Volume 1 Chapter 6 The Toll of Happiness
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The morning after my discharge.
Since I hadn’t been allowed to take work home, I’d managed to get a solid night’s sleep. Physically, I felt great.
However-
”…God, I really don’t wanna go in.”
I was currently in a state of total lethargy.
When I thought about the work that had piled up during my three-day absence, my heart felt like lead. My lost forty-odd hours, and the time of others that would inevitably be sucked into that vacuum.
Had things already reached the point of no return?
I was starting to loathe the “me” from last night-the one who’d been airheadedly chatting with girls and floating on cloud nine while the clock was ticking.
”Sigh…”
The time was just about to hit 5:30 AM.
I still had a moment to spare, so I spent a solid hour staring blankly at the ceiling from my bed. Time to get up, I guess…
I finished getting ready much more slowly than usual, caught a train an hour later than my normal commute, and braved the morning crush for the first time in a while. I clocked in exactly ten minutes before the shift started.
”Ah, Paisen¹, morning!” Mamiya-san called out.
”Good morning,” Toda-san said.
”Morning,” I replied.
I greeted the two who were idling at Toda-san’s desk. By the way, Mamiya-san, keeping my seat warm for me-what kind of career-climber are you? You’re even hugging the backrest; that’s a bit much.
”Ah, moving now-ssu!” Mamiya-san chirped.
”Thanks… wait, you’re moving the whole chair with you?” I asked.
”Just a joke-ssu. Paisen, you’re late today, huh?”
”I’m not late. If anything, this is how a normal person shows up,” I muttered.
With a bright laugh, Mamiya-san released the chair. Over the weekend, her restraint had pretty much vanished… no, Mamiya-san was kind of like this from the start.
”I didn’t get a reply from Paisen, so I was worried, you know? Like, maybe you’d collapsed again. If you were any later, I would’ve called-ssu!”
”Eh? Ah-sorry… I wasn’t checking LiNE,” I said.
”Geez, Paisen… wait, it’s too late to reply ‘good morning’ now-ssu!?”
While skillfully dodging the high-energy morning version of Mamiya-san, I pulled my laptop out of the desk drawer and hit the power. I reconnected the power cord and external monitor that had been stripped away while I was gone.
”Paisen, you don’t keep anything on your desktop, do you? There’s nothing but the trash can-ssu,” Mamiya-san noted.
”I just hate clutter,” I said.
As if encroaching upon the pristine desktop, applications started to fire up one after another. Mailer, scheduler, chat apps, browser, editor, task manager-
”Uwa… are these all Paisen’s tasks-ssu?”
Looking at the task management app that launched last, Mamiya-san seemed visibly put off. Toda-san peeked over hesitantly and let out a small groan.
Well, no wonder. I was feeling dizzy just looking at it.
Expired tasks and deadlines for today were lined up on the home screen; the total estimated time was sitting at fifty and a half hours. I’d estimated a bit generously, but considering the time needed for “interrupt” tasks and basic biological maintenance, it probably wasn’t far off.
Wait, hasn’t the count increased? Ah, I see. They just did whatever they wanted on Friday while I was out.
”Satake-san, are you going to be okay?” Toda-san asked quietly.
”I won’t clear it all today or tomorrow, but I’ll manage somehow. Look, Mamiya-san, work is starting, so you should head back to your desk.”
”…Paisen, hang in there-ssu,” Mamiya-san said.
Perhaps sensing that it would be a bad idea to linger, Mamiya-san obediently returned to her seat.
Now then. I needed to psych myself up.
===
[Chat Log: Hida Manufacturing | Inventory System]
Satake: Sorry for taking Friday off.
Mizuhara: You okay?
Satake: Just as you see.
Mizuhara: See what?
Satake: Tasks due today are at 50h.
Mizuhara: RIP lol.
Satake: So, I have a request. I need to prioritize firefighting for other projects, so I’d like you to handle the internal management here. Progress targets, quality control, and work allocation. I’ll still show up for progress reports.
Mizuhara: What about the client?
Satake: You want ’em?
Mizuhara: I’d prefer to pass… unless you’re cool with me losing my collective shit on them.
Satake: They’re the client, so try to keep it together. I’ll keep handling that side of things. I’m reassigning the task ownership to you now. Check them by noon.
Mizuhara: Roger that.
Satake: Let me know if you hit a snag.
===
It was beyond what I could manage alone; I had no choice but to delegate. I’d gradually shift authority to Mizuhara-san and slowly fade out of this project. I wanted them to take over the coordinator role too, but…
===
[Chat Log: Nanto Construction | Attendance System]
Satake: Sorry for taking Friday off.
