At 46, my annual income went from 8 million to 3 million yen. I couldn't walk, was hit by a series of misfortunes, and when I looked up my 'Great Killing Boundary' (Daishakkai), I found out it hadn't even started yet.

In 2023, at the age of 46, my annual income suddenly dropped from 8 million to 3 million yen.

I am a former department manager at a small-to-medium-sized company in Tokyo.
A former manager... yes, I am no longer a manager.
I was demoted to a contract employee.

What I am about to tell you is
a story of 'Hey you, come and get me'.

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Things that happened in these four years:
・Became unable to walk due to COVID-19 sequelae
・Demoted from department manager to contract employee
・Annual income dropped by 5 million yen
・Wife had surgery for a thyroid tumor
・Car and house kept breaking down one after another

'This must be the 'Great Killing Boundary' (Daishakkai)!?'
When I looked it up thinking that,
'Your Great Killing Boundary is the three years starting next year'
was displayed.
.
..Huh? It hasn't even started yet?

This is the record of a man who was already falling apart before his Great Killing Boundary even began.
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It's a bit of a long read, but please bear with me.
(You can read it in about 10 minutes)

My wife, our beloved dog, and our slightly unusual home

By the way, let me talk about my home for a moment.
I live a laid-back life in the suburbs with my wife and our beloved dog.

My wife is this kind of person.
When going on an overseas trip, she tears out the pages of the 'Chikyu no Arukikata' (Earth Walker) guidebook that she isn't interested in and leaves them at home...
She remembers my birthday based on the expiration date of a ten-yen manju (on the day of)...
She loves plants so much that she drools when taking pictures of them...
Her type of man is Saburo Ishikura...
And this is just the tip of the iceberg; she is quite a natural monument of a person.

We have been married for 18 years now.
We are living happily after two separations (I said that casually).

The first time was when my wife said, 'I am going back to my parents' house,' and
the second time was when I said, 'I am going to live alone.'
The reason is, well, it's complicated if I go into too much detail... but for now, it wasn't because of an affair.

After various things happened (during our separation, I developed a rare disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome, which affects 2 or 3 out of 100,000 people, making it difficult to live alone -> this goes beyond the scope of 'various things' but I will omit it as it would derail the focus of this essay; I have now recovered 80%), we got back together.
...That is the kind of household we are, having overcome a few ups and downs.

The trendy virus, and the unknown illness

Returning to the story...
In January 2022, I was infected with the trendy virus (the one everyone knows).
I thought I had a mild case, but a month later, symptoms like fatigue, weakness, nausea, dizziness, numbness, fever, pain... and various other things started occurring one after another.

I couldn't move much. Even when I could, I was as clumsy as an early-model ASIMO.

The doctor told me, 'If you force yourself to move, it will get worse.'
At the time, I had a lot of remote work, so I could fake it, but since the symptoms wouldn't subside, I decided to take a leave of absence.

My physical condition at that time was that I could walk about 50 meters if I was careful, but if I accidentally exceeded the limit, I would experience a special kind of fa-tigue♡, and then be struck by a sense of des-pair♡.

※The reason I caught COVID was, 'a model change I skimped on by just 30,000 yen'
(👇For details, please see Article ① after the main text)

My daily life was spent watching movies and dramas, reading manga that my boss sent me in bulk, sunbathing with my beloved dog, having tea time at 3 PM, listening to my favorite music and radio, removing lint from clothes (my hobby), and doing some light yoga-like stretches. It was very elegant. It was like someone who succeeded with an information product titled 'The era of working to earn money is over! How anyone can earn 700,000 yen a month.' No, I was just following the doctor's instructions to 'try not to move as much as possible.'

A month passed, then two months, and there was no change in my symptoms.
My wife, who was taking care of me, was only getting more and more tired.
So, I suggested she take a drive by herself to get some fresh air and spend some free time.
And one day, I sent her off, telling her to go eat something delicious.

That's when the incident happened.

About an hour after my wife left, my stomach started to hurt.
Should I take some Seirogan?
Hmm, it's quite painful. My body started to shake. It wouldn't subside at all. This feels dangerous.
I'm sorry to bother her while she's trying to relax,
but I call my wife. She doesn't answer.
Sending message
'My stomach hurts, please come home early if you can'
The symptoms worsened by the minute.
I call my wife. She doesn't answer.
Sending message
'Please contact me'
I started breaking out in a cold sweat and the pain increased.
I call my wife. She doesn't answer.
My whole body started to go numb and my vision was flickering.
I call my wife. She doesn't answer.
Sending message
'I want to call an ambulance'
Our hyper-sensitive dog (a miniature pinscher named Pinko) cannot be left alone for long periods and panics when strangers come, so I couldn't call one.
My consciousness was fading.
I call. No answer.
I call. No answer.
I call. No answer.
This is bad. My fingers cramped, I couldn't open my hands, and my body stiffened.
Finally, I couldn't even hold my smartphone.
I can't do it anymore. I managed to dial 119 with my fingertips.
Sending message (barely)
'Called an ambulance'
'Please take care of Pinko'

I was transported and examined.
It was likely caused by an electrolyte deficiency. I had an IV drip and it subsided to some extent.

