Arc [1] chapter [1] normal life
Ring… ring… ring…
"Sorry to call you so early in the morning" I call him as the sun is rising outside my window.
"No problem bro" he sleepily answers me like the call just woke him up.
"Satoru, how do you do in your career?"
"I'm still unemployed but how's your career going?" he replies with a hint of excitement.
"Same as you"
"What do you study though?" he asks with slight disappointment.
"Computer science"
"I stu…"
"I will go on an interview today… but I don't think it will succeed" I interrupt him.
"I hope it will but if it doesn't… we should go j#b hunting together"
"Where should we met to talk since I will need to get your recommendations if I don't get a job and I can tell you my experience if I got one?" I excitingly ask him.
"I fancy that new cafe near Senso-ji" he replies, sleepily.
"Sounds nice" I tell him.
"Yeah."
The reply still sounds sleepy but I can sense excitement in his voice.
I wonder what tea he going to spill.
After a moment, I hung up the call.
I then stood up from my chair to get ready. I walked to my closet, opened it to find something formal for the job interview. After I looked around for a while, I decided to go with a white formal shirt and black pants then finish the look with a black tie.
I then headed to the toilet, sprayed my cheap deodorant, brushed my teeth, and also took what feel like a quick shower.
Ring… ring… ring…
Did he call me again? But I them realized that I had set an alarm to remind me to get to an interview yesterday.
"F**k" I yelled across my empty bathroom.
I quickly washed the remaining soap off my body, put on my clothes, dash out of the toilet, ran to the front door, then rushed out of my apartment building down a narrow alleyway through a few salarymen to the entrance stairs. After that, I went deeper into the metro station. I was out of breath and drenched in sweat.
As I was leaning against the wall trying to catch my breath,
Beep… beep… beep…
The train door was closing.
I couldn't be late
I rushed down an escalator than the platform.
The cold air blew into me after I entered the train. I immediately sat down, still out of breath. I sat for a while before my heartbeat slowed down and I began to recite my prepared script on my phone.
"Next station, Shibuya" went on the train intercom.
I jumped out of my seat, trying to get off the train. I pushed through busy rush hour commuters. I stepped out of the train, and then the station. As I dash forward I began to run out of breath again.
I rushed through a busy rush hour street until arriving at the office. Then I walked into the building, the lobby was massive with a tall roof and an atrium the size of my apartment. I pushed myself into a crowded elevator and managed to click the button to the 22th floor despite my hand shaking rapidly from the nervousness. I gazed down at a view of Shibuya Crossing while walking through a glass-lined corridor to the interviewer office.
I waited in front of the room while reciting the note I prepared.
Then suddenly the door got opened and almost hit my face. Then a guy walked out looking absolutely defeated.
Then I entered the room.
"Welcome" he greeted me as I entered the room.
The room was covered in windows overlooking Tokyo.
I sat across from him.
I pulled the chair out of the table then sat down nervously. My hands began to shake even more and my heart rate spiked up harder than I ever got. I grabbed documents from my bag and placed them on the table.
The interviewer grabbed the documents, looked through them, and put them back down one by one. I could see that he didn't look happy.
Then he looked over to me and asked "Mister Takahashi Tenji, do you have any work experiences?"
"No" I nervously answered.
"You cannot get this position" he told me in a calm professional voice.
"Where could I get work experience" I asked him with fear in my eyes.
"None of my business" he spoke in the same professional voice.
My hands stopped shaking but disappointment and sadness replaced it.
I looked at his face one last time.
Then I sat up, grabbed my documents and then slowly walked out of the room.
I shouldn't have enrolled in computer science, I thought to myself.
I walked out through the same corridors I entered with, feeling rejected again. Then I took the elevator down.
"I don't even expect to get this position but why am I so disappointed" This thought circled my mind over and over again.
grrrr… grrrrr…
My stomach growled over and over again for the next few hours.
