Why Don't You Just Rob Me?! (Please Keep Reading!!!)

With the livestream over, Chen Yan was packing up his things while Professor Rowan stood beside him, stroking his mustache.

"That was quite fun. It's been a long time since I gave a lecture that long," Professor Rowan said with a satisfied nod.

"Chen Yan, teach me how to set everything up in detail sometime. That way, I can livestream when I have time and help trainers with their questions."

"Sure, I'll come over another day." Chen Yan put the Drone back into his backpack and looked up to answer.

Once he had packed everything, Chen Yan said goodbye to Professor Rowan and went off to dinner with Gengar, carrying a plump Weedle in his arms.

He hadn't had time to visit Glameow at lunch, so Chen Yan stopped by the Pokémon Center after dinner. Since it was already quite late, he brought Nurse Joy and Chansey two cups of coffee rather than dinner.

Standing in the doorway of the ward, Chen Yan looked inside. Chansey was holding something like a cat teaser, carefully helping Glameow with post-injury rehabilitation.

Chen Yan watched for a while, then turned and left.

"Come on, let's go back and sleep. I'm dead tired."

Chen Yan yawned.

Gengar, who had been leaning against the window watching Glameow, answered and followed him out with Weedle perched on its head.

As always, Weedle loved lying on other people's heads.

Back in his room, Chen Yan took a shower, but instead of going to bed, he pulled out his tablet and began editing the footage he had shot a while ago.

Originally, Chen Yan had planned to wait until he had more footage before editing and uploading it, but the Wheelchair Boy he met today had changed his mind.

What if there really were other people like him, eager to see how wild Pokémon lived?

With that thought, Chen Yan got down to editing the video in earnest.

The first episode was about Bug-type Pokémon. He didn't have much footage, just some common Bug-type Pokémon.

Caterpie, Wurmple, Weedle, Venonat, Kricketot, Combee, and Burmy-all very common Bug-type Pokémon.

Chen Yan edited the video in the style of Animal World from his previous life, covering their base forms, evolved forms, habitats, courtship behavior...

Gengar floated out of the bathroom carrying Weedle. Seeing Chen Yan working, its scarlet eyes darted around before it floated into the corner with Weedle and picked up the half of the Toxic Orb they shared, popping it into its mouth.

The ghost and the bug hid in the corner, chewing on the Toxic Orb and telling stories in hushed voices.

Once he finished editing, Chen Yan watched the video, feeling that something was missing.

That was it!

How could Animal World not have narration?!

The narration was the very soul of Animal World!

"Ahem."

Chen Yan cleared his throat twice, then put on a voice and began recording the narration.

"Spring has arrived, and once again, all living things... Pfft, the scorching summer has arrived, and all Pokémon have begun..."

After recording a passage, Chen Yan put on his headphones and listened. He sounded as though he had a glob of ancient phlegm stuck in his throat. It was like Gengar showing off its singing voice-absolutely awful.

"How am I supposed to do this...? I'm not a voice actor..." Chen Yan tried a few more times before finally giving up and lying down on the bed.

In the corner, Weedle chewed on the Toxic Orb and asked Gengar curiously.

Weedle: Boss, what's wrong with Chen Yan? Why does his voice sound so strange?

Gengar: Dunno. Maybe he's eating something.

Weedle: But isn't he talking?

Gengar: Can't you eat while talking? Aren't we eating right now?

Weedle: Oh, true...

As Chen Yan lay on the bed, the familiar text box popped up before his eyes again.

[First livestream: Your first livestream was a resounding success. How could a great photographer limit himself to photos and videos? Livestreaming requires a camera and filming. That's right, it is another skill a photographer must master. Congratulations, you have unlocked the ability to exchange livestreams for View Count.]

[Livestreams: Your peak concurrent viewer count will be converted into View Count at a ratio of 50:1.]

[Your peak concurrent viewer count for this livestream was 8,000, earning you 160 View Count. Keep up the good work.]

[How could a great photographer not know how to do voice-overs? Hello, great photographer. Would you like to redeem Voice-over?]

[Voice-over: You will be able to narrate your work using any voice you desire. You will be the next voice-acting prodigy!]

[Redemption price: 8,888 View Count]

"How much?!"

Chen Yan shot upright, his eyes bulging.

"You're charging me 8,888 for one lousy skill? Why don't you just rob me?! I only earned 160 from a whole livestream, and you have the nerve to charge me 8,888?"

[Would you like to redeem it?]

"...I... Can I get a discount?"

[This shop treats all customers fairly, young and old. No discounts. Would you like to redeem it?]

"Treats everyone fairly? How can you even say that with a straight face?!"

[Would you like to redeem it?]

"No. I'm broke. I can upload it without narration."

With that, Chen Yan lay back down.

A long while later.

[This redemption will also raise one of your existing skills by one level at random. Would you like to redeem it?]

"..." Chen Yan blinked.

That actually seemed acceptable?

"All right. Since you're being so sincere, I'll redeem it."

The instant Chen Yan confirmed, a flood of knowledge poured into his mind.

He blinked. "That's it?"

He checked his status panel. Sure enough, "Voice-over lv1" had appeared among his skills.

[Performance lv2-lv3]

Performance was the skill that got upgraded?

That was pretty good.

Shame about my View Count, though. It dropped straight down to a little over three thousand.

Chen Yan shook his head, stood up, and began recording narration for his video.

Fortunately, the equipment the rich guy had sent him included a microphone.

"The scorching summer has arrived, and many Pokémon have begun searching the forest for suitable shelter. Look, what are those? Caterpie? Caterpie are rather adorable Pokémon..."

Chen Yan began narrating each Bug-type Pokémon that appeared in the video, covering their behavior and habits. He even explained some training methods and how worthwhile they were to raise.

The video wasn't all that long, clocking in at just over two hours after editing, but recording the narration took Chen Yan a full five or six hours. He didn't finish until the early hours of the morning.

By the time he finished, Chen Yan felt utterly drained. His eyes were lifeless, and his throat burned as though it were on fire.

Over the course of that single night, he had managed to push his Voice-over skill all the way to lv2.

"Gengar-"

Here, drink this.

Gengar floated over to Chen Yan and handed him a cup of warm water.

Chen Yan smiled and reached out to tug on its cheek.

"Thank you, Gengar."

Chen Yan drained the cup, glanced at the video that was still uploading, and yawned. Then he went straight to bed and pulled the covers over himself.

"Gengar, Weedle, time for bed."

"Gengar-"

"Weedle-"

"Good night."

He fell asleep in a second.

Gengar sat beside the bed with Weedle perched on its head, watching the tablet. Only once the video had successfully gone live did it take Weedle back to the corner.