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

Alex shouldered the door open and carried Gu Ning inside.

Behind him, the young wolf Seth followed, carrying the wet clothes the little Mixed Breed had taken off.

"Put that down and stand guard outside."

Alex glanced back at him, then carried Gu Ning toward the bedroom.

Seth glanced down at the floor, which gleamed under the light of his terminal, then at the filthy, bloodstained clothes in his hands. He decided to take the clothes to the bathroom anyway.

’The Boss is such a neat freak. I’d better not get his floor dirty.’

This was Seth’s first time inside Alex’s apartment. It had a similar layout and furniture to their own quarters, but it was worlds apart from their messy rooms.

Seth tiptoed quickly toward the bathroom, almost afraid to set his feet down, wishing he could just leap across in a single bound.

He knew Alex was famously meticulous from the moment he started working under him. Alex wasn’t just scrupulous in his work; he was also a neat freak. Even during field training, he managed to make his temporary quarters clean and comfortable.

Luckily, Alex didn’t hold them to the same standard. He would just silently clean up their messes.

That was why on away missions, if there were two or more rooms, they would rather have five or six of them squeeze into one than share a space with Alex. Watching their boss clean up their pigsty—no, their *wolf den*—was just too embarrassing and awkward.

After bringing the dirty clothes into the bathroom, Seth had intended to just put them down and leave, but he glimpsed a step stool under the sink and then saw two sets of toiletries on the counter.

’So the little Mixed Breed was living with the Boss before this?’

The Boss had previously ordered him and Jite’s group to secretly protect this little Mixed Breed. They didn’t fully understand Alex’s plan, but he was their alpha, and they would never question his decisions.

They also secretly shared Kloer’s suspicion: perhaps the little Mixed Breed was the Boss’s relative, like a younger brother.

Given the Boss’s character, he would never abandon the Mixed Breed unless it turned into a Mutant Species.

If the Mixed Breed was the Boss’s brother, then it was their brother too, and they had to protect it.

They knew that if they ever degenerated into Mixed Breeds themselves, the Boss wouldn’t abandon them either.

’But still... the things this little Mixed Breed uses are pretty... refined.’

Seth stared at the smaller set of toiletries, a strange feeling bubbling up inside him.

By the light of his terminal, he could see two towels hanging on the wall above the sink. On the left was a black one; on the right, a smaller white one with a few little flowers printed on it.

Seth’s gaze shifted downward. Also on the right was a small rinsing cup with a cartoon-style wolf head sticker. Next to it sat a small, clear basin—probably for the Mixed Breed to wash its face—that also had several cartoon-style wolf cub stickers.

Besides the basic toothbrush and towel, there were also several bottles of what looked like face wash on the counter.

Seth was surprised.

’In a place like Zone 19, you were lucky just to have a roof over your head. And here was a Mixed Breed living such an elaborate, pampered life?’

Seth was certain these things belonged to the Mixed Breed. While the Boss was fastidious about his own cleanliness, he was also a minimalist and wouldn’t clutter his space with unnecessary items.

Even back in Zone 5, his apartment hadn’t been much more furnished than this.

Just as Seth was marveling at how well the Boss was taking care of the Mixed Breed, Alex appeared in the bathroom doorway.

"...Boss, I’ll get going," Seth said, turning to leave as soon as he saw him.

"Go find some containers that can hold hot water," Alex instructed him. "Plastic bottles would be best."

Seth: "Yes, Boss."

Alex: "Bring the space heater from my office up here."

"Yes, sir." Seth acknowledged the orders and quickly left the gleaming apartment.

After Seth left, Alex turned on the hot water, filled a basin, and carried it into the bedroom.

Gu Ning was lying on the bed under a thick quilt, shivering intermittently.

Alex set the basin of hot water on the floor and tucked the quilt in around her. He took the towel that had been soaking in the water, wrung it out, and began to wipe her face.

The room was pitch-black. The sounds of shelling outside had stopped at some point. The little female’s labored breathing echoed in the darkness, and with every breath she took, Alex’s heart sank a little deeper.

Alex opened his terminal interface, the light from the terminal illuminating the little female’s face.

Her face was smeared with blood and oil. The blood washed away easily, but the oil stains wouldn’t budge.

This type of oil contained a dyeing agent and required a special solvent to wash off.

’The public restroom at the construction site had the right solvent, but she’d never known.’

Alex gently wiped the little female’s face, his gaze filled with aching tenderness.

’A female this small, living in an environment like this... she was probably too scared to even use the public restroom. How could she have noticed what was inside?’

’She can’t even read. She needs a translation earpiece just to talk to people.’

Alex pushed aside the hair by Gu Ning’s ear. He didn’t see the earpiece and figured it must have been lost somewhere.

Her hair was still damp to the touch. He found a hairdryer, figuring she would sleep more comfortably if it was dry.

Alex was drying Gu Ning’s hair when a knock sounded at the door.

Alex paused. He gently set down the hairdryer, made sure Gu Ning was settled, closed the bedroom door, and went to the entryway to answer it.

It was Jite.

"Boss, the medicine is ready." Jite handed Alex a bag and the medical Detection Device he’d borrowed from Jeff.

Alex opened the bag to check. Inside were two syringes, a few paper-wrapped packets of pills, and a handwritten prescription.

He picked up the prescription, carefully read the instructions, and was about to close the door.

"Boss, uh..." Jite reached out and held the door.

"What is it?" Alex looked at him.

Jite hesitated. "Kloer keeps asking us about the Mixed Breed. He’s really curious about it. I don’t think we’ll be able to hold him off for much longer. You should probably stop having the Mixed Breed work under him."

Ever since leaving the medical bay, Kloer had been pestering him and Seth with questions.

If it were anyone else, they could have just blown him off. But they were on good terms with Kloer. What if he got stubborn and picked a fight with them over it?

Sooner or later, Kloer might just rip off the Mixed Breed’s gear to see what it looks like.

They were curious about the Mixed Breed’s appearance too, but they would never disobey an order from Alex.

But Kloer was different. He wasn’t a Wolf Clan Beastman, so he didn’t always listen to Alex.

Alex knew that, which was why he’d arranged for others to protect Gu Ning.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kloer; he just knew his personality. In Zone 19, the fewer people who knew Gu Ning was a female, the better.

He told Jite, "Tell him what you know. Don’t speculate about what you don’t."

He had already assigned Kloer to handle some unfinished business. That would keep Kloer busy for the next few days, and soon enough, he would put the matter out of his mind.

Jite said, "Understood."

After closing the door, Alex poured a glass of water from the table and took the medicine into the bedroom.