Short Story: 'Beyond the Three Hundred Calls'

I post a short story every Friday.
Today's story is about the job of making cold calls for real estate.

Nine in the morning.
The fluorescent lights on the Axis Link sales floor were mercilessly white again today.
A paper sign reading "Investment Condo Sales Department" was taped to the wall.
Sato, the new hire, sat at his desk, trying not to look at those words.

On his desk, the "hell list" was piled up again today.
Medical professionals, licensed experts, company executives—
The list was filled only with people in stable professions.
It was a stack of paper that smelled like business cards from ten years ago.

At the next desk, Tanaka opened a canned coffee and said,
"Let's sell some condos today!" in a voice that was hard to tell if it was a joke or serious.
He was in his mid-thirties, loud, and had a low threshold for laughter.
He was the type who would shake with laughter the moment he saw someone else fail.

The other senior, Murakami, was sitting with his legs crossed, playing a game on his smartphone.
He was in his late twenties.
His sales performance was good, but it was hard to tell if he had any motivation.
"Sato, your quota for today is three hundred calls," he said, without taking his eyes off the screen.

"...Yes."

As Sato replied, Tanaka spoke up as if he had just remembered something.

"Oh, right. Sato, let's just go over the flow, just in case."

He set his canned coffee on the desk and held up one finger.

"First, just state the company name and your name. Don't say 'I'm calling from sales.'"
"...Yes."
"Be vague, like 'I'm calling to introduce myself' or 'I have a brief announcement.' Getting past the receptionist is the first hurdle."

Sato nodded.
Tanaka held up a second finger.

"Then, once you get through to the person in charge, that's when you get into the details. Tax savings or asset building. Basically, you create a 'reason to listen.'"
"A reason to listen..."
"Exactly. If you can make them think, 'Oh, maybe I should hear this out,' then you've won."

Murakami chimed in without taking his eyes off his phone.

"Investment condos. You don't live in them yourself; you rent them out to others and collect the rent. You hook them by saying it'll save them on taxes."

Sato looked at the stack of paper on his desk.
The "hell list."
The people listed there were the targets to be "hooked."

Tanaka held up a third finger.

"And finally, the appointment. Once you get them to meet you, you're finally at the starting line."
"...Yes."
"Those are the three things. Getting past the receptionist, creating interest, and setting the appointment."

There was a brief pause, and then Tanaka laughed.

"Well, if you make three hundred calls and get one appointment, you're doing great."

Sato couldn't help but ask back.

"One out of... three hundred?"

Murakami said indifferently.

"That's the ideal."

With those words, the air grew slightly colder.

Sato looked at the receiver.
The lump of black plastic looked terribly heavy.

(Three hundred times of this)

Sweat began to ooze from his fingertips.

"…Yes."

Sato lifted the receiver.
It slipped a little in his sweaty hand.
One deep breath.
Two.
On the third, he finally pressed the numbers.

The phone rang.
A warmth spread deep in his chest.
The first call of the day.
If this goes well, I'll feel a little more at ease.

Sato lifted the receiver.

(Get past the receptionist, spark interest, set the appointment)

He traced the words from earlier in his mind.
One deep breath.

He pressed the numbers.
The phone rang.

"Yes, this is XX Corporation."

The receptionist.

"Sorry to bother you while you're busy, this is Sato from Axis Link.
Is Mr./Ms. XX available?"

"May I ask what this is regarding?"

It was here. Sato hesitated for a split second.

"I'm calling to introduce our sales services."

A beat.

(Will this work...?) It's coming through.
Sato falters for just a second.

(If I stop here, it's over.)

"Please wait a moment."

Sato straightens his back while holding the receiver.
His heart beats a little faster.

(I made it.)

A few seconds later.

"I've transferred the call."

A low voice.
Clearly different from the one before.

It's the target. Sato steadies his breathing.

(Receptionist bypassed, now for the hook.)

"Sorry to bother you while you're busy, this is Sato from Axis Link.
Regarding asset formation as part of your—"

"Not interested."

Without a moment's hesitation, the line was cut.
Only the dial tone remained.

Sato couldn't move for a while, still holding the receiver.
Tanaka's voice rings out.
"Yeah, that's the basic form. Standard operation. Just your morning warm-up."

The next call.

"Sorry to bother you while you're busy, this is Sato from Axis Li—"

Click.

