Chapter 291: The fresh monkey I just picked up actually escaped?! Marketing class begins!

Chapter 291: Chapter 291: The fresh monkey I just picked up actually escaped?! Marketing class begins!

『 [ Ban... ana... ]

Just as Dan Heng and Stelle were speaking, a weak, listless banana-like sound drifted over from nearby.

[ What was that sound? ]

Dan Heng followed the sound to locate its source.

[ ...A Slumbernana Monkey? ]

[ I see a tag on it: "Peelin’ Richie, Fortune Academy." ]

[ This is the toy you ordered. It looks rather unique. ] 』

『 ....』

—?Omniscient Viewer’s Chat Lodge?—

March 7th: "Huh? So the so-called home delivery actually means the Slumbernana Monkey doll finds its own way here?"

Stelle: "Is this really just a doll?"

Stelle: "Isn’t it a bit too smart for that?"

Furina de Fontaine: "Actually, Miss Hanabi’s dolls are very smart too!"

Furina de Fontaine: "They’re even more interesting than real Slumbernana Monkeys!"

Qingque: "Miss Hanabi’s dolls are more on the creepy and abstract side, if you ask me."

Qingque: "Because you never know what kind of unexpected, wild stunt her dolls will pull the next second."

Paimon: "I highly suspect that Miss Hanabi’s dolls are actually being controlled by her from behind the scenes."

Silver Wolf: "No need to suspect, they absolutely are!"

Hanabi: "Hee-hee~ My dolls are just that high-grade, you know!"

....

『 [ It got delivered this fast? ]

[ The shopkeeper is actually quite trustworthy. ]

[ I thought I’d have to pay a final balance. ]

Stelle looked curiously at the exquisite Slumbernana Monkey doll on the ground, speaking with a look of surprise.

[ Banana, ban-banana! ]

Stelle reached out, wanting to squeeze the Slumbernana Monkey doll to test its quality.

As it turned out, the Slumbernana Monkey seemed to be startled. Like a real monkey, it turned tail and bolted.

[ .... ]

[ It ran away. What do we do? ]

Dan Heng was a bit dazed by the sight.

[ Chase it! ]

[ My eight thousand eight hundred Alfalfa credits!!! Don’t let it get away! ]

[ That’s my brand-new monkey! ]

Stelle shouted without a second thought!

[ Alright, let’s retrieve the doll first. ] 』

『 ....』

—?Omniscient Viewer’s Chat Lodge?—

Stelle: "?"

Stelle: "What the heck?!"

Stelle: "I can’t even touch the monkey I just got, and it actually ran away!"

March 7th: "Those movements, that expression, that behavior... it doesn’t look like a doll at all..."

Lumine: "Is there a 150% chance that this is actually a real Slumbernana Monkey?"

Qingque: "Judging by its appearance, I also think it’s real."

Guinaifen: "It’s too hard to tell, but it did have some Memoria added to it after all."

Guinaifen: "It’s not surprising that it can be as lively as the creatures of the Sweet Dream Troupe."

Mualani: "By the way, why does this little monkey doll look so listless?"

Mualani: "It looks just like a decadent old monkey."

Stelle: "When we bought the doll, that Peelin’ Richie didn’t tell us there were different styles to choose from!"

Stelle: "Could it be that they ship randomly, and we just happened to get a decadent old monkey?"

Li Sushang: "Then that feels like a huge loss. A decadent old monkey is way less cute!"

Silver Wolf: "Stelle, spending money on this thing was a mistake in the first place."

....

『 [ This doll... is practically like a living creature. ]

Dan Heng followed behind Stelle, beginning to chase after the runaway doll.

But the doll ran incredibly fast, heading all the way into the interior of the college.

[ This direction... is the Fortune Academy? ]

[ Rappa? ]

[ When did she get ahead of us? ]

As they gave chase, Dan Heng realized that the Slumbernana Monkey doll had led them to the area of the Fortune Academy.

