Chapter 155

Chapter 155: Ji Huan's Job

This place... It seemed entirely different from how it was back then.

The black-haired monster discreetly surveyed the surroundings. Back then, there were "flowers" here.

Though they weren't actually flowers but a type of magical beast that resembled them, used as a security measure at the entrance.

The walls were covered with claw-like "flowers," almost completely obscuring their surface.

In retrospect, it was a rather frightening sight, but to his younger self, it had been the most beautiful house.

Standing at the entrance, the black-haired monster fell into a moment of silent contemplation about his past aesthetic preferences.

Then, he simply walked in.

There was a difference now. He recalled that there had been a door here before, not just any door, but a heavy one that even he had struggled to open back then. Presently, there was no door at all.

Oddly enough, without the door, this place had become somewhere no other monster dared to enter lightly.

Bypassing the lengthy queue of monsters behind, the black-haired monster walked straight through the entrance.

Inside, the scene was quite orderly. The ground was sandy, and despite a night of heavy rain, the sand had clumped together. However, with the sun's emergence, it soon dried up, scattering back into individual grains.

In the courtyard, he noticed two pairs of wrinkled, drying underwear draped over a testing stone. Apparently, the owner of the place had taken advantage of the previous day's rain to do laundry, though their domestic skills were lacking; the clothes still appeared soiled, resembling two sodden pickles.

Speaking of pickles, Ji Huan, back when he was still in that realm before leaving, had made a small jar of pickles using vegetables he'd scavenged in the deserted Badu Town. They were wrinkled and unappealing in appearance, but they complemented plain congee quite nicely.

"I wonder if my uncle makes pickles here?" Despite having just finished a meal of spare ribs, the black-haired monster felt hungry again. Lowering his head slightly, he asked the little monster in his embrace.

"Pickles? Pikkle!" The little monster might not have fully understood, but he still responded loudly to the larger one.

"Ahh... Then we'll have pickles for dinner." The black-haired monster, who had just finished lunch, cheerfully decided on the dinner menu. He spoke without concern for those around him, and soon, a monster caught sight of him.

Standing not far away at the entrance of a house, the creature hurried over upon spotting the black-haired monster. Its voice, muffled by the cloak, was also urgent: "You're finally here! Please give me another copy of your resume quickly! The last company I applied to had a bad reputation, so I declined. Now there's a new job opening with excellent pay, and they're only hiring today. They require a printed resume."

It was a very young monster, both in voice and physique.

The black-haired monster thought quietly to himself.

"Please, hurry up and print it again for me!" The creature turned and walked back the way it had come, with Ji Huan calmly following behind. The black-haired demon soon arrived in front of a door.

The creature looked up at him eagerly. The black-haired demon nonchalantly pushed the door open, and it swung wide.

Inside was a somewhat empty room.

It appeared empty mainly because the room was spacious. In reality, there were quite a few items: a large desk, slightly worn but polished clean, with an old, bulky computer screen on top. There was no sign of the mainframe, but several thick cables ran from the screen into the adjacent room.

The black-haired demon instantly recognized this as part of the most advanced data processor currently available. The other end of those cables likely led to the server room.

On the desk besides the screen, there was a keyboard, a manipulator (akin to a mouse), a printer, and various stationery.

Despite the abundance of items, everything was arranged neatly, revealing the same organizational style as Ji Huan's bedroom desk.

Behind the desk stood tall bookshelves, equally antique. They were filled with folders, all lined up tidily.

The young demon gazed longingly at the black-haired demon, who finally ceased his inspection of the room under its watchful gaze and proceeded to sit behind the desk.

Upon sitting... he nearly toppled over.

Maintaining a stoic composure, the black-haired demon leaned forward to inspect the chair's leg. He realized that it had been repaired before, but with time and likely due to soaking in water again last night, it had become loose.

Extending his finger, he pushed the wobbly nail back into the wood. After ensuring the stability of the chair leg, he reluctantly resumed his seat.

However, he soon discovered another issue: his feet were submerged in water.

Looking down, the black-haired demon noticed that the floor in this room was uneven. The spot where his feet rested formed a depression, undoubtedly filled by yesterday's heavy rain. While the sun had evaporated most of the water on the surface, the puddle beneath the table remained, now squelched by the demon's feet.

Sitting on a three-legged chair with his feet in a puddle, the black-haired demon couldn't help but feel frustrated.

Fortunately, he was wearing Ji Huan's flip-flops, which were locally crafted with straps, similar to thongs. It seemed Ji Huan had made these himself, as they demonstrated his meticulousness. Although not necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing, they were undeniably more comfortable than others he had worn in the past.

Pulling his foot out of the depression and setting it aside, the demon then turned on the computer in front of him.

The current computer... was vastly different from before...

Nonetheless, he was a demon who adapted to the times.

With a solid foundation to begin with, Ji Huan had always been fond of purchasing the latest tech gadgets, even if he didn't necessarily need them often. Coupled with his sharp mind, it was no surprise that...

Ji Huan's computer organization was impeccable: various files were neatly categorized on the screen. It was effortless for him to locate the folder containing the resume records.

Ji Huan had even sorted them alphabetically by name.

"What's your name?" The black-haired demon turned his gaze from the screen and asked the demon behind him.

"Peru!"

There were quite a few Perus, but fortunately, Ji Huan had further classified them by age and living area. After asking the young demon two additional questions, the document that the black-haired demon eventually clicked on was precisely the one belonging to this particular demon.

