The number two trending topic was even bloodier, carrying a heavy undertone of instant karma: "The Ultimate Fate of Blind Box Egg Gambling! Greedy Bro Angrily Buys Eighty-Eight Pieces of Industrial Waste, Tragically Becomes an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet for a Wild Ekans!"
Miles casually clicked on the viral video of the Feebas slapping the angler. The live chat below, refreshing at a dizzying rate of hundreds of messages per second, was an absolute carnival.
[Viewer: LMAO! Forgive me for laughing like a dying tractor in the study hall! This is definitely the most dramatic, perfect uno-reverse epic I've seen all year!]
[Viewer: One second it's a terrifying water ghost claiming a life, and the next it's a defensive counterattack from the internet's ugliest fish!]
[Viewer: That Feebas turning mid-air and landing a precise Tail Whip right to the angler's face was too smooth! That slap is a permanent stain on the fishing community! I nominate this for the gold medal in bizarre human behavior!]
[Viewer: Seriously bros, when that busted face first surfaced from the dark water, I was eating instant ramen alone in my cramped apartment. Scared the absolute crap out of me!]
[Viewer: Those sunken eye sockets and thick sausage lips under the green light looked like a corpse that's been rotting for half a month!]
[Viewer: The streamer's mental fortitude is insane, actually recognizing such a rare Pokémon in a single second! If it were me, I would've been so scared I'd throw my phone down the toilet and flush it!]
[Viewer: From a legal and personal safety perspective: this bro named 'Fishing Never Skunks' has a serious death wish! Plunging straight into an abandoned body of water without taking off his clothes, completely blind to the hydrology, weed density, or the presence of highly venomous wild Pokémon!]
[Viewer: True, if a Gyarados or a Crawdaunt had been hiding underwater, there wouldn't even be bone scraps left! Everyone, please don't imitate this brainless, death-seeking behavior!]
[Viewer: As a veteran researcher who has worked at the official Federal Breeding Center for ten years, I must pay my highest respects to this streamer! Because Feebas's appearance challenges the absolute bottom line of human aesthetics, it sits at the very bottom of the food chain and the hierarchy of contempt in the wild. Very few are willing to study them deeply.]
[Viewer: W Streamer! Not only did he see through its true form at a glance, but he was also willing to drop a fortune to buy it and adopt it! Overcoming societal prejudice and maintaining absolute respect and curiosity for every life—this is the true demeanor of a master appraiser!]
[Viewer: I just want to know one thing: can that ugly fish actually be eaten? Even if it looks like a biological weapon, in our great foodie empire, as long as it isn't highly toxic, there's always a perfect cooking method!]
[Viewer: If that pitted skin was scraped clean, would the meat underneath be super firm and chewy from struggling in the mud year-round? It shouldn't taste too bad boiled alive or braised in soy sauce, right? Pity the angler didn't throw it in the pot!]
[Viewer: Eww... bro, stop it! How could you even stomach something with a dead man's face? Is your stomach made of titanium?!]
[Viewer: What I'm really looking forward to now is the streamer's follow-up breeding stream! Since he dared to spend on the ugliest trash fish on the internet in front of everyone, with his never-failing eye, this ugly thing absolutely hides an astonishing secret!]
[Viewer: +1. I've already set my alarm. I'll be camping in the stream every day, just waiting to see what kind of massive waves this ugly duckling can make!]
[Viewer: Compared to this ugly fish, I think Crazy Brother Motorcycle, who went bankrupt gambling on eggs and got eaten out of house and home by an Ekans, is the real unlucky bastard! 118,000 bucks! Just helplessly watching a newborn venomous snake eat an all-you-can-eat buffet right in front of him, and finally letting out a mocking burp! RIP to that guy!]
[Viewer: This is absolutely God's cruelest punishment for greedy gamblers! This stream is simply a grand stage for instant karma. It's so damn stress-relieving!]
Reading the lively, chaotic chat feed filled with clashing emotions, Miles laughed.
