So many people, everywhere! They filled the entire stadium, making it dizzying to look at. Luo Cheng pressed his hand against his forehead, momentarily lost and unsure of where he had crossed over to this time.
"It's so exciting, Trainer!" Tokai Teio exclaimed, clutching Luo Cheng's hand.
"Teio... are we here to race?"
"What are you talking about, Trainer? We're here for a VR race, remember? We're inside the VR now!"
"This is VR?"
"Of course it is! Didn't you see the race?"
"No, I was watching you the whole time."
Teio's eyes widened, and her face instantly turned red. "T-Trainer! Don't say things like that at a time like this! You're making me feel all weird..." Tokai Teio stomped her foot. The bottom of her foot was still a little itchy from when Luo Cheng had squeezed it.
The Trainer is getting bolder. He actually did that to me in the cafeteria!
At one point, Tokai Teio had accidentally let out a little sound from the massage. Luckily, everyone was focused on the TV screen and didn't notice her. Otherwise, she would have been so embarrassed.
Ugh... I can't believe I've gotten to the point where I'm getting intimate with my Trainer in the student cafeteria. It's all his fault, he seduced me! He knows I can't resist.
Forget it, let's just race! The more I think about it, the more I itch.
"Let's go, Trainer!"
Tokai Teio pulled Luo Cheng's hand and began walking toward the waiting area.
Luo Cheng was still a bit dazed from the sudden change of scenery. After confirming he hadn't entered a new story event, he followed Tokai Teio to the waiting area, where he was led to a spot on the side by an AI.
"What's the deal with these people?" Luo Cheng asked the AI next to him.
"They're AIs used to hype up the stadium atmosphere."
"What? All of them?"
"That's right."
"You have to be kidding me. This world can run tens of thousands of AIs simultaneously?"
That would require a massive amount of computing power. If they had that much power, why would they have erased his friends' memories? Luo Cheng was going to have a talk with the Three Goddesses about this.
"They're low-intelligence AIs. They only cheer based on the race's progression and don't have the capacity for deep thought."
Luo Cheng looked at the blonde girl next to him. Just by her appearance, there was no way to tell the difference between her and a normal person. Luo Cheng held out his hand and waved it in front of her face. The girl didn't even react, her eyes were fixed on the race, and she occasionally raised her hands in excitement. The AI hadn't been lying; these people were truly low-intelligence AIs. Just like the horse girls in the game world.
Do they feel the same to the touch?
Luo Cheng reached out and pinched the girl's cheek. The soft skin changed shape in his hand. Drool dripped from the corner of her mouth onto Luo Cheng's finger and then onto the floor. As if she had no consciousness, the girl opened her mouth and bit down gently on Luo Cheng's fingertip.
The feeling was exactly the same.
"Trainer!" The man's sudden actions startled the AI beside him.
"You can't do that! This is a live broadcast! What if someone sees you?"
"I was just curious. The model is incredibly realistic."
"Of course it is! These people were all created as one-to-one replicas of real people."
"One-to-one... does that mean they have everything a person has?"
"Hmm... Ah." The AI's face suddenly turned bright red as he seemed to understand what Luo Cheng was implying. "Trainer! What are you thinking? If you have any dirty ideas, I will revoke your right to interact with other people!"
"What dirty ideas could I possibly have? What are you talking about?"
"Gugu gugu..." The AI's head was practically steaming red. Luo Cheng remembered that his greatest interest used to be teasing these AIs. Of course, he had to know when to stop. If he went too far and angered them, they would punish him with their tiny fists.
Speaking of which, if the VR world could mass-produce these low-intelligence AIs, Luo Cheng felt like he might not even be able to hug a new one every day. They could generate both humans and horse girls.
Luo Cheng was curious if they could generate slime girls. If so, he wanted to spend all his time here.
"And now, please welcome our seventh group of contestants!"
His chaotic thoughts came to an end. Hearing the announcer's voice, Luo Cheng turned to look at the track. Tokai Teio was high-stepping in the waiting area. She said this preparation stance made her body more agile. Looking at her lithe body, Luo Cheng felt that she had made even more progress since the last time.
He would use Tokai Teio to defeat the Three Goddesses, earn an achievement, and unlock more systems. Of course, this was what the Three Goddesses had told him. Luo Cheng wasn't sure if defeating them would really do anything, but just the thought of leaving those three troublemakers in the dust with Tokai Teio made him feel good.
It's time to make Darley eat her words!
"Teio, go get 'em!" Luo Cheng waved his hand. Tokai Teio's ear twitched. She turned her head, and a cheerful smile appeared on her face when she saw Luo Cheng. After giving him a "peace" sign, she entered the starting gate.
"Your relationship with your horse girl is great, Trainer."
"Naturally. She is my horse girl, after all."
"You're right about that." The AI chuckled.
"The race has begun!"
With the announcer's shout, eighteen figures burst forward. Among them, only one horse girl shot out with an unmatched speed. Her body was like a spring, supple and powerful. Her legs were slender but incredibly resilient. Just by looking at her running form, you could clearly see the difference.
"It's Tokai Teio!" the announcer yelled. "Tokai Teio takes the lead and is pulling away from the second-place runner! One body length, two body lengths! The gap is now two body lengths! She's still accelerating! Tokai Teio is still accelerating!"
Luo Cheng had planned for Tokai Teio to be a "leader" type runner, but now she was running like a "front-runner." It wasn't that Tokai Teio wasn't following his plan; it was simply that she was too fast. The other horse girls couldn't keep up.
In that moment, Luo Cheng understood what it meant to win simply by running wild when your speed was at its max.