Chapter 149: Live Stream (3)
Chapter 149: Chapter 149: Live Stream (3)
It wasn't. Avoiding the question would still imply the same thing as saying he wasn't in a relationship. Both Ultear and Juvia, as well as Erza, cared for him deeply, and he had no desire to hurt them.
With only a few seconds to decide, Nate nodded and admitted, "I have a girlfriend."
"You do?!" Jenny, visibly surprised, raised an eyebrow in disbelief. She and Mirajane were close friends, and in their chats on the Magic Net, Mira had mentioned Nate didn't have a girlfriend. Could it be that she had gotten wrong information?
Ultear, stunned for a moment, hadn't expected Nate to admit it so openly. Her expression soon softened into a gentle, radiant smile. Even though her "naughty little brother" was somewhat of a flirt, dating both her and Juvia at the same time, she was overjoyed that he publicly acknowledged he had a girlfriend. Her affection for him only grew.
"Who's the lucky girl?" Jenny pressed, her eyes fixed on Nate.
Nate shot her a look of slight annoyance, 'You're really pushing it, huh?'
"That's private information, so I can't reveal it."
...
By the lake behind the Fairy Tail guild, Erza was practicing while keeping an eye on the live stream.
"He told me not to go public, but then he admits it during a live stream," she muttered with a small smile. She was pleased with how Nate described their relationship. Her thoughts drifted back to the time in the cave, and her face flushed as she thought, 'I miss you. Stay safe and come back soon.'
...
At the girls' dormitory, Juvia hugged a pillow with Nate's picture on it and rolled around on her bed.
"Nate-sama, Juvia is so happy~"
...
At the guild tavern, everyone was buzzing about who Nate's girlfriend might be.
"Does he really have one?"
"It must be Juvia—she's always bringing him lunch with little hearts on it."
"I think it's Lucy. They seem really close."
"Nonsense! It's definitely Mira! He just admitted it!" someone exclaimed.
Behind the bar, Mirajane chuckled softly as she wiped a glass.
"Don't make assumptions—it'll just cause trouble for Nate."
...
In her apartment, Lucy held a pen in her right hand and rested her face on her left, watching the live stream intently. In front of her was an open diary, and ever since joining the guild, Nate's name had been appearing in it more frequently.
'Girlfriend? Who is it?' she wondered, clearly distracted.
...
Back on the live stream, Jenny finally gave up trying to pry more details about Nate's girlfriend.
"Alright, moving on then—"
BOOM!
A massive explosion rang out from above, shocking everyone, including Hibiki and others off-screen.
Hibiki looked up, his face pale.
"Christina?!"
The 'Christina,' Blue Pegasus' magic airship, had just exploded, sending a huge fireball into the sky. The airship began to fall.
Startled, Jenny instinctively moved closer to Nate for protection—after all, she was just a showgirl for Blue Pegasus and wasn't used to fighting.
Except for "Demon" Mirajane, of course.
After the brief shock, Jenny quickly directed the live stream toward the falling airship, capturing the burning vessel live.
"Everyone, look! We're under attack!"
The chat, which had been focused on Nate's love life, quickly shifted. Some viewers had believed him, while others didn't. But now, as the burning 'Christina' plummeted, everyone snapped back to reality.
After all, the point of the stream was to take down the Oración Seis...
[It's Blue Pegasus' Christina!]
[Are they being attacked by the Oración Seis?]
[It must be! The dark guild must be watching the stream too—they've found us!]
The chat was flooded with concerned messages. Compared to the threat of the Oración Seis, Nate's relationship status suddenly seemed insignificant.
Seeing the attention shift, Nate breathed a sigh of relief.
'Thanks, Oración Seis! Just for showing up at the perfect time, I'll go easy on you later!'
Nate mentally gave a thumbs-up to the Oración Seis. However, their swift response meant only one person could have been behind this.
As the burning 'Christina' fell, a figure appeared like lightning before the villa.
"Yo, long time no see, Nate."
It was Racer, his face expressionless. "Thanks for the help last time—I almost died in Magnolia."
Nate thought, 'If I'd wanted to stop you, you wouldn't have escaped.'
Suddenly, Natsu sniffed the air, then looked up and shouted:
"There's someone else up there!"
Everyone immediately followed his gaze.
Above the falling 'Christina' was a winged purple snake, with a red-haired man standing on its back.
"It's the Poison Dragon Slayer, Cobra!" Hibiki said gravely. They had learned about him from their captive, Angel. The task force had gathered information on the appearance and magic of each Oración Seis member.
Cobra grinned. "Sharp nose, Fire Dragon Natsu."
"You bastard! You blew up our ship!" Natsu roared, flames erupting as he leaped toward the poison dragon in the sky.
"I can hear it, the sound of your body," Cobra mocked. The purple snake darted forward, dodging Natsu's flame-covered punch with ease.
In the next instant, Cobra kicked Natsu out of the sky.
BOOM!
At that moment, 'Christina' finally crashed to the ground, engulfed in flames and smoke.
The live stream captured everything in detail, broadcasting it to all viewers.
Just then, a system notification appeared for Nate.
[Mission: Host a live stream and achieve a viewership equal to 80% of all Magic Net users.]
[Reward: Dependent on completion.]
[Mission Complete!]
[Calculating results...]
"It's already complete?" Nate was surprised, thinking the mission would only succeed once the fighting escalated.
He had underestimated the impact of the first live stream.
[Current live viewership: 29,948.]
[Evaluation: Pass.]
[Mission Reward: Zanpakutō—Sode no Shirayuki.]
[Detected that the setting is not the world of Shinigami, converting reward...]
[Zanpakutō—Sode no Shirayuki → Holder Type Magic Item—Sode no Shirayuki.]
[Bonus Task: Achieve 98.9% viewership of all Magic Net users.]
[Bonus Reward: Base reward x300%.]
A series of system notifications flashed before Nate's eyes, and the bonus task caught his attention.