"You know, Guinea Pig-kun, humans emit pheromones. When a desired mate smells them, they experience a pleasant scent."
Lying on his lap, Agness Tachyon squinted. "There's an incredible fragrance on you, Guinea Pig-kun. Did you just finish exercising?"
If you can call it that, yes, I did.
Agness Tachyon rubbed her face against his leg.
"Can Guinea Pig-kun smell my scent?"
"You mean fragrance?"
"There are three places where secretions are most abundant: the head, the armpits, and the feet... Where does Guinea Pig-kun want to smell?" Agness Tachyon tilted her head, a half-smile on her face.
"...The head."
Luo Cheng's body was weak right now. He didn't have the energy to play games with Agness Tachyon or enjoy "hoof pastries."
Agness Tachyon propped herself up.
"Mmm..." She bit Luo Cheng's ear and licked his cheek.
"...I thought you were going to let me smell you."
"When I get close to you, you're also getting close to me, Guinea Pig-kun. Besides these things, I thought Guinea Pig-kun would prefer a girl's armpit or feet. It turns out you're a very traditional person." Agness Tachyon ran her fingers through her hair, her lips moving.
"Not so."
Here, Luo Cheng had to clarify that he wasn't an armpit or foot fetishist. He just couldn't help but feel his heart race when he occasionally saw a girl's crystal-clear armpits or their tender, lovely feet. Originally, Luo Cheng's tastes weren't so broad, but after spending so much time in the game world, he had gradually become an connoisseur who could appreciate horse girls from every angle. Color, shape, taste, smell, sound, softness, comfort—all of these became part of Luo Cheng's evaluation criteria. A horse girl's body was a treasure trove.
"Actually, my fetish is horse girls."
"Oh? The whole body?"
"Yes."
"Then I'm relieved."
"Why?"
"If there's no part you dislike, doesn't that mean I can do whatever I want?"
"What do you want to do?"
"There's one place with the strongest scent. Maybe you'll like it."
Satisfied, Agness Tachyon sat up and yawned, asking Luo Cheng to make her a cup of black tea. With the small talk over, the two got down to business. Listening to Luo Cheng's description, Agness Tachyon shared her research findings.
"This world does have many illogical things." Agness Tachyon stretched. "A few weeks ago when you gave me that flyer, I found that there were no words on it. But this morning, text suddenly appeared on the flyer, and my memory was skewed to think that the text had always been there."
"How did you figure that out?"
"Text logs. The photos I took of the flyer change along with the flyer, but the text on my logs doesn't. I wrote 'untreated flyer,' but there was writing on it, which means there's a problem."
Agness Tachyon drank her black tea. "Based on your description and my lab records, I think you might be traveling between two worlds. The real world is like a software you've opened, and the game world is the software's code. Whatever you do in that world, there will be a corresponding feedback here."
"The world is a computer?"
"Don't be so nervous, Guinea Pig-kun. The world has always been a computer. What do you think physics and math formulas are? The world you're in is the same, it just materialized the code into content you can understand."
Luo Cheng was silent for a moment. "So how do I leave?"
"Leave? Why would you want to leave? What's so bad about it?"
"If I stay there for too long, I'll definitely go crazy. The person plays the game, the game doesn't play the person."
"Every piece of software has its operating logic. As long as there's a logic, you can control it. We just haven't found a way yet. There's not enough time and not enough information. What you've told me are all things you've only discovered in the last few months. You haven't fully understood the operating rules. The most basic prerequisite for control is understanding."
"So, I have to learn first..."
"The burden might be significant, so—" Agness Tachyon touched his face. "I can give you a special privilege. Whether you're in the game world or this one, you can do whatever you like to me."
[Agness Tachyon: More command privileges unlocked.]
A translucent screen popped up in front of Luo Cheng and then disappeared.
"This is..."
"What is it, Guinea Pig-kun?"
"It seems I have a new function." Luo Cheng shook his head, planning to try it out after he went back.
Tachyon was right. Control was based on understanding. He was still stumbling upon various prompts, and he didn't even fully understand the game yet. Maybe once he unlocked all the functions, he could do whatever he wanted.
"I suddenly feel like I have a mission."
"Is that so? That's good. I'm very interested in your experience, Guinea Pig-kun. You're a rare experimental subject. If I could, I'd go to that world myself."
"What would you do in that world?"
"I'd definitely just use people to test my medicine, and..." Agness Tachyon looked at him with her dark red eyes. "I'd tie Guinea Pig-kun to the lab table and extract his bodily fluids 24/7."
"..."
"Don't worry, I'd supplement your nutrition."
"I'm starting to wonder if I've been too conservative over there."
"Exactly, Guinea Pig-kun. You need to keep growing."
"Do you want to turn into a cream puff, Tachyon?"
"Haha, Guinea Pig-kun, I don't know what it's like over there, but here, only you can be the cream."
"Okay, just you wait. I'll get my strength back."
"What's wrong, are you sick?"
"I'm a little weak right now."
Under Agness Tachyon's slightly mischievous smile, Luo Cheng left the room. Besides the system issues, he had one more thing to do: buy items from the outside world. It seemed that things from the outside world had special effects when brought into the game, like the shoes, grilled fish, or the flyer. Luo Cheng planned to buy as much as he could to max out his horse girls' abilities with items. But there wasn't much time left today, so Luo Cheng decided to buy things tomorrow when he went to the arcade with Teio.
Speaking of which, the duration of this plot event was so short, only two days. Last time it was a whole week. Not only was the trigger random, but the duration was too. Where was the logic? Luo Cheng couldn't figure it out right now.
Returning to his dorm, Luo Cheng took a shower, said hello to his colleagues whose names he was starting to forget, and went to bed. Tomorrow was another day of returning to reality. Luo Cheng was full of anticipation.
"Ruru... gururu... chu-chu..."
He didn't know how much time had passed when a wet, rotating sensation woke him. He opened his eyes groggily. In the cold moonlight, he saw a large black tail swinging back and forth in front of his face.