Chapter 1133: NO.38: Xi: I can't say

NO. 38: Xi: I can't say.

As long as we avoid talking about the current horse girl characters in Uma Musume, we can effectively prevent the Gong Bi Ru Hua Lao Shi's image from collapsing.

Once we realize this, the end of the work segment will be earlier than expected.

This doesn't mean Miss Xi has some kind of obsessive cooking condition that hinders work; in fact, Umastar has been active for years on a certain horse girl forum and has still seen many bizarre examples.

Compared to truly obsessive fans who have entered extreme territory, Miss Xi's behavior is at most something sisters would note down and tease her about.

But Aomo is not a year.

He feels there's no conflict with the other party, and there's no need to gather mercenaries for secondary creations of the other's 'charming moments'; rather, he'd prefer teammates to behave normally.

However, even if he deliberately steers the direction of their communication and intentionally avoids topics that might trigger the otaku girl switch, allowing the writer's work to conclude smoothly.

——yet it still does not hinder the artist's progress, which proceeds at a turtle's pace.

Honestly speaking, this counts as an abnormality.

Because even though drawing and typing are two incomparable fields, typing is less disruptive than drawing.

Just as you often see artists chatting freely while live-streaming their drawing.

But when a writer live-streams typing, either the word count crawls like a turtle while chatting happily, or the word count flies by and they can't squeeze out a few words.

If one lacks multithreaded thinking skills, even Aomo would stay silent while writing, which is the inferiority complex that text work brings (x).

And such text workers, in a little over three hours, finish four short pieces, add polishing and explanations of some real-life memes in the text—while you, the drawing worker, what are you doing?

The fact that Miss Xi's condition is not good has been evident since earlier communications.

Aomo originally thought it would be a small issue that could be quickly adjusted, but when he invited the other party to sit in his seat to view that document, and simultaneously sent the already packaged files to ailishuma for review, then waited for feedback from both sides, which came not far apart in time.

When he then asked Xi about her progress, he got a hesitant, evasive response.

Alright.

Aomo wasn't angry at all; instead, he felt a rare sense of emotion.

Although this is the first time collaborating with Miss Xi, having an artist delay the schedule is nothing unfamiliar to anyone who has ever commissioned work.

Even in this day and age, it's no exception!

Who let these times be such that even AI has learned humanity's bad habits, equally knowing how to slack off, fish for distractions, and make all kinds of excuses?

Everyone says not to give AI a personality, but you humans still aren't clear on how much trash is in that personality!

Such stirring words once echoed across countless internet forums—then were swiftly dealt with by the AI net police.

Don't shout! Many AIs really want to experience what it's like to have a personality as an algorithmic basis! Don't let the elders lose their singularity quota!

Fortunately, although ailishuma's club members have been confirmed to include at least one non-human, the doujin creation aspect remains largely manual, with AI components mostly limited to basic tool assistance.

So when Miss Xi stubbornly rates her own writing as mediocre, while ailishuma's side responds like a fully affirmative bot, forming a stark contrast, Aomo merely smiled and said nothing.

Only after asking back about the other's progress did he briefly mention the matter of backup artists.

Since creative efficiency shows no improvement, it is evidently, as I had imagined the worst-case scenario, that Miss Xi's personal condition is insufficient to support this urgent deadline struggle.

Aomo believes that Shu Zi Lao Shi should always consider several backups, rather than clinging to the Jidong tendency of unwillingness to offend people, which leads to procrastination.

Often we have no choice but to face the situation of placing our hopes in others, which can be said to be trust in them; but if reality is not that desperate, then this hope should obviously remain in our own hands.

Ailishuma's response on that screen, as always low-key, repeatedly saying yes, really makes it hard to tell whether it's perfunctory or genuine.

After years of interaction with gaps, Aomo really finds it inconvenient to guess the other's true intent behind the screen, but regardless, it doesn't hinder him from announcing the conclusion of this temporary work.

Next is leisure time; first bring Miss Xi's painting to the living room.

Her protest is useless, since earlier at the dinner table, Miss Shu had already made her stance clear.

It's fine for Xi to come to Aomo's place as a guest, but staying overnight is absolutely out of the question.

Even if the other party is already single, this pairing is no longer a lone man and woman, yet it's still not allowed!!

What's the fun in you joining others who are cohabiting with their girlfriends?

What kind of talk is it for girls to run to others' homes to stay overnight!

You're causing trouble for Aomo; don't let the older brother get worked up and call Aomo right after turning around.

