Luo Cheng had met a truly formidable character. Before, he had only thought of the horse girls as beautiful, comfortable pillows, but now he realized he had been too naive. Although she looked identical to Cafe, she was far more mature. How could he describe her? Under her control, Luo Cheng couldn't muster a single shred of resistance. He felt as if he had become one of the horse girls himself.
"Trainer, is this all you've got?" Her pristine body was shrouded in darkness, leaving only her beautiful golden eyes glowing faintly.
In the end, Luo Cheng's mind melted along with her laughter. When he woke up again, the sun was high in the sky. The room was empty. "Cafe" was gone. He stared at the ceiling for a while, then sat up and put on his jacket. After a quick breakfast, Luo Cheng decided to go find Cafe and ask her about last night. Luo Cheng wanted to know if that had truly been Cafe.
He already knew the answer in his heart.
Leaving his room, Luo Cheng saw a passing colleague and instinctively greeted him. But the words caught in his throat. He saw the character's UI. He was still in the game world.
Wait a minute...
What's going on?!
Luo Cheng's eyes widened. He had been with "Cafe" all last night, they had talked and done so much, so how could he still be in the game world? No, wait a minute... Luo Cheng quickly figured out the problem. When did he get the illusion that he wasn't in the game? When he saw a "Cafe" who could talk, he instinctively thought he was in the real world. Now that he thought back, he never even triggered a plot event!
What exactly was...
Uncertain, Luo Cheng went back to his room to look for "Cafe's" traces. The coffee cup had already been washed and put back in its place. There were no signs of it ever being used. There were no traces of the girl on the couch, the floor, the bed, the chair, or even the desk. After all that time, there should have been some hairs or at least a few stains, right? But the place was as clean as if it had never been touched.
Luo Cheng couldn't help but wonder if he was going crazy. Had he been alone for so long that he started hallucinating things that didn't exist? But Cafe did have a ghost friend in her character setting. But then how could he explain the game world? Why could that ghost move around so freely?
Unable to find any evidence of her existence, Luo Cheng was flustered. No matter what, he decided to ask Cafe about it first. He went to her mysterious room. Cafe was reading on the couch. When she saw Luo Cheng come in, she said, "Trainer, what's today's training plan?"
Ignoring her words, Luo Cheng got straight to the point and told her about last night. She blinked and went into standby mode.
It really didn't work.
Luo Cheng sat down next to Cafe. He looked at her face. Her pink lips were curved upward, and her slightly pale skin was like a porcelain doll. Combined with her quiet and delicate expression, she was a true beauty. Appearance-wise, the two were almost indistinguishable. But Luo Cheng, who knew her character setting, knew that she and "Cafe" were two different people. Besides their personalities, their auras were also different. The other girl had a very strong personality that was unforgettable after just one look. Her arrogant expression and wild actions were nothing like the quiet Cafe.
Besides that, there was the dialogue. Cafe would never say things like that. "Trainer, look..." She opened her mouth in front of Luo Cheng, "Chomp, chomp..." Then she turned her head and "thoo" it out. As the man's expression turned to one of regret, she let out a clear, bell-like laugh.
She knew everything; she just didn't want to play along and was deliberately teasing him. But honestly, when she "thoo-ed," Luo Cheng found it kind of cute. This subtle contrast only increased her charm. Although their time together was brief, Luo Cheng was sure he would never forget it. So when he saw Cafe again, Luo Cheng could clearly feel the difference between the two.
Stroking Cafe's smooth, large black tail, Luo Cheng leaned back on the couch. The other girl had left as quietly as she came, leaving him completely baffled.
"Trainer..."
The Cafe next to him put down her book. As Luo Cheng stroked her, she instinctively leaned into him and lay on his lap. Cafe was in cat mode again. Luo Cheng scratched her back, and her body trembled slightly. She wrapped her large black tail around Luo Cheng's waist. Although the other black-haired girl was incredibly destructive, Cafe was no slouch either.
He touched Cafe's ear. Luo Cheng extended his finger and gently stroked Cafe's chin, and the girl made a soft purring sound.
What did that black-haired girl mean by she was "just a bystander"? Did that mean she had been watching me all along?
Luo Cheng looked at the empty room. All he could hear was Cafe's soft breathing and the sound of Agness Tachyon's experiments next door.
"...Trainer, what's today's task?"
"Let me see..."
Luo Cheng looked at Tokai Teio's stats. Speed [471], Stamina [230], Power [352], Guts [290], Intelligence [233]. These stats were definitely enough to challenge the [Wakaba Stakes], but for Luo Cheng, it was far from enough. The other stats didn't match her speed. For a front runner, her Power needed to be stacked up, and finally, her Intelligence. What was up with her Intelligence? Was she a joke? The higher the intelligence, the easier it was to activate skills and choose the right path, at least in the game.
The problem now was that her Intelligence was very low, and she didn't have enough skills. Besides her starting dash, Luo Cheng had also gotten her a speed skill, [Straight Line Acceleration], by observing Fumino Naze. That was only two skills in total. None of these horse girls had any innate skills. The un-debuted horse girls' skill bars were all completely empty, and they didn't even have a unique skill.
Did a unique skill also need to be unlocked? Luo Cheng didn't know and could only take it one step at a time.
Currently, Tokai Teio's speed had far exceeded expectations, and Luo Cheng was ready to improve her other stats. To do so, he would have to abandon his highest-value training plan. Luo Cheng's heart was bleeding because of her unbalanced stats; he had to give up some values.
"Go run with Cafe. I need to do some more research."
"Yes."
Tokai Teio nodded and ran toward Cafe. The moment the two of them made contact, Luo Cheng suddenly felt a shadow overhead. A single raindrop fell on his face. A prompt appeared in front of Luo Cheng.
[Triggered Support Card Event: Rain-soaked Solo, My Original Piece]