Chapter 0: A Sudden Dismissal

"Fired? But I maintain all the software!"

As I sat at my desk in the systems management office, I could hardly believe my ears. The All-RaWi System oversaw all of our company's internal processes, yet the department head-who rarely showed his face here to begin with-was telling me to pack my bags?

After staring dumbfounded for a bit, I asked him to repeat himself.

The furrow in his brow deepened. "Do you remember the man in the glitzy suit who came by for an inspection?"

"Ah, yeah. He was standing in the back."

"I mentioned there was going to be a new CEO, didn't I?"

"Oh."

I immediately understood. I always wore cosplay while I worked. At the time, I'd been wearing...

"It was my succubus costume, huh? The super sexy one."

"That's right. The rest of us have gotten used to it, but it's normally not safe for work."

"It isn't against the company rules, though."

"Well, it seems President Arata didn't approve."

Further probing made it clear that the new CEO was considering cost-cutting measures. In other words, this was a corporate reform-a reworking of business operations that was common in recent years, primarily at large companies. Many operations were based on old systems, leading to the idea that rebuilding them around new systems could improve efficiency.

The new CEO had deemed several departments unnecessary. Thus, he'd downsized the organizational structure, resulting in surplus personnel. Most of these employees had been reassigned, but not all. The rest would be dismissed through a voluntary exit program. People didn't necessarily want to "voluntarily" exit, though, so it essentially resulted in layoffs.

So who got cut? First on the chopping block would obviously be the person whose work attire would be considered abnormal by most people: me.

"Has he lost his marbles?" I asked.

Currently, all internal processes went through the All-RaWi System, which I maintained single-handedly. Anyone could see that without a proper handover, several operations would break down.

"I did tell him he was crazy-in a roundabout way, of course," the department head said.

"Oh, so you did argue back."

"No luck, though, so I'm on the job hunt now."

"Wow, you sure are a go-getter."

"It takes good judgment to succeed in management." He gave a weary smile and fondly placed his hand on a nearby monitor. "This company has always tended to discount its engineers. Sure, automation allows us to cut man-hours and personnel. But..."

The bitter look on his face made me think back to past events. Various emotions surfaced in my heart, but I couldn't quite put them into words. All I could say was that seeing his sorrowful expression made my chest ache.

"I'm sorry, Sato-san," he said.

"Don't be! It's not your fault, chief."

"But I failed to convey the efforts of my direct reports. I tried to be persistent, but at the end, he asked, 'Is a job that can be handled by one person truly necessary?'" The department chief sighed and muttered, "I lost the will to reply."

As if reluctant to leave, he scanned the room, which once held more than ten employees. With each advancement in automation, the numbers had dwindled until only I remained.

"Anyway, I decided to burn through my paid leave starting today, so I'm off," he said.

"Oh, okay. Thank you for all you've done."

And so, I became unemployed. Obviously, the law prevented the company from simply saying, "You don't have to come in tomorrow." For formality's sake, there was a legal process-called resignation for personal reasons-that had to be followed. If I really wanted to, I could cling to the company...but I didn't have that kind of passion anymore.

Fired... Fired... Fired...

It still didn't feel real. Despite my disbelief, I was a little frustrated.

I'd joined the company six years ago as a fresh university grad. At the time, my assigned department had been horrible. Late-night overtime had been typical, and sometimes that had meant sleeping at the office. The light in my colleagues' eyes had faded by the day, while looking at my boss's eyes had been like staring into an abyss. I'd eaten Cal*rie Mate three meals a day and drunk R*d Bull like it was water. I'd also gotten used to sleeping on three chairs pushed together.

This had been the exact situation I'd wanted to avoid. That was why I'd chosen a company known for good work-life balance...only to become the exception to the norm.

The most painful part of it had been having my personal time taken away. As a STEM graduate born in the Heisei era, I belonged to the digital native generation. I'd owned a smartphone in my adolescent years, allowing me to grow up with easy access to manga, anime, and self-insert fan fiction. Basically, I was an otaku.

Normally, a healthy human life required three major nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. However, an otaku needed one more to survive: subculture.

Subculture is great. It boosts your immunity. Watching a single episode of anime can even cure the flu. Source: me.

This company had taken my anime away. My heart was withering at an accelerating speed.

Before I'd known it, I myself had become anime, unconsciously making cosplay outfits. After equipping them, I could hear my favorite characters cheering me on in times of distress:

"Hang in there, Ai-chan! You can do this!"

"Yeah, I can!"

Thus, I'd overcome entropy. That is to say, I started focusing on automation.

Automation is a power that protects one's life. Theoretically, any job done using a computer can be automated. A task that takes an hour by hand can be completed by a program in less than a minute. If one can automate every task, they no longer have a reason to work late nights and shorten their lifespan.

I had accomplished this. With the help of my colleagues and favorite characters, I'd spent five years automating all processes. And what did I get in return?

Fired. The most unsatisfying ending ever.

In recent years, there has been a push for automation thanks to the government's Work-Style Reform Act, which, among other goals, aims to regulate overtime. Managers may view the workplace in terms of numbers, but they must not forget about the engineers struggling behind the scenes. As soon as they say, "Is a job that can be handled by one person truly necessary?" those who sacrificed their lives to make it a one-person job-that is, people like me-can't help but scream...

"What the hell?!"

* * *

A month passed.

Despite having over a month of paid leave left, I'd intended to keep working until the last minute, managing the system and preparing documentation. Technically, the latter already existed, but it was more like developer notes. It hadn't been designed to be understandable to someone working with the system for the first time. As furious as I was with the company, neither the system nor my successor were at fault. I would fulfill my duties for their sake.

But the company's response to my request had been "Get out." So I'd bitten my tongue and obeyed.

For the first two weeks, I'd barely been able to think at all. I'd wake up, watch anime, and go to sleep. Rinse and repeat. Empty, meaningless days.

I'd spent the third week consuming the manga, novels, and games in my backlog. It had been supremely blissful...at least, until night time. Once I'd go to bed and close my eyes, cruel reality would take control over my thoughts, refusing to let me dream.

For the fourth week, I'd immersed myself in mobile games. I didn't have much in the way of savings, but I think I spent about a hundred thousand yen in total. It left me feeling utterly hollow.

That brought us to today.

After squandering my money in Akiba, I stopped by a diner and gulped down a glass of my beloved melon soda. The restaurant was packed-I was sitting in a solo seat by the wall, and a man in a suit was seated next to me. Loud voices flew every which way. Listening closely, most of them were complaining about work.

Something inside me snapped. Bolstered by everything I was hearing, a month's worth of anger welled up within me and exploded.

"What the hell?! You've gotta be kidding me! It doesn't make any goddamn sense!"

I became a crazy person yelling to herself. I felt bad for the guy next to me, but I just didn't have the patience to be considerate anymore.

"Oh? Is that you, Sato-san?" someone asked.

"'Scuse me?! What're you looking at, huh?!" I responded like a drunkard.

"Ha ha ha. From the look of it, you've been drinking...wine, perhaps?"

"Don't lump melon soda with alcohol!"

The stranger trying to hit on me looked confused. "You must've drunk quite a lot. Don't you recognize me?"

I processed the information at hand. Young man in a suit, fairly handsome...