And here, they actually ran into Rappa.

The little monkey also happened to stop right next to Rappa.

[ Sis! ]

[ I don’t sell taro balls here, and there aren’t any scoundrels either. Please spare me! ]

As Dan Heng and Stelle approached, they realized Rappa was actually speaking to Richie, who was running his stall.

At this moment, Richie had a bitter look on his face, seemingly tormented to no end by Rappa. 』

『 ....』

—?Omniscient Viewer’s Chat Lodge?—

Furina de Fontaine: "How did Miss Rappa get from the Dreamweaving class to the stall area in just a brief moment?"

Lumine: "Perhaps that is the swift and decisive nature of a ninja!"

March 7th: "What taro balls? What kind of balls?"

March 7th: "What is this Richie talking about?"

March 7th: "He’s making my mouth water!"

Stelle: "Did Rappa mistake him for a boba tea vendor?"

Stelle: "But he sells dolls."

Asta: "I guess... what Miss Rappa said wasn’t ’taro balls’ and ’scoundrels’, but ’Evil Ninja Osaru’."

Asta: "Too bad classmate Richie couldn’t understand her!"

Boothill: "Ha, of course. Normal folks can’t understand a single muddle-fuddling word she says."

Boothill: "Anyone who can understand her is definitely not normal!"

Dan Heng: "Wait, the doll Stelle bought ran right back to the stall..."

Qingque: "Oh boy, I get it!"

Qingque: "This doll is being controlled by this Richie!"

Qingque: "He wants the doll to run back to the stall on its own so he can sell it a second time!"

Qingque: "He’s a scammer among scammers!"

Paimon: "Ah... that..."

Paimon: "The doll ran so fast that ordinary people couldn’t even catch up."

Paimon: "It really might have been intentional!"

Stelle: "Huh?"

Stelle: "If he really dares to play me like that, I’ll use him as a baseball!"

....

『 [ Nay, Ninja Initiate Merchant! The other initiates have verified that these fiendling puppets are from your shop. Confess at once! Are you under the spell of Evil Ninja Osaru? ]

Rappa was interrogating Richie with a solemn expression.

[ He indeed looks very suspicious! ]

[ Let’s torture him first! ]

Stelle fanned the flames from the side.

[ Oh! Hey! It’s you! Please, help me talk some sense into her. I’m just a well-behaved student working to pay my tuition fees, not whatever "initiate" she thinks I am! ]

Richie looked at Stelle and Dan Heng, hoping they would step in to save him from his misery!

[ Setting that aside for now, the little monkey you sold us keeps running away. Are you sure it’s just a doll? ]

Dan Heng suspected that this Slumbernana Monkey doll was actually a living creature.

[ Fiendling puppets imbued with life... The epitome of Ninja Automation. ] 』

『 ....』

—?Omniscient Viewer’s Chat Lodge?—

Silver Wolf: "What in the world is ’Ninja Automation’?!"

Silver Wolf: "Your ninja-speak is surprisingly down-to-earth sometimes."

Stelle: "After hearing so much of Rappa’s ninja truths, I feel like I’ve mastered the language of the ninja too!"

Stelle: "The essence is simply to add the word ’ninja’ in front of certain nouns, and boom, it becomes a ninja truth!"

Rappa: "The Baseball Bat Ninja is indeed a person of great enlightenment!"

Rappa: "In time, you will surely become a grandmaster of the ninja path!"

March 7th: "Uh... is it really that casual?"

....

『 [ You rich folks are just being unreasonable! If it were really some high-end stuff, would I be selling it at such a low price? ]

[ Please, take pity on this poor student! Have a heart! As if squeezing in sales between classes isn’t enough, I haven’t slept a wink in three days, just so I can get this batch of toys ready! ]

Looking at the three people demanding answers, Richie was truly pushed to his limit. 』

『 ....』

—?Omniscient Viewer’s Chat Lodge?—

March 7th: "He seems to have a point."

