Chapter 7: Recruiting employees (3)

[This is the largest game shop… Ugh! Just a moment!]

[Oklo reporter? Ah, the local situation is…]

The giant ogre reporter is trying to inform the local situation, but despite his huge body, he seems to be struggling, as he is swept away here and there by the countless crowds.

Is it because many races are mixed in among the crowd?

Looking closely, it seemed the ogre reporter’s size wasn’t that special.

Minotaur, beastmen, Lamia, Centaur, Golem?

That’s a lot.

“Ogre reporter… he must have worked hard.”

“Why?”

“You know that each race has its own unique characteristics, right? Ogres have a special body from birth, but…”

He pointed to his head with his fingers, showing instead of answering.

But isn’t that similar to orcs?

“And ogres don’t want their children to study. They’ve experienced that it’s a difficult path. Where would parents want their children to experience their limitations? There’s an easier path, and they don’t want to make them choose something else, leaving behind the best talent as an athlete.”

“Hoho. He has his own hardships.”

“And the old generation is also the problem. They traditionally value strength the most and raise their children strongly. It’s not uncommon for authoritarian ogre fathers to commit domestic violence. It’s changed a bit recently, but it hasn’t disappeared. They even say to strike their right cheek to correct the child.”

Hmm, I see.

But I don’t know about that, and I want to see a beautiful elf reporter or announcer?

Oh, come to think of it, there’s a beauty next to me…

Looking at the place where the horned woman was playing the game earlier, I saw her sprawled out, drooling, with her stomach exposed.

And also, with the floor dirtied with cookie crumbs.

That… brutally shatters my fantasy of beauty.

“By the way, there were game shops?”

“Most have converted existing stores into game shops. They come to me without me having to do any business. The offline stores are in that state, and the online stores are mostly having their shopping site servers crash.”

“Anyway, it was a huge hit.”

“It’s a huge hit among huge hits.”

He laughs heartily and pats the armrest of the sofa.

We can have a toast at this rate.

It was the biggest success of my life.

Although I succeeded with someone else’s game, if the copyright wants to be pursued across dimensions, they’ll come over on their own.

Grok seems to think the same, so he shook the champagne and lightly popped it.

“You’ve accomplished a great thing. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. Thanks to Grok’s efforts.”

This is social life.

And it’s not empty words, either. In fact, he took the lead in most of it.

“No, you’ve done a much greater thing than you think. Do you know what situation this damn city is in right now?”

“I don’t know?”

M?L?U?

How would I know?

I haven’t been outside this house except for that time I went to the library to understand the situation.

Ah! I also had an interview with the reporter.

“You know that this city is one of the worst cities in the United States, right? This city has lost the power to stand up again. It doesn’t know how to earn money by working honestly and lives by plundering someone. Criminal organizations make money by distributing drugs and weapons… and children see and learn from such adults. They learn plunder and murder rather than learning. It’s common sense here for children who are not yet adults to go around with weapons and rob someone. Except for this relatively safe place in this city.”

That’s a pretty serious story.

I glanced at him, but he seemed to be quite engrossed in sharing his thoughts about this city.

His large body was sprawled out on the sofa, and his voice seemed to be heard, and the appearance of him speaking frankly was an old man who seemed to have seen the world, and he looked like a person who had given up.

Does he have bad memories about this city?

I was slightly interested.

I could often get information or knowledge about this place every time he told me his story.

“But why do you live in a place like this?”

“I didn’t have money. There were many funerals to be held after the war. After the war, there wasn’t much to do with the remaining money for soldiers who were treated for injuries and completed rehabilitation.”

“Don’t they have a veterans’ pension?”

“You have to serve in the military for more than 20 years, and there aren’t many orcs who meet that requirement. Although we protested that it should be applied according to the race of orcs and short-lived species, it was useless.”

“Why?”

He stared at the champagne in the wine glass.

Looking at his own reflection in the transparent glass, what was he thinking without saying a word?

“For the long-lived species, short-lived species like us are just a moment.”

He became silent after that.

We drank champagne silently, as if we had made a promise.

After some time, Grok seemed drunk, his eyes were unfocused, and he looked dazed.

“Where was I talking about?”

“Um, the problems of this city?”

“Ah, I remember. Anyway, the game you made has revitalized this city. The city, which was filled with gloom, was crowded with travelers and people from other cities as if there was a festival. The dead commercial district was revived with their money. Many jobs have been created with the emergence of new businesses, and the number of people learning to work honestly is still increasing. There must be people who are grateful to you.”

Honestly, I don’t feel it.

That the game has changed the city, and I haven’t yet felt the popularity of Doom, and since it’s a game that’s treated as drugs and gets criticized on Earth, it’s not a statement that appeals to me.

More than that, I was curious about the funeral story earlier.

The funeral of a comrade-in-arms?

“By the way, sir, the funeral earlier….”

An orc was sleeping on the sofa.

Since his face, which was sleeping drunk, looked very tired, and I didn’t want to wake him up, I brought a blanket and covered him.

Hmm, come to think of it, this question might have been rude.

Maybe it’s fortunate that he fell asleep.

I went back to my room after turning off the lights in the living room, and the horned woman was still sprawling and sleeping, so I ignored her and lay in bed.

“Aish…”

It bothered me that she was sleeping with her stomach exposed, so I took out a blanket and covered her and lay in bed again.

I had a conversation with the horned woman while having breakfast.

“Let’s know your name.”

“Kaela Solaris. Call me Kaela.”

I finally knew the name of this glutton.

Anyway, since I need her to achieve my purpose, I had a conversation again.

“Are you good at fighting?”

Whether my question felt quite out of the blue or not, she made it known that she was embarrassed with all her body, rolling her gem-like eyeballs.

It seemed she was worried about how to answer.

“Well… if I’m good… I’d be good?”

“Let’s work as my employee, since I’ll let you play the new game first.”

“Call! That’s a call! I’ll do it no matter what! I promise! Promise to use me too!”

There’s a reason why I’m trying to hire this woman.

First. This woman enjoys games day and night.

Second. Seeing that she broke the door and used a technique that looked like magic, she seems to be able to protect at least my body.

Third. She’s pretty.

She is very suitable as a tester, such as playing games all day and night and trying various things to find hidden elements in the game or going around all the maps.

And seeing her break the iron door and use magic… isn’t it okay to be a bodyguard?

I don’t think Grok’s words are all right, but if at least half of his words are correct, there will be a lot of people targeting me.

I don’t have money now, but will people rob me, knowing that fact?

It’s foolish to walk around carelessly in this place, where public safety is messed up.

Especially if I’m walking around, since I’m thought to have a lot of money.

“Then, let’s go out right now.”

I wanted to check what kind of situation this city was in, as he said.
I want to visit the newly established game companies and see the game shops.

There’s only Doom right now, so will the game shop only sell Doom?

Do the newly created game companies have the funds to last for the time it takes to develop the game?

“But where are you going?”

“You’ll know if you follow me.”

Kang

“Close the house door gently! You’re really going to break it again like yesterday. There’s no consideration because Grok is sleeping inside.”

“Haha. I’m sorry that my strength control is still immature.”

When I opened the door and went outside, there was a different scenery than yesterday.

The house next door seemed to be an arboretum, with unfamiliar trees and plants growing, and even invading the yard of this house, crawling over the fence.

Did someone move next door?