After being smothered by Junakawa Tazuna, he was immediately greeted by Tokai Teio's foot to the face. The sock pressed against his nose, and Luo Cheng couldn't breathe. A girl's scent, a thick mix of citrus and sweat, was magnified to an extreme degree in his nasal passages.
"Trainer, your gasping is tickling me so much... I was talking to you about that horrible AI! She had the nerve to laugh at my Teio dance moves! I have to teach her a lesson, Trainer, and you have to help me!"
Luo Cheng began to struggle. He found that the faster he gasped, the tighter Tokai Teio pressed down. He really did love the horse girls' soft, springy feet, but he was going to suffocate like this! He was going to drown at the bottom of a horse girl's sweaty foot! Luo Cheng struggled harder.
"Trainer, honestly, don't move around so much." Tokai Teio's face was flushed. She watched intently as the trainer gripped her ankles.
With a powerful push upward, fresh air rushed into his nose, and Luo Cheng's semi-conscious mind finally cleared.
"What are you doing, Trainer?"
Luo Cheng released her ankles and wiped his wet face, which was covered in Teio's foot sweat. "I almost died. What a miserable way to go, suffocating in a horse girl's sweaty feet..."
"Don't worry, I won't let the Trainer die." Tokai Teio said with a grin, completely unaware of the torment she had just inflicted. In her mind, this was probably no big deal at all. "Trainer, you have to help me take down that awful AI!"
"Take down? You're not thinking of deleting her, are you?"
"Huh? Why would the Trainer think of something like that? By 'take down,' I mean defeat her!"
"You lost?"
Tokai Teio's face fell. "It's just that she danced the most popular style right now! If I knew how to do it too, that little AI would be nothing!"
Luo Cheng had almost forgotten that besides running, horse girls were also judged on their dancing. They were athletes and idols.
"You're going to practice dancing?"
"That's right. The Trainer will go with me tomorrow."
"Where to?"
"The arcade."
Sure enough, plot events would trigger in strange ways. Last time it was Seiun Sky, and this time it was Tokai Teio. It seemed to be random. Luo Cheng's choice to have Teio participate in this test was a coincidence, and without this coincidence, the plot wouldn't have been triggered. Finding a pattern was not going to be easy.
"Trainer, you have to come with me. Did you hear me?"
Seeing that Luo Cheng wasn't answering, Tokai Teio impatiently lay on top of him. Through the thin blanket, Luo Cheng could feel Tokai Teio's softness.
"I got it. Tomorrow."
"Yay!" She giggled and then climbed off Luo Cheng. "It's a deal then. I'll come find you in the morning."
After putting her shoes back on, Tokai Teio hopped off the bed. As she was leaving, she asked, "Oh, by the way, Trainer, why did you suddenly leave halfway through the test?"
"Bathroom emergency."
"You have to make up for the time you missed! My great Teio-sama was responsible for your half too. So that means you have to stay with me tomorrow until I'm satisfied. And another thing!" Tokai Teio's expression became serious. "Tomorrow, it's just the two of us. No one else. Otherwise, you'll have to deal with my great Teio-sama dragging you away! Hmph!"
Remembering how Seiun Sky had ruined things last time, Tokai Teio pouted.
Every time Luo Cheng returned to the "real" world, these horse girls would take control. There was nothing Luo Cheng could do. He had no special abilities in this world; he couldn't change his clothes in a second or refresh his body. He could only let these horse girls have their way with him. But this feeling was also nice. Luo Cheng quite enjoyed the simple pleasures of being an ordinary person. It would be even better if these horse girls didn't turn into a love triangle. Each and every one of them was a cute and adorable girl. Once a love triangle formed, his life would be in danger.
After Tokai Teio left, Luo Cheng sat up, his body a little weak. He had actually fallen asleep. His last memory was of Junakawa Tazuna's kiss. That kiss, which lasted for an unknown amount of time, had deprived his brain of oxygen, and he had lost consciousness. When he finally woke up, he was greeted by Tokai Teio's sweaty feet.
He lifted the blanket and looked at his clothes. There were obvious signs of them being taken off and put back on. His body had also been cleaned. Everything stuck to his stomach and the bedsheets was gone. He guessed Tazuna had cleaned up. The machine had turned itself off, but the display was still on. Luo Cheng stood in front of the computer, looking at the complex interface that clearly required a professional.
His contract with Junakawa Tazuna had failed. Even with their affection at max, it wasn't possible. Junakawa Tazuna would rather devour him than become his horse girl. Was there a line they absolutely couldn't cross? Luo Cheng thought about these character settings. Junakawa Tazuna was hiding her identity to be a secretary who helped students, so she wouldn't easily reveal her true self. Tokai Teio's wish was to win the Triple Crown, so stopping her would definitely make her angry. And Seiun Sky and Manhattan Cafe... even if they were just game characters, there were things they wanted to do and things they absolutely wouldn't do.
Luo Cheng silently took note of all this. He was living in this world like a game, but he didn't want his curiosity to turn his fun time with cute girls into a horror-survival game. It would be terrible if he accidentally caused these horse girls to "go dark."
With this new understanding, Luo Cheng went to Agness Tachyon's research lab. He had a chance now, and he wanted to tell her about his recent experiences. When he arrived at the lab, Luo Cheng saw Agness Tachyon sleeping on the couch. On her desk, Luo Cheng saw the flyer he had given her. But the flyer he had given the game-version Tachyon had no signature on it, while this one had its signature restored.
Luo Cheng sat on the couch and looked at the sleeping Agness Tachyon. Curled up, she looked like an ordinary little girl. Luo Cheng brushed away some of her messy bangs. Agness Tachyon looked like she hadn't slept in days, sleeping very soundly. In the game world, he often saw Agness Tachyon pull all-nighters. Her green stamina bar was never full. Even when Luo Cheng ordered her to go to bed, she would run out in the middle of the night to do research. Only when Luo Cheng used her as a human pillow would Agness Tachyon obediently sleep and fill up her stamina bar.
As he touched her, Agness Tachyon slowly opened her eyes. Her dull, dark red eyes looked at Luo Cheng. After her vision cleared and she saw the man's face, Agness Tachyon moved up and lay on his lap.