Tokyo, 1991: Starting as a bank clerk.

1. Japan Educational Foundation Scholarship (First Type) (Interest-Free Loan): €2,840,000

2. Japan Educational Foundation Scholarship (Second Type): €1,560,000

3. Mitsubishi Bank Employee Credit Union - Temporary Loan Upon Entry: 300,000

Total liabilities: €4,700,000

Net worth: -€465 million

Kiryu Yaya was reborn into this world, but he only awakened his memories of his past life after graduating from high school. At the same time, his parents passed away, and he was indeed short of money.

Although the debt of several million is not much, it will still take him one or two years to pay it off with his salary alone.

From Kitashinchi to Ezaka.

Kiryu Yaya rode his Bridgestone for over forty minutes before finally arriving at his rented apartment.

The Esaka area is not considered a good location in Osaka.

The old apartment buildings built at the end of the Showa era are crammed together, with the gaps between them so narrow that only two people can pass sideways.

He parked his bicycle downstairs and locked it, even though no one would necessarily pick it up if he left it on the street.

But for Kiryu Yaya now, €5000 is a sum of money that can improve his life.

It's best to be cautious.

The building is five stories high and has no elevator.

Kiryu Yaya climbed the creaking iron stairs and arrived at the third floor, room 3-2.

He took the key out of his pocket, inserted it into the lock, and turned it twice.

its stuck.

He shook the key hard, and the lock cylinder made a dry, metallic scraping sound, like some kind of unwilling groan, before clicking open the door.

A room the size of six tatami mats.

The entrance is a narrow foyer, barely wide enough for one person to stand in. On the floor are a pair of three-year-old leather shoes and a pair of faded slippers.

Stepping through the entryway, the entire room is laid out before you.

The room was very small, so naturally there was very little furniture.

A single iron bunk bed, a second-hand folding table, a wardrobe, and a sink make up the entire room.

There is no toilet in the room, but there is a public toilet downstairs in the apartment building. You can take a shower at the nearby public bathhouse, which costs only 300 euros per shower.

There are many inconveniences to living here, but the advantages are obvious.

The rent is extremely cheap, only 25,000 euros a month.

In a place like Ezaka, this is already considered a very cost-effective place to stay.

……

An April morning.

The air in Osaka still carries the last sweet scent of cherry blossoms.

Kiryu Yaya parked his bicycle on the side of the road and then walked into the Mitsubishi Bank Osaka branch located along Midosuji.

He commutes to work by bicycle, a 30-minute commute each way, which saves him over €10,000 in commuting costs each month.

8:40 a.m.

Twenty minutes before the official opening, the lobby was already bustling with activity.

The female staff at the window were sorting through the tickets, pressing each stamp onto the inkpad and then carefully stamping it down, while the male staff in the business department were moving bundles of tickets around like industrious worker bees.

But the work at these windows has nothing to do with Kiryu Yaya.

He is a new employee at the bank, but is currently on a job rotation and is temporarily assigned to the financing department.

And the departmental curriculum.

It is a classic three-tier management system for Japanese branches.

Taking the financing department as an example, it has departments for review, planning, debt management, international financing, and SME financing, with their businesses being interconnected.

The classroom where Kiryu Yaya was located was the Financing Review Department.

The so-called review.

It's about assessing whether or not to grant a loan.

In 1991, after the bubble burst, all the loans that had been made without a second thought had become non-performing loans.

Therefore, the review department now bears a heavy responsibility, as it is the first gatekeeper for bank lending.

Kiryu Yaya walked through the lobby and arrived at the elevator.

The finance department's office is on the third floor, but it's not time to go to our desks yet. Every Thursday morning at nine o'clock, the whole department holds a morning meeting in the large conference room on the fifth floor.

Kiryu Yaya glanced at his watch.

It's 8:45, fifteen minutes to go.

The elevator is on the right side of the stairwell, and the indicator light on the door is jumping down from the fifth floor.

He pressed the up key, put his hands in his pockets, and waited.

The elevator doors opened.

A pretty girl with a short ponytail walked out, carrying a folder taller than herself.

Kiryu Yaya stepped aside.

She wore a beige shirt with a dark blue Mitsubishi Bank vest over it, and a knee-length dark gray pencil skirt that revealed her delicate calves.

The stack of folders in her arms was just the right height to block her view.

As Kiryu Yaya dodged to the side, she turned left and bumped into Kiryu Yaya's shoulder.

Not very strong.

But the stack of folders in his arms, which was already teetering on the edge, completely lost its balance and scattered all over the floor with a crash.

Bills, applications, and guarantee documents—white and yellow pieces of paper—poured down like an avalanche, creating a mess at their feet.

"Ah €€€€"

She let out a short scream, squatted down, and frantically picked it up, repeating over and over:

"I'm so sorry, senior... I'm so sorry..."

Just then, a semi-transparent interface popped up in front of Kiryu Yaya.

[New life options have been triggered]

[Yayoi Mizuna, who is timid by nature, made numerous mistakes during her first week at work and was severely reprimanded by the sales department manager this morning.]

After bumping into you at the elevator entrance, documents scattered all over the floor. She instinctively mistook you for a senior colleague, and her fear of being scolded again reached its peak, bringing her pent-up resentment and panic to a fever pitch.

The options are as follows:

[Fork in the road: Silently walking past her, he went straight into the elevator.]

(Reward: Nothing happens.)

[Second branch: Kneel down and help her pick up the scattered documents.]

(Bonus: Bank deposit increased by €5000)

[Fork in the road 3: Stepping on the file that had floated to his feet, he looked down at him and demanded, "What's going on with you, newbie?"]

(Reward: Bank reputation +5, with a certain chance to unlock a new career path)

Chapter 4 Financing Review Course

[Branch 3: Stepping on the file that had floated to his feet, he looked down and questioned, "What's going on with you, newbie?"]

(Reward: Bank reputation +5, with a certain chance to unlock a new career path)

Kiryu Yaya looked at the third option and twitched his lips.

Is this level of brand recognition really reliable?

Isn't doing this just him bullying Yayoi Mizuna, who is also a newcomer, and then becoming famous in the bank?

As for starting a new career line, does that mean you'll get fired from the bank and then go into prostitution?

A terrifying system, with ulterior motives.

Kiryu Yaya swiftly chose the second fork and then crouched down.

Mizuna Yayoi was squatting on the ground, frantically picking up the documents, repeatedly saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," her voice growing softer and softer until it was almost a whisper.

She was called into the sales department manager's office this morning and talked to him for a full twenty minutes.

She remembered every word the section chief said:

"Yayoi, if you continue to make mistakes like this, I won't be able to protect you."

Her eyes were red when she came out of the office.