Darley extended a finger and lightly touched his chest. Luo Cheng, without a second thought, grabbed her tail and began to play with it. If the Three Goddesses wanted to play a trick on him, he would play one back. A horse girl's tail was the perfect middle ground—both sensitive and easy to get a hold of. Darley hugged her body and let out a pleasant moan, while her tail coiled around Luo Cheng's hand.
"You're quite impatient, little lamb. The last time, too. Did you ever consider taking things one step at a time? Of course, you can jump right to the end. I clearly invited you to the finish line, but you still chose to walk the path. Hehe, is this a man's pride? How cute." Darley Arabian touched her face, a faint blush appearing on her brown cheeks.
This "old pro" was beyond his power for now. Just you wait. I'll make you cry someday!
Luo Cheng reluctantly let go. He planned to go back and refine his skills. When he had raised a dozen or so horse girls to max affection, his skills would be perfected, and then he would let Darley experience what a spasm feels like.
"When can you teach Teio her Inherent Skill?" Luo Cheng got to the point.
"Let me think. When her intelligence reaches 300."
"300... huh?" Luo Cheng turned his head. "How do you know about stats?"
Besides him, no one knew about the horse girls' stats. Not even the AI knew. He had only mentioned the UI. Are you guys hiding something from me?
"I'm not hiding anything from you, little lamb."
"Huh?"
"Here, the Three Goddesses know everything, including what you're thinking right now. I know it all. So, everything you were thinking about Tokai Teio's stats, I heard."
"You know what I'm thinking? Hey, doesn't this software protect player privacy?"
"Don't worry. The Three Goddesses are very tight-lipped. Not even an administrator can get information from us. All our data is encrypted. Without the Three Goddesses' permission, no stats can be freely modified."
They can't be freely modified...
"That's right. So, what you're thinking about setting your stamina to infinite or raising my sensitivity a thousandfold won't work."
She knew that, too! He was completely transparent in front of her, and yet she still pretended not to know. Luo Cheng was so angry that he grabbed Darley's tail again and began to stroke it. This time, he used a lot more force, causing Darley to cry out. This was the only way he could vent his frustration.
"Trainer."
A chill ran down Luo Cheng's spine. He turned his head and saw Tokai Teio with her ears drooping.
"Were you not watching me train, Trainer? Not only were you not watching, but you were also flirting with the Three Goddesses next to me..." Teio's resentment was about to boil over. "Do I need to teach the Trainer a lesson? I originally wanted to behave before the race, but the Trainer starts thinking nonsense whenever he has a little something in his stomach. You only behave when you have nothing."
"No..."
"I'll protect the Trainer's last shred of dignity and not do anything to you here. But when we get out, I'm going to the Trainer's room."
"...Okay."
Under Teio's powerful presence, Luo Cheng nodded. He looked at Darley Arabian, who still had that smug smile on her face. Luo Cheng waved his hand, telling her to leave. Darley did not linger and turned to go back to the academic building.
Time in VR was synchronized with reality. However long it passed in there, was how long it passed in the real world. As dusk fell, Luo Cheng logged out of the program, and other trainers began to log out as well.
Luo Cheng looked for Fumino Nasuna. When he saw the beautiful light purple-haired woman, he walked over to her. "Fumino," Luo Cheng called out. She didn't respond. Luo Cheng grabbed her hand. Her crimson eyes looked through Luo Cheng, toward something behind him.
I knew it.
He couldn't interact with the other trainers, no matter what their affection level was.
"Trainer, what's our training plan for today?"
Tokai Teio stood behind him, her clear blue eyes looking at Luo Cheng. Seeing Tokai Teio like that, Luo Cheng picked her up. Their minds had been withdrawn again. Luo Cheng didn't want to come back. But it was after school, and the VR experience room was closing.
"Go back and rest. The race is coming soon, so don't lose sleep."
"Okay." With that, Tokai Teio jumped down and followed the crowd out of the classroom. Looking at the once crowded room, now empty, Luo Cheng stood still, staring out the window at the red sky. After a long time, he took a deep breath, turned, and left.
In the evening, he took Mejiro Dobe out for a walk and talked to himself again about a bunch of things. It was mainly about Dobe's friend, who in the support card story acted like Dobe and said things about being "possessed," seemingly knowing about his state here. Luo Cheng didn't quite understand. She was very vague and refused to reveal any details.
Luo Cheng poured out all the words he had been holding in his chest, venting his frustration. He looked at Dobe's face, and it overlapped with the ghost.
Is that guy watching me now, too?
Luo Cheng reached out and pinched Dobe's cheek. In the moonlight, her fair, almost translucent cheek changed shape in Luo Cheng's palm. The warm, smooth feeling was like a bar of soap, making Luo Cheng unable to stop. Her smooth tail swayed behind her. Dobe narrowed her eyes. She seemed to be enjoying being pinched by Luo Cheng.
She's not the ghost.
Wait a minute.
Luo Cheng suddenly remembered. The ghost had no stats, but Dobe did! All five of her stats were at 100. This was the result of Luo Cheng's training over the past few days. It wasn't Dobe's growth. The stat increases were so small. It took days just to raise one point, and it wasn't worth it to put on the stat-boosting equipment for them. Luo Cheng could only wait for Dobe's training to come around. Knowing the difference, Luo Cheng could now distinguish the ghost who liked to play with him. She was also an object Luo Cheng wanted to conquer.
"Let's go back," Luo Cheng said, stroking her head.
"...Okay." Dobe turned and walked toward the dorms, looking back every three steps. Each time, Luo Cheng waved at her, and Dobe would walk on again. It might have been his imagination, but it felt like these horse girls were getting a little more "human."
After making sure Dobe was back, Luo Cheng returned to his dorm. Today, he didn't look for a sleep companion. He wanted to quietly think about what the Three Goddesses had told him. He had to record every anomaly he encountered.
He turned on the light and suddenly noticed something was wrong. His blanket was bulging.
What's that?
Luo Cheng cautiously approached. He saw a small, pale foot sticking out from under the blanket. This shape, this color, this scent. Luo Cheng touched it, and five tiny, glistening toes curled up.
I told you to go back to your dorm, Teio?
He pulled back the blanket and saw Tokai Teio, wearing a see-through lace teddy.