Manners: A&h.e.l.lip; a good score for someone his age. 」
She indifferently updated the boy’s data on the computer.
True.
The stairs were hidden with the help of a 3D projector to see whether or not the examinee would notice it.
The interview truly began the moment the applicant entered the company venue.
❃❃❃
I have arrived at B1F, and first, I take a seat at the first spot I saw and wait.
Why, you ask?
Because the chairs closer to the inner room are crowded with people.
I did not expect this job would be so popular.
I suppose it is due to the high salary and favorable working conditions.
But this is weird.
I mean, everyone except me is weird!
Just take a look at the guy sitting beside me.
murmur&h.e.l.lip; murmur&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;
It is not really audible, but he keeps looking down while muttering.
「 Die&h.e.l.lip; you trash. I’ll kill you&h.e.l.lip; 」
Yeah, I did not hear anything. That was just a delusion.
Otherwise, I may have finally started to develop symptoms of chuunibyou5 after graduating middle school.
5 A common stage in growth which happens around 2nd year of middle school.
That must be the case&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip; please tell me that it is.
&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;well, this is the first time I feel so troubled finding a decent person.
A great person once said, ‘Everything in life is experience’.
If that someone is still alive, I want to wring a rope around his neck and drag him here.
And I will ask him this.
Should I consider even this kind of thing experience? Like that.
Now, look at the ones further inside.
Did you come from a special army force somewhere?
Is what I would like to ask those three people because of their attires.
And you in the middle, the things that you are juggling with one hand, aren’t those grenades?
I will get tired if I keep standing.
So it cannot be helped.
There is a s.p.a.ce for one person on a bench to the left side.
Let’s sit there.
This is inevitable. Give up, me.
Even if the guy beside me is evidently murmuring weird things, I just need to endure.
This is for my body’s sake. I ran all the way here without taking breaks, so rest is important for me now.
Waiting while doing nothing is harsh.
But look, killing time by observing around is too high of a hurdle for me.
Oh yeah, I should close my eyes.
A nap sounds good in exchange.
So I close my eyes, but it does not take me to long to understand.
That I have blundered.
Shutting your eyes means that your touch and hearing will become more perceptive.
This is what I am getting at.
I got to hear the murmurs around me clearly.
「 I beseech you, be my power! 」
「 OOooh, kiLL&h.e.l.lip; LeT ME KiLL!! 」
「 They’re not using me. I AM the one using this organization as a stepping stone. I will reach the top and complete my quest in dominating the whole world! 」
s.h.i.t. Oh s.h.i.t, what the h.e.l.l is going on.
One thing comes to my mind.
What the heck? Who are these painful-to-look-at gangs of chuunibyou patients?
I will stay away from them.
I will keep a distance away. But since it is impossible to achieve it physically, I will do it mentally, at least.
And so I determined before opening my eyes.
I cannot bear hearing anymore of it.
Let’s find something that is not human.
With my resolution, I move my line of sight along the wall to my opposite.
&h.e.l.lip;half the way, my eyes are focusing themselves to a person sitting diagonally to me.
It is a T-shirt with anime character printed on it, and a man who makes the picture stretch by wearing it.
The guy is holding a doll in one hand. (I think, it is a figurine maybe.)
And he is talking to it.
And so I thought.
Ah, it is just a normal otaku.
Huh? Is it normal, though?
If we can call it normal, then it must a new kind of normal.
While I am thinking this and that, it seems that the interview has started.