The silence on the other end of the receiver is painfully loud.
Sato slowly puts the receiver down.

Tanaka says without even turning around.

"Once they get used to it, they'll hang up the moment they hear the company name."
"But I have to state the company name, don't I...?"
"That's the rule."

Sato picked up the receiver once more.
The phone rang. Praying that this time, it would be different.

"Sorry to bother you while you're busy, this is Sato from Axis Link.
Is Mr./Ms. [Name] available?"

"Hmm? That's me. What do you want?"

"Um, well... I'm calling to provide you with a brief introduction—"
"...You're a sales rookie, aren't you? Make sure you listen to what your seniors tell you."

The line went dead immediately.

"They said I sounded like a rookie."

Tanaka shook with laughter, and Murakami said:

"I can tell by your voice. The ones who sound dead are the rookies. Stay alive."

Easy for him to say, when I'm calling until I'm half-dead.

I press the next number. The phone rings.
My deep breath is a little shallower than before.

"Sorry to bother you while you're busy, this is Axis Link's—"

"I'm definitely not buying anything, but I'm bored, so I'll humor you."

For a moment, Sato felt saved.

Not getting yelled at. Not getting hung up on.
I was surprised at how much lighter my heart felt just from that.

"Oh, uh, thank you...?"
"Nah, I'm just killing time. I'm not buying anything anyway."

Even though the way they said it was cold, the tone of their voice was somehow soft.
Sato let out a tiny smile.

"I see... Um, if you don't mind—"
"I told you I'm not buying. Bye now."

The call ended.

Tanaka said with a smirk,
"Maybe you've got a shot?"
"No way!"
"But they did listen to you."
"...Well, I suppose so."

Somewhere in my heart, I hated myself for thinking, "(Is it not zero?)"

──That is perhaps why I cannot quit.

Murakami says, "Sato, that kind of person is a 'gentle hell.' They give you hope, but give you nothing."

Sato put down the receiver and took a deep breath. Still only the tenth call. Today's quota is three hundred.

The hell had only just begun.

It was noon. The air on the sales floor was a little more relaxed than in the morning. The ringing of phones had stopped, and the smell of convenience store bento boxes began to drift through the air.

Suppressing the urge to collapse onto his desk, Sato opened a convenience store yakisoba bread. He didn't have much of an appetite.

Tanaka said while slurping his cup of miso soup, "Sato, how many did you get through this morning?" "...Sixty." Saying it himself made him feel a little disgusted. "That's not bad. That's how it is when you're a rookie."

Murakami was fiddling with his smartphone while picking at the fried chicken in his bento.

Sato brought up something that had been bothering him for a long time. "Seniors... how many calls do you actually make, and how many appointments do you actually get?"

Tanaka made a face that said, "Here we go." It was a question every rookie asked at least once.

"I'll tell you the reality." Tanaka held up three fingers.

"First, out of three hundred calls a day, about ten people will listen to what you have to say." "Ten people..." "From there, one or two will lead to an appointment." "...Is that really how it is?" "That's how it is. If anything, that's on the good side."

Sato almost crushed his bread in his hand.

Murakami chimed in. "And even if you get an appointment, only half will actually meet you." "Half..." "And of those who meet you, only one-tenth of them will sign a contract."

Sato did the math. Three hundred calls, ten people listen, one or two agree to an appointment, half of those actually meet, and one-tenth of those sign a contract.

In other words──

"...So you're saying it takes six thousand calls to get one contract?" "That's about the size of it."

Tanaka was smiling, but his eyes were not.

Murakami said while picking at his fried chicken, "Well, we get 'warm lists' passed to us too, so it's a bit better for us." "Warm lists..." "People who made inquiries, or people who came to seminars. People who 'aren't at zero interest.' It's a different beast from the 'hell list' you're calling now." Sato looked at the stack of papers on his desk. That stack of papers that smelled like ten-year-old business cards.

Tanaka says.
Sato, you still have zero contracts, right?
...Yes.
That's normal. It's common for new hires to have zero for half a year.

Murakami continues.
It took me four months to get my first contract.
During that time, I was constantly being asked, 'You're a newbie, aren't you?'

Sato felt a little relieved.
He wasn't uniquely incompetent.
In this world, this is normal.

