Hisamitsu Gotouta was an accomplished worker who was with Guardian HD for many years.
He was past fifty, and had a bad disposition to absolutely not hear what others had to say.
He was not always like this, but as the years passed, as more things went as expected, he began to look down on his subordinates and younger people, and hurling verbal abuse at them.
But he was without a doubt capable, so even if his behavior was problematic, it was overlooked as it benefited the company.
The company probably played a part in him becoming that way. Although it could be argued that he had it in him all along.
In any case, as his results grew, his popularity among his subordinates went down.
And since a relative of the director was among them, his bad reputation spread and it meant he was never promoted past chief.
When he realized what was going on, it was hard to turn back, and he was settled into the position of chief despite his talents.
Normally, this would be a pretty good position, but his arrogance meant his frustration kept building.
As a result, the power harassment towards his subordinates only became worse, and he began to verbally abuse his wife.
He gave his subordinates unreasonable tasks, and argued when they failed, to relieve stress.
Several people quit on account of this. The company began to take it seriously, and warned him he would be demoted if it happened again, but he would keep quiet temporarily and then get back at it again.
His family began to distance themselves from him, and his wife left after his children convinced her to do so.
A note was left on a table, along with divorce papers, leading Gotouta to get drunk and rampage until he settled down.
He had reached the twenty-second floor of the dungeon. A long time ago, he explored it with his wife and friends, but stopped after they felt they reached their limit.
But despite quitting, it meant he was stronger than people who were not seekers. This also meant if he used this strength and was arrested, he would receive a harsh sentence. He was still reasonable enough to understand this, so he looked for ways to unload his stress.
And he found it when he went back to the dungeon.
He figured taking down monsters would do, so he faced orcs on the twenty-first floor. Gotouta was a tank, so even if he could block attacks, this combined with not being a seeker for years meant his attacks did not go well.
He gave up and returned to the twentieth floor, but it was even worse. He had to retreat after being beaten by kobolds.
And although he managed to defeat the big ants on the eleventh floor, it did nothing for him, and it only left him tired.
Gotouta was even more frustrated.
Blood rose to his head, and he returned to the twenty-first floor in this enraged state.
He went around looking for orcs, and heard sounds of fighting. He slowly approached, and saw a seeker party in an unfavorable situation.
The emotion that welled up inside him was amusement. He thought not of helping or saving them, just enjoying watching them get beaten.
Gotouta found himself a new inclination of sorts, and he could not contain his excitement.
People would look at him with disdain if they knew, but if he told no one, it would not be a problem. But he could not help but want to see more.
How could he recreate it? Gaze upon those faces twisted with suffering without dirtying his hands…
The answer he landed on was product endurance testing. It might seem like a big leap, but that was it. And the nasty Gotouta had the power to make it happen.
During a presentation, he proposed testing the durability of shields and equipment and improving how they got their values. Also, filming footage of their products withstanding attacks would surely boost sales, he declared.
Everyone was skeptical, and listened with awkward smiles, but since the company president told him to try it if he was confident in the idea, he had the green light.
As a result, sales were 150% of what they were the previous year.
Seekers who went to buy equipment were drawn by the footage being shown on displays, and made their choice to buy equipment after seeing it withstand attacks with numerical values shown.
Their minds shifted from wondering what materials were used and thinking something had to be good if it was expensive, to wanting equipment that performed well enough even if it was cheap.
Even Gotouta was surprised by this result. He proposed something foolish to satisfy his own desires, but did not think it would result in this. But no matter what results he brought, his chance to rise in the ranks never came.
Surely, even if his conduct was a little problematic, with enough accomplishments, he had to be promoted, right? He thought.
But no one came to him with such a proposal.
He was commended for his accomplishments and given a monetary reward, but that was all.
The company knew this method had a problem.
Gotouta knew it as well, but figured it did not matter. However, the company thought differently.
It needed a sacrifice. A sacrifice who would carry the responsibility. If they were to continue this sales boom, they would need someone to stick their neck out.
That would be Gotouta’s last job.
When Gotouta realized this, he was merciless. He continued watching people suffering, struggling to hold on to their lives, all to satisfy his desires.
At first he put out requests to seekers, but after enough complaints, the Seeker Association stopped accepting them.
He tried to call out to seekers individually, but his bad reputation meant no one would accept.
And so, he decided to pick employees to stand in front of orcs.
He went out of his way to convince the president of the company that he needed to have employees reach the twentieth floor.
He hired seekers, and took the employees through the portal to the twentieth floor, after convincing them that the costs would be worth the returns.
Filming regular people having to withstand orc attacks satisfied his desires.
It was hard to see their pained faces when covered in armor, so he told them CG would be used on them, and carried out dangerous actions such as having several orcs attack at once.
Thirteen people quit in the span of two years.
Among them, one left an impression. A plump but timid looking young man.
He worked as a seeker, but retired on the twenty-second floor. He had the Toughness skill, but his second skill, Hearing Enhancement, was not great. He said he lost a member of his party in a fight against silent condor.
“I see, that’s terrible. Well, don’t worry, you won’t die here.”
