Me! Cleaner!.

Chapter 2 Home and Family
I also found a partner...If I can’t find a job, I’m afraid I won’t even be able to get a piece of bread!

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

Good news, not only am I a guy with a penis, I'm also a guy with a hook.

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

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

On the virtual panel that accompanied him into this world, there were three badge slots. In the middle slot, a badge was flashing a dim dark blue color, and exuded a warm and gentle feeling.

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

[Effect of wearing: When talking to a minor younger than you, the other party will easily develop a sense of trust in you, and when emotionally excited, they will easily trigger a special state of "opening their hearts" and confide their inner distress and secrets to you]

[Advanced route: None]

[Hidden Features: Not Activated]

Next to the "Good Brother" badge is a red badge that is as bright as fire and even brighter than the sun.

[Materialist Soul (different color, red, cannot be upgraded): As a staunch materialist, you firmly believe that matter is the basis of objective existence, that spiritual and conscious phenomena are products of matter, and that 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 become familiar with and master them through your own analysis and thinking, and when using it, you can get additional effects based on your own understanding;

For things and knowledge that you cannot understand, by expanding the boundaries of your own cognition, you can immediately obtain some relevant information, and when you encounter them, you can reduce the influence of the other party based on your own understanding.

[Advanced route: Reached the highest level, cannot continue to advance]

[Hidden Features: Not Activated]

"..."

Just looking at the description, this colored badge seems to be something remarkable, but in reality 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 was as if it didn't exist and there was no movement anymore.

But even if the triggering difficulty is very high, my badge plug-in is definitely not something within the "normal" range. I don't know if this situation can be considered as the controllable "abnormality" mentioned by the red-haired woman? If so, then maybe I am very suitable for the cleanup bureau?

Unable to help but turn around and look in the direction of the Cleanup Bureau, Leon quickly shook his head and completely dismissed this ridiculous idea.

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

And judging from the other party's attitude, the Cleanup Bureau is definitely not a department that you can quit easily. If you join, you may have to work there for the rest of your life.

I am less than 17 years old now. If I can retire when I am 60, I will have to work for more than 40 years. The mortality rate can be as high as over 90%, which means I am almost certain to die!
It would be fine if I were alone, after all, this life was given to me for free. Instead of working hard in the mines, refining medicine in furnaces, working as a laborer for decades and getting sick, and then being like those neighbors living in Veteran Lane, where my little savings were drained by injuries and illnesses, and then being thrown into the corridor of a hospital, lying on a bed covered in vomit and waiting to die, I might as well risk it all now and use this rotten life to a fight!
But... there are four people in my family now. 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 due to a congenital illness. In addition, due to a chemical leakage accident, she accidentally inhaled a lot of alchemical waste gas, and her lung disease has not been cured. She can't do heavy work at all.

I can give it a try, but if I die in that cleanup bureau, the older one in my family will probably die of exhaustion first, and then the two younger ones will slowly starve to death, and in the end all four members of the family will die!
"grass!"

Thinking of this, Leon couldn't help but raise his head and look at the team in front of him that still seemed to have no end. Then he bit his back teeth hard and spat viciously at the bluestone floor tiles with exquisite patterns carved on them.

"This damn world!"

……

As the sun sets, its dim afterglow shines through the clouds mixed with alchemical exhaust gas, falling onto the dirty streets of the royal capital. Under someone's unusually heavy footsteps, it is trampled and crushed bit by bit until it returns to complete darkness.

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

Even though Leon risked his dignity, which had been thrown away long ago, and grabbed the interviewer's sleeve and repeatedly assured him that he was capable of doing the job, he almost knelt down on the spot and begged.

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. He pinched the other's arms and thighs in disgust, and then put a red stamp of "pass" on the man's dark and thin chest...

Oh shit!

Recalling the scene where people were not treated as human beings at all, almost like animals, Leon couldn't help but bite his back teeth habitually, and then he let out a heavy breath of the anger that had been lingering in his heart.

Even though I've been here for almost three years, I still can't get used to this shitty thing.