Tanaka finished his miso soup and said.
But you know, once you land one, it all pays off.
...Is that how it is?
That's how it is.
The hell of three hundred calls becomes a 'well, I guess it's fine' in an instant.

Murakami laughs.
It's just like gambling.
You can forget everything only in the moment you win.

Sato took a bite of his yakisoba bread.
He couldn't really taste it, but
he thought he had no choice but to face the afternoon calls.

One o'clock in the afternoon.
The lukewarm air of the lunch break still lingered.
The scent of coffee and sighs were mixed throughout the floor.

With the sixty calls from the morning weighing heavily on his chest, Sato
picked up the receiver.
Even though he should have recovered a bit during the lunch break,
his fingertips were still trembling.

...Here we go.

He muttered as if to convince himself and pressed the numbers.
The call rings.
In the silence after lunch, that electronic sound is unusually loud.

Sorry to bother you while you're busy, this is Sato from Axis Link.

Finally, he reached the target.
He could carry on the conversation according to the script.
The moment he thought that,

Aren't you ashamed of doing a job like that?

For a moment, he didn't understand what had been said to him.

The voice wasn't cold, nor was it angry.
It was just a tone that stated a fact.
That was exactly why it stung.

The pit of Sato's stomach felt hot.
The numbers Tanaka mentioned in the morning crossed his mind.

Six thousand calls for one contract.
There are days when you can't even get an appointment.
It's not rare for new hires to have zero for half a year.

If asked if I'm ashamed—
Well, I am ashamed.

I haven't told anyone about my job.
I haven't even sent my business card to my parents' house yet.

But if I quit, I can't pay my rent.
I have zero quota today too.
I also have this month's credit card payment.

...Yes. My apologies.

As I hung up the receiver, Tanaka glanced at me sideways.
You sounded like your soul had left your body just now.
It does leave...
Well, this happens a lot in the afternoon. Don't let it get to you.

Even though he told me not to let it get to me,
my finger felt a little heavy as I pressed the next number.

Sato took a deep breath and pressed the next number.
The ringing tone began.
It felt a little longer than the last one.

Sorry to bother you while you're busy, this is Sato from Axis Link.
Are you selling apartments?

It was a flat voice. No anger, no irritation.
Just a tone confirming a fact.
Why was that the first thing they said?

Sato was speechless for a moment.
It was different from the 'You're a newbie, aren't you?' from this morning.
This was being completely seen through.
Everything was over with that first sentence.

...Yes. That's right.
I don't need it.

Click.

Sato hung up the receiver and looked up at the ceiling.
The whiteness of the fluorescent light stung my eyes.

Tanaka said with a laugh,
Getting seen through on the first move is pretty painful.
What am I supposed to do about that...
Nothing you can do. It's 'checkmate'.

If you say 'no,' you can't continue,
and if you say 'yes,' they hang up on you.
Just give up.

Sato gave a bitter smile.

The hell continues.

After 3:00 PM, the air on the sales floor becomes even heavier.
It's the time of day when the post-lunch drowsiness fades, and fatigue slowly creeps in instead. Sato's heart had already been half-eroded by a barrage of logical rebuttals and being seen through.

Meanwhile, Murakami picked up the receiver.
He remained slumped in his chair, legs crossed, continuing to play a smartphone game with one hand.
There was no sign that he was actually going to make a call.

Murakami-san, are you making calls this afternoon too?
Well, yeah. I have to show I'm working once in a while.

Murakami pressed the numbers, and as the ringing tone started,
he opened his mouth as if delivering a 'catchphrase'.

This is Murakami from Axis Link. I'm selling apartments!

Sato looked up in surprise.
Tanaka was also about to burst out laughing.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line.
Murakami seemed to be enjoying even that silence.

"…What?"
The confusion on the other end came through the receiver.

Murakami smiled.
"It’s going to come out eventually anyway. It’s easier to just say it upfront."

The person on the other end was bewildered, but for some reason, didn't hang up.
In fact, their voice sounded slightly intrigued.

"…Well, I appreciate the honesty. So?"
"I’m calling to propose an investment condominium. However, I won’t push it on you. If you’re not interested, you can hang up right now."

"…No, now that you’ve said that, I’m actually curious enough to listen."

Sato’s eyes widened.
Tanaka whispered.

"That’s a master at work. People usually hang up, but he gets them to say they’ll 'listen'."

Murakami continued his explanation calmly,
and after talking for about five minutes, he quietly hung up the phone.

