Chapter 25 - What to Do With the Earnings?
After making dinner, eating, doing the dishes, and finishing my homework, it was already past 8:30.
Hastily donning my VR HMD, it seemed President Bell, Mion, and Yata-sensei were all in the club room.
"Evening, everyone~."
"Shou-kun."
"You're here~."
Huh? They seemed to be waiting for me?
I didn't think President Bell had a stream today, but...
"Excuse me, did something happen?"
"Don't worry about it. Nothing in particular happened, just discussing moving forward with monetizing Mion-san's channel."
"I didn't expect the conditions to be met in a single week~."
Saying that, Yata-sensei handed Mion a document.
"Is this the application for part-time work permission for the school?"
"Yes~. I thought it would be good to submit it early~. You don't need to fill it out now~. Please explain it properly to your parents and get their approval~."
So there are proper application forms. No, that's normal.
"Shou-kun."
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"What should we do with the money when it's monetized?"
"What do you mean 'what'? Isn't it Mion's money?"
"Even though it's streaming your game playthrough?"
"Uh, um...
It's true, but Mion does all the editing, and it's her channel to begin with.
"Speaking of which, what does President Bell do? Does it go into her parents' account?"
"No, I made my own account. If I didn't, it might be treated as my parents' side income."
"I-I see..."
Apparently, when a channel is monetized, a bank account for direct deposits is naturally required, and President Bell (Katori Suzune) has one in her own name.
From there, she donates to the school, buys a ton of necessary game software, and classifies it as necessary expenses.
"Before starting IRO, I dabbled in various games and streamed them. But you can't really tell if a game is a hit or miss until you try it, right?"
"Well, yeah, that's true. Sometimes the pre-release hype is huge, but when you actually play it, the pacing is terrible and it gets frustrating."
"I did some research beforehand, but a game I genuinely enjoy playing myself really makes a difference in the energy of the live stream."
As expected of her, her self-production skills are too high...
"Well~, it'll be a while before monetization actually starts~. In the meantime, Mion-san and Shou-kun should discuss it thoroughly~."
"Yes."
"Understood."
"Also~, when is the next video going to be uploaded~?"
She was editing it during the day, so I figured it would be posted by the beginning of the week.
"It's scheduled for Tuesday."
"Then~, I'll take a look at it on Monday~."
Yata-sensei is quite meticulous, isn't she? Well, she wouldn't have been able to handle my sister's class if she wasn't.
"Um, so can I go into IRO now?"
"Yes, please do~. Oh, as it's practice for a live stream~, I'll be watching as a regular user~."
"Understood."
President Bell looked like she wanted to watch too, but apparently, she had plans with a user she was friendly with in IRO today.
In MMORPGs, in-game relationships are important, huh... I don't have to do that, though.
*
"Woof!"
"Whoa there, Lupi. Just a second, I need to start the stream."
As usual, I started a Mion-only stream. The viewer count immediately hit 1.
"Shou-kun, Lupi, hello."
"Welcome, Mion."
"Woof!"
Alright, first, Lupi's meal. Actually, the inside of the tent is full of the wooden plates and cups I made.
"Yes, I can see it now~. Oh, you don't need to answer my questions, okay~?"
Yata-sensei's voice came through the group call, but apparently, I didn't need to answer. Well, the premise is that I'm only talking to Mion.
"Lupi, here's your food."
"Woof!"
I handed her the minced rabbit meat, which had become our usual meal, and she eagerly devoured it.
I'd eaten enough of what I made earlier to raise my Cooking skill, so after Lupi finished eating, I'd go check the traps.
"Are you checking the traps you set this afternoon?"
"Yeah, that's the plan. Though I don't really expect anything to be caught so quickly."
Once Lupi finished her minced meat and drank plenty of water, we set off.
"Lupi, let's go on patrol!"
"Woof!"
"Lupi is quite clever, isn't she~? If her [Taming] skill goes up~, will she become even smarter~?"
I was troubled by the question, even though she said I didn't have to answer... but then:
"Lupi, she really is smart. Will her Taming skill level go up and make her even smarter?"
"Ah, um, I don't know. She's smart enough as she is, and she's cute, so it's fine."
I see, so Mion can ask on her behalf. Or rather, I should assume Yata-sensei steered it that way.
Like picking up questions from the live stream and throwing them to me.
After walking for a while, we arrived at the nearest trap location. But there was no sign it had been triggered.
There are rarely Bicobits around here anyway, so it was as expected.
"Alright, next one."
"Okay~."
"Woof!"
We headed to the next trap location a little further away.
"Oh?"
"Piss! Piss-piss!"
A Bicobit was perfectly suspended by its hind leg, hanging limp and seemingly unconscious. It was spewing hostility, but...
"Lupi."
"Woof!"
She jumped and bit its neck. I cut the vine, which was hanging down under Lupi's weight.
"It really got caught in the trap!"
"It works surprisingly well, doesn't it? Well, it is a game, after all."
After dismantling it to get meat and fur, I collected the rest of the trap. This was just a test, after all.
"You're like a trapper~. It's really starting to feel like a slow life~."
I heard Yata-sensei's comment, but I've only managed the bare minimum for food, clothing, and shelter.
I wish I could build a mountain cabin and relax on a wooden deck with coffee...
"Alright, let's go to the next one."
"Woof!"
Gradually, we moved deeper. The furthest trap was set where the goblin settlement was barely visible, so there's a slight possibility something might be there.
"By the way, if I defeat the goblins there, do they respawn?"
"Respawn?"
"It means new monsters appear to replace the ones you defeated~. There's a problem where you can't reduce their numbers by just defeating them little by little~."
Yata-sensei provided a good follow-up. Seriously, for an advisor, sensei seems quite the gamer.
"If they respawn to their original numbers after a day, then I have to wipe them out all at once to trigger the clear flag."
"I see. But if it's an island exclusive to one person, they probably won't respawn that quickly."
"Ah, right."
Even so, I'd prefer to annihilate them all within about an hour, two hours at most. If it goes over that, it'll carry over to the next day, and they're definitely going to respawn...