"Whoa."
Hayashi scratched the back of his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. "This new ability... if I buy a lottery ticket on the day of my Zodiac Constellation, would I be guaranteed to win the jackpot?"
"Wait, what exactly is my 'Zodiac Constellation Day' anyway? Does it just mean my birthday?"
He couldn't quite wrap his head around it, but he decided it didn't really matter for now. Whenever that lucky day finally arrived, he was sure he'd figure it out.
"Anyway, hey, you old system geezer, does the shop have anything good in stock this month?"
At his mental command, the system interface immediately transitioned to the Shop screen.
On the Abilities tab, the shop had refreshed with fifteen brand-new skills for the month.
[Housekeeping Tiger (Silver): 150 Points,] [Surgical Scalpel (Diamond): 30,000 Points,] [Tyrant of Astronomy (Master): 500,000 Points.]
[King of Fighters (Master): 400,000 Points,] [Flicker of Air (Bronze): 50 Points,] [Spotlight Focus (Platinum): 2,000 Points,] [Absolute Pitch (Platinum): 3,500 Points]... and finally, [The Human Printer (Gold): 600 Points.]
As for the Physical Items section, there were only five entries this month.
They included: 'Relaxation Supplies: Massage Chair,' 'Home Appliances: Sorrell Gen 3 Rice Cooker,' 'Smartphone: iPioneer 5,' 'Pre-packaged Food: The Colonel's Nuggets,' and 'Health Supplements: Melatonin Tablets.'
Hayashi's eyes lit up instantly. He immediately focused on the Abilities section and announced, "Hey, old geezer! Give me..."
"The Housekeeping Tiger ability!"
[Points: 650 → 500]
In a split second, Hayashi felt a flood of experience and knowledge regarding household chores and professional cleaning techniques surge into his mind. It was as if he had spent decades as a world-class butler; his understanding of domestic maintenance was now absolute.
"Haha! With this skill, cleaning this new place will be a walk in the park!"
He stood with his hands on his hips, a look of immense self-satisfaction on his face.
Most people, upon seeing that list of abilities, would likely have prioritized 'The Human Printer' for 600 points.
And for a professional mangaka, 'The Human Printer' was undeniably a god-tier skill. According to the description, it would dramatically increase both his drawing precision and his overall speed.
It was the ultimate practical tool for any artist.
But Hayashi felt it was unnecessary for him at the moment. His 'Hard-Drive Memory' already allowed him to maintain a perfect mental record of every manga he'd ever read, and his 'Artistic Kaleidoscope' made it easy to recreate those styles. Combined with 'Cinematic Storyboarding,' he was already capable of producing high-quality manuscripts at an incredible pace.
Honestly, he was already drawing faster than almost anyone in the industry.
For 'Edgerunners,' he had already completed the manuscripts up to Chapter 34, maintaining a staggering pace of two to three chapters per week.
A production speed like that was enough to make any professional editor weep with joy.
In general, a single chapter consisted of 15 to 20 pages. Producing two chapters a week meant he was churning out 30 to 40 pages every seven days.
That averaged out to four or five finished pages a day, a speed that was truly terrifying by industry standards.
But for Hayashi, it wasn't actually that difficult because, unlike other artists, he didn't have to spend any time on the most difficult part of the job: the actual creative process.
For most mangakas, the actual drawing isn't the bottleneck; it's the plotting, the storyboarding, and the character designs.
But did Hayashi need to spend months meticulously planning the pacing of a scene?
Absolutely not! He just had to pull the perfect layouts directly from his memory and copy them down!
The only time he really had to put in effort was when he was adapting a story from a different medium, like adapting the 'Edgerunners' anime into manga format. That required him to translate cinematic pacing into comic layouts.
That was why he had invested points into 'Cinematic Storyboarding.'
With that in mind, 'The Human Printer' just didn't feel like a priority. Well... it wasn't just that.
He only had 650 points to his name. If he bought the 'Human Printer,' he would only have 50 points left. What could he even do with that?
On the other hand, he truly, desperately needed the 'Housekeeping Tiger' ability right now.
So, he chose to pass on the printer.
