「寝ているだけで、月収二十万」
そんな信じられない求人広告がスマートフォンの画面を埋め尽くしたのは、失業して貯金が底をついた頃だった。内容は、睡眠中に使われていない脳の領域を貸し出し、仮想通貨のマイニング（採掘）に協力するというもの。専用のヘッドセットを装着して眠るだけで、翌朝には電子マネーが振り込まれる。これこそ究極の不労所得だと、佐藤は歓喜して飛びついた。
最初の数週間は、まさに天国だった。朝起きるたびに残高が増え、生活は瞬く間に豊かになった。しかし、一ヶ月が過ぎた頃から異変が起きる。どれだけ長時間眠っても、泥のように体が重いのだ。鏡に映る自分の顔は土気色で、目は落ち窪み、まるで不眠不休で働いているような疲労感が全身を支配していた。
ついに歩くことすら困難になり、佐藤は病院へ駆け込んだ。精密検査の結果、医者は信じられない診断を下した。
「佐藤さん、あなたの脳は寝ている間、一度も休んでいません。それどころか、仮想世界の過酷な鉱山で、ひたすら硬い岩盤にツルハシを打ち込み続ける重労働をさせられていたのです」
佐藤は震えながら聞き返した。
「でも、それはただの計算処理のはずじゃ……」
「いいえ。効率を上げるために、企業はあなたの『イメージの力』を利用した。今、あなたの夢の中には、サボることを許さない巨大な『夢の現場監督』が住み着いています。たとえヘッドセットを外しても、脳が労働の味を覚えた以上、死ぬまで掘り続けなければなりません」
その夜、佐藤は恐ろしくて目を閉じられなかった。しかし、抗えない眠気が襲う。意識が遠のく境界線で、暗闇の向こうから野太い怒声と、カツン、カツンと乾いたツルハシの音が響いてきた。
“Earn 200,000 yen a month just by sleeping.”
This unbelievable job advertisement filled Sato’s smartphone screen just as he hit rock bottom, unemployed and penniless. The job involved “renting out” unused areas of the brain during sleep to assist in cryptocurrency mining. All he had to do was wear a dedicated headset and go to sleep; by morning, electronic money would be deposited into his account. Sato leaped at the opportunity, rejoicing at what seemed like the ultimate passive income.
The first few weeks were pure heaven. Every morning he woke up to a growing balance, and his life became affluent in the blink of an eye. However, after a month, something went wrong. No matter how many hours he slept, his body felt as heavy as lead. In the mirror, his face was a sickly ashen color, his eyes were sunken, and a crushing fatigue dominated his body—as if he had been working day and night without a second of rest.
Eventually, unable even to walk, Sato rushed to the hospital. After a series of tests, the doctor delivered a shocking diagnosis.
“Mr. Sato, your brain has not rested once while you were sleeping. On the contrary, it has been subjected to hard manual labor in a harsh virtual mine, relentlessly swinging a pickaxe against solid rock.”
Sato trembled as he asked, “But… that was supposed to be just computational processing…”
”No. To increase efficiency, the corporation utilized your ‘power of imagination.’ Now, a massive ‘Dream Overseer’ has taken up residence in your subconscious, refusing to let you slack off. Even if you remove the headset, now that your brain has learned the taste of labor, you must keep digging until the day you die.”
That night, Sato was terrified to close his eyes. But an irresistible drowsiness washed over him. As he crossed the border of consciousness, he heard a coarse, booming shout from across the darkness, followed by the dry, rhythmic sound of a pickaxe: Clink. Clink. Clink.
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