Chapter 152: Virtual Love Interest × Legion Commander (10): Physiological Awakening—Now You Can Be Bullied

[So cumulative recharges count as free? Thank you, Commander. I learned something new today.]

[Five thousand worth of recharges and the Commander is still insisting it was free.]

[Didn't he say he was willing to give all his property to the virtual male Zerg? Then why go out of his way to emphasize it was free?]

[Because he's afraid His Lordship won't accept it. This is a very unusual male Zerg. Everything has to look like it was "picked up" before he'll like it.]

[The Commander burying all those things in the sand and digging them back out couldn't have been easy. Good thing he confessed, otherwise how was he supposed to bury an entire floating island?]

[Honestly, a floating island for only five thousand cumulative recharge points actually sounds like a bargain. Even I'm tempted.]

[Spend five thousand in real life and you'll barely buy enough bricks for part of a bathroom floor. Spend five thousand in-game and you get a floating island! You also get His Lordship's admiring gaze and can even live on the island with him! I'm swooning.]

[Besides, it's a cumulative recharge reward. Cumulative recharge rewards are free! You still get to spend the premium currency you bought on other things!]

[You were all making fun of the Commander just now. Put the same in-game choice in front of you and every one of you would rush to become him.]

[The Commander... was me all along?]

[The only things separating me from the Commander are military merits, personal wealth, and closed beta access. Basically no difference at all. (Confidence)]

...

【A free floating island.

It sounded unbelievably tempting.

Roy watched as Morris tapped a few times on the holographic screen of his terminal.

Then...

Something faintly appeared in the sky.

The heavens seemed closer than before.

The dark canopy overhead looked as though it were descending toward him.

Yet when he looked carefully...

There was nothing there.

Roy instinctively tensed.

A beam of light descended onto him.

His body suddenly became weightless.

"Let's go up."

Morris took Roy's hand and led him forward.

It felt as though only an instant had passed.

Roy felt himself rising.

After a brief moment of weightlessness...

His feet touched solid ground again.

Morris steadied him.

"Welcome to your floating island."

Roy raised his head.

Before him stood a magnificent, brightly lit villa.

Outside were lawns and gardens...

A fountain.

Even a lake.

Although it was already nighttime, lights illuminated every corner until it looked almost like daylight.

And when he'd been standing below...

He hadn't noticed anything at all.

He'd never realized such an enormous structure had been hanging directly above him.

"My... floating island?" Roy asked.

"Yes."

"It's already registered under your name."

"The aircraft is too."

"You can verify it through your terminal."

Then Morris suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right."

"We just picked up a brand-new terminal earlier."

"Want to switch to it?"

Roy exploded.

"Stop insulting the word 'picked up'!"

Morris glanced at the Affinity meter.

It hadn't dropped.

It had actually increased.

So Roy wasn't genuinely angry.

Smiling, Morris simply nodded.

"Alright."

When the usually cold military female smiled...

It was breathtaking.

Like snow and ice melting away.

Roy hurriedly looked away.

He ran around the island, touching everything.

The flowers.

The stones.

The fountain.

The water.

Testing whether any of it was real.

Afraid Roy might accidentally fall into the lake, Morris stayed close beside him.

"...Is all of this really part of the game?" Roy asked.

"Yes."

Everything before them consisted of data.

Yet every sensation could be felt as though it were completely real.

Reality and illusion had become nearly indistinguishable.

It wasn't merely a handful of cinematic environments that felt convincing.

The entire world possessed this impossible realism.

Even Morris—fully aware that it was only a game—sometimes found himself nearly losing himself within it.

If even he felt that way...

How could Roy, who had been born as one of the game's inhabitants, ever tell the difference?

Morris quietly watched Roy's reaction.

Roy seemed to accept it surprisingly well.

Or perhaps...

He simply wasn't thinking that deeply about it.

Instead, he asked,

"What else can you make appear?"

"Anything."

"Cake?"

Morris immediately opened the shop.

Then began taking cakes out of his storage.

Fruit cake.

Cream cake.

Ice cream cake...

Roy's eyes were dazzled.

He sliced himself a piece of ice cream cake.

The cool sweetness melted in his mouth.

After that...

Every time Roy named something...

Morris produced it.

Soon, piles of fruit, snacks, desserts...

Clothes.

Shoes.

Accessories.

Books.

Tools.

Decorations.

