Chapter 142: Jinjiang Literature City Exclusive 3: Virtual Love Interest × Legion Commander (3)

【The panic in the Male Zerg's eyes was impossible to miss.

Morris realized that remaining outside the home of a Male Zerg he didn't know was, in itself, an intrusive thing to do, even if this was only a game.

"Please don't worry. I'll stay nearby. Without your permission, I won't step inside your house."

Morris explained.

The Male Zerg looked at him for a while before calming down.

"You have nowhere else to go, don't you?"

Morris was surprised by the Male Zerg's perceptiveness. He really had nowhere to go.

It wasn't only because the game trial mission required him to stay near the Male Zerg. More importantly, on his map, only this one planet was illuminated.

In other words, he couldn't leave this planet.

That was why the status beside his identity read: "Out of Contact."

Even though Morris still possessed the identity of a "Legion Commander" inside the game, he couldn't return to the First Military Region to which he had devoted his loyalty.

Morris believed this was simply because the game was still in closed beta and the map wasn't fully developed yet.

His silence gave the Male Zerg the answer.

The Male Zerg frowned awkwardly, looking deeply troubled, but still spoke.

"All right. You can stay here for a while, but we'll have to establish three rules."

"All right. Go ahead."

Morris listened attentively.

"First, you're not allowed to bully me. And you're not allowed to do... bad things to me."

The Male Zerg struggled to get the words out. He was obviously frightened and worried, his little face almost twisted together with anxiety, yet he was still willing to take Morris in.

He was such a soft-hearted and kind Male Zerg.

"All right."

Morris agreed.

The Male Zerg quickly glanced at him, trying to determine whether he was telling the truth, yet still added uneasily,

"You can't do any bad things whatsoever, and I have the final say on what counts."

That sentence almost made Morris laugh.

Suppressing his smile, he nodded.

"All right."

"Second! You can't bully my family!"

The Male Zerg took a deep breath and blurted it out in one go.

Morris knew he had a young Female Zerg younger brother.

Although he hadn't met him, judging from the usual circumstances of Female Zerg hatchlings that age, he was probably attending school.

Female Zerg hatchlings all studied at closed boarding schools.

"All right."

Morris agreed again.

At the same time, he couldn't help wondering.

Did the Male Zerg really see him as the kind of bug who bullied Male Zergs and children?

For the first time, the Legion Commander began doubting the image he had always believed himself to possess—steadfast, dependable, and trusted by the public.

"And the third rule?"

Morris asked.

The Male Zerg thought for a moment.

"I haven't thought of it yet. I'll add it later."

Apparently, "three rules" had only been an expression that slipped out naturally. He hadn't actually prepared a third condition.

"No problem."

Morris accepted every one of them.

"Since we'll be living together for a while, we should know each other's names. I'm Roy. What about you?"

The Male Zerg, Roy, looked at him curiously.

Morris had technically known his name already. At the time, he'd simply treated it as the name of an NPC and hadn't paid it much attention.

But now that the Male Zerg had spoken it himself, it somehow felt different.

Roy.

He silently repeated the name in his heart.

Meeting those bright blue eyes, he truly committed it to memory.

"Morris."

He offered his own name in exchange.

"Are you military?"

Roy asked.

"I am."

Female Zergs were obligated to serve in the military. Nearly every adult Female Zerg had once been military; the only difference was whether they were still active or already retired.

Roy looked as though he wanted to ask something else, but hesitated for quite a while before finally speaking.

"The battlefield is dangerous, isn't it?"

Morris was silent for a moment before quietly answering,

"Yes."

To him personally, it wasn't much of a problem.

He always won.

But every single moment on the battlefield, bugs were wounded or lost their lives.

He couldn't honestly say it wasn't dangerous.

The Male Zerg softly murmured, "Mm."

After that, he said nothing more.

Morris wasn't sure whether Roy had been thinking about his young younger brother, who would one day become military and head to the battlefield, or about the Female Parent who was no longer listed among his family members.

Every bug had a Female Parent.

Even though the character profile didn't mention one, Morris could roughly guess what had happened.

He kept reminding himself this was only game lore.

Yet at the same time, it made him think of countless real families.

Compared to Female Zergs from higher-class planets, who had many more choices, those born on lower-class planets had almost no path other than gambling their lives on the battlefield.

Many willingly volunteered for even more dangerous fronts, wagering everything on that tiny chance.

Some won.

Some lost.

And in the end, all that remained for their families was a cold compensation payment.

Watching the little Male Zerg eating with his head lowered, Morris felt that this game's setting was heartbreakingly realistic.

This had all been randomly generated.

