Chapter 2 Home and Family

And I got a partner... If I can't find a job, I'm afraid I won't even get a piece of bread!

After leaving the Sixth Cleaning Bureau with a dark face and joining the long line in front of the Cleaning Bureau, the unemployed young man Leon couldn't help but sighed quietly as he looked at the new badge shining on the virtual panel.

Good news, he is not only a man with a penis, but also a cheat.

Bad news, this cheat doesn't seem to be very useful for the time being, and sometimes even carries a strange debuff...

After staring at the inky black [Unemployed Youth] badge and the entry with a -80% success rate of blind dates for a while, Leon slowly "crawled" forward with the long line in front of the Cleaning Bureau, while casting his eyes on the other two badges that were in the "wearing" state.

On the virtual panel that accompanied him to this world, there are a total of three badge slots. In the middle slot, a badge is flashing a dim dark blue color, and exudes a warm and gentle meaning.

[Trustworthy Brother (Bronze): Since your parents died early, you took on the responsibility of taking care of your siblings very early. You are a responsible and reliable brother, so you are deeply loved by your siblings]

[Effect of wearing: When talking to minors younger than you, the other party will easily trust you, and when they are emotionally excited, they will easily trigger the special state "Open Heart" and confide their inner distress and secrets to you]

[Advanced route: None]

[Hidden feature: Not activated]

Next to this "Good Brother" badge is a red badge that is as bright as fire and looks even more dazzling than the sun.

[Materialist Soul (different color, red, cannot be upgraded): As a firm materialist, you firmly believe that matter is the basis of objective existence, and spiritual and conscious phenomena are the products of matter. All things that cannot be understood are due to your own inaccurate and in-depth understanding of the world]

[Wearing effect: For things and knowledge that you can understand, you can quickly familiarize yourself with and master them through your own analysis and thinking, and obtain additional effects when using them according to your own understanding;

For things and knowledge that you cannot understand, you can immediately obtain some relevant information by expanding the boundaries of your own cognition, and reduce the influence of the other party according to your own understanding when encountering them]

[Advanced route: has reached the highest level and cannot be further advanced]

[Hidden feature: not activated]

“…”

If you only look at the description, this different color badge seems to be amazing, but in fact it is not the case at all.

This badge was only triggered once at the beginning, helping me master the language of this world within three days and reach the level of being able to communicate normally. After that, it seemed to be non-existent and there was no movement.

But even if the triggering difficulty is very high, his badge plug-in is definitely not something within the "normal" range. I don't know if this situation is considered the controllable "abnormality" mentioned by the red-haired woman? If it is, then maybe he is very suitable for the Cleanup Bureau?

After turning his head and looking in the direction of the Cleanup Bureau, Leon shook his head quickly and completely dispelled this absurd idea.

Don't be silly, that's a 10% annual mortality rate!

And judging from the other party's attitude, the Cleanup Bureau is definitely not a department that can be easily withdrawn. If you join it, you will have to work for a lifetime.

Now I am less than 17 years old. If I can retire at 60, I will have to work for more than 40 years. The mortality rate can reach more than 90%, which can almost be said to be certain to die!

If I were alone, it would be fine. After all, this life was picked up for nothing. Instead of working in the underground mines, burning furnaces and refining medicine, working as a laborer for decades and getting sick, and then being like those neighbors living in Veteran Lane, first being injured and sick and draining their few savings, and then being thrown into the corridor of the hospital, lying on those vomit-filled beds waiting to die, it is better to risk it now and use this rotten life to fight!

But... now there are four people in my family. The two younger ones are not even as tall as my waist. Although the older sister is only one year younger than me, she has been weak since she was born with a disease. In addition, because of a drug leakage accident, she accidentally inhaled a lot of alchemical waste gas, and her lung disease has not been cured intermittently. She can't do heavy work at all.

I can risk it, but if I die in that cleaning bureau, the family will probably be exhausted to death first, and then the two younger ones will starve to death bit by bit, and the whole family of four will not survive in the end!

"Fuck!"

When he thought of this, Leon couldn't help but raise his head and looked at the endless line ahead. Then he bit his back teeth hard and spat viciously at the bluestone floor tiles with delicate patterns under his feet.

"What a damn world!"

...

As the sun set, the dim afterglow shone through the clouds mixed with alchemical waste gas, sprinkled on the dirty streets of the capital, and was trampled and crushed bit by bit under someone's extremely heavy footsteps until it completely returned to darkness.

After waiting in a long line for more than two hours and undergoing several rounds of inspections and inquiries, a certain unemployed young man was eliminated as expected.

Even though Leon gave up his dignity that had long been thrown away, he grabbed the interviewer's sleeve and repeatedly assured that he would be able to do the job, and he almost knelt down on the spot and begged bitterly.

But seeing that Leon was obviously thinner than his peers due to malnutrition, the fat official in charge of the selection didn't even bother to respond. He slapped him away and moved to the next applicant. , pinched the other person's arms and thighs in disgust, and then put a red stamp of approval on the thin black chest...

