Silence filled the air.
"I'm sorry… I need to think about it."
Sana hesitated several times, but in the end that was the only answer she could give.
"Can I give you an answer tomorrow?"
Right now, her heart was in complete turmoil.
A stable, long-term job was exactly what she needed.
But… something strange had started happening a week ago.
That day, she returned to her rented room after finishing a part-time shift at the mall. To her shock, the wages she had just earned had completely vanished.
In their place was a mouth-watering sirloin steak.
"Did I buy it myself and just forget because I was too tired?"
Thinking that, she could only tearfully eat the juicy, tender steak.
But the next day, something even more baffling happened.
She discovered she could no longer control her own actions.
At exactly seven in the morning she would automatically wake up, then head out to places she had never been before to look for work. When evening came, she would return home with her wages—only for the money to transform into food she had always wanted to eat but couldn't bring herself to buy.
And it happened every single day.
Different places.
Different jobs.
Different food.
It sounded pretty nice, didn't it?
But the reality was that after working hard all day, she could only save a tiny bit of money… or nothing at all.
"You must have angered some Ghost-type Pokémon," her roommate Lopunny had said.
"Then why doesn't it go after you!?"
"I'm a Normal-type."
"..."
And that was how things had ended up like this.
Sana had no way of knowing where she would be forced to go tomorrow, so naturally she couldn't make any promises.
"Alright."
Leo nodded in understanding. After all, he couldn't exactly force her to stay.
Late at night, the coffee shop was completely deserted. Anyone still wandering around at this hour was either heading to an Ascension Battle or rushing home to catch up on sleep. Nobody had time for coffee or dessert.
After seeing Sana off, Leo returned to the bar counter and sat down again. Judging by the time, his Digital Gardevoir should be returning soon.
"Hm?"
When he opened the game interface, he was greeted by Gardevoir's full health bar.
[Random Event Triggered: A kind boss treated her to a meal.]
"There are random events too?"
None had ever triggered before. Was it just because his luck had been terrible?
Whatever the reason, it was good news.
This meant Leo could finally begin his long-awaited dress-up gameplay.
With excitement, he opened the in-game shop. The moment he entered, he noticed a red notification dot on the food page.
As someone with mild OCD, he simply couldn't ignore it.
[Mall Item Added — Cream Cake]
"Oh?"
Was food being added based on the Cream Cake recipe?
When he checked the cake's price and the amount of health it restored, Leo's eyes immediately lit up.
Not because it was expensive—
But because it was ridiculously cheap.
Previously, the only foods he could buy were steak or foie gras. They were extremely expensive and only restored a mediocre amount of health.
Simply feeding Gardevoir every day to keep her alive left no extra gold for clothes.
For a dress-up game, it was absurdly hard to get new outfits.
One-star review!
"But now it's different. Using cupcakes to maintain health will save a lot of gold every day."
Excitedly, Leo opened the clothing section.
Now that he had money, how could he possibly resist a round of revenge spending?
---
Meanwhile…
Inside the rented room.
"Sana! (I'm back!)"
"Lopun! (Where did you go today? Why do you look so tired?)"
The Lopunny inside the room looked at the exhausted Gardevoir in surprise.
Sana collapsed onto the sofa. Lopunny handed her a cup of hot tea.
Holding the cup, she felt warmth slowly spread through her fingertips, and her breathing gradually steadied.
"I worked at a coffee shop today… The owner is a strange human."
She stared up at the ceiling, her voice sounding slightly absent.
"The Cream Cakes he made were delicious. He even asked if I wanted to work there long-term."
"Lopun! (Isn't that a good thing?)"
Lopunny's ears perked up.
"That's way better than being controlled by some mysterious ghost and sent everywhere to work!"
Sana slowly sat up.
"But what if tomorrow I'm forced to run somewhere else again?"
"True…"
Lopunny's ears drooped immediately.
She felt bad for her roommate, but there was nothing she could do. After all, she was just another struggling working Pokémon herself.
Suddenly—
Grrr…
Lopunny's stomach growled loudly.
She looked embarrassed.
"Quick, check what delicious food that guy exchanged your wages for. I'm starving!"
During the past few days, she had been enjoying quite a feast thanks to her best friend. Each time food appeared, the portions were huge, so she could easily share whatever Sana couldn't finish.
Of course, as a good best friend, even if Sana could finish it, she would still sneak over and grab a few bites.
Sana nodded and began rummaging through her bag.
Her wages had disappeared again, just like always. She was already used to that.
But—
"Huh?"
"Where's the food?"
After digging around for a while, Gardevoir pulled out…
A pair of pajamas.
They looked incredibly soft and comfortable. The design resembled Froslass.
Holding up the Froslass-themed pajamas, Sana examined them under the light. The gauzy fabric shimmered faintly blue, and the cuffs were decorated with tiny ice-crystal ornaments.
She and Lopunny stared at each other in confusion.
"So the ghost controlling you isn't satisfied with feeding you anymore…"
"It's started dressing you up too?"
---
"So cute! (๑•.•๑)"
Leo looked at the Gardevoir on the screen—Sana, who had already changed into the brand-new pajamas—and sincerely admired the view.
She looked extremely tired today, as if she might fall asleep at any moment.
Out of humanitarian concern, Leo had bought her a set of pajamas so she could sleep more comfortably.
Then he glanced at the progress bar at the top of the screen.
It had always been empty.
At the right end of the bar was a small pink heart.
Presumably, it was the Affection Bar.
But he still didn't know exactly what it did. After all, it hadn't increased even once since he started playing.
"Buying pajamas right before bedtime doesn't even increase affection?!"
Leo looked slightly depressed.
Or maybe the feature simply couldn't be raised in the current version of the game and would only unlock in a future update?
"Feels like it's not even as good as playing a Galgame."
Shaking his head helplessly, Leo walked to the shop entrance and flipped the sign to Closed.
After cleaning the café, he could head upstairs and sleep.
Hmm…
Tomorrow he would let Gardevoir work at the coffee shop again.
After seeing how popular the Cream Cake had been today, Leo had already come up with a new plan.
He could have Sana work at different restaurants and cafés.
Then he could secretly learn the recipes.
If every dish was as good as the Cream Cake, becoming rich would only be a matter of time.
Once he had enough money, he would hire a few employees…
Preferably Pokémon employees.
After all, what was the point of traveling to the Pokémon world if he couldn't experience a life surrounded by Pokémon?
By then, he could fully enter the perfect lifestyle—lying at home, earning money effortlessly, and relaxing all day.
Of course…
If possible, he should also hire that Shiny Gardevoir he met today again tomorrow.
If tomorrow was as busy as today—
He might actually collapse.