Chapter 27:Money and Talent Pour In

  Chapter 27: Regular Points (2)

After finding a seat on the subway, I sent a message to the veterinarian.

“Sorry for contacting you out of the blue. I just had a question. By any chance, is there anyone among the people whose contact info you gave me who does YouTube (NaverTube)?”

I thought it might take a while, but surprisingly, the reply came quickly.

“No, as far as I know, none of them do YouTube!”

“Ah, I see. Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, take care ^^”

“You too, Doctor—thanks for all your hard work!”

After exchanging greetings, I opened the NaverTube app.

I went to the subscriptions menu, entered “Happy Street Cats & Dogs TV,” and started watching old videos at increased playback speed, one by one.

At first, the videos were simply recordings of dogs and cats living on the streets. Later, the creator began providing them with food little by little. After some time passed, he chose several fixed spots, built shelters for the street dogs and cats there, and started looking after them every single day.

[Ah… I’ve grown way too attached to them…]

[This one’s wounds look really severe.]

[It seems like he fought a lot to protect this spot. The injuries are bad, and he looks exhausted from the cold too. I’ve decided to take care of him for the rest of his life.]

One by one, the YouTuber brought street dogs and cats into his home.

Because he had grown attached to them.

Because he felt heartbroken seeing how worn out they were from outdoor life.

Because their injuries were too serious.

That way of life had continued for two full years now.

He was regularly providing food and water at designated locations, and the number of street cats he was caring for had easily surpassed twenty. At home, he was personally raising nine cats and three dogs.

Fortunately, it seemed he had gathered donations and moved into a house with a yard. He put up a fence in the yard so the dogs could run around, and right next to it he placed a container that he turned into a dedicated space just for the cats.

But even that had its limits.

Donations appeared to be decreasing day by day, while the number of street cats kept growing.

[Cats are especially hard—even when most of them are spayed/neutered.]

[This one hasn’t been neutered. I’ll have to ask the district office for help.]

When he contacted the local district office, they stepped in. To prevent the population from growing further, the authorities would capture street cats, perform TNR (trap-neuter-return) surgeries, and release them.

[This is one that already had surgery—thankfully, it looks like it’s in good condition.]

[This one looks like it’s struggling…]

The channel had around 7,000 subscribers.

Definitely not a large number.

It was true that relying solely on their donations seemed difficult to sustain. Even just looking at the detailed donation usage statements posted on the community board made that clear.

They were meticulous and transparent.

There didn’t seem to be any sign of embezzlement either.

“Hmm.”

I had seen him heading to the animal hospital again today.

He really is amazing.

After watching these sincere videos, my 고민 (worry/hesitation) grew deeper. Would making a one-time donation really change anything? Sure, it would help for a little while, but was that truly enough?

My thoughts deepened.

I was confident I could earn much more money in the future.

Thanks to the quests.

And if I made good use of the newly acquired talent “Eyes That See Scenarios,” I could probably live the rest of my life without ever worrying about money.

There were the emoticons too.

So if I had some financial leeway, I wanted to provide steady help to someone like him.

I had just been hesitating because it was my first time.

“Yeah, it’s not that hard.”

Once I decided on the direction, making up my mind wasn’t difficult. Of course, if the quests disappeared someday, or if my situation became difficult, there might come a day when I’d have to stop the support. But until then, I could definitely afford to help.

“Let’s do it.”

The moment I firmly resolved not to hesitate any longer—

[Linked Quest Activated!]

[Welcome~ Is this your first time with regular donations?]

[You, who have now resolved with true determination to provide steady support for the first time! The YouTuber “Happy Street Cats & Dogs TV” is wholeheartedly embracing and caring for pitiful lives! Donate a fixed amount to him every month and receive rewards proportional to that amount! However, there is an upper limit to the rewards, and that limit increases slightly each month!]

[Remaining Time: Unlimited]

[Failure Condition: If regular donations are stopped for two or more consecutive months, the quest will be automatically considered failed, and you will never be able to obtain this same quest again.]

[Success Reward: At the end of each month, acquire Good Deeds Points]

[Penalty: None]

An unexpected gift had appeared.

“Ah…?”

The moment I saw it, one word slammed into my mind.

Jackpot…!

No matter how I looked at it, that was the only word that could describe this quest. Still, I forced my racing excitement to calm down and carefully read through the quest details several times.

“First off, no penalty.”

Looking at the failure condition, as long as I continued the regular donations, I would receive Good Deeds Points at the end of each month. Naturally, the reward wouldn’t be massive from the very beginning. There was an upper limit, after all. But even that upper limit was said to increase slightly every month.

Above all, this linked quest was essentially handing me one solid, reliable route to steadily accumulate points on a regular basis. It was like owning a goose that lays golden eggs.

In every way, it was a massive jackpot.

*

Suddenly, a live stream notification popped up from “Happy Street Cats & Dogs TV.”

“Huh?”

Ryu Seong pulled earphones out of his pocket, plugged them into his ears, and immediately joined the live broadcast.

[Welcome, welcome~ Ah, you’re asking where I am? I’m at the animal hospital right now. Today I went to the park for a walk, and there…]

He explained what had happened.

[For now, the treatment is ongoing, so I’m just waiting.]

About fifty viewers were throwing various questions into the chat.

Ryu Seong was one of them.

TV: Aigoo, I hope it’s not too badly hurt…

I: Hang in there!

TV: The treatment costs are probably going to be pretty high.

