Employment Ice Age of the Dead - Prologue

 The Employment Ice Age Janitor Is Looked Down On by Students Today as Well

"Hey, do you know about the Employment Ice Age generation?"

"Yeah, I know. People bash them online. They're that generation full of incompetent people who couldn't even get a decent job, right?"

"I wonder what kind of student life you have to lead to end up unable to become a regular full-time employee. That would never happen with our generation."

"They must have slacked off big time."

"Even though they slacked off the whole time, when they're broke in old age, they get saved by welfare? Talk about a total waste of the tax money we'll be paying in the future."

"Since the Ice Age generation couldn't bother to put in any effort, if they're destitute, euthanasia is fine for them."

"I totally agree. Speaking of which, there's an incompetent Ice Age guy right here at this school too, isn't there? Let's see... the janitor..."

"You mean Izaku? Working as a contract worker at his age—he must be unbelievably incompetent."

"If I were him, I'd be too embarrassed to go on living."

"If it were me, I'd probably commit suicide."

Is this what they call a generation gap?

As I swept in front of the school gate—which resembled the formidable front entrance of a fortress—some students were standing around, eagerly bad-mouthing me.

Even if I were to explain the circumstances of us Ice Age generation folks to boys and girls like them, they would never understand, nor would they change their minds. Most people can only truly understand what they have experienced themselves.

In today's world where everyone talks about labor shortages, a middle-aged man working as a non-regular contract janitor must seem like an utterly incompetent loser to them. They believe that most of us in the Ice Age generation simply failed to put in the effort, which is why we have no choice but to work under non-regular employment conditions.

No matter how thoroughly we try to explain how awful the economic times were back then, to these kids who come from wealthy families and attend Banryu High School—a prestigious private school in this town—it would only sound like the pathetic excuses of a useless working-class poor guy.

As long as today's youth aim for a reasonable goal and put in standard effort, they shouldn't have much trouble finding employment.

On the other hand, many in the Ice Age generation wasted their valuable new-graduate status without receiving a single job offer. Those who finally managed to get hired ended up grinding their minds and souls away at sweatshop "black companies," changing jobs repeatedly, only to be labeled "unproductive middle-aged workers" when they grew older and eventually laid off. Some of my own former classmates became shut-ins (hikikomori), facing the harsh reality of the 80-50 problem (elderly parents supporting middle-aged children).

And if our massive Ice Age generation ages and retires as it is, we might end up being euthanized in the future as a burden to the nation—or forced to work until the day we die. It really feels like getting kicked while we're down.

However, no matter how much I lament, my situation won't change, and a person still has to keep living regardless. Besides, I have no intention of committing suicide.

I may have bounced around black companies and non-regular jobs, but I lived modestly and managed to save a reasonable amount of money. Having given up on getting a car, owning a house, getting married, or having children, I at least shouldn't end up burdening others in my old age... or at least, not when it comes to money.

If someone wants to call it a boring life, so be it, but I just feel like asking: so what? Instead of picking apart other people's lives, why don't they just focus on enjoying their own?

The reason these students were loudly bad-mouthing me on purpose was to provoke me. They provoke non-regular janitors like this, hoping the janitor will snap, shout, or confront them. Then they complain to the principal that they were put in danger, cornering the janitor instead. I heard that five janitors before me have already been fired because of their antics.

It's an absurdly unfair situation, but a janitor is just a low-status contract employee, while those kids are wealthy students whose parents donate large sums of money to the school. If a conflict arises, the janitor is always the one punished.

The person who got fired before me reportedly heard the principal say, "There are plenty of people who can replace you."

Therefore, giving in to the provocation of these trash-talking students would only work to my disadvantage. So I ignored them and silently continued sweeping.

(Just kids blowing off steam... though it's pretty malicious, there's nothing I can do about it.)

Reporting this to the teachers wouldn't solve a thing anyway. Just because the students' parents donate large sums of money, the teachers simply turn a blind eye and avoid scolding them.

(Well, I don't really care anymore.)

It's best to just ignore people like that. Aside from the low pay, the workload isn't too heavy and there are plenty of days off, so I actually quite like this job.

"Tch! How boring."

"Let's go, let's go home."

Since I didn't take the bait at all, the students eventually left through the school gate to head home. In the end, because they come from good families, they don't have the courage to resort to actual violence. They lack even the true malice required to file a fake report of harm to ruin me, showing that they're still soft at heart.

(They're finally gone...)

Now that most of the students had gone home and the area in front of the gate was swept clean, I returned to the detached prefabricated hut that served as the janitor's room—and found her there today as well.

"Hey, uncle, were you being provoked by Tajima and his crew again today?"

Most of the students at this high school come from wealthy households, and on the surface at least, most are refined young gentlemen and ladies. However, the girl sitting right before my eyes was a genuine "gal" (gyaru) in appearance—someone who would stand out anywhere—and for some reason, she frequently spent her after-school time here in the janitor's room.

A middle-aged janitor and a gal high school student. It couldn't look more mismatched if we tried, yet before I knew it, she had started dropping by regularly.

"It happens all the time, so I'm used to it by now. When I ignored them, they got bored and went home."

"Don't you ever talk back? Doesn't it make you mad?"

"If I did that, I'd just follow in the footsteps of my predecessors. I just consider dealing with it as part of what I'm paid for."

"That doesn't sound worth it at all."

"Even if it's not worth it, people need to earn money to survive. At my age, it's not easy to find the next job."

