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

Gu Ning moped for two minutes before pulling herself together and opening her saved video files.

’First things first, I’ll edit the new videos I shot these past two days.’

’I wonder how long these seven million will last. Even if I spent it all on Inhibitors, I could only buy about twenty doses. That should be enough to get Cook through the winter, but I can’t be left with no money at all.’

Seeing Gu Ning working on her terminal, Cook pulled her into his lap and warmed her hands and feet with his own.

’He didn’t like that heater. Ever since she got it, Ningning didn’t come to him to warm her hands anymore. She would just touch the heater whenever she was cold.’

Gu Ning looked up at Cook, who immediately lowered his head to touch his forehead to hers, then gently nuzzled her cheek.

’Ningning is busy,’ he thought. ’I can’t disturb her. It’s enough that Ningning is in my arms. I can hold her like this forever.’

Gu Ning smiled and scratched his chin before returning to editing her video.

This time, she modeled a pair of Cat Clan beast ears after the Ragdoll cat in her profile picture.

She edited it down to a thirty-second clip.

In the video, she walked into the shot with her back to the camera, holding a cup of hot water. Barefoot, she crossed the intricately patterned carpet from the living room to the window.

The whole scene was dimly lit until she pulled open the curtains. Light from outside flooded in, and the scene instantly brightened.

Outside, snow swirled heavily. She casually leaned against the window, holding her cup, took a sip of hot water, and gazed out.

She wasn’t wearing a mask. She was draped in a white and green checkered blanket, which was just long enough to cover her knees.

’I really don’t have any suitable clothes, and I haven’t had time to make new ones these past few days. So I simply picked a prettier blanket to wrap around myself. The effect in the video isn’t half bad.’

Only a bit of her side profile was visible throughout; she had edited out all the shots of her full face.

She had rearranged the scene for the video, and with post-production effects, the living room was basically unrecognizable.

She also added some outdoor snowscapes she had filmed as transitions, but she blurred the buildings in post-production. Otherwise, it would have been immediately obvious that it was Zone 19.

After finishing the video, Gu Ning watched it a few times to make sure there were no issues, then clicked upload.

Her tips had already maxed out, so after uploading the video, she didn’t bother checking the backend. Instead, she moved on to editing other videos.

She had shot a lot of outdoor footage during this time and didn’t want it to go to waste. She did some light editing and prepared to post the videos to her side account.

She had always enjoyed filming landscapes and small animals. She’d dreamed of going to the Arctic to film glaciers and the aurora borealis, or to the great plains to film prides of lions.

Now she came face-to-face with "animals" every day. No need to go to the great plains anymore.

Sighing to herself, Gu Ning logged into her side account.

The familiar little mutt avatar popped up, followed by several message notifications on the screen.

Huh?

Gu Ning’s gaze froze on the screen.

’Unlike my main account, I haven’t blocked notifications on my side account. Who would be messaging me?’

Curious, she opened the messages. They were comment notifications; someone had left a comment on one of her videos.

Gu Ning followed the notification and opened her video’s comment section.

This video, which featured her as a "Mixed Breed," had slightly more views than her previous scenery-only videos, but still only a few hundred. There were only a dozen or so comments:

[This was filmed on the Zone 19 defense wall, wasn’t it? This is the first time I’ve seen this angle. Great shot.]

[I used to work on the defense construction site too. The schedule for the fortifications must be tight this year, right?]

[Is this Dwarf hybrid a relative of yours?]

[The little Mixed Breed works very hard. His mutation value doesn’t look high, and his temperament seems stable. You’re taking good care of him (thumbs up)]

These first few comments were all posted by the same Beastman. Gu Ning found the name familiar—Ases (Death Swamp).

She looked at his profile picture.

The Beastman’s avatar was a snow leopard with ice-blue eyes, not a selfie showing his face.

Gu Ning made a mental note of his name and checked the comments on her other three videos. The few comments there were all from Ases as well.

’So it was him.’

Gu Ning checked her DMs and saw he had also sent her a private message.

[Winter is coming to Zone 19 soon. The Mutant Species horde will be a third larger than in previous years. There might be one or two extra King Level Mutant Species. Make sure you prepare supplies in advance and stock up on more Inhibitors for your little Mixed Breed.]

’This snow leopard is really kind,’ Gu Ning thought.

Her fingers hovered over the chat box. After a moment of thought, she replied: [It’s hard for me to buy Inhibitors right now, and my little Mixed Breed is regressing badly (sigh)]

After sending the message, Gu Ning uploaded the video she had just edited.

Just as the video finished uploading, a message popped up. Ases had replied:

[Has the army entered Zone 19 yet? You can buy from the soldiers. They hoard some Inhibitors and sell them much cheaper than the black market in Zone 19.]

Gu Ning’s eyes lit up. [Can I buy from them directly?]

Ases: [Yes, you can buy from just about any soldier. They specifically save them to sell once they get to Zone 19.]

Ases: [Are you new to Zone 19?]

Gu Ning: [(puppy nodding)]

Ases: [This winter is probably going to be tough for you then. Your kind doesn’t do well in the cold, right?]

’That couldn’t be further from the truth,’ she thought.

’Wait.’

Gu Ning glanced at her profile picture: a dopey-looking little mutt named Kaidi.

’Oh, Ases was talking about "Kaidi," not me, the human.’

That breed of dog really was sensitive to the cold.

Just then, Ases asked: [Is that little Mixed Breed of yours your brother?]

Gu Ning looked up at Cook and replied: [Yeah, my younger brother.]

Ases: [Is he from the Dog Clan too?]

Gu Ning: [Yes.]

Ases: [A mutt breed as well?]

Gu Ning: [No, he’s an Alaskan.]

After a long moment, Ases replied with an emoji: [(Impressive)(thumbs up)]

...

...

「In a dark alley corner somewhere.」

Several figures were staked out in a corner piled with junk, their eyes fixed on a Beastman under a streetlight across the street.

"Mingxi, you don’t think that guy is stringing us along, do you? Is there really a Special Level Mimic Mixed Species?"

"We’ve been waiting forever. What kind of Mimic Mixed Species just serves itself up on a platter? He should’ve just told us where to find it so we could go nab it ourselves."

"Yeah, Special Level Mimic Mixed Species are smart."

Mingxi cut his teammates off. "Teacher said there is one, so there must be. He ordered us to see the Mimic Mixed Species with our own eyes."

His teammates had no choice but to quiet down.

After a while, one of the teammates spoke up. "By the way, Mingxi, you didn’t tell Eric that we’re out of Crystal Coins, did you?"

Mingxi was silent for a moment. "Teacher knows."

"...Then you told him we spent all the Crystal Coins on intel, right? That we didn’t waste it?"

After he said this, Mingxi and the other teammates all turned to look at him.

"...What?"

"Are you stupid?" another teammate said. "If Teacher finds out we spent all our Crystal Coins on that leopard, he’ll kill us when we get back."

Another teammate added, "Word on the street is, Kevin told me Eric got scammed out of a ton of money by this leopard. Said we should be careful lately and not piss him off."

"Shh," Mingxi said. "It’s here."

They all followed Mingxi’s gaze.

Just then, a figure appeared in their line of sight, walking toward the mercenary.

"A fox...?"

Mingxi clamped a hand over his teammate’s mouth, tightening his grip on the tranquilizer gun.