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

He stood at the bathroom door, wearing only a form-fitting black undershirt. She could clearly see the lines of his well-built muscles.

Gu Ning’s mind was a tangled mess. She glanced at his abs before lowering her gaze, not daring to look up at him.

"Let me through," Alex said.

Gu Ning froze for a moment, then realized what he was saying and hastily, clumsily, turned sideways.

Alex took hold of her shoulder, gave her a gentle push, and stepped into the bathroom.

Gu Ning stared at the closed bathroom door in stunned silence, not understanding Alex’s attitude toward her.

Two or three minutes later, the bathroom door opened, and Alex’s tall figure emerged from inside. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Gu Ning’s heart leaped into her throat again. She held her breath, waiting for Alex’s interrogation.

Alex saw the small bundle still standing there, unmoving, and asked casually, as if it was an afterthought, "Have you washed up?"

He spoke as he walked toward the living room.

’What did he say? Clean? Wash up?’

Alex walked to the table, poured a glass of water, and took a sip. Holding the glass, he turned his head slightly to look at the little female standing by the bathroom door.

When Gu Ning saw him look her way, she immediately lowered her head to stare at her feet.

’This floor is so shiny...’

"If you’re going to live with me, you need to keep things clean." Seeing her reaction, a thoughtful look crossed Alex’s eyes. He continued in a flat tone, "Get plenty of rest and take care of your health. You can’t fall behind on your work or your studies."

Gu Ning perked up her ears, listening carefully and intently to his words. She could barely make out the words for "rest," "work," and "studies" from his long speech.

’Wait, what?’

’Did I misunderstand?’

’Shouldn’t Alex be interrogating me about my identity right now? Asking me why I pretended to be a Dwarf hybrid to deceive him?’

’Or... has he not actually figured out who I am?’

’Then what about my clothes? Don’t tell me I took them off myself?’

A million questions raced through Gu Ning’s mind, and the crumbling wall of security in her heart began to steady itself again.

While she was still struggling to understand what Alex had said, he walked over and placed a pair of fuzzy slippers at her feet.

Gu Ning had been standing barefoot on the cold floor, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Seeing the slippers, she stared up at Alex in a daze.

Alex didn’t meet her gaze. He put down the slippers, said a few words she couldn’t catch, and then turned and left the apartment.

Gu Ning stood there, staring at the empty apartment for a long while before she came back to her senses. Clutching the blanket around herself, she looked left and right, her eyes filled with confusion. Seeing the bedroom door was open, she slipped her feet into the oversized fuzzy slippers, hurried into the bedroom, and sat down on the edge of the bed as if she were about to collapse.

’So tired, and my head feels a little dizzy.’

Gu Ning fell back onto the bed. As her eyes swept casually across the room, she saw a neatly folded set of clothes on the nightstand.

On top of the clothes lay a black earpiece.

She shot up and grabbed the earpiece, examining it closely. It looked very similar to her own, but she was certain this wasn’t her original one.

Gu Ning put on the earpiece and opened her terminal’s translation system to verify it.

Seeing the translation system display "Connecting new earpiece," Gu Ning sat quietly for a moment, then picked up the set of clothes from beside the pillow and looked them over.

It was the outfit she had worn yesterday.

Gu Ning held the clothes up and sniffed them, catching the fresh scent of soap.

The clothes had been washed.

A new earpiece, washed clothes... It was obvious who had done all this. Gu Ning felt she couldn’t deceive herself any longer.

She put on the clothes and noticed a black face mask and a black knit cap also lying beside the pillow.

Gu Ning held the cap in her hands. Thinking about Alex’s recent series of reactions, her mind was a whirlwind of shock and uncertainty.

’Did he mistake me for a Mimic Mixed Species, or did he realize I’m a normal female?’

Whichever it was, based on her understanding of Beastmen, Alex’s reaction was far too calm—so calm it was as if he didn’t care what she was at all.

This was certainly reassuring, but did Alex truly not care, or was it...

Gu Ning didn’t know what Alex was thinking, nor could she be sure if his behavior was normal for a Beastman.

But she’d already had her identity exposed to Alex once before, and he hadn’t seemed angry or surprised then, either. He had just asked her a few questions and chosen to help her hide it, only telling her not to do it again. The very next day, he had diligently explained all the regulations concerning Mixed Breeds, completely believing she was Cook’s relative and treating her as a Dwarf hybrid.