understand later. I reacted honestly and instinctually, confirming that my childhood guess of three billion really was correct. The woman saw my look and awkwardly scratched at her cheek with a ˆ‹‰‡”ǤŠ‡•‡‡‡†–‘–Š‹‹–™‘—Ž†ǯ–„‡”‹‰Š––‘–‡ŽŽ‡–Š‡”‡•—Ž–•–Š‹• wayȄinstead, she glanced at the computer window, typed something on the keyboard, and placed a printout on the counter. DzŠ‹•‹•–Š‡”‡•—Ž–‘ˆ›‘—”ƒ’’”ƒ‹•ƒŽǤŠƒ–‹•›‘—”†‡…‹•‹‘ǫdz When I first saw the number three hundred thousand on the sheet, I thought it was the amount for each year. If a life was eighty years, that would be twenty-four million yen. Twenty-four million, the voice in my head repeated. I felt all the strength draining from my body. How could it be that cheap? It was at this point that I decided I was suspicious of the place again. This might be some TV show prank or some psychological test. It could even be Œ—•–ƒ•‹’Ž‡ƒ†‡•’‡…‹ƒŽŽ›…”—‡ŽŠ‘ƒšǥ But none of my excuses made a difference. The only thing that provided me any proper measure of disbelief was my common sense. Every other sense I had was telling me that whatever this woman said was correct. And one of my rules in life was that if you were faced with an illogical situation, ›‘—‘—‰Š––‘–”—•–›‘—”‰—–‹•–‹…–ǡ‘––Š‡”ƒ–‹‘ƒŽ‹–›‘ˆDz…‘‘•‡•‡Ǥdz I simply had to accept the twenty-four million yen total. Even doing that took considerable bravery. But then the woman delivered the harsh truth. DzŠƒ–‡ƒ•–Š‡›‡ƒ”Ž›’”‹…‡‹•–Š‡Ž‘™‡•–’‘••‹„Ž‡’”‹…‡‘ˆ–‡–Š‘—•ƒ† yen. Your remaining life is listed at thirty years and three months, so you can walk out this door with about three hundred thousand ›‡Ǥdz When I laughed then, it was not because I took her words to be a joke, but because, objectively speaking, it was my life that was the joke. The true value of my life was literally orders of magnitude less than what I thought it was. Dzˆ course, this does not indicate some kind of universal value. That is •‹’Ž›–Š‡–‘–ƒŽ™‡ƒ””‹˜‡†ƒ–ƒˆ–‡”‡ƒ•—”‹‰›‘—ƒ‰ƒ‹•–‘—”•–ƒ†ƒ”†ǡdz the woman explained. Dzǯ† Ž‹‡ –‘ ‘™ ‘”‡ ƒ„‘—– –Š‹• •–ƒ†ƒ”†ǡdz  •ƒ‹†Ǥ Š‡ •‹‰Š‡† ™‹–Š disgust. Maybe it was s‘‡–Š‹‰•Š‡ǯ†Š‡ƒ”†–Š‘—•ƒ†•‘ˆ–‹‡•„‡ˆ‘”‡Ǥ DzŠ‡†‡–ƒ‹Ž‡†ƒ’’”ƒ‹•ƒŽ‹•’‡”ˆ‘”‡†„›ƒ†‹ˆˆ‡”‡–…‘•—Ž–ƒ–‹˜‡„‘†›ǡ•‘ even I do not know exactly how it works. But from what I know, the result is largely influenced by the ability to satisfy certain values, such as good ˆ‘”–—‡ǡˆ—Žˆ‹ŽŽ‡–ǡƒ†…‘–”‹„—–‹‘ǥ‡••‡…‡ǡŠ‘™Šƒ’’››‘—™‹ŽŽ„‡