I Went Into the Mountains to Commit Suicide and Picked Up an All-Purpose Perverted Maid Who Loves Serving Her Master - Chapter 3: Money Making

Chapter 3: Money Making

Why are we doing this?

We were picking up empty cans in the park. I don’t really know why. Mei suddenly started collecting them, and I just went along with it since I had nothing better to do.

“Hey, what’s the point of collecting empty cans?”

“To make money.”

Make money? Come to think of it, I saw a TV show once about homeless people collecting cans. Do empty cans really turn into cash?

Mei picks up cans one after another. Her speed is twice mine. It’s not that she picks them up faster, but she’s incredibly good at spotting them. We keep collecting until our bags are full.

“So, how do these cans become money?”

“We’ll take them to a resource buyer. They should buy them there.”

With that, she starts walking. I follow, carrying my share of cans.

※

At the resource buyer, two bags of cans fetch 440 yen. That’s it? After hours of collecting with two people, this is all we get? Living off can collecting seems impossible. Once you clear an area, there won’t be more cans for a while. I feel exhausted for nothing.

What to do with this measly 440 yen? Buy some juice and snacks? Come to think of it, I only ate fish this morning and nothing else. I’m getting hungry.

“As expected, collecting cans doesn’t earn much. What now? Should we buy some snacks with this?”

“No, what we need to buy is already decided.”

“Decided…?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

※

Following Mei, we arrive at a major chain used bookstore. What’s she buying here? Does she want to read something before dying?

Mei browses every corner of the store and picks out four books. She takes them to the register. The total? Exactly 440 yen. She used all the money! She didn’t even ask me, and half those cans were mine!

“Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“To a used bookstore.”

Another bookstore…? We don’t have any money left!

※

The bookstore Mei takes me to is completely different from the chain store. It’s filled with rare, historical books, not the mass-market paperbacks you read once and sell.

Mei speaks to the shop owner, saying she wants to sell the books she just bought. Wait, she’s selling books she hasn’t even read? And will a place like this even buy them? The books here seem far higher quality than the chain store’s.

But the owner offers 8,000 yen for them.

8,000 yen for books bought for 440 yen!? What’s going on? Was there really such a valuable book in that chain store?

After that, Mei visits various used bookstores and thrift shops, buying and selling repeatedly. Slowly but surely, she increases our money. Apparently, this practice of profiting from the difference between buying and selling prices is called “sedori.” (T/N: Basically buying items cheaply in one place and reselling them for profit somewhere else.)

Mei starts earning a decent amount of cash through sedori.

※

With the money we earn, we move between capsule hotels and manga cafés, living day-to-day while continuing sedori. Mei’s eye for value is incredible. She’s never wrong. She accurately assesses the worth of seemingly unremarkable books or clothes and trades them. Where did she learn this knowledge?

After some time and saving up a decent amount, Mei says,

“Master, how many months have you been behind on your phone bill?”

Huh? Did I ever mention my phone bill? Well, if I’m carrying a phone I never use, it’s probably obvious.

“Three months, I think…?”

“Then let’s go pay it.”

Mei takes me to a phone shop and pays off my delinquent bill. Immediately, my phone is usable again.

“Hey, why are you being so nice to a loser like me? Paying off my phone bill when we barely know each other.”

“Loser… Oh, what a wonderful word. I’m not particularly trying to be nice. The real service starts now. I paid your phone bill because I needed that phone. May I borrow it for a bit?”

“Oh, sure.”

I quickly delete my search history and bookmarks before handing the phone to Mei.

※

I wondered what she’d do with my phone, but it seems she wanted to use online auctions and flea market apps. Mei starts selling the clothes and books she bought at thrift stores and bookstores online. So that’s why she needed the phone.

This makes sedori far more efficient. She also starts a blog, adding ads to earn revenue, and even begins selling stickers for chat apps, diving into all sorts of online businesses.

Our earnings keep growing, and before I know it, we’ve made a significant amount of money.