Void Beast claws, fur, and shells could all be sold for money. But if a Void Beast was killed in a rift, its corpse would dissipate into "Void" and return to the Sea of Consciousness unless the spoils were taken out of the rift and back to reality immediately. Nothing would be left behind.
Money. All that was his money...
Just as Qiji was lamenting the loss, the caravan owner came looking for him.
As thanks, he pressed a hefty purse into Qiji's hands:
"Lord Qiji, this time... we really owe you everything! Our caravan pooled this together as a small token of gratitude. It's not much, but please, you have to accept it! If it weren't for you, we would've lost not just our cargo, but our lives!"
Qiji looked at the purse and estimated its weight. He was tempted, very tempted.
But he refused-
"Sir, I can't accept this money.
We agreed on our payment before the mission.
When something unexpected happens on the road, dealing with it is our duty.
The agreed amount is the agreed amount."
He loved money, but had principles and earned it honestly-
That was also one of the personas Qiji had crafted for himself in front of the camera.
Some money could be accepted, but some came with strings attached and went against his own principles.
Like right now-
If he took the money, it would do no more than improve his standard of living. But for the caravan, which had just suffered a devastating blow, every bit could be its hope of getting through this difficult time.
So he could take it, but there was no need.
"Holy shit! Prisoner Ji's got some serious principles. He won't even take that?"
"Prisoner Ji, you've changed. Where's the money-grubber we used to know?"
"Now that's what you call vision! I'm a fan!"
Seeing wave after wave of praise in the bullet comments, Qiji felt much less depressed about "losing" that huge pile of Void Beast materials.
He even felt a little secretly pleased.
Yeah, maintaining my persona and building a positive image will pay off more in the long run!
After all, he knew which mattered more: money or popularity.
Chapter 45: New Feature Goes Live
The rest of the escort journey passed without incident.
The group arrived safely at the outpost.
After handing over the potions and completing the registration, the members of Class Eight had successfully completed their mission.
The students prepared to leave, while the caravan needed to rest briefly at the base and deal with the wounded and the cargo.
As Qiji approached the gate, he noticed the caravan owner squatting alone in a corner by the entrance, silently smoking a cheap cigarette.
When he saw Qiji and the others come out, he managed a smile uglier than a cry and nodded in greeting.
Qiji realized something and walked over. After a moment's hesitation, he asked:
"Sir, how is the father of those two siblings...?"
"He... passed away this morning. They... they didn't get to see him one last time."
Though he had had a premonition, Qiji still opened his mouth and fell silent when he heard the news himself.
In the end, he raised a hand and gently patted the owner's hunched shoulder without saying anything.
In the City of Kindling, there were countless children like those siblings.
Even without looking far, there were Huomu and Liuli. Both had endured far more pain than ordinary people since childhood...
This fucking world...
Qiji looked up at the sky, so different from the one in his previous life.
A sudden wave of longing rose in his heart.
He missed his home from his previous life a little.
There might have been all sorts of things to be unhappy about there too, and absolute happiness didn't exist.
But at least...
Most people there could live in peace.
When they heard an explosion in the distance, their first thought would be, Who's setting off fireworks?
Even if they saw someone holding a gun, they would only assume it was a toy. Few would think otherwise.
No matter what...
He still preferred that kind of peaceful everyday life.
It was nearly dawn by the time he got home.
The house was pitch-dark. Qiji tiptoed inside, afraid of waking his sleeping sister.
But just as he took off his shoes-
Click.
The living room light came on.
"Xiao Xi, I told you you didn't have to wait up for me," Qiji said helplessly, looking at his sister waiting for him in her wheelchair.
"I wasn't waiting for you on purpose." His sister turned her head slightly, seeming a little embarrassed as she made a feeble excuse in a soft voice.
"I just... woke up and happened to hear you come home."
Qiji smiled without exposing his sister's little lie.
This feeling of coming home to someone waiting for him-
He didn't dislike it.
"Have you eaten, Brother?" Xiwang remembered something and tilted her face up to ask him.
