"Hey, Chen Luo, are you alright?" Raven looked somewhat concerned at the dazed Chen Luo before her.
Chen Luo's current state was like someone who had drunk too much.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. I just ate something special, so my head is a bit dizzy. What would you like to drink?" Chen Luo asked instinctively while rubbing the space between his eyebrows.
For Chen Luo now, running the bar had become muscle memory.
Earn Primogems, my Primogems...
"This... are you really okay? Why does it feel like you're even more obsessed with serving people than I am with earning commissions? If it's really too much, can't you just close the bar for one day? What if you exhaust yourself?" Raven asked, frowning.
"If you exhaust yourself, how will you come to World Serpent with me? If you don't go to World Serpent, Gray Serpent won't give me my villa. If Gray Serpent doesn't give me the villa, then the children can't move in."
"Vile villain, I bear you no grudge, why do you seek to harm my life?" Before Chen Luo could say anything, Saigyouji Yuyuko, who was eating Judgment Time nearby, suddenly jumped up and pointed at Raven.
"Huh?" Raven was taken aback.
"Alright, enough nonsense, just keep eating yours." Chen Luo waved his hand dismissively.
"Oh." After being told off by Chen Luo, Saigyouji Yuyuko obediently sat back down and continued eating her Judgment Time.
"So you see, in a way, it's not that I don't want to rest, but there are many people who can't afford meals waiting for me to feed them." Chen Luo said helplessly.
"Actually, it's not that we can't afford meals..." Yuyuko muttered quietly, poking her food with chopsticks.
"Wasn't talking about you." Chen Luo shot Saigyouji Yuyuko a glance.
"Oh."
"So you see, closing this bar for even one day is a huge loss."
This holds true both for Chen Luo and for the guests who come here.
"But I'm still curious, how does your bar make a profit? Hmm, looking at the guests here, their clothes are quite splendid; they probably aren't short on money, right?" Raven inquired, inspecting the bar's guests.
"I don't rely on them to make money. Well, how should I put it? My bar is a bar that collects wishes. The more wishes generated in this bar, the better the bar's benefits. Overall, money isn't very useful here. Just now, Otto was here."
"Otto? Schicksal's Overseer Otto?" Raven was stunned.
"Correct."
"It seems you don't want to talk about what transaction you made with him, so I won't ask. But your current state really isn't suitable for mixing drinks." Raven looked at Chen Luo and said.
"Hmm, what you say makes sense. Hey, how about this: you help me run the bar, and I'll pay you wages. How about that?" Chen Luo, whose mind was still dazed from Shenhe's killing intent and malignant energy, suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"Ah? Me?"
"Yeah, you. Didn't you say you've run a bar before? And run it quite well? You even said you'd poach me to be a bartender after you retire and open a bar."
"That's what I said, and my bar management skills are indeed good, but, but I can't mix drinks well. My mixology skills aren't high." Raven never expected that just coming for a drink would lead to a job application.
Of course, she wasn't here solely for a drink either.
"Hey, the pay is really good, okay? So just give it a try." As Chen Luo spoke, he walked out from behind the bar counter and practically dragged Raven behind the counter.
"Pay is really good? How good?" Since Chen Luo was currently dazed, Raven didn't forcibly resist.
Moreover, as a mercenary, Raven was still somewhat sensitive about things like payment.
Everything is negotiable if the price is right.
"See this here?" Chen Luo attached a golden cube to the left side of the bar counter, a spot only the bartender could see.
Raven followed Chen Luo's pointing and saw a special panel gradually forming on the left side of the bar counter.
"I see it, but there's nothing on it."
"It'll be there soon." As Chen Luo spoke, he touched the space between Raven's eyebrows.
Touched, Raven instinctively pulled her neck back. When she looked at the panel again, she saw that it indeed displayed a... commission?
Now, to Raven, the panel wasn't just an ordinary board anymore; it looked like a high-tech screen with something resembling a commission displayed on it.
