"Phew… That makes me feel better. Thank you, Max. I need to help my dad soon for the dinner rush. Please, don't think too much about it. I really appreciate you for hearing my story."
"You're welcome. Good luck with that!"
"Yeah! Really… Thank you!"
After bidding farewell, Nina logged out from the VR, and Max was forced to return to his private Lobby.
He let out a long sigh and sat down on the chair, troubled. Nina's problem was not just a simple one. It was not that of love or relationship but something more fundamental.
'The restaurant has been in the red for a few months. And lately, there are almost no customers because a new noodle restaurant opened a branch near this area.'
The construction worker he saw a few days ago was actually building the new noodle restaurant. It opened yesterday and took almost all customers away.
'She looked so worried.' He thought.
Someone he owed a great debt to was in trouble. Max wanted to help them if possible.
Giving them money was impossible. They would definitely refuse it if he suddenly did it. And he could imagine Chef Rush getting angry if he tried to help them directly.
'I don't want to anger him. He looks so scary and can squash me like a bug with those muscles.'
Then, the help he could offer was only an indirect one. He had an idea but didn't know whether Nina would appreciate it or not.
Even when she knew he was a streamer, she didn't ask for help and congratulated him for his success. She would have appealed to him to make content of the restaurant or something, promoting it in his livestream.
There were many ways.
But… She didn't do it. She was genuinely happy that Max was able to stand on his feet now. And that felt rather strange, and he felt like he needed to do something.
Of course, he also couldn't forget about his chatting stream tonight.
'Well, change of plan. Let's do an IRL stream tonight. My face was revealed in the program, and I can use this to greet my viewers directly. As for the place…'
A smile appeared on his face.
'I wonder if there is a nearby restaurant with no customers.'
***
Exiting the VR Capsule, Max wore his best outfit and jacket. He left his apartment after bringing all his IRL streaming equipment: a portable camera and a wireless microphone.
He didn't need to take care of his appearance as he had already done so before.
His destination was a noodle restaurant just right on the main street near the exit of the small path leading to his apartment.
Before going there, Max made sure that the camera was on and the stream was ready. A loading screen played on the livestream's screen, showing Breeze's name and some clips of his most amazing moment in Knight's Journey.
It was the reward he gained from a previous quest.
He also changed the title of the livestream.
[Let's talk about today's news while eating! IRL facecam stream! #IRL_stream #Mukbang #OnlyChat]
Many viewers were waiting and chatting about how the loading screen looked really good. Some curious viewers also talked about today's news excitedly, sending questions even though he hadn't even started to talk yet.
Also…
[Viewers: 4208]
Thanks to the news, he broke his highest viewers record almost as easily. It hadn't peaked yet, and it could still increase.
'Biozone Entertainment's effects are really amazing. It's really perfect.' He thought and walked toward Nina's restaurant. 'I won't mention the restaurant's address, only its name. That way, they can order online or find the address itself. I only use this restaurant to stream, that's it.'
Thinking so, he entered the unusually empty restaurant. Nina was sitting on a chair, looking a bit depressed. She had her head down low and sighed occasionally.
"Hello!"
"Hya!"
When Max greeted her excitedly, she was surprised and yelped. She raised her head and pouted.
"Max! You…! That surprised me!"
"Hehehe, you are absentminded, so I can't help it." He chuckled playfully.
"Hmph! I guess you did that on purpose." She said, throwing her face away. "Also, what are you doing here? Didn't you have a stream today? It's past the scheduled time already…"
"Ah, about that." He pointed at the camera he held in his hand, "Can I stream here? I have a chat-only stream today and am thinking of doing so while eating Chef Rush's noodles. Hahaha, I am quite hungry."
Of course, that was a lie. He just ate an instant noodle before talking to Nina. In fact, he didn't feel hungry a little bit. And Nina knew that.
"Max…" She muttered in a low voice and bit her lower lips.
Just as he could read her easily, she could also read him like an open book. No matter how much he changed by new memories from Earth, Max's personality was still the same.
Nina knew he did it on purpose because he was worried about her after she shared her story.
"You really didn't need to do this, you know?"
"Do what?" Max asked, pretending to be oblivious. "I told you that I am hungry. Ah, give me the best seller here, the one with pork chop. Hehehe, I got quite a pay from Biozone Entertainment, so I want to eat something good."
It was Max's way of telling her that she didn't need to think much and just serve him as a waitress. He didn't do this for her but for himself.
For once, he considered himself to be a selfish individual. He broke laws back on Earth just to reach places that he thought were good for parkour. It was wrong, but back then, he thought it was fun.
And no matter what his friends told him, he wouldn't listen. And it also applied to what he did right now.
If Nina hadn't explicitly told him not to stream in this restaurant, he wouldn't listen to her and just did whatever he wanted. He knew the girl wouldn't do that to him.
"It's unfair." She spoke in a low voice that he couldn't hear and put up a business smile, "Well then, selfish customer. The food will be ready in a while, so please take a seat!"
Hearing that, Max nodded and smiled, "Thank you. Tell the chef to make it extra large! I will also take the special drink too, Miss Waitress."
"Cheeky Max." Nina giggled happily. Her mood was restored thanks to joking around, "Wait for a while. We will give you the best noodles you have ever tasted in the world!"
"I am looking forward to it." He said, "Ah, no spinach noodles, please."
"Hehe, the chef's special is up to the chef. You will get what he made." She commented and went to the kitchen.