Volume 1 Chapter 1 Corporate Slave’s Daily Life
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Satake-san, a call on line three from… uh, Itagaki-sama from NT-something.”
At the sound of the receptionist’s voice, I raised a hand to signal I’d take it.
”Satake speaking.”
’Good work today, Satake-chan~’
”Good work, sir.”
’So, about that 4:00 PM meeting… something else blew up. Can we push it to 8:00 PM? Is that cool?’
”Let me check… 8:00 PM. Yes, that works.”
’Sorry about that. I know it’s after hours, but I’ve got to be out all day tomorrow.’
”No, it’s fine. Business as usual for me.”
’Haha, I guess so. But don’t overdo it, okay? It’d be a real disaster if you collapsed on us, Satake-chan~’
”Right… I’ll do my best.”
’I’m counting on you~! Anyway, see you then.’
”Yes. Goodbye.”
I pressed the hook switch to disconnect and set the receiver down. Closing my eyes, I leaned back into my chair, and a heavy sigh escaped my lips.
This was the third time the meeting had been rescheduled. They say bad things come in threes, but this new project has been a train wreck from day one. Is this thing even going to fly? Well, the delays actually let me focus on other tasks, so I can’t complain too much…
”Satake-san, um…”
Oops, sorry. I wasn’t slacking off. It was just a “three-second recharge.” Though I guess I let it stretch to thirty seconds this time. Cut me some slack.
The voice belonged to the woman in the next seat, Toda Sayaka¹. She was a fresh hire, a first-year employee still brimming with that “new car” smell. After she finished her three-month introductory training, I took her under my wing for OJT².
She had this fragile, uncertain aura about her, but she was undeniably a beauty. Her long hair was a deep, natural black – rare for girls her age – and she had a slender, graceful build. The fossils in the office called her the “must-protect type,” and she was quite popular.
Is she my type? Well, if she were a few years older and had a bit more confidence… and maybe a little more curve to – nope, stopping right there. I’m in no position to be picky about women. Know your place, Satake.
”Sorry, Sayaka. What’s up?”
”I tried to launch the web server, but the login keeps failing. I confirmed the user is in the database, but I can’t make heads or tails of these logs…”
Toda looked at me with an apologetic expression, gauging my mood. Yeah, I guess I’m just like the rest of those fossils – I definitely want to protect her.
”Let me see.”
I rolled my chair over to look at her monitor. She shifted her seat to give me room.
…To be honest, I wished she’d move a little further away. She smelled incredibly nice, and it was killing my concentration.
I grabbed the mouse and scanned the logs, being extra careful not to lean in too close or let my breathing get weird.
”Here’s your problem. ‘AUTH_SECRET environment variable not set.’ It’s failing because the variable value is missing.”
”Oh, I see…”
Toda was clearly serious about learning the ropes. She leaned in, her shoulder almost brushing mine. This girl needs to learn about personal space before she learns about code.
”Wait, I thought I set it to run in dev mode even if that was missing. Why the hell…”
”…”
”Anyway, just set the variable and restart. That should fix it.”
”Yes! Thank you so much!”
That bashful smile was lethal. Whatever irritation I’d been feeling evaporated instantly.
…So this is how the company gets you.
We’re an IT firm, and a fairly large one at that. Head office in Tokyo, with branches in Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, Shenzhen, and Hanoi. We handle big-name clients – the kind everyone knows.
There’s a rumor that the big firms hire women based on their looks. Looking around our office, I’m inclined to believe it.
I used to grumble to myself about HR and the department heads just hiring eye candy instead of people with actual technical ability, but maybe hiring for looks is a strategic masterstroke.
Because if Toda wasn’t here, I’d have quit a long time ago. Now, I actually look forward to coming in. My heart even beats faster every day…
Completely played by the company’s strategy, I turned back to my monitor and faced reality. My task manager was piled high with things that made my head ache, but they weren’t going to finish themselves. I couldn’t look like a loser in front of Toda.
I pulled up the chat app and pinged the group.
===
[Hida Manufacturing: Inventory System @ After-Hours] general
Satake: @hear
Quick update: meeting moved to 8:00 PM.
Mizuhara: Got it.
Shibata: ok-ssu
Toda: Understood.
===
I’ll knock out the easy stuff first. I don’t need any more fires spreading.
”Twenty minutes left…”
I checked the clock and moved to the high-priority tasks – the QAZ project – when another notification popped up.
===
[Minato Construction: Attendance System] STG Test
Tomita: @Satake @Hirose
Sorry, getting an error in the staging environment.
Could you take a look?
Satake: Can you pull the logs?
Tomita: One sec.
Tomita: [2019-08-22 15:41:20] Database\\QueryException: SQLSTATE[22001]: String data, right truncated: 7 ERROR: …
Tomita: Works in dev, but for some reason, stg is bricked.
Satake: Is the migration up to date?
I think there was a fix for the character limit.
@Hirose
Tomita: Oh, the remarks field?
Hirose: I fixed that. But stg hasn’t been greenlit yet.
