Chapter 70: Schwi's Kiss?

"My personal advice: don't sell all these parts. Machines like Schwi can't maintain their bodies after leaving the team. If problems arise, I can help you replace some of the parts. If you sell them outright, it will be hard to buy them back. You can store them with me first and sell them when you need to."

If sold directly to the system, it would exchange the resources in various ways. According to the system, this high-tech stuff was popular in many worlds. It collected 240,000 here and could sell it for a much better price when it changed hands.

From this, it could be seen that many of the parts were useful, especially those evaluated by the system as 'Data Core'. While it might be worth a hundred thousand dollars to the system, it could mean another life for Schwi.

"Like this? Then it's hard work, boss."

"It's not! But here's a reminder: if you want to store it, for this kind of precision electronic equipment, you need a hundred for the storage fee per day."

This wasn't Liu Yuan charging an arbitrary price, but the standard price given by the system. He didn't ask for much more than a single point.

Riku was not intimidated by this price but chose to sell fifty thousand worth of equipment. The rest were temporarily stored as backup.

He felt that Liu Yuan had a point. Although Fujimaru's world was also apocalyptic, they could cross over singularities and loot without worries. As an ordinary human, the only one Riku could rely on right now was Schwi.

At the same time Liu Yuan was advising Riku, Kisara whispered to Schwi, "See? He's reserving the resources for you, spending a huge amount of money every day to maintain those parts, just so you can use them if needed."

"For... me?"

Schwi looked at Kisara in confusion. She couldn't understand what Riku was thinking, and she had even less idea what she was going to do next.

Kisara knew that Schwi was a robot, but that didn't stop her from playing her games.

She pressed against Schwi's ear and whispered, "I have a way to thank someone, but it can only be used on one person in a lifetime. Do you think he's someone who deserves to be with you forever?"

"Schwi...is Riku's..."

This statement made Kisara nod in satisfaction.

"It's childish but enough, come on. I'll tell you. You'll do this and this..."

Kisara started to come up with bad ideas.

"Schwi, let's go."

Riku's call interrupted the whispered exchanges between the two. Schwi thanked Kisara before following Riku.

As the two made their way to the chair, Schwi leaned toward Riku and whispered, "Is Riku doing this for Schwi?"

"No!"

Riku dismissed outright. The closed heart he had over the years allowed him to lie without blushing.

"Like this? Riku~"

"What?"

Riku turned his head to look at Schwi. Schwi waved a hand, signaling him to come closer.

He leaned in, thinking that Schwi had some secret to tell.

"Chirp."

Feeling the somewhat cold sensation on his face, Riku looked at the girl beside him with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Miss manager told me that a kiss is a way to show appreciation to someone you can be with forever. Thank you."

"???"

Riku subconsciously looked at Kisara, who at that moment was whistling and looking at the ceiling.

On the side, Liu Yuan was looking condescendingly into Kisara's eyes, "Miss Demon!"

"Eh? Boss? What's wrong?"

The whiny Kisara made the smile on Liu Yuan's face widen. "Are you the one teaching the guests bad manners?"

"What do you mean teaching bad manners? I'm helping Schwi her feelings. Boss, don't talk nonsense."

"Hehe, dare to do it but not admit it? In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Liu Yuan clenched his hands into fists, as if possessed by an angry mom, and drilled against Kisara's temples.

"Help...!!!"

Accompanied by Kisara's miserable screams, a beautiful day began for the store. The customers who came in afterward saw how miserable Kisara was, commenting, "You've angered the boss again."

"Ms. Kisara has done it again."

While Kisara covered her face, feeling that she couldn't stay in the store as a demon, she turned her grief into appetite, eating three bowls of rice for lunch as if two more bowls would give her money back.

Kissing, a simple yet complex gesture. In a family, a kiss from an elder represents care for the offspring.

A couple's kiss represents love for each other, so what about Schwi's kiss on Riku?

Riku, who was kissed, was in a daze all day, getting abused playing Red Alert with Schwi, and getting poked by mobs when he missed his rolls playing Elden Ring.

These were all mistakes that shouldn't be made, but he made them all. He hadn't recovered until the evening, when the store was closed and he followed Schwi out.

"Riku~"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Riku looked back to Schwi, especially at her mouth, his face reddening a little.

He didn't even notice that compared to before, his eyes now had a spark, while there was one more person, or rather an Ex Machina species, in the deepest part of his eyes.

This thing called karma was something Liu Yuan himself couldn't figure out, let alone Riku. In all the years he had been the village leader, he had seen his companions and friends die 48 times, a number significant enough in human history in his world. But even that had caused his heart to close up, until now.

"Riku is out of shape today, is it because of me?"

"..."

Riku looked towards Schwi, having a human exterior but being completely unrelated to a human. It was clearly a machine without feelings, but the simulated emotions were no different from real ones. Whether it was real or unreal, he couldn't tell anymore.

"Hmm."

For the first time, Riku denied his emotions. "Because you're my tool, and it bothers me when my tool goes wrong."

That statement made Schwi hug him, "Schwi is Riku's~"

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?"

"Schwi is Riku's~"

"It's a tool~"

"It's Riku's~"

"Tool!"

Repeated several times, Riku silently shut his mouth. Whether he couldn't argue with Schwi or he acquiesced to the relationship was unknown. No one could figure out what Riku was thinking except for a special existence that could read hearts.

After they left, Liu Yuan was caught in a difficult choice.

After feedback from the system, the data core that Riku had temporarily stored had a soul. After Schwi's so-called data sharing, its data was not formatted but left here.

Theoretically, it was possible to take this core and recreate an Ex Machina. Because items saved by the system could only be dead items, items without a mind. But this data core was judged by the system as a living thing, and required two options.

Either completely format the data and put it into the system for preservation.

Or provide a certain amount of money, after which the system would anthropomorphize the data and help raise it.

Liu Yuan didn't even think about the first option, but the second cost was a little high, needing 50,000 yuan. What concept is this? If the data core's data was extracted and became a person, his time would be spent for nothing.

However, Liu Yuan considered the long term. An Internet cafe's most reasonable number of people was about fifty. If expanding the branch, it would need someone to look after it. Since it needed to be looked after, knowing and understanding the human situation of the clerk was essential.

Sell? Forget it. I'll just give myself a hand. Since Kisara can't do it...

Liu Yuan made a choice. He chose the second option.