IGTL Chapter 58

Chapter 58 – Please Borrow Responsibly (2)

“That bastard Takahashi sure had a lot of money.”

When I got scammed out of two million yen in that investment fraud, I’d been staring straight into the abyss, but getting money out of that bastard Takahashi turned the whole thing into a total win.

I’d quit my job planning to live off interest payments, so honestly, this saved my ass.

Still, two million yen, huh…

My thoughts turned to the two million yen sitting in my backpack.

That was way too much money to just dump straight into a convenience store ATM…

I walked along the train tracks, passed the convenience store, and smirked to myself.

Sure, I’d signed that contract on a whim, but it’d probably be fine.

When you lent money, you were supposed to do it assuming it’d never come back.

Takahashi was a working adult, so he should’ve understood that much.

Now then… what to do with this money…

It was way too much to waste on something as lame as paying off debt.

“Alright. I’ll just turn it into more money with pachislot real quick.”

Just the other day, when money had been tight, I’d thrown a 1,000 yen into a pachislot machine and turned it into 30,000 yen.

I had more than enough seed money now.

Muttering that, I headed from Fujimidai Station to Ikebukuro Station, then made my way to Paradise, the pachinko hall that promised an original, exciting, top-tier playground.

“Heh heh heh… I’ve got a feeling I’m gonna win today.”

The place was packed and buzzing with energy.

I sat down in front of a slot machine, pulled a ten-thousand-yen bill out of my backpack, and fed it into the machine on the left side of the cabinet.

I pressed the medal loan button, dropped the medals into the slot, and yanked the lever.

The reels started spinning.

At that exact moment, a warning alarm blared inside my head.

“W-What the hell!?”

I grimaced as the sudden alarm echoed through my skull.

“Aah, man. You really did it now.”

“Huh?”

Along with the warning alarm, I suddenly heard a voice behind me.

When I turned around, Takahashi was standing there with a grin on his face.

“T-Takahashi…”

“I told you, didn’t I? Don’t use it for anything other than paying back your debt.”

Then a game-like window popped open in my field of vision, and text appeared on it.

“Player Name, Kudo Shinji, has violated the contract clauses. A penalty will now be imposed on Player Name, Kudo Shinji.”

“Huh? What the hell are you ta…”

Then, completely against my will, my hand moved on its own and hit the return button.

“Huh?”

M-My hand moved by itself.

I couldn’t control my own body!?

What the hell was happening!?

I grabbed the IC card that came out, took it to the cash-out machine near the counter, settled it, and left Paradise.

What was going on?

My body was moving on its own, completely separate from my will…

“H-Hey! What the hell is happening!?”

“What do you mean, what’s happening? From now on, you’re going to live a life where you don’t trouble the people around you, work honestly, and pay back your debts.”

“W-What!?”

Why the hell did I have to do something like that!?

Thankfully, I could still move my mouth.

I had to call for help…

“H-Hey! Somebody, guh…!?”

The moment I tried to raise my voice and call out for help, my voice stopped coming out.

“…I told you, didn’t I? You can’t do anything that causes trouble for the people around you.”

“Ggh!?”

“Forget that. Look, I found you a new job while we were on the train. You wanted a listed company, right?”

“W-What did you say!?”

But despite those words, my hand reached for the free job magazine Takahashi was holding.

When I looked at it, one listing had been circled.

“Experience not required! Hiring in large numbers! Daily pay available! Company housing system available. A warm, homey workplace. Let’s work hard toward our dreams! Employer: Amazing Corporation, Nerima Sales Office.”

It was a recruitment ad for on-site construction labor.

According to the job description, even people starting with no experience could apparently aim for an annual income of six million yen.

But construction labor was a physically demanding job.

A lot of it was outdoor work, and you had to endure both heat and cold.

Since the work involved heights, heavy machinery, and equipment, if you weren’t careful with how you handled things, you could literally lose your life.

Don’t tell me…

Don’t tell me he was expecting me to work there.

No way!

Absolutely no freaking way!

But my body moved on its own, regardless of what I wanted.

I pulled my smartphone out of my pocket, called the phone number listed in the ad, and booked an interview.

Then, once the call ended, my body started walking toward a convenience store.

“Damn it! Screw you! I’m never going to that interview!”

“Aah, too bad. That’s probably impossible. The contract stays in effect until you pay off all your debt, and if you want your freedom back, then you’d better hurry up and clear it.”

“Ugh… Damn iiiiiit!”

When I reached the convenience store, I took my consumer finance card out of my wallet and inserted it into the ATM.

The outstanding balance on my consumer finance debt was 1.5 million yen.

I had gotten 1.2 million yen back from the scam as two months’ worth of “interest,” but I’d only put 500,000 yen of that toward repayment.

As for the rest, I’d set aside 200,000 yen for living expenses and blown the rest in one big spree.

I pulled 1.5 million yen out of my backpack, fed it into the ATM, and completely paid off the debt I’d borrowed from the consumer finance lender.

As for the money that remained, I unwillingly repaid Takahashi with it.

Or rather, my body moved on its own and made me repay him.

“Good, good. That leaves 1.5 million yen, huh? At this rate, you should be able to pay it off in no time. Do your best and aim for full repayment.”