I walked and walked around the same area over and over again but I still could not bring myself to accept the truth even though I know what would happen.
After I wandered mindlessly for a while, I finally grabbed my phone and searched up cheap ramen restaurants on maps. Then I walked toward an alley just behind the office. I walked on a quiet alley for a while, away from the city chaos, until I saw a restaurant. It was a small ramen shop, hidden under a small apartment building. I walked down the stairs and encountered two people who seemed to be an old couple. I sat down and ordered a bowl of Tonkotsu ramen. Luckily it only cost 900 yen I thought to myself.
After a little while, he served a big bowl of ramen on my table.
After I finished eating, I walked out of the ramen shop, then onto the streets and then onto the train station. My train card was almost out I thought to myself as I scanned it to enter the train.
"Next station, Asakusa."
I went out of the train station onto a busy shopping street, it was a pedestrian street lined with shops full of tourists. I walked to my same old apartment, took the elevator up and then I went back to my room.
I logged on to a job listing website hoping to find a job.
I should just choose business major I thought to myself as I scrolled through the list.
After that I made myself a simple instant noodle and ate it as the sun set on the horizon.
After I finished my dinner, I took a shower and then I tried to go to other websites to find jobs but no one still needed my major.
Ring… ring… ring…
The alarm woke me up as the golden morning light shone through my window.
After I got out of bed, I texted my friend, "Are you still going?" Then I went to take a shower like usual. After a while, my friend texted back "yeah" as I got dressed with my casual shirt.
Then, I opened my door and cold wind suddenly hit my face.
I took the elevator down, then walked into the alley with the temple in clear view, and then I grabbed a bread from my usual bakery at the intersection between the alley and the road. I ate the bread while waiting for the traffic light.
After I crossed the road, I walked into the temple and then to the same shopping street I walked through yesterday. Then, I spotted my friend sitting in a cafe. I then entered the cafe and went to sit with him. He ordered a black coffee and a bagel and I ordered bread with strawberries jam.
"You eat like you're employed" I say in jokingly manner.
"You eat like a 5 year o.." he laugh jokingly.
"Do you have any job recommendations now?" I interrupted him.
"Nah" he replied in a funny voice.
"Do you heard about the land beyond Antarctica?" he asked me.
"Yeah"
"Should we go there since we both can't really find a job?" he asked me excitedly.
"Hell nah"
"Why bro?"
"I ain't risking my life"
"You have a computer science degree ain't nobody hiring you"
"Fair enough "
"So do you wanna runaway with me?"
"Maybe"
"If you stay here you ain't getting a job" he told me again.
"I guess, I will go"
"When?"
"The ship ticket costs cheaper at….. just around 80000 yen for the one departing 2 days from now" he told me while reading a promotion deal on his phone.
This early? Really? I thought to myself as I don't want to argue further.
This discovery hasn't really crossed my mind at all since the moment when I learned about this discovery, following the release of the previously classified Soviet documents 25 years after the collapse.
"But I don't have money" I tell him.
"I can lend you some just pay me back later there" he replies.
"I guess" I reply to him.
Then we go back to our own homes.
After I go back, I research the land where scientists call "Arcane Land".
That place lowkey sounds cool there's even magic I think to myself after I research it. That sounds much better than working a 9 to 5.
After I eat my lunch, I call my friend again.
"I think I will go with you"
"Why do you decided so early?"
"I mean…. I have no jobs, family, or anything to lose.
"Who will you also bring?"
"Do you remember a girl for our high school?"
"Aoi?"
"Yeah, that one"
"Why she coming?"
"She can't find a job and neither can we"
"Valid reason"
"Where will we meet in 2 days bro?"
"Narita airport at like 4 am march 24"
"Isn't it a ship?"
"It is a ship but we need to take them in Australia so we will need to fly there first"
"What do I need to bring?"
"You're life saving, some clothes, and maybe leave a will at home"
"A will? Am I going to die?"
"Just kidding bro"