Machines.

Robots.

Everything imaginable surrounded them.

Sitting beside the fountain, eating cake, Roy gazed at the mountain of belongings that now occupied nearly half the square.

His chest felt strangely full.

A male Zerg who had grown up in poverty...

Couldn't help being moved by such abundance.

It felt...

Like suddenly finding an endless mountain of useful trash all at once.

"I'm sleeping here tonight!"

"Right in the middle of all this!"

He declared proudly.

They were outside.

Even with the protective barrier, there was still wind.

The ground was cold and hard.

Morris looked at him disapprovingly.

Then produced an elegant canopy bed.

Roy became so excited that he accidentally smeared cake frosting all over Morris's face with a kiss.

『Affinity +10』

Only afterward did Roy realize what he'd done.

He hurriedly reached up to wipe the cream away.

"Sorry!"

"I forgot again..."

Whenever he got excited...

He completely lost his head.

This was even worse than last time.

Now he'd gotten cream on Morris's face too.

Roy felt utterly mortified.

"It's alright..."

Morris quietly enjoyed the male Zerg's touch.

Ignoring the heartbeat he had almost failed to control...

His eyes drifted toward the newly appeared reward notification.

"...Want to level up again?"

"Huh?"

Roy looked puzzled.

Morris lowered his voice.

"Your Affinity is high enough now."

"You can level up."

At forty Affinity...

A brand-new level-up gift pack had appeared.

Roy, who had sworn never to give Morris any more Affinity:

"..."

How had this female Zerg tricked him into giving away his feelings again?!

Roy felt a little angry.

The tip of his nose stung.

Quickly, Morris tried to soothe him.

"Don't be mad."

"There's a level-up gift pack."

"If your Affinity drops..."

"It might disappear."

Roy's grievance froze halfway.

Should he stay angry...

Or not?

Which was more important?

The gift pack...

Or being tricked emotionally?

Damn it.

He was being blackmailed!

Morris quickly proposed another solution.

"You can let your Affinity go up for now."

"Claim all the level-up rewards."

"Raise your rank first."

"Then lower my Affinity afterward."

"...Only by a few points?" Roy questioned suspiciously.

"You can lower it by more..."

"Just..."

"Not too much..."

Morris negotiated carefully.

The two of them looked exactly like elementary school students bargaining over whether a "Spend 100, Save 20" sale should instead be "Spend 100, Save 10."

Roy understood.

Everything Morris did...

Was for his sake.

The level-up rewards.

The supplies.

Everything.

As the character being raised inside the game...

The only thing Roy needed to provide...

Was his feelings.

That was precisely why players played games like this.

They gave endlessly...

As though expecting nothing in return.

Then...

Once they had collected every bit of affection...

The challenge disappeared.

And they left.

Roy hated that kind of relationship.

『Affinity -1』

"I'm leaving."

"I don't like you anymore."

"I don't want the floating island either."

"I'm going back to being a low-ranking male Zerg who scavenges trash."

He turned and walked away.

The male Zerg's emotions changed without warning.

Morris couldn't understand it at all.

He hurried after him.

Just as Roy stumbled over the clutter on the ground and nearly fell...

Morris caught him.

Roy landed squarely in the female Zerg's warm, sturdy embrace.

For a long while...

Neither of them spoke.

Holding the soft, slender male Zerg gently against him, Morris whispered,

"I won't trick your feelings."

"You don't have to give me anything."

"If you don't want to level up..."

"Then we won't."

"I'll turn off the Affinity display."

"If you want to stay a low-ranking male Zerg and scavenge trash..."

"I'll scavenge with you."

Roy bit his lip softly.

He was still saying he wasn't tricking him.

This was emotional manipulation too!

A much bigger one!

Morris opened the game interface for him.

"I turned the Affinity display off."

Roy couldn't see anything.

Only a blank holographic screen floated before him.

"You can never like me."

"You never have to give me any Affinity."

Morris gently brushed Roy's cheek.

Wiping away the marks on his face.

His own heart seemed to twist with the motion.

Only then did Roy realize...

He had started crying without noticing.

He hurriedly wiped his tears away.

"It was the wind!"

"That's all!"

"Alright."

Morris nodded.

"I'll activate the entire protective barrier."

"I'll block the wind too."

Roy immediately refused.

"It'll feel stuffy."

Morris looked at him.

"So..."

