novelraw Chapter 1: My First Job
Chapter 1: My First Job
"You don't need to go home for the holiday, Kaze. Your mother and I will stop giving you living expenses starting today. Try to find a job in Tokyo to support yourself."
"Dad, you're not kidding, are you?!"
"Wafu, you said you wanted to live in Tokyo for a few years before deciding whether to stay in the big city to work or go back to your hometown to inherit the hot spring inn, right?"
"That's what I said before I came to Tokyo."
Twenty years ago, Yamazaki Kazuka, who retained his memories of his previous life, was reborn in a hot spring inn in Hokkaido and became the child of the inn's owner.
In my past life, I was a salesperson. One day, I drank with a client until late at night. On my way home, I passed out drunk on the roadside. When I woke up again, I found myself in this world.
Because he was an orphan, Yamazaki Kazuka had little attachment to his past life. He only hoped that fate would grant him a happy family in his next life, considering that he had frequently donated to orphanages after starting work.
Unexpectedly, his wish came true. The Yamazaki couple were a kind couple, and the hotel business was booming. Although he did not have a system like other transmigrators, he was well-liked by everyone around him because of his eloquence in sales. In addition, he had self-discipline and wisdom far beyond his peers, and he had been a good student since childhood.
However, his home was in a remote town in Hokkaido. For travelers from big cities, this was a tourist destination, but for Yamazaki Kazukazu, spending his life in this desolate wilderness was something he was unwilling to do.
So, during junior high school, Yamazaki Kazuka suggested to his parents that he take the self-study exam to attend a high school in Tokyo, and his parents agreed to his idea as always.
Through her own hard work, she was admitted to a prestigious private school, and three years later, she was admitted to the University of Tokyo. Everything in her life was proceeding in an orderly manner according to her own plan.
Every year during the holidays and peak tourist season, I would go home to help out. This summer, as usual, I bought my train ticket and was packing my luggage in my rented room when I received a call from my father.
"To allow you to fully experience life in Tokyo, we have decided to stop sending you living expenses starting this month."
Yamazaki Kazuka sensed that his father on the other end of the phone was trying not to laugh.
"Dad, I only have 10,000 yen left in my bank account!"
"If you don't have money, you can go to work. As a top student from the University of Tokyo, you can't possibly not find a single holiday job."
"Do you know how hard it is to find a job these days? You're suddenly telling me this kind of thing, what am I supposed to do about taking the postgraduate entrance exam?"
"You're an adult now, figure out how to handle this yourself!"
"Does Mom think so too?"
Do you think I can make this decision on my own?
The father handed the phone to the mother.
"It's very hot in Tokyo, so be careful of heatstroke when you go out to look for work."
A mother's loving voice came from the other end of the phone.
"I understand, but what about the family business?"
"It's the holidays now, so we've hired some high school students to help out. It'll be fine, don't worry."
After the mother finished speaking, the father impatiently snatched the phone back.
"In short, learn to live in Tokyo on your own."
"I see........"
Yamazaki Kazuka hung up the phone, opened his mobile banking app, and checked his balance. Although it wasn't as little as 10,000 yen, it was only a little over 30,000 yen left.
[Congratulations, host, on awakening the Professional Skill System – Hextech]
[The host will be provided with one Hextech card draw opportunity each week. Each draw will yield three Hextech cards of the same quality. The host can choose one card from the three cards to obtain permanent Hextech.]
[November 11 Blind Box: Based on the host's spending this month, a blind box will be delivered on the first of next month. The value of the items inside the blind box is one-tenth of the total spending for the previous month.]
[Know Yourself and Your Enemy: The host can purchase intelligence on a specific person within their social circle once a week. The price of the intelligence is determined by the price paid by the individual, the host's own assessment, and the depth of the intelligence.]
[Transformation Prism: Obtain a Colored Hextech card]
"Both of these gold cards look good, but the third option gives you a colored card..."
Yamazaki Kazuka pretended to hesitate for a moment in front of the system panel before selecting qualitative change.
[Host obtains item: The Gym Teacher's All-Purpose Watch]
[The PE teacher's all-purpose watch: When the user and student are training together, the user's speed, endurance, skill, strength, and reaction speed will all surpass the student's. After the training session, the user and student's relevant stats will be boosted for up to three hours per day.]
"Completely useless!"
Yamazaki Kazuka looked at the black watch in his hand, smiled bitterly, and let out a miserable scream.
The system's appearance did not have a significant impact on Yamazaki Kazukazu. He had lived a fairly successful life without the system, and apart from breaking up with his girlfriend from high school who went abroad to study, he had no regrets in his life so far.