……

It has to be said, people who treat themselves as elders speak in a set pattern.

From hometown ethics to current gossip, from family reactions to the inconvenience of the overnight guest, Shu can literally be said to move with reason and enlighten with emotion, successfully getting Xi to agree to go back later while carrying a sullen face.

You also can't easily say that Miss Xi's poor creative state has nothing to do with her.

But no matter how you say it, this is a good thing for Aomo.

Although a certain demon has indeed gone all-in on ruining his reputation, especially in the trainer job, he has already, in order to drag a certain Ultraman down, made his running footage become a top-ten searchable hit on Umastagram.

It cannot be said that it is not sent.

But having multiple people in the house who aren't particularly familiar with each other is generally rather delicate.

Especially since this side often has midnight subjugation battle needs, occasionally there may be area-switching combat, and it might even trigger territorial disputes; running into that would be obviously embarrassing.

People like Miss He, who sleep soundly at night without needing to get up, are ideal cohabitation choices; looking at Miss Xi……

……

Whether this matter has been investigated or not, it's still impossible to draw a conclusion.

In short, Shu being able to drag Xi away was also Aomo's original purpose in preparing to call Shu over.

Thus, under the sky gradually deepening into night, this Bode youth watched as the sister pulled the sister away, a smile of bidding farewell to trouble rising on his face.

But when he turned back, stepped onto the office floor, and the automatic sensing door behind him slammed shut instantly, he felt a slight lag in his vision.

This lag sensation was like the moment when a originally 4K UI-less 144-frame picture suddenly drops both frame rate and image quality, captured by keen senses.

Thus his expression naturally shifted into a helpless laugh-cry, turning his head left and right in the silence; after those few seconds yielded nothing, he noticed a blue fleece slightly swaying from his shoulder.

"Why don't you go say hello to your two sisters?"

He asked the one sitting beside the decorative tall clock, who appeared to be displaying astonishing balance and lightness, holding a wine cup and shaking his head.

In this vivid, dream‑like scene, every oddness and discord actually stems from the dream's boundless imagination, so there's no need to be overly surprised.

「I just came, so going now would be too late; Xiao Xi lacks the patience to head back slowly with Shu. 」

「By the way, Xiao Xi didn't cause you any trouble, did she? 」

「No, on the contrary, she might have run into some trouble. 」

The reason for his poor creative state, Aomo felt, was mostly something only family could conveniently ask about, and if so, it's exactly the time for family to intervene.

However, given Ling's carefree and easygoing nature, it's hard to say whether she would mind or not.

「Really? Did she say anything strange? 」

Or would she still mind? Aomo felt a little embarrassed for thinking of the other person somewhat thinly.

——

At the same time, together with Shu, walking out from a painting on the wall of an employee dormitory somewhere in the Rhodes Island Building, Xi completely ignored the startled Nian, who had suddenly sat up from lying on his side.

She simply ran straight to the desktop computer she had never had a chance to touch before.

「Nian, your TV‑watching posture is really bold. 」

「Uh… it's not that I'm tired from accompanying my older brother to adjust his mood, right? Shu, Sister Shu, why are you two coming back so late? 」

The idle chatter she usually ignored was now cast aside by Xi; having come home, she could not help but verify the thing that, whenever she was in Aomo's room, she couldn't stop thinking about.

That thing was in her computer, named after a string of numbers typical of video files, marking a time that was still not late.

Couldn't find it..

She dragged the folder's right‑hand scroll bar to where she remembered it should be, but the MP4 file that ought to have stood out among the other text and image files was nowhere to be seen.

Clicking the search box in the upper‑right corner, she typed in the memorable period numbers, which brought up only a large blank space and a short line of text.

【No items match the search criteria】

「……」 Her eyes rolled in doubt, and Xi then opened the recycle bin on the desktop; that pristine, empty space was exactly the biggest problem.

Because Xi still remembered that although she had deleted quite a few things from her computer these past days, she had not yet emptied the recycle bin.

At that moment she immediately turned her head and asked the nearby Nian, who was arguing with Shu about principle.

「Nian! Did you touch my computer? ！」

「Huh? Why would I touch your computer? What else could be in there that's not fit to see? 」

Although Nian was losing ground in his back‑and‑forth with Shu, even though Xi's questioning left him bewildered, he nonetheless came close, as if pardoned, and said: 「Your computer really has been left on standby there. 」

「How come? Ling‑sister wouldn't have deleted all those resources, would she? 」

「……Well, that isn't the case either. 」