Memory Owner: A Near-Future Sci-Fi Short-Short

"Why don't you become a 'successful person' too?"

That advertisement was posted everywhere in the city.
Memory transplant technology became commonplace ten years ago.
Now, you can legally purchase the 'memories of successful people' and overwrite them onto yourself.

Doctors, executives, writers, politicians—the memories of the lives they lived.
Their 'experience' and 'thought patterns' are extracted and digitized using special technology.

If you buy them and install them, you can get closer to the 'person you want to be'.
No, you can 'become' them, almost entirely.

Shoya Nishino, 42 years old.

He was a very ordinary salaryman working for a small local company.
Commuting between home and work. He had no particular talent and had just been growing older.
However, one day, his heart was stirred by an advertisement he happened to see on his way to work.
—"If you could redo your life, which memories would you choose?"

A few weeks later.
Shoya spent his savings to purchase the memories of 'a certain person'.

"Ritsu Kujo. A global executive. The legendary man who took five companies public by the age of 29."
It is said that his memories are packed with everything: decisiveness, negotiation skills, ambition, leadership...

The transplant was surprisingly simple.
Sitting in a white chair at the clinic, the memory data was poured in like an IV drip.

—And then, he woke up.

"...Is this me?"

The face reflected in the mirror had not changed.
But his thoughts were clearly different.

The text of his emails, instructions to subordinates, negotiations with business partners—
Everything was sharp. It was as if the 'successful version of himself' had possessed him.
A year later, Shoya went independent and launched a venture company.

He raised capital in an instant and expanded the business. He became a topic on TV and the internet, and came to be called the 'Ritsu Kujo of the Reiwa era'.

However, at night—
When he was alone, a strange sensation brushed against his chest.

"...Who am I?"

His catchphrases, habits, food preferences, way of thinking, the scenery he saw in his dreams—
Everything had become 'Ritsu Kujo's'.
His memories as Shoya were gradually fading.
What kind of music he used to like, what kind of scenery used to move him—
Even when he tried to remember, only a blank space spread out.

One night, in a drunken stupor, he met an old friend.
He looked into Shoya's eyes and said this:

"...You're Shoya, right? Something about your eyes is different. You used to be more laid-back... now, you're kind of scary."

Scary.

Those words stung.
That night, Shoya checked the contract for the memory data.
At the end of the detailed terms of service, there was a small sentence.

—"Memory transplantation may result in changes to personality. We assume no responsibility whatsoever."
Shoya laughed involuntarily.

It could not be dismissed with words like 'changes to personality'.
By now, he didn't even know who the existence called 'himself' had been.
The next morning, he looked in the mirror.

"Good morning, Shoya."

His own voice sounded just slightly different.
The intonation, the nuance of the sentence endings, it was as if he were a completely different person.
He was no longer Shoya Nishino.
But—

Somewhere, the **real 'Ritsu Kujo'** might also have been buying someone else's memories.

The punchline: [Who exactly is the 'successful person' inside you a copy of?]

Voice Cast (VOICEVOX)
Narration: Ryusei Aoyama
Shoya Nishino: Meio Kenzaki
Old Friend: Sorin Kirigashima
Voice of Advertisement: Shuji Suzumatsu