Chapter 16: Stray Cat He/she seems to be a randomly refreshed stray cat...

Although most of the time, when humans say "I have a friend", they usually refer to themselves, but Kenji Hagiwara really has a friend.

"Xiao Zhenping, you just said that you haven't had much vacation time lately and you don't feel like cleaning. You need to hire a housekeeper to come over," he said, before replying to Chaomu's message. "Can you let Xiao Chaomu come and try?"

"If she's not very skilled at her job, I'll clean it up for you again later—is that okay?"

Hagiwara was always very thoughtful. He must have already thought about the consequences of asking him for help. Matsuda Jinpei wasn't surprised by this, but rather teased him slightly, "You're really obsessed with Miss Asamura. Providing her with sales yourself isn't enough; you're using me to help her with that?"

"Not really...it's just that my room happened to be cleaned." Hagiwara sighed, "I feel that Xiao Chaomu is a very perceptive type. If I ask her to help with a room that is too clean, she will definitely notice it."

The girl wants to support herself, and it would be a bit presumptuous for him to kindly provide her with some charity that she may not need.

Such considerations were extremely thoughtful and considerate. Even though Matsuda's mind told him that Kokunran must have been acting out of pure kindness and natural consideration - after a brief pause and thinking about Inspector Megure's worries, he still felt that something was amiss.

After all, in the past, although Kenji Hagiwara was gentle and considerate to most people, he had almost never cared so much about anyone.

But thinking about it carefully, Hagiwara and that girl had only known each other for a short time, and judging by her photos, she didn't look like his type; rather than a romantic relationship, it was more like...

"... a little disgusting," Matsuda said as he came to his senses. "Like some old father who's overly concerned about his daughter."

"Huh?!" Hagiwara Kenji was shocked. "Really? I'm not that much older than Asamure... I'm only in my twenties, only four or five years older than her... My mentality shouldn't be that serious, right...?"

Matsuda just said it casually and hung up the phone. He had no intention of comforting Yu Junran's heart, which was particularly fragile when it came to age.

The curly-haired young man yawned and glanced around the room briefly. "It's the weekend... There's nothing much to be afraid of, but I'll still clean up a bit. And by the way, I'll see if that girl is worth the attention of Hagi and his colleagues in the Investigation Division."

He was curious about Chaomu, and Chaomu was also curious about his information.

"A friend of Hagiwara-kun?" She glanced at the address Hagiwara sent her. "Police dormitory apartment..."

Is this Matsuda-kun also a police officer? I wonder what kind of skills he has.

She hoped that he and Hagiwara Kenji lived close to each other, so that when she came to clean up, she might have a chance to visit Hagiwara on the way.

But before the weekend arrives, Chaomu still has other problems to solve first...

...After all, although she has unlocked the housekeeping job, in reality, she has no certificates, no skills, and no qualifications - it's just that kind-hearted people like Kenji Hagiwara are willing to give her a job. If she really goes to work, she will probably starve to death.

After breaking two low-quality porcelain bowls in succession while washing dishes, Chaomu fell into deep thought.

This won't work... In addition to opening maps and drawing cards, she also has to find time to research how to improve her housekeeping skills these past two days.

The system pops up at the right time: [Limited-time special offer in the mall! SR skill book "Perfect Housekeeping Skills" is on sale for a limited time! Get it for only 999 Raccoon Coins!]

Chaomu, who had less than 200 Raccoon Coins in his pocket, ignored the system's advertisements calmly and decided to change his fate by working hard.

Starting from the second day, players appeared in every corner of Beika Town.

During the day, she frequented shopping malls, supermarkets, and convenience stores, rummaging through trash cans. During her breaks, she would visit bookstores to snag free samples. Spending time reading the various instructional books in the bookstore could improve her proficiency in various skills. While it took time to master, it was free, had a wide variety of content, and was easy to get into.

I don't know if it's because this is just a game, and the settings are not very strict to make it easier for players to brush up on their skills. Chaomu even saw some wonderful books like "Homemade Explosives" in the bookstore, and the sales seemed to be quite good.

Once when she was brushing up on her skills, she saw with her own eyes two middle-aged men carrying various related books to check out. As they walked, they were whispering about how to put them into practice, saying that they planned to find an apartment building to test their power.

...The people in Beika Town are really simple and honest, and there are many talented people... She originally thought that this was a beautiful novice village like Ueno Town, but on second thought, she was overthinking it.

The public welfare-minded player quietly drew the portraits of the two people and planned to submit them to the police officer to help him boost his sales.

During the few days she walked around the streets, she triggered several similar special events every day, such as "teaching a lesson to the thugs who collected protection fees", "punishing the bad high school boy who ate and dashed", "stopping school bullying" and so on.

Although the rewards for these small tasks were not particularly large, they accumulated over time, and she had accumulated 300 Raccoon Coins, and her reputation in Beika Town had risen from 0 to 1.

[Reputation lv1: Few people know you, but those who know you know you.]

…Although I know that a low reputation is equivalent to having no reputation, the system’s notes still make me feel no sense of accomplishment for upgrading.