Yet somehow, it also gave him an additional sense of responsibility toward the Male Zerg before him.

After dinner, the Male Zerg began clearing away the dishes, intending to save the leftovers for tomorrow.

Morris: "..."

The military also valued frugality and wasting nothing.

But that meant finishing the food you had taken—not eating leftovers the next day.

This Male Zerg lived even more frugally than military Female Zergs.

To stop him from saving the food for tomorrow, Morris devoured every remaining bite like a whirlwind.

Roy stared at him, dumbfounded.

Then he immediately began worrying about tomorrow's food.

Military Female Zergs had enormous appetites.

The thorn fruits he'd gathered would probably only feed Morris for a single day.

Tomorrow he'd have to go gathering again.

Otherwise, there was simply no way he could support a full-grown military Female Zerg.

Morris collected the plates as well and stored them inside his spatial button.

Otherwise, the Male Zerg would probably wash the dishes too.

He began considering buying a housekeeping robot.

The Beginner Pack had included 600 game credits.

He wondered if that would be enough.

The Male Zerg went to prepare a bed for him.

In the living room, two stools were pushed together, a wooden plank laid across them, then bedding spread on top.

That became Morris's bed for the night.

He had no objections.

It was only a game.

He could have slept on a rock if necessary.

Having a bed and a roof already counted as a pretty decent environment for a player.

"Do you want to take a bath?"

Roy asked hesitantly.

There was only one bathroom in the house.

"No."

Morris had never bathed inside the game before.

It was only a game.

Did it really need to be that realistic?

The Male Zerg gave him an odd look but said nothing before returning to his room.

Morris lay on the somewhat unstable bed.

Soon, he heard the Male Zerg entering the bathroom.

The sound of water splashing onto a body was completely different from water striking the floor.

Water falling from different heights also produced different sounds.

A high-ranking Female Zerg's acute hearing allowed Morris to distinguish every subtle difference.

His mind even formed a vague outline.

It felt...

A little strange.

Listening to a Male Zerg bathe just beyond a single door.

Morris became increasingly restless and logged out of the game.

After climbing out of the gaming pod, he opened the game using his terminal.

He thought this would make it feel less immersive.

Instead, the game immediately switched to a god's-eye perspective.

And there was the Male Zerg, bathing in the bathroom.

Heat rushed straight to Morris's face.

He hurriedly dragged the camera away and moved it outside the house.

For quite some time afterward, he didn't dare touch the screen again.

Fortunately, his hand had moved faster than his eyes.

He hadn't really seen anything.

Besides, the hazy steam had obscured everything even further.

Even so, Morris's brain still felt numb.

It was as though he'd become a thief.

If this had happened in reality, he would have needed to immediately write a self-criticism report.

Even now, he still felt like writing one.

After calming himself for quite a while, Morris opened the shop again.

First, he took out everything included in the Beginner Pack—clothes, gloves, repair solution...

Carefully dragging the camera angle, he quietly placed them on the Male Zerg's bed.

Afraid of accidentally seeing the bathroom again, the moment he finished, he immediately pulled the viewpoint back outside.

Then he continued browsing the shop.

Housekeeping Robot...

600 game credits.

Exactly enough.

But if he bought the robot, there would be no money left for tomorrow's food.

He couldn't exactly keep letting the Male Zerg eat those poisonous thorn fruits.

When had the Legion Commander ever agonized over spending six star coins' worth of currency?

Morris clicked Purchase.

Dragging the screen, he placed the robot inside the kitchen.

The little robot immediately got to work.

It wiped down the counters.

Swept the floor.

Sterilized the dishes.

Organized the cookware.

Morris nodded in satisfaction.

The purchase had absolutely been worth it.

Just as he was about to continue browsing the shop, the kitchen door was suddenly thrown open.

The Male Zerg, wearing pajamas and clutching a wooden stick, froze.

He and the robot stared at each other.

The robot's round little body spun in place until the screen faced the Male Zerg.

A cute smiling emoticon appeared.

"Hello, Master. How may I serve you today?"

Roy: "...?"

A brand-new set of clothes had appeared on his bed.

The Female Zerg staying in his house had mysteriously vanished.

And now an obviously expensive, high-end robot was working in his kitchen.

Roy was completely bewildered.

"I'm not your master."

He guessed the robot belonged to that Female Zerg.

"Understood. Then how would you like me to address you?"

the robot asked politely.

"...Roy."

Roy wasn't used to talking with intelligent programs.

Yet instinctively, he trusted it.

In a place this underdeveloped, a robot was much more reassuring than a living bug.

"Very well, Roy. Is there anything you'd like me to do? I can prepare cuisines from every corner of the universe."