"What is this?" Raven asked curiously.
"Next, I'm going to explain what this is. But before I explain, you have to promise me that you absolutely, absolutely will not repeat what I tell you later. Otherwise, you'll be in trouble."
"I'll use the Herrscher of Corruption Authority to transfer all the money from your bank accounts and make sure any account you open in the future automatically donates all funds quickly to impoverished areas."
"That malicious?" Although Chen Luo sounded somewhat weak when he spoke, the viciousness in his words sent a chill down Raven's spine.
We live in an internet age. If you're truly banned in the digital sense... well, forget about all the assets Raven has in certain bank accounts; future business would be greatly disrupted.
As for the truthfulness of Chen Luo's words...
Raven was on relatively good terms with a few of the Elysian Realm's Flame-Chasers, or at least had heard about the 12th Herrscher incident.
And it's also recorded in World Serpent's data.
The 12th Herrscher, the Herrscher of Corruption, is an ultimate electronic virus that current technology absolutely cannot withstand.
"What are you afraid of? As long as you don't leak secrets, won't it be fine?"
"I... I just feel your revenge probably doesn't stop there. My intuition tells me this isn't a light matter." Raven's intuition had always been accurate.
But the reason Raven didn't immediately refuse this deal was that she hadn't sensed a life-or-death crisis yet.
"So, you're not refusing, right? That's good. Now listen carefully. See the only commission on this panel? Whenever a guest here wants something, a commission will appear here. The one on the panel now doesn't count; it's just a beginner's introduction."
"The star on the right side of the commission that appears is linked to your reward. For example, this is a 1-Star bar commission. After you complete it, you'll get $200. If you complete a 2-star bar commission, you'll get $400, and so on. If it reaches or exceeds ten stars, you need to alert me because that's beyond your ability to handle." Chen Luo began explaining how to run the bar to Raven using a different system.
According to Raven's own introduction, she was actually quite skilled at running a bar.
At the very least, she understood those drunkards better than Chen Luo, who started as a complete outsider.
In other words, Raven was actually a professional.
And the stars Chen Luo explained to her were actually Primogems.
1-star represents 10 Primogems.
Chen Luo used a basic Primogem reward as a reference for the stars.
And since this visualized panel, formed by Void Archive, is bound to Chen Luo, if he wishes, the commissions he can receive will be reflected on Void Archive.
"So how do you complete commissions? Are these bar commissions difficult to finish?" Raven asked.
Since she couldn't judge whether a task was difficult or not, Raven couldn't determine if $200 per star was a lot or not.
If it's very hard to complete, then it would be little; if it's relatively easy to complete, then it's indeed a lot.
"Complete? Of course, it's not difficult to complete. Let me demonstrate for you." After hearing Raven's question, Chen Luo thought for a moment, then deleted his virtual commission and looked up at Yuyuko.
"Yuyuko, is one normal serving of Judgment Time enough to fill you up? Do you want something else?" Chen Luo called out to Yuyuko.
"Of course it's not enough! Bring 10 more sticks of Tricolor Dango!" Yuyuko shouted.
One normal serving of Judgment Time can only fill Yuyuko to 98% fullness, but the remaining 2% is still half a bottomless pit.
Not being completely full is also a little trick of Yuyuko's because if she's not fully satisfied, she can use the extra space to taste more delicacies.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
As soon as Yuyuko finished speaking, after a one-second delay, a commission immediately appeared at the top of the panel.
"Is this a two-star commission?" Raven asked, looking at the star count on the panel.
"Correct, it's a two-star commission. Follow me." Chen Luo nodded, then led Raven to the small kitchen.
"This is the kitchen. You can cook whatever the customers want to eat here. But since your culinary and mixology skills probably aren't great, you should use the automatic cooking system." Chen Luo arrived in front of a refrigerator.
