Tokyo Drift Arc (3)

Tokyo Drift Arc (3)

Ameko was an exceptionally conscientious guide. Especially after eating Zhang Heng's Chōyaki, she seemed to have ignited her inner cosmos, dragging him around until after nine at night before reluctantly taking him back to the school. Afterward, she took the train back to her apartment.

Because land prices in Tokyo were so high, universities rarely provided dormitories, so most students had to rent housing off campus. Although Ameko's home was local, it was quite far from the school, so she had chosen to rent a place nearby with some classmates.

However, the school treated exchange students rather well. There was an International Exchange Hall that provided dorm rooms for students from various countries, and they were even single rooms.

Zhang Heng found his room number on his phone and opened the door with his key.

The room was not very large, roughly fifteen square meters.

It had a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and an air conditioner. Besides that, it also came with an integrated bathroom.

Zhang Heng took a shower first. He found some clean clothes to change into in the wardrobe. There was also half a packet of biscuits, a bank card, a notebook, and several photocopied documents on the desk. It was as if he really were an exchange student who had just moved in that day.

Zhang Heng picked up the notebook and saw expense records written inside, in handwriting identical to his own. There was also a class schedule on the second page, with only one course listed: Japanese Language.

Under normal circumstances, the school would not arrange a pure language course for exchange students.

Generally speaking, when recruiting exchange students, schools would directly specify the corresponding Japanese-language requirements. Of course, there were also programs without such requirements, but those usually taught their majors entirely in English.

This was probably a hidden benefit the instance dungeon gave players, offering those who did not know Japanese a way out.

But learning conversational Japanese in a mere sixty days was still an impossible task. For now, if he wanted to communicate with others, relying on Ameko, the human translation machine, was more dependable.

Just as he was thinking about this, he received a text from her. "Zhang-san, I got home safely! Honestly, Momo snuck off to drink from the toilet again while I was out, and left paw prints everywhere."

Ameko had told Zhang Heng about Momo. She was a Japanese Countryside Cat that Ameko kept. Zhang Heng casually replied, "Why not stew her?"

Σ(⊙▽⊙"a, Ameko immediately sent back a shocked emoticon.

"Just kidding. By the way, Ameko, do you know where the nearest Japan Post Bank is?" Zhang Heng typed. He flipped to the third page of the notebook, where several errands were listed. One of them was to apply for a bank card, from which the monthly accommodation fee would be automatically deducted.

"Of course. I'll take you there tomorrow. And if there's anything else you don't understand, you can ask me. I know this whole area very well." Ameko was as helpful as ever.

"Then I'll be counting on you."

Zhang Heng and the girl said goodnight to each other. Afterward, he searched for information online for a while, then turned off the lights and went to bed, spending his first night in a foreign country like that.

Nothing happened overnight. The next morning, Zhang Heng attended his language class first. Japanese was fairly simple at the beginner level—it was just learning the Gojūon Chart, mainly a test of memory. That afternoon, he and Ameko went to apply for a bank card, which would take about a week to arrive. After leaving the bank, Zhang Heng asked the girl, "If I wanted to find a part-time job, do you have anywhere you could recommend?"

The 30,000 Japanese Yen on him would not last long. His earlier estimate that it could support him for two months had been too optimistic. The accommodation fee at the International Exchange Hall alone was 20,000 Japanese Yen per month. Fortunately, the first month had already been paid, but considering he still had nearly fourteen months to stay here, he had no choice but to find a way to earn some money first.

Zhang Heng did not know how the other players dealt with financial problems. Compared with some high-risk options, he personally preferred something like a part-time job. The money would not come as quickly, but it would make it easier for him to become familiar with and integrate into the city.

"Well, most people usually work part-time at restaurants, supermarkets, or convenience stores, but all of those places have Japanese-language requirements."

Ameko thought for a moment. "Or do you have any special skills?"

"Special skills?" Zhang Heng raised an eyebrow. "Do archery and piano count?"

"Huh? Archery and piano? That's amazing. In that case, you could work at a kyudo hall or a Western restaurant. Hmm, but Japanese kyudo differs somewhat from simple archery. It places more emphasis on spiritual cultivation. Also, you wouldn't be able to avoid communicating with people at a kyudo hall. Looking at it that way, it would be better for you to play piano at a Western restaurant."

Ameko carefully analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of every option for Zhang Heng, and she was remarkably proactive. As soon as she finished speaking, she dragged him to an Italian restaurant to apply for a job. Unfortunately, they already had a pianist. The two then tried the Spanish and French restaurants next door... In the end, a Western restaurant run by a local Tokyo resident was willing to give Zhang Heng a chance after hearing him play, but the owner was still concerned about Zhang Heng not knowing Japanese.

Pointing at the help-wanted sign outside the restaurant, Ameko said, "You're still looking for a waiter, aren't you? I used to work at Roast Beef Ohno. How about this? I'll work here too. If there are any language issues, I can help translate for him."

"Then there won't be a problem." The owner nodded. "The hourly wage is 1,200 Japanese Yen. That's the absolute limit. You'll work three days a week, four to five hours each shift. There are both daytime and evening shifts. You can choose days when you don't have class, and I'll try to schedule you together."

"Thank you very much." Ameko bowed.

Only after they left did Zhang Heng find out what the two of them had discussed. Seeing that he was about to speak, Ameko beat him to it. "I had a lot of fun shopping together last night. Everyone is usually busy with their own things. Very few people are willing to stop and listen to someone else's thoughts. Zhang-san... you really are a very gentle person. And it isn't entirely because of you, either. I just quit my last job, and I was planning to find another one soon anyway. The environment and pay here are both good, and besides, having you around will make it safer too, right?"

Ameko showed her little canine teeth again.

Was this the benefit of having high favorability? Hearing that, Zhang Heng said nothing more. Seeing that it was already evening, he treated Ameko to dinner at a restaurant nearby, and the two chatted a while longer about school.

Just then, a Subaru BRZ covered in graffiti and a green Volkswagen Golf R pulled up in front of the restaurant. Several boys and girls with brightly dyed hair stepped out. One guy wearing a headband loudly demanded that the owner bring out some beer the moment he entered.

Quite a few of them looked as if they had already been drinking before this, with faintly drunken expressions on their faces. Ameko lowered her voice. "Don't keep staring at them. Those guys are Bōsōzoku from around here. There seem to be quite a few students from our school among them. They spend all day hanging around with idle, uneducated little punks, doing nothing but stupid things."