Chapter 1192: with translation of chapter title

NO．96：What if, boldly imagine

UMAMUSUME. ONLY78, among many doujin exhibitions, is also considered one with deep roots.

In that Only exhibition, which, being a niche carnival, actually has a somewhat grassroots feel, it's even more of a rare oddity—something you'd hardly think could run so many editions seamlessly.

Of course, at this point someone might wonder, given Uma Musume's current fame and the promotion of horse racing today, how could a Uma Musume Only exhibition possibly be considered niche?

But the fact is, it really is niche.

Even though there are plenty of official Uma Musume-themed exhibitions, some still choose to dive into the secondary-creation trend, and even more so to promote and sell at doujin events while being subject to the many creation restrictions placed on those famous horse girls……

Such a fanbase, of course, has always been just a tiny handful.

It's just that while creators are few, the number of enthusiasts is another matter.

Just as many people don't like eating crayfish simply because they're too lazy to peel them, if you prepare it all for them, they might not mind giving it a try.

The same goes for doujin creation.

You can't have them do the creating, but if all they need to do is put in money and effort to let the teachers' creations continue uninterrupted, they're still willing to support such a deal to some extent.

"So this doujin exhibition can run so many editions? I thought there must be some regular sponsor."

Even if the occasional 'date' takes place at a doujin exhibition or something, it's only natural for a pink-haired JK who's an ACG fan to have no complaints—she's just looking around, hoping to see more familiar faces. She had already seen the cartoon banners of Qianming's representative and Ludaofu Xiangzheng at the entrance, which gave her a basic enjoyment of attending exhibitions.

Though if one said there were no complaints at all, there would still be a bit, after all……

"There definitely is a regular sponsor, huh? There are plenty of oil tycoons in this circle—for example… example… oh right, Xintiao Qian, have you heard Aomo talk about that Bourbon thing?"

Bi Ze, Mr. Bi.

It had been a long time since he last showed up, only mentioned occasionally in online chats when Aomo's mind went off the rails—the alien who had once been swallowed by the se‑se had ultimately prevailed over the temptations of many technological tricks, though perhaps his body just couldn't take it anymore; either way, this time he invited his brothers out to play, for the sake of purity, even leaving his own girlfriend behind!

But the brothers brought their girlfriends. jpg

Normally, by the time one gets here, this person ought to start feeling awkward, ought to start seeing himself as a third wheel.

But as everyone knows, Mr. Bi earned the title 'Alien' precisely because he from time to time displays a logic circuit utterly unlike that of ordinary earthlings.

He's not only not embarrassed, he's actually quite at ease.

It's as if he's forgotten the nervous jitters he felt when they first met, the urge to bolt.

To be honest, if the only extra person were him, Qian's dissatisfaction would be more than just a little; but the fact is, there's no shortage of extra people.

"I say, Guinea Pig‑kun, you're wasting precious vacation on this?"

The brown‑haired high‑school horse girl turned her head to look at the colorful scene, her eyes full of impatience—as if she'd already judged this place to have no experimental value.

"…" Beside her, the black‑long‑straight friend's eyes were full of wonder.

Meanwhile, Chao Cang Lu turned his head and gave a questioning look: "What's the deal with Bourbon‑san?"

"Ah, that one, that one…" Standing beside him was a big guy whose appearance seemed totally out of place with the whole team—golden hair, dark skin, over two meters tall, with obvious cybernetic modifications—yet he was looking fascinated at the interface.

"What's the name of that huge robot?"

"Exia/Heavenly Angel?"

"How did we get dragged into that woman's thing?" Qian still had an impression of that codename, but her impression mainly came from Qieliènínà's account, and from occasionally seeing that red‑haired woman greet Aomo.

That was one of the few women she'd seen around Aomo who gave off no sense of danger whatsoever.

"ExiaDarkMatter, but you still need to add the Gundam prefix, a 1:1 intelligent model," said the small‑built girl beside the big guy, whose style matched his cyber‑modifications, irritably correcting the boss whose purity wasn't high enough: "I remembered it when you were shouting—how could you forget it, boss?"

"I'm not just not activating the memory master control crystal in daily use," the big guy said, embarrassed, scratching the back of his head, thereby showing off his mechanical arms that were far wider and sturdier than a normal person's, "so as to keep you all from nagging constantly."

"Us? It's Dolio, right—I just can't be bothered with you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just worry about your David, ha," the man grinned, "too bad your David turned down the date to go play with Lucy."

"Huh? Who invited Dolio and got instantly rejected?"

"That's not the same thing, Rebecca."

"Huh?! How is it not the same thing? You embarrassing uncle!"

The man bent forward, looking down at the girl through the holes of his sunglasses, while the girl herself showed no fear of his imposing physique's visual impact—instead she stepped forward, pulled her brows, glared, and provoked him.

"I thought Trigger Society just liked to draw exaggerated stuff, but the person actually pulls it off…"

"…" The demon with good hearing glanced at the alien muttering quietly, and occasionally still found himself unable to disagree.

The two faces, almost as if they were about to press together, with brows furrowed and eyes glaring—or perhaps it's a reenactment of some famous scene—and by this point it's easy to see how chaotic the makeup of Aomo's team is.

Aomo Lindun, Xintiao Qian, Manchester Chazuo, Ailisuzhi, Bi Ze, Chao Cang Lu, Man En, Rebecca.

Composed of a demon, Ultraman, Uma Musume, cybernetic persons, plus a monster maker who looks like an ordinary person and a new‑school mage, the team is more like going into battle than just touring an exhibition.

But who can't use a little leisure in life?

