Calling this place a "canteen" is truly the pinnacle of faux modesty that the elite love to employ.

  As soon as we step through the carved oak door, Kaito freezes. His eyes widen as if trying to swallow the scene whole. Contrary to the cold stainless steel rows often found in the schools of the boy's imagination, this place is actually decorated in the style of a traditional Japanese restaurant. It is both sophisticated and extremely luxurious.

  The floor is paved with polished cedar wood which emits a gentle, warm fragrance. Ink wash painted screens separate the dining areas to create just enough privacy. In the center of the room, a small artificial stream trickles through a rock garden arranged delicately in the Zen style.

  But the most expensive feature lies on the other side of the giant glass wall.

  The cramped Setagaya streetscape is replaced by an endless horizon. A white, crystal-clear sea stretches as far as the eye can see where the water and the sky merge into one. This is what is called an infinity pool, or rather, infinity sea. There are no waves, and the sky is dotted with only a few faint clouds which reflect perfectly on the calm water surface.

  "This... this is the canteen?" Kaito stammers, too scared to step firmly on the expensive wooden floor.

  "Yeah. A 'canteen' for public service employees," I wave my hand, my tail swishing lazily in the air. "Find a table with a nice view and sit down."

  We choose a table by the glass wall. Kaito looks around for a menu, but the table surface is empty, save for a vase of orchids emitting a fragrant scent.

  "Don't bother looking. What era do you think this is?" I tap my claw on the marble table, creating a sharp clicking sound. "Open Solak. Go to Sensitive Inn > Cuisine."

  Kaito hurriedly complies. The ordering interface appears, divided into two distinct tabs: [Mortal Menu] and [Divine Menu].

  The boy curiously moves to tap the glittering golden tab meant for Gods, but I intercept his hand with my tail just in time.

  "Keep that curious finger away if you want to live a few more years," I warn seriously. "Our food is basically compressed pure Faith Points shaped into flavors. It is mostly for amusement."

  "If your mortal body swallows that, best case scenario you suffer a spiritual blowout, worst case you explode like an over-inflated balloon."

  Kaito retracts his hand as if burned, his face pale. "Is... is it that dangerous?"

  "Of course. That is why you are only allowed to choose from the [Mortal Menu] side," I jut my chin toward the green tab. "Don't worry. Even though it is food for humans, it is 100% authentic. The robot chefs here are from old Hephaestus's workshop over on Olympus. Their cooking is impeccable, Michelin 5-star standard."

  Kaito scrolls through the menu. His eyes light up at the sight of delicacies: Bluefin Tuna Sushi, Stone-Grilled A5 Wagyu Beef, Lobster Thermidor... But then he freezes when he sees the prices listed in FP.

  "Itsuki-sama... I don't have FP..."

  "My treat," I pat my chest. "Physical food is dirt cheap anyway. Go wild."

  True to my word, I take Kaito's phone and immediately select the [Premium Breakfast Buffet - All Inclusive] package for the kid. Converted to FP, the price is merely a fraction of my morning coffee. Feeding human employees is truly a steal.

  Then I switch to my tab, scroll past expensive delicacies with sky-high prices, and begrudgingly choose the most basic Faith Points Ramen, Bone Broth Flavor.

  Less than two minutes later, a small spatial rift opens right in the middle of the table, and food is delivered by exquisitely gold-plated mechanical arms.

  Kaito looks at the grand buffet spread in front of him. Fresh sashimi, shark fin soup, French pastries... then he looks at my simple steaming bowl of Ramen.

  "Uh..." The boy hesitates, picking up his chopsticks but not daring to eat. "Itsuki-sama, aren't... aren't you getting the buffet? Why are you eating so simply?"

  I give a bitter laugh, stirring the noodles gently, watching the glistening strands.

  "Kid, why do you think the [Buffet] tab only appears on your menu and not mine?"

  Kaito shakes his head blankly.

  "Because deities..." I pick up some noodles, blowing on them, "...never know fullness."

  I slurp a spoonful of broth, feeling the warm energy spread through my body, but the satisfying feeling of a "full stomach" is completely absent.

  "If they opened a buffet for gods, this Sensitives' Hub would go bankrupt in a heartbeat because we would sit here eating from morning to night. That privilege is reserved only for creatures with biological limits like you."

  I rest my chin on my hand and watch Kaito start to devour a piece of Wagyu beef, feeling secretly jealous.

  "At least you know what 'stuffed' feels like. As for me... I spend money only to buy a fleeting taste."