[Thank you all so much. The treatment bill… after a few tests, it’ll probably come out to a decent amount.]

If that was the case, there was no reason left to hesitate.

He had been planning to donate anyway.

TV: Then I’ll sponsor you. There’s an account number in every video—should I send it there?

[TV-nim, thank you so, so much. Yes, please send it there. I’ll use it carefully and post the usage details on the board as always.]

Being able to communicate and send it like this felt even better.

Perfect timing.

Feeling quietly satisfied, he transferred the money to the donation account written in the chat.

2,000,000 won.

Since it was the first time, this amount felt just right.

He could send the same next month.

[Quest “Now Is the Era of Companion Animals” has been updated.]

[Donation Progress: 1/3]

At that moment, the quest progress bar appeared.

And along with it, the linked quest.

[Linked Quest “Welcome~ Is This Your First Time with Regular Donations?” has been updated.]

[Regular Donation Amount: 2,000,000 won]

Ryu Seong felt a quiet sense of pride as he typed in the chat.

주식대마왕TV: Sent it hehe

The response came almost instantly.

[Uh… uh…? Wait, is the amount correct?]

주식대마왕TV: Yes, two big ones. Correct.

[Ah, really… thank you so much! Honestly, I was really worried about the hospital bill…]

Happy Street Cats & Dogs TV trailed off for a moment.

Was he choking up?

Soon he shook his head and smiled brightly again.

[Once again, thank you so, so much.]

After thinking for a second, Ryu Seong typed another message.

주식대마왕TV: No, thank *you*.

He couldn’t take direct action himself, but being able to help even in this way felt truly fortunate.

*

He arrived at his destination: “Haneul Ttang Byeol Ttang Abandoned Dog Shelter.”

It was cleaner and more spacious than he had expected.

The exercise yard was enormous.

The dogs running around looked genuinely happy.

Completely over the moon, in fact.

He crossed the path and entered the building, where the shelter manager greeted him warmly.

“Welcome! You’re here for volunteer work today, right?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your name?”

“Ryu Seong.”

“Ryu Seong… yep, here you are. Your slot is at 11 o’clock. There’s still a bit of time left—would you like to wait?”

“I’ll start early if that’s okay.”

“Really? Sure then. Honey!”

When the manager called out, a dignified middle-aged man with a stylish beard opened the door and stepped out.

“He wants to start volunteering right now.”

“Oh, really? Alright then. Come this way, I’ll show you around.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Following the man inside, Ryu Seong saw rows of impeccably maintained dog houses. Every single one was a carefully handmade wooden shelter, and around each house was a generously sized fenced enclosure.

Each dog had its own fairly spacious personal area—not cramped at all.

“Wow, the houses are really pretty.”

“Heh heh, I built every single one myself.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I lost track of time making those.”

“Wow, that’s incredible.”

A sudden question popped into his mind.

“The fenced areas are surprisingly large.”

“That’s because land prices around here are really low. We bought a big plot from the start, but whenever we felt it wasn’t enough, we steadily purchased more to expand. We’ve had some steady sponsors helping out. Without them, we’d have no choice but to cram ten dogs into tiny cages like most places do.”

In truth, that was probably the reality for most shelters.

Narrow iron cages.

Sometimes ten or more dogs squeezed inside.

If no new owner appeared, eventually… euthanasia.

“Not many people adopt, right?”

“Surprisingly, quite a few do. Back in the day it was really rare, but it’s been gradually increasing. These days, out of every ten we rescue, about six end up getting adopted.”

“That’s higher than I expected.”

“Heh heh, right? Seems like people are slowly heading in a better direction. Even the number of puppy mills and pet shops is decreasing these days.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely a good thing.”

After chatting a bit more, they arrived at their destination.

“First, go ahead and change into the work clothes. After that, we can start cleaning this area together.”

“Got it.”

After changing and coming back out, Ryu Seong began cleaning alongside the man. Sweeping away dust, wiping things down—simple manual labor that, at this moment, felt endlessly fulfilling.

“Aigoo, you’ve got some real energy.”

“I’ve got to do my best.”

While cheerfully cleaning, they continued talking. Thanks to that, he learned one more piece of information.

“We don’t do euthanasia here. If things really get too tough to handle, we hand them over to a no-kill shelter operated under contract with the city government. Honestly, once you get attached, it’s hard to let them go. So we just manage things with spay/neuter surgeries.”

Just hearing about it made the place sound genuinely wonderful.

But you can’t trust words alone.

Today, while volunteering, he planned to look into every corner with his own eyes and make his own judgment. Of course, if the quest gave him some kind of hint, that would be different—but that wasn’t something he could count on.

“Alright then, let’s head over to the exercise yard.”

“Yes!”

In the exercise yard, dozens of dogs were running around freely.

Woof! Woof woof!

The moment they saw the man, their tails whipped wildly in excitement as they charged toward him. A few showed interest in Ryu Seong too, sniffing curiously around his legs. One flipped over onto its back the instant he approached, panting happily as if begging for belly rubs.

“What’s this one’s name?”

“That’s Kong. The most affectionate little guy here.”

“Yeah, I can tell.”

He crouched down and rubbed the belly; clearly delighted, Kong swept his tail back and forth across the sandy ground like a broom, kicking up little clouds of dust.

“Alright, shall we clean the exercise yard too?”

At those words, Ryu Seong’s shoulders twitched involuntarily.

…This entire huge area?

Seeing his expression, the man grinned as if he found it amusing.

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