Chapter 160

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 160

Chapter Title: 5-Star Rio

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"Master? Why were you so late?"

"........."

I deliberately ignored Erzsebet's words and hurriedly changed the subject.

"What's up with Rio? Did something happen?"

"Oh, right. Come with me, Master."

Thankfully, Erzsebet didn't pry further into why I was late and quickly led me toward the lodging where the Red Demon Tribe members were staying.

There, in the center like some kind of altar, stood the [Incinerator], surrounded by various decorative items laden with religious significance.

'They've been using it like that?'

I knew the Red Demon Tribe revered the flames of the Incinerator, but this was next level... No, more importantly.

"Where's Rio?"

"Over there."

To figure out what Erzsebet meant by her 'strange reaction,' I quickly scanned for Rio and spotted her in the distance, standing before the Incinerator with Jeanne stamping her feet anxiously.

"Ah! Eugene! Perfect timing. Right now, Rio is...!"

Jeanne, who had no idea what to do with Rio standing there eyes closed, absorbing the faint flames wafting from the Incinerator, lit up when she saw me—only to suddenly drop to her knees.

"Wh-what...?"

I was startled, but Jeanne herself seemed even more flustered by her own actions.

"Why'd you suddenly kneel...?"

"W-wait... Why am I doing this...?"

It was a devout, upright posture, like praying to a god.

Jeanne panicked briefly at the unfamiliar sensation of her body instinctively bowing in reverence to the figure before her, but thankfully, the moment passed quickly. She stood back up and gazed at Eugene with bewilderment.

'...It felt just like sensing Lady Eukrasia...'

"So. What's wrong with Rio?"

"Oh, right! She just woke up and said she was starting her daily routine, burning the trash the slimes had gathered overnight. Then suddenly, light started pouring out of her, and flames from the Incinerator...!"

Jeanne was making a huge fuss, but the moment I saw Rio, I pinpointed the cause and relaxed.

'Come to think of it, it was about time for her rank to rise?'

Due to her Red Demon Tribe traits, Rio couldn't use [Employee] items but could wield the player-only [Incinerator] at max level. Each time she incinerated trash with it, she gained a small amount of rank experience.

Her experience piled up quickly anyway, and recently she'd even hauled an entire city's worth of trash to burn in the [Incinerator]...

'Still, her growth is impressively fast. Thanks to the Dryad's talent?'

Among the Dryad's talents was one that accelerated other employees' rank growth.

But since most registered [Employees] were already max 5★, we hadn't benefited much—except for Rio, the only low-rank one, who got the full effect.

Expecting her rank to rise soon, I'd set it to auto-promote once experience maxed out, so here we were.

'It popped up automatically. Accept.'

As I calmed the worried Jeanne and nodded at the prompt, the soft light emanating from Rio intensified. It was the rank promotion ticket I'd earned as a main quest progress reward.

5★ employees couldn't use it, so applying it to a 4★ like her was optimal. Instead of Pandora or Lil, I'd chosen Rio—who'd been with me from the start—to make 5★.

'Oh. This exists here too?'

The system message I'd secretly hoped for appeared.

In the original game my system was based on, Super Wash Simulator, players always started with a mandatory 1★ employee as their first hire.

And as I've said many times, raising employee ranks in that game was brutally tough.

Most players fired their starter employee and hired higher-rank ones to fill the slot instead of grinding them up.

But investing the long grind to take a 1★ all the way to 5★ triggered a hidden Easter egg from the devs.

'Their [Talents] upgrade to better ones, and unlisted bonuses like faster movement and cleaning speed become noticeable.'

Of course, impatient Koreans preferred hiring 5★ starters outright, skipping the grind.

For reference, I'd blindly jumped into the game without knowing about the Easter egg, got fed up with the dumb employee AI, and fired my first one for a higher-rank replacement.

So yeah, high expectations now. How strong would Rio be with the Easter egg triggered?

"...Wow."

What was this dazzling employee info? She wouldn't lose to any other 5★ employee. But why did the racial effects change? They could change too?

"Master!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

As her rank-up finished, Rio emerged from the light, her deeper red hair whipping around as she bounded toward me excitedly.

"I've gotten even stronger! It's all thanks to Master's blessing!"

"Yeah."

Honestly, I had no clue how employee rank tied to 'strength,' but... Rio was happy, so good enough.

But Jeanne, who'd watched Rio's promotion up close, wore a strange expression.

"Saint...?"

"Hm? What'd you say?"

"N-no, nothing. Just... a familiar feeling..."

Fair enough. After her promotion, Rio exuded a naturally warm aura. Her body temp had always run hot, but now she was like a walking... no, demon heater.

"Look at this, Master!"

Rio, thrilled, patted herself here and there before conjuring a small fireball in her palm. It differed from her usual crimson flames—somehow closer to white.

'Incinerator?'

And that flame closely resembled the ones flickering from the [Incinerator] behind her.

"Yah!"

Rio hurled the fireball vigorously at a remaining trash pile. It ignited, and a system message popped up for me.

'Huh. What?'

Normally, points only showed up from Incinerator burns—not direct combustion. And you'd get material item notices too.

'Incineration without an [Incinerator]... so she can use [Decompose] now?'

I'd wondered what 'Origin Flame' was, but it was literally the Incinerator's flame. Makes sense—during her promotion, some of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it had seemed to get sucked into her.

"M-Master!"

"Yeah?"

I was petting Rio's head, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pleased with her growth, when a subordinate's urgent voice made me turn.

"I told you not to call me like that unless it's serious... Don't tell me reinforcements from the west already—"

"N-no! Fire...!"

"...Fire?"

Glancing toward the sky as the subordinate spoke, I saw acrid smoke rising closer than expected.

Hm... That area's the farm...

"Fire?!!"

I snapped out of staring at the smoke and [Fast Traveled] straight to the source. There, Red Demon Tribe members flailed helplessly, frantically splashing water.

"What happened!"

"M-Master...!"

The Red Demons paled and trembled upon seeing me.

And in their hands? The [High-Pressure Cleaners] I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠given them for farming.

...Spewing flames.

'...Ah.'

I'd just seen Rio's employee info, where the [Queen of Fire] talent had subtly changed. At the end: 'effects changed applied to Red Demons'...

'...Damn. That's what it meant.'

"S-sorry, Master! Any punishment...!"

"No, it's fine."

The Red Demons weren't at fault. They'd activated the [High-Pressure Cleaner] to water the plants as usual, only for flames to erupt. What else could happen?

It stung losing some rare plants mixed in, but with the elves and Dryad, the fields would recover qui—

"Gaaahhh!! What, what is this!!!"

"Huh?"

I'd rushed in, spraying water with a [High-Pressure Cleaner] and waiting out the cooldown to [Fast Travel] Aqua over to douse the blaze, when a voice screamed from the spreading flames in the woods.

What? Did I have a subordinate with that voice? It rang a bell, but felt oddly unfamiliar...

"...Ah."

Come to think of it, that forest where the flames had spread...

...Was where I'd planted Desmond, right?

"H-help! I feel no power! My minions! Gaaahk!! Anton! Purpler! Roger! No one's he—Gaaahk!!"