My wife noticed her smartphone.
She was shocked by the huge number of missed calls and terrified by the minimal-character message. She made a hurried U-turn.
I heard later that she came home crying.

Of course she did, all that was conveyed from the smartphone was a sense of impending death.
Instead of a relaxing drive, I made her have a drive where she had to keep holding her breath. I am truly sorry.

*For more details, see 'The worst-case scenario: calling 119 while dying, only to be fully recovered before they arrive'
(Please check Article ② after the main text)

My wife's sudden illness, and the 'Daisakkai'

Whoa! What happened?!
One Sunday morning, about a year after I developed my own aftereffects,
my wife coughed up blood.

This can't be good.
Since it was Sunday, the clinics were closed.
However, my wife said the emergency center at the general hospital was open, so she would go there.
She walked right into the ER where the ambulances pull up. She's tough.

The test results suggested pulmonary tuberculosis.

Ugh... I can't do anything for her, damn it... Just as I was feeling frustrated, more information came in. Another blow.
In the process of testing, they found a large tumor on her thyroid.

A tumor.

When I heard it from my wife, I pretended to be a husband who stays calm and composed even in an emergency, saying 'I see,' but inside, my blood ran cold.

We wouldn't know if it was malignant until we had a biopsy. But because the tumor was large, surgery would be necessary regardless.

They say misfortunes never come singly, and it's really true.

The surgery was scheduled for a month later. All I could do was pray for its success.
However, her being hospitalized meant the pillar of our household would be gone for several days.
I had been spoiled by her for so long that I started to feel anxious.

There was one big problem.
The plants my wife loves so much. There were 80 pots of them.
I'll say it again because it's important: 80 pots.
In other words, I was entrusted with 80 lives.

My wife spent about an hour every day watering them.
The hospitalization was in midsummer. I couldn't let them run out of water.
Since there is no faucet on our balcony, I had to draw water into a watering can in the kitchen and make trips back and forth to the balcony.
It's a trivial task if you're healthy, but it's a forbidden mission for someone of my species who shouldn't move much.
My wife, concerned for me, rearranged the plants to make them easier to water.
I will protect them! I'll protect them even if it kills me! Because my wife loves them enough to drool over them.

A month later, my wife's tumor was successfully removed, and the results came back benign, which was a relief. A large surgical scar remained on her neck, but it seemed that would fade over time. However, for a while, the wound felt tight when she moved her neck, so her range of motion became like C-3PO (from Star Wars, you know).

An early model ASIMO and a C-3PO—thus, a retro-humanoid couple was born.

By the way, the original lung disease that caused her to cough up blood (it wasn't tuberculosis) was a separate issue, so C-3PO had to work hard on her medication treatment.

*For more details on this as well,
'The morning my wife coughed up blood, I was left to protect 80 pots of plants'
(Please check Article ③ after the main text)

But isn't life a bit too 'hard mode' lately?
It's not even my unlucky year.

Could it be what they call the 'Daisakkai'?

I looked it up online.
I was able to check it easily on a free fortune-telling site just by entering my date of birth. I was shocked by the result.

My Daisakkai was actually the three years starting from next year.

I wasn't in any kind of unlucky period right now. In fact, my luck is apparently good.
Well, how about that.

*For more details, see 'If this isn't my Daisakkai yet, how bad can it get?'
(Please check article ④ after the main text below)

Treatment for an unknown illness

However, I am not getting any better.

I am being treated at three different hospitals.
An unknown illness. It's frustrating because tests show no abnormalities.

Everyone in the same situation as me is struggling in the same way.
Information flies around on social media every day, saying that this supplement worked, or that an unapproved drug helped, or that this self-care product is effective... and so on.

A pathetic, money-wasting body that keeps repeating: new information -> try it -> it doesn't work.

Let's try relying on Eastern medicine too.
The history is long, and the idea of balancing the mind and body to boost natural healing power shouldn't be bad.
Acupuncture, moxibustion, Seitai, Qigong, chiropractic, Gua Sha, Reiki, tuning fork therapy, osteopathy, etc. It has a faint scent of the spiritual, but I tried everything anyway.

Let me introduce one.

Qigong Seitai.
The name sounds suspicious. Honestly, if I hadn't been backed into a corner, I don't think I would have ever thought to rely on Qigong.

The practitioner identified my symptoms and suffering just by holding his hands over me.
He also clearly explained the mechanism. One doctor had brushed me off by saying, 'You're just worrying too much,' so it was the first time I felt so understood.

'You should have come to me sooner. It's been tough, hasn't it? Don't worry, you'll get better,' he said, and I almost cried. I was already feeling like Qigong is the best!