Ding—!
Just as he was about to close the webpage, a crisp mechanical prompt echoed in his mind. A futuristic holographic panel glowing with faint blue light unfolded before his eyes, and lines of dark gold text danced across it.
[Ding! The data settlement for this afternoon's stream is fully complete. Deep data calculation is underway!]
[You have gained Influence Points from this stream!]
[Updating your historical data overview...]
[Including this session's earnings, your current cumulative historical Influence Points have soared!]
[Your current Reputation Level remains solid at: Level 3 (Rising Fame)!]
Looking at the settlement panel cascading down like a waterfall, Miles took a deep breath, his teeth aching.
'The influence points from this stream are actually a bit lower than the last one...' he thought helplessly. 'And there are so many uses for these points. Once I start using them to train Pokémon, it's going to be a bottomless pit. Looks like I can only earn them during a live broadcast.'
Although his point-gathering speed was like a rocket, the System's upgrade thresholds were growing exponentially. Especially after using [Voice of All Things] last night, Miles finally understood what it meant to burn through cash.
The god-tier skill let him hear the voices deep within a Pokémon's soul. It was incredibly overpowered—the ultimate cheat code for appraising and psychological counseling.
But it was a money sink that burned Influence Points by the second.
If he didn't work hard to stockpile points, the next time he encountered a top-tier Pokémon with its guard up, he might be forced to cut the connection before he even heard the beginning of its thoughts.
'No matter how awesome the System is, I still have to grind to earn points', Miles thought, shaking his head. He wasn't going to let the System's grand promises go to his head.
He clicked open the platform's creator dashboard. Seeing the long string of green numbers representing donations and traffic share, his depressed mood instantly lifted.
[Today's Afternoon Stream Net Revenue: 1,598.6 Dollars!]
'No tens of thousands in Master Ball donations or Superchats like last night, but making sixteen hundred bucks in pure profit for a few hours of streaming beats ninety-nine percent of exhausted wage slaves', Miles smiled, feeling content.
The livestreaming industry's revenue was inherently unstable, entirely dependent on whether the viewers' emotional engagement was maxed out that day. Sometimes a mind-blowing cliffhanger could make people frantically donate; other times, plain educational content provided a steady trickle. As long as his core audience didn't collapse, this gig would be enough for him and Munchlax to live very comfortably in this highly expensive Pokémon world.
"Phew... that's enough money made. This body is reaching its limit," Miles sighed.
He turned off the computer monitor and stood up wearily, stretching so hard his joints popped. Maintaining the intense focus required to keep the [Eye of Pokémon Insight] active for hours severely drained his stamina.
Dragging legs as heavy as lead, he stumbled to his cramped, squeaky wooden bed and collapsed face-first into the mattress like a puddle of mud. In a cruel world filled with schemes, dangers, and miracles, this tiny bed was his safest haven. The moment he laid down, a cloud-like relaxation wiped away his capacity for thought.
"Ka-en..."
Almost the second Miles collapsed, Munchlax—who had been playing on the floor—sensed its master's exhaustion. Pumping its stubby legs, it clumsily but swiftly climbed onto the bed.
Creak—!
The old wooden frame groaned under Munchlax's terrifying weight, sounding ready to snap. Munchlax practicedly squeezed between Miles and the cold wall, pressing its heated-blanket-like body tightly against Miles's back. It smelled pleasantly of sun-dried berries. Accompanied by its steady, muffled breathing, it was the world's best sleeping pill.
"You little fatty, you're going to crush my bed sooner or later," Miles mumbled with his eyes closed. He thoroughly enjoyed the healing sense of security that came from being squished against the wall by Munchlax's soft fat. Fumbling for his phone in his pocket, he barely managed to set an alarm for twenty minutes later.
'Just a twenty-minute nap... No matter how tired I am, I can't be late for the prime-time evening stream. In this competitive era, slacking off is fatal to your popularity...'
