It’s really just Btube.

I gawked at the interface, incredulously.

This goddess…

What an irresponsible person.

Is initiating an illegal pyramid scheme enough? Should I add child neglect to her charge? Would that ensure at least 10 years in prison with penal labor for her?

How am I supposed to do anything with Btube? Posting cat videos? Funny clips? Cooking?

Are they even relevant anymore? 

But … wait a minute...

I looked at the blue interface, particularly at the bottom right corner. There, a UI gizmo was displayed, along with it the information I was looking for.

2021!

It’s actually in the year 2021!

Browsing random content on the site, which was peculiarly displayed in a floating blue panel, I could indeed confirm that the state of Btube was mostly the same, low-effort videos with cringy script, just like the last time I watched it.

Save for a few legitimate and few hard-working creators, Btube’s prospects, talking from a quality viewpoint, isn’t the brightest of things. However, the company behind it is big and has a lot of disposable cash to compensate, so Btube’s popularity is not going to fall soon.

During my past life, I posted a few videos on the platform, but it was mostly footages for school assignments and family videos. I had no intention of treading the path of professionals. It’s too much stress. I heard Btubers had a big likelihood to fall into depression and substance abuse, some of them even went as far as committing suicide. Yuck. Thanks, but no thanks.

Nevertheless, the goddess told me to ‘earn popularity points’ on this platform, does that mean I had to actually become one of them, a Btuber? 

As I browsed the site with random questions in my head, time flew by and it was already noon. An entire morning that could have been used productively was instead wasted on watching Btube. 

This is dangerous. My old addiction is kicking in.

I closed the panel without hesitation and went into our kitchen to make lunch, all the while reminding myself that watching Btube for a long time is bad. It’s not what a popular high school girl (in progress) would do, but a NEET.

Refrigerators do not exist in this world, so my family would use a large block of ice and stop it from melting with magic. Elves do not eat meat, so all the food our family stored in our homemade refrigerator was vegetables, herbs and other greeneries.

That being said, sometimes I really want to have fresh meat too…

Life in an Elvish household is hard.

I took out a few ingredients to make a vegetable soup. Luckily, the plants in Maldea are very similar to Earth, so I did not have a hard time adapting to the new cuisine. The onions were first fried in oil, then added to a pot with chopped carrot, celery and diced tomatoes. I put the lid on and left the pot simmering, and went back to explore other functions of that suspicious system.

No! I’m not watching Btube again, I swear!

Even though I might peek a little bit...

The first thing I noticed about this ‘DIY Idol System’ of the Goddess was the existence of a points shop. Every item was priced at a certain popularity point as currency, and many of them had very weird effects … Take this [Charm Potion] for example,

 

╔═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

[Charm Potion] - 500 PP

Increase user’s attractiveness towards people who are making eye-contact. The recipients are more likely to take action beneficial to the user.

Lasts for 30 minutes. Single-use.

╚═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

 

Or,

 

╔═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

[Potion of Voluptuousness] - 1000 PP

Modify the user’s body shape towards a more curved and attractive figure.

Can be used repeatedly. Stacked effects.

╚═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

...

...

Suspicious things aside, there are many items in the shop that look quite normal and easy to understand. [Potion of Musical Instrument Proficiency] is one of them. The description said, after consuming this potion, you could have the ability to play a specific instrument at a professional level. [Potion of Singing Proficiency] had the same kind of effect. If these abilities work, then I did indeed come to possess an amazing cheat system. Having better skills meant a better chance at being popular!

These prices tag, however … they’re indeed the evil offsprings of capitalism. That stupid goddess is their black-bellied boss.

Many items had entertainment-related effects, like the ability to draw and write calligraphy. Some other items had more utility effects, but items that improve one’s artistic performance are more likely to be listed.

However, near the end of the shop, I found something peculiar.

 

╔═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

[Potion of the Blue Planet] - 10000 PP

Warp the user from anywhere to a random location on Earth.

One time use.

 

More accurate warping is unlocked after certain popularity levels.

╚═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

 

Hmmm?

I could travel back to Earth with this item?

The price tag is quite an issue though.

It’s not super expensive, but definitely leaned toward the more high-end stuff. [Potion of Musical Instrument Proficiency], an amazing item in my opinion, for example, cost 8000 PP. Paying 10000 PP for a one-way trip back to Earth, while useful for indulging in nostalgia, is a sizable investment.

Hmm, I will only buy it after having enough spare points.

Flipping through the last pages of the item list, what confused me was that there is no section for exchanging points towards my true goal, IRL(In Real Life) popularity. I scoured the system one more time, but no such thing came up.

Was I scammed by that stupid goddess after all?