Chapter 1144: NO．49：A Stepping Stone Can Also Be a Meteorite

NO. 49: A stepping stone can also be a meteorite

So he began to tell a boring story.

This story starts with a child who could be called a dimwit, progresses to a dimwit youth, and ends with a dimwit trainer.

No ideals, no dreams, only near-term goals.

From expecting new teachers, new classmates, new play, to expecting new skills, new female classmates, new university life, then to new jobs, new colleagues, new life.

Because of the expectation to 'study hard' and 'work hard', he gave up short-term goals; because of the guidance 'this doesn't make money', 'that has no future', he abandoned his original choices.

More, he was scorched by his elder brother's brilliance, his own world exposed, and finally decided to leave the family to seek his own value and pursuit, becoming a trainer in the end.

But even after becoming a trainer, it was not his own goal, but rather the relationship from his parents' side that pointed out the so-called 'bright path' for him, and he just did that.

Then he encountered the Sky Divine Palace.

A free-spirited horse girl with her own pursuits and abilities.

A conventional horse girl, whose job choice was even guided by relatives' help, and even if her learning ability could be considered excellent, she was merely an excellent ordinary trainer.

The normal state of their interaction was one pulling the other, one advising the other, then occasional arguments, but more often a cold war.

Honestly, this sounds like the worries of a middle-aged person just scraping by.

If Aomo hadn't restrained himself from asking 'why not keep contracting?', then it would have been completely a painful story of 'why not divorce?'.

"So you just listened to him complain for over an hour? Even during the team-building at KTV, he was still going on?"

"After all, Miss Sky Divine Palace's mood isn't improving either, and she didn't plan to spend that failed time with the trainer, but I really hope she first came to find the Rock Trainer for a debrief, so at least my work would be easier."

At 4 PM, in Nerima Ward, Tokyo Metropolis, under the jurisdiction of the Boundary Gate District, Aomo stood in front of a drink shop, waiting for the drink distribution of the 'Main Force Captain' still in line.

Just as his colleagues nearby unconsciously pulled out their phones to kill time, he naturally fiddled with his terminal.

At the same time, he also reactivated that overly resident silent barrier.

Opening a confidential mode during calls is a good habit, especially when you are no longer obscure; as for recording...

Friends who have done similar work know that recording this thing is less like torturing the accused and more like torturing the lawyer, especially when your recording still carries a dialect accent.

One can say that even in the technologically excellent Terra Federation, dialects are among the few things that can still trip up AI.

But even if we don't mention the hidden dangers of harassment or eavesdropping, such voice calls indeed need to avoid interference.

After all, this is Nerima Ward.

As everyone knows, in this place of Tokyo Metropolis, the parts far from the city center usually have nothing to do with prosperity.

There will even be dark parts that grow as always.

And Nerima Ward, such an urban agricultural area, should indeed be so, but strangely, the Fuchu Racecourse is indeed located here.

A unique crowd of people, surrounded by countless food and entertainment commercial districts, with bustling streets everywhere that could even make you think you're still in the city center.

The holding of popular events always has such charm, and as the 'birthplace of Eastern animation', the many manga companies settled here make it even more a pilgrimage site for many ACGN enthusiasts.

At the same time, this further promotes various secondary creation activities of horse girl culture.

Even the recent horse girl-only exhibition that the Digital Teacher tried to participate in was held here.

When characters in 'strange costumes' appear at the edge of the field of vision, he understands that the preparation and warm-up for that doujin exhibition have already begun.

After all, cosplay, as something originating in the Eastern region, is actually managed very strictly there.

Conducting cosplay rashly in areas without special permission will only be seen as strange attire and may even summon the police.

Conversely, those people now can also be seen as proof that the venue has obtained permission.

Doujin exhibitions generally can open as scheduled on the eve of Halloween; then what about doujinshi? And the teachers of those circles?

Aomo inevitably thought of a certain brush teacher who seemed to be acting out himself.

When facing himself, he was still in a state of difficult labor, as if his routine had completely collapsed, his condition wretched, the picture of an artist in dire straits.

The next day, however, he again showed a state of nothing having happened; after he habitually sought stability by confirming with the Digital Teacher, he instead received the other's cheerful reply:

'No problem, the Brush Teacher's efficiency can be fast!

Wait a moment, I'll show you the drafts I've currently received.'

After waiting only a few minutes, the contents of the received compressed package proved that the Digital Teacher had not ignored facts due to some Eastern-style 'ah sa si'.

That was undoubtedly from Miss Xi's brush, or rather, that special brush (x) is quite distinctive, but at the same time, this also proves that the Brush Teacher, who had been stuck at his place for a whole night, after returning home, seemed to redeploy like a miracle resurrection, displaying the efficiency of slaughtering many human artists.

How?

Buddy, are you hindering my performance?

It's hard not to think the Brush-and-Ink Painting Teacher is acting as his own doujin mercenary; though full of doubts and curiosity, but thinking back to that night when those three age pieces each showed their own oddities, I feel this matter is still naturally overridden by comparison.

People often have to learn to play dumb, even if you might truly not understand, you must suppress that curiosity that could bring unexpected trouble.

