3 The enticing reward

At this moment, it happened to be the weekend, also considered the time when there were the most children on the streets. And usually, mornings were the most active time for children. If a choice was to be made, the nearest park would certainly be the best option.

"Takayuki, don't you plan to rest? You haven't had a good night's sleep for several days and nights," someone said.

Takayuki, while wearing a mascot costume at the entrance, said indifferently, "It's okay, I'm full of energy. But you, if you're tired, just say so. You can take a day off."

"Is there pay for taking a day off?"

"Hehe, of course not."

"Then I'll go to work."

Early in the morning, Airi Hayase couldn't afford to refuse Takayuki's payment. Even if she took a day off, she couldn't afford to do so.

It was ten thousand yen a day, and it was paid daily. At least at this moment, Airi Hayase felt that she wouldn't be able to find a better job in the short term.

And today, she could earn an extra five thousand.

She simply couldn't refuse.

So, Airi Hayase could only reluctantly put on the costume and follow along.

Only after putting it on did Airi Hayase notice that the mascot costume seemed quite similar to the game character created by Takayuki.

It was that big-nosed plumber.

It seemed like the costume was custom-made.

"Come on, let's get in the car. Put the head in the trunk, and I'll get the TV and spare battery," Takayuki said as he went back to the room to look for various items.

After a few minutes of rummaging around, Takayuki returned.

He took out a brand new TV still in its box and several batteries that could be used as backups.

Takayuki planned to go to a nearby park to try to attract attention.

It was the perfect time for a holiday, and during the day, children's natural tendency to play would overcome the temptation of television programs. Many children would still come out to play with their friends.

The nearby park was usually the gathering place for children.

Entering the van, Takayuki skillfully started the car. When Airi Hayase struggled to put on the mascot costume in the front passenger seat, he stepped on the gas and drove out of the house.

"Seatbelt! Seatbelt!"

The car sped away amidst a cry of surprise.

After about ten minutes, the car finally stopped at a park entrance about two kilometers from the house.

At this point, many children could already be seen playing at the entrance.

They were either playing hopscotch, playing with sandbags, or playing the traditional game of jumping rope.

"Alright, get out of the car and put on the headgear."

Airi Hayase hesitated when she saw so many children.

In the end, she thought of the extra five thousand yen and reluctantly picked up the headgear from behind her seat, then got out of the car and put it on.

Airi Hayase's image was the classic Mario, a short, chubby plumber.

Takayuki's image was slightly taller and thinner, resembling Luigi.

The two images were very distinct and characteristic, immediately attracting the attention of the children in the park as soon as they stepped out of the car.

"Hey, look over there! There are two mascots!"

The children playing in the park looked up one after another, puzzled when they saw Takayuki and Airi Hayase.

They began to search their minds for this image.

But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't remember which animation or TV show this was related to.

Takayuki opened the back door of the van and began to take out folding tables and chairs, and then placed the brand new TV on the table.

"Airi, go attract the children and invite them to come and play," Takayuki said to Airi Hayase, who was still a bit hesitant.

"I... me? I... I..." Airi Hayase suddenly panicked.

She wasn't exactly an introverted girl, but she had never done this kind of street solicitation before.

This first time made her feel very uncomfortable and nervous.

"Hmm? Are you not used to it? It's okay, then you can assemble the machine to make the TV display the picture. Your electrical engineering skills should be enough for this task, I'll do the attracting," Takayuki said without much hesitation, taking care of the situation while Airi Hayase was still hesitant.

"Well... okay," Airi Hayase finally agreed, resigned to her fate.

Takayuki wasted no time and started shouting to attract the children's attention.

"Come, come, take a look, brand new entertainment, a new game, something new and fun, every child can experience it for free for fifteen minutes, no charge at all. And if anyone can pass the challenge, they can even get a Jiaziyuan superhero doll!"

Takayuki shouted loudly.

Next to the TV table, there were many beautifully packaged dolls and hero dolls similar to Ultraman in this world.

At first, Takayuki wasn't sure if these children would be interested in electronic games, so he used the most traditional method of attracting them first with rewards they were interested in.

Perhaps these children weren't interested in the so-called new way of playing, but when they saw their favorite dolls displayed in front of them, they seemed to be moved.

It seemed that as long as they accepted the challenge and passed it, they could get those dolls, and they were immediately excited.

Whether they were girls or boys, they all ran to the entrance of the park, surrounding the van in an instant.

"Uncle, what's the challenge? What do we need to do?" one child asked eagerly.

"Who's an uncle!" Faced with the children's address, Airi Hayase immediately felt annoyed.

"Oh, oh, Auntie, this challenge..."

"I'm not an auntie!"

"I'm an older sister!"

Airi Hayase became upset.

She had just graduated from university; she was not an auntie!

"Hey hey hey, sister, why are you so talkative? We just want to know how to challenge," some children started to grumble.

Seeing the situation getting out of hand, Takayuki hurried over to smooth things over.

"Please wait a moment, the challenge will begin soon!"

The children turned their attention to Takayuki. "Uncle, as long as we pass the challenge, can we get the doll?"

Takayuki nodded as Luigi. "Yes, and you can also get additional souvenirs. Remember to keep them safe because they are valuable."

The children ignored the souvenirs; they were probably like the stamps in the mall. What they cared about most was the Jiaziyuan superhero doll.

Some children were already looking at those dolls with stars in their eyes.

Airi Hayase pouted, but she obediently connected all the wires and, finally, after debugging according to what Takayuki had taught her earlier, she turned back and handed the controller to the first child.

"Oh... you..."

"If you call me 'Auntie' again, I'll kick you out!" Airi Hayase glared angrily at the child.

The child shrunk back, muttering that it was just a title, why did the older sister care so much.

But he still obediently nodded, "Sister."

"Here, take it."

Airi Hayase handed the game controller to the child.

For these children, they had never seen or touched a game controller before.

So when the child received the controller, he was a little confused, not understanding how to use it.

Takayuki took the initiative to come forward and explain.

"Since you're the first challenger, you'll get an extra five minutes to familiarize yourself with it."

Taking the controller, Takayuki explained, "This is called a game controller. Next, a character that can be controlled with this controller will appear on the TV. You need to control this character to reach the finish line and rescue the beautiful princess."

"Of course, it's probably difficult to complete this challenge in such a short time, so you just need to complete the first level and reach the finish line."