Takahashi accepted the 500,000 yen, smiled, and walked away.

“S-Screw yooou, Takahashi! Gghhh!?”

But my body kept moving on its own, completely betraying what I was trying to say.

I withdrew the remaining 200,000 yen in living expenses from the ATM, rode the Seibu Ikebukuro Line back home to Fujimidai Station, then transferred the overdue 140,000 yen in unpaid rent to my landlord, and got forcibly made to pay 20,000 yen in utility bills at a convenience store.

In the end, I only regained control of my body after every last payment had been made and I’d gotten back home.

“D-Damniiiit!”

I clenched the 30,000 yen left in my hand and slammed my fist down on the desk as hard as I could.

I’d done it to myself, but it hurt so much my eyes teared up a little.

But that wasn’t the problem right now.

“This is bad. This is seriously bad…”

All I had left on hand was 30,000 yen.

At this rate, I was officially on a bean-sprout diet for the foreseeable future.

…No, forget that.

That didn’t even matter right now.

The biggest problem was that I was bound by the “Contract” penalty and couldn’t act of my own free will.

As long as that bizarre contract remained in effect, I’d be forced to live in a way that didn’t trouble the people around me and work honestly until I finished paying off my debt.

The harshest part by far was the clause that said, “without causing trouble for the people around you.”

Judging from how it had forced me to pay the overdue rent and utility bills, there was almost no question that I wouldn’t be allowed to fall behind on payments again.

Falling into arrears would count as causing trouble for the people around me.

On the other hand, I only had thirty thousand yen left right now.

I couldn’t even imagine what kind of action my body would take when the next rent payment came due.

The workplace Takahashi had found for me allowed daily pay.

In other words, the moment my body judged that I didn’t have enough money to cover rent or utilities, wouldn’t it just start moving on its own again?

Damn it…

At this rate, I couldn’t even gamble or go hang out with my female friends.

More than anything, the part about having to work honestly was the one I hated most of all.

“Isn’t there any way around this… O-Oh, right!”

At times like this, maybe I could borrow from my parents…

No, that was no good…

If I asked my parents for money right now, I’d get disowned.

Then maybe I could borrow from a friend…

No, that wouldn’t work either…

That would fall under the clause about “not causing trouble for the people around you.”

More than that, the instant I picked up my smartphone and tried to make a call, I lost control of my body again.

“D-Damniiiit! Those conditions are way too freaking harsh!”

At this rate, I was nothing but a debt-repayment machine.

I had no freedom until I paid everything off.

Losing your freedom just because you had debt was way too cruel!

Takahashi… what the hell had I ever done to you…?

All I did was borrow a little money.

Why the hell did you have to take my freedom too…?

After sinking into despair, downing a strong canned alcohol from the fridge, and getting drunk, I passed out.

The next day, I passed the interview for the construction-site labor job and started working at a construction site that very same day.

◇◆◇

Around the time Kudo was getting drunk off his canned alcohol, I had already confirmed the effects of the paid item “Contract” and made my way back to Shimbashi Station via the Yamanote Line.

I had never imagined paid items would work in the real world too.

Depending on how you used it, “Contract” looked like it could be applied in all sorts of ways.

I had a huge stock of them sitting in Item Storage, and even the Vice Guildmaster had known what “Contract” was.

I’d assumed it was something you could only obtain through the Yggdrasil Shop, but maybe if you really wanted one, there were ways to get it without going through the Yggdrasil Shop after all.

Still, real-world use of paid items, huh…

It did make me wonder what would respawn if I used “Monster Respawn” in Shimbashi.

Well, I was absolutely never going to try it…

Actually, I could kind of guess.

The instant I used “Monster Respawn,” Shimbashi would probably get flooded with rats and cockroaches.

Yeah. That sounded like a nightmare.

I should definitely make sure never to try that.

“Well, I confirmed how ‘Contract’ works through Kudo, so I guess it’s about time I headed back to the hotel…”

Before I knew it, it was already seven in the evening.

Around Shimbashi Station, I was already starting to see the occasional drunk staggering around.

I bought a beer with 70% fewer carbs, a strong highball, some light snacks, and dessert at a nearby supermarket, then went back to my room at Candeo Hotel.

After putting everything in the fridge and taking a quick shower, I changed clothes and turned on the TV.

“Still… today was one hell of a day…”

I took the beer out of the fridge and cracked the can open with a hiss.

That morning, I’d been drinking coffee and reading the paper at a café when I ran into Kudo. Then after leaving the café, I got caught by some shady art-sales touts, and just when I thought I’d successfully escaped by pulling out my lucky item, I ran into Kudo again.

Lately, nothing but trouble kept happening in the game world too, so maybe I was actually cursed.

Maybe I really should go get a purification ritual or something.

I downed the beer in one go and lay back on the bed.

I searched my smartphone for a shrine where I could get an exorcism for bad luck, and Kanda Myojin in Akihabara came up.

Speaking of Kanda Myojin, it was one of Japan’s top power spots and also famous as a sacred site for anime fans.

“Maybe I should go get cleansed… at least once.”

Muttering that, I pulled the blanket over myself and slowly closed my eyes.