Chaomu helped the old lady across the street, took the candy from her as a kind gift, closed the system interface while holding the candy in his mouth, and continued on to his next destination.

As her player level rose to lv5, her [Intelligence] level also rose to lv3, and the speed of collecting information was greatly improved; at the same time, she felt that her memory and learning efficiency had also improved a lot. Now it only takes about half an hour to finish reading a book, and then increase the theoretical value of the skill by repeatedly brushing the book.

"Welcome—are you still only having rice balls today, Mu-chan?" Ms. Sakurai from the convenience store was already very familiar with her. Seeing her approach, she couldn't help but smile with her eyes curved. "Here, this is today's extra ramen. It's Kato-kun's treat."

"Yeah, rice balls are fine." The young girl took off her hood, revealing her short black hair, which looked shaggy. Her golden eyes swept across the empty corner where white-collar workers usually gathered. "Kato-kun... isn't he finally planning to spend some money on his favorite character? How come he still has money to treat me to ramen?"

Several white-collar workers, all hostages from the previous convenience store robbery, worked nearby and had become familiar with each other after the incident. Out of gratitude and revolutionary friendship for her, they discovered that she came to the convenience store almost every day and only bought a rice ball. So, they agreed to treat her to a meal at every meal, finding a different excuse.

Chaomu didn't have to come here originally, but after being fed twice, he regarded this place as a resource point and came to check in every day.

"Kato-kun said he was incredibly lucky this time, selling out in a single draw," Ms. Sakurai said, smiling as she pushed a bowl of ramen towards her. "I'm in a good mood, so I decided to use the money I saved to treat you to ramen. Since you're a little late today, they've all gone to work—here, enjoy."

Chaomu naturally accepted all the food she was given. She glanced at the wound on the waitress's neck, which was almost healing, and only looked away when she took the ramen: "Thank you."

It wasn't lunchtime when she arrived, so the restaurant wasn't crowded and the seats were empty. The short-haired girl pulled up a chair and sat down. Ms. Sakurai, who had swapped shifts with a colleague, sat down next to her and engaged in a casual conversation.

"Come to think of it, that hooded gentleman who helped you subdue the robber that day hasn't been around for the past few days." Miss Sakurai sighed regretfully, holding her chin as she watched her eat noodles. "He was such a low-key and mysterious gentleman. He had already left when the police arrived that day, and no one had the chance to thank him..."

Chaomu took a big sip of noodle soup, wiped his mouth with a tissue, and turned his golden eyes to her: "Do you need help conveying my gratitude? I might be able to help."

"Eh?" Miss Sakurai blinked, a little surprised. "Have you seen that gentleman again since then, Mu-chan? Do you know him?"

"Probably..." Chaomu said vaguely, "Sometimes I encounter it suddenly... very randomly."

She didn't know if it was a system setting, but when she was wandering around these days, she would occasionally run into Midorikawa Jing, but the location was not fixed.

Sometimes, in a dim street, two hooded people meet on a narrow road. The young man with cat eyes will be the first to pull down the brim of his hat, carry his guitar bag and quicken his pace to leave.

Sometimes, under the eaves during a sudden downpour, she would shake her wet hair, look up and meet a pair of blue cat eyes, and receive a handkerchief. In return, she would also give him some small cookies or something, but he would not accept them, and disappeared from her sight after the rain stopped.

Another time, Chaomu and he met on a rooftop. She had accepted a task from some children to go upstairs to find a kitten trapped on the roof. As she climbed up, she saw the big cat with blue eyes had already grabbed the white kitten by the scruff of the neck and held it in his arms. His coat was holding the kitten's paws, leaving several dark, plum-shaped marks from being stepped on.

"Sometimes we run into each other... that's like running into a stray cat." Ms. Sakurai laughed. "But it sounds like fate."

Maybe it really is a stray cat - after all, Chaomu himself is a raccoon.

She has received several missions to help rescue stray cats in the past few days. Most of those cats are trapped in some strange places... The green river scenes that are randomly refreshed in various places on the map give her the same feeling as these stray cats.

I feel like he'll often appear by the ventilator, on the rooftop, or next to the trash can. I'm not sure when we'll meet again, but it's inevitable.

"So, do you need any help?" Thinking of this, Chaomu swallowed the rice ball with pickled plums in it, raised his eyes and asked, "If you need anything, I can help convey it."

"Okay," Ms. Sakurai said, smiling as she stuffed another handful of candy into her pockets, stuffing them full. "Then I'll leave it to Mu-chan. Next time you run into him, could you please say thank you to everyone else?"

"Okay." The short-haired girl held the candy in her pocket, her cheeks puffed up slightly. "As for candy... next time I see him, I'll share some with him."

It always feels like I'm taking cat food to feed stray cats...just feed them when you see one.

The author has something to say:

----------------------

[Reputation lv1: Few people know you, but those who know you know you.]

The world of the raccoon cub and the cat, each of whom thinks the other is like a mysterious stray cat, has been established.jpg