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"Of course,"
Feng Baobao lifted her chin proudly and gave a thumbs-up. "They all say I'm dumb, but I'm not dumb at all. Sometimes I'm sharp as hell."
Elsa: "..."
Sam: "..."
Wu Liuqi: "..."
Sharp, my ass.
╯(｀Д´)╯︵ ┻━┻
"You—You freeloading jerks!"
Wu Liuqi's face was bright red with rage. "I'm calling the police!"
"Sis Bao to the newbie: don't be sad," Baobao said calmly. "You'll get freeloaded like this a lot in the future."
Sam nodded vigorously. "Exactly. Plus, everyone getting together from different worlds is rare enough. Talking about money hurts feelings. Besides, we don't even use the same currency as you."
Wu Liuqi was furious.No money?
Then why the hell are you eating beef offal? Go eat dirt!
"No way. Pay me back my hard-earned money!"
Wu Liuqi slammed his hand down. "Or I'm calling the cops right now and getting all of you arrested!"
"As for the money," Sam said, deliberately copying Wu Liuqi's tone, "we don't really have any. But here's the thing, your future is with me. You want it or not?"
Elsa had already finished her bowl.
She'd never eaten anything like this before, but it was genuinely delicious.
"Uh…"
After a full bowl of beef offal, she was too stuffed and couldn't help burping.
She smiled awkwardly, then reached into her pocket and took out coins from her own country.
"Um, Wu Liuqi… is this enough?"
"Huh?"
Wu Liuqi hadn't even processed Sam's nonsense when Elsa spoke up.
He turned around and nearly cried.
A good person!There really is kindness in this world!
…?
But when he saw the coin in her hand—
"???"
Hey, hey, hey, I didn't read much, but don't lie to me. This is money?
Wu Liuqi thought she was handing him a coin.Well… it was a coin.Just one he'd never seen in his life.
Of course. Elsa was the future queen of Arendelle. Naturally, she used her own country's currency.
Wu Liuqi wasn't from her world. There was no way he'd recognize it.
Watching their interaction, Sam, now full and satisfied, took another sip of tea.
Not bad. Not bad at all. He was only half full, but the taste was legit.
Still, paying was absolutely impossible.No money now, no money ever.
"Wow," Wu Liuqi wailed, "is the world really this cruel now? I'm just a rookie street vendor selling beef offal. This is how I make a living. And on my very first day, I run into people who dine and dash…"
"I-I'm really sorry!" Elsa panicked when she saw him like this and apologized quickly. "I didn't know you don't accept this currency."
Watching Wu Liuqi, a broke nobody, scold a future queen, Sam felt a bit speechless.
Then again, even if Wu Liuqi knew she'd be a queen someday, he'd probably just be surprised for a second and then stop caring.
Wait.
Since Wu Liuqi was still selling beef offal, why not give him a push and help him become an assassin earlier? Get his life on track?
"Wu Liuqi, selling beef offal has no future,"
Thinking this, Sam jumped right in. "I've got a great job here. Interested?"
"A great job?" Wu Liuqi looked at him suspiciously. This freeloader…
"Of course! Wu Liuqi, go become an assassin!!!"
Elsa: "???"
An assassin?
That really doesn't sound like a good job!
"High salary, great benefits, flexible hours, year-end bonuses, even overseas travel."
Sam grinned. "Where else can you find a job like that?"
Feng Baobao tilted her head. "Is that why you ate beef offal and didn't pay?"
Sam: "???"
"So you get him to change careers, and then you don't have to pay for the beef offal. That's some big-brain planning."
Baobao looked impressed and immediately wrote it down in her little notebook.
Sam: "..."
Baobao! Can you not expose me like that?!
Although… what she said did kind of make sense…
"Bao'er, you don't get it," Sam said seriously. "I'm doing this for his own good."
"His future is being an assassin anyway. I'm just pointing him in the right direction."
"How long would it take selling beef offal to earn enough to treat his illness? He was never cut out for this."
"If beef offal doesn't make enough, sell beef meatballs too," Baobao suggested.
"Double the work, double the income."
Sam: "..."
Bao'er, keep this up and you're going to ruin the protagonist.
"An assassin, huh?"
Wu Liuqi thought about it. "Sounds… kind of decent."
"Oh right, Wu Liuqi," Sam suddenly remembered something. Maybe he could make a little money off him.
"I've got information about your future. Want to see it?"
"My future?" Wu Liuqi froze.
Wait a second. Where exactly was this place again?
Earlier, when Sam mentioned beef offal, he didn't think much and just started cooking. Only now did he realize he'd never been here before!
"…"
When Wu Liuqi finally asked where they were, Sam was speechless.
How big does your heart have to be to stay somewhere this long without knowing where you are?
"This is the Hyperdimensional Mercenary Guild," Sam explained. "A place that connects countless worlds…"
After giving him a basic introduction, Sam pulled up the manga Scissor Seven.
Naturally, the guild only provided a preview version.
"Here," Sam said. "This is your future."
On the cover, one side showed Wu Liuqi as his goofy self back on Chicken Island. The other side showed him as the cold, ruthless number one assassin of Xuanwu Kingdom.
Wu Liuqi: "..."
Staring at that emotionless figure, he fell silent. A faint fragment of memory flashed through his mind, then vanished just as quickly.
Still, it was enough to convince him this really was his future.
So he started reading.
A few minutes later, he looked up.
"Uh… where's the rest?!"
"The rest?" Sam smiled. "That costs money."
"What?!"Wu Liuqi snapped and glared at him.
╯(╬Д´)╯︵ ┻━┻
Of all things to learn, you learned how to cut chapters short?!
And another thing—
"Wu Liuqi: I let the beef offal go for free, and now you're asking me for money?!"
"The money I mean isn't the kind you normally use," Sam said calmly."It's the official currency of the Hyperdimensional Mercenary Guild."
"....."