The two from the Marginal Runner Agency really are Uma Musume fans, and unlike Bi Ze—who was already a super mobile‑game king before crossing over and thus had a base of Uma Musume fandom—they got into it after arriving, thanks to a recommendation.

This is actually less distorted than the former, since they don't have to worry about the gap between a flat illustration and the actual characters here, and thus they're even more invested—these two really came to see the doujin exhibition, unlike Bi Ze, who was just looking for a gathering spot that wouldn't be too boring.

As for why everyone gathered, we can't avoid mentioning that Rebecca invited David and got turned down.

In fact, at about the same time, Bi Ze also invited David—he picked a weekend, saying the buddies hadn't hung out in ages and it was about time to get together—only for David to refuse.

The reason was a schedule clash—he had already taken leave from the agency to go sightseeing at the lunar base with Lucy, so when faced with the brothers' invitation… Mr. David promptly refused, and then added two people to your team.

Rebecca and Man En—the latter truly wanted to bring his girlfriend to share the hobby, while the former is hard to read; Aomo suspects Rebecca has some ulterior motive—given that David's two friends, Bi Ze and Aomo, are both interested, they want to use a group outing to dilute the date vibe and pursue her.

【But didn't David accept her? He said they'd been sleeping together, ah, you two guys skgsdgfsg234@#! $】

Leaving aside the alien who avoids romantic costs by getting a robot girlfriend but then worries he can't afford the emotional and physical toll if the numbers grow, he once vented in the chat logs, beating his chest and stamping his feet.

His doubt itself is actually quite mediocre, so vulgar that, like many people, he can't even consider swapping perspectives, let alone put himself in another's shoes.

—‑This alien clearly knows that if the woman's numbers increase, he'll have to bear greater emotional costs, yet he asks Rebecca why she's playing hard to get, as if they weren't even dating.

All that can be said is that his thinking is quite rigid.

That brain of his is probably only capable of copying homework when playing with a Magic Staff; you can't expect him to devise new macros and modules on his own.

Or perhaps his thinking is simply shallow—he only considers how, as a man, he should respond to a woman, without ever thinking about how the woman might view him and other women.

Emotional disparity, unequal treatment—this kind of easily triggered variable that turns affection into fighting spirit is precisely the root of chaos in unstable polygynous, polyandrous, or group marriages.

In Aomo's view, given Da Wei's initially hesitant narrative style, Miss Li Beika's relationship was certainly not achieved through peaceful means, and she indeed cannot be said to have won Da Wei's heart.

Perhaps in Bi Ze's eyes, those cyber mercenaries who came from Night City, that city where rites have collapsed and music fallen into ruin, were probably naturally free and easy, and any messy relationships like friends or fuck buddies would be established lightly and straightforwardly.

But in Aomo's eyes, the relationship among these three might be far more complicated than it appears.

It's naturally inappropriate to meddle in others' love lives; besides, Da Wei now has his own opinions, and just being a confidant big brother—this kind of work—Man En not far away is more suited for it than he is.

So there's no need to mention more; we just need to look at the present, and the present——the present is naturally him entering through the East Hall entrance of this horse girl art exhibition hall.

In this regard, the group he leads also counts as his blessing; although they each bought visitor tickets, they don't have to queue in that long line like everyone else.

Scanning the stall workers' QR code, the staff passage immediately opened amidst the astonished gazes of the enthusiasts next door, allowing the conspicuous lineup here to file in.

"Is that Man Cheng Chazuo and Ailisuzhi?"

"That man is Aomo Lindun!"

"Who is that beside him? So tall, also a trainer?"

"Maybe they're security? They took the staff passage!"

"Security? Is that little loli the stall owner, or is it that carefree guy?"

"Is she a little loli? She looks like a girl."

"Does this matter?! Anyway, it can't be that big guy being the painter, right?"

"How can a big guy not be a painter! You're biased! Does a painter have to be a beautiful girl?"

"There are so many beautiful girl painters nowadays, this is supported by data—how can it be bias?"

"It's just riding the hype for business—true doujinshi teachers are definitely horse girls!"

"You're so delusional—you're not a deadbeat otaku, are you?"

"Don't argue—compared to Aomo Lindun, we should still pay attention to that hot rumor on Umastagram; I heard that this exhibition has a suspected Umastar teacher behind a fantastical doujinshi, so many who don't usually attend physical exhibitions have come."

"Real or fake? Do you really believe that? It's obviously hype for the exhibition's promotion, just like those alleged information leaks from mobile games."

"Yeah, you can't tell the writing style of this kind of thing, and it's not about drawing—can you recognize Star teacher's writing style?"

"Who can recognize it? It's just that he faked a death half a year ago, and many doubted whether it was really him; seriously speaking, when was the last time anyone actually saw him?"

"Right."

"Hey, look over there…is that horse girl the selfie angel?"

"What the hell, don't pull me—how could Ka Lian Jiang show up here… I'm shocked! It really seems like her!"

"It couldn't be a holographic overwrite disguise, could it?"

"Come on, that soulless cosplay?"

"But the one beside her is indeed Aimu Zhiji, right? Even though she's wearing a mask and hat…"

"Such a useless disguise—nowadays who doesn't use tech to simulate… speaking of which, I heard this time there's supposedly a golden three-generation work by a digital printing teacher; I'm really curious how the emperors would evaluate it if they saw it."

"How could the emperors possibly care about this?"

"Just imagine—if His Majesty the Emperor were interested, he'd surely notice this promotion over here, and then he might come out of curiosity."

"Then why don't you imagine the Emperor himself bringing Qianming and Dazhenhan to buy doujinshi?"

"Well…that's not very realistic."