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

Barto froze for a moment at Alex’s words. Then, his expression darkened and he snarled at him, "So you *do* know who she is."

Alex picked up a glass of water and asked him, "Want some water?"

Barto raised the gun in his hand. "When did you find out who she is?!"

Alex then picked up the snacks he had prepared for Gu Ning from the coffee table and offered them to him. "Have a snack? Shelled nuts."

"BANG!"

The glass of water on the coffee table shattered.

After firing, Barto reloaded. "Give her back to me, you hear me? Otherwise, the next bullet will be for your head."

"She’s sick," Alex said, putting down the snacks.

Barto froze again. "What?"

Alex said, "I heard you were captured yesterday. She’s the one who rescued you."

Barto snapped out of it. "How could she be sick? How is she doing now?"

Hearing the anxiety in his voice, Alex said, "She had a fever, a very high one. She probably caught a chill. Her temperature has come down now."

When Barto heard that Gu Ning had caught a chill, he immediately remembered how she had carried him all the way through the snow last night. He fell silent.

Alex glanced at the gun in Barto’s hand, then his eyes moved to his face. "I know about you. You’ve lived in Zone 19 for five years, your business is doing well, and you aren’t short on cash."

Barto said warily, "You investigated me? What are you getting at?"

"You’ve investigated me, too," Alex said. "I don’t have any malicious intent. I just want to know, do you have any desire to leave Zone 19?"

Barto replied, "I don’t want to talk about any of this with you. Just give her back to me, now."

Alex stared at him for a moment before saying slowly, "Are you betting I don’t know that you’re already aware of her true identity?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Barto’s gaze flickered, and he spoke with hesitation. "What is there to know? She was just covering a shift for her brother. Cook was injured, and she didn’t want him to get a negative mark on his personal record."

Alex pressed, "How long have you known her? Why do you want to keep her by your side? You’re an atavistic Mixed Breed."

After he spoke, the office fell silent.

After a long moment, Barto finally spoke. "Say that again. What did you call me?"

Alex swept the shards of the glass from the coffee table into the trash. "You’re just an atavistic Mixed Breed."

His tone held no discrimination or contempt, merely a calm statement of fact. He was also probing the fox’s intentions.

’At first, he hadn’t been sure if Barto knew Gu Ning was a female. Everything he’d said was a test of Barto’s attitude toward her. But Barto’s defensive explanation confirmed it: he knew she was a female.’

’Gu Ning lived with him and that Mixed Breed, Cook, day in and day out. She probably couldn’t hide it even if she wanted to.’

’But if Barto knew she was a female, why would he let her work at a construction site, a place where her identity could be exposed at any moment?’

’The safety of a female versus the work record of a Mixed Breed—he was sure Barto could tell which was more important.’

’After all, he was a Beastman who grew up in the Second District.’

"Tell me your objective," Barto said.

Alex finished cleaning up the shards on the coffee table and looked over at him. At some point, Barto had lowered his gun.

He said, "My objective is her safety and well-being. You know full well how dangerous it is for her to live with you all."

...

...

Gu Ning didn’t wake up until two in the afternoon the next day, and only because she was bursting to pee.

The moment she woke, her whole body ached as if she’d been beaten. Her head throbbed like a hammer was pounding it, her eyes were too swollen to open, and she felt sticky with sweat.

But she couldn’t worry about how awful she felt. If she didn’t get to the bathroom right away, she was going to wet the bed.

Gu Ning tried to climb out of bed, but she was too weak. She finally managed to push herself up, only to tumble off the bed—blanket and all—and fall against a wall of flesh.

A long, muscular arm snaked around her waist and held her.

"You’re awake?"

Gu Ning froze upon hearing the familiar voice.

Her mind was still foggy. She managed to pry one eye open to find the source of the voice.

Her vision slowly came into focus. When she saw who was beneath her, Gu Ning felt like she had to be dreaming.

’Is this a dream?’

’It has to be a dream.’

’Otherwise, why would Alex be here?!’

"How are you feeling? Does anywhere else hurt?" Alex asked as he sat up, holding her.

He had watched over her all night without a wink of sleep, handling affairs on his terminal while keeping vigil. It wasn’t until noon that he finally lay down beside her bed to get some rest.

Hearing his question, Gu Ning’s other eye fluttered open.

She stared at Alex’s lips as they moved. His voice sounded ethereal and distant, and she felt as if she both understood his words and didn’t at the same time.

’I must still be dreaming,’ she thought.

Alex saw the young female staring at him in a daze and remembered she wasn’t wearing her translation earpiece. ’She probably didn’t understand me,’ he realized.

He placed the young female, who was cocooned in her blanket, back on the bed and turned to get her a glass of water.

Gu Ning’s bladder was at its breaking point. She gave the bedroom a quick scan, struggled out of the blanket, and made a dash for the door, only to trip and fall again.

Alex heard the noise and turned back to see the young female struggling on the floor, completely naked.

"..."

He hurried over and wrapped her up in the blanket.

"Your fever just broke. You’re not better yet, you need to stay in bed and rest. Don’t rush. Just tell me what you need."

Gu Ning couldn’t process anything he was saying, nor could she really understand his words. She just wanted to race to the bathroom and find relief.

’Let go of me, ahhhhh! I can’t hold it anymore!’

Seeing Gu Ning struggling desperately in his arms, hell-bent on reaching the door, Alex finally understood what she was trying to do.

He stood, put an arm around her waist, and gently lifted her. He carried her, blanket and all, into the bathroom, then turned and closed the door behind him.

A few minutes later—

"WHOOSH..."

Gu Ning clutched the blanket with her left hand and pressed the flush button with her right, staring blankly at the toilet, which was as clean as the day it was made.

After a moment, she lifted her head and looked around.

The bathroom was more than twice the size of her own, with a separate bath and shower...

A draft of cold air snaked through a gap in the blanket, making Gu Ning shiver. She looked down and opened the blanket.

Stark naked. Not a stitch of clothing on.

"..."

"...?"

"!!!!!!!!"

Gu Ning’s eyes widened as she stared at her body in disbelief.

’No, something’s wrong here. This has to be a dream.’

Gu Ning snapped the blanket shut. After waiting a few seconds and mentally preparing herself, she opened it again.

Still stark naked. Not even a tiny scrap of fabric to be seen.

’Wrong!!!’

Gu Ning closed the blanket again, took a few deep breaths, and opened it once more.

The result was the same.

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK..." A knock sounded from outside, followed by Alex’s voice. "Are you all right?"

Gu Ning stiffly turned her aching neck, her gaze fixed blankly on the bathroom door.

From repeatedly opening the blanket, the cold had shocked her into full awareness. Her senses had returned.

’This isn’t a dream. I’m really here, in Alex’s home, without a single stitch on.’