Chapter 326: Male Zerg Celebrity × Arms Dealer (13): At Least in This Moment, He Truly Felt Happy

[Onstage, a heartrending love story unfolded. The birdlike Male Zerg cast off the shackles of the mortal world and ran toward freedom, ran toward his love, as though heading to a grand appointment.

And when the final scene came to an end, there was already another Zerg sitting in the empty seat beside Shamir.

Dressed in formalwear, Ravens thoughtfully handed him a handkerchief.

“Thank you.” Shamir took it and wiped away the tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes without him noticing.

Male Zergs were naturally very emotional. It was just that sometimes reason suppressed those emotions.

Shamir had been an actor for so long that he had gotten used to unconsciously analyzing the characters, the script, the audience. It had been a very long time since he had simply experienced a story and a feeling as purely as he was doing now.

This game had given him an entirely new experience, as though it had helped him rediscover who he used to be—the Shamir from before he became a celebrity, before he stood beneath dazzling starlight.

He put away the handkerchief and turned curiously to look Ravens over. Naturally, he noticed immediately that Ravens had obviously changed his clothes.

He wore a black formal suit, carrying the elegant nobility of a gentleman, yet beneath it was a faint aura of mystery and danger.

Shamir smelled the lingering scent of gunpowder, but his first thought was of brilliant fireworks. Only afterward did he remember that he had smelled the same thing while filming a space-war production.

Zergs didn’t like using special effects. They thought using real weapons and live ammunition was simpler and more realistic, which was very characteristic of a warlike species.

Shamir guessed that something had happened, but he couldn’t imagine exactly what Mr. Ravens had done.

He only knew that Mr. Ravens had returned to his side.

To marry him.

There was a red flower pinned to the breast pocket of the Female Zerg’s formal suit. It was completely unlike Mr. Ravens’s usual style, yet it made Shamir’s heartbeat lose its rhythm.

“Did you come back to take me to register our marriage?” he asked.

Ravens gave an affirmative sound, rose, formally extended an invitation toward him, held out his hand, and asked, “Male Lord, would you be willing to go to the marriage office with me?”

Back when Shamir had verbally promised Ravens the position of Female Lord so he could enter the farm for the sake of the game task, Ravens had already called him “Male Lord.”

But at this moment, in Shamir’s perception, this title that had existed only because of the game seemed to take on a different meaning.

It was as though Ravens had said “marriage office,” but what he was really asking was, “Would you be willing to marry me?”

Shamir placed his hand into Ravens’s.

He was willing.

But those three words carried too much weight. He couldn’t say them aloud simply because of a game. His reason restrained him, stopping the words from slipping out, and he answered only through his actions.

Their hands clasped together, like the entrusting of trust, and like a promise.

Ravens took Shamir by the hand and led him out of the theater.

This time, not a single Female Zerg came forward.

They merely watched the two leave.

The Female Zergs understood that this was a Female Zerg fully worthy of matching that Male Zerg lord. Stepping forward to interfere at a time like this would absolutely not be a wise choice.

That only made Shamir even more curious about what Ravens had done during the time he had been away.

...]

The viewers in the livestream were still bewildered.

[Who is this? Ravens? Why does he actually look like a proper Zerg now?]

[Tianjia: “...” Not a single swear word was used, but for some reason I still feel insulted.]

[He was still wearing farm work clothes before, but now he really does look different. He finally has a bit of that arms-tycoon vibe. But did he leave just to change clothes? You even have to secretly spend money in-game now?]

[Spending money doesn’t take that long. I have reason to suspect he went and robbed a formalwear shop.]

[I suspect you’ve uncovered the truth, bro.]

[And just like that, he’s taking our Shamir away to get married???]

[Why did Shamir just follow along the second a Female Zerg held out his hand? Shair, you’re way too defenseless. Your Female Father fan is very worried. (crying)]

[Shamir has Female Father fans?]

[Young Male Zergs have a lot of Female Father fans. Shamir is young, and he’s never had any truly intimate scenes onscreen. Female Zergs have limited imaginations and can’t picture it, so a lot of fans basically raise him like a hatchling.