"When you want to serve a dish, knock on this refrigerator door, then open it..." As Chen Luo explained, he opened the refrigerator, and a plate of Tricolor Dango appeared inside.
It did look somewhat magical, but what struck Raven as strange was that this refrigerator didn't seem to be cooling.
In fact, this refrigerator was completely just for show.
If it were Chen Luo, the items he wants to automatically create would appear directly in his inventory. This refrigerator was temporarily created just to make it easier for Raven to understand.
"Now, take this out and serve it to the customer who ordered it." Chen Luo said after placing the Tricolor Dango in Raven's hands.
"Oh." Raven walked out of the small kitchen, looking a bit confused, then stepped out from behind the bar counter and placed the plate of Tricolor Dango on Saigyouji Yuyuko's table.
"Thank you." Saigyouji Yuyuko nodded to her.
"You're welcome." Raven also nodded politely before walking back behind the bar counter.
When Raven returned, she saw that the commission on the panel now had a checkmark behind it.
"Does this mean the commission is completed? I earned $400?" Raven looked at Chen Luo in surprise.
"Of course. Now click on this checkmark, the commission will disappear, and a 2-Star mark will appear in the lower right corner of the panel. These are your work points. One work point represents one star, and one star represents $200." After Chen Luo clicked on the checkmark with his finger, the commission instantly disappeared, and the number 0 in the lower right corner changed to 2.
"This money-making speed... it's like robbing a bank." Raven was momentarily taken aback.
Actually, $400 isn't a small amount, but it's not huge either. But earning $400 in just one minute for the entire process?
Isn't this better than risking life and death?
"And besides someone actively making a commission, you can also take the initiative, like I did just now. Yuyuko didn't initially want to eat Tricolor Dango, but after my inquiry, they wanted some, so a commission appeared. You should understand what this represents, right?"
"Sales?" The word slipped out of Raven's mouth.
"More or less. In short, a commission only appears when the other party truly wants something. Just follow this line of thinking for sales. If the other party wants to eat delicacies, go get them from that refrigerator. If the other party wants to drink, knock on the bar counter, then get it from under the counter." As Chen Luo spoke, he knocked on the bar counter and gestured for Raven to bend down slightly.
After Raven bent down slightly, she saw a drink appear in the compartment under the bar counter.
"Your bar is truly magical." Raven's eyes shone with amazement.
"In short, what do you think of this job?" Chen Luo asked for Raven's thoughts.
"It feels a bit like returning to my old trade. Speaking of which, I originally wanted to open my own small shop, slowly save money, and live a good life. Not bad, I'll take this job." Raven nodded, somewhat nostalgic and somewhat satisfied.
Although this job likely won't earn tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars per commission, it wins in stability, tranquility, and also safety.
At the same time, earning $400 per minute means $24,000 in 60 minutes—truly earning a fortune daily.
"If someone is looking for me, or if the star count reaches 10 or more, just press this red button on the panel, and I'll know."
"Mmm." Raven nodded.
"One work point can be exchanged for $200. Of course, if possible, I don't recommend you convert them into US dollars or gold or the like."
"Why?" Raven asked curiously.
"Because you can save up work points. When you've saved enough work points, you can make a wish to me."
"A wish? What kind of wish?"
"Any wish." Chen Luo said confidently.
"Such as?"
"No 'such as.' Any wish that doesn't violate my principles is fine. Moreover, when using work points to make a wish, for every work point consumed, you also get $100."
Raven helps Chen Luo receive guests and earn Primogems for him, and in return, she gets work points.
And if Raven wants to use work points to have Chen Luo help fulfill a wish, Raven will inevitably generate a commission herself, so Chen Luo will also get Primogems after completing it.
How should I put it? Well... you might profit, but Chen Luo never loses.
If Chen Luo didn't feel that having Raven work for him for free was too capitalist, he wouldn't have proposed the rule of getting $100 for every work point consumed.