Virtual Idol in the Beast World: Five Clans Fight Over Me

Barto read what she’d written. "Someone’s found a house for you? Who?"

Gu Ning shoveled food into her mouth with a spoon as she wrote: Alex. You know him, the manager at the construction site. He’s a good guy.

"So it’s him."

Barto’s brow furrowed. "Where did he find you a house?"

Gu Ning wrote: He originally offered me his room, but I refused. He said he’d help me find another place and would have an answer for me by tomorrow.

After reading it, Barto immediately said, "No. You can’t live in any house he finds for you."

Gu Ning was confused and wrote: Why?

Barto said, "Because I said so. Let me ask you this: that big oaf who walks you home every day, was that on his orders?"

Gu Ning nodded.

Barto said, "Then that’s even more reason not to. You shouldn’t trust him so much."

He rejected Gu Ning’s proposal because he’d noticed that this Alex seemed a little too interested in her.

There were so many Dwarf hybrids at the construction site, yet he specifically chose Gu Ning to be his assistant.

Then he arranged for someone to escort her home every day, offered to find her a house, and even intended to give her his own room.

He couldn’t help but be suspicious of such behavior.

’No matter how nice Alex might be, his motives for paying this much attention to a young Mixed Breed were definitely not pure.’

Gu Ning wrote: Let’s take a look first. You’ve been having trouble finding a house you like, right? If we decide the one Alex finds isn’t good enough, we can just look for another one.

Gu Ning still didn’t understand why Barto was being so adamant.

’He said Alex was a decent guy before. Why is he so against him now?’

Barto said, "I’ve already found a place. I’ll take you to see it in a bit."

When Gu Ning heard this, she thought, ’Isn’t that even better? Then we won’t have to trouble Alex.’

Since Barto had already found a house, she didn’t press the issue.

After the three of them finished their meal, they went out to see the house Barto had mentioned.

It was still raining outside. Gu Ning put on the raincoat Barto had given her and got into his modified three-wheeled cart.

Trying to find a new place in Zone 19 right now was just as ill-timed as trying to leave. The longer they waited, the harder it would be. Even though it was raining, Gu Ning didn’t want to wait until tomorrow or for the weather to clear.

Barto’s three-wheeler was a bit like the little electric scooter Gu Ning used to ride, but it was taller, likely built to a Beastman’s proportions.

But it was a single-rider vehicle, which made it a tight squeeze for the three of them.

Barto sat in the front to drive, Gu Ning was in the middle, and Cook sat in the back. The three of them were squashed together like the meat in a Beastman’s overstuffed sandwich, pressed into a single lump.

Barto’s whole fox-like body was practically pressed against the handlebars. He nudged his rear into Gu Ning’s lap. "Scoot back a little! Give me some room!"

’He’d already taken off the rear cargo box, so why was it still so cramped?’

Barto glanced back and immediately saw the problem. Cook was just too big.

The more he devolved, the larger his frame grew.

Gu Ning had to press herself tightly against Cook’s chest to give Barto enough room to drive.

Cook held Gu Ning tight, pulling her into his lap, while half of his own backside hung off the edge of the cart.

Seeing they were settled, Barto twisted the throttle. The cart didn’t just start—it practically took flight.

Gu Ning felt as if her soul had been left behind as the cart shot forward.

If she hadn’t been wedged between the two of them with no room to budge, she probably would have been flung right off.

Cook’s powerful claws dug into the cart’s frame, and he held her steady.

Barto had modified the little three-wheeler. It was as loud as it was fast, and the noise was especially ear-splitting in the silent night.

Gu Ning felt like she was the sidekick to some teenage hooligan tearing up the streets at midnight on a ridiculously loud bike. She pinched Barto’s waist, signaling for him to slow down.

The little fox’s feet couldn’t even reach the footrests; his two chubby paws dangled and swung in the air. Yet he drove at a breakneck pace, not even slowing down for turns.

Gu Ning was terrified that he was going to send her and Cook flying.

But Cook was thrilled, barking excitedly behind her and even trying to stand up.

Gu Ning grabbed Cook’s arm with one hand to keep him from standing up, while her other arm tightened around Barto’s waist, silently pleading for him to slow down. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Are you trying to strangle me? Loosen up a little," Barto said, twisting his torso. Gu Ning was squeezing him so tight she was about to force his dinner back up.

"Relax, I’m an amazing driver," Barto said with a confident grin. "I’ll let you experience the speed of Zone 19’s greatest racer!"

He took another sharp turn. The cart’s tires screeched against the ground as it sent a huge spray of water into the air.

SPLASH—! A Beastman on the sidewalk was completely drenched.

"Are you trying to get killed?! Watch where you’re going!"

Gu Ning glanced back. ’Huh? Why did that voice sound so familiar?’

Kloer stared at the flaky meat sandwich in his hand, which he’d barely taken two bites of, and cursed at the vehicle as it sped away.

’I can’t stand it! The Beastmen in Zone 19 have no manners at all! If this were Zone 5, anyone who dared to drive like that would have their vehicle impounded and get hit with a massive fine!’

After muttering a few more curses, a call from Alex popped up on Kloer’s terminal.

He tapped to accept the call. "Hey, Boss."

Alex: "Have you seen the house yet?"

Kloer: "I was just about to, but the landlord said someone else already rented it. I was just about to start looking for another one."

"Rented to someone else?" Alex asked. "I already paid the deposit."

Kloer took a bite of his waterlogged meat sandwich. "The landlord gave me the money back. Seriously, how can people in Zone 19 have zero integrity? Their character is so low."

Alex listened to his grumbling and said calmly, "If they had any class, it wouldn’t be Zone 19. I found two other listings. Go check them out first. I’ll head over as soon as I wrap things up here."

Kloer: "Boss, why are you so insistent on finding a house for him? Wouldn’t it be safer for him to live with us? This is the Central District; almost all the places are rented out. And the people I see coming and going... they don’t look like the friendly type. It’s not even as safe as our construction site."

"He doesn’t want to live in the housing at the site."

Alex paused for a moment. "You’re right, the Central District isn’t necessarily safe. Go check out those two places I told you about. They’re just outside the East Gate."

...

"BLECH..."

Gu Ning squatted by the roadside, dry heaving.

Barto parked the cart, hopped off, and hurried to Gu Ning’s side. "Are you serious? You’re going to puke from that?"

Gu Ning waved a hand at him. ’It wasn’t the speed, it was those soul-flinging turns he was making.’

’She couldn’t handle being tossed around like that on a full stomach.’

"Ning..." Cook circled her anxiously.

"Are you okay?" Barto patted her back.

Gu Ning shook her head. After a moment, she recovered enough to stand up and survey her surroundings.

The streets were wide and clean, and there were bright streetlights.

She gave Barto a surprised look. ’This is the Central District?’

Although Zone 19 was harsher than the other zones in terms of living conditions and environment, it did have a few, slightly better areas.

However, the Central District made up only a tiny fraction of Zone 19, and it wasn’t a place just any Beastman could afford to live.

Barto puffed out his chest. "It took a lot of work to find this place. Come on, let’s go see it."