“A job?”
Patty nodded. With a lot of money in his bank account, there were a lot of luxury items he could buy. However, he was still ‘poor’ enough to not be able to afford those robotic butlers and A.I. assistants.
If he wanted his room to be clean or if he wanted to eat a five-star course meal, then he would have to hire a maid or a chef.
This was the perfect opportunity. Andres looked like someone who was down in the dumps and unable to provide for himself.
He was like Patty when he didn’t have the system and a million Chains in his account. Not only that, Andres had the skills, patience, and persistence to clean a very dirty room.
Patty was willing to pay Andres at least 20,000 Chains every month to clean his room. That was more than enough to earn a decent living and buy all the necessities he wanted. And, he only had to clean Patty’s room every week or so.
“Yes. I’ll give you 20,000 Chains a month if you clean my room every week. That’s all you have to do.”
In all accounts, this was a very lucrative deal. After all, Andres would earn 20,000 Chains for only a few hours of work every month.
That was free money!
Andres was already cleaning his superior’s houses and doing their laundry every day without any compensation, so adding this workload wasn’t that hard.
However, Andres didn’t want to just clean houses. He wanted to get out of the Ruobber company's toxic workplace. If they were at least compensating him for his work there, then he would have at least bore with it for the entire year.
The reason that Andres and the other interns in the Ruobber company weren't being compensated was that they were under a contract. If they persist on their internship for one year without pay, then they could earn a Teqx at the end of their internship.
From the Ruobber company’s perspective, that was enough compensation.
However, the harsh workload of these interns was too much for a lot of them to bear. After a few months, some people would quit the internship and all their hard work would end up down the drain and they would earn nothing in the end.
This was by design.
The Ruobber company was making the interns’ lives miserable to force them to quit. If they were able to make the interns quit, then they wouldn’t have to give them a Teqx by the end of the year.
By then, they would have made as much use of the interns as possible, so they got free manpower without ever having to give out a Teqx at all!
Andres figured this out way too late, and now, his only chance to leave was Patty. Grammo told him that only someone like Patty could help him.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I’ll do anything, I’ll clean your room every day as long as you help me.”
Patty thought that the money would be enough, but it seemed that Andres had much deeper problems. “What’s your issue?”
“It’s about the Ruobber company…”
Andres spilled the beans about how the Ruobber company headquarters was a meeting place for devils alike.
He enumerated all the things he had to do for the company, which included some illegal stuff like procuring illegal enhancements for his superiors so that they wouldn’t be the ones caught by the police.
They also couldn’t tell the police about the injustice in the company because they were bound under a contract.
If they said anything bad about the company to the media or law enforcement, then they would be forced to pay millions in legal fees.
“See, I knew that joining a company is the worst. That’s why I didn’t join any internships. I would have quit on day one the moment that they forced me to get them coffee. I ain’t doing all that.”
Andres was glad that there was also someone else who hated the internship culture in the world. Surely, Patty must have the answer to all his problems.
“Grammo said that you helped him with his dream and discovered his talent. He said that without you, he would have been sleeping in the streets playing his guitar on subways and busy streets.”
“Nah, I didn’t do that. I’m too lazy to do that. Grammo did everything by himself, make sure you tell him that.”
Even though Patty was the one who influenced Grammo to make the impossible possible, Patty didn’t want to take credit for it.
That’s because it made it seem like Patty was some kind of mentor who was persistent enough to teach a tone-deaf Grammo to become a good singer.
That’s not what happened at all. Patty was lazy, and he would always be lazy! He wanted everybody to know that.
“He was adamant that you are the only one who could help me,” Andres pleaded. “Please, can you help me get internships with other companies? It doesn’t have to be some high-class company like the Atlas company, just any company will do.”
“Nope.” Even after telling Patty about the hardships he had, Patty was quick to deny his request. After all, that was way too much effort. Even if it was just a simple request like, ‘Can you accompany me as I try to join another company’, then Patty would still say no.
“But…but…Grammo said…please. I’m desperate. I need to be hired by another company. I can’t take it anymore!” Andres begged on his knees.
Patty still said no. “I don’t understand why everyone seems to be so adamant to be recruited by a company. It isn’t like you’ll die the moment that you are rejected in your internship. Are you that desperate to work hard for the rest of your life?”
Andres nodded his head fervently. “I need to be hired by a company so that I’ll be able to attend University next year. If I can’t go to Uni, then all my dreams will go up in smoke. No one will take a high-school dropout Dreamer! I won’t be able to get my license, I won’t be hired by anyone, I won’t be able to fulfill my dream!”
“Dude, you should be like me and just be lazy. You don’t need to be doing all that,” Patty said.
But Andres didn’t believe that doing nothing was the answer. “I’m not good at studying, so I have to prove my worth through internships. If I can’t show that I have what it takes to achieve my dream, then they won’t give me any Teqx!”
“Teqx? Is that all you want?”
“Huh? Yes. That’s why students like us study in school. It’s why people work hard in our internships. That’s the only way we can get Teqx!”
Patty sighed. “Then you should have said so in the beginning. You shouldn’t have said that you needed to be hired by another company. If you wanted a Teqx, then you should have just asked for a Teqx.”
Andres was confused. He didn’t understand why Patty was so angry. He thought that it was common knowledge that you needed to go to a company or organization to get a Teqx.
After all, that’s the only reason why people are going to internships in the first place.
“But I need to join an internship so that I can get a Teqx. So, I need to be hired by a company first.”
Patty wagged his finger at Andres like he was a little kid who said something wrong. “Nope. If you want to be an intern in a company, then I can’t help you with that. However, if you just wanted a Teqx, then that’s a different story.”
Andres’ face was full of confusion. Why did it seem like Patty was saying that getting a Teqx was so much easier than joining an internship at a company? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
Not all interns from a company get rewarded a Teqx, even in the most prestigious companies.
So, it was easier to get into an internship than get a Teqx.
However, Patty was acting like it wasn’t. That was where Andres’ confusion stemmed from. He didn’t know about Patty’s powers.
“I’m saying,” Patty said carefully. “If it's Teqx you want, then I can just give it to you.”
“What?”
Patty sighed again. He was getting tired of explaining things over and over. “I can give you a Teqx.”
“What?”
“Urgh.”
“It’s…what…you can give me a Teqx?”
“Yes! Is it so hard to understand?”
“But…but…” It didn’t make sense. It was widely known that only powerful Dreamers who have reached a high level in their cultivation could bestow Teqx to other people. How could a youth like Patty do that?
“Ah, are you a secret inheritor? Will you recommend me to an old hermit who’ll give me Teqx?”
“No. I’ll give you–” Patty shook his head. It’s probably easier to just show the guy.
“What route do you want? Power, Money, or Fame? I can only give you D-class Teqx, okay? So keep your expectations low.”