Chapter 1: In any case, Hikigaya Hachiman is unmotivated.
Performance bonuses are a lie. It is nothing but a ruse.
Those of you who work hard have simply been deceived by those around them. You are tricked into thinking your paycheck depends on the work you do. Misled into thinking that even the tiniest mistake will be life-threatening... or at least career-ending. And so you desperately struggle and do unpaid overtime.
Ultimately, performance bonuses only go to the social elites who are chummy with their bosses, and only if the company is doing well. The average worker just gets paired up with a reviewer who sees none of your efforts or accomplishments. After all, it is his job to save the company as much money as possible by convincing you that you do not deserve any of it.
Actually, I could tell that the reviewer didn't even know who I was. He was constantly staring at me as he searched his memory, giving me quizzical looks that all but said "Does this guy really work here?"
To be fair, I didn't know who he was either. But it was his job to know me, not my job to know him! In the end he just muttered generic phrases like "Work smarter not harder" and "Hoshino-san, you're still young, so gain more experience first", before informing me that there would be absolutely no changes to my salary or workload. Such is the fate of working in a large company where there are so many employees and subsections, that everyone, including your own boss, believes you are working in a different department. Or rather, who the hell was Hoshino-san? Only the initial was correct damn it.
In short, your work amounts to nothing. This is simply deceptive motivation, and to work is truly to lose. At this point I was only coming in to work in order to appear on the office cameras, so I could prove that I deserved the paycheck if it ever stopped coming. It was probably meaningless though... I bet even the accountants in charge of the payroll system don't know about my existence.
Sigh... Ah not good. While I was musing to myself, time mercilessly ticked on and it seems I was already late for my next meeting. An upcoming novelist, pen-name WW, had chosen my company to publish his works, and for some reason he specified that he wanted me as his editor.
I wasn't sure what to think when I saw the office-wide email circulating around, asking if anyone knew about a Hikigaya Hachiman who supposedly worked here. I still remember the awkwardness when I told my boss that I was Hikigaya Hachiman.
In any case, the meeting was in room 8, so I should get going. Throwing away an empty can of MAX coffee, I got up from my desk and headed down the hallway.
When I walked to outside the room, the other employees were giving me disapproving stares that ranged from "Who is this guy? Why does WW want him?" to "How dare he make WW wait for him, is he trying to ruin this company?"
Apparently WW had arrived before I did. I groaned softly, opened the door and stepped inside room 8.