“Yes! I’ll do my best!”
What face will he show me, thought Gotouta while reassuring him.
“Chief Gotouta… Is this really part of the job?”
He asked with a tired expression and a worried tone after withstanding orc attack after orc attack, but that just made Gotouta’s sadism burn brighter.
“Of course it is! This is how this company feeds its employees!”
“I-I see. Sorry for the weird question…”
And so, the young man continued his duty.
After working only as a seeker, he had no experience working for a company, so he told himself this was normal and did his best.
He wanted to show his appreciation for this company for hiring him after applying to so many, and pushed himself.
Half a year. He endured this hell for half a year, but he broke.
He became depressed, and attempted suicide in the company.
Luckily, he survived, but in a vegetative state.
He left a note, but it was hidden by the one who found it.
He had a sick mother, who the note was for, but it was discarded by someone who thought the responsibility would fall on him, without even checking it.
The sick mother sued the company, but it lacked any power without evidence, so all she could do was cry herself to sleep.
◇ ◇ ◇
After this series of tumultuous events, the company stopped protecting Gotouta. There were other victims, and if they banded together, it could damage not only Gotouta, but the company as well.
And so, they issued a warning.
“Chief Gotouta, you have done well for this company, but if you continue to go overboard, there will be no next time. Remember it.”
“Yes…”
“If you’re unhappy with that say so. We will arrange for you to be transferred.”
“It’s all right. I will do better…”
There was a kind of madness behind his expressionless face. The kind of madness inside someone who would stop at nothing to accomplish his goal.
Gotouta continued doing work to satisfy his desires. He had people sign papers beforehand, and had a team work for him while he watched from the back.
The responsibility would not fall on one person, instead spreading the dissatisfaction among several people who worked in shifts.
More people had to go to the dungeon and there was more work to do, but rather than the complaints and dissatisfaction being aimed at him, they stayed among them.
There was nothing to worry about. He could continue doing as he had, he thought.
One day, he heard people were being interviewed for mid-career recruitment, and prepared the necessary papers. He found someone who had the Toughness skill and had reached the twenty-fourth floor.
What he did would not change regardless of who came along, but this was surely someone that required attention.
He said this to his subordinates, and went back to work.
His job was not just what he did in the dungeon. He inspected equipment sent from the workshop and examined it in the dungeon. He worked out its proper value, told it to the workshop, and after getting permission, they would start selling it.
“I will be working here starting today. My name is Tanaka, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He thought he looked pretty young, but the documents said he was twenty-four, quite older than he looked. He figured it was down to his own age, and spoke to him in an overbearing way.
First, the essential part.
“Ah, I heard about you. I’m Gotouta of the technical department. First, sign these papers. I need to deliver them to the company, so don’t waste time.”
“Yes. Do you mind if I check them?”
“It’s just your average contract. Stuff like how you will be penalized if you leak company intel. Hurry up so you can start working today.”
“Today? Aren’t you going to explain my job and stuff like that?”
“You’ll learn as you do it. Stop babbling, we have a lot of work to do!”
“H-how’s that my fault… Nevermind. Yes, I’ll sign them.”
“Okay! Hey! Get this guy equipped and go to the dungeon right away!”
Gotouta gave instructions to his subordinates, and left them to get the applicant, Tanaka, ready.
These subordinates were very much yes men to Gotouta, with not one among them who would argue. Regardless of how they felt, they would go along with it as long as it did not harm them.
“Eh? Now?”
Only the new guy, Arata, questioned it.
◇ ◇ ◇
Tanaka was an excellent find. He did on his first day what was scheduled for three. And all alone without needing someone to take over.
He had the Toughness skill, but damage still piled up. Although you would never know by looking at him. He took all attacks and only gasped as he stood in front of the orc again with a shield.
The employees were impressed with Tanaka, but Gotouta was stressed, as he was not shown what he wanted.
On the surface, Gotouta also praised him, but all he could think about was how to make him suffer.
“Tanaka, we’ll be counting on you again tomorrow. We have high hopes for you, because a guy with your grit doesn’t come by every day.”
“Yes, leave it to me! I’ll do my best!”
Tanaka smiled, reminding Gotouta of that young man.
It felt as though something chilly was coming after him.
◇ ◇ ◇
The next day, and the day after that, Tanaka was worked hard, but stood as though nothing happened after drinking a potion.
Rumors spread among the subordinates that Tanaka was immortal.
He only looked like he was suffering once, when he failed to take an attack. It was the kind of attack that could normally kill someone, but Tanaka simply held the shield up again.
I don’t need this guy, thought Gotouta. Even if the president wanted him, he was nothing but a nuisance to Gotouta.
But he could not figure out how to get rid of him.
This was a cruel job that crushed many employees, so how could he corner a monster that did it like it was nothing?
All he could come up with was not giving him days off, but Tanaka still did not complain.
A good customer asked for his help to shoot a movie, so he sent some people, including Tanaka, but he came back with a smile for some reason. He was not someone that could be dealt with by simply stripping him of his days off.
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Thanks for the treat.