"Did you get an appointment?"
When Sato asked, Murakami shrugged.

"No, I didn't. But they listened to what I had to say, didn't they?"
"Is that enough?"
"It is. In sales, just getting them to listen is a win."

Sato still couldn't grasp that level of mastery.
But Murakami’s composure was definitely that of a 'strong player'.
Even though it was supposed to be the same job,
what he was doing was completely different.

Four o'clock in the afternoon.
The air on the floor felt even heavier,
and only the ringing of phones kept a dry rhythm.

Just then, Tanaka slammed the receiver down.
His face was red.
It seemed he had been hung up on abruptly.

"What the hell…"
Tanaka clicked his tongue and impulsively hit the redial button.

(Oh, that’s a bad idea.)
Sato had a bad feeling.
Murakami stopped his game and looked up with interest.

"No, hanging up on a customer is rude!"

The floor went silent for a moment.
Sato held his breath.
A calm voice came from the other end of the receiver.

"I apologize. So, what is your business?"

Tanaka’s eyes darted around.
He couldn't find the words.

"………………"

Sato said involuntarily.
"No, what do you intend to do after that?"

Murakami burst out laughing.
"Tanaka-san, that's already checkmate.
In shogi terms, that's like charging your own king into enemy territory."

Tanaka gently placed the receiver down.
"...I want to go home already."
"It's only four o'clock."
"Is this hell?"

The three of them continued to laugh for a while.
But while laughing, Sato thought.

(...This job really is hell, isn't it.)
Even so, there are still over a hundred cases left.

It was just when he thought that.

The phone on Sato's desk rang.
Calls to the company's main number are rare.
Sato reflexively picked up the receiver.

"Yes, this is Sato from Axis Link."

A bright voice echoed from the other side of the receiver.

"Sorry to bother you while you're busy!
I'm from Daito Life Insurance, calling about insurance plans--"

Sato froze.
Tanaka and Murakami looked up at the same time.

(...A sales call to a real estate company?)

The caller continued.
"Um, well, regarding future asset formation--"

Murakami said in a low voice.
"Sato, say it. Say that thing."

Sato took a deep breath.
Those words he was told this morning.

"...Are you a newcomer?"

The other side of the receiver went silent for a moment.

"Eh... how did you know...?"

Sato couldn't help but laugh.
Tanaka slapped his desk and laughed,
and Murakami gave a thumbs up.

Sato said gently.

“Your voice is...”

He paused for a moment.

“Your voice is dead. Please, do your best.”

The person on the other end said a small “Yes...” and hung up.

Sato put down the receiver and let out a deep sigh. Tanaka spoke up.

“You’ve finally become the one who says it, huh?”
“No, it’s not like I wanted to say it...”
“But you feel a bit relieved, don’t you?”
“...Well, just a little.”

Murakami laughed.
“Anyone who makes sales calls to real estate companies is a true hero.”

The laughter of the three men
dissolved into the white light of the fluorescent lamps.

Hell remained hell.
But it was a little brighter.

“...Well then.”

Sato cast his eyes back down to the “Hell List.”

“Oh, Sato. Your face is looking dead again. That’s a good sign.”
Tanaka tossed his empty canned coffee into the trash bin.

“Because coming back to life is the biggest waste of time.”
As Sato replied indifferently, Murakami put his smartphone in his pocket and stretched.

“...How many more until three hundred?”
“Fifty-two more.”
“Alright. When we’re done, let’s have a ‘Hell Debriefing’ at some cheap izakaya nearby. I’m not paying, though.”
“You should pay for that, senpai.”

Sato took a deep breath, not sure how many times he had done so today.
The cold air from the AC seeped deep into his lungs.

(Get past the receptionist, spark interest, set the appointment)

He chanted the spell in his head and dialed the next number.
As he pressed the receiver to his ear, that inorganic ringing sound echoed once again.

Ring, ring. Ring, ring.

Is there something other than hell waiting on the other side of this sound someday?
Or is hell just going to get deeper?

That is something you will understand after repeating it fifty-two more times.

"Pardon the interruption, this is Sato from Axis Link—"

Sato's voice, a little lower than before and utterly flat, dissolved into the white sales floor.

That is all. I will upload my creative notes tomorrow.
https://note.com/kitten89/n/n2ef8d317d5ff