"Dafuq." Parita couldn't help but cussed the system. She turned to the shopping screen and reread the promotion banner.
"Accept a daily quest today to get extra Idol Points and discount coupons!"
Parita facepalmed. Since she had already made a mistake, she could only accept the consequences, learn from the incident, and move on.
"Fine. Livestream, it is. What can possibly go wrong?"
She opened the livestream menu and noticed the additional features, including analytics charts, ad revenue estimation, subscriptions, and Super Chat income. This puzzled her.
"Wait, how do viewers donate in this world? Credit cards don't exist here."
[The system will handle that part. Please focus on the live streaming.]
"…"
Parita gave up questioning the dubious system. As easygoing as she was, she pressed the LIVE button and started streaming. When she exited her room, she saw a section with a thick layer of dust, which she hadn't touched last night. Because of the sudden changes, she forgot that she was streaming.
Without a second thought, she fetched the system-powered vacuum cleaner. Turning it on, it roared and began sucking dust and air into its machine.
* * *
In the guild building, the hall was dimly illuminated by three candles. It was 4 AM, and only a few staff members were on duty. A team of seven C-rank adventurers, the Night Watchers, slept on long benches, but all of them kept one eye open.
Their presence was normal. These people were designated adventurers, who were tasked to protect the guild at night just in case an emergency situation occurred, such as night crimes, monster raids, or arson.
Rubella casually clocked in, starting her long 14-hour shift. Walking past the team, she nodded at them, and the adventurer team's captain waved his hand, saluting back. She got to her counter and stretched before she gazed at the pile of documents that the staff on the night shift had left for her. Like a diligent worker, she was ready to start her day at work.
When her hand touched the feather, her eyes noticed footprints and stains on the floor in the hall. Some dirt painted the light brown wooden tiles black.
Rubella clicked her tongue, but she couldn't complain. Adventurers always traveled and explored the wilderness, so their shoes and boots were never clean. Stains like this were normal. Fortunately, the broken tiles that Parita had left behind had already been repaired.
She picked up a broom and a dustpan to clean the hall while the adventurers were still asleep. While sweeping the hall, she sighed.
'I wish I could use that spell.'
Rubella thought of the Idol Meeting spell. She hoped that she could learn it from Parita when she returned to submit yesterday's quest.
While Rubella was sweeping the floor, the monitor cube manifested in mid-air and began broadcasting Parita's livestream. The lights from the screens brightened the dimly lit adventurers guild hall. All Night Watcher team's adventurers jumped off their benches and stopped pretending to be sleeping. They lit a torch and stared at the floating screens. An archer on their team readied his bow and aimed at the cube.
"Wait." Rubella stopped the team. "This happened before. This is the new adventurer's spell."
The captain of the Night Watcher, Appendix, was a tall and thin mage, reaching seven feet tall. He walked with his arms swinging down to his knees, and he had a ruby cane that enhanced his fire magic.
Appendix missed the livestream yesterday, and he didn't know Parita. He asked. "What is that?"
Rubella shrugged. "I don't know. It only shows the new adventurer."
"The pink elf?"
"Yes."
Appendix crossed his arms and watched the livestream. Rubella also shifted her attention to the screen, wondering what Parita was doing.
Then, Parita whipped out a vacuum cleaner from a housekeeping cart. She flipped the switch on, and the machine let out a loud noise.
"Huh?"
Everybody tilted their heads, puzzled by the mysterious artifact.
Parita pointed the nozzle at the floor and began rolling.
"???"
Nobody could figure out the artifact's function. They watched Parita roll the nozzle across the dirty floor forward and pull it back in a straight line. After that, she replicated the movement twice along the exact route and proceeded to the adjacent space, seemingly intent on feeling every part of the wooden floor.
Watching Parita reminded Rubella that she had jobs to do. As Rubella was about to stop paying attention to the nonsensical movements of Parita, she paused and rubbed her eyes. Her sharp sense picked up on a small detail.
