The Gate of Sorrows Read Online Free PDF Page A

all.”
    “Don’t sweat it. No one’s going to put success or failure on your shoulders. And there’s something else I haven’t told you.” Seigo lowered his voice and leaned forward. Kotaro found himself doing the same.
    “We’re closing the Tokyo office a year from now. This city’s just too expensive.”
    When Kumar was starting out, the Tokyo office was essential to get the word to clients. Now that the business was on track and growing, things were different.
    “If you close down, what happens to all those people I saw? What happens to you?”
    “We’re moving to Sapporo. We’ll have our own building there—well, it’ll be pretty small, but we’re moving ahead with construction. I’m looking forward to getting out of here. I’m sick of Tokyo’s sticky summer nights.”
    Services like Kumar’s could be delivered from anywhere. Still, finding the right people would be tough unless the company set up shop in at least a medium-size city. Kumar could put the best hardware money could buy on a remote island or in the mountains, but the software—people—would be missing. Big regional cities like Nagoya, where Kumar was based, were the perfect solution.
    “My family lived in Sendai for a while after my father transferred there. It’s a great place. I tried to sell Yamashina on moving up there, but one of our competitors—we don’t have very many—is already based there. It seemed like a good idea to keep our distance.”
    Kotaro knew that Sendai and Sapporo were both home to some of the best science schools in Japan.
    “If you’re interested in what we do, this is your chance, Ko-Prime. Try it for a year. I mean, even if you end up feeling like you got pulled into a weird job just because we’re friends and you ran into me, you’ll still have a year’s worth of work experience. All you have to do is stick it out.”
    “Come on Seigo, it’s not like I’m saying no.”
    “Look, I can’t force you to answer right away. Think about it, okay?”
    Seigo showed him to the lobby. Kotaro watched him head back to work with a spring in his step.
    Kotaro hadn’t come to Jinbocho for any particular book. His father, Takayuki, loved to stroll from one used bookstore to another. He often brought Kotaro with him, and the used-book bug had bitten him too. When he had time on his hands and nothing special to do, Kotaro still went there out of habit.
    He checked his smartphone. There was a mail from Kazumi with a long list of celebrity photo collections and manga with maximum prices, asking him to pick them up if he “just happened” to run across them. Kazumi’s suggested prices were unbelievably optimistic. “The bookstores aren’t that stupid,” Kotaro muttered.
    Then again, he’d never hear the end of it if he didn’t at least try to find something. Along the way he turned Seigo’s offer over in his mind.
    Kumar Corporation interested him, but one thing made him hesitate, though Seigo kept telling him not to worry. How could he measure up to the people there? Compared to them he was nothing.
    As he went from shop to shop looking for the titles on Kazumi’s list, he found one that specialized in children’s books. The sign in the window said Thousands of Titles, New and Old .
    Kumar. Wasn’t that a name from a children’s book? A book about a monster that the founder of the company loved as a kid.
    Kotaro knew he couldn’t expect to find it just like that. Still, it would be fun if he could. From the look of the shop, “thousands of titles” was probably an understatement.
    He went inside. The shop was pleasantly cool. He walked around on the creaking floorboards, surveying the shelves. All he had to go on was the name Kumar. He didn’t even know the title of the book. He was probably wasting his time.
    I must be nuts , he was about to conclude, when a section of shelves caught his eye. A sign read Perennial Favorites . And there it was: Kumar of Jore , its big cover at eye level amid a