This event was different from the previous major story sequence.
Luocheng hadn’t lost consciousness.
Time hadn’t skipped.
The continuity remained completely intact.
One instant, the horse girls had been operating like low-intelligence game characters.
The next— they had “come alive.”
Luocheng had always divided them into the game world and the real world.
But perhaps there weren’t two worlds at all.
Maybe this was a single world operating in two different modes.
One mode contained conscious human minds.
The other was controlled by the system.
With that thought in mind, Luocheng went to Agnes Tachyon and explained his theory.
He also asked how she remembered his recent behavior.
The answer was similar to before.
“So the next question,” Agnes Tachyon said, “is how I can prove that I am not one of the game characters you describe.”
How could a game character prove she wasn’t a game character?
Perhaps even the act of attempting to prove it was already written into her character settings.
Like humanity’s idea of fate.
If resisting fate was itself part of predetermined fate, could anyone truly prove freedom?
At that point, the problem had ascended into philosophy.
Neither of them could solve it.
“But that isn’t a reason to stop,” Tachyon said.
“The world always operates through rules and methods.”
“No matter where you are, those two principles remain true.”
Luocheng nodded.
Then he asked:
“Tachyon, what do you like?”
“What I like?”
She immediately understood why he was asking.
“Is that related to your return mechanism?”
“Exactly.”
Luocheng suspected that random events were triggered by discussing something important to the relevant Uma Musume.
Fishing was Seiun Sky’s favorite activity.
Maybe mentioning another horse girl’s favorite thing could trigger another event.
Agnes Tachyon considered it.
“Black tea and sugar.”
“Those are probably the two most obvious things.”
“But I doubt the trigger is that simple.”
“If conversation alone were sufficient, you would have discovered this much earlier.”
“There must be another catalyst.”
“Perhaps something they are currently doing.”
“Or something they want to do.”
“If you are effectively invisible in that other state, then observe them carefully, Guinea Pig.”
In Tachyon’s memories, Luocheng had also visited her room yesterday.
She had reported her research progress.
Then the next day, Luocheng appeared and claimed he had “returned.”
From an outsider’s perspective, Luocheng resembled someone suffering from dissociation— unable to identify where he was or what he had been doing.
Medicine had terms for patients who believed themselves to be fictional characters.
Tachyon knew that.
But she refused to settle for the mundane explanation before investigating the impossible one.
That was simply how her mind worked.
Luocheng thanked her and left.
After he was gone, Agnes Tachyon sat quietly with her tea.
She had her own reasons for believing his story might contain something real.
Her memories and instincts didn’t always match.
Around Luocheng, she sometimes experienced a familiarity that had no logical source.
That discrepancy was evidence.
And evidence deserved investigation.
…
Elsewhere, Luocheng began searching online for information about fishing.
If special events were connected to the horse girls’ interests, then learning those interests could become his key to entering reality whenever he wanted.
Today was Seiun Sky.
Later, perhaps Teio.
He didn’t know whether special events could only be triggered for his contracted trainees.
If so, then he needed more contracts.
Fortunately, horse girls whose personal training arcs hadn’t begun seemed to gain stats extremely slowly anyway.
Signing several trainees at once shouldn’t meaningfully interfere with their growth.
Then he thought of Manhattan Cafe.
Why not start now?
Luocheng contacted her.
Soon, a black-haired figure arrived.
“Trainer…
you called?”
“Yes.”
Luocheng paused.
“Cafe, you like looking at the stars, right?”
“Mm…”
Cafe nodded.
“More precisely, I like the night itself.”
“I like the quiet atmosphere.”
“You always call me Trainer.”
Luocheng smiled.
“But technically I’m not your Trainer yet.”
“So if you’re willing—”
“Would you sign with me?”
“Will you become my Uma Musume?”
Cafe’s golden eyes widened.
Then a gentle smile spread across her pale face.
“Trainer…”
“I want that too.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“Not merely as your Uma Musume.”
“I want to become the most important person beside you.”
Her golden eyes reflected his face.
“Please form a bond with me.”
“A promise that we will continue walking beside one another.”
Luocheng swallowed.
Cafe made a trainee contract sound suspiciously like a marriage vow.
Still— he signed.
Cafe carefully wrote her own name and handed the form back.
“When can I begin training under you?”
“As soon as I submit this.”
Luocheng thought for a moment.
“But Cafe, my experience is pretty limited.”
“Your growth bonus is thirty percent Stamina, which is a strange fit for what you usually need.”
“So if you think my training plans are wrong, tell me.”
“Thirty percent…
Stamina?”
Cafe didn’t understand the terminology.
Still, she nodded.
“I understand.”
“Where Trainer is lacking, I will compensate.”
“We can grow together.”
She took his hand and pressed it gently to her cheek.
“Trainer…”
Her smile softened.
“Now I’m yours.”
A rich coffee aroma seemed to fill the room.
[ END 401 Chapter ]
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