Chapter 167: Virtual Love Interest × Legion Commander (End): Tell Me This Isn’t "One-on-One Targeted Assistance"

Only the ending remained.

The game's closed beta was also nearing completion.

An Ruo received a message from Ulysses asking about the beta testing roster.

"The most important qualification for beta participants is their character. They must respect the game characters, take the rules seriously, and never treat them carelessly. My current plan is to begin by selecting a preliminary list from among the military female Zergs... I just don't know if that would be too much trouble."

Not trouble at all.

In fact, it perfectly matched Ulysses' own thoughts.

"Oh, right."

Remembering something, An Ruo added,

"Save a few fixed spots for me."

Ulysses recalled the island wedding from the novel.

"For General Cyril and his Male Lord?"

"Yes."

He had guessed correctly.

Ulysses had always been perceptive, so it wasn't surprising.

"And the rest of his family," An Ruo added.

He had intended to mention Hill and Iso specifically, but there was no need to be that explicit. They could arrange it among themselves.

In the end, whether it was Hill and Iso or not wasn't particularly important.

Ulysses agreed and went to make the arrangements.

An Ruo sat down in front of his computer.

He intended to finish the story in one final push.

...

Roy quickly adapted to both his new body and his new world.

The technology here far surpassed anything from his original world.

The online world was even more colorful. Existing as a digital lifeform within an immense data network, he moved through it like a fish through water, absorbing and filtering information like a sponge.

His unique form of life allowed him to bypass countless restrictions and uncover many hidden secrets.

Such as someone's true identity. Or discovering that two supposedly different individuals were actually the same Zerg. Anonymous accounts no longer existed in his eyes. Every piece of information lay openly before him.

For example...

He knew Morris' assets even better than Morris himself did.

Morris was really rich.

Roy secretly spent Morris' money buying all sorts of things, and Morris never even noticed.

It wasn't until packages started arriving at the house that Morris finally realized what had happened.

Then...

He simply organized every account and every password and handed them all over to Roy.

Roy: "..."

I don't need these to spend your money anyway!

But...

It wasn't the same.

By giving him everything, Morris was effectively telling him he was free to use all of it.

Originally, Roy had planned to earn some virtual currency online and quietly repay everything he had spent from Morris' account.

Now...

He decided instead to earn Morris even more money.

After all, it had already become their shared property.

Morris' money was his money.

He was simply making money for himself.

For a digital lifeform, making money was absurdly easy. Roy sifted through endless streams of information, making only small investments to avoid attracting attention. Even so, the profits poured in.

Money came too easily.

It began losing any sense of reality.

Roy almost became addicted to it.

Only when he thought about Morris—and the seemingly endless fortune Morris had entrusted to him—did he barely manage to pull himself back.

He felt...

He probably needed to return to picking through scrap for a while to clear his head.

Just as Roy was about to greet Morris before returning to the virtual world to rest for a bit...

He noticed Morris studying a holographic screen with complete concentration.

Out of curiosity, Roy instinctively slipped his consciousness inside to peek.

"How to Propose to a Virtual Male Zerg?"

"How to Marry a Virtual Male Zerg in the Real World?"

Eh?!

Was Morris serious?

Was he actually about to propose?

Even after everything that had happened—even after Morris had literally made himself glow—Roy still found himself unexpectedly shy when the moment truly arrived.

The Zerg Federation had no laws allowing marriage to virtual characters. Morris could hold a wedding himself...

But they could never legally register it.

Roy quietly watched Morris making preparations.

He had bought an entire floating island in reality.

He recreated their home from the game.

Roy's little house.

His courtyard.

Even a vast stretch of sandy ground...

A recreation of the ancient battlefield ruins.

He buried countless treasures beneath the sand.

Gold.

Jewels.

Energy cores.

Immortal flowers.

Terminals.

Candy.

Everything imaginable.

Then...

He invited Roy to go scavenging.

Roy: "..."

Fine.

This female Zerg was far too unfair.

There was simply no way to refuse.

Carrying a little bucket, Roy followed Morris to pick through the "junk."

Of course, he knew exactly what Morris had buried.

He even knew roughly where everything was.

With a single sweep of his Psychic Power, every treasure would reveal itself instantly.

But he didn't use it.

Not even once.

Instead, like an ordinary low-ranking Male Zerg, he patiently dug through the sand by hand.

Every time he uncovered another treasure, he became genuinely delighted.

Morris carried the bucket beside him and knelt to help him dig.

Each time Roy found something...

He hugged Morris and kissed him.

Morris had to press his lips together with tremendous effort just to suppress the smile threatening to appear.

His body felt wonderfully light.

No matter how much sand he dug, he never grew tired.

He could spend an entire lifetime scavenging with Roy.

The pair of exquisite wedding rings rested inside a beautiful crystal sphere.

When Roy finally unearthed it...

The sphere was still glowing.

The light from the diamond reflected in Roy's eyes.

He slowed down, cradled the crystal sphere in both hands, and looked at Morris.

Morris cleared his throat awkwardly.

He instinctively tried to avoid Roy's eyes.

Then forced himself to meet them directly.

"I learned that in your world... rings are used as symbols of lifelong promises."

"...I'd like to use one to propose to you."

"Would that be alright?"

Of course it would.

