WMSR — QT Chapter 161

 

WMSR – QT Chapter 161

By

siofra

Then why would he pay attention to the people around him, and why would he feel nervous?

Muir could not help hazarding a bold conjecture: might it be possible that within this matching cycle, there actually existed an alpha whom Colin genuinely cared about?

With this supposition, everything suddenly fell neatly into place—why Colin had broken from his usual habits to meticulously dress up, and why he had grown so vigilant and mindful of other omegas' gazes.

Looked at in this light, Colin truly cared deeply about that alpha. Not only had he dressed up specifically for him, but he was also striving to keep it concealed to prevent anyone else from finding out. For Colin, who had consistently exhibited utter indifference toward everything and never contested for anything, this proved to be a remarkably novel occurrence.

Yet what if that alpha whom Colin cared about so deeply were snatched away by another omega? Pondering that prospect, Muir felt his eyes narrow slightly as a surge of malicious amusement bloomed in his chest.

He truly longed to witness such an outcome. Should that transpire, Colin would suffer a thorough, unmitigated defeat. He wondered whether Colin would still be capable of wearing that same aloof expression of total detachment and supreme indifference when that moment arrived.

Swirling various calculations in his mind, Muir swiftly reached a decision. At that exact juncture, the system called out his name; taking a deep breath, Muir walked up to the operational terminal, a contemplative glint in his eyes. So, precisely who is that alpha? When he previously cross-examined the five alphas Colin had selected, he knew in his heart that only one among those five mattered to Colin, while the remaining four served merely as decoys. What he needed to do now was unearth and isolate that most probable alpha.

Lost in calculation, Muir first entered the name of the alpha possessing the most stellar comprehensive credentials among Colin's five choices, deeming him the highest-probability candidate. Yet feeling a lingering trace of insecurity, he subsequently punched in the ID of an alpha employed at the Imperial Research Institute alongside another whose profession was a senior physician. One of these two alphas was scholarly and brimful of erudition, while the other possessed an abundance of empathy and gentlemanly grace; within Muir's deductions, there remained a faint possibility that Colin might harbor a preference for such profiles.

As for the final two alphas, Muir inspected them repeatedly and concluded they were almost certainly red herrings designed to sow confusion. One of these alphas exhibited thoroughly mediocre metrics across all vectors, resting near the absolute bottom among the thousand finalists, while the other required no elaboration—he was an alpha who had faced relentless online and offline vilification from omegas throughout the current season. No matter how eccentric Colin's tastes might run, he could never possibly fall for such a disgraced figure; that particular alpha had unequivocally been planted by Colin as a decoy to mislead observers into thinking he held zero regard for the marriage matching, making the ploy remarkably cunning.

Convinced that these two alphas held zero likelihood of serving as the true target, Muir refrained from wasting his selection slots on them, opting instead to plug in the two best-performing candidates from his own pre-prepared shortlist—after all, he could not allow his prior homework and preparations to go entirely to waste.

Reviewing the finalized roster and convinced of his foolproof strategy, Muir pressed the upload confirmation, a look of triumphant self-satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.

Chapter 83: A02, Modified into a 0 (Continuation)

The very instant he finalized his five-choice roster and hit upload, Muir spun around to sweep his gaze toward Colin's direction.

At that moment, Colin was indeed observing the array of alpha names projected across the grand display screen. Sensing Muir's intent stare, Colin turned his head back to meet Muir's gaze directly.

Catching Colin's expressionless visage, Muir chuckled inwardly: Let's see just how long you can keep up this act. With that, he strutted back to his designated position with arrogant strides.

Once he saw Muir retreat to his station, Colin withdrew his gaze as well. Though his expression remained entirely devoid of visible fluctuation, only he knew that a cold layer of sweat had slicked his palms the moment those three side-by-side names had flashed into view—thankfully, the final two names trailing at the end had proven to be completely unfamiliar decoys.

A narrow escape, a truly narrow escape; it was dangerously close. Colin's brows knitted into a faint crease. He understood that he had been targeted—Muir had evidently picked up on something. He harbored a deep loathing for these peer omegas, who spent their entire existence engaged in petty factional jockeying and took a perverse pleasure in snatching away whatever belonged to others. Fortunately, the alpha he desperately wished to shield had escaped detection.

Maintaining an outward facade of absolute composure while internally battling severe tension, Colin endured the remainder of the procedural phase until every single omega finished locking in their preferred alphas without a single omission. Only then did Colin finally let out a long breath of relief. He raised his eyes toward the grand screen, where the avatars of all successfully selected alphas had materialized. Beneath each avatar hovered a modest numerical counter denoting how many omegas had chosen that specific alpha—and right beneath the avatar of the single alpha he cared about, the tally displayed a diminutive digit: 1.

Fixating on that solitary numeral one, Colin could no longer suppress the smile blossoming across his features: This alpha belongs to me.

Following the conclusion of the omega selection phase—which had been broadcast live across the entirety of the star-net—the subsequent stage commenced: a three-day window dedicated to omega-alpha dating and personal interactions. Throughout this interim, each omega would sequentially embark on a timed date with their chosen alphas, culminating at the end of the three-day block where every omega would definitively lock in the singular alpha they resolved to marry.

A specialized protocol governed exceptional contingencies: if an alpha secured selection from precisely one omega, the pair would proceed smoothly into a legal partnership. Conversely, should an alpha prove excessively popular and capture the favor of two or more omegas simultaneously, the dynamic reversed entirely, empowering the alpha to select his preferred omega companion. Any omega passed over in such an instance retained the fallback option to select among their alternative dating partners, or reject the pool entirely if unsatisfied and defer their participation to the following year's marriage matching.

In short, it was structured as a remarkably humane workflow. When the comprehensive roster detailing which alphas had been chosen by the omegas went public, the star-net erupted into absolute pandemonium. Aside from those universally formidable alphas who swept up the adulation of numerous omegas to emerge as life's ultimate victors backed by a dozen suitors, the single most arresting spectacle centered on the three lucky individuals who had simultaneously captured the favor of the empire's stellar twin omegas.

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