Okubo: I heard you left in an ambulance?
Satake: I honestly don’t remember. By the time I woke up, the sun was down.
Okubo: That’s rough.
Satake: I have a favor. Other projects are burning down, so I need you to take over my tasks here.
Okubo: What did I have you on?
Satake: Phase 2 requirements, estimation, and design. Also the backend task management.
Okubo: Got it. Think Hirose-kun can handle this? He’ll be on his own.
Satake: It’s iffy. He’ll need a close eye since he’s strictly technical.
Okubo: Understood. I’ll look into it.
Satake: Sorry for the trouble.
Okubo: No worries. Good luck with the fires.
Satake: I’m ready to burn.
Okubo: Is it that bad?
Satake: It’s Tanahashi-san.
Okubo: For real? Make sure you come back alive.
Satake: That depends on him.
Okubo: So there’s no hope.
===
Okubo-san was a Section Chief just like Tanahashi; I’d hoped he might give the guy a kick in the ass, but of course, nobody wanted to get involved. Okubo-san seemed to despise Tanahashi as much as everyone else. I really wished I’d been assigned to his team instead.
===
[Chat Log: Aretha Insurance | 2nd Phase]
Satake: @Sonobe @Ogura. Sorry for Friday. Just checking in on progress.
Ogura: Last week’s stuff is done. I’m already hitting this week’s tasks.
Sonobe: Ogura-san covered for me, so I’m all caught up too.
Satake: Thanks. Stay on the current schedule for this week.
Ogura: ‘Kay.
Sonobe: Understood.
Ogura: I might run out of work by Wednesday, though.
Satake: As expected-ssu. I’ll get the next batch ready. If I’m tied up, Sonobe-san will take over.
Ogura: ‘Kay.
===
This project was actually under control-ahead of schedule, even. Since the “official” reports to the client were padded, we even had a bit of a buffer. It was unlikely to fail now.
Maybe I should just hand it back to Tanahashi and walk away? No, Ogura-san would get pissed, and I didn’t want to deal with that. If Tanahashi was busy with other fires, he’d just ignore this one until the client started screaming.
By this point, I’d managed to peel off about three hours’ worth of tasks. It was a drop in the bucket, but every little bit counted. “Small piles make a mountain,” or whatever the hell the saying was.
Now, for the remaining forty-seven hours. I couldn’t dump any more of this on my coworkers. Out of that time, forty-four hours were dedicated to “bright red” urgent tasks. And the person those had been dumped on… was me.
===
[Chat Log: QAZ Corporation | Internal System]
Tanahashi: @Satake. Did you get in yet?
Satake: No, I’m starting the investigation now.
Tanahashi: Huh? We’re presenting this today. Is it going to be ready?
Satake: It’s highly unlikely. I’m still not familiar with the language.
Tanahashi: What? Then what are we supposed to do for the 1:30 PM walkthrough?
Satake: Can we postpone?
Tanahashi: Impossible. Their Department Manager is attending.
===
And there it was. Game over. This was the exact point where the company’s credibility took a nose dive.
The work was far enough along that the project probably wouldn’t get scrapped, but if we handled this wrong, we were never getting another contract from them.
I wanted to scream: If you knew I wasn’t here on Friday, why didn’t you do something? What the hell were you doing for three days? I wasn’t even a core member of this team. I was just a specialist brought in to put out the fire.
You only have this job because you play “Harem King” and fill your team with girls you like, you moron! I’m going to take that face-that “pretty boy” face you think the girls love-bash it into a pulp, and hang you from the lobby ceiling in a damn turtle bond², you piece of garbage!!
Phew. Calm down.
I wasn’t the one who had to talk to the client. I wasn’t in the line of fire. I could just sit back and watch the show.
…Or so I thought.
It turned out that from the client’s perspective, I was the Quality Control and Tech Lead-which meant I was the one responsible for the technical explanation at the afternoon meeting.
Instructions from the boss are rarely overturned. I tried to argue, but I just ended up wasting more time.
Tanahashi was only good at one thing: talking his way out of trouble. He hadn’t survived as my boss this long for nothing. I’d been requesting a transfer for two years; I wondered if they’d ever actually listen.
I spent the morning hovering over Toda-san’s shoulder while frantically trying to pull together a presentation. Lunch was a luxury I couldn’t afford, so I just downed a meal-replacement jelly I had stashed under my desk. I got a lecture from Toda-san and Mamiya-san about my health, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
The afternoon meeting was a disaster. The client’s Department Manager-Igarashi-san-was in a foul mood the entire time. It was terrifying. Video calls have a way of magnifying that kind of cold, oppressive atmosphere.
