Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330662545387095/episodes/16817330665421650224
“Aaahhhh! I lost 100,000 aaaaaahh !”
A man’s exclamation echoed through the eaves of a gambling parlor in Tokyo.
The man was Harada Nobuhiko. As soon as he came out of the parlor, he collapsed to his knees and wailed against the darkening sky.
It was January 1st. While Kingo was visiting the New Year’s shrine with three beautiful women who seemed to bring good luck just by looking at them, Nobuhiko had been diligently waiting in line at the gambling parlor since morning to hit the ball.
At the end of the year, Nobuhiko poured all of his disposable income into gambling. He won and lost repeatedly, but in total he was in the red. He tried to make up for his losses by somehow raising money for the war effort, but the result was a crushing defeat.
“Damn it ! Why did I lose? I had won big in my first dream last night ! Who’s the one who said my first dream will definitely come true !”
Nobuhiko blames everyone. The reason he decided to play the big game was because he had a dream last night in which he saw himself winning big and amassing a huge fortune. But, of course, there was no way he could win with that dream.
By the way, the first dream is a dream that occurs on the night of January 1st. Therefore, he had been getting into the wrong jinx.
“Someone lend me money ! I can’t pay the rent !”
Nobuhiko finally laid down on the ground and behaved like a spoiled toddler. The traffic was sparse, but the people passing by were all giving Nobuhiko a scornful look.
“You’ve got time to play pachinko on New Year’s Day?”
Someone passing by shouted a derisive laugh.
It is up to the individual how they spend their spare time. But for Nobuhiko, it was not a meaningful way to spend his spare time, because he had lost all his precious money. He wasted both time and money.
By the way, Nobuhiko was playing Senki Zesshō Symphogear.
He was screaming because the zesshou didn’t come.
“Shit……what should I do? My part-time job is off, and Yua has gone back home to Hokusai. I’ve melted down the meal money I was given. I can’t pay the rent and I can’t eat New Year’s dish. It’s too unreasonable. Why am I the only one who has to suffer like this?”
It’s because I gambled.
I muttered a poor resentful complaint to the sky. The world is celebrating New Year’s, but I can’t accept the fact that I’m the only one being blamed.
“Shit……all I can think is that someone is setting me up.”
He suddenly turned his face to the side. Then he noticed something had fallen under the stand board set up by the gambling parlor.
Suspicious, Nobuhiko crawled closer to the sign and reached for it. Then he couldn’t believe his eyes.
It was a wallet. And it was a luxury brand item, still brand new.
Nobuhiko curled his body like a beetle so as not to catch anyone’s eye, creating a blind spot for passersby. He checked the contents there.
“One, two, three, four…….there are 40,000 !”
He was tempted to dance with excitement, but he carefully tucked it into the waistband of his pants and hid it. It would be unfashionable if someone saw him and robbed him.
Nobuhiko was thrilled by the unexpected happiness. They say that happiness comes after misfortune, and he’s so happy that that’s exactly what happened.
For today, he decided to go shopping with his wallet, buy a mini New Years food, and eat it at home. He was about to head home. But he stopped dead in his tracks.
“With this much money, I can win one more game and make up for my loss. Oh, so that’s how it is. God must have put this wallet there to make me win.”
Definitely not.
“All right, then I’d be a fool not to play. I’ll do it !”
Nobuhiko, justified in his cat burglary, was about to make his way back to the gambling parlor in high spirits.
“Hey, Nobuhiko.”
But a man grabbed him by the shoulder and held him back.
“Ah, who the hell are you? I have to play……Ushimine san !?”
Nobuhiko swore angrily, but when Nobuhiko saw the man behind him, his face froze.
He had a shaved head, rimmed glasses, and a beard that vaguely resembled Yamada Takayuki. His name was Ushimine Kaoru. He is the manager of a town money loan company called Moo Moo Finance, which has been helping Nobuhiko since he moved to Tokyo.
“Happy New Year. I know it’s early on New Year’s Day, but today is the interest payment day, so please pay it.”
“H-happy new year. Erm…..was it today?”
“Yes. Do you have the money?”
“Ah, yes. How much was it?”
“Forty thousand yen, including the principal and interest.”
Nobuhiko took out the wallet from inside his sweatshirt, flicked the bills with his fingers, and stopped.