A thin sheet of paper emerged after hitting the "print" button. He admired it for a moment before passing it to the young demon across from him.

"Thank you! Thank you! This is a tip for you!" Right before leaving, the young demon, seemingly eager to please, pulled out some coins from his pocket and slapped them down on the table in front of the black-haired demon. The latter glanced down to see a few bone coins.

As if fearing rejection, the young demon joyfully dashed off with his resume in hand. The moment he stepped out, Black Egg, who had been quietly perched on the giant demon's shoulder, saw his cashier spirit ignite:

"Four!" The little demon instantly counted the sparkling coins on the table.

Mr. Zen Murphy Felzahar, in his first encounter with a tip as a mage, found himself in a somewhat complicated state of mind.

After gently placing the little monster, who had been nestled under his cloak for quite some time, on the table, he pushed the pile of bone coins in front of the creature. "Here you go."

The little monster looked up at him and, with practiced ease, stacked the 'sparkling' coins together before slipping them into its... underwear.

Mr. Zen Murphy Felzahar: ...

Well, Mr. Felzahar, inexperienced as he was, must not misunderstand that our Black Egg is an unhygienic little monster. In fact, within its small undergarment, besides a certain private part, there's also a tiny pocket! It can hold up to five bone coins, a secret stash sewn by Uncle especially for Egg!

Observing the little monster happily stashing away the money, the black-haired monster suddenly found the creature's counting amusing. He abruptly reached out, and a golden coin materialized between his fingers.

He brought the coin close to the little monster and repeated, "Here you go."

Being accustomed to working as a cashier, with his daily task being to collect money for Grandpa and Naji, Black Egg promptly extended its little claw, softly saying "1" before stuffing the coin into its pants.

The black-haired monster didn't perceive what he had done as anything extraordinary.

Despite years of absence and his current attire that screamed high society among the outer districts' monsters, at his core, Zyn Murphy Felzahar was still a Yefalar monster through and through.

He had no "excess compassion."

When he lacked funds, he would seize what he desired by force. When he was flush with cash, he would pay exorbitant prices for it—so long as he deemed it "worthwhile."

However, he wouldn't toss coins to beggars on the street.

They were good for nothing.

Of course, if someone begged in a different manner, say, by playing a tune from their failed memories, and if he found it enjoyable, perhaps he might grant them some "grace."

In short, he didn't give without reason.

Unbeknownst to him, he was doing precisely that now.

Bestowing upon a soft, inarticulate young monster with money, food, and potentially even more.

This creature, whom he once considered "useless," was now receiving an abundance from him.

He even found this little monster adorable.

Adorable - something that could invoke fondness, something lovable...

It was a peculiar sensation.

The sight of the little monster meticulously counting the coins delighted him, so he "created" even more gold combs for it to count, watching from the side as the creature did so.

Gold combs were much heavier than bone coins; after a while, the little monster let out a sigh, lifted its tiny paw, and surprisingly pulled out a small handkerchief from the pocket of its underpants, wiping its sweat in a rather proper manner.

Ji Huan had taught him very well.

There probably wasn't another infantile monster in the world that didn't irritate or annoy him.

Leaning on one hand on a three-legged stool, the black-haired monster was unaware that he was smiling beneath his cloak.

Dressed in a generic souvenir T-shirt bought during travels, wearing handmade flip-flops, draped in a slightly short cloak, sitting on a wobbly chair with a puddle between his feet...

Perched in Ji Huan's usual working spot, facing the pitch-black little monster, the black-haired monster was somewhat lost in thought.

Until someone disrupted this tranquil moment.

"Oh? ! You're here! I was wondering why that guy left. You don't know, he came knocking on my door since early morning asking for a resume, slow to react and fearless. He even lingered around during lunch, cooking for me. I had no choice..."

The old monster, Adan, entered bare-chested, wearing only a loose, wrinkled pair of shorts. The black-haired monster immediately recognized these shorts as one of the two hanging on the rock earlier.

He rambled on for quite a while, completely oblivious to the fact that the cloaked subordinate in front of him had changed.

Until...

Noticing something amiss, Adan subtly confirmed his suspicion, scratching his head. As he lowered his gaze, he saw the Black Egg on the table, and the conversation shifted. "Black Egg is here too?"

"I'll get him a drink later then. He likes sweet drinks, right?"

In the resource-scarce Ye Falar, if you had money and connections, you could still acquire what you wanted.

"Shall I get you a drink too? What do you want? How about an ice fruit? It's very refreshing with this weather." Although he asked for an opinion, the old monster had already made up his mind. Grabbing a dusty cloak from inside, he prepared to leave, assigning tasks to "Ji Huan" before he went. "There's a long line of guys outside. Since you're here, help them with the tests. You know how it works, right? Don't do too many, ten should be enough. Use the remaining time to sweep the yard, wash my clothes, and cook something, like ribs. I'll find someone to bring a suitable magic beast for braised ribs later."

After assigning a flurry of tasks, the old monster hastily left.

Mr. Zen Murphy Felzahar, who had yet to find an opportunity to speak, remained silent...

Soon, the first monster arrived for the test and knocked on the door.

Meanwhile, the old monster, Adan, who was leaping joyfully from one rooftop to another, glanced back at the place he had left.

"You came here voluntarily to take Ji Huan's shift, so make sure you do his job properly."

"Not just the easy tasks."

"But the troublesome ones as well."

With that in mind, he dialed a number on his phone. "Hello, didn't you say you wanted to discuss our new policies with us a few days ago?"

"Well, you can come over now."