"The system is no longer reliable; how can I find a job now?"
"Are you there, Kaze?"
There was a knock on the door and a young woman's voice.
"What's wrong, Sister Huizi?"
Judging from the voice, the person knocking on the door was the landlady, Keiko Inoue. Since I came to Tokyo, I've been renting from her apartment. She's a gentle and kind woman who often delivers tonkatsu (fried pork cutlets) to Yamazaki Kazufu and the elderly people living alone in the apartment building.
Yamazaki Kazuka opened the door and saw Inoue Keiko standing outside, wearing a gray T-shirt and jeans, with a few glistening drops of sweat on her fair cheeks.
"Do you have any plans to stay in Tokyo this summer, Wafuu?"
Today in Tokyo, it's cloudy but not raining, and the muggy air makes it very uncomfortable to be outdoors.
"What does Sister Huizi want to say? Please come in and say it."
Yamazaki Kazuka invited Inoue Keiko into the house and poured her a cup of oolong tea.
"Kaze, are you leaving?"
Keiko Inoue noticed the suitcase placed beside the bed.
"I've changed my mind; I'll stay in Tokyo this holiday."
"That's great! Kaze, do you have any work ideas?"
"Yes, are you going to introduce me to a job, Huizi-neechan?"
Suppressing his inner joy, Yamazaki Kazuka spoke to Keiko with a calm expression. This was a habit left over from his past life—never letting the other person see through his true feelings.
Would you be willing to accept a job as a private tutor?
"Of course I'd like to. How are the student's grades usually? What subjects do they need tutoring in?"
Kazuka Yamazaki felt he needed some time to refresh his memory of what he learned in high school.
"If you're willing, I'll contact the employer for you. She wants to hire a tutor to come to her home every day to help her child with his studies."
"What about the tuition fee?"
"The hourly rate is four thousand yen."
Some of my classmates work as private tutors outside of school, earning around three thousand yuan per lesson, and very few can earn four thousand.
How many hours do you work each day?
"You have to work eight hours a day and there's no rest during the entire summer vacation. That sounds exhausting, is that acceptable?"
Yamazaki Kazukazu began to calculate in his mind: 32,000 yen a day.
Japanese high school summer vacation lasts from late July to September 1st, approximately 40 days, costing nearly 1.3 million yen.
The average white-collar worker in Tokyo earns around 300,000 yen a month, which is equivalent to three months' salary for an average white-collar worker.
"Is there something wrong with the child you entrusted to us?"
Because the compensation was too generous, Yamazaki Kazuka suspected that there was something wrong with it.
"The person who made the request is a sister I met in the gardening club. Her husband is the general manager of an overseas branch of a car company and is away from home most of the year, so the sister takes care of all the household matters."
"Sister Qingxue has two daughters. Her eldest daughter is very outstanding. She showed a talent for painting that far surpassed that of ordinary people from a young age. After graduating from high school, she went abroad to study. But her younger daughter is not so outstanding."
"What happened to her youngest daughter?"
"Her youngest daughter is addicted to video games and skips school to play at arcades outside of school. She is a freshman in high school this year and has failed all her math, physics, and chemistry grades. Her school has strict requirements for academic performance, and coupled with her constant truancy, the school has issued a notice that if she does not pass the exams after the holidays, she will be expelled from the school."
"This is a bad situation. The other parents seem to be looking for a tutor/nanny to supervise their child's studies throughout the summer vacation."
"Sister Qingxue has hired tutors before, but the results were not good. She analyzed that it might be because there was a generation gap between those experienced tutors and her daughter, so this time she wants to hire a young tutor."
"No problem, I'll take the job."
Since the other party has given so much, I should give it a try no matter what.
"Since you've made up your mind, I'll call her now."
Keiko Inoue took out her phone and contacted Kiyoyuki Himeno; the call was answered quickly.
"Sister Qingxue, the Dong University student I recommended to you has agreed!"
"Really? Thank you, Keiko. I'm taking my daughter to Kyoto to visit her grandmother tomorrow. Please have him come to my house for an interview in three days."
"Okay, I'll tell him right away."
Keiko Inoue hung up the phone with great delight and looked at Kazukazu Yamazaki.
"That's great, Kaze. The president has agreed to see you in three days."
"Thank you, Sister Huizi. I'm having trouble finding a job."
"The president will be interviewing you, so you'd better prepare well."
After Keiko Inoue left, Kazuka Yamazaki fell into deep thought. He had an interview in three days. If she had someone test his high school knowledge, would he be able to pass?