Chapter 2

Chapter 2 — 002: Want to Get Rich Overnight? Pay the Rent First!

Uuuuu…

While Nagayama Naoki was letting his thoughts wander, the water he had put on earlier began to boil. His stomach, freshly treated, couldn’t handle drinks that were too cold or too hot, so he set the kettle aside to let it cool.

He then pulled out a notebook he had used before from beneath the TV cabinet and began writing item by item:

Nagayama Naoki

Basic Information:
Age 18, height 175 cm, thin build, fairly handsome appearance, high school graduate, currently working part-time at a convenience store.

Family Background:
Grandfather Nagayama Hayato — a Yamaguchi-gumi cadre (still alive).
Father Nagayama Ken — second son, runs a separate izakaya branch, not favored by the grandfather.
Mother Nagayama Nanako — has an older brother who inherited the family business and a younger sister who excels academically (middle school).

Strengths:
Young; possesses knowledge of major trends over the next thirty years; excellent Java programming skills.

Weaknesses:
Low academic qualifications; limited social connections; both the former self and current self are introverted personalities.

Residence:
Rented housing, monthly rent 50,000 yen.

Assets:
20,000 yen.

Looking at it this way, getting rich through hard work offered very limited options. There was basically no capital. His strongest skill—programming… C++ had only just appeared, Java didn’t even exist yet, and the internet was still in its infancy. Making money now… was far too early.

So in the end, only getting rich overnight remained.

With knowledge of more than thirty years of future trends, achieving sudden wealth should actually be easy:

He could borrow money from a bank, buy land, mortgage the land for another loan, buy more land, and become Japan’s version of Li Ka-shing.

In a couple of years, the economic bubble would arrive. He could gather some capital, speculate in foreign exchange first, then enter the stock market, add leverage—so long as he withdrew before the bubble burst, a few years would earn what others couldn’t make in several lifetimes.

Or he could follow global development trends and invest early in future unicorn companies before they rose to prominence, letting future tycoons work for him instead.

At worst, he could hoard hundreds or thousands of bitcoins when they first appeared; by 2016 he would effortlessly become a billionaire.

“Who says all paths to sudden wealth are written in the criminal code? The real methods are all in my head!”

Looking at the notes in his notebook, Nagayama Naoki felt a surge of emotion.

“With a flying dragon riding right in your face, how could you possibly lose?”

However, every one of these methods required startup capital. What now?

Working part-time was impossible. After being absent for three days, he had definitely lost his convenience store job.

Then Naoki looked again at his assets—20,000 yen—checked the calendar, and suddenly felt uneasy.

Today was already the 9th.
Rent was 50,000 yen.

Would he even be able to pay rent by the end of the month?

Knock, knock, knock.

Outside the door stood the landlady, Mrs. Makino.

“Naoki-san, I made a little extra lunch. Would you like to come downstairs and eat together?” She cared deeply about this tenant who was about the same age as her son.

“You’ve just been discharged, and you probably haven’t prepared any ingredients yet. Today I made light udon noodles.”

He really hadn’t prepared anything.

After cleaning, bathing, and thinking about his future, it was already noon. Once reminded, his stomach began growling loudly.

Young metabolism really was fast.

Naoki felt quietly pleased and smiled toward Mrs. Makino outside the door.

“Yes, thank you very much! I was just worrying about what to do for lunch.”

“Then come down quickly, Naoki-san. Numata-san is already downstairs!”

“Yes, thanks.”

Nakai Genta was another tenant renting a room in the Makino household. He was about to graduate from Hitotsubashi University and was happily job hunting. Companies covered generous travel expenses; every day he was either heading to interviews or being entertained at izakayas by recruiters.

A bachelor who never cooked, he simply paid meal money to have Mrs. Makino handle dinner.

“Genta-san,” Naoki greeted first when he saw him.

Genta looked like he had just woken from a hangover, his eyes bloodshot and complexion poor.

“Good afternoon, Naoki-san.” Then he seemed to recall something.

“As expected, Naoki-san really is a die-hard Momoe Yamaguchi fan. It’s such a pity that Lady Momoe retired like that.”

Naoki could only complain inwardly: Why bring that up now?

At that moment, Mrs. Makino arrived carrying two bowls of udon on a tray.

“Genta-san, that’s enough. Naoki-san only just recovered.”

“Yes, yes, sumimasen.”

Seeing the udon placed before him, Naoki quickly expressed his thanks.

“Thanks, Makino-san. I’m deeply grateful for your care.”

“Hm? Naoki-san wasn’t this polite before…”

The landlady looked slightly surprised. The old Naoki had been taciturn, rarely speaking beyond nods or shakes of the head.

“Perhaps after going through some things, I’ve opened up a little.”

Genta interjected, “After experiencing something significant, one’s perspective naturally changes—whether life and death or anything else.”

Naoki smiled faintly. After experiencing life and death, some change was only natural.

“Thank you for the meal.”

He ate heartily, satisfaction practically overflowing from his face.

It wasn’t that Mrs. Makino’s udon was extraordinarily delicious. But after transmigrating, undergoing stomach pumping, and eating bland hospital food for days, his hungry stomach was suddenly filled. The pleasure of taste and the joy of rebirth amplified the meal immensely.

“This is amazing, Makino-san. I’m completely satisfied!”

The landlady beamed.

“Oh my, I’m so glad you like it, Naoki-san!”

“Hahaha, this is the best udon I’ve eaten in my life!” Naoki silently emphasized the words in my life.

“Oh dear, if you praise me any more I’ll feel embarrassed,” she said, even happier.

Beside him, Genta ate his udon in confusion. Are we eating the same noodles? They taste the same as always…

Soon everyone finished eating. After clearing the dishes, Mrs. Makino served two cups of tea and returned to the kitchen to continue working.

Genta and Naoki sat calmly drinking tea and chatting.

Naoki had initially thought about helping, but seeing both Genta and Mrs. Makino treating it as perfectly natural, he simply remained seated.

It had to be said—the gender roles of this era’s Japanese culture granted men quite a high status at home.

“Naoki-san has changed a lot. Now that you’ve come back to life, what are your plans for the future?” Genta asked.

“Haha, after spending three days in the hospital… Well, I’ve probably lost my convenience store job, and I don’t really have a direction yet.”

“That makes sense. They’ve probably already found a replacement. But there are plenty of job opportunities now. If you send out more applications, it should be easy.”

The well-fed never understood the hunger of the starving. Could a Hitotsubashi University graduate really be compared to a high school graduate from Shizuoka?

Even during the bubble era, the graduates fiercely competed for by companies—those given travel stipends, luxury watches, expensive suits, and even apartments—were elite university graduates.

Workers at the bottom still struggled.

For a countryside boy like Nagayama Naoki, a convenience store job was already a livelihood. The career path ahead was “promising” too—regular staff, store manager, regional manager… he mocked silently.

At that moment, Mrs. Makino finished her work and came over.

“If it’s the convenience store job, Naoki-san, as long as you apologize sincerely, you’ll definitely be forgiven!”

Yes… the traditional skill set. Apologize properly, bow deeply, and if necessary perform a full dogeza. Forgiveness would surely follow.

“Yes, Makino-san. Even if I can’t return to the convenience store, I will apologize properly. Leaving without notice caused trouble for the manager.”

Yet inwardly he added: But there’s no way I’m going back to part-time work. Absolutely not.

The landlady showed a relieved expression, as if watching a lost child find his way back.

“That’s for the best! Do your best, Naoki-san!”