[Short Short] The Promotion Room
“Sir, how about this property?”
I had gotten a job and was moving to Tokyo, so today I was at a real estate agency in the city looking for a place to live.
I rarely come to Tokyo, so I have no sense of the area, and I’ve been targeting areas with the lowest market rates I could find online.
My starting salary is low, and I figured I’d just have to make do with a cheap place for the time being.
“80,000 yen a month for this place... It’s close to the station, but that’s a bit expensive.”
“Is that so?”
The person helping me look for properties at the agency was a woman not much older than me, a new graduate.
I felt a flicker of anxiety about whether she would be okay.
“Given your budget, sir, this is the cheapest property we have...”
Wait, 80,000 yen is the cheapest? You’ve got to be kidding, right? I checked online beforehand!
“No, look, there are plenty of properties cheaper than this, right? I came here having already picked out properties on your company’s website. Are you saying the information online is a lie?”
This is ridiculous! Can this lady even do her job?
My anger was rising, and just as I decided to head to another real estate agency, the female clerk said,
“In that case, I have no choice. For you, sir, I will introduce a property that is not listed on our website.”
She proposed.
Hmm? A property not listed?
“I didn’t know such properties existed. What kind of property is it?”
“It is this one.”
The property she showed me was an unremarkable, three-story studio apartment like any other. Moreover, the layout seemed cramped, less than 20 square meters.
One thing that bothered me was that there was no price written on it.
[[phN_open]]Note: This is a special listing.[[phN_close]]
“This one is a little pricey... it is 200,000 yen per month.”
Most of my starting salary would disappear into rent.
“What? 200,000 yen for a room this small? Are you making a fool of me because I’m from the countryside!”
I felt anger from the bottom of my heart. I came to Tokyo carrying the expectations of my hometown. I won't let them look down on me.
“Sir, please calm down. This is a truly special property. Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but this property is also known as the ‘Success Room’.”
“Success Room?”
“Yes, if you live here, you will 100% succeed in your career. Everyone who has lived here has achieved glory without exception.”
Is that true? It’s hard to believe.
“But it’s vacant now, isn’t it? Didn’t they get angry and leave because they didn’t succeed?”
“No, no, the previous tenants moved out saying they no longer needed the room’s benefits.”
True, if I succeed, I’d move to a bigger room instead of living in such a cramped one. Still, 200,000 yen a month... I guess I’ll have to endure it until I succeed.
Blinded by the word “success,” I jumped at this property.
“I understand. I’ll move in here. But if I don’t succeed, I’m going to file a complaint.”
“Understood. Please feel free to let us know if that happens. I will prepare the contract.”
Starting in April, I began working at a mid-sized IT company in Tokyo and commuting by train from that “Success Room.” I signed the contract on impulse without viewing it, and the room was narrower, damper, and had less sunlight than I had imagined. But I’m barely there during the day for work, so I have no choice but to put up with it, thinking of it as just a place to sleep.
Six months passed without incident, and one day, when I showed off a household account book app I had created as a hobby in college to the company, the story reached the president before I knew it.
“Are you a genius? To think that such world-class talent was buried in a rural university. What a day!”
From there, things escalated rapidly, and I received an offer to buy the app from an IT company so large it was listed on the American S&P index.
The amount was “10 billion yen.”
...The number is so large I can’t even grasp it, but what a meteoric rise to success!!
That night, after hearing the news, I looked around the “Success Room” when I got home. I’m bad at tidying up, so clothes, manga, and adult magazines were scattered about, making it look unsightly.
So the lady at the real estate agency was telling the truth. It really is a “Success Room”!!
Just then, my smartphone rang. It was from my girlfriend, whom I had recently met through a matching app.
"I heard you signed an amazing contract!"
I didn't mention the exact acquisition amount, but I had told her in advance that a large sum of money was coming in.
"Then why don't you move out of that room and live with me? That room feels damp and has that unique smell of old rooms, so I'm not a fan of it."
That's true.
If I'm getting a large sum of money, then this room's purpose is finished.
A high-rise apartment in Tokyo—no, from now on, it's America. I'll build a mansion in America and use it as a base to start a business!!
I made up my mind to move.
Two years later.
A college student who had come to Tokyo from the countryside visited a real estate agency.
"Hmm, good properties get snapped up so quickly. What should I do?"
As he was worrying about not finding a good property, the female clerk assisting him said,
"Well, I suppose it can't be helped. For you, I will introduce a property that isn't listed on our website."
She proposed.
"This is a special property. Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but this property is also known as the "Promotion Room"."
"The Promotion Room?"
"Yes, if you live here, you will 100% get a promotion. Everyone who has lived here has achieved glory without exception."
"But it's vacant now, right? Why did the previous tenant move out?"
"The previous tenant moved out saying they no longer needed the room's benefits."
"I see. Did that person listen to the explanation carefully?"
"I wonder. When I told them, 'You will get a promotion,' they signed the contract immediately."
"Is that so? But you said 'everyone who has lived here,' so if I 'don't live here,' I suppose I won't receive the benefits... am I wrong?"
When the college student asked, the female clerk said nothing and simply smiled.
(2,409 characters)
This short short story is included in the following magazine 😌