Chapter 41: Chapter 41: It Will Absolutely Not Lose to Those Brainless Beastmen

Barto had just clicked on the recommended video when the screen switched to a successful team assignment notification for a game, along with a ten-second countdown to join.

He only had time to glimpse a slender back, the same one from the video thumbnail, before he was pulled into the game.

Barto stood in the middle of a sandy wasteland, stunned for two seconds.

"BANG!"

A bullet whizzed past Barto’s ear, followed by the sound of dense gunfire.

Sparks flew. Barto reacted instantly, nimbly dodging the bullets flying from all directions, and temporarily pushed the matter of the virtual female video to the back of his mind.

’I’ll deal with that after this match.’

Barto raised his gun and took aim—

"RAT-TAT-TAT!" After spraying a wave of enemy Beastmen, he quickly relocated.

’There’s no way I’m losing to a bunch of brain-dead Beastmen who are all brawn and no brains!’

Gu Ning took a long, vigorous bath.

A hot bath was now more of a luxury than her next full meal, so she scrubbed herself as clean as she possibly could, until her skin was red all over.

Lifting the bucket, she poured the last of the hot water over herself. Gu Ning let out a long breath.

’Ah, that feels good.’

After her bath, Gu Ning changed into her ruffian-style loungewear and stepped out of the bathroom.

As usual, the moment she opened the door, Cook pounced, nuzzling and licking her.

The degenerated Cook was acting more and more like a large dog.

Gu Ning laughed and pushed the enthusiastic dog’s head away. When she ran a hand over his body, his fur was still damp.

His fur had grown thicker with his degeneration; shaking himself off and a towel-down were no longer enough to get him dry.

Gu Ning found the hairdryer Barto had just used in the living room and prepared to blow-dry Cook’s fur.

"Just die already!"

"Hahaha, what a bunch of idiots. They fell for such an obvious trap."

Gu Ning saw Barto wearing a silver-and-black, semi-circular helmet, leaping and tumbling around the living room. He held his hands in a gun-toting pose, shouting bloodthirsty words.

"..."

’Are foxes supposed to be this aggressive?’

Seeing Barto running back and forth playing his game, Cook got excited and trotted over, wanting to play too.

Caught off guard, Barto was sent flying by Cook’s charge and was instantly headshot by an enemy sniper.

"Stupid dog!!!" Barto threw off his holographic helmet, jumped up, and tackled Cook to the ground.

Before Cook’s head could be smashed like a walnut, Gu Ning rushed over to break up the fight.

Barto was fuming. He shoved Gu Ning back with a sweep of his arm. "Don’t stop me! I’m going to beat him up today, no matter what!"

This guy had been annoying him all day. He had no idea how Gu Ning could tolerate a Beastman who had degenerated this much.

Gu Ning was bent over trying to pull them apart when she accidentally stepped on the hem of her own robe. Pushed by Barto, she lost her balance and staggered forward, falling to her knees.

The loose, stretchy robe, which she had altered from a Beastman’s garment, was pulled down by her foot, dragging the collar below her clavicle and baring one shoulder. Her slippers went flying.

Barto had Cook’s head in his grasp, ready to slam it down, when he saw Gu Ning fall in front of him. A casual glance took in the entire scene.

His eyes traveled from her slender yet rounded shoulder down to her fair, bare feet.

Gu Ning’s knees stung from the fall.

She pushed herself into a kneeling position, dusted off her hands, and turned to look at Barto and Cook.

"WOOF!" Seeing her fall, Cook shoved Barto over, then helped Gu Ning up from the floor.

The first thing Gu Ning did was check her head covering. Relieved to find it was still securely in place, she straightened her robe, found her slippers, and put them on before turning her attention to Barto.

Barto was sitting on the floor, head tilted up, looking at her with a bewildered expression.

Gu Ning made a "truce" gesture at him. Worried he was still angry with Cook, she tentatively reached out to pat his head.

Her palm barely brushed the top of Barto’s fluffy head before she quickly withdrew her hand.

Barto snapped out of his daze and instinctively bared his teeth at her.

He hated being touched by others. Even with someone he was relatively familiar with, like Cook, he would still lash out with a claw.

But Barto didn’t scratch Gu Ning. Instead, he began to circle her, sizing her up.

He stared at her floor-length robe for a moment, then reached out a paw, wanting to lift the hem to get another look at her feet.

"GRR-WOOF!" Seeing his movement, Cook let out a low, warning growl and stepped in front of Gu Ning.

Afraid they would start fighting again, Gu Ning grabbed the hairdryer and pulled Cook into the bedroom.

Barto sat where he was for a moment, then picked up the holographic helmet from the floor.

He put on the helmet and saw the end-game screen showing his team had lost. Annoyed, he yanked it off, flopped into his nest, and picked up his gaming console.

As he played, Barto’s eyes kept drifting toward Gu Ning’s bedroom.

When the "game over" music played, Barto’s attention finally returned to the screen.

The screen displayed a "Level Failed" message. Barto was in no mood to play anymore.

Suddenly, he remembered he had forgotten something. He opened his terminal and started searching for the virtual female video that had been recommended in the game lobby earlier.

He had already exited the game, so he couldn’t immediately find the recommended video.

’What was that virtual female’s video called again? Gu De-something Ning? Miao Ning?’

Barto typed into the search bar:

Gu Dengning

The search returned a few cluttered pages, but no videos.

’That’s not it.’

Barto scratched his ear and typed again:

Miao Dengning

Still no videos, just a page recommending stomach medicine for the Cat Clan.

Barto typed one more time:

Ningde Miao

The screen was blank. Nothing came up.

"..."

Barto didn’t usually spend much time online. After searching for a long while, it occurred to him that he should look on a dedicated video platform.

Females were always one of the hottest topics online; a virtual female should be easy enough to find.

He thought for a moment, opened the most popular public video site, and tapped it with his paw.

Several gaudy video recommendations immediately popped up, all of them the trendiest movies and shows of the moment.

Barto’s eyes immediately landed on an annoying face on the recommendation page, wearing a smile that disgusted him.

He was supposedly boycotting virtual females, yet there he was, holding a virtual female’s hand as if to kiss it.

Barto scoffed internally. ’No wonder he’s getting flamed. He totally deserves it.’

Just seeing that face annoyed him. Not wanting to look any longer, he shut off his terminal.

「In the bedroom.」

The hairdryer whirred.

Cook lay with his head in Gu Ning’s lap, letting her turn him this way and that to dry his fur.

"All done."

Gu Ning had been blow-drying Cook for nearly an hour before his thick coat was finally dry. The effort left her forehead beaded with sweat.

She glanced at the time; it was already past nine o’clock.

After playing with Cook for a bit to soothe him, Gu Ning sent him to the living room to sleep with Barto, instructing him to keep an eye on the fox and not let him into her bedroom. Then, she began to film her next video.

This time, she was planning to film a Bear Clan female.

The main background was still the area around her desk and bookshelf, but she intended to make this video a little longer.

She also planned to film a full-body shot.

The downfall of the official PawsUp account showed her how difficult it was to level up an account. Most Beastmen were straightforward and hot-tempered; if they liked something, they’d show it, and if they hated something, they’d take action.

Moreover, due to their pack mentality, the Beastmen were a united front and easily swept up by trends. While they might not all love the same thing, they would dogpile on something collectively, showing her the true power of a group.

With the officials stirring up shit, there was no telling what kind of shenanigans they’d pull next.

She had to solidify her Beastman audience to the point where the official authority was weakened, or even rendered useless, against her.

Since these Beastmen all wanted her to portray females of their own clans, she would give them what they wanted.

Gu Ning put on the pair of round, fake Bear Clan ears and a black face mask she had specially sewn a little bee pattern onto. She tied her hair into two low buns and began filming with her mobile camera drone.