The schedule was slipping, the system was broken, and now we were discovering that we’d completely misunderstood the core requirements. It was a mess on both sides, honestly.
Tanahashi should have kept his mouth shut, but he decided to play hero: “It might be better to just redesign this part from scratch.”
Igarashi-san pounced immediately. “Since we’re already paying for this, you’ll be making it right, correct? Since this is clearly your oversight, you’ll be absorbing the cost.”
From there, it devolved into an ugly shouting match about who said what and who was to blame. It felt like we were just flushing precious hours down the toilet.
Still, the chaos meant I never had to use the flimsy excuses I’d prepared. I was almost grateful for the distraction.
Eventually, the client agreed to consider a deadline extension, while we promised to review the requirements and look into adding more manpower. Of course, we couldn’t just “add” people, so that just meant we were all going to be working even longer hours.
”Paisen, you look like a ghost-ssu. You okay?” Mamiya-san asked.
”I don’t know…”
”It’s already five, you know-ssu.”
I knew. And I had to make sure Toda-san left on time.
”I guess I’m taking the last train home every night this week,” I sighed.
It was miserable, but I wasn’t the only one. At least Tanahashi was… wait, why is that guy packing his bags? He’s taking his work home, right? Please tell me he’s taking it home.
”Is there anything I can do to help?” Toda-san asked.
”No… adding more hands won’t fix this. I appreciate the thought, though.”
Her offer was sweet, but there was nothing a newcomer could do here. If I gave her work, it would just end up making more work for me to check it later. It was better for her to just go home and come back fresh tomorrow.
”Work is over, so get out of here. If you linger, someone will just dump a weird task on you.”
”……Okay. Well… excuse me for leaving first,” Toda-san said hesitantly.
”Leaving now-ssu!” Mamiya-san added.
”Good work,” I said.
I watched them leave and turned back to the glowing monitors.
I guess this was the bill for the three days of happiness I’d enjoyed. I didn’t even know how to begin digging myself out of this hole.
For now, I just had to finish the task in front of me. One by one.
”………………Sigh.”
The life of a corporate drone³ had officially resumed.
—
Summary:
Satake returns to work after his hospitalization, only to find a staggering 50-hour task backlog. He desperately delegates smaller projects to colleagues while being trapped in a failing project led by his incompetent boss, Tanahashi. The chapter culminates in a disastrous client meeting that guarantees more overwork for the team.
—
Trivia:
- Satake has been requesting a department transfer for two years without success.
- Tanahashi’s team is noted for having a high concentration of female employees he favors.
- Satake keeps a ‘clean’ desktop with only the trash can icon.
- The ‘official’ progress reported to clients is often padded/faked compared to internal reality.
- Satake stores meal-replacement jellies under his desk for emergencies.
- Satake shows a mix of intense internal rage toward his boss and protective care for his juniors (Toda and Mamiya), refusing to drag them into his ‘firefighting’ despite his own desperation.
—
Behind the Scenes:
The term ‘shiwayose’ (ripple effect/strain) in the title specifically refers to how the burden of a system’s failure eventually falls on the weakest or most convenient link—in this case, Satake.
—
TL Notes:
Notes:
• Satake – The protag. Tall and lean in a rumpled suit, with faint stubble, tired dark eyes shadowed by deep circles, and a perpetually composed expression, he carries the quiet wear of overwork in every line of his posture. A 28-year-old software engineer and OJT mentor, he is “Paisen” to Toda and Mamiya, the unseen “Satake Wall” shielding them from burnout. Beneath his poker face lies dry cynicism and a self-mocking “ojisan” complex, shaped by years of isolation, relentless duty, and a life lived at his desk, now culminating in a hospital stay born of exhaustion.
• Mizuhara – Employee involved in the group message coordination.
• Okubo – One of two Section Chiefs in the department. A supportive mentor figure to Satake who feels trapped by his position and age.
• Tanahashi – A well-dressed section chief who always looks neat but feels distant, often avoiding eye contact and giving a thin, fake smile. He is Satake’s boss and often pushes work onto others while ignoring technical limits. He talks his way out of problems and acts a bit cold and condescending, especially during meetings, and is known for favoring certain female staff.
• Ogura – Employee working on the Aretha Non-Life Insurance project. Female senior employee, ten years older than Satake. Highly skilled technically but holds no management title.
• Igarashi – Department Chief at QAZ Corporation. The client representative; extremely displeased with the project’s progress. Described as terrifying and foul-tempered.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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