The treatment for the unknown illness was unknown.
I would lie down, and the practitioner would spread his arms and make large circles in the air several times.
Immediately after, he would roar 'Haaah!' and then use a soft touch. Then the practitioner would shake violently. It was as if his body was being controlled by another life form, like a beast that couldn't control itself.

A flicker of anxiety crossed my mind, but since there are people who were cured by this, I'll try to believe in it.

I asked him a question, just in case.
What about the movement of making those circles?
'I'm gathering the energy of the universe; this room is also a part of the universe'... I see.
What about the shouting?
'It's easier to convey when I let it out, though I don't always do it'... I see.
What about the shaking?
'It's a habit'... I see.
I went 12 times, but my symptoms didn't change. Too bad.

The practitioner isn't bad. It's just that the treatment method didn't suit me.

*For more details, see 'The story of how dog pee pads don't work as diapers'
(Please check article ④ after the main text below)

The company president's visit, and becoming a contract employee

About a year and a half into my leave of absence, the company president came to visit me (in a Porsche).

My house is far from the company.
It's a large apartment complex for families.
The urban-style president, dressed head-to-toe in high-end brands, arrived at the entrance of my apartment and said one thing:

'It feels like people actually live here, doesn't it?'

Huh? W-well, of course they do!
Many families live here, after all.
A small scratch was added to my body (heart).
Isn't the point of a visit to comfort and encourage someone who is recuperating, President?!

When you take a leave of absence, you receive an injury and sickness allowance from social insurance.
It's about 60% of your salary, and the payment period is 18 months.
Once that period passes, you have no income.
The president, worried about my situation with only two months left, came to check on me.
After discussing my future, thanks to the kindness of the president and the company, I was able to remain employed as a contract employee working from home.
It would be natural to be fired after taking this much time off. I have nothing but gratitude. President, I'm sorry for bad-mouthing you!

*For more details, see 'The day I saw off the president's Porsche with ASIMO'
(Please check article ⑥ after the main text below)

A 5 million yen drop in annual income, and a review of my lifestyle

I returned to work after the New Year.
I was given simple PC tasks to do from home. The content, workload, and responsibilities are all different from my previous job. My income has dropped dramatically.
8 million to 3 million. That's only natural, as my body has changed dramatically.
I had some savings, but living at this pace is going to be a problem. The medical expenses I've incurred so far are brutal, and they will likely continue to be. I have about two and a half years left at most. I need to come up with a plan.

Just my luck...
The light switch in the washroom broke, the door became hard to open, the living room door was on the verge of breaking, the car had an oil leak, the back seat door wouldn't open, and the engine cover got warped. A barrage of body blows to our household budget.

I'm in the 'Daisakkai' starting this year. Is this the signal that it's beginning?

Generally, one might think of the wife working, but unfortunately, she has a constitution that makes that absolutely impossible (more on that another time). First, I'll review our lifestyle and cut expenses. Also, energy-saving living. Aiming for small savings that add up.
My wife is cutting back on household expenses.
There are days when we manage to eat for 300 yen for two people. She started side jobs and 'poi-katsu' (point-earning activities). And she even started studying economics. She declared she would start investing in three years to prepare for old age. My wife is too resilient. But first, I have to increase my income.

So, I thought about a side hustle.
When I looked it up, I found that product sales are good for beginners, crowdfunding is profitable, blog affiliate marketing works, YouTube is the same, using AI to do this and that... there are many options. I read several books and watched tons of explanatory videos. Everyone mostly tries to lure you into consulting or seminars. Somehow, the shadiness won out, and I didn't feel like it.
What should I do?

That's when I discovered the note Creative Awards.
Let's start a note for now. Maybe, just maybe.

※More details on this as well
'A former department manager's side hustle wandering record: Saved by a job paying 5 yen per task after a 5 million yen drop in annual income'
(👇 Please check out article ⑦ after the main text)

What the hell, bring it on

I've always been a man with a weak mentality.
And yet, I have almost no mental damage. If I were stuck at home suffering from incomprehensible ailments and unable to walk, I think I'd be pretty broken...

This is undoubtedly thanks to my wife and my beloved dog.
Come to think of it, there isn't a day without laughter.

We are also very well taken care of by our respective parents.
Even though I'm at a good age, I'm living by relying on them and being helped by them.
I am also supported by my workplace. The system is rock solid.

Come if you want, Daisakkai.

What the hell, bring it on.
And once you come, leave quickly.

Oh, I forgot to talk about my beloved dog, Pinko.
Anyway, she's a super-sensitive grandma dog full of energy.
That's for another time.
My first essay, long and poorly written.
Thank you for reading until the end.

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I've written more detailed articles about the episodes in the main text.
If you'd like, please check these out too.

👇 Article ①

👇 Article ②

👇 Article ③

👇 Article 4

👇 Article 5

👇 Article 6

👇 Article 7

👇 Click here for the COVID-19 sequelae series
(If you would like to read from the beginning, please sort the magazine by 'oldest first'.)

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