Luo Cheng now had people he could talk to—a group of AIs. Although he couldn't get physical with them, chatting and teasing were still nice. Girls were cute when they were bashful. Of course, being overly bashful wasn't good. Once, Luo Cheng teased too much and ended up eating a Shoryuken. It was the first time Luo Cheng had flown so high as a human. Fortunately, in VR, players couldn't get seriously hurt; they could only feel the pain.
Wait, feeling pain but not getting hurt? Wasn't this just pure sensory stimulation? Stimulation in the real world consumed energy, but stimulation in the VR world might not require any at all. Luo Cheng suddenly had a bold idea.
He couldn't use the equipment on his own. The computer screen was a blank void, and Luo Cheng didn't know how to operate it. Afraid of breaking the machine, he could only wait for the President and the others to come find him for the next round of tests. He wished he had command over Tazuna and Yayoi. They were both horse girls, so he should be able to become their trainer, right? Although on the surface, Junakawa Tazuna and Yayoi Akikawa looked like humans, if you stripped them naked, you would find that their ears were hidden under their hats and their tails were tucked into their skirts. When they talked, their tails would even struggle to suppress their wiggling. Luo Cheng had personally confirmed all this. Next time he returned to the real world, Luo Cheng would propose becoming their trainer.
"Trainer..." Back at the training ground, Manhattan Cafe walked up to him. "What's the next training task?" she asked.
"Let me see." Luo Cheng pulled out his training schedule.
In the past, Luo Cheng's life was a boring, two-point line of work and play. But during his time with the AIs, Luo Cheng learned to live in the moment. Unlike before, he now had something to look forward to: going into the VR world to vent his frustrations to the AI horse girls. Sometimes he would accidentally say something he shouldn't, making the AIs blush, but they all had a good time talking.
As a bunch of data, the AI horse girls didn't understand what "life's great harmony" felt like. They were very interested, but their programming gave them personalities that made them too shy to just try things. In short, their affection level wasn't high enough to unlock the "CGs," and Luo Cheng needed to raise their affection from scratch.
Anyway, back to the training. His horse girls were improving rapidly every day. While Cafe and the others hadn't changed much, Tokai Teio's speed had already reached over 300! For a newly debuted horse girl, this was an extremely high number. The others were still hovering around 100 or 200. Luo Cheng felt he had the ability to turn them into unstoppable powerhouses, crushing every race they entered. Over the past few months, Luo Cheng had figured out the trainer's duties through trial and error. While others learned by looking at the surface, Luo Cheng learned the core mechanics. If he were in the real world, he'd be considered a top-tier trainer. Too bad he couldn't go back.
Just as Luo Cheng was about to plan the next training session, he noticed Cafe's mood inexplicably dropping. What was happening?
[Status: Injured]
Huh??
Luo Cheng saw the extremely bad status on Cafe's status bar. His heart sank. This was the first time Luo Cheng had encountered one of his horse girls getting injured. Could it be a problem with his training plan? No, this wasn't the time to think about that.
Luo Cheng had Cafe sit down. The thick, soft insoles of her shoes were soaked with sweat. He peeled back the shoe flap, and her little feet, which had been training all morning, saw the light of day. A faint, sour odor from the workout filled the air, the heavy sweat completely masking her original body scent. He took off Cafe's shoe and stocking. A bloody red mark had appeared on the tip of her toes from the friction. He found that her toenail had a bloody crack in it, and blood was seeping out. On her fair toes, that splash of red was like a blooming rose.
Thank goodness... it's not a serious injury. A little bandage, and it should heal in two or three days.
Luo Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up at Cafe. A blush had appeared on her pale face. As if she had some reservations, her clear golden eyes avoided his gaze and stared at the ground.
These girls... Luo Cheng had no patience for them. She was clearly injured, yet she was still asking about the next training task. Can't you say something else?
Luo Cheng turned his back. "Come on up. I'll take you to the nurse's office."
A few seconds later, a soft, mushy feeling came from his back, accompanied by a warm, damp sensation. Arms as tender as lotus roots wrapped around his neck.
"Cafe, do I feel a little more like a trainer now? You can't hear what I'm saying, or maybe I can't hear what you're saying. So I'll just talk. I turn into a chatterbox when I'm around you."
Luo Cheng babbled to himself as he walked towards the nurse's office. He told Cafe about his recent experiences in the VR world, but she didn't react at all. Luo Cheng shook his head. Suddenly, he felt his waist tighten. Her soft, silky black tail had wrapped around him.
"Cafe?"
The girl nestled against Luo Cheng's back, as if inhaling his scent, her breath warming his collar.
"Cafe, I've heard that a horse girl's tail can smash a plate. Is that true?"
"..."
"And this tail feels pretty long. Do you often wrap things with it, Cafe?"
The tail gently wiggled, brushing against Luo Cheng's lower back, seemingly with a tendency to move even further down.
When they arrived at the nurse's office, the nurse wasn't in the room. Luo Cheng settled Cafe on the bed and looked for medicine in the drawer. He had learned how to treat wounds from his trainer's notebook. As a "player," he could recover his status every day, but these horse girls couldn't. If they were injured, they had to wait for the negative status timer to run out. Cafe's injury status showed 42 hours, and the countdown began the moment Luo Cheng picked her up. Exercise could potentially extend the duration.
Holding her pink foot, Luo Cheng wiped away the girl's hot foot sweat. He took out a bottle of medicine and applied it to her cracked toenail. It was his first time treating a wound, so he was a bit clumsy. When he disinfected it, Cafe's body clearly trembled. After he had treated the wound, the healing countdown above Cafe's head shortened.
By the way, if I bought medicine from the outside world, could it heal them faster?
Luo Cheng suddenly had this thought. He stroked Cafe's face. The girl closed one eye while the other stared intently at him.
"You should rest today. We'll train again when you're better."
"Yes."
Luo Cheng rubbed Cafe's tail for a while before leaving the room. Long after he was gone, Cafe slowly turned her gaze back. She reached her hand under her skirt, and the heart icon of her affection level above her head pulsed wildly.