IBV C57: Grave Visiting/What’s My Dad’s Salary?

After having lunch, we headed to the graveyard to pay respects to our ancestors.

“Grandpa, why did they choose to build a grave in such a place?”
I had always wondered about this and decided to ask Grandpa.

“Hmm, probably because the place where you live now, where the main house originally was, seems to have been a village.
Besides, you know how things are with our looks. It seems that it wasn’t looked upon favorably by others, and when they got to a certain age, the owners of the main house would hand it over to their children or grandchildren and spend the rest of their lives here. That’s what my father told me.”

“Great-grandpa… Come to think of it, I barely remember him…”
“It’s not surprising, Yuki. He passed away when you were around second grade.”

“How old was he?”
“I think… around 100?”

“He lived quite a long life, didn’t he.”
“Indeed, he was quite lively until around 98, which is impressive, given the increasing average lifespan. Still, it’s scary.”
“But when you think about it, Dad was born when you were about 35, right Grandpa?”

“I was the youngest, so yes. My siblings are still alive and well, but they’ve moved to another prefecture. It’s a little lonely that I only get to see them around New Year’s.”

“I remember Grandma also passed away almost at the same time as Grandpa, didn’t she?”
“Yes, she passed away within a few months, as if she were following him. They were such a loving couple; I’m sure they’re together and happy in the afterlife.”
“That’s quite incredible, even if it’s a coincidence.”

“A coincidence…? Ah! Now I remember.
My father said the people in our family who lived long lives were all happily married…” Grandpa mentions, clapping his hands together.

“Happily married?”
“Yes, happily married.
There seemed to be cases where arranged marriages or betrothals didn’t lead to the best relationships, and in those cases, their lifespans weren’t any different from the average.”

“Why is that?”
“I really don’t know. Maybe a god or something is watching over us.”

“I just imagined a god saying, ‘Look at this cute couple!’ and giving us long lives because of it. I would laugh if that were the case.”
“Isn’t that too mundane for a god?”
“It probably isn’t true, but it would be funny if that were the reason.”

As we were having this conversation, we arrived at the grave.
We put our hands together and paid respects to our ancestors.

“Now that we’ve done what we came here to do, let’s head back.”
“Okay!”
“Sounds good.”
After paying our respects, we headed back to Grandpa’s house.

---

“Well, now that we’re back here…”
Grandpa says, settling into his chair.

“We’ve got nothing left to do, huh?”
“Can’t deny that…”
“We’ve got too much time on our hands.”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Well, if I weren’t tending to the fields, I’d mostly be relaxing with Yuri.”
The unexpected predicament of having spare time assailed us upon our return.

“No matter. It’s not like we have nothing to do for fun.”
“There’s no helping it. We’re old, after all.”
“Oh, in that case, how about a game you’ve played before, Grandpa?” I suggest.

“A game that we’ve played before… Come to think of it, there’s a Nin**ndo W*i in the closet.”
“Talk about nostalgic, Dad…”
“Did you know they’re considered a retro console nowadays?”

“What?! Really?! I loved the W*i…”
“Super Fa*icom is pretty much an antique now.”
“And the Fa*icom itself is practically a fossil.”

“Times really do change…”
“I used to play the W*i a lot. What’s the latest console now?”

“There’s the P*7 and the Nin**ndo 4*S.”
“It went from 3 to 4… and the PlaySt*tion is already at 7…”
“I remember feeling the advancement of technology at 3. We’ve aged, huh…”

“Well, I’m a streamer by profession, so I buy games. But they release new ones every 2-3 years. It’s hard to keep up.”
“A streamer? What’s that?”

“Ah, right, you don’t know yet, Dad. I’m currently a VTuber, and I post videos on video platforms. Um, like live broadcasts, you know? Of course, I’m affiliated with a legitimate company, so I get a decent salary.”
“Huh, there are jobs like that nowadays.”
“I’ve never heard of that. How much do you earn?”
“I’m curious, too!”

“Oh, right. Yuki found out just yesterday that I’m a VTuber.
At any rate, after taxes and such, I get a fixed salary of about 300,000 yen. I also get a 20% bonus from super chats during streams. If the company is doing well, I get a bonus equivalent to one or two months of my salary. The company might seem to be taking a lot, but they offer considerable returns and benefits. So, people working there have a good reputation.”
“You’re earning quite a lot.
How much is that bonus usually?”

“Somewhere around 200k a month. It’s really unpredictable with Super Chats, though. People give so much it makes me worry.”
“I know what you mean, Dad. When they donate up to the limit, you start feeling guilty, right?”

“Exactly, newer livers might be happy to receive it, but I already get a fair amount from my fixed salary, and I even have a housing allowance. So, I end up thinking they shouldn’t bother giving so much.”
“I have the same thought. Still, corporate streamers are well taken care of, huh…”

“Well, it’s probably because the company is doing so well.”
“It’s a world I don’t understand much, but do you enjoy it?”

“Oh, it’s fun. Lots of people watch and interact with me, so it’s rewarding.”
“Sounds like you’ve found yourself a good job.”

“Well, it’s not something I can casually mention to others, so I’d appreciate it if you kept it between us.”
“Of course. We’ll keep it to ourselves.”

After that, we all played a round of Mustache-o Party.
Grandpa was surprisingly good, making Dad panic.
But Grandma was even better, monopolizing the top spot.
We took turns playing games for a long time, and then Grandma made dinner for us. After eating, we headed back to my parents’ house.

I guess we’ll see each other next on New Year’s.

---

God of Preciousness: Tee-tee… Tee-tee… Okay, let’s give them longer lives!!!
*This god is fictional.

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