Chapter 1827: NO.442: Just treat it as a leisurely matter

NO. 442: Just treat it as a leisurely matter.

"What? Horse racing track ghost stories? You guys interested in that?"

——

As one of the five major racecourses, Heaven Gate City's horse racing industry is certainly not underdeveloped.

But as everyone knows, Heaven Gate City's unique urban environment and its position as a port megacity destined it not to rely on the horse racing industry the way Border Gate District does, letting all kinds of industry development yield to horse racing culture.

Trade, tourism, and the various industries surrounding exploration and research of other worlds are the mainstream here.

Although it looks a bit bloated, which is more than ordinary cities can handle, Heaven Gate City clearly does not have this problem.

It is not only unrelated to the concept of a regular city, but from the start of its development it has been tightly bound to certain routes, while others emerged as extensions during development, already as thick and tough as the roots of a towering tree, and by now it has formed a district appearance that is hard to replicate——

——At the same time, this makes its image solid and hard to shake.

Even though Heaven Gate City's horse racing industry has developed considerably, it still cannot shake the stereotype of this giant city.

Thus it cannot become a topic genuinely discussed in daily conversation.

Even though Aomo Lindun, as a trainer leading a team of horse girls for summer training here, the local horse racing topics he has encountered these days are extremely limited.

It's not that he doesn't pay attention to the local strong teams; it's just that the elites of most local horse girl schools accept central invitations, and those few outstanding exceptions…… such remarkable individuals would have already caught his attention long ago, so there's no need to wait until now.

So there's no need for many words; only the current situation is worth discussing.

And when there's no big news in the current situation, it naturally only comes up in casual chat, with no need to elaborate.

As for gossip and subtle rumors……

The usual Lindun trainer would have some interest in looking into it, satisfying his fun of 'unearthing mystery truths, filling in observations and topics,' but when work is heavy and there's overtime, it's another matter.

However, one cannot say he is completely unaware of this.

After all, Umastagram's forum has local sections.

Although most people prefer posting in the various functional sections under the main page divisions rather than the local sections, the AI responsible for classification and transfer is quite diligent, so posts about local topics that shouldn't be in the central section quickly return to their proper place. Then, considering the traffic of the local sections naturally cannot compare with the central ones, a large group of people have some complaints about this rule.

However, for someone like Aomo who doesn't chase traffic and merely scrolls through posts gathering information, the design of this local section, with its categorization, zoning, and transfer, is indeed convenient.

There's no need to include it in the scraping range of crawler software; browsing Umastagram's local section has always been one of his relaxation choices during busy times. Whenever he sees those girls or trainers, or even school staff posting the same old complaint posts, gossip posts, or help requests, he doesn't feel annoyed; instead, he smiles knowingly.

Truly simple worries, truly classic content.

The difficulty of replying is low, and those slight differences also make it easy to infer the campus environment of local Torresen, and there's a better chance to gain information related to the horse girls he follows——Aomo's switching and browsing of Umastagram's dozens of local sections is as repetitive and stable as buffing and checking in on a monkey show.

He reads quickly, switches skillfully, and comes every day.

No matter how busy, he'll find time to glance; if a day he's so busy he falls asleep and misses it, the next day he'll definitely feel off and hurry to check.

Only the replies themselves are not stable.

He doesn't reply to every post he could.

Crafting an image of Aomo Lindun as a trainer who daily surfs the forum at high intensity isn't worthwhile, especially since you also have a somewhat delicate public image, complex interpersonal relations, and even a relatively well-known abandoned account that needs to be hidden.

Talk too much and you'll lose. