It's been a month since I resigned from my job. Since then I spent most of my time inside my apartment room, buying & selling public market stocks as my only income to sustain myself.
It only took me less than thirty minutes before I'm back to my hobbies, which were drawing and writing. As I have a lot of free time, whenever I have spare time I watched other anime that my friends from Zekovia's Art Server recommended to me.
Being my first anime, Megujo still holds a special place in my heart. Their latest recommendation which I am watching right now, Date A Spirit, is becoming my newest favorite anime. The story is interesting because it mixes fantastical battle with romance, and I kept screaming in joy whenever the male protagonist makes a move on one of his "conquest target".
Also, the spirits in this anime looks beautiful and cute. All of them have elegant dresses and nice figures that made my newly discovered artistic soul lit up in inspiration. I wanted to make high quality fan arts of them, so recently I alternated drawing Megujo and Date A Spirit fan arts.
If I drew Megujo on this day, the next day I would draw a Date A Spirit fan art. Sadly I couldn't think of any exciting fanfic to write about Date A Spirit. I haven't been writing any fanfiction recently. A week ago, I just finished my Megujo fanfic as I felt I made a proper conclusion to the story.
With a new anime to use as a drawing reference, my drawing style is slowly evolving into something my own. The artists from Zekovia's Server are so supportive, and they show their own art styles along with different visual novel art styles that are comparable to Date A Spirit art style. They are vibrant, beautiful, and shows a lot of complementary colors that just makes me adore the images and even save them on my folder.
With these as references, my style is slowly turning into one that some of my friends call "fit enough to become a promotional art for an anime game". I think I am also finding a style that satisfies me. I really like these kind of art styles that just shows bright colors and the coolness or the cuteness of the character I am drawing.
And I don't have a problem with drawing stuff. Vivid imagination makes it easier for me to visualize a character in different posture without forgetting any details. Even if I add another accessory, or put them in some perspective, I can use other references in my life to perfect it. There are also many pictures in the internet that I can use as a reference.
Talent with digital arts really makes it easy to translate real things into anime-style ones.
No one is still reaching out to my 1gaka account to commission art from me, though I already think that is a lost cause. Omega, or Watanabe-san in Zekovia's Server, told me this was normal. There were hundreds of thousands of artists out there in the internet. Possibly millions if we include people outside our country. People would flock to well-known artists than someone who had just started two months ago.
That is fine. I came to like drawing stuff so my art skill would be relegated to my hobbies only. I have to find another way to earn more money than just my investment though. The stock market is very unstable, and sometimes I can get less money in a week than working on my former job.
There is another way, and that is writing a great web novel on Syosetsu. There is one person from Zekovia's Server who is an amateur writer, and he told me about Syosetsu's monetization rules.
There are some agents from publishing firms and manga studios lurking on that site, and if I got their interest they will publish my work while I acquire royalty rights from it. There is also the donation button which will be available to me if I put my relevant information and any online payment service I prefer where their donations will go.
I already have my bank account so it is very simply to set that up, though I am holding myself back from doing that option.
Why? It's because I don't have the confidence to make an original story!
Most of the ideas that comes to my mind are only things I know. My life as a company wage slave, a person living in a province, and some bits and pieces that I watch from an anime. I can't think of anything original on top of my mind that will be interesting to people.
Some of the reviews I got from my Megujo fanfic discouraged me from making an original story. They were criticisms that called me out how I flanderized some of the characters, and made unnecessary scenes that doesn't progress anything on the overall plot and was just there as fillers.
Others says I have to ignore some of those criticism because I make descriptive scenes and at least understands the characters, and also the fillers are cute in their eyes. Though I can't really ignore those criticisms.
If there is a criticism in my work even with my talent, that means something is wrong with it. If I make an original story, those mistakes will become numerous.
That will flop, and it will be a waste of time for me. If I am going to write something original, I want it to earn me money, or at least something that I actually want to do.
Because at this time, I really don't feel like writing any original content. There is nothing that is coming to my mind, and I won't force it because it will just affect my mood.
So I will set aside that option to monetize my writing skills, and focus on something else. Like finding a new way to earn money other than investment.
And the Shop will give me that opportunity!
I saved up 800,000 Yen in this month. I think it is time to use that and find a way to get another source of income!
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"Greetings, esteemed customer. What can I do for you?"
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
"Teller. Give me a list of abilities and skills that can help me earn money through my computer. Limit it to things that I can afford with my money."
"Understood."
The usual floating panel appears in my eyes listing different names of abilities and skills. I don't have to browse as much as I find what I am looking for.
The talent for procedural programming, the talent for functional programming, the talent for object-oriented programming, the knowledge of scripting languages, the knowledge of logic programming languages, and many more.
I ignore those and scroll down until I find it.
The talent for computer programming.
I don't want to learn one type of programming. I want to learn it in one sitting.
And it costs.... ten million yen!?
Hmm... well, it seems like I have to pick one from above.
Saving up ten million yen will take a long time with my stock market comprehension alone. I need the ability to earn more money for me.
Thankfully, I made some research about it and I think most programmers uses programming softwares to ease their work. Those programmers uses scripting languages if my research is right.
If that is the case, then I don't have to hesitate anymore. I scroll up and choose the knowledge to understand scripting programming language. It cost 600,000 Yen, less than the one I saved up for this.
"Thank you for your purchase, our dear customer."
After hearing Teller said that, foreign knowledge got suddenly shoved within my brain. It made me dizzy for a moment, but otherwise nothing much happened. The only thing that change is that I know a lot about scripts and how to chain them together so they can function in a software and many other stuff in computers and websites.
"Will that be all?"
"... No, I want to buy another thing."
"Of course, what will it be?"
Having the ability to code is fine and all, and my fast typing talent will also help me with that. Still, I know how long it takes to code one program for a project. People from our technical department always complain about it, and some of our IT specialists talks about it when we go on one of those drinking parties our directors usually throws whenever the company succeeded in some big project.
I want to shorten that time further. I won't be able to entertain myself if I am going to be stuck coding for a whole day. I quit my job specifically to have a relaxing, non-stress life. No way am I going to let that happen!
"Can you list any abilities or skills that will help me type faster in my keyboard. Of course, my type of payment is still limited to my available cash."
With my request, another panel appears in my face. This time showing new powers specifically for my request. As for their cost, it surprises me that they are so cheap.
The ability to double your typing speed, the ability to triple your typing speed, the ability to quadruple your typing speed, and the most expensive one available for my remaining cash being the ability to accelerate your typing speed by nine times.
Going beyond what I can afford, there is an interesting ability called the power to type with your thoughts, and the power to telepathically operate your keyboard. Both of which costs two million yen.
I don't really care about that. What I need is sheer speed, and so I choose the ability to accelerate my typing speed by nine times which costs 200,000 Yen.
With my fast typing talent, I can already reach 80 words per minute. If this ability is actually multiplicative, then I can easily blaze through coding programs in an instant.
Though, I am curious about something...
"Why is this ability so cheap?"
"Typing is an insignificant ability compared to what we can offer. That price is appropriate base on our judgement."
I didn't expect her to tell me, though if I think about it she is right. Typing is just typing. Without a keyboard in my hand the ability is useless. It doesn't give me an ability with that ability alone.
Though is this alright?
If paired with some talent and ability, this power can become formidable. I think I got a bargain out of this supernatural power.
Seemingly reading my thoughts, Teller spoke without my prompting.
"Prices are determined based on our own judgement of its value. We don't value them base on how it will pair with our other products. Only it's initial use was tagged with our judgement."
"... I see."
That solves it. So they don't care if it will pair greatly with another talent. So that is why understanding of economy is so expensive, because it can give me a lot of money. Compare it to understanding of stock market only which still have a chance of me losing money because it doesn't give me the understanding of how people will actually react to the market.
Hmm... no, I think my logic is flawed, but whatever. I don't want to think about it too much.
Entering this Shop is already a blessing for me. There is no need for me to become too curious, else they might suddenly think I am becoming too bothersome and ban me from this Shop.
"Thank you for your continued patronage of our shop, our dear customer. We await your next visit."
If the Teller can, I am sure she will be bowing at me like a butler as I turn around from her and think of leaving this space.
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When my senses returned to the real world, the first thing I did was open a browser and go to TechSeek. This site is for companies looking for freelance programmers to take their projects.
Finding this site is one of the reason why I pick programming as my next talent. Many mid tier companies are flocking here looking for freelance programmers to take their projects. There are even big companies looking for freelancers to fix or make new systems for them.
Different ideas comes to my mind as I look at the projects posted on this site. I trust the talent I got from the Shop, so I pick what my knowledge tells me I can do. A project that will give me a lot of money if I finish it in time.
Prototype data analysis system. Improvements from web browsers. Newer codes to ease buffering time on a software. All of that can be done easily if I follow the knowledge I got from the Shop.
They give two to four months for these projects to be done, and I think I can submit something better to them. So I accept these jobs, writing my response to their email that are written on their bio, and then talk about it. I just have to wait for their reply, and then begin with the project.
Composing an email for it is pretty easy for me. This is par to what I usually do in my old job. One thing that surprised me was how fast I wrote it. Only a few minutes have passed before I'm done.
... So this is the power of nine times typing speed. It is very surprising. In my perspective, I am typing normally and my eyes can even keep up with the speed of what I am writing.
It didn't take long before one of them replies to my email, saying that they want a sample program from me so they can check whether I'm competent enough to work for them.
This one is for the data analysis one, right?
Well, as he is asking for it, I have to make a sample code right now. As for the programming tool I will be using, it will be the one people frequently uses in this age.
One of the most versatile programming tool in this age that even me, a programming illiterate, knows about.
It is Viper. The modern programming tool that many companies uses in this day.
And surprisingly, most modern programming tools were known for their scripting languages like the one used on Viper.
I lack the knowledge for programming languages themselves, but scripting languages is enough for me to finish this job.
I stretch my arms, crack my fingers, and then lean on my chair as I download Viper to start my programming journey.
It's time to earn money through programming!