Chapter 129
“Ah...”
It had been two hours since he submitted his résumé.
Gilbert couldn't take his eyes off the gallery and was growing anxious.
But even he knew deep down.
That his chances of being selected were slim.
“There are only 100 openings...”
100 people.
At a glance, it was an enormous number.
But things were different when the person hiring was Head Mod.
Not only might people from Kellierton have applied, but Adrian—no, even elves and dwarves might have applied.
Gilbert clenched his teeth and muttered toward the sky he had never even believed in.
“Ah, please, just help me this once. I'll live a good life without harming anyone...”
An hourly wage of 9.86 dango!
That was about ten cans of tuna.
Sometimes he couldn't even earn that much as a daily wage, let alone hourly, so this figure was absurd.
The job and its location were undisclosed, but who cared?
“Please, please, please...”
It was just as he opened his eyes, his hands clasped desperately and his blood running cold.
[A notification has arrived!]
[Head Mod*: Yeah, let's work together]
“Uwaa... Uwaaaah!!!!!”
Gilbert's eyes went round, and then he cheered as if screaming.
-Boom!
“What is it? What happened!”
“W-What is going on?”
At Gilbert's unusually loud scream, his younger sister and mother came running in.
Instead of answering them, Gilbert simply showed them the gallery.
Their eyes grew as large as rabbits'—so large they nearly dropped the breakfast bread in their hands.
“O-Older brother, you got accepted?!”
A gallery part-time job.
Wasn't it a profession said to be bestowed by the gods, a job that only the chosen could do?
After standing frozen for a long while, Gilbert's mother rubbed her eyes and peered at the gallery.
“Th-Then what kind of work is it?”
They had said the duties would be revealed once someone was selected.
Even if it paid 10 dango an hour, it couldn't be worth risking their lives.
It was when she anxiously checked the job description.
“...Gallery beta tester?”
An unfamiliar term was written there.
Also known as the Gallery Trial Group.
The more she read the explanation, the less she understood.
Head Mod*: I'm going to launch these in the marketplace; just try them in advance and leave a review, yeah
Gilbert: Huh?
Head Mod*: Eat and drink.
Gilbert: Huh???
They were supposed to just eat the expensive marketplace food?
And get paid for it?
“Why...?”
All three of them could only blink blankly at the job description.
*
[Title: Did the gallery job duties get posted!!!]
(Part-time job acceptance announcement)
Ah lol, it came out, so I'm posting it.
Apparently the work is being a gallery beta tester.
You try products or food before they're put up in the marketplace and leave a rating. What is this?
[Upvotes 6231] [Downvotes 2202]
- Fuck, you lucky bastard
- But seriously, what does this mean?
ㄴ You idiot, it literally says to eat and drink
ㄴ That's what I'm asking, what the fuck does that mean?
- I don't really understand either. So they pay us to eat delicious food and have fun?
ㄴ ?
ㄴ Did I read that correctly?
We had successfully recruited the part-timers.
The number of résumés had already surpassed several thousand within ten minutes of posting, and it took three hours just to select them.
“No, is this for real?”
In the end, I had no choice but to admit it.
That gallery-related jobs were extremely popular.
No, that they had surpassed even the knightly profession and become the undisputed number one.
- So what do we do?
- I don't understand what you mean by telling us to eat and drink
- Yeah, I got selected and I'm insanely happy, but I still have no idea what's going on
The part-timers I selected were a kind of beta testers.
They would use the products in advance, literally as a trial, and leave evaluations of them.
“Honestly, I did need them.”
Until now, survival-oriented goods had been the marketplace's mainstay.
And whenever possible, I had sold those goods at prices aligned with the shop's rates.
But now it was time to consider selling products for profit.
However, if I listed a large batch and they failed to sell, I'd suffer an equivalent loss.
So I wanted to conduct a preference survey in order to collect some data...
“Why don't they believe me?”
- You just give us food and money?
ㄴ Isn't this actually a test of weapons or poison effects?
ㄴ Hmm, that's a fair point
The testers who had actually been selected and gathered didn't understand their duties.
They began speculating among themselves, throwing around ideas like weapons testing and clinical trials.
“Why are they twisting my words?”
I had clearly written the explanation properly.
1. Marketplace products are provided for free in advance
2. Eat, drink, or use them, then leave a rating
“Is this really that difficult to understand?”
In the end, I appeared in the confused chat room before they could misconstrue it any further.
Head Mod*: Hi
ㄴ Oh, Head Mod
ㄴ Distinguishing biological males and females
ㄴ Thanks so fucking much for selecting me
ㄴ But what are we supposed to do?
Head Mod*: I'm going to try making some profit now
Head Mod*: I bought some products that might be popular, but I don't know if they'll actually sell
Head Mod*: Your job is to try, use, or eat what I give you and rate it
Head Mod*: Out of five, okay?
[A poll is in progress!]
[Products are being shipped... Number of votes completed so far: 0/100]
“Let's start simple with pizza.”
Pizza was an extremely popular food.
But you never knew with the medieval crowd.
They might dislike it because it was too greasy or had too strong a flavor.
I sent it as a light starter.
- ? What the fuck is this? It's fucking delicious lol
- Wow, sax
- Ah, seriously... I feel like I'm gonna cry, for real
- This taste makes me feel like my shitty life has been forgiven a little, seriously...
[Poll complete! 1. Pizza 5 points]
It came back as a perfect score before long.
“Well, pizza could do that.”
So I moved on to the next items.
For food, I listed mint chocolate, sushi sets, yogurt, and so on.
For products, I tried listing things like humidifiers, umbrellas, and glass cups.
