I Went Viral Across the Stars by Taming Beasts - Chapter 5

I did not take the strange dream to heart.

Snowy’s nightmares, however, still worried me.

I contacted his long-silent patron to ask whether Snowy might have suffered something traumatic.

The man hemmed and hawed without giving me a real answer.

But when he learned that Snowy could sleep through the night beside me, he immediately sent another enormous cash gift.

“Miss Xie, please continue caring for my lord for a while longer. If you require anything, you need only ask.”

Call him responsible, and he did not even know why Snowy had nightmares. He had left all the work to me from the beginning.

Call him irresponsible, and he was astonishingly generous.

After sending the money, he once again ended our short conversation.

He did not say when he would take Snowy home. Apparently, that would depend on Snowy’s condition.

As for training, the patron said there was no need whatsoever.

“As long as you do not harm my lord, Miss Xie may do whatever she likes… I believe my lord enjoys being close to you.”

Of course he did. I was Xie, star zookeeper!

No little animal could resist my charms. Heh heh heh.

Since the patron said special training was unnecessary, I stopped putting Snowy through it.

After asking Snowy’s opinion—and receiving his approval via paw bump—I decided to take him back on stream.

I had already planned the content.

I would read a children’s picture book, turn some of the actions in the story into commands, and let Snowy perform them.

That way, I could demonstrate my professional skills while giving more people the chance to praise him.

I had noticed long ago that this child loved head pats and compliments. Every time I called him a good boy, his tail wagged before he could stop it.

With solid proof this time, no one could call me a fraud again. Right?

When the stream began, however, things went a little differently from what I imagined.

No one called me insane or treated me like a clown.

But I still could not understand the comments.

【So this is a parent-and-child channel? I mean, if you put it that way, my mom is technically my keeper too.】

【Now that everyone’s stopped flaming her, I’m going to say it… Her voice is seriously beautiful. Please read more picture books. I love listening!】

【By the way, what species is her little darling? He looks really rare.】

Species? Oh, they were asking about Snowy’s breed.

He did look slightly different from the Samoyed puppies I remembered, so it made sense that viewers found him unfamiliar.

Before I could choose a question to answer, gift effects once again flooded the screen.

At the same time, an army of accounts with uniformly numeric usernames appeared and began aggressively controlling the conversation.

Whenever Snowy acted out a brave or clever move from the story, they posted suspiciously robotic praise.

【Amazing! Absolutely amazing!】

【Oh my god, he’s so dazzling I’m going blind!】

【The streamer is excellent too. Please accept this little flower!】

Me: “…?”

I stared blankly at the comment section, which looked as if it had been occupied by paid shills.

Still, I showed it to Snowy. “Baby, look. Everyone is praising you.”

The comments froze for one peculiar second.

Snowy stumbled, then tapped the picture book in my hand with a paw, urging me to continue.

We finished the book, and the stream came to a successful close.

Not only did gifts pour in like water, my account gained tens of thousands of followers.

At last, my career was going somewhere. I grabbed Snowy and smothered him in kisses.

“Baby, you’re Big Sister’s lucky star! We’re having hot pot tonight to celebrate.”

I did not know the etiquette of the interstellar age, but common courtesy told me not to take Snowy to a restaurant.

Hot pot tasted just as good at home as long as I bought all the ingredients.

And so, half a month after arriving in this world, I left the house for the first time.

I picked out rolls of beef and lamb, beef tripe, layered tripe, hot-pot meatballs, glass noodles, and vegetables, then headed home with an enormous bag.

There was more than enough for Snowy and me.

Anything we could not finish could be cooked and fed to the stray cats and dogs downstairs.

Come to think of it, not a single cat or dog had surrounded me on this trip. I had, however, encountered an unusual number of overly enthusiastic passersby…

As I wondered why I had not seen any strays, a faint mewl came from a trash bin around the corner.

I could not understand a cat’s language, but years of dealing with animals told me at once that something was wrong.

The kitten making that sound was in agony.

Without hesitation, I quieted my steps and approached the bin.

When I lifted the lid, I found a kitten curled beneath the garbage, drenched in blood.

The palm-sized creature had been crushed under the refuse. It took only the shallowest breaths.

Some animal abuser had probably gotten to it.

By sheer luck, all four limbs were intact, and it was still alive.

I moved aside the wet garbage and lifted it out as gently as I could.

Even so close to death, the kitten retained a sliver of consciousness.

The moment it felt itself being moved, it instinctively tried to bite me.

But raising its head tore open the wound in its abdomen. It swayed once, then lost consciousness completely.

Its condition was critical. I wrapped it in my coat and sprinted home.