March 7th: "If it were a doll that behaves like a living creature, I definitely wouldn’t sell it so cheaply."

Stelle: "Eight thousand eight hundred credits is indeed not expensive."

Stelle: "If it were up to me, a moving doll like this would sell for eight hundred and eighty-eight thousand!"

Guinaifen: "Huh? Eight hundred and eighty-eight thousand?"

Guinaifen: "Sister, you’re way too ruthless!"

Guinaifen: "Selling a doll for that much, you’re the real scammer here!"

Stelle: "You can’t say that. People who can afford an eight-hundred-thousand-credit doll are all super rich; they don’t care about this pocket change."

Stelle: "I didn’t scam the poor, so how am I a scammer?"

Li Sushang: "That actually makes sense..."

Qingque: "You guys don’t get it. She’s intentionally setting an absurdly high price, waiting for people to bargain!"

Qingque: "In the end, after they bargain and buy it, they’ll even thank her!"

Stelle: "Oh, General Qing thought of something I didn’t!"

Stelle: "When I open a shop, I’ll hire you as my salesperson!"

Furina de Fontaine: "So, is this doll really just an ordinary doll?"

Furina de Fontaine: "But if this is an ordinary doll, I dread to think what a high-end doll would look like..."

Xilonen: "There’s another possibility: this Richie doesn’t know what’s going on with the doll either."

Kinich: "Hmm, if we want to investigate the doll, we still have to find its manufacturer."

....

『 [ Richie! Bana tsk! How could you speak so rudely to your customers? ]

Just then, a Profnana seemed to notice the situation here and walked straight over.

[ F—Fortune BananAdvisor! ]

Seeing the Profnana of Wealth appear, Richie immediately became a bit nervous.

[ How did I teach you? ]

[ The customer is always right! ]

[ Hello, dear students... ]

After reprimanding Richie, the Profnana of Wealth began to greet Stelle and the others in a friendly tone.

[ This evil creature... its body resembles an insect. It must be a lower-class evil creature. ]

Rappa sized up this unfamiliar Profnana and gave a serious evaluation.

[ Got it, it’s a True Sting monkey! ]

Stelle said with sudden realization. 』

『 ....』

—?Omniscient Viewer’s Chat Lodge?—

Silver Wolf: "Talk about being blunt."

Silver Wolf: "As the saying goes, ’don’t strike a smiling Profnana’!"

Silver Wolf: "You guys started the monkey-personal attacks the moment you met!"

Hu Tao: "Hahaha, this is hilarious."

Hu Tao: "The key is that Miss Rappa was super serious when she made that evaluation!"

Furina de Fontaine: "Then what is this ’True Sting’ Miss Stelle mentioned?"

Furina de Fontaine: "It sounds quite terrifying."

Stelle: "Oh, that’s a type of Propagation offspring. It looks like a beetle and can split!"

Stelle: "It is indeed quite terrifying."

Stelle: "To be fair, compared to a True Sting, this Fortune BananAdvisor is actually quite decent-looking."

Rappa: "To reel in another evil creature without wasting any effort is truly a pleasant surprise."

Dan Heng: "Hasn’t it heard about its companions’ deeds?"

Dan Heng: "If it had, it should be cautious."

Himeko: "It can’t be ruled out that it intentionally delivered itself to your doorstep, and its target is the few of you."

Stelle: "Want to fish?"

Stelle: "Then I’ll have to see if its fishing rod is tough enough!"

....

『 [ Wh—What did you just say!? Bana grr! Repeat that if you dare!]

Being insulted so bluntly by Rappa and Stelle, the Profnana of Wealth almost exploded!

[ Profnana, the customer is always right! The customer is always right! ]

Seeing that the Profnana of Wealth was about to lose its temper, Richie hurriedly used the words the Profnana had previously said to him to calm it down.

