Work

The setting sun dyed half the sky over Tin City a dusky red.

After saying goodbye to Stur at the entrance of Moonlight Cafe, Gallo left Lubo Lane and set out on the long road back to Valen Street.

The hunger from an entire day was temporarily eased by the two sickly sweet Madeleine Cakes and hot coffee.

On the way back, Gallo reviewed the memories of his day, focusing on those forty-one bookstores.

The catalogs of the forty-one bookstores on Lubo Lane were like clear index cards in his mind, neatly sorted and ready for consultation at any time.

He could even recall the colors and degree of wear on many book covers.

But Stur's words had also enlightened him... the market for simply "finding books" by title was too small.

What Imperial Industrial University students truly lacked was "information filtering" and "Knowledge Navigation."

Once Gallo recognized this as a way to make money, he set his target customers as all the university students at Imperial Industrial University.

"When customers tell me what kind of information they need, I can directly tell them which book to read and which bookstore sells it.

"But... for that to work, I need to have read a huge number of books. At the very least, I need to have the contents of an entire library recorded in my mind.

"That will take a long time, and the books in bookstores won't let me read them for free!"

Thinking aloud, Gallo said, "Still, I could explain the core contents of a book to a customer. They pay a little money, and I read the book they provide.

"Then I can search out the information they need, just like earlier. It was a great help to Stur.

"And that way, I can read some books for free too."

Gallo walked as he pondered.

To make this kind of work possible, he needed deeper comprehension, not merely memory.

But [Learning Lv3] could help him quickly grasp the outline of a book.

He took a deep breath. "This is a process of building up my reading. It will take some time, but my income will gradually increase as I go on.

"Instead of being like today, when I only earned two Fenso.

"Two Fenso is only enough for a loaf of rye bread. It is nowhere near enough for the rent of one Nalang and thirty Copper Nil every month.

"But the good thing is that in this industrial age, there is no internet and no computer. You could say I have no competitors at all."

He took the coins from his pocket. There were three in total, two of which he had earned from Stur.

The remaining one...

Gallo pinched the grimy one-Fenso coin between his fingers and put the other two away.

Then he tossed the coin in his hand into the air again, caught it on the back of his hand, and covered it with his other hand.

"How will my work income be tomorrow? Heads means it will go well and I'll make money. Tails means it will be average, with no major gains."

When he removed his other hand, it was heads. Gallo smiled in satisfaction.

Yet the coin in his hand had become even blacker, and the greasy grime on it felt heavier.

Gallo thought that he might as well spend this coin tomorrow.

In other people's eyes, it was no different from an ordinary coin. As for why it had become like this in his own eyes...

Gallo could only connect it to the existence of Subspace, but the Psionic path in his system had not yet been unlocked.

Perhaps once he had more assignable points in the future and unlocked the Psionic path, he would learn exactly why this coin had changed in his eyes.

By the time he dragged his aching legs back to No. 21 Valen Street, it was completely dark.

The grocery store on the first floor had already closed, and the narrow staircase was hidden in shadow.

A faint kerosene lamp glowed from the attic.

"Gallo!" Hearing the sounds on the stairs, his younger sister Lily immediately opened the door, her little face full of worry.

"Why are you back so late? Mom was really worried about you!"

Gallo explained, "My workplace is pretty far away, so I got back a little late.

"I won't be back this late again. My working hours are fairly flexible."

Gallo forced out a smile and entered the attic.

His mother Aisha was propped halfway up in bed. Her face looked even paler in the dim light, but her eyes were filled with concern as she looked at her son returning home.

"Gallo, how was... school?" Aisha's voice was weak and hoarse.

Gallo took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the bed. He did not mention taking a leave of absence. Instead, he took out the oil-paper package.

"Mom, Lily, look what I brought back."

The package was opened, revealing four golden, shell-shaped little cakes.

Lily's eyes instantly lit up, and she let out a soft cry of surprise.

"Are these... Madeleine Cakes?"

Aisha was somewhat surprised. "Where did you get the money?"

"I helped a customer with a small favor, and he treated me to these." Gallo tried to sound casual. "Lily, share them with Mom."

He watched his sister carefully pick one up and offer it to their mother first. Aisha only took a small bite before urging Lily to eat it herself.

The warm scene filled Gallo's heart with warmth, followed immediately by even heavier pressure.

Lily finished a Madeleine Cake in a few bites, and Gallo found her ravenous manner amusing.

But in truth, Lily had not eaten a dessert like this in a very long time—so long that the little girl had nearly forgotten the taste of creamy sweetness.

After eating a cake, Lily's mood brightened, and all the slight unhappiness she had felt over Gallo coming home late vanished.

She took Gallo's dinner from the cupboard. She and their mother had already eaten.

"Gallo, we're having stew tonight!"

"Great!"

A large bowl of stew, along with a reheated piece of rye bread.

Yet there was not even a speck of meat in the stew. Gallo thought back and realized that the original owner of this body seemed not to have eaten meat in quite some time.