Oh shit!

Recalling the scene where he didn't treat people as human beings and was almost like picking an animal, Leon couldn't help but bite his back molars out of habit, and then let out a heavy breath of the depression that couldn't be cleared away from his heart.

Even though I have been "coming" here for almost three years, I still can't get used to this damn thing.

Although I didn't achieve much in my previous life, I had two parents and a harmonious family, and lived peacefully for half my life. The biggest setback in my life was just being scolded by my boss, and then I was thrown into this damn world in the blink of an eye. , I have to do my best to survive even the simplest life, it’s really...

Forget it, instead of thinking about this, it is better to think about where to find some work tomorrow and find a way to supplement the family income.

Seeing that he turned the intersection in front of him and saw Veteran Alley where his family lived, Leon couldn't help but stop and rubbed his stiff face vigorously, finally forcing a smile on his face.

Trying to keep the smile on his face, Leon skillfully walked into the poorly lit alley, walked quickly through the dirty old street filled with debris in the dark, and walked towards the low hut in the southeast corner.

Just as he stood at the door of his house and raised his hand to knock on the door, the old iron door, which was covered in rust and much older than him, suddenly opened, revealing a pretty and delicate face. But he had a fair face that looked obviously sick.

"elder brother."

After calling Leon, before the thin girl had time to ask about the situation, she saw her brother outside the door frowning and scolding with a serious face:

"Didn't I tell you several times not to open the door for others indiscriminately?"

"I didn't open the door randomly."

The girl who was scolded was not angry. She took Leon's coat and patted it gently while smiling and saying:

"I recognize your footsteps. I will open the door early only when you come back."

"That's not OK!"

After hearing the words of the thin girl, Leon couldn't help but feel a touch of warmth in his resentful heart, but he still taught him a lesson with a straight face:

"Although this place is not as chaotic as the slums in the outer city, it is not without bad people. What if you heard wrong?"

How could I hear it wrong...

After hearing Leon's words, the thin girl couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Even in the veteran alley where poverty is common, there are not many people with heavy steps like my eldest brother. Especially after surviving the serious illness three years ago, my eldest brother's steps have become even heavier, even in his sleep. , you can also hear the sound of his footsteps as if he was carrying a heavy burden.

However, although she was confident that she would never hear wrongly, the thin girl did not argue with Leon. Instead, she took his coat and hung it up, then walked into the kitchen and brought over the still hot dinner.

After Leon sat at the table with a tired face, lowered his head and started to devour, she then sat at the old table with one leg lame, holding her thin cheeks with her thin white arms, staring softly at the big mouth. Leon stuttered while eating a humble stew.

It's so late, why don't you go and have a good rest and watch me eat?

Leon, who was in a hurry to eat because he had been hungry all day, felt a little uncomfortable when his sister looked at him. He coughed dryly and said softly: "Where are the two little ones? Are they asleep?"

"Um."

The thin girl nodded slightly when she heard the words, and smiled gently as she poked the tip of her chin forward.

"When the sun just set, they were still clamoring to wait for you to come back before sleeping, but after a while they all started rubbing their eyes, and finally they slept together next to the dining table. I just took them back to sleep in the room. ”

"Don't worry about it next time."

Glancing at his sister's almost bloodless face, Leon couldn't help but shake his head and said:

"You are not in good health. The two little ones have grown up a lot in the past two years. If this happens again next time, you can let them fall asleep first, then take them back when I come back, and cover them with a thin blanket to prevent them from catching cold. ”

"Uh-huh."

The thin girl responded softly, still not arguing with Leon. She just nodded with a smile, lightly touched the tip of her chin forward, and directly accepted the concern from her eldest brother.

At this point, I just didn’t listen...

Seeing her look like this, Leon couldn't help but shook his head helplessly.

He had never been able to do anything about this sister who looked fair and weak but was actually extremely stubborn. When he couldn't be persuaded, he didn't say anything more. Instead, after finishing the dinner in silence, he said with some hesitation:

"today……"

"It's late today."

After interrupting Leon, the thin girl spoke first:

"The Highway Department is so far away, and you're not willing to pay for the bus fare. You must have walked there. If you're going out tomorrow, it's time to rest now."

"..."

"Um……"

Understanding that his sister had seen that he had failed to apply for a job again, Leon couldn't help but sigh, then frowned and said:

"I'm useless. If I could..."

"elder brother!"

"Yeah, I won't talk anymore."

After clenching his fists and deciding to work harder tomorrow and find a job no matter what, Leon stood up, put away his plate, and walked towards his cabin. After tossing and turning for a long time, he finally fell asleep with a lot of worries.

However, before dawn, Leon was awakened by a violent cough like a bellows, accompanied by the hoarse cries of his younger brothers and sisters at home.

"Brother! Get up! Get up!"