Logistics Hell
When Shioji woke up, Natsume and the others were already up, apparently, talking in the middle of the room.
"Well, well, what the hell is this? This can't be right. No matter how you look at it, this is weird as hell."
"Well, the stream isn't actually using an internet connection..."
"B-but... th-this gives us... s-some breathing room..."
Shioji had slept directly on the hardwood floor. She forced herself upright, ignoring the ache in her lower back, and asked Natsume what had happened.
"Ah, right. We'd been streaming nonstop until we met you yesterday, remember? We got a decent amount of Super Chats... and somehow, the money's already here. Cash. Same day. That's bullshit, isn't it? I've had monetization enabled on my channel for years, and I've never gotten paid that fast."
"Could that be because you're streaming through your ability?"
"Yeah. That's the only explanation I can think of."
Shioji's eyes fell on the stacks of bills scattered carelessly across the hardwood floor.
Shioji worked as an operator at a small printing company. Judging by the amount of cash sitting in front of her, she had no idea how many months of her salary it represented.
So that's how much money you can make streaming videos...
She almost found herself deciding that if she ever made it back to Japan, she'd start streaming too.
There were an awful lot of ten-thousand-yen bills.
"That much in a single day...? How much is there?"
"About 1.3 million yen. But when you factor in food, equipment, everyday necessities, furniture... that'll disappear pretty damn fast. Don't count on Super Chats lasting forever. If you want something more reliable, Shioji's Flea Market is probably the better bet."
"Hopefully."
"Flea Market, huh? It might actually be fun selling stuff we make, too. Natchan's surprisingly good with her hands. She does leatherwork and even makes wooden grips. Mako-chan can knit and embroider, too."
Back when Natsume lived in Texas, she'd often gone hunting with Bob. Whenever they brought down a deer, he'd taught her how to tan the hide and turn it into leather goods.
If you were going to take a life, Bob had taught her, you didn't waste it.
"Well, what I make ain't exactly shop-quality like Mako's embroidery and knitting. Shioji, you got a Flea Market ability, but did you ever sell handmade stuff?"
"I-I did. Nothing impressive, though. I-I might look like one of the outgoing crowd, but I'm actually an otaku. I-I like anime and games and stuff..."
Shioji answered sheepishly.
Then her stomach growled loudly.
She hadn't eaten a proper meal since yesterday afternoon.
"Come to think of it, you didn't eat dinner yesterday, did you? We can talk while we eat."
Natsume got to her feet, walked over to the supplies lined up beside the luggage, and grabbed a cup of curry ramen from among the canned food and instant noodles. She tossed it to Shioji.
"Out of all the cup noodles we brought, I'm the only one who eats the curry flavor. Go ahead and have it."
"What about you, Natsume-san?"
"I'm good. I've got this."
She picked up a ridiculously sweet American chocolate bar and a familiar Japanese fruit-flavored calorie bar and held them up.
"If the cup noodles don't fill you up, we've got some Doritos I brought as snacks, too. Canned food and all that. Mako, Kanon, Shioji hasn't eaten since yesterday. Mind if she gets hot water first?"
"Of course."
Natsume poured bottled water into a pot, lit a small gas burner, and set the pot on a folding trivet.
Most streamers tended to assume their viewers' tips would keep coming forever.
Natsume, by comparison, seemed remarkably grounded.
Shioji's opinion of her went up a little.
"So here's the problem. What our viewers want most is footage of us shooting monsters. If we don't want them getting bored, we've gotta keep shooting and keep buying new guns."
Natsume sat cross-legged on the floor. She dumped some instant coffee into a stainless-steel cup sitting beside her, poured in the steaming water, then unwrapped the chocolate bar in her hand and took a bite.
"But look at our situation. We don't have furniture. We barely have a change of clothes. We can't afford to dump all our money into guns."
"But there are monsters here, so weapons are a necessity, right? Shioji-chan, you were attacked by monsters, right? Were they goblins?"
"That, and orcs. They were huge—like bears—walking on two legs with pig faces."
"Not nearly as cute as actual pigs, though."
"Huh. I don't play games, so I don't know much about that stuff. But you and Shioji do, right, Mako? Fill me in later."
Natsume took another sip of coffee.
"Since we've got guns, we're probably at a pretty damn big advantage on offense. But our defense sucks. One hit from magic or a monster and we're dead."
"And monsters ain't the only potential enemies, either. We've got the locals, and we've got the other people who got transported here. Especially the latter. They're probably carrying cheat abilities just like we are."
Shioji, who had been silently slurping her noodles, swallowed and cut in.
"About that... I think there's a huge difference between people. You three are way too abnormal. Even me... Mako-chan and I don't have abilities that are particularly useful on their own. The group I came here with had a lot of abilities that weren't exactly what I'd call 'cheats,' either."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Sure, there were people who could shoot fire or electricity like magic. But one guy I knew could... I don't know, project illusions? Like holograms?"
"Could be pretty damn useful depending on how you use it."
"N-Natchan... I-I think... m-maybe the abilities were designed around... e-everyone in each group working together. O-our three abilities fit together... r-really well. We c-cover each other's weaknesses."
"So you're saying somebody in your group had an ability that could make up for the weaknesses of your Flea Market?"
"Now that you mention it, there was someone who could buy cars. But cars are expensive, and I figured there was no way I'd be able to make enough money through the Flea Market to buy one."
"Natchan could buy a car, couldn't she?"
"Nah. I ain't interested in cars, so I never bookmarked any sites for 'em. Don't even have a license. You could probably buy a used car through the Flea Market, though. Problem is, we can't exactly get gasoline."
"Right. We can't buy gasoline. But having a car would make getting around so much easier."
"Not impossible. In theory."
Natsume paused before continuing.
"One option would be building a Stirling engine and making some kind of early steam-powered vehicle. Another would be an EV. If it's electric, we could charge it from the Safe House using magic stones."
"The problem is whether your Flea Market would ever have a used EV listed. More likely, we'd have to buy high-output motors from Manten or Nile and build the damn thing ourselves."
She said it as casually as if she were discussing making a sandwich.
Of course, neither Natsume, Kanon, nor Mako had any idea how to actually do that.
Neither did Shioji.
"Natsume, you can do all that? That's amazing."
"Hell no. You think I know how to build an EV? We'd obviously have to get someone who knows what they're doing to teach us."
"Would anyone in this world even know how?"
"Huh? I'm gonna ask the bored-ass people watching Mako's stream, obviously. What else are they doing? Sitting in front of their computers watching porn all day."
"So we'll get them to research it for us."
Natsume stood up.
"Alright. We're done eating. Time to explore. Let's find civilization, get some magic stones, and get ourselves a damn shower."
It had only been a day, but Natsume hadn't showered since they arrived.
Shioji had been attacked by monsters, run through the forest, and fallen more times than she cared to count.
She was looking decidedly grimy.