Although I didn’t achieve much in my previous life, I had both parents and a harmonious family, and I lived a peaceful life for most of my life. The biggest setback in my life was just a few scoldings from my boss. As a result, I was thrown into this damn world in the blink of an eye. Even the simplest thing to survive requires me to do my best. It’s really...

Forget it. Instead of thinking about these things, I might as well think about where to find some work tomorrow and find a way to supplement the family income.

Seeing that he had turned the corner and saw Veteran Lane where his family lived, Leon couldn't help but stop and rubbed his stiff face hard, finally forcing a smile.

Trying hard to keep a smile on his face, Leon stepped skillfully into the alley with extremely poor lighting, walked quickly through the dirty old street full of debris in the dark, and walked towards the low house in the southeast corner.

Just as he stood at the door of his house and raised his hand to knock, the old iron door, which was covered with rust and much older than him, suddenly opened, revealing a pretty, but obviously sickly white face. "Brother."

After calling Leon, the thin girl had no time to ask about the situation before she saw her brother frowning outside the door and scolding him sternly:

"Haven't I told you several times not to open the door for anyone?"

"I didn't open the door randomly."

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

"I recognize your footsteps. I will only open the door in advance if you come back."

"That's not OK!"

After hearing the thin girl's words, Leon's heart, which was full of resentment, couldn't help but feel a little warm, but he still said with a stern face:

"Although this place is not as chaotic as the slums in the outer city, there are still bad people here. What if you heard it wrong?"

How could I have heard it wrong...

After hearing what Leon said, the thin girl couldn't help but sigh in her heart.

Even in the generally impoverished Veteran Alley, it was rare to find someone with footsteps as heavy as my eldest brother's. Especially since he had survived a serious illness three years ago, his footsteps had become even heavier. Even in my sleep, I could hear his footsteps as if he was carrying a heavy burden.

However, although she was confident that she had not heard it wrong, 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 down at the table with a tired look on his face, lowered his head and began to wolf down his food, she followed him and sat down at the old table with a lame leg, supporting her thin cheek with her white and thin arm, and gazing at Leon tenderly as he ate big mouthfuls of the simple stew.

It’s so late, why are you watching me eat instead of going to have some rest?
Leon, who was hungry all day and ate in a hurry, felt a little uncomfortable when his sister looked at him. He coughed dryly and whispered, "Where are the two little ones? Are they asleep?"

"Ah."

The thin girl nodded slightly upon hearing this, and leaned forward with her chin tip with a gentle smile.

"When the sun just set, they were still clamoring to wait for you to come back before going to sleep, but after a while they all started rubbing their eyes, and finally fell asleep together next to the dining table. I just carried them back to the inner room to sleep."

"Don't worry about it next time."

Looking at his sister's pale face, Leon couldn't help but shook his head and said:

"You're not in good health. The two little ones have grown a lot in the past two years. If this happens again next time, let them sleep first, and then I'll take them back when I come back. Just cover them with a thin blanket so they don't catch a cold."

"Uh-huh."

The thin girl responded softly twice, still not arguing with Leon, but just smiled and nodded, lightly leaning forward with the tip of her chin, directly accepting the concern from her eldest brother.

This time I didn't listen...

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

He had never been able to deal with this sister who looked fair and weak, but was actually extremely stubborn. Seeing that he could not persuade her, he did not say anything more. Instead, he finished his dinner in silence and said hesitantly:
"Nowadays……"

"It's late today."

After interrupting Leon, the thin girl spoke first:

"The Highway Administration is so far away, and you are reluctant to pay for the bus ticket, so you must be walking there. If you are going out again tomorrow, you should rest now."

"..."

"Um……"

Knowing that his sister had seen that he had failed in his job search again, Leon couldn't help but sigh, then frowned and said:
"I am useless. If I could..."

"elder brother!"

"Yeah, I won't say anything."

After clenching his fists tightly 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 in his mind.

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

"Brother! Get up! Get up quickly!"

(End of this chapter)