Chapter 56 Using Items

Having chosen a room, Lin Xiangjun walked to the very center of the small courtyard and took out the prop [Outsiders, Just Die Obediently] from her mandarin ducks playing in water pouch.

This prop looked like an unremarkable broom, the old-fashioned kind tied with sorghum, without even a wooden handle.

But it was indeed an s-rank prop.

As expected, whether a prop was useful or not had nothing to do with its appearance.

Who would have guessed that such an unremarkable broom, which shed red particles from time to time and looked so ugly that she wouldn't even give it a second glance at a roadside stall, was actually such a useful high-level prop?

The old saying was right.

Coarse willow for winnowing baskets, fine willow for pecks; no one in the world minds if a prop is ugly.

Harboring a sense of admiration that "a prop cannot be judged by its cover," Lin Xiangjun held the broom in both hands and placed it squarely on the bluestone slab in the center of the house.

"Please protect our home well." Following the instructions, Lin Xiangjun pressed her palms together and bowed devoutly.

Hearing Lin Xiangjun's summons, the sorghum broom lying on the bluestone slab immediately performed a "sitting up startled from a deathbed." Its body began to sway and shake, the magnitude of the vibrations growing larger and larger—

Lin Xiangjun watched it expectantly.

What would it look like when a high-level prop like this took effect?

Currently, the only high-level props Lin Xiangjun had used were [The Fallen Princess's Dagger] and the mandarin ducks playing in water pouch.

The dagger had no special effects when used, but its attack power was truly strong; the Stair Ghost, whose soul had been scattered after being stabbed, would have surely sung its praises.

Not to mention the pouch; its internal space was like a Pixiu's belly, seemingly impossible to fill. Even though she had been in the instance for four and a half days and had used the pouch for just as long, Lin Xiangjun still marveled at its magic every time she reached into the fist-sized pouch and pulled out a mountain of items.

How did this thing even work? Such a tiny object could hold so many things.

It could hold more than a foreign "zero."

Having witnessed the wonders of the previous two props, Lin Xiangjun had high expectations for [Outsiders, Just Die Obediently].

What would it look like after use? Would it generate a protective shield like in novels? Would it sprout countless roots to wrap around the entire house like in anime? Would a beam of holy light descend from the sky to envelop the whole building? Or would it simply summon a powerful guardian beast to watch over her home?

...

Lin Xiangjun was immersed in her imagination, her gaze toward the broom becoming increasingly fervent.

Under Lin Xiangjun's expectant, curious, and longing gaze, the broom struggled for a minute as if having a stroke before finally standing upright with its head down.

Before Lin Xiangjun and Wang Min, the broom head split down the middle of the sorghum bristles to both sides.

It looked a bit like the "curtain bangs" of an old broom, but a center-parted version; perhaps it could be called "French bangs."

The prop's debut was quite unique. Lin Xiangjun was momentarily surprised, then comforted herself: It's fine, it just looks a bit ugly, but not that ugly. It's acceptable.

The split broom head swayed like two legs, as if testing its flexibility.

After confirming, the magic broom's "feet" on both sides—this was Lin Xiangjun's guess, as it was impossible to distinguish arms, legs, hands, or feet from two bunches of sorghum bristles—were extremely flexible, as agile as the chickens, ducks, and geese that couldn't be caught during the New Year.

The magic broom contentedly struck two inexplicable poses toward Lin Xiangjun.

Seeing that Lin Xiangjun had no reaction and seemingly didn't understand its meaning, the broom hopped twice in place, lifted one leg to pat its handle, and then bent it upward ninety degrees.

It formed an "L" shape.

Standing on one leg with the other bent...

The standing leg was for balance, so it performed the movement, and the broom even thoughtfully swapped the actions of the two legs.

If the movement was supposed to have both legs bent up...

That would be the shape " 凵."

It meant it was very strong and powerful.

Lin Xiangjun remained silent for a long while, watching the broom bouncing incessantly on the ground, before finally choosing a method to settle things once and for all.

She raised her hand to cover her eyes and then repeatedly warned herself in her heart.

It's fine. It's normal for things to be a bit weird in the weird world.

Thinking Lin Xiangjun had understood its meaning, the broom excitedly shook its handle, then began to swagger around the courtyard with its handle held high, walking in a "step-step-step" fashion.

Lin Xiangjun silently closed the gaps between her fingers and shut her eyes as well.

So your idea of protecting the home and expelling outsiders is just assigning a patrolling broom security guard to my house?

And why is this broom walking with such a sway in its hips and a strut in its step?

Is no one going to do anything about this?

Well done, weird world. Well done.

Lin Xiangjun really couldn't bear to watch a broom "strutting" around her home.

A single broom was making her courtyard look absolutely flamboyant.

So she took a deep breath, chose to spare herself the sight, and dragged the dumbfounded Wang Min back to her room.

On the way back to the room, Lin Xiangjun managed to compose herself.

It was an s-rank prop, after all; she couldn't just kick it out because its walk was too enchanting, so she could only brainwash herself.

What was wrong with a broom walking? Wasn't it normal for an s-rank prop to have a few personal quirks?

Who said the use of a prop had to be grand and sophisticated?

Who said a prop had to perform magical attacks in a magnificent and beautiful way?

This magic broom was just down-to-earth; it wanted to stride out confidently, it was its hobby, so what?

It's a broom, isn't it? It has 'sweep' in the name, so what if it's a bit 'showy'? At least it's consistent.

Having comforted herself, Lin Xiangjun stopped dwelling on it. She pulled Wang Min back to her room and sat on the sofa.

This was originally the area with a large round table and high stools, but the wooden stools were too hard and uncomfortable, so Lin Xiangjun had put those away and replaced them with a sofa and a small portable table.

Although it looked a bit out of place, it was truly comfortable to have half of one's backside sink into the sofa; it was very soothing for exhaustion.

Lin Xiangjun let out a sigh of relief after throwing herself onto the sofa. She ordered two bottles of mineral water on the Forbidden APP and said to Wang Min while drinking, "Now that we have the house and the rooms are assigned, we need a few people to work around here. I still have many paper figurine cards, but I want to recruit some with specific abilities, like cooking or farming. Is there a way to target those?"

If recruitment was purely random, getting a few students like Wang Min would be fine since they could learn anything, but if she got a few useless idiots like Patrick Star who couldn't help with anything, she would truly faint.

What she needed now was one who could cook, one who could farm, and two who could clean the house—that is, four new paper figures.

If she ended up with four Patrick Stars...

Lin Xiangjun shuddered at the thought.