Chapter 67: Isidore and An Ruo: No Female Parent, Home Invaded by Burglars, and Even Has to Go to Work!

There was still some time before the robot bug came to deliver breakfast, so An Ruo decided to lie down for a while longer and privately message his little buddy.

Instead, a message from the other side arrived first.

[Why does it say you've been online for 6 star-hours? Were you awake all night? (Confused kitty face)]

Ah.

His little buddy had caught him red-handed.

An Ruo immediately began complaining.

[I got robbed last night. (Crying) The robber stole my bed. (Bawling)]

After everything that had happened yesterday, An Ruo hadn't had anyone to talk to.

He'd bottled it all up inside.

Now that his little buddy was finally online, he poured his heart out with genuine grief.

The little buddy: "...?"

A home invasion.

And the thief stole... a bed.

That sounded absurd.

But the other party genuinely seemed devastated.

The world was full of strange things.

Having once lived in the Underground District, the little buddy had an excellent ability to accept bizarre situations. After only a brief moment of confusion, he calmly accepted it.

Then he immediately began worrying about An Ruo's situation.

A "hatchling" without a female parent, with poor motor coordination, who had even suffered a home invasion...

The place he lived must have terrible public security.

And apparently his male parent didn't care about him either.

That was simply too miserable.

[Don't cry first. Are you safe right now? Where are you? I'll come save you.]

An Ruo: Uh...

He appreciated the thought.

After considering where he currently was, however, he decided it was better not to let the other party know.

[I'm fine. I'm safe now. There are lots of guards protecting me.]

Even if, against Ulysses, they were useful only as decorations.

The little buddy pressed further.

[Are you at the police station now? Did you report it?]

[Uh... more or less.]

What did "more or less" even mean?

[Did they catch the robber? Whatever you do, don't sign a settlement agreement. Make sure he gets a heavy sentence!]

Just then, An Ruo received a message from Uriel.

The Marshal had applied for a visitation.

He wanted to apologize.

Still angry, An Ruo figured the other party couldn't really do anything to him anyway, so he rejected the request outright.

Then he replied to his little buddy.

[Don't worry. I didn't sign a settlement agreement.]

[Good! That's exactly how it should be! Let that robber go to prison! Stealing a hatchling's bed—what a complete scumbag!]

An Ruo didn't have the heart to tell him that the robber wouldn't be going to prison.

The one actually in prison...

Was him.

...That sounded way too pitiful.

Besides, he wasn't even a hatchling.

He was already an adult.

Still, for the sake of hugging this golden thigh, pretending to be a hatchling wasn't embarrassing at all.

An Ruo quickly changed the subject.

[Enough about me. What about you? Why are you online all of a sudden today? Vacation?]

[Yep, vacation.]

An Ruo could tell from his tone that he wasn't entirely happy.

[Did something happen?]

[Sigh. You wouldn't understand.]

The little buddy let out an intentionally profound sigh.

[I'm a huge celebrity now.]

An Ruo: [???]

[I can give you my autograph.]

...No thanks.

But the little buddy seemed to be looking forward to it.

Out of respect for his golden thigh, An Ruo provided plenty of emotional encouragement.

[Sure! I'd love one.]

The next moment, the other side actually sent him an autograph.

[€€€€Isidore.]

The handwriting was neat and beautiful, carrying just a touch of youthful pride.

Seeing such a familiar name here, An Ruo froze for a long moment.

€€€€So you're the celebrity Isidore.

€€€€What a coincidence. You have the same name as the hatchling protagonist from my previous novel.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

For a moment, An Ruo didn't know what to say.

Really?

No way.

It couldn't...

...Could it?

Seeing that he wasn't replying, the other side grew anxious.

[Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you like this one? I can sign another.]

[Or do you want a physical copy? I can mail it to you with a gift. Send me your address.]

[You're... Isidore?] An Ruo asked cautiously.

[Of course!]

[You don't believe me?]

[(Hurt)]

It wasn't that he didn't believe him.

An Ruo understood his little buddy's personality well.

He was an incredibly proud and confident child, raised with love by both his parents.

He had absolute confidence in his own abilities.

He knew exactly how outstanding he was.

He would never stoop to pretending to be someone else or basking in another bug's glory.

He was simply...

Too shocked.

[The Isidore from the novel?]

An Ruo confirmed again.

[Of course. Is there another Isidore?]

His name wasn't exactly common.

...Though perhaps it would become common in the future.

There were already plenty of bugs on StarNet planning to give this name to their hatchlings.

Just imagining the streets filled with "Isidores" made Isidore feel utterly hopeless.

An Ruo was completely stunned.

His emotions were impossible to describe.

After Xi'an and Claire, now Isidore had appeared as well.

Even though he'd already mentally prepared himself to some extent, having Isidore suddenly appear—and turn out to be someone he already knew—still left him speechless.

Wait.

He'd known his little buddy before he started writing this novel.

...Huh???

An Ruo was thoroughly confused.

Could it really be just as Xi'an had said?

That his unusually active psychic power had simply captured inspiration drifting through space-time...

And turned it into stories?

That explanation instantly relieved much of An Ruo's psychological burden.

Curiously, he continued chatting with his little buddy—

No, with little Isidore.

...Or maybe big Isidore?

After doing the math, if the story's timeline also matched reality, Isidore should now be thirteen and a half years old.

Thirteen and a half.

A full-sized hatchling.

All of a sudden, An Ruo could understand why the Zerg loved cuddling hatchlings so much.

If Isidore appeared in front of him...

He'd cuddle him bald.

[So your male parent and female parent are really Hill and Iso?]

An Ruo asked eagerly.

[Of course.]

To Isidore, that was an incredibly boring question.

Still, he had more than enough patience for his little friend.

[How are they now? Where do you live these days? Up in the sky or underground?]

An Ruo had countless questions.

As the author, he actually had the chance to enjoy official post-story content in real life!

Whether the story was real, or which came first—the novel or reality—could wait.

First...

He was going to feast on his own story's epilogue.

(￣€€￣*)

The moment Isidore saw his little friend's wording, he knew he'd read the novel thoroughly.

He felt just a little helpless.

And a little embarrassed.

[We live in the sky now. On the Floating Island.]

[My female parent went out... uh, anyway, he'll be back tonight!]

[My male parent just came back yesterday from sketching in deep space. He picked me up from school, then we read the novel together. Right now he's adjusting the robot bugs to cook. It's high-energy hatchling nutrition meals again. (Flops over)]

An Ruo understood immediately.

Iso had gone on a military campaign and would return tonight.

Hill was at home.

And they'd read his novel together...

Suddenly...

He felt unbearably embarrassed.

He needed some alone time.

Then Isidore remembered something.

[By the way, do you want my male parent's and female parent's autographs? I can get them for you.]

[Really?]

An Ruo's eyes lit up.

[Actually, I'd rather have a family photo of you.]

Mentioning photographs reminded An Ruo of the picture Xi'an and Claire had given him.

Originally, he'd planned to project it onto the wall beside his desk like a holographic poster.

But yesterday had been far too chaotic.

He'd even lost his bed.

Naturally, he hadn't had time to set it up.

Isidore immediately replied:

[I can just send it to you.]

[Family Photo at the Amusement Park.jpg]

[Here's another one from now: Isidore and His Awesome Mecha.jpg]

The adorable little hatchling.

The adorable bigger hatchling.

And his protagonists.

They looked exactly as he'd imagined.

As though the characters in his mind had been painted into reality by a divine artist.

Perfectly recreated.

Even more beautiful than he'd ever been able to imagine.

An Ruo was so overwhelmed he couldn't speak.

Only after Isidore began urging him did he finally reply.

[You're just as adorable as I imagined.]

Isidore sent back a shy emoji.

Then added,

[I'd rather you call me handsome.]

Back when they'd played games together, An Ruo always praised him for being handsome.

He'd successfully flattered one little female Zerg hatchling until he was floating on cloud nine.

[Alright. You're a handsome and adorable hatchling.]

An Ruo had never considered himself the father or mother of the characters in his books.

Nor had he ever thought of his protagonists as his children.

They were simply themselves.

Xi'an.

Claire.

Hill.

Iso.

They were the absolute centers of their own stories.

His connection to them began and ended with one fact—

They were the protagonists of his novels.

That was enough.

It had nothing to do with being anyone's child.

But Isidore was different.

Perhaps because he was still younger.

Still tender enough to fit naturally into the role of a "hatchling" or a "child."

Whenever An Ruo faced him, he couldn't help treating him with the gentle affection one naturally felt toward a child.

The little hatchling floated even higher after being praised again.

[Want to play a game? I'll carry you.]

An Ruo checked the time before declining politely.

[Not today. I have work soon. Let's play another time.]

When his "little buddy" hadn't been around, An Ruo had nearly been bullied into quitting by random matchmaking opponents.

They kept trying to get him to turn on his microphone.

They definitely wanted to roast him for being terrible.

Fortunately, he kept both his microphone and voice chat muted and had all text messages blocked.

€€€€As long as I block everything fast enough, nobody—bug or otherwise—can insult me.

Now that his little buddy had returned—and turned out to be his beloved little Isidore—An Ruo truly wanted him to help him get his revenge in-game.

But...

He still had his daily Psychic Soothing work to do.

There simply wasn't enough time.

When Isidore heard his little friend say he had to go to work, he was utterly dumbfounded.

In his eyes, his little friend was a hatchling just like himself.

Only...

One without a female parent.

And now his little friend's circumstances turned out to be even more tragic than he'd imagined.

No female parent.

A victim of home invasion.

And now he had to work!

This was child labor!

The Federation absolutely prohibited employing child laborers.

But Isidore had once lived in the Underground District.

He knew exactly how hatchlings outside the law's protection lived.

His male parent and female parent had rescued many hatchlings like that.

He had been born among the clouds.

Yet he had never failed to see the struggles buried in the dirt below.

[What kind of job are you doing? Do you even have somewhere to live? Oh no, they even stole your bed...]

Goodness.

Just what kind of horrible place was his little friend living in?

An Ruo could tell that Isidore had been thoroughly frightened and hurriedly reassured him.

[Don't worry. It's... a legitimate job.]

...Probably.

Even if it was inside a prison.

Psychic Soothing was still honest work.

He earned his own living.

Even if he was the establishment's top attraction...

He wasn't selling himself.

[I have a place to live. I have food to eat. A little robot bug will be bringing me breakfast soon. And I have a bed too. The administrator brought me a new one last night. Don't worry. I'm doing fine.]

Isidore was practically on the verge of tears.

Even though his little friend was trying his best to comfort him, Isidore could still read the hardship hidden between every line.

He had no female parent.

He had to work so hard.

His male parent must have thrown him out of the house.

There must be countless hatchlings there doing the same kind of work.

Robot bugs delivering meals.

Strict administrators watching over them.

Growing up in a loving family, Isidore simply couldn't imagine how difficult his little friend's life must be.

He had to save him.

He'd bring both his female parent and male parent with him.

Together, they'd rescue him.