Roy thought for a moment.

"Can you cook thorn fruits?"

"Certainly! I have already found 138 different thorn fruit recipes..."

Morris watched the Male Zerg happily chatting with the robot through the screen.

He was so lonely.

In the real world, no one chatted with a household robot like that.

But for this Male Zerg...

The robot was probably one of the few companions he had.

Those 600 game credits had been very well spent.

The two virtual lives conversed happily inside their own world.

Meanwhile, Morris sat alone in his military officers' quarters.

Unexpectedly, he, too, felt a trace of loneliness.

He slowly raised his hand.

Through the screen, he reached toward the Male Zerg.

As his fingertips brushed against that caramel-foam-colored hair—

The Male Zerg seemed to sense something.

He looked up in Morris's direction.

For one fleeting instant, Morris felt as though the Male Zerg had looked straight through the screen and met his eyes.

But the next moment, Roy withdrew his gaze with a puzzled expression.

He turned back to watching the robot cook thorn fruits, circling around it with childlike curiosity.

The brief exchange of glances seemed to have been nothing more than Morris's imagination.

...】

[Legion Commander: I will never spend money on a Male Zerg, much less a virtual one.]

[Also the Legion Commander: The free gift pack doesn't count. The Beginner Pack isn't really spending money. It's just a tiny purchase.]

[That slap in the face came unbelievably fast.]

[His Lordship is too pitiful. Who could possibly resist spending money on a Male Zerg like him? The Legion Commander held out this long before paying—that's some incredible self-control!]

[Good news: The Legion Commander has now reached 6 star coins, surpassing Iso.]

[Bad news: If you've fallen so low that you're comparing yourself to Iso, what kind of bug are you anymore?]

[Legion Commander Morris, if you can't handle the game, then hand it over! Let me spend money on His Lordship instead! (Universe Battleship x1)]

[The Legion Commander went too far. He listened to His Lordship bathing, then logged out and switched to the terminal just to peek! Condemn him! Strongly condemn him!]

[I want to play this game too... (fidgets with fingers). Definitely not because I want to do anything bad. I just want to spend money on His Lordship.]

[Even if this game really existed, that would definitely be patched out before the official release. There's no way they'd let you spy on a Male Zerg! You perverted bugs can stop dreaming!]

[It's fine, it's fine. I'm not greedy. As long as I get to meet His Lordship, that's enough. I've been saving all these years just so I could spend it on His Lordship. If I can't spend it in real life, can't I at least spend it in the game?]

[What can 6 star coins buy in real life? Not even a drink for His Lordship. A decent bottle of water already costs 7 star coins! But inside the game, you can buy His Lordship a housekeeping robot! Together with the Beginner Pack, you also get bandages, repair solution, a whole table of food, and even a new set of clothes for His Lordship!]

The readers had already become completely obsessed with the game.

They wished they could possess the Legion Commander and play it in his place.

...

【After logging back into the game, Morris discovered that the Male Zerg's Affinity had increased to 7.

It was probably because of the housekeeping robot.

And perhaps the clothes as well.

He wondered whether the Male Zerg liked them.

Outside the house, the Male Zerg was still wearing those old, faded clothes.

He slung a backpack over his shoulder, preparing to head out.

When Morris walked out of the house, Roy jumped in fright and hurriedly looked behind him.

"Y-you... where did you come from?"

Players naturally logged out where they stood and logged back in at the same place.

"I have my own methods."

Morris offered no further explanation.

Instead, he asked,

"Why aren't you wearing the new clothes?"

Roy was speechless.

What Male Zerg casually wore clothes given to him by a strange Female Zerg?

Besides, this military Female Zerg was strange.

While Roy had been bathing, he'd somehow slipped silently into the room and left an entire outfit behind.

Roy had genuinely thought the Female Zerg intended to do something to him.

Instead, he'd left clothes and a housekeeping robot behind, then disappeared for the entire night.

He'd worried for nothing.

"I know you're a good bug."

"But I can't just accept your gifts for free."

Roy looked deeply conflicted.

When a Male Zerg accepted gifts from a Female Zerg, it usually meant he was allowing that Female Zerg to continue courting him.

Giving them a chance to pursue him.

Roy believed that if you had no intention of considering someone, then you shouldn't give them hope from the very beginning.

He wasn't sure what this mysterious military Female Zerg—who appeared and disappeared without warning—actually thought of him.

But given the enormous difference in their ranks...

The two of them could never be together.

When a high-ranking Female Zerg approached a low-ranking Male Zerg, even if there were romantic intentions, it was usually only for temporary amusement.

It was better not to let anything begin.

...】