[ Ahem, I lost my composure. ]

[ Students, everyone might have some misunderstandings about the new product of the Fortune Academy. ]

[ The reason these little monkey dolls are so lively is to provide more emotional value to young consumers. ]

[ Paperfold University looks bustling on the surface, but in truth, many students hide loneliness beneath their banana peels. ]

[ It’s hard to adapt to the enthusiastic atmosphere of the Golden Hour, and they can’t blend into the local life of Penacony... ]

[ But the Slumbernana Monkey is the best companion! ]

[ It won’t compete with you for credits, it won’t compare itself to you, and it won’t steal your things. You can share your heart with it without worrying that it will tell your secrets to others. ] 』

『 ....』

—?Omniscient Viewer’s Chat Lodge?—

March 7th: "As expected of a Fortune BananAdvisor, its words are really smooth."

Stelle: "What it said is indeed quite tempting."

Stelle: "But on second thought, isn’t this just raising a pet?"

Stelle: "Then wouldn’t it be better for me to buy a real pet?"

Stelle: "Why raise a fake doll?"

Qingque: "Sigh, it’s all just marketing talk to sell products."

Qingque: "Forcing non-existent value onto their own products."

Qingque: "Very much fits my understanding of scammers."

Li Sushang: "Exactly!"

Li Sushang: "I never fall for it!"

Guinaifen: "Sushang, when we go out shopping, you’re the one who falls for it the most, aren’t you?"

Li Sushang: "Shut up, Kei-chan!"

Li Sushang: "That’s not falling for it, that’s being willing!"

....

『 [ Any mention of grades makes me weak in the knees. ]

Stelle shook her head, indicating she didn’t want to hear this nonsense.

[ Bana gosh, look at the time! I have to get ready for my Dreamscape Marketing class! ]

[ Excuse me, students. If you have any questions, let’s chat after class. ]

The Profnana of Wealth checked the time and then left in a hurry.

[ Bosses, I’m off to class too. ]

[ If anything happens, just look for me. Don’t involve the BananAdvisor again... ]

Using the excuse of going to class, Richie also made a hasty escape.

[ If we keep pestering him, he won’t budge either. Why don’t we follow them and see? ]

Dan Heng looked at Richie’s departing back and suggested to the two.

[ Bana bana bana... ]

Just then, that decadent Slumbernana Monkey let out a few strange cries and started running in the direction Richie had left. 』

『 ....』

—?Omniscient Viewer’s Chat Lodge?—

Stelle: "I clearly bought the monkey, but it won’t follow me and only chases after Richie!"

Stelle: "That damn scammer must have done something to my monkey!"

Stelle: "I’m going to bring him to justice!"

March 7th: "It’s fine. The monkey can run, but the person can’t."

March 7th: "If worst comes to worst, just make him give a refund."

Qingque: "How is a refund enough?"

Qingque: "You have to make him pay heavy compensation!"

Stelle: "General Qing is so right!"

Stelle: "Wasting my precious time, he has to compensate me at least eighty to a hundred thousand credits!"

Silver Wolf: "Hilarious, just make him bankrupt directly, right?"

Silver Wolf: "You guys sure know how to punish scammers."

....

『 [ This atmosphere... is this really a marketing class? ]

The three followed the little monkey to the marketing classroom, but it turned out to be a hosting venue.

On the large screen behind the stage, an abstract music animation of the Slumbernana Monkey was playing.

Richie and the Profnana of Wealth from earlier were standing on the stage.

[ ? Ba na na na~ Ba na na na~ ? ]

Accompanied by a rhythm of banana music, the Profnana of Wealth on the stage began the class.

[ Students, look closely. This is the most commercially valuable pop culture right now, banana! ]

[ Eat bananas and sleep, happy and worry-free! ]

[ Come, analyze this sentence carefully. Why can the Slumbernana Monkey trigger a banana craze in Penacony? ]

[ How about that gray-haired student— Wait, what are you doing here!? Oh, never mind. You can answer the question then. ]

Stelle was called upon by the Profnana to answer the question. 』

『 ....』