After the story concluded, Luo Cheng returned to Tracen Academy. The world once again returned to its familiar, noisy state.
Luo Cheng opened the menu and looked at the newly unlocked system on the semi-transparent screen: [Uma Musume Encyclopedia].
He tapped on the encyclopedia, and a long list of cards appeared. The card with Tokai Teio's profile picture was lit up, while the profiles of Manhattan Cafe, Agnes Tachyon, Seiun Sky, and others were grayed out. Luo Cheng counted, and there were several hundred grayed-out profiles, while the remaining 80% were question marks.
These are the horse girls I've had contact with, and the rest are the ones I haven't interacted with.
Luo Cheng examined the encyclopedia. Under each profile picture was a progress bar for the story and affection. Aside from Teio, the story progress for everyone else was minimal. Manhattan Cafe had a little, and Seiun Sky had a little. The affection levels for many were maxed out, a few were at 80 or 90, but most were between 10 and 20.
Tracen Academy had over two thousand students. Unless a horse girl was a personal favorite and catered to his specific preferences, Luo Cheng would not make an effort to seek them out after he'd had them in his room. This was why there were so many horse girls with low affection levels.
Luo Cheng looked at the profile of Mejiro McQueen, who had been with him last night. Her affection level was... 79?
That's strange. He remembered McQueen's affection level was just over 70. How did it suddenly increase by several points? He hadn't given her any medicine to heal her, so where did the affection bonus come from?
Could it be from the support card story?Did his actions in the support card story directly affect the main game?
Why... wait a minute.
Luo Cheng remembered what Tokai Teio had said when he was wiping her sweat. She seemed to recall a similar event, and it was true, this wasn't the first time Luo Cheng had done that.
How did she know?
Did Teio remember things from the main story?
Manhattan Cafe had told him that she dreamed of the heavy rain, so perhaps the support card story was a world within the character's mind. If he looked at it from another perspective, were the events in the main story the same for the characters in the support card stories? The two didn't seem to be completely independent; there was a subtle connection between them. Luo Cheng didn't know how close this connection was, but this world was clearly not as fragmented as he had thought.
Luo Cheng clicked on Tokai Teio's profile and saw her detailed information, including her height, weight, three sizes, background, experiences, wishes, hobbies, and the races she had completed so far.
[Emotional Status: Possessive]
Luo Cheng noticed a line of red text.
Possessive?
Is that an emotion? Am I about to enter a difficult storyline?
It doesn't matter. Luo Cheng was already living in this kind of world, so what difference did it make? In this game world, Luo Cheng had absolute control.
As he looked through several pages of Tokai Teio's information, at the very bottom, he saw a button that said [Character Viewer].
What is this?
Luo Cheng tapped it, and a figure appeared in front of him. It was Tokai Teio. Her lively tail wagged energetically, and her two small ears twitched playfully.
"Huh? Teio, how did you get in?" Luo Cheng blurted out. She just blinked, not moving at all.
"Teio?" Luo Cheng called a few more times. Seeing that she didn't react, he said, "Lie down."
No response.
Tokai Teio simply looked at Luo Cheng.
Something's not right.
Luo Cheng reached out and pinched Teio's cheek. It was soft, smooth, and tender. In the past, whenever Luo Cheng pinched her cheeks, Tokai Teio would happily close her eyes, whether in the game world or the real world. However, this Tokai Teio's expression didn't change at all. She just stared at Luo Cheng quietly.
Saliva dripped from the corner of her lips and onto the floor. Luo Cheng remembered the first time he met Tokai Teio. She was like this too—no reaction to anything Luo Cheng did, except for gasping when he laid her on the bed. After her affection level went up and a few events passed, she started to have these little reactions, and her body became accustomed to Luo Cheng's touch, instinctively leaning in whenever he reached out to pinch or rub.
The Teio in front of him was like a reset puppet. She just stood there, quietly watching as Luo Cheng touched her all over.
So, [Character Viewer] just lets me look at a puppet?
Luo Cheng wiped his sticky fingers. He noticed that even when Teio did react, her expression didn't change. Even as her legs began to tremble and her face turned red, she remained calm, which made Luo Cheng feel a little uneasy.
Just then, Luo Cheng discovered that when he tapped [Character Viewer], a second menu appeared.
[Character Dialogue]
[Character Actions]
[Character Expressions]
"'The... the invincible Teio legend... is about to begin!'" He tapped the first dialogue option, and Tokai Teio spoke her iconic line, but she stuttered a few times because her breathing was uneven.
"It seems like... there's an announcement... I wonder what it is... Ah~" Tokai Teio made a sound of her knees going weak.
Drip, drop...
It seemed like this was a pure viewing system. Tokai Teio was even more of a puppet than she was in the game world. Even in this state, she still tried to finish her sentences.
Luo Cheng looked at the floor, which was now covered in drops of saliva. He then tried a few more actions. In her current state, all of Tokai Teio's poses were weak and limp. Her cheeks were flushed, as if she were about to fall at any moment.
Speaking of which, if there's a Teio here, where's the original Teio? Can two Teios appear at the same time?
Luo Cheng went out to search. He walked all over Tracen Academy but couldn't find any sign of Tokai Teio. He returned to his office and saw the girl still standing in the same spot.
Could this be the real Teio?
Is her entire mind erased, and she's just here as a puppet?
To test his theory, Luo Cheng gave Tokai Teio a hickey on her neck, then closed [Character Viewer].
Tokai Teio disappeared into thin air, along with the puddle of saliva on the floor.
Luo Cheng went out again and found Tokai Teio sitting with Mejiro McQueen. He then saw it: the light pink mark on her neck.
"Trainer!" When she saw Luo Cheng, Tokai Teio stood up, her eyebrows curved into a happy smile. "What's today's training plan?"
So it's true...
Tokai Teio had just been in his office as a complete puppet. Luo Cheng reached out and stroked Tokai Teio's cheek. The girl's eyes narrowed as she nuzzled his palm.
At this moment, Luo Cheng realized that compared to the very beginning, Teio was now very much like a real person.