After a full day of training, Luocheng dragged himself back toward the dormitory.
This was the first time he had seriously followed the complete training process from start to finish.
Normally, he simply gave Teio her instructions and let her go.
The game’s logic handled the rest.
No matter where Luocheng hid, she could always locate him afterward and report:
“Training complete, Trainer.
What next?”
Once, he had even hidden inside a cabinet.
Teio still found him.
Like a ghost.
Eventually, Luocheng stopped questioning it.
“Am I going to have to train like this every day…?”
Simply standing outside for hours was exhausting.
Why couldn’t he be an Uma Musume too?
If he were, he’d have absurd stamina.
Every time he watched them run for hours on end, he felt as though he were observing superheroes.
Of course, becoming an Uma Musume would create other problems.
He preferred remaining himself.
Thinking about impossible biology eventually reminded Luocheng of something else.
Gods.
In the lore of Uma Musume, many strange things were connected to the Three Goddesses.
They were more than abstract religious figures.
And if anyone could explain what had happened to Luocheng, perhaps it would be them.
Months ago, when loneliness had nearly broken him, Luocheng had gone to the fountain near the academy where statues of the Three Goddesses stood.
He had shouted at them.
Begged them to help.
Nothing happened.
The game world had no gods.
But what about this reality?
Could he reach them here?
That thought made Luocheng sit bolt upright.
He immediately took a taxi to the nearest shrine.
He didn’t know the proper ritual, so he imitated what he remembered from films and television, donated money, rang the bell, and prayed.
Then he waited.
Nothing happened.
By the time he returned to Tracen, it was midnight.
A cold moon hung overhead.
Perhaps the Three Goddesses simply didn’t exist here either.
If they did, surely they would have intervened by now.
Maybe even the gods in this world were only part of the system.
That thought was more depressing than Luocheng wanted to admit.
The only beings who might stand above the rules—
could themselves be trapped by those rules.
He sighed.
Apart from occasional waves of unbearable loneliness, this world had many advantages.
No shortage of food.
No shortage of shelter.
People everywhere.
Yet Luocheng still couldn’t shake the feeling that he remained separated from everyone else by an invisible barrier.
He went to the center of the training field and lay on his back beneath the moon.
This was one of his favorite places at night.
Sometimes, he would sit here with Manhattan Cafe and talk.
Back in the game world, Cafe had been the person he spoke to even though she couldn’t truly answer.
Occasionally she made a soft sound.
Luocheng always chose to believe she heard him.
Humans were social creatures.
They needed conversation.
A person alone forever could not remain healthy.
Even pretending someone was there was better than nothing.
Time passed.
Footsteps approached.
Luocheng raised his head.
A girl dressed in black walked toward him beneath the moonlight.
Long dark hair merged with the night.
Her pale face reflected the silver moon.
And her golden eyes shone like stars.
“Trainer.
You got here first.
I was wondering where you went.”
Manhattan Cafe sat beside him.
“Cafe…”
“Yes?”
“Lap pillow.”
“…?”
Cafe blinked.
A few seconds later, she understood.
Her cheeks turned faintly pink.
“Go ahead, Trainer.”
Luocheng shifted and rested his head on her lap.
Warmth surrounded him.
“Cafe, you can see ghosts, right?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been able to since you were little?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think ghosts are really there?
Or is it possible that only you can see them because your world is different from everyone else’s?”
Cafe considered the question.
She had never tried to dissect her own experience that way.
She simply accepted that she could perceive something others couldn’t.
“Sometimes,” Luocheng said quietly, “I feel like I’m the only person in the world.”
“That all of you are fake.”
“Maybe even I’m fake.”
“Maybe I already died, and this is just the last beautiful dream my brain created.”
He finally allowed the thoughts to spill out.
Cafe looked down at him.
Luocheng’s eyes were deep black.
He spoke of fear and despair, yet his expression barely changed.
After thinking for a moment, Cafe chose the simplest answer.
She leaned closer and gently reassured him.
[ END 401 Chapter ]
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