The gift leaderboard had already accumulated over fifty thousand Beast Coins.
In Gu Ning's old world, this wouldn't have been much, but she hadn't seen this much money in a very long time.
Compared to the savings she had on hand, this was a fortune.
And her video had only just been released.
The fortune was still growing.
Gu Ning looked away for just a minute, and it had already jumped to over seventy thousand.
Cute Beast Coin icons kept flashing across the screen, all of them turning into dollar signs in Gu Ning's eyes.
Watching the donations skyrocket, Gu Ning was both excited and dazed. She temporarily exited the video, happily kicking her legs and rolling around on the floor. The Beast Coins from the Beastmen were converted one-to-one into real Beast Coins. She worked herself to death at the construction site for a whole week just to earn a thousand Beast Coins, and that was including some of Cook's unpaid wages.
'Damn it! This world is way too harsh on Mixed Breeds!'
Thinking about the social standing of Mixed Breeds, the little bit of guilt she felt for pretending to be a Beast Female vanished.
'For her and Cook to have a safe, comfortable home in the future, with meat at every meal, she was going to fleece these Beastmen for all they were worth!'
Gu Ning checked the time. It was just past two in the afternoon, less than an hour since she had published her video.
Since it was still early, she could go out and buy a few things.
They were out of food. With this much money, she and Cook could eat better. She could also buy a better recovery potion for Cook and purchase some props for her next video.
Gu Ning withdrew the donations to her account.
She was a little apprehensive. This was her first time withdrawing her earnings. Although the virtual account didn't specify that it belonged to a Mixed Breed, she was still worried it might get stuck in the review process.
The transfer was instant.
Gu Ning was surprised. 'That was... incredibly fast?'
However, only a little over thirty-five thousand had been deposited.
She checked the revenue page in her creator dashboard. Only the few thousand Beast Coins that had just been donated remained. It seemed the website took the other half.
'A fifty-fifty split. That's not too bad.'
Looking at the money that had arrived, Gu Ning finally felt a little more at ease.
Even with this money, she couldn't leave just yet. First, she needed to prepare things like travel tickets, food, and weapons.
But first, she had to withdraw the money from her virtual account and get physical cash.
Because Mixed Breeds were considered to have unstable temperaments and were prone to causing accidents, many places like shopping malls prohibited them from entering. Dangerous items like weapons were also not sold to Mixed Breeds.
There were many restrictions on online transactions as well.
Now that Gu Ning was posing as a Beast Female online, she didn't dare use that account to buy things and risk exposing her identity.
Gu Ning took out a set of Cook's clothes and changed into them. She tucked the long pant legs into her boots, hid her hair under a hat, and put on a neck gaiter and goggles, covering herself completely. With a salvaged old backpack slung over her shoulder, she was ready to go out.
When Cook saw her about to leave, he immediately got clingy, wanting to go with her.
After a night's rest, his leg was a little better than it had been yesterday.
Gu Ning, however, didn't feel comfortable letting him come along. It took a while to coax and placate him before she could finally head out the door by herself.
「...」
"How many Mixed Breeds did you rent 506 to?"
Wanai asked, leaning against the doorframe of the dozing landlord.
"Just one."
The landlord, woken from a pleasant dream, dug a finger in his ear impatiently.
"One?" Wanai asked. "A Mixed Breed from the Dog Clan?"
"Yeah. Did it cause trouble?" The landlord stretched his back and started to get up. "I'll go teach it a lesson for you."
"No need." Wanai stood up straight. "Does it have any relatives?"
"How should I know? It was alone when it got here."
Hearing the question, the landlord said, "Did you see it bring someone back? If it's a relative, that's perfect. I can get them to pay the rent. If they can't, they can get lost. Don't worry, it won't be living here for long."
Wanai said nothing, simply pulling a wad of cash from his pocket and tossing it on the desk.
"What's this?"
The landlord's eyes widened the moment he saw the money.
"I'm his relative," Wanai stated.
The landlord clicked his tongue. 'Damn,' he thought, 'almost picked a fight with the wrong guy.'
