Chapter 145.

Chapter 145. An Assassin’s and Friend’s First Interview for a Job (5/8)

When I heard Rosa get hired on the spot, I facepalmed. This was ridiculous. I was brought here just so the Owner could get a good laugh at my expense. She probably already decided to hire Rosa as soon as she saw her walk through the door. Everything after that had just been for show.

Rosa had been calm and composed when she entered. She hadn’t been the slightest bit nervous or anxious despite my presence in the room at the start. The Owner had already made her decision by that point. She’d confirmed that my presence, Rosa’s boyfriend, would not affect Rosa’s ability to work. That was what she tested with me here. Rosa was even able to turn the entire interview into a running gag.

She’d handled it quite well. The approach she took here wouldn’t work for every interviewer though. It only worked because she understood the character of the interviewer she had today, the Owner. If the interviewer was a hard-ass who disdained romantic relationships and didn’t take things easy or know how to tell when someone was making a joke to lighten up the mood, a completely different approach would have been necessary.

After Rosa left the room, I let out a long sigh, “Haaaaaaaaah.”

The Owner seemingly took notice of that and asked me, “What’s wrong, Ran? Do you have a problem with my decision? If you were in my position, would you have hired her?”

“If it was up to me, I wouldn’t hire her.”

“Hmmm… well, too bad for you~ I already did. And you’re not in a position to say that anyway. I wouldn’t have hired you either if it hadn’t been for you taking advantage of my good friend.”

She had me there. 

The Owner stood up from the ground, took her seat, then opened her mouth again and asked, “Ran, what was it you said when I asked you why you wanted to work here back then? If I remember correctly, it was to not be a burden to my friend who’d taken you in after your mother’s death, right? Her health was on the decline and you wanted to alleviate the extra financial burden you put on her, that was your reasoning, wasn’t it?”

“Yes… that was the response and reasoning I gave back then.”

“But… she’s already died of a heart attack, you know. Right now, out of all my employees, the one in the most precarious position is you. I hope you understand that. The one who could lose their means of making ends meet at any moment is you. No, more specifically, you technically aren’t even hired as an official employee on the books. You’re more like a temporary outsourced contractor who could be cut off at any time. Your girlfriend even got hired here before you, Ran. How does it feel~”

She was truly the worst. 

“Am I just here for you to put me in my place?”

“Yes. You’ll have to go through another interview with me when you turn sixteen just like your girlfriend if you want to keep your job here. If I don’t want to hire you at that time, you’re out of luck and you’ll need to find another job.”

“So… what you’re telling me is to not get too comfortable. You might randomly tell me I’m fired one day after I turn sixteen and you really won’t be joking, right?”

“Yes.”

Why was she bringing this up all of a sudden? Was this a threat to ensure I graduated high school? Was she concerned I might be having thoughts of dropping out because I already had this job lined up for me after graduation? But I never had this sort of conversation with her before.

It might have been because I always worked hard on my academics my first time through life. Back then, I used the slow days at work to study. It was clear I had a future path forward in mind beyond just mindlessly working at this convenience store every day for the rest of my life. But… I didn’t do any of that this time around. I was satisfied with this job and being able to enjoy my passion for writing behind the scenes in my free time.

But for her to know I was acting differently than my first lifetime… she must have kept an eye on me through the security footage at the store. The time where I got punched was evidence that she must have done so every now and then to check up on me.

Why would she bother doing any of this though? It’s almost like she...

Is she actually… concerned about me? 

Who? This awful monster with violet hair?

“Owner… I don’t know if this is what this is about… but… if you’re thinking I plan to drop out of high school and that I’ve given up on life, you’re mistaken. I have every intention of graduating high school, however, I have no interest in attending university. I found something I want to do, but it’s not something I feel university would help me with as I have no interest in the title of a professional.”

She seemed a bit surprised when I brought the topic up and asked, “You’re really not going to go to university to further your education? Your girlfriend plans to, why don’t you?”

“I’m not interested in the empty promise of a better future that university has to offer. If I can do so in the future, I don’t want to work under someone else or even have to bother with what other people think of the things I do. You might ask why not do business and start one up for yourself, but do you even really need to take those useless business courses? Besides, the type of business they will teach you involves interacting and working with others, but to begin with, I don’t like interacting or working with others.”

“I’d like to make a living working under nobody and not having to answer to anyone but myself. I don’t intend to work under you forever and I will definitely quit this job in the future. It may take ten or twenty years, but I’m working toward that objective as we speak. While I work here and do what I enjoy, I will save up enough money and build a foundation for my future with my own hands within that period of time so I can live out the rest of my life in a leisurely fashion.”

“I’m not naive enough to think I can only do the thing I enjoy to make a living so early on in my life. However, I do believe if I start saving from now and don’t waste money on building up a pile of useless debt from university, I can surely achieve the quiet peaceful life I dream of in the future where I can solely enjoy doing that one thing I enjoy the most.”

If I’d skipped out on university debt and started ten years earlier in my previous life, I’m certain I would’ve been able to do it. Plus this time around, with how much I can save while renting a room out at Irene’s, it makes my end goal even more achievable.

Even if you don’t make very much out of a single story, when you write hundreds or even thousands of novels, they all add up. Every single penny counts.

I’d fight tooth and nail for those pennies. Even a penny more to me was considered a great profit. One day, those countless pennies would turn into a mountain I could stand atop to support myself. 

When looking at it from society’s perspective, I’d be seen as nothing more than a failure of an author without any notable works to his name. Any professional would laugh and scoff at me. They could make thousands off a single short article, an opinion piece even, while I was using tens of millions of words just to desperately scrounge up money one penny at a time.

I may never be considered successful as an author doing things that way, but that was fine. As long as I could live the way I wanted and be happy with that, that was all that mattered.

Another penny today, is a penny for tomorrow.

I won’t mindlessly chase after some grandiose, unattainable out-of-reach dream that was far beyond me. I’d only aim for something I believe is realistically possible and within the scope of my limited abilities. I don’t have a large skill set like those social butterflies out there who are able to forge strong connections and bonds with all sorts of different people. Nor do I have the ability to network with large groups and reach out to the right people to pull some strings for me.

At the end of the day, I can only rely on myself when it comes to the thing I enjoy the most.