Chapter 1079: NO．202：Still that popular

NO．202：Still that popular

With the Chrysanthemum Prize race coming up in just a day, everyone's hearts are surging; our special correspondent has already obtained permission from Trainer Nishizaki and will bring you the latest news on the Eastern Sea Emperor's current status.

Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. building, Rhine Life Office Department.

An employee who was slacking off with multitasking was monitoring data on one side and watching videos on the other, while the project team lead stood nearby.

The team lead merely frowned, after all there were still many colleagues around raising their conspicuous ears.

It seems everyone is quite interested in the video content that employees watch while slacking off.

It's not that it can't be understood, after all this is the Gate District.

Compared to reasons that big shots would consider, like 'the gathering place of Earth's earliest time‑travelers,' more people's understanding is simply the 'Horse Girl Culture Special Zone.'

The subway has large-screen ads for Horse Girl races, walls are plastered with Horse Girl posters, plush toy stores also have Horse Girl‑themed dolls and figurines, and even some trams and buses on the road share the same Horse Girl‑related livery.

Either it's a title, or a name, or simply done up like a pain car, slapping on big posters—of course, all of this was done through proper procedures, even receiving some support and guidance from the local government.

The Horse Girl culture in the Gate District is just that intense.

Unlike the phenomenon common in some cultural special zones where locals are indifferent to promotional culture and have no interest in so‑called famous sights, the ever‑present vibrant sports events and their derivative culture always exude vigorous energy in an unconventional way.

Let alone the fact that Horse Girl races are that special.

So special that just looking at it—racing and idol tags together—you can tell it doesn't pick its audience.

Racing itself is the sport with the lowest barrier to appreciation, so low that you don't even need to understand those lengthy race rules; you just need to watch them run and that's it.

And the idol group formed by young girls of diverse appearance, physique, and style always gives men and women, young and old, a chance to find their favorite to support.

Thus, adding to that, the ever‑present themes of 'honor' and 'dream' inherent in sports events also generate discussion……

It can be said that, in the current Holy Terra Federation, no second sports event can match the Horse Girl races in terms of basic audience and heated discussion.

Even those extreme‑limit events that probe the limits of various fields, forbidding prosthetics, drugs, and source energy, cannot compete with it.

Rather, it's those events that, after too many time‑travelers join, are already about to become impossible to hold.

The fact that too many monsters and demons enter the race is also a headache; an event that proclaims freedom and limits can't just add restrictions because a few sinister things slip into the participant list.

In a world where possibilities grow ever greater and chaos ever deeper, the existence of rules is a necessity.

That's precisely why the URA Association, although it often raises people's blood pressure and is often seen as an enemy by spectators, fans, Horse Girls, and trainers alike, still sees very few people truly radical enough to resort to violence and cause a ruckus at its headquarters.

Hmm, it's rare.

Radical fans—whether they are athletes in competitive events or idols singing and dancing on stage—inevitably have to face them; Aomo occasionally sees news on the internet of the URA Association's headquarters apprehending dangerous individuals, and if one looks it up, the search results are still quite substantial.

Although this fact, for the association's staff, can only be described as quite unsightly.

But the only URA Association member Aomo knows is Zhouri Ningjing.

If it were anyone else in the association, even if they were stabbed with a small knife the next day or hit with a golf club, Aomo would think it reasonable, but if it were Zhouri Ningjing, that would be unlikely.

Although there are many ghosts in this world, they are all subject to special regulations; places like the URA Association hardly have any openings for deceased applicants.

When radical fans come to the association to cause trouble, they aim to turn the living into the dead; Zhouri Ningjing's half‑dead, half‑alive state can truly give them endless surprises.

But that's getting off track.

Rhodes Island's workforce does not have such radical fans; it's undeniable, however, that Rhodes Island has recruited quite a few new people in recent years, a considerable portion of whose IDs bear the 'time‑traveler' mark.

Their homeland is certainly not Terra, although there is a niche translation that renders it as 'Terra,' but they all call it Earth.

And the most remarkable thing about these otherworldly time‑traveler employees is that their understanding of Horse Girls and the other Rhodes Island staff comes from a mobile game.

Although it is a program that requires an internet server to run, unpacking and decoding it by our technicians to turn it into a feasible standalone game is not difficult.

Almost all of Rhodes Island's veteran employees have tried playing it; some said tower defense lacks love, some said they're not like that, some laughed at the doctor, some tried to use their in‑game performance to prove they're not gay… various reactions abound, but they all came to understand that in this world some people inexplicably act overly familiar, as if they know you well.

Understanding does not equal acceptance; merely after learning this information, many Rhodes Island employees instead developed a sympathetic concern for the Horse Girls who receive the same treatment.

Over time, they actually became the company's earliest batch of Horse Girl fans.

At present, after Aomo led the four girls out of the game room entrance, they all enthusiastically yet politely gathered around, seeking autographs and even asking if they could take a group photo.

Faced with this surround, the girls also turned their gazes toward the trainer who was conversing with the game project team lead.

Although some Horse Girls can handle these questions with ease and might even be more eager to show themselves off,

but these few under Aomo rely more on him to handle such matters.

"Signatures are no problem, but for group photos please excuse us."

He temporarily broke off his conversation with Mi ersai si there, yet did not neglect to step forward as the Horse Girls' trainer to fulfill his usual duty, and this also landed him in another predicament.

"Hey! Aomo is over there!"

"Huh? Aomo? That demon trainer?"

"Huh? Aomo? Aomo Lindun? That Texas boyfriend?"

"What? The Aomo Lindun with two girlfriends? The Aomo Lindun who celebrated Qixi with several women three months ago?!"

"Several women celebrating Qixi? What gossip is this? Please spell out the details."

"Is that the Hei'an faction's voting champion? Could it be that the Bahamut aberration earlier was under his control?"

"Too scary, bro—when that thing popped out I almost got a 88, weak main, no stone, action confused, music appraisal blasted on the public screen."

"That Ghira is his, right? I said throwing in some Ghidorah and Gamera would be fine, but how did they slip in a Ghira?!"

"Could the main storyline of this game also have collapsed…"

"You're overthinking it—it's probably due to more than one person recklessly exploring."

"Tsk tsk, the joy of an open world—especially a true open world with no invisible walls and no level gating, where wandering around can stir up things you couldn't handle early on."

"But stirring up demons and the Faction is still over the top; doing it so realistically, I even thought I had unknowingly time‑traveled again."

"Then how can you go boating on Terra? I'd have to send you to 40k Terra."

"That really hurts—turns out we're enemies like this?"

……

Voices of doubt, teeth‑gritting sounds, discussions about the previous situation—one after another without cease.

First was the flame‑demon girl I had just met in the game not long ago; she stood far off, pleasantly surprised, raising her hand.

Then the crowd, which had just finished the game and was still somewhat tumultuous, fell silent all at once, turning to look and murmuring among themselves.

From the tone of the discussion, Rhodes Island's staff were still quite mixed; but for Aomo, putting aside those chatting about the game, the Rhodes Island employees who looked at him with enthusiasm left him no choice but to reach behind his back, using gestures and telepathy in tandem to signal the four horse girls and the project manager before him to make a run for it.

Or we could just move somewhere else.

Even shifting straight to an online conversation would work.

At least for now, he can't stay here any longer.