'Families with a Mixed Breed relative either turn them out to fend for themselves or protect them fiercely.'
He picked up the wad of cash and began counting it. "I only rented to him, a single Mixed Breed. He hasn't brought any others to squat here."
Some landlords, to squeeze more money out of Mixed Breeds, would cram several of them into a single room.
The landlord finished counting. It was a total of three thousand Beast Coins.
"This only covers one month," the landlord said, waving the cash. "It's the rule in Zone 19: triple the rent for Mixed Breeds. It's lucky I was willing to rent to it at all. Not many Mixed Breeds in the industrial park get treated this well; most of them live in the outer zones."
「...」
Gu Ning came out of her apartment, bypassed the elevator, and headed for the stairwell.
She almost never took the elevator down, wanting to avoid being in a confined space with Beastmen.
Just then, the elevator doors opened behind her, and a tall figure stepped out.
Gu Ning paid it no mind and continued straight down the stairs.
Wanai watched the small, slender figure disappear around the corner. He glanced back toward room 506, paused for a moment, and then followed, his footsteps light and silent.
After leaving the building, Gu Ning kept her head down and walked quickly toward the black market. All the while, a dark figure followed her, as silent as a ghost.
Wanai maintained a careful distance from the Mixed Breed, just far enough to avoid being noticed by it.
Wanai was a mercenary and a private investigator who specialized in assassination and intelligence-gathering missions. As a member of the Leopard Clan, he was a natural-born tracker and hunter.
He always worked alone, having never joined any organization, and his ties to his own clan were tenuous. He took jobs from anyone, whether it was the Beast Alliance or private clients.
This time, he had accepted an investigation mission from the Beast Alliance. The report claimed a Beastman was smuggling a batch of items for females into Zone 19.
Smugglers usually figured out the Investigation Bureau's methods and recognized the faces of Beast Alliance agents, which was how they managed to evade strict inspections to smuggle items for Beast Females.
To avoid tipping their hand, the Beast Alliance had hired a mercenary to investigate first. They would only make an arrest once solid evidence was secured.
After tailing the Mixed Breed for a while, Wanai realized it wasn't particularly perceptive. He could get a little closer without being discovered.
Still, it remained alert to its surroundings, actively avoiding crowds and steering clear of any close contact with Beastmen.
This behavior was highly suspicious.
Wanai felt the object in his pocket. 'Looks like this job might wrap up early,' he thought.
Gu Ning arrived at the black market in Zone 19.
It was called a black market, but it was more like a flea market. Both sides of the street were crammed with all sorts of stalls selling everything imaginable, from small items like lighters, badges, buttons, and mechanical parts, to large ones like old furniture, firearms, and other weapons.
This was where Gu Ning sold the parts she salvaged from the junkyard.
The entire street was a noisy, chaotic mess, packed with Beastmen hunting for bargains.
Gu Ning actually quite liked coming here. Over half the crowd consisted of Mixed Breeds, and as long as they didn't start trouble, the other Beastmen left them alone.
'Maybe I'm starting to get used to being a Mixed Breed,' she thought. Being around other Mixed Breeds gave her a sense of kinship.
Gu Ning kept herself small as she weaved through the crowd of Beastmen, browsing the stalls for the items she needed.
Most of the stall owners were decent enough to Mixed Breeds. They would even offer recommendations when they saw one browsing—unless, of course, the Mixed Breed didn't intend to pay.
"Damn it, it's you again! You've got some nerve coming back!"
A Dwarf hybrid had just bolted from a shop when the owner caught him, pinned him to the ground, and started beating him.
The Mixed Breed had a mouthful of sharp teeth and let out guttural, bestial growls as he fiercely kicked and struggled against the Beastman holding him down.
Gu Ning had seen scenes like this many times. There were reasons why Mixed Breeds were ostracized by Beastmen.
Most Mixed Breeds suffered from mental regression and were highly aggressive. Dwarf hybrids were especially known for robbing Beastmen of their belongings and food.
There weren't many Dwarf hybrids like Cook, who supported themselves by scavenging and working instead of stealing and robbing.
Gu Ning glanced away and walked over to a familiar stall.