Especially when you are not living very leisurely at the moment.

"Easy? You think if she comes to debrief she'll listen to you? Really wishful thinking, Guinea Pig Guy."

Look, even there's someone taking charge of directing the horse girl's operations on you.

The demon pondered that if ranking by hierarchy, he himself should be the leader.

"I must point out that wishful thinking might be you." Aomo expressionless, gazing at the screen where the back was turned to the window, thus also turned away from sunlight, as if wanting to borrow a special angle to unleash light-energy strikes on Suzi.

"When I said work easier, I meant that if she had such strong will and resolve, then everything I need to do could go smoothly; merely giving chicken soup to the trainer might not necessarily have good effect."

"With that guinea pig of yours being so ordinary, chicken soup would definitely work, anyway, Guinea Pig Guy, you're especially good at this kind of thing."

Saying that Aomo felt it was secretly dissing praise, Ailisuzhi naturally took up the topic, avoiding the initial misunderstanding that might invite mockery.

"And you demand too much from a sixteen-year-old girl," the girl on screen lazily swayed the hand tucked in her sleeve cuff, "Sky Divine Palace and I are in the same class, but her formal manifestation came a full half year later than mine."

"I believe the desire to win and the pursuit of goals should have nothing to do with age." Aomo said calmly.

He wasn't surprised by this, after all, people like him who continuously extract public information to filter intelligence are naturally exposed to the various false ages in the horse girl circle.

Formal manifestation itself is a developmental mechanism that interferes with age recognition, and the Three Goddesses' sometimes random, sometimes meticulously selected 'birthing choices' make the verification of horse girl destinies filled with difficult resistance.

Just as he had contacted Bi Ze twelve minutes prior, wanting to confirm the corresponding horse deeds of this autumn's Autumn Hua Prize participants in another world, but was told by the other that the timeline was a mess and basically impossible to check.

He turned his head and looked toward the two distant figures—those who had still been on the field just an hour and forty minutes ago: the brown-haired athlete and another familiar face chatting with her.

Mejiro Zenxin and Datuo Taiyangshen.

Aomo had to admit that his judgment during his earlier exchange with Dazhenhan was mistaken.

Those drawn into the social circle were not three athletes, but four.

The Mejiro Zenxin lady, who lacked presence during the race and attempted a desperate escape only to fail at the outset, clearly counts as a relative of Datuo Laoshi, that is, Datuo Taiyangshen.

Even of the same age.

Yet at the same time, that Mejiro family lady is, in Bi Ze's words, the one with the longest career and most senior achievements among the horse girls in this race.

Aside from the combination of Extreme Peak and the Noblewoman, the actual horses corresponding to the other horse girls in this race lack real connection due to staggered career timelines.

This also means— their horse racing fates are equally devoid of intersection.

Thus, any expectation of making something of this situation cannot exist.

This might also be a good thing, Aomo thought.

Although the effect is obvious, the workload is enormous; this approach involving the fates of horse souls is not what he wishes, and can only be described as a last resort.

Everything began because he had a troublesome client who felt that improving himself wasn't enough—he also wanted to improve his future opponents.

"Irrelevant is irrelevant, but your expectations are also quite unrealistic."

This client even dared to boldly claim that his expectations were unrealistic.

"Are you expecting me to assist a horse girl I don't even know well, just because it's become realistic?" Aomo retorted helplessly, "I'm truly curious how many trainers would accept such a commission from the handler's side."

"Normal trainers wouldn't treat the handler's request as a commission, would they, Guinea Pig? Accept your fate—we've both been abnormal from the start."

"Wow~ I've never seen Suzi so easily yield to fate—what made you become like this? A newly invented potion?"

"Hahaha, of course it's the researcher's heart that wants to study even themselves, and what do you mean by yielding to fate? This is clearly our own chosen fate—but first, Guinea Pig, dragging out the conversation like this won't do."

"It's not about delaying progress—it's just that Afeng's side has the drink line moving slower than expected, so I'm just giving you a progress update in passing," Aomo said, glancing again at Nishizaki Feng, who was nearly at the counter, then turning back, "To be honest, we've come this far—what remains is merely to wait for time to verify the results."

"That's not bad, actually—since direct contact with horse girls is inconvenient, influencing them through their trainers is truly a completely underhanded method, Guinea Pig, worthy of praise~!"

"The distance to becoming a villain is truly one step closer."

"That said, Suzi, who wants to drag her classmate up as a stepping stone, should also watch out not to sprain her ankle on the stepping stone itself." Aomo smiled gently, his smile devoid of kindness.

After all, unlike Suzi, whose worldview is somewhat skewed, Linton Trainer does not aspire to become a villain athlete.

"If Yan Trainer truly takes my words and twists them around, and if it has no effect, then so be it; but if it does work, I really wonder whether Miss Kongong Shen Gong will truly become another kind of Kongong Shen Gong."

"Another kind of Kongong Shen Gong?"

"Akushisu, it can also be a kind of Kongong Shen Gong—specifically, you can ask Bolan; she's already a veteran fan in this circle."