They say there's a labor shortage nowadays, but in truth, it's only young people who are in high demand. As usual, there are no good jobs available for the Employment Ice Age generation. Employers demand skills, certifications, and experience, piling on condition after condition. In Japan, once a person falls off the track, the chances of making a comeback are extremely slim.

"They look down on me, but this job itself isn't so bad."

"Hmm... I see. I'll make some tea."

She looked every bit the typical gal, frequently getting scolded by teachers for not fitting the school's image, but she undoubtedly came from a wealthy family as well. I figured her gal style was just her way of rebelling against her parents and teachers. There were kids like that in my generation too. That's why her style was purely aesthetic; instead of going out to party after school, she was here passing time in the janitor's room.

What's more, despite her gal appearance, she was surprisingly good at brewing tea—a stark contrast to her look. She must have been properly raised at home... but do wealthy families teach their kids how to brew tea? Maybe her grandmother taught her? The elegant way she held her cup made it obvious right away that she was from a refined background.

Since she clearly didn't hold good feelings toward the classmates who mocked me, she seemed to have a good heart. If she weren't a good person, I wouldn't have let her into the janitor's room in the first place, nor would I have shared my true feelings with her.

Yet, simply because of her appearance, she was disliked by both teachers and classmates, and I had never seen her hanging out with any friends. That was probably why she started visiting the janitor's room.

I thought she could just stop dressed like a gal, but she probably had her own non-negotiable reasons.

We weren't exactly friends... but perhaps we were two of a kind: me isolated from society, and her isolated from school.

"By the way, summer vacation is coming up soon, isn't it?"

Even during summer break, I still have to come to work and perform my duties as a janitor. Though having standard calendar days off and a proper Obon break is a huge relief compared to my younger days working at black companies, where such luxuries didn't exist.

"Yeah, it is. Hey, uncle... can I come over here to hang out during the break too?"

"Here?"

I was about to say, "It's summer vacation, shouldn't you go hang out with your friends?" but stopped myself. A girl dressed as a gal who is isolated at school probably doesn't have friends to hang out with during summer break—not from this high school, nor from her elementary or middle school days. If she had friends, there's no way she wouldn't be spending her break with them.

And perhaps she didn't feel like she had a place at home either. If she felt comfortable at home, she could just stay in her room, so it was highly likely she didn't get along with her family either.

"Well... as long as it's during my working hours..."

"Thank you!"

Unable to resist her pleading expression, I accidentally gave her my consent.

Honestly, her spending every afternoon here after school was already risky enough, and if I wanted to keep this job, it would have been safer to reject her. You never know what kind of false rumors or trouble could be manufactured from this. But if I pushed her out of here, she might truly have nowhere left to go. Thinking about that, I couldn't bring myself to refuse her request.

"I know it's a bit late to ask, but don't your parents say anything about this?"

"My parents have a hands-off policy as long as my grades are good."

Even though the teachers keep an eye on her, her academic performance is exceptionally high, so she's in no danger of getting expelled. Coming from someone who struggled with studies like me, I couldn't help but envy her talent.

"As long as I don't cause major trouble and get into a decent university, they won't say anything. The school only occasionally gives me warnings about my outfit, too."

So the school just turns a blind eye because punishing her would mean losing one more graduate going to a prestigious university. Besides, the only actual issue with her was her gal appearance—or rather, it was only an issue by this school's strict standards, since she wasn't actually doing anything wrong.

"What are your family members like, uncle?"

"Pretty ordinary, I suppose."

My father worked for a famous company, and my mother was a full-time housewife. They don't need nursing care yet and live off their pension in a house with a fully paid-off mortgage. And unlike me, my older brother went smoothly from a famous university to a top-tier company, married young, and has two children.

They are what you'd call a normal family, but I was the useless son who couldn't achieve that norm—the failure of a second son, disdained by the family.

Even so, when I was younger and visited home, they used to spur me on, saying, "Work hard and get a full-time job at a good company!" or "Hurry up and get married, have kids, and become a proper adult!"

But after I turned forty, they told me, "Don't ever come near our house again, so you don't become a burden to your nephew and niece in your old age!" Just as told, I haven't visited them once since. They didn't explicitly disown me, but it was basically "We're disappointed in you; we don't even want to see your face."

I wonder if I'll even be invited to my parents' funeral? Will I be invited to my nephew's or niece's weddings?

"We have each other's contact info, so if something happens, I suppose they'll reach out."

"Uncle..."

"That's what happens when you stray from what society calls 'normal.' You should make sure to study hard during summer vacation too."

"Uncle, rumors say you actually graduated from a good university."

"It didn't mean anything in the end, though."

In my own foolish way, I worked hard to graduate from a decent university—not as high-ranking as my brother's, but respectable—yet back then, it didn't help me secure employment. And once you pass thirty, nobody cares what college you went to anyway. That's just how the world works. In fact, if a grown adult brags about their alma mater, it usually means their current life isn't going well.

"Well, it's almost time for my shift to end, so you should head home too, Miss Shirai."

"Nobody's home anyway. I'll bring some snacks when I come during summer break. See you tomorrow, uncle!"

"See you tomorrow, Miss Shirai."

As I've grown older, become distant from my family, and lost touch with friends due to their busy work and family lives, letting Miss Shirai into the janitor's room might be a sign that I'm secretly lonely inside.

After watching the back of the girl—who, despite looking like a gal, was easily one of the most beautiful girls in school—as she left, my work for the day was complete. Time to pick up some groceries at the supermarket on my way home.

Since I don't even own a car, I just hope I can catch the bus right in front of the school gate right after clocking out.

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