  Just as I am about to slurp the last spoonful of broth, that expensive soup simmered from dragon bones that doesn't fill me up one bit, the spirit-phone vibrates violently on the stone table, nearly sliding straight into the bowl.

  Reo: "Boss, you said today was special training for the kid? Where are you two hiding? Don't tell me you dragged him off to gamble again?"

  I smack my lips, typing rapidly with my claws.

  ItsukiK: "At the Sensitives' Hub canteen. Come over for breakfast, my treat!!!"

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Reo: "Your treat? Is the sky falling today? Or are you about to get fired so you're treating us to a last meal?"

  ItsukiK: "Come on, don't be so negative. I've treated you countless times, you ungrateful brat :<"

  Reo: "Excuse me? Ever since I got promoted to Senior, have you spat out a single cent? It's always 'You're a big boy now, stand on your own two feet'. Do you have multiple personalities?"

  Despite his complaining, less than five minutes later, the familiar figure of the silver-haired teacher looms at the canteen entrance. His nose is no less sharp than Xiaolang's when tracking the scent of free food.

  Reo doesn't come empty-handed. He carries a plate of golden, steaming Deep-Fried Tofu, then plops it down right in front of me.

  "Here you go," he says, pulling out a chair and sitting down, his face deadpan.

  Kaito, chewing on a piece of sushi, looks up with confusion. "Uh, Sensei? I thought deities don't have physical bodies, so how can they eat human food?"

  "Correct, he can't," Reo nods, starting to roll up his shirt sleeves professionally. "That is why I have to offer it to him."

  With that, Reo stands up, taking a deep breath. He clasps his hands together and begins to perform a series of hand seals so complex it makes one dizzy.

  "Looks strange, right?" I prop my chin, explaining to the wide-eyed Kaito. "I am currently on the payroll of The Jade Palace Conglomerate. So if anyone wants to offer food to me, they must use the Taoist sacrificial ritual."

  Kaito nods, though his face remains blank. "So eating also requires administrative procedure..."

  Reo chants continuously for ten minutes. His body is drenched in sweat, beads of water forming on his forehead, looking like he just finished a marathon.

  "Done..." He exhales sharply, pushing the carefully offered plate of tofu toward me.

  The crispy golden skin of the tofu is now covered in a faint aura which emits a seductive scent irresistible to a fox's nose.

  "Oh my..." I tear up with emotion, my tail wagging furiously. "You truly are my star disciple. Usually I have to beg until I'm blue in the face for you to offer a piece. Why so generous today?"

  Reo pulls out a tissue to wipe his sweat, squinting at me meaningfully.

  "Because..." he emphasizes every word, "...today is payday."

  He pulls out his phone and opens the banking app. "The rescue mission in Beta Hell, you promised a bonus, right? Don't tell me you forgot?"

  I freeze. The piece of tofu halfway to my mouth nearly drops.

  "Ah... well..." I avert my eyes, avoiding his gaze. "You did a good job. I... I have reviewed it."

  "I knew it," Reo sighs, shaking his head in resignation. "Gifts for the higher-ups you never forget, but employee bonuses seem to be automatically filtered out by your brain. Sigh, the life of a hireling."

  "Hey hey! Don't slander me!" I crane my neck to argue, but my ears droop. "I have never cheated you out of a single cent! I am full of integrity!"

  "That is because every time I have to remind you until my jaw aches," Reo pouts.

  Kaito sits next to us, his eyes lighting up at the mention of money.

  "Today is payday?" The boy asks with a voice full of hope. "But... I only signed the contract 2 weeks ago. Will I receive it?"

  Reo looks at his student in surprise. "Why not? The payroll system is automated. It pays out on the 5th, so you get paid for what you worked."

  "Because I heard my friends say," Kaito scratches his head worriedly, "working part-time at convenience stores or restaurants, if you don't work a full first month, they often withhold salary and pay it combined with the next month. Afraid employees will quit abruptly."

  I burst out laughing, patting the boy on the shoulder.

  "Kid, don't compare The Jade Palace Conglomerate to those grocery stores. Why be stingy with the peanuts you Sensitives call a salary?"

  "That is correct," Reo nods in confirmation, eyes glued to the phone screen waiting for the balance change notification. "Say what you will, regarding salary and benefits, this company is number one in reliability. One second late and the system automatically adds penalty interest for the employee. Just wait for the message in peace."

  Just as he finishes speaking.