"And this 'iPioneer 5' smartphone... this is basically the equivalent of the iPhone 5 from my past life, isn't it? Good grief, didn't this thing just launch last month? You've already got it in stock, old man?"
Hayashi shook his head in amazement.
The phone had appeared in the shop at the perfect time. In fact, except for that massage chair, Hayashi could find a use for almost everything in the item shop.
Now that he'd moved into a proper apartment, he could finally cook for himself again, so the rice cooker and the pre-packaged food were both essential.
Of course, he'd still need to head out and buy various pots, pans, utensils, and seasonings separately.
But that was fine. He was a wealthy man now, relatively speaking.
Once he had a fully equipped kitchen...
He could finally start preparing his own meals and experimenting with all those various recipes he'd mastered in his previous life.
He gave a grand wave of his hand. "Old man, give me everything on the list except for that massage chair! And give me... fifty orders of those Colonel's Nuggets!"
[Points: 500 → 220]
A total of 280 points vanished in the blink of an eye. The most expensive item was the 'iPioneer 5' smartphone, which cost a hefty 100 points.
That was effectively the same price as a Silver-tier ability.
As for the 'Colonel's Nuggets,' they remained a steal at 1 point per infinite purchase (in reasonable quantities).
Pochita watched in confusion as Hayashi muttered to himself, only for a literal pile of equipment and boxes to suddenly materialize on the table next to him.
The puppy's small brain couldn't possibly comprehend what was happening, but aside from a momentary startle, he didn't seem particularly bothered by the sudden arrival of the new furniture.
Hayashi picked up the box for the iPioneer 5. The packaging felt intensely familiar.
He slid the box open and pulled out the brand-new smartphone. It was nearly an exact replicate of the iPhone 5 he remembered from his past life.
The only real difference was the logo on the back. Instead of an apple with a bite taken out of it, there was a stylized "iP" logo.
"Alright, Pochita! First, we clean this place top to bottom, and then we head out to get a new phone number!"
Hayashi rolled up his sleeves, his eyes burning with domestic determination.
Pochita barked an enthusiastic agreement. "Woof! Woof!"
...
"Brrrring-- Brrrring--"
The landline at the editorial office rang out. An unfamiliar private mobile number flashed on the screen, and Ayumi Ito picked it up.
"Moshi moshi~"
A familiar voice crackled over the line.
"Aoyama-sensei? Hello! Is this your new private number?"
Ayumi was impressed by how quickly he had gotten everything set up.
"Yep, that's me."
Hayashi walked out of the mobile store, cradling Pochita in one arm. He had just finished activating his SIM card and was currently testing out his unique-looking iPioneer 5.
"Wait, that phone... Why does it look so different from the ones we have?"
"I think it's an import from overseas. What was it called... the i-Pee-Nee-er 5?"
"It's the 'iPioneer 5'! The First Pioneer! It's that revolutionary new smartphone they just launched in the United States!"
"Wait, I thought the Pioneer 5 hadn't even been officially released in the Federation yet? That kid must be someone important if he managed to get his hands on an import like that already."
"Who knows?"
...
The Federation of this world hadn't yet reached the stage of his past life where smartphones were ubiquitous and universally recognized.
But that was to be expected. In his past life, when the iPhone 5 had first launched, there had been news stories about people literally selling their kidneys just to afford one.
He wondered if that guy from the news had ever regretted his decision.
In any case, walking around with a cutting-edge smartphone like this was certainly a good way to draw attention.
"...That's right, Ito-san. This will be my permanent contact number from now on. I'll see you later."
After hanging up the phone, Hayashi adjusted his grip on Pochita and began the walk back to his new home.
(End of Chapter)
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
T/N: The Human Printer (人形打印机) - An ability that grants extreme speed and precision in drawing.
T/N: Housekeeping Tiger (家政之虎) - A practical ability that grants mastery over domestic chores.
T/N: The Colonel's Nuggets (上校鸡块) - A localized equivalent for KFC chicken nuggets.
T/N: Domestic Determination - A playful way to describe Hayashi's focus on cleaning his new apartment.