Roy immediately tackled Morris and kissed him.

He wanted to mate with Morris right there on the floating island, in the middle of the recreated battlefield sands.

"Put the rings on first."

Roy unscrewed the crystal sphere, slid one ring onto Morris' finger, then waited for Morris to place the other on his.

As Morris held his hand...

Roy suddenly pulled his fingertips back ever so slightly.

Morris' heart skipped a beat.

He looked up.

"Have you really thought this through?" Roy asked one last time.

"If you're with me... you'll never be able to marry a real Male Zerg."

"You'll never have hatchlings either."

Morris smiled faintly.

"You already know."

"I've always been against marriage. I never intended to marry a Male Zerg in reality."

Roy looked down at the ring before silently asking with his eyes:

The anti-marriage Morris... proposed to me?

Under Roy's teasing gaze, Morris found himself speechless.

All he could say was...

"You're different."

"Because I'm virtual?" Roy asked.

"That's part of the reason."

"...But not the main reason."

Morris continued softly,

"You made me willing to believe in Male Zergs again."

"Even if... it's only a Male Zerg from a game."

"You made me want to spend my entire life with you."

"To enter marriage."

"I trust you."

"And I look forward to our future together."

"As for hatchlings..."

A female Zerg who never intended to marry had naturally never planned on having hatchlings either.

He hadn't wanted them before.

After learning Roy truly belonged to the game world...

He wanted them even less.

"Those things don't matter."

"I never planned to have hatchlings anyway."

"Without children..."

"We can spend our entire lives together. Just the two of us."

As Morris spoke, another thought suddenly occurred to him.

Perhaps... Roy wanted hatchlings.

Roy couldn't have children in reality...

But perhaps he could in the game world.

If Roy could...

Then perhaps Morris could as well.

He simply didn't know whether those children would merely be lines of data...

Or something more.

The uncertainty made him too afraid to try.

Roy wrapped him in a hug.

"I don't want hatchlings either."

"Let's spend our whole lives together."

Just the two of us.

Then Roy suddenly remembered...

He still had a younger brother.

Ah...

Their two-person world would have to wait a few more years.

First they still had one little female hatchling to raise.

Fortunately...

He was already nine.

He'd grow up soon enough.

Female Zerg hatchlings matured very quickly.

Morris slid the ring onto Roy's finger.

Under the moonlight...

They made a promise to remain together for life.

...

Two days before his younger brother's vacation began, Roy and Morris returned to the game to make preparations in advance.

The floating island was still hidden beneath stealth mode.

But the village had changed beyond recognition.

Flowers and greenery now lined the roads.

The once-barren land had been cultivated into farmland overflowing with crops.

The elderly villagers' homes had all been completely renovated.

Roy's little house had been expanded with three additional rooms, each now having its own bedroom and bathroom.

Now that Roy could earn real money in Morris' world, he no longer felt the slightest hesitation spending premium game currency inside the game.

Game coins could accomplish many things.

He used them to improve the village, add mechanical insects, build new roads, and carry out all kinds of meaningful projects.

At first he had worried the government would notice and force him to flee into exile.

Later he realized the game automatically rationalized everything.

His worries had been unnecessary.

That only made him feel even freer to keep buying.

When the little female hatchling Remy returned...

He almost thought he'd gone to the wrong place.

Standing in the courtyard was a Male Zerg so beautiful he looked as though he'd stepped straight out of a painting.

Yet...

He also felt strangely familiar.

"...Big Brother?"

Remy called uncertainly.

Roy let out a sigh of relief, smiled warmly, walked over, welcomed him inside, and immediately started asking about his health and school life.

It really was his brother.

But...

How had he become like this?

Male Zergs changed dramatically after their physiological awakening...

But not this dramatically.

"Big Brother, you..."

"My physiological awakening evolved."

"And..."

"I had cosmetic surgery!"

Roy answered instantly, clearly having prepared that explanation long ago.

Cosmetic surgery?!

The little female hatchling knew almost nothing about it.

The little female hatchling was utterly shocked.

"...Does our family even have that kind of money?"

"It was free."

"I did advertising for them."

Roy lied without the slightest blush.

"Then... what about our house? And the whole village?"

"This is part of the military and government's poverty alleviation program."

Roy answered with a perfectly straight face.

Just then Morris walked out carrying a plate of freshly washed fruit.

Seeing the little female hatchling beside Roy, he smiled politely, nodded in greeting, and asked whether he would like some fruit.

Remy's eyes widened.

Staring at the obviously powerful high-ranking female Zerg, he quietly asked his brother,

"...Who is he?"

Roy coughed awkwardly.

"If I told you..."

"...he's a government poverty alleviation officer..."

"...would you believe me?"

"You know..."

"...the kind that provides..."

"...one-on-one targeted assistance."

Remy didn't believe even a single punctuation mark of that sentence.

He had already seen the rings.

His brother was wearing one.

The other was on Morris' hand.

A matching pair.

So this...

Was called...

"One-on-one targeted assistance"?

"...Alright."

"Let me introduce him properly."

Roy pulled the helpless-looking Morris over and said formally,

"This is my newly married Female Lord, Morris."

"And..."

"He'll also be your special training instructor during your vacation."

"From now on..."

"We're family."

Remy: "...Huh?!!!"

Was this hell?

(End)