“Money is always right.”
Now that we'd escaped survival concerns to some extent, I listed these with an eye toward making a profit.
[Poll complete!]
2. Mint chocolate 2.3/5
3. Sushi set 5/5
4. Assorted sashimi 5/5
5. Yogurt 5/5
6. Umbrella 5/5
.
.
“? No, what the...”
Out of all the countless votes, only mint chocolate got a normal response.
Everything except mint chocolate received a perfect score.
I went back into the chat room.
Head Mod*: What the fuck, are you trying to die?
Head Mod*: Vote properly. Give me a cold, objective evaluation!!!
Even if they had been hired as part-timers, it was a problem if they gave everything perfect scores like this.
What was the point of hiring them then?
When I left a message asking if they were doing this to curry favor with me, a flood of handshake requests came back.
- No, what the fuck;
- You sent us only insanely delicious food, so how are we supposed not to give it a perfect score? What are we supposed to do???
- Do you really want a kiss on the cheek?
- Are you deliberately pretending not to know? Or are you doing this because you know and want to marry me?
ㄴ Why would Head Mod marry you, you piece of shit
ㄴ Get in line, you bastard
The chat window became chaotic in an instant.
I was the one left more bewildered.
“No, you were all being sincere?”
They weren't even giving me 4.5 or 4.6; every single score was a 5, so I thought they were colluding.
In the end, I sent the part-timers several more items I had selected in advance.
Every rating that came back was a 5.
After hours of repeated perfect scores, I finally realized it.
“Oh, right. These were the people who thought even rice soaked in water was delicious.”
Just a few months ago, they had been people who said anything was fine as long as it staved off their hunger.
The very premise of conducting a market preference survey was wrong.
- So what did we even do?
ㄴ Hmm, experience heaven?
ㄴ Get paid to play and eat
ㄴ Um
- Is that really all we do, Head Mod?
- Seriously, is there nothing you want us to do? We can do anything
- Like go to war, test drugs, or something...
ㄴ Head Mod*) Nah; why would I make you do that?
They started suspecting me instead.
But apart from preferences, there was nothing else to investigate here.
I had already gone through trial and error and established their viability in the modern world, so why redo it here?
[69.02 dango per person have been delivered!]
Head Mod*: There's nothing else I need you to do now, yeah
Head Mod*: Good work, and take care
ㄴ I love you
ㄴ Call us again, please
ㄴ But you're not taking back what you gave us?
ㄴ Head Mod*) Yeah, keep it
ㄴ Ha... seriously...
ㄴ Head Mod, seriously, don't ever show your face in public. If I ever run into you in the city...
“Yikes.”
I didn't know what they would say if I stayed any longer.
The fact that I had tried to survey preferences among gallery users was wrong from the start.
“I guess I can just list anything.”
This survey made it clear.
Gallery jobs really were popular.
I contacted the likable fixed-handle user, Gallery Teacher.
Head Mod*: Yeah, they really are popular
Gallery Teacher: Of course. The gallery is basically life itself, so who could dislike it?
Head Mod*: So, about that Gallery Academy you started...
Gallery Teacher: Gasp
It was about time to pass judgment.
After all, I had started this whole thing to investigate Gallery Academy.
Leaving Gallery Teacher tense, I sent a message as if it were no big deal.
Head Mod*: Do whatever you want
Gallery Teacher: Gasp, you're not shutting it down?
They sounded surprised, as if they hadn't expected that answer.
But there was never anything to deliberate in the first place.
“If I were going to shut this down, I'd have to close every academy and tutoring business in the modern world too.”
When a profession was popular, related occupations naturally branched out like limbs.
The problem was that when and whom I hired for gallery jobs was entirely up to me.
Well, if the people involved didn't mind...
Head Mod*: Yeah, it's your freedom, I guess
Gallery Teacher: Aww... thank you... really...
Gallery Teacher: I was sure you'd get angry and shut it down...
Gallery Teacher: I really revere Head Mod—
Head Mod*: ?
Gallery Teacher: —and, in appreciation of your noble spirit, I'll pay you 40% of the fees every month!
Head Mod*: Ah lol
“I thought they were saying they'd worship me.”
Come to think of it, I didn't really need the fees.
If I accepted them, it would actually cause problems.
The moment I started choosing who got jobs, people might start talking if I accepted money from them.
Head Mod*: Give that money to the slums instead
Save hungry people so they can enjoy the gallery.
Gallery Teacher: I'll absolutely do that!!!
The Gallery Academy issue was resolved as well.
Actually, it wasn't really an issue; I just hadn't known it was such a hot-button topic among gallerybros.
“No, perhaps it was only natural.”
There were many gallerybros here who had trouble finding even minimum-wage work, sufficient jobs, or immediate food, clothing, and shelter.
When I thought about it, it was only natural.
At least, it was fortunate that I could see the problems gradually improving.
“The Middle Ages? Time to normalize it, I guess.”
People gallery more when they're well fed.
I was in the middle of getting a firsthand feel for the popularity of gallery jobs.
Vampire Till Death: Head Mod, Head Mod
The sub-mod, Vampire Till Death, had contacted me.
Head Mod*: Yeah?
I sent you this week's blood, didn't I?
I sent blood every Wednesday, partly to feel like I was donating blood and partly with his health in mind.
When I replied, thinking today's blood had arrived safely, he sent me an unexpected gift.
[Vampire Till Death has sent you a ‘Mystery Box’!]
Head Mod*: What is this?
Vampire Till Death: Something good
Vampire Till Death: Want to check it out?
He had sent me a suspicious-looking box, no matter how I looked at it.