When the nozzle rolled over the dirty floor, some dust and small objects vanished.
"!!!"
Rubella figured out what Parita's artifact was. Like other women, she was always drawn to helpful gadgets and objects that improved living standards. She uttered.
"Is that a cleaning magic tool?!"
Her voice echoed in the hall. Right after that, a text message showed up on the livestream, where there was a blank chat box.
'Is that a cleaning magic tool?'
"Huh?"
Rubella froze, mistaking the text for a coincidence. She reread the message and scratched her head.
"Oh, someone might have the same thought as me."
Again, the chat was updated.
'Oh, someone might have the same thought as me.'
"…"
Rubella and Appendix frowned and glanced at each other. The lanky mage asked. "Is that thing recording your speech?"
'Is that thing recording your speech?'
"…"
Neither needed to investigate further as the third message confirmed its pattern. The two smiled wryly.
Just as they were watching, a new wooden signboard and a floating bamboo basket manifested, floating under the livestream screens. There was a message on the board.
[Drop a gold coin to the basket and speak to the monitor to send a 'Super Chat' message.]
In this world, a gold coin was worth 100 silver coins. A single silver coin could buy a local person 100 copper coins, or goods like 10 kilograms of produce, a dozen chicken eggs, two jugs of ale, or five nights at an inn.
Rubella and Appendix's expressions changed. The mage shook his head.
"A gold coin? What for? I'd rather spend it on a brother than throw it away!"
'A gold coin? What for? I'd rather spend it on a brother than throw it away!'
"…"
Once again, everybody's words got recorded in the chat. Rubella covered her mouth and suppressed her laughter at the exposed complaint.
A former A-rank adventurer like Rubella had no trouble with money. If she wanted to, she could earn a thousand gold coins a week by hunting down rare monsters or taking on A-rank quests. She fetched a gold coin from her pocket and dropped it in the basket.
Rubella spoke. "Miss Kestrel, what are you doing right now? And what is that tool you are using?"
* * *
DING
While Parita was vacuuming the floor, a green message box appeared in front of her, containing a message, the sender's name, and her level.
= Rubella, Level 72, Non-Member =
= 1 G =
["Miss Kestrel, what are you doing right now? And what is that tool you are using?"]
Parita didn't know who Rubella was because she hadn't bothered asking the guild receptionist's name. She paid attention only to her level.
"Whoa, damn. Level 72?"
She stopped what she was doing to think. Fortunately, Parita instantly figured out the pattern and the nature of the text and the new screen. She remembered that she was in the middle of a livestream.
As professional as she was, Parita thanked the sender.
"Thank you for the first-ever super chat, Rubella. But damn. How did you raise your level so high? Anyway, I see you're curious about my gadgets."
Parita raised her vacuum cleaner and explained.
"This is called a vacuum cleaner, my personal cleaning tool. You see. If I press the nozzle against the dirty floor, the dust and grime get sucked into the machine… like this."
Parita demonstrated how the vacuum cleaner worked. She purposely aimed for the area where pieces of chipped wood and dust were the thickest. As the nozzle got closer, the objects vanished into the pipe.
After the demo, Parita grinned and was about to make a sarcastic joke. However, the mocap suit took over her body again and made a sales pitch.
"This magic tool has an infinite battery life, so you can use it forever. The dust is collected in the bag inside, and you can eject it out anytime… like this. Oh, if you see me using this, you can also buy one from the basket. Put in 10 gold coins, say you want it, and the tool will show up right in front of you!"
As soon as Parita finished, she inwardly cursed the system.
'What did you make me do?! A TV sale?!'
[Don't worry. Your commission will be paid if you make the sales.]
'Oh, you should have told me earlier. How much will I get if I sell one?'
[Two percent of the merchandise's price tag. In this case, 20 silver coins.]
'…TWO PERCENT?! What are you, N***s**ji?!'
[Two percent straight from the merchandise's price tag. They give two percent after the profit. We are not the same.]
"…"