With that final thought fading, Miles's consciousness quickly sank into a deep, tranquil sleep. For someone utterly exhausted, a twenty-minute deep sleep was often more refreshing than sleeping for ten hours.
Beep beep beep beep—!
When the shrill phone alarm exploded in his ear, Miles snapped his eyes open. Though his brain was still slightly foggy, most of the exhaustion in his body had dissipated.
"Munchlax, time to get up. The sun is almost setting," Miles groaned, struggling to push the gray-blue mountain of meat pinning him down.
Munchlax was dead asleep, a string of crystal-clear drool hanging from the corner of its mouth. It let out a reluctant, muffled snore, rolled over, and went right back to sleep.
Just as Miles was pondering what extreme physical measures he'd need to employ to escape this fat blockade, a sound interrupted him.
Ding-dong—!
The doorbell of the rental's battered security door rang abruptly. Immediately after, an enthusiastic, gruff male voice called out from the hallway. "Hello! Anyone home? The premium Pokémon rations you expedited have arrived! Time to eat!"
"Rations"! "Time to eat"!
For a Munchlax with the Pickup and Gluttony abilities, those words were the ultimate passcodes carved into its DNA.
"Ka-en?!"
The very next second, Munchlax—who had been sleeping like a log and was impossible to shove off—snapped its eyes open. Saliva flowed from its mouth like an open hydrant, and its massive belly let out a loud, thunderous rumble.
Its primary directive was clear: when it was time to eat, even the Grim Reaper had to get in line!
Boom!
Munchlax executed an incredibly agile barrel roll. The violent rebound of the mattress nearly launched Miles into the ceiling. Without even a glance at its master, the Pokémon pumped its stubby legs and charged toward the front door like a sprinting meatball, extending a chubby paw to grab the handle.
"Holy shit! Munchlax! Stop right there!"
Miles scrambled out of bed, both annoyed and amused. He lunged forward, grabbed the scruff of Munchlax's neck, and dragged it away from the door.
"Are you stupid? What do I always teach you? No matter what tempting sounds you hear, you absolutely, absolutely never open the door for strangers!" he scolded, giving the little fatty two light smacks on the back as punishment. "What if the person outside isn't delivering food, but a bad guy planning to abduct you and sell you to a circus?!"
"Ka-en..."
Caught in the act, Munchlax shrank into a huge, pitiful ball. It hugged its big head with its stubby paws, squeezing two sparkling tears into its large eyes to play the perfect victim: I was hit so hard, I'm so pitiful, my master is abusing me.
This guy used the same practiced, manipulative combo every time it made a mistake, always making Miles go soft and unable to truly punish it.
'With your thick fat armor that could tank a Tackle from a Tauros, there's no way those two little pats hurt!' Miles thought, eyeing its exaggerated acting with suspicion. 'You're definitely just playing weak, aren't you?'
But since Pokémon couldn't speak human languages, Miles never had solid proof to expose it.
Alright, you little fatty. Today I'll let you see what it means to fight fire with fire! Miles's eyes suddenly glinted with a sly light.
With a thought, he decisively issued a command in his mind!
[Voice of All Things, Activated!]
As the precious Influence Points in his System balance began to burn, Miles felt the surrounding air fall dead silent. A profound mental connection, crossing the species barrier, instantly linked his brain to Munchlax's!
The next second, a childish, chubby inner voice—sounding like a three-year-old toddler guarding its food—exploded loudly in Miles's mind:
'Hehe! I love watching Master get anxious trying to catch me, ka! Master's little slaps are so soft, it feels like he's scratching an itch. It doesn't hurt at all, en~'
'As long as I pretend to be super wronged and in pain, Master will definitely feel bad and won't want to hit me anymore, ka! This trick works every time! Once Master goes soft, I can go out and eat! Ka-en, ka-en!'
Hearing this incredibly devious, shameless inner monologue, the corner of Miles's eye twitched uncontrollably.
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