Looking at Lily's frail appearance, he decided that once he started making money, he needed to improve the family's diet.

For a transmigrator who had lived in a country famous for its cuisine in his previous life, going two days without meat left his mouth bland and tasteless. It was truly torture.

As Gallo ate, he told his mother Aisha about some of the things that had happened that day. The part about going to school to take a leave of absence, the teacher agreeing to it, and the paperwork being completed was a lie.

But when he spoke of his work that day, Gallo said, "I'm working at a bookstore on Lubo Lane.

"The bookstore happened to be hiring clerks. I had originally planned to find somewhere to become an apprentice, but bookstore clerks can receive the wages of regular employees. The owner said I was clever, and I had gone to school and could read.

"At least I'm not illiterate!"

Yes, Gallo was still lying. If he told Aisha about his so-called real method of work, she definitely would not believe him.

"Where is Lubo Lane?" Aisha asked.

"It's near the Imperial Industrial University campus, a little far from home... but the good thing is that when it isn't busy, I can read books in the bookstore.

"I won't give up on studying. I'll go back to school and continue my education in the future."

Gallo continued, "And many of the bookstore's customers are students from Imperial Industrial University."

Listening to Gallo's description, Aisha's eyes filled with longing. She also hoped that her child could become a student at Imperial Industrial University someday.

If she had not fallen ill, Gallo would not have taken a leave of absence. Thinking of this, a guilty expression appeared on Aisha's face.

"Cough, cough... How much does the bookstore owner pay you?"

Gallo said, "The owner will discuss my wages with me tomorrow. Today was only a one-day trial, and he was satisfied with my performance.

"Tomorrow is the official hiring, but he'll only discuss the exact clerk's wages with me then."

The real reason Gallo said this was that he still had to see how much he could earn after opening for business on Lubo Lane tomorrow.

He believed the divination before returning home meant that his earnings would most likely be good. Then, whatever he earned tomorrow, he could tell Aisha that the nonexistent owner was willing to pay him that amount.

"Once I receive my wages, I'll take you to the hospital for a proper checkup, Mom. We'll have a doctor examine you."

"The hospital!" Hearing that word, Aisha felt as if her chest were suffocating. To the poor, hospitals were like gold-devouring beasts.

They could not afford medical treatment there, but seeing Gallo's high spirits, Aisha merely smiled and said nothing more.

That night, after his mother and sister had fallen asleep, Gallo summoned the interface again by the faint moonlight filtering through the window.

[Wisdom]: Learning (Lv3), Memory (Lv2), Knowledge (Lv1)

[Attribute Points]: 0

The panel remained simple, without any changes.

His gaze fell on [Knowledge Lv1]. Those fragmented pieces of information about Subspace, the Akashic Records, and the Twisted Dimension were like silt settled at the bottom of his heart. He did not dare stir them lightly.

But the success of his several "divinations" proved that this dangerous knowledge was not entirely useless.

"Using a coin toss to verify what will happen next through heads or tails, no matter how you look at it, that should just be probability.

"But... adding points through the system to Learning and Memory really did change and improve my abilities.

"That only makes the knowledge of Subspace seem more dangerous, because all of it is real..."

Gallo took a deep breath. "Perhaps... I can use it with extreme caution?"

A thought flashed through his mind and sent a chill down his spine. He thought of the greasy, blackened one-Fenso coin in his pocket.

Using this power would clearly cause some kind of change. Would he need to pay a price?

He simply did not yet know what form that price would take.

Early the next morning, Gallo woke up before dawn.

Lily was still sound asleep, her lips moving slightly as though she were savoring the Madeleine Cakes from the night before in her dreams.

After Gallo ate rye bread with cold water and packed another piece for lunch, he prepared to leave for Lubo Lane.

His mother called softly to him from the other side of the room.

"Mom, you're awake so early?"

"Cough, cough. I woke up when you got up... cough, cough. Gallo, come here."

After Gallo walked over, Aisha took three Copper Nil banknotes from beneath her pillow.

"Use this money to buy something for lunch outside... If something unexpected happens while you're out, you may need cash."

Gallo helped Aisha lie back down and tucked in her blanket. After saying, "No need, nothing else will happen at the bookstore," he headed out.

After going downstairs, Gallo thought that if he could make some money today, he could buy at least a little meat on the way back, as well as some sweets Lily liked.

He also needed to buy some medicine for his mother. The little money left at home was being saved for next month's rent.

As he walked, Gallo carried a piece of thick cardboard he had brought from home. It was discarded material his mother had once taken from the textile factory.

In winter, placing it beneath the bed boards could block the cold and keep the bed warm.

After walking for nearly an hour, he finally arrived at Lubo Lane, with a small sharpened piece of charcoal already tucked into his pocket.

Gallo wrote several lines on the cardboard:

"Knowledge Navigation, saving you time

- Can't find the book you need? I can tell you its exact location in the bookstore.

- Consultation fee: basic book-finding, two Fenso per request.

Content analysis, one Copper Nil per request.

Complex requests negotiable."