Satake: Did the front-end guys push early?
Hirose: Probably.
Satake: @Okubo
Check on that.
===
It happens. Well, it shouldn’t happen, but I have a little buffer. I’ll leave the post-mortem for later.
===
[Aretha Insurance: E-commerce Phase 2] Management
Satake: @Sonobe @Ogura
How many batches are left for the week?
Sonobe: 22.
Satake: Think you’ll finish?
Ogura: 8.
Sonobe: It’s looking tight.
Satake: @Sonobe How many can you realistically finish?
Satake: @Ogura Keep it up.
Ogura: On it.
Sonobe: Maybe 16 if I push it.
Satake: Got it. I’ll shuffle things.
Satake: @Ogura
If you finish early, can you take some off Sonobe’s plate?
Ogura: I’ll grab them from the bottom of the list when I’m done.
Sonobe: Sorry.
Satake: Don’t worry about it.
@Ogura You’re a lifesaver.
===
That should hold for now. I was brought into this project to put out fires, and it’s finally stabilizing. Honestly, with someone as talented as Ogura on the team, I don’t know how it got this bad in the first place.
Actually, I do know. It’s a management problem. And speaking of the devil…
===
[QAZ Corp: Internal System] Front-end
Tanahashi: @Satake What’s the status on sales management?
Satake: Sorry, I’m not on that.
Tanahashi: Really?
Satake: Yeah. Sasaki is handling that.
Tanahashi: Ah.
Tanahashi: Sasaki is swamped with customer management, so I’m giving it to you.
Satake: I’m swamped with the infra rebuild and daily reports. I can’t take it.
Tanahashi: I already updated the ticket. Check it.
The client is asking why they can’t see it yet. Get it done today.
===
…Deep breaths. It’s okay. I’m not at the breaking point yet. Firefighters always end up getting burned. I knew what I signed up for.
===
[QAZ Corp: Internal System] Back-end
Tanahashi: @Satake You know PHP, right? You used it for the Minato project.
Satake: No, I only did management and design. I haven’t coded in it.
Tanahashi: You’ll figure it out.
Tanahashi: Auth isn’t working. Take a look.
Tanahashi: We want to show the client on Monday, so make it snappy.
Tanahashi: Can’t have them unable to log in.
Tanahashi: I need to discuss this urgently. You free at 4:00 PM?
Satake: Sorry. I have another meeting.
Tanahashi: That’s the only time I’m free too
Tanahashi: Can’t you move your other thing?
Satake: Sorry. I have to go prep. Leaving my desk now.
===
Whatever. Not my problem. He can write a line of code himself for once.
===
[Hajime Plus: Sales Rankings] Batch
Watanabe: @Tanahashi
When can we get the sample data for the daily tally?
Tanahashi: @Satake ↑
===
”…”
===
[Hajime Plus: Sales Rankings] Front-end
Kimura: @Tanahashi
Please review the design changes from yesterday.
Satake was added to Front-end by Tanahashi.
Tanahashi: @Satake ↑
===
Pop.
I think I actually heard something snap inside my head. Overtime is a complicated social issue, sure, but some problems can be solved with pure physical force.
”Um… Satake-san? It’s time for the meeting…”
”…Right. Thanks.”
Deep breaths. You dodged a bullet, Tanahashi. If Toda hadn’t spoken up right then, things would have gotten ugly.
—
Summary:
Satake, a weary IT worker, navigates a day filled with chaotic client calls and internal project fires. He finds minor solace in mentoring Toda, a beautiful new hire, despite her lack of professional boundaries. The chapter culminates in Satake’s simmering rage reaching a boiling point due to a superior’s incompetence.
—
Trivia:
- Satake is actually skilled enough to be a ‘firefighter’ for failing projects.
- Toda’s ‘fragile’ aura might be a personality trait or a tactical front.
- The meeting at 8:00 PM is the third reschedule.
- Tanahashi is dumping work on Satake that was originally Sasaki’s
—
Character Insight:
Satake is motivated by a mix of professional pride and a crush on Toda, which keeps him from quitting his ‘black company’ job. Tanahashi shows classic ‘middle-management’ avoidance by tagging Satake in tasks he has no involvement in.
—
Behind the Scenes:
The use of specific error codes like SQLSTATE[22001] suggests the author has a background in database management or web development.
—
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.
• Toda Sayaka – first-year hire under Satake’s OJT, she is a soft-spoken mediator to her roommate Mamiya, her modest dress and careful manners reflecting a pure, almost old-fashioned grace. Slender and pale with long, pitch-black hair flowing softly down her back, she carries a delicate beauty—wide, gentle eyes, easily flushed cheeks, and a quiet, almost fragile presence. Called an “oasis” and even a “guardian deity,” she moves through life with self-effacing kindness, cooking for others and blaming herself for small faults, her innocence preserved yet shaped by a constant, tender effort to care for those around her.
• Tanahashi – A management-side employee or project lead. Known for shifting tasks onto others and ignoring technical constraints.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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