  Ding! Ding!

  Kaito tremblingly picks up his phone, his thumb swiping across the lock screen, muttering calculations like he is auditing a treasury.

  "Let's see... Starting salary 30,000 dollars a year. That is 2,500 dollars a month... Converted to yen is about 380 thousand..." Kaito mutters, eyes glued to the banking app. "I've been working for two weeks, so receiving half... about 190 thousand yen would be nice..."

  But when the actual number appears, the eyes behind the boy's thick glasses widen to the max, bug-eyed, nearly popping out of his skull.

  "Two... two million yen?!" Kaito screams, his voice cracking an octave higher. "The system is glitched! Why are there so many zeros?!"

  Reo sits next to him, glancing at his student's screen. He smirks, slapping Kaito on the back hard enough to nearly make the boy drop his phone into the soup bowl.

  "No glitch, kid. Probably added the hot bonus from the Beta Hell mission. This conglomerate is very generous, as long as you are alive to receive the money."

  Saying that, Reo also nods toward his own phone. "Same here. Money just arrived too."

  Kaito curiously peeks over. And this time, the boy doesn't scream. He goes completely silent.

  On Kujo Reo's screen, a long string of numbers is dancing tauntingly.

  "Tw... twenty... million... yen," Kaito stammers, his face pale as if he just saw a ghost. "In... in one month?"

  "Nothing strange about it," I say, my voice calm as if nothing happened. "Reo here is senior personnel with a base salary of 20,000 dollars a month. Just so happens today is the Quarter 3 closing date, so he received a quarterly bonus equal to 1/4 of his annual salary, which is another 60,000 dollars."

  "Plus the hazard bonus from the Beta Hell mission is 50,000 dollars. Total is somewhere around over a hundred thousand dollars. Converted to Japanese Yen, that range is correct."

  Hearing this, the smug smile on Reo's lips suddenly vanishes. He frowns, recalculating in his head, then turns to glare at me intensely.

  "Wait a minute, Boss. How are you calculating? The previous mission was easier but my mission bonus was 60,000 dollars. Why is it only 50,000 this time when we fought tooth and nail with the Executioner?"

  "Well, I cut that 10,000 dollar difference and gave it to Kaito. Or do you want to claim it back? Want to settle scores with your own student?"

  Reo is speechless. He looks at Kaito, the kid holding the phone with trembling hands, eyes shining like he is seeing the Messiah, then back at me. Awkwardness is evident on the teacher's handsome face.

  "You..." Reo grinds his teeth. "Truly a stingy old fox! Robbing Peter to pay Paul and calling it a bonus?"

  "What more do you want?" I smirk. "This is called income redistribution, encouraging the younger generation. You are already filthy rich. Would it kill you to yield a little to your junior?"

  Kaito finally snaps out of his economic shock. The boy's mind is spinning between Dollar and Yen exchange rates, between base salary and soft bonuses.

  "You... you two..." Kaito swallows hard. "So ultimately... besides base salary, how many types of bonuses do us Sensitives get?"

  Reo adjusts his collar, turning to enthusiastically explain to the newbie, and disguise his bragging.

  "Listen carefully. Besides your base salary of 30,000 dollars a year, every three months there is a Quarterly Bonus with a value equal to 1/4 of annual salary. At the end of the fiscal year, if KPI is met, you receive an Annual Bonus equal to a full year's salary. That is the 13th-month salary. Oh, and this is Net salary, meaning after tax. All tax procedures are handled by the conglomerate."

  He points to the balance notification he just received.

  "As for cases like Beta Hell, they count as Special Hazard Allowances. The harder the mission, the easier it is to die, the higher the bonus. But remember this: If you kick the bucket, you lose it all."

  Kaito freezes for the second time.

  Perhaps the processor in the boy's brain has overloaded and is smoking. He doesn't hear Reo's final warning.

  "Monthly salary 2,500 dollars... Every quarter receive an extra 7,500 dollars... End of year get another 30,000 dollars dumped right in your lap... Not counting mission bonuses..."

  Seeing the kid about to faint from joy, I extend my furry tail, giving him a light smack on the back of the neck.

  "Wake up, kid!" I smirk, revealing a small fang. "This is just the peanuts salary of a Fresher level."

  I prop my chin, looking deep into the boy's eyes.

  "Try to survive the upcoming ordeal. If you qualify for promotion to Junior level. At that time..."

  "...Those numbers you just calculated, go ahead and double them."