"You're still sleeping on the floating island tonight?"

Roy silently agreed.

He wanted to sleep surrounded by all his treasures.

Morris went to make the bed.

But sleeping outside created another problem.

Bathing.

Just as Morris was wondering whether he should build an entire bathroom...

Roy finally gave in.

"I'll sleep inside."

So Morris carried both the bed...

And every single pile of belongings...

Into the villa.

After showering...

Putting on soft pajamas...

Roy lay down on the comfortable bed.

Morris finished arranging the very last item, filling the room nearly to capacity.

He placed a plush toy beside Roy's pillow.

"Good night."

Then turned to leave.

Roy stopped him.

"If I stay a low-ranking male Zerg forever..."

"Won't I be completely unattractive to you?"

"No."

"Roy is wonderful."

"You're far better than you think you are."

Morris gently rubbed his head.

"Go to sleep."

Roy slowly closed his eyes.

Too much had happened today.

His thoughts were hopelessly tangled.

He dreamed the entire night.

Sometimes he dreamed that the floating island and Morris's secret had been exposed.

The government hunted them down.

Morris fled across the stars with him.

Sometimes he dreamed his younger brother returned home.

The house had completely changed.

Even the elderly Zergs in the village now lived in beautiful homes.

The whole village had become breathtaking.

His brother asked what had happened.

Roy glanced guiltily at Morris before replying,

"It was... targeted poverty alleviation from the military and government."

"One-on-one assistance."

Later...

He dreamed he'd fallen in love with Morris.

Their relationship grew closer and closer.

They did things together that made people blush.

Then one day...

Morris smiled and told him,

"Your Affinity is maxed out."

"I'm leaving."

"I'll never log in again."

He also dreamed the game officially launched.

Countless players flooded into the world.

Chaos erupted everywhere.

Government forces fought against the players.

Every day became another world war.

The inhabitants of the game world suffered endlessly.

Right now...

Roy felt unbearably hot.

He tugged at the collar of his pajamas.

It felt as though he'd fallen into molten lava.

Morris's voice echoed from somewhere far away.

Something cool and sweet was poured into his mouth.

"...Roy? Roy! Wake up!"

"You're going through your Physiological Awakening!"

Physiological...

Awakening?

Roy slowly opened his eyes.

Morris's anxious face came into view.

Only after seeing Roy wake did Morris finally let out a long breath of relief.

Supporting him into a half-sitting position, he held a nutrient solution to Roy's lips.

His expression was grave.

"Physiological Awakening lasts anywhere from three days to a week."

"You have to use every moment you're conscious to replenish your energy."

"Drink this nutrient solution first..."

"It'll hurt."

"Your entire body is transforming."

"It's like being completely reborn."

"If the pain becomes unbearable..."

"Drink the soothing medicine."

Roy's mind was burning with fever.

He heard...

Physiological Awakening.

He heard...

It was going to hurt.

And suddenly...

He felt wronged.

"...Are you going to bully me?" Roy asked weakly.

"No."

"I won't bully you."

Morris gently stroked his head.

The room was filled with the sweet scents of caramel...

Milk...

And tea.

"I'll leave in a moment."

"I'll stay outside the door."

Roy was dizzy.

Everything hurt.

He couldn't tell directions apart.

He could barely hear clearly.

All he could do...

Was clutch tightly at Morris's sleeve.

"I'll let you bully me."

Morris froze.

Listening to the male Zerg's tiny, almost inaudible voice...

He asked in astonishment,

"...What did you say?"

"You can bully me..."

"But..."

"I won't like you completely."

"I'll only like... part of you..."

His consciousness was blurred.

His words lacked any logic.

Scattered.

Confused.

Impossible to fully understand.

Yet...

When Morris heard him say...

That he would never like him completely...

His heart still ached.

The concentration of pheromones inside the room continued to rise.

The pheromones of a D-rank male Zerg.

Not enough to rob Morris of his reason.

But enough...

To make his body grow unbearably hot.

He couldn't stay much longer.

Opening a bottle of soothing medicine, he carefully fed it to Roy.

Roy only managed a single sip before turning his head away.

"...Bitter..."

No matter what Morris said...

He refused to drink another mouthful.

During a male Zerg's Physiological Awakening...

Aside from soothing medicine...

The only thing capable of easing his suffering...

Was a female Zerg's pheromones.

...】