Qiji was about to say he had. Before coming home, he had gone out for ramen with Huomu and Setsuna.
But just as the words were about to leave his mouth, he thought of something and changed his answer. "Not yet. I'm starving. I've been busy until now and haven't eaten a thing."
He was worried that his sister had been so busy waiting for him that she hadn't gotten around to eating dinner herself.
Sure enough, as soon as she heard that, she turned her wheelchair toward the kitchen. "Wait a minute, Brother! I'll make you some noodles!"
"Don't trouble yourself," Qiji said, stopping her wheelchair.
"Come on, I'll take you out for something good."
"Huh? Out? Now?" Xiwang paused and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost one in the morning.
"Yeah, right now." Qiji smiled, sounding a little like he was showing off.
"We've got money now. I'll take you out for a nice meal to celebrate!"
Qiji pulled out the purse he had gotten from Bai Lili and tossed it in his hand.
His sister's gaze fell on it, and she recognized it at once as a woman's purse.
"Brother... you, you haven't become some rich woman's... kept man, have you?"
Qiji: "...???"
"What are you talking about?" Qiji was both annoyed and amused. He reached out and lightly flicked his sister's smooth forehead.
"This is proper mission pay! Your brother earned it with his own abilities!"
"Oh..." Xiwang covered her forehead and stuck out her tongue, but her eyes curved into crescents. She was clearly enjoying this everyday moment with her brother.
"Then... wait for me, Brother! I'll wash my face and change!"
Since she was going out, and with her brother at that, she wanted to look pretty.
"Sure, take your time."
The siblings went to a well-reviewed restaurant near the city center that stayed open into the early hours.
Sitting in an elegantly decorated booth, his sister said a little awkwardly in a soft voice:
"Brother, the food here... is expensive, isn't it? Why don't we... go somewhere else?"
"Don't worry. I told you we have money now. Go ahead and order whatever you want."
Even though Qiji said that, his sister still went straight to the prices when the server handed her the menu.
Qiji had expected this.
Quick as a flash, he covered the right side of the menu with his hand the moment it opened.
"Xiao Xi, take a look. What would you like?"
Looking at the price column Qiji had completely covered with his hand, his sister protested softly:
"Brother, you're blocking all the prices. How am I supposed to choose?"
"I covered them because I knew you'd do this! Don't worry about the prices. Just pick whatever you like!"
Despite the late hour, quite a few viewers were still in Qiji's livestream. Bullet comments floated past one after another:
"Hahahahaha! Prisoner Ji, you only eat discounted dishes in the cafeteria yourself, but when you take your sister out, you cover the prices and tell her to order whatever she wants? That's so you!"
"Boo-hoo, I want a brother like that too!"
"He really... I'm crying my eyes out!"
"I'm sending the streamer a plane. This meal's on me!"
Along with that bullet comment, a dazzling plane effect suddenly flew across the livestream screen!
[Ding!] [System notification: User 'jaxton' has gifted you a plane!]
The viewers had only just discovered that a tipping feature had been added to the livestream. Apparently, once tips reached certain amounts, corresponding character side stories or short skits would be released.
As the saying went, those with money could contribute money, and those without could contribute their support:
"Holy shit! Thanks for your generosity, boss!"
"666! He really is treating them!"
"Jaxton, you're awesome!"
Qiji was smiling as he watched his sister agonize over what to order when the system notification and tipping effect suddenly appeared before his eyes, making him pause.
Tipping?
When did the system unlock this feature?
All right, all right, so you added a new feature without telling me!
While they waited for the food, Qiji diverted a little of his attention to check the system's backend.
Sure enough, a new [Tips and Earnings] subsection had appeared under the livestream feature.
He opened it and found several newly implemented features clearly listed inside.
1. [Tip-to-Popularity Points Conversion]: When the host receives a gift from a viewer, the host's Popularity Points balance will immediately increase at a set conversion rate. 2. [Currency Conversion]: After tips are settled into Popularity Points, the actual revenue generated by those tips will be stored in the host's personal channel backend.