A guy confesses to beautiful girl named Yoshizawa [guesswork
from 吉澤;
surname]. Yoshizawa apologizes and says that she already likes someone
else. The other girls in section 1-3 say that Miki [guesswork from 光希; her
name] Miki
unexpectedly rejected Suzuki-senpai [guesswork from 鈴木]. And, before, she also
rejected other guys. She’s obviously very popular so why won’t she get a
boyfriend?
Miki says it’s nothing for she’s simply not interested, that’s
all. Just then, a short haired boy arrives and greets Miki a good morning. Miki
says, ya- Her friends say that Miki and Otsuka’s [guesswork from 大塚; surname]
relationship is quite good that it seems that they were childhood friends. Miki
wonders what’s with her ‘ya’ when she should say a lot more than that.
She finds this silly to death because before, their
relationship is obviously very good [when they were kids] but right now, it had
already become two worlds [/have their own worlds]. She really would want to go
steady with him.. Then, she overhears that Akio’s [昭雄; guy’s name] friends
saying that it will be his birthday next month.
Eavesdropping Miki thinks that she already knows that. Akio’s
friends ask him what he wants. Holding a magazine, Akio says he wants this. It
is a baseball glove that costs ¥38,000. His friends call him stupid and he
should get his mother to buy it for him besides how can they even afford to buy
that!? Miki thinks that Akio unexpectedly wants something, and that’s quite
new.
Then, she has an idea. Miki asks her friends if they know of
any parttime job that they can introduce to her. Her friends are surprised that
she’ll ask about it all of a sudden. Miki wants to buy that as a gift for Akio.
She imagines that Akio will be moved to say it’s amazing and, he’ll thank her.
Akio would say but of course, for he is her childhood friend.
Miki thinks that their relationship will return to like how
it was before.. Friend 1 says that she
works on a convenient store but the hourly pay is so low. Friend 2 says that
she works at a bakery and even if the pay is low but she gets to have free
bread.
Miki wonders if there is no job where one can get paid a
lot. She searches for a high paying job on her phone. There are midnight
parttime jobs, pachinko store [pinball game usually a form of gambling].. Then, she finds an advertisement for an easy
way to earn a high amount of money. She clicks the link. It is a parttime job
limited to bishoujos. One can earn money by simply chatting with a man.
The advertisement is looking for a 16-22 year old girl and
one can earn from ¥5,000 to ¥10,000 for every chat. She wonders if this is that
commonly seen terrible news [on the television]. The advertisement says that
she only has to video chat on the phone for 5 minutes. It is safe since there’s
no need to see each other personally. Thinking that it is safe, Miki decides to
try it out for she can chat for a few minutes so it will be alright.
She goes near a river below a bridge where she is alone.
After looking around, she decides to call the number. She decides to
immediately hang up when it becomes fishy. After a few rings, someone answers
the phone. An old man introduces himself as Yamada Ichirou [guesswork from 山田一朗].
Miki thinks that it is actually quite ordinary.
Ichirou says that she’s very cute and her skin is so white.
She also has this divine feeling to her. Miki just says ah..yes.. Miki couldn’t
bear it anymore as she starts to find out that 5 minutes can be quite long.
After a lot of conversation, Miki manages to endure until the end. Ichirou says
that he really likes her.
She is surprised and nervous when he suggests that they try
other ways of communication and he’ll pay her a huge reward. Miki tries to
decline but he says that he’ll have a price list. Miki mentally tells him to
listen to her. He shows a list to her. Write on a dairy for a day = ¥500 a day,
copy his name on the notebook 10 times = ¥1000 each, carry the same article
[/thing] = ¥2000 and eat the same food on the same day = ¥2000.
Miki is puzzled for what does that mean. Is doing that kind
of things also work? Ichirou says that he’ll email the list to her later on. He
thanks her for today’s chat. At home, Miki looks at her bank book and ¥5000 was
deposited in her bank account. She thinks that if this keeps up.. She looks at
the calendar. It is Akio’s birthday on the 15th.
So, she decides to do what is on the list. She writes on the
diary, writes Ichirou’s name on the notebook, wear the same watch as Ichirou’s..
And money is deposited in her account. At school, her friends exclaim over her
expensive watch. Miki says that her father gave it to her. Miki thinks that
Ichirou ought to be very happy that there is a girl who is willing to do this
kind of things with him..
And, even if it is mean to say it but he is really a super
patronizing client!! Then, Akio notices some girls whispering. Later on, just a
little bit and Miki is about to reach the target amount that she needs. She
sleeps with a smile that she’ll be able to buy Akio’s gift.
Then, she has a dream. She finds herself in a messy house.
She wonders where she is. She sees her own pictures put on the wall. She
wonders what’s going on. Then, she sees a mirror. To her shock, she has Ichirou’s
face. This made her suddenly stand up in fright. The teacher and her classmates
are surprised. Miko apologizes.
She wonders what was that just now, the dream felt so real..
She overhears some girls whispering that it is enjo-kosai [/compensated dating;
practice of older men giving money and/or luxury gifts to attractive women for
their companionship or possibly for sexual favors. Source: wiki] Miki is
puzzled by that. Later on, after the school bell, Akio asks Miki to come over
with him. She blushes for she thinks that he..
Akio says that he heard that lately, she is working on some
suspicious parttime job that she probably cannot tell her parents. This
surprises her. She says that she’ll do something bad..could it be that he
called her out for this..he wants to say that to her. Is he doubting her? He
should know that it is impossible for her to do that kind of thing.
Seeing Akio’s doubting expression, Miki laughs and says that
she’s really stupid, right. She doesn’t want to talk with him again. And, she
left. That night, Miki throws the baseball magazine in the trash bin. She finds
it really funny. Seeing Akio’s expression, she has been treated as that kind of
disgusting person in class, a girl who would casually go for enjo-kosai. She
becomes flustered that he unexpectedly looks at her that way.
As she wipes her tears, she gets a call from Ichirou.
Recalling Akio’s expression, Miki no longer cares even if she gets hooked up on
the street. Planning to accept whatever the request is, she answers the phone. Ichirou
says otsukaresama [good job] and today, she had already completed the last job.
“‘Seeing my dream’, really otsukaresama to you.”
Surprised Miki thinks that speaking of that, was there such
a thing in the list. “No, wait, how come this guy.. know that I had a dream?”
Ichirou says that he wholeheartedly thanks her during this time that she
accompanied him. “Miki-chan is a very special girl. All of my assets are
already transferred to your bank account. Please use it as you wish. Then,
goodbye.” He hangs up. Miki thinks that until the very end, she still doesn’t
know what he wants to do and is this some new game.
She sighs and thinks that she’s too stupid. She sold herself
for that kind of baffling thing and in the end, she no longer wants to think of
the aftermath. She wonders how to properly resolve this misunderstanding with
Akio. She suddenly feels dizzy. She steadies herself on the railing.
Just then, a couple of old men are asking if she is alright,
she’s very cute and is she feeling unwell. They offer her some money so why doesn’t
she rest at that side..? Akio suddenly goes in front of Miki. Miki is surprised
to see him. Just when she is going to reach out to him, everything turns black.
Her hand also became older. She wonders what’s going on. Where is this..?
Akio..?
Miki finds herself in the same place that she saw in her
dream. She thinks that it is this dream again and it makes her feel
uncomfortable yet strangely enough, it is quite real. She looks at the mirror
with Ichirou’s face. She pinches her face and it hurts. She backs away in
disbelief. A stack of books fall down.
Miki reads a book. “My dream 3-5 section Yamada Ichirou. I
really like a beautiful girl. Actually, I really like it so much that I want to
make myself become a bishoujo. My dream is to finally become a bishoujo one
day.” Miki wonders what is this. Her hand touches another book. It is all sorts
of black magic book, and study on deconstructing the soul which is related
about writing a dairy, wearing the same thing, etc.
In horror, Miki thinks, “Ah.. *eyes widen* Could it be that
this is..” Written in the book, the very last step to try and test out the soul
exchange. For the first time, it feels like one had a dream. After the second
soul exchange becomes successful, it is already forever irreversible. Tense and
shocked Miki has realized that she had sold herself to that guy..!?
Meanwhile, Akio is walking with ‘Miki’ and asks if she is
okay. He apologizes for today and he is just very worried about her. “You
absolutely won’t do that kind of thing, right.” ‘Miki’ says yes. She happily
says how is it possible that she’ll do that kind of ‘selling herself’ thing.
Yumi says, “When people feverishly loves something, there
will be ‘want to be together with the other person forever’ ‘long to become one’
in one’s heart. Lastly, this kind of feeling will develop into ‘want to become
the other person’. Hi hi do you also feel that way. This is a fitting job if
one yearns to chase after money. *smiles* But, everyone, do not forget in any
profitable endeavor, there is always an accompanying risk. Then, that’s it for
today. See you in the next class.”
Comment:
Honestly, even if there are no scary ghosts or anything, this is really creepy
and scary. I feel sorry for Miki. Not only did she no longer have her own body,
she is also penniless for that guy transferred all of his money to her now his
account. It’s really not fair.
Somehow, this story reminds me of scams wherein one will
invest something very small. In this case, just writing diary, wearing a watch,
etc yet the price is too steep. Well, the price is usually known later on when
it is too late. The other party has already taken ‘everything’/a lot and left. Scans
by 红莲汉化组
Quote of the day:
Deception may give us what we want for the present, but it
will always take it away in the end. ~ Rachel Hawthorne, Dark of the Moon
Thanks for the great recap, kat! ^^
ReplyDeleteEven by Zekkyou Gakkyuu's standards, that ending is horribly cruel to poor Mitsuki, and there's also a really creepy sexual vibe that's atypical for the series. I don't know what to make of that diary entry/class essay near the end, though. Is it supposed to imply that he was transgender or just that he's been obsessively lusting over girls since he was young? It seems like it can be read either way.
I suppose the moral metaphor here is supposed to be something like, "don't go for the easy income (enjo kousai, maid cafes) instead of slower, more regular part-time work (her friends' jobs: conbini, bakery), because it just sees you as a body to be controlled and exploited, not a person."
Thanks for reading, Pomelote ^-^
DeleteIndeed, it is quite horrible.
I would lean towards transgender.
Ya..though I viewed it more on general terms regarding money, not about one's body but something like, invest on this easy to become rich scheme..just invest a bit, recruit a lot of people..so easy and the interest is 5x more in just a few weeks. Interest bigger than any banks! There are people who'll loan money or use the money for their hospital bills in it and one day, it is all bye-bye. <- news in our country
On a side note, I didn't know that the girls in maid cafes get paid a lot. ^^; So, it is like what I thought it was...somewhat like being a hostess.
Ah, I see. Small prices hide larger ones. That makes sense as an interpretation!
DeleteHehe, I don't actually know what the wages are like in maid cafes, but from what I understand, the work is pretty easy.
By the way, I don't know if you take recommendations, but there's a series called Buddy Go! that I've been reading lately that you might like, with good English scans (I don't know if there are Chinese scans, though). It's published in Ribbon, the same magazine that carries Zekkyou Gakkyuu, too! ^-^
Indeed ^^
DeleteI see.
Not really...usually just 1-2 chapters when the other series aren't out yet. As for that series, it turns out that there are no Chinese scanlations for it. Sorry.