“Um……I have a lot of things to do on New Year’s Day…… Could you somehow lose the payment?”
As a result, he ended up making such a good-natured request.
Ushimine stared at Nobuhiko with emotionless eyes. Meanwhile, Nobuhiko felt like a frog staring at a snake.
“I’ll let you jump. I don’t want the principal, just the interest, 30,000 yen.”
Surprisingly, however, Ushimine agreed to his request.
[Jump] is a cloak term for paying only the interest, not the principal. It seems to be a warm-hearted gesture to the debtor, but since the principal is not paid, the debt is not reduced, and the creditor can earn more interest. It is a stopgap measure that should never be taken in the normal course of events.
However, Nobuhiko, who has no regard for the future, cannot make a rational decision. On the contrary, he was so grateful that he thought it was the warm-heartedness of the Ushimine.
“Thank you so much, Ushimine san. If I hadn’t met you, I would have lost my heart.
“Don’t be so reserved, Nobuhiko. We’re both people who came out of the countryside dreaming. Nowadays, people who dream without going to university are ridiculed, but I actually support them. I’m in the business of lending money because I think it’s my job to support people like that.”
Ushimine smiled a strong smile and put his hand on Nobuhiko’s shoulder.
He met Ushimine a short time after he moved to Tokyo. He met him by chance when he was in the middle of a pachinko game and he introduced himself as running a street money business.
They were both from rural areas and neither of them had any educational background. To his surprise, Ushimine was a junior high school graduate. They hit it off because they had so many things in common, and eventually Nobuhiko started borrowing money from Ushimine.
It was a great opportunity for Nobuhiko. He had been in a bad relationship with Yua since he moved to Tokyo and had no one to listen to his complaints, so it was reassuring to have someone like Ushimine who was kind to him.
Above all, he was willing to lend him money. As he was neither in school nor employed and unstable, he would not be approved for a credit card loan. Ushimine was a god of help to him.
The trouble is that the interest rate is high, at 30% tommy for ten days, but he can’t say he’s extravagant.
“Let’s work hard for each other.”
“Yes, thank you, Ushimine san !”
Nobuhiko was so attached to Ushihomine that he looked up to him as if he were his big brother.
“By the way, Nobuhiko, you seem to have a very nice wallet. Have you ever had such a thing?”
“Eh, is this it?”
Nobuhiko was in a good mood, but suddenly a chill ran down his spine.
He didn’t want to lose credibility when it was revealed that he had been cat burglarizing.
“This is……my woman’s purse !”
Such was the mindset that ran through his mind as he desperately thought up a lie.
But that lie was like telling it was his girlfriend’s thing.
“Hmm, you have a girlfriend. Is she pretty?”
“Yes ! She is a local beauty with a good reputation.”
“Heh, a local beauty.”
Ushimine’s eyes glittered for a moment. It was a fierce and emotionless eye like a shark’s that never misses the scent of blood. But Nobuhiko did not notice it.
“You have to take good care of her. Get along with each other.”
“Yes ! Thank you very much !”
“See you in ten days.”
The Ushimine left after saying that and went away, passing by Nobuhiko.
“Well. I have to make some more money too. My military funds have dwindled, but I wonder what I should do…. I should sell this wallet, too ! It looks like a nice wallet.”
Nobuhiko headed for the pawnshop as soon as he decided on the arrangements. Fortunately, there was a pawn shop open from New Year’s near the pachinko parlor, so he sold the wallet there to raise cash for his revenge.
“Whoaaa ! A lot of money ! I knew today was the day God would let me win !”
Nobuhiko then surprisingly recouped his losses and turned positive. Thanks to this, he somehow managed to earn enough money to make ends meet for the time being. It was truly a life or death situation.
However, he squandered all the money he got back, except for the rent and other necessary expenses. Thanks to this, he was left with nothing again. Naturally, he did not have the auspicious idea of using the money to repay his debts.
“Haa, I’m happy to have won since the New Year. My life will be smooth sailing in the spring with Lyconess’ debut ! In the end, it’s the strong who win, isn’t it?”
Nobuhiko has no worries about his life. He has lived his life by other means and on the spur of the moment, so he really thinks he can make it.
Therefore, he has no idea that there are big pitfalls in the road he is about to take.
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This guy’s like the self-destruct mechanism of a Bond villain’s lair.