Even among his Female Friend fans, a large proportion still mentally treat him as a hatchling. They want to become his Female Lord, but at the same time they also want to cherish and manage him like a hatchling in lots of things. Of course... don’t expect a Male Zerg who completely disconnects from StarNet outside working hours to actually be manageable.]

[What Male Zerg can ever be managed by Female Zergs? This isn’t Tianjia!]

[Shamir is just young and got tricked. It’s the Female Zerg who’s cunning! It’s all that sly Ravens using a game task as an excuse to lure our Shair into marriage. He’s terrible!]

[Every mistake in the world is Ravens’s fault! Let’s boycott Ravens! Boycott Ravens Group products!]

[Uh... do you even know what they manufacture before talking about boycotting them? Forget the starships and aircraft you need for travel. Even the electricity you’re using, the StarNet you’re logged into, and the terminal in your hand might very well have come from Ravens Group.

If you seriously boycott everything, you’ll have to cut the internet, cut the power, and return to primitive Zerg life. That would be kind of awkward.]

The fans checked the manufacturer of the terminals in their hands, then checked the various smart appliances and machine Zergs in their homes.

They silently skipped over the topic.

[It’s not that we won’t boycott. We’re just temporarily postponing the boycott, boycotting slowly, and letting a small number of Zergs boycott first to drive the later boycott. One day Ravens will understand the consequences!]

[By the time that day comes, Ravens will probably have already officially announced across the whole StarNet, “Thank you, everyone. We’re together,” and maybe they’ll already be holding three eggs.]

[The fertility rate isn’t that high!]

Even after things had gotten this far, the only thing they could cling to for a rebuttal was the fertility rate, because an official StarNet announcement was genuinely possible.

Weren’t they already about to get married inside the game?

...

[Shamir and Ravens headed to the marriage office.

On the way, Shamir first found a formalwear shop and picked out an outfit.

He had completely forgotten he could just spend money in the game shop to buy one, so he even waited for a while before getting the clothes.

With its unusual tailoring, one half black and one half white, it happened to match perfectly with Mr. Ravens’s mysterious, deep, all-black formal suit.

Even though it was formalwear from several thousand years ago, it looked unexpectedly striking when worn, carrying a distinct sense of fashion.

Shamir couldn’t tell whether it was because his face naturally looked noble and made the clothes look good, or whether fashion itself truly moved in cycles.

After changing and then heading to the marriage registration office, Shamir genuinely began to feel nervous, as though he were really about to get married.

He even felt slightly dazed.

Ravens was nervous too.

He barely spoke the entire way, keeping his body tense as he stared straight ahead.

Even when Shamir took his hand and led him down from the aircraft, Ravens still hadn’t fully come back to his senses and moved only on instinct.

Fortunately, the adaptability he had built up over many years was still decent, so he didn’t embarrass himself.

The actual marriage registration process was unexpectedly quick.

The staff Zerg asked them, “A-rank Female Zerg Ravens, are you willing to marry B-rank Male Zerg Shamir as his Female Lord?”

Ravens’s actual rank was A+, above A-rank.

But seven thousand years ago, ranks hadn’t been divided so precisely yet, so he was simply classified as A-rank.

Shamir looked at his own displayed rank.

B-rank.

The rank he had spent ten years working his way up to, when placed beside Mr. Ravens’s crudely simplified rank under the game’s system, actually seemed reasonably matched.

His original rank had been C.

His compatibility with Mr. Ravens had been at the absolute limit. Just a little worse, and he wouldn’t even have been able to perform Psychic Soothing.

But Ravens had chosen him precisely because of that.

Shamir knew it very well.

Keeping the rank difference at the absolute limit meant he could still perform Psychic Soothing while minimizing how much influence the Male Zerg would have over him.

It was the sort of choice made by Female Zergs who were extremely cautious and cared deeply about preserving themselves.

Shamir had known from the very beginning why he had been chosen.

So he had only ever done his own job properly.

He took medicine beforehand and never left pheromones inside, until that accident disrupted everything...

Shamir didn’t know when his heart had fallen.

Just as he didn’t understand why Mr. Ravens, who was not someone addicted to pleasure, had started letting Shamir leave pheromones inside him.

That was obviously more dangerous.

It increased the risk of being influenced by a Male Zerg and of being fully marked.

Wasn’t that completely contrary to Mr. Ravens’s original intention?

Again and again, Shamir used work, distance, and duty to calm himself down.

But sometimes he also felt that maybe he wasn’t the only one burning alone.

The staff Zerg asked Ravens whether he was willing to marry him.

Ravens said, “I am.”

The words Shamir had thought were too heavy to simply say aloud were spoken directly by Ravens.

Shamir looked at him in astonishment.

Even if this was for a game task, wasn’t he going a little too far?

Shamir remembered that Ravens’s original game task had only been to find a job.

Was there really any need to go this far?

The staff Zerg then asked Shamir whether he was willing to take Ravens as his Female Lord.

Shamir’s lips moved slightly.

He stared blankly at Ravens, who was watching him quietly and waiting for his answer, and suddenly felt his eyes grow warm.

He said, “I am.”

Whatever it was, at least in this moment, he truly felt happy.

Even if this was only a dream that would last for a single day.

...]

In the livestream, the barrage was discussing the rank displayed for Shamir inside the game.

[Why is it B-rank? Doesn’t this game directly read the player’s body data and rank? Shamir should be A-rank at minimum, right?]

[With that face, people would believe he was above A-rank.]

[Is the game bugged? Or is this part of the plot setting?]

[Report! Just got back from the novel. The book says Shamir is B-rank, and that it took him ten years to rise from C-rank!]

[Holy shit, ten years from C to B, my baby is amazing... wait, no! How could my Shamir possibly be B-rank??? C-rank is even more ridiculous slander!

Even antis wouldn’t dare blacken someone this hard. Nobody would believe dirt this absurd!]

[This is a book written by An-shen. Calm down. What do you mean “antis”? Your whole family are antis. If An-shen wrote it this way, he must have his reasons.]

[The book had already mentioned several times that there was a rank gap between Shamir and Ravens.

Everyone suspected Ravens might be hiding an S-rank after falsely reporting his rank, but nobody suspected Shamir.

When An-shen’s newest chapter revealed that Shamir was B-rank, everyone initially thought An-shen didn’t understand Shamir’s real rank and wrote it wrong, or that it was just part of the plot setup.

But the development we’re seeing inside the game through the livestream is almost exactly identical to the novel.

Oh, right. The book also said Ravens reshuffled the local gangs and became the new gang leader. That’s what he went off to do during the time he was gone.

Judging from how Ravens looked when he came back, that really might have happened.

So the rank thing... maybe that’s also...]

[Impossible! Absolutely impossible! This is a script! It’s scripted!

An-shen’s book came out first, and only afterward did the livestream plot happen. That proves even more that this was all written out beforehand! They’re just acting according to the script!]

Whether the fans believed it or not, word that Shamir was B-rank began spreading.

The whole thing was so absurd that even professional paid smear accounts and rival fandom antis who had been planning to use it to attack Shamir hesitated.

Because it really looked fake!

If it were some ordinary little scandal, it wouldn’t matter if the information turned out to be false.

But this involved An-shen, so they had to be careful.

If everything was later explained clearly and officially debunked, would the Zergs who had recklessly spread the rumor and amplified its impact be treated as though they had been smearing An-shen?

The Marshal stood behind An-shen.

Husband and husband were one entity. Damaging An-shen’s reputation meant smearing the Marshal, and in serious cases it could even be expanded into smearing the Federation’s image.

They still valued their lives.

It wasn’t worth risking them for this tiny amount of money and profit.

And so fans, ordinary onlookers eating melon, and antis alike all waited for an official explanation and denial.

It would be extremely easy to clear something like this up.

Shamir’s studio only had to post a censored screenshot of Shamir’s personal information page. His Federation-certified rank would be listed right there.

One screenshot could settle everything.

Even if Shamir’s studio was usually low-key, and had been unusually silent throughout this entire month, surely after something this big happened, they couldn’t keep pretending to be dead, right?

Under the expectant gaze of every Zerg, after Shamir ended the livestream, his studio really did publish an announcement.

But its contents were completely different from what everyone had imagined.