I'm Your Landlord!

Before long, the two of them had polished off their noodles. Firefly had even drunk all the broth, which surprised Lin Yu.

"Was it really that good? You even drank all the broth."

"Yes, it was delicious. I'd say it was the best thing I've ever eaten. Don't you think so?"

Firefly's intensely questioning gaze made Lin Yu a little uncomfortable. "Uh... maybe. Or maybe I've eaten it so often that I'm a little tired of it."

"Really? I think it's delicious. I wish I could eat it every day."

"Ahaha... I'm glad you like it, but you shouldn't eat too much of it. It's not good for your health."

Lin Yu began gathering the bowls and chopsticks to wash them. "All right, sit down for a bit. I'll wash the dishes."

Firefly stopped him. "Let me do it! You treated me to a meal, so let me wash the dishes in return."

Seeing the determination in Firefly's eyes, Lin Yu didn't insist. He knew he couldn't keep giving without accepting anything in return, as that might make her feel guilty and suspicious. After all, there was no such thing as a free lunch.

"All right! I'll leave the dishes to you."

Lin Yu put the bowls and chopsticks in the sink and left Firefly to it, then sat back down at the dining table to wait. The kitchen was semi-open, and the table was close to the sink, so he could see what was happening inside.

Standing in front of the sink, Firefly stared at the bowls and chopsticks, unable to bring herself to start. She had offered to wash them on impulse, only to remember now that she didn't know how!

Her food had always been portable before, so she'd never had to wash dishes. But she'd already promised him. She couldn't go back on her word, could she? What was she supposed to do?

Seeing Firefly standing there motionless, Lin Yu went over and asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Firefly?"

"Ah! Well... it's just... these..."

Firefly was stumbling over her words, and her eyes were wandering as she avoided his gaze. Lin Yu could roughly guess why.

"Firefly, don't tell me you don't know how?"

Now that she'd been found out, Firefly lowered her head and admitted her mistake. After all, she'd promised to do it but couldn't, which was rather embarrassing.

Lin Yu didn't blame her. Instead, he said, "How about I teach you?"

Hearing that he wasn't blaming her and was even willing to teach her, Firefly was a little puzzled. "Aren't you angry?"

"Why would I be angry? You're a guest, and where I come from, guests aren't supposed to do these things in the first place. So how could I be angry?"

"I see. Sorry, I didn't know that."

Lin Yu smiled, shook his head, and reached out to gently pat Firefly's soft hair. "It's all right. It's not your fault, so there's no need to apologize. You can learn about it gradually."

"Mm... hm? Learn about it? But I still have to go back..."

Before Firefly could finish, Lin Yu interrupted her. "But have you figured out how to get back?"

"..." Firefly had nothing to say. There really was no way for her to go back right now, and that voice from before probably wouldn't appear again for the time being.

"Until you find a way back, you can stay at my place. I'll help you too. After all, as far as this world is concerned, you're someone who appeared out of thin air. It's hard to survive without an identity."

Firefly was tempted by Lin Yu's proposal. As he'd said, she couldn't go back anytime soon, and this world was unfamiliar to her. She needed a place to stay.

But there was one thing she didn't understand. "Why are you willing to help me? To you, I might not be of much value, and I can't help you. I might even cause trouble."

"The reason?" Faced with Firefly's question, he simply smiled. "If you want a reason, maybe it's because I can't stop worrying."

"Worrying? Why? We've only just met."

"It might be the first time for you, but I've seen you many times already, though only in a game."

"And you appeared in my home. I think the voice you mentioned probably wanted me to take care of you. Otherwise, the world is so big-why send you to my home?"

After giving it careful thought, Firefly came to a decision. "Sorry for the trouble."

"Mm, it's no trouble. But it won't be free. I'll teach you the skills you need to live here, and you can take care of the housework as rent."

"No problem."

"Good! Then let's start with the dishes."

"Ah!" Only then did Firefly remember the bowls and chopsticks they'd forgotten about while talking.

With Lin Yu's guidance, Firefly learned her first life skill: [washing dishes].

"Ahh, everything's done!" Lin Yu yawned lazily. "It's already two in the morning. Time for bed."

"Firefly, you can sleep in my room. I'll sleep in the living room. This rental is meant for one person, so there's only one bedroom."

"That wouldn't be right. I'm the one troubling you, so you should take the bed. Besides, I can't sleep anyway." Firefly hurriedly waved her hands in refusal.

"No! I'm the landlord and you're the tenant now, so you have to listen to me. Besides, if word got out that I let a girl sleep on the couch while I took the big bed, wouldn't people laugh at me?"

"You also need to adjust to the time difference here. If you can't sleep, here, take this." Lin Yu pulled out his spare phone.

"If you can't sleep, scroll through your phone for a while. Maybe you'll fall asleep while you're at it."

Firefly took the phone and thanked him.

Lin Yu taught her the phone's basic functions, but in the process, he discovered that although Firefly could communicate with him normally, she couldn't read the writing.

So Firefly could mostly only watch videos. If she wanted to look something up, she had to use voice recognition.

Looks like I'll have to teach Firefly how to read here, too.

By then, Lin Yu had lain down on the couch to sleep, and Firefly had gone into the bedroom to rest.

"Ah, so much happened tonight." With his hands behind his head, Lin Yu began thinking back over what had happened.

Firefly had suddenly appeared in his home, he'd taken her in, and there was also the voice she'd mentioned...

As he thought, Lin Yu's eyelids grew heavy. He gradually closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Several days of staying up late drawing, combined with what had just happened, had left him exhausted. Now he could finally get a good night's sleep.

In Lin Yu's bedroom, however, Firefly was still awake. Sitting on the bed, she clumsily used the phone he'd given her to look up information about this world-or rather, she was watching videos.

Occasionally, she came across the game connected to her. She'd looked it up too. If she really was a character in the game, she wanted to know what her future fate was in it.

But all she'd found out was that "she" in the game had joined an organization called the Stellaron Hunters to seek her own destiny. It seemed that "she" hadn't yet found the answer she wanted.

"Will I find the answer I'm looking for?" Firefly set the phone aside and placed a hand on her forehead, partly covering her eyes, which were clouded with uncertainty. She tilted her head and looked at the night sky outside the window. Because she was in the city, not a single star was visible. Without the stars to guide her, there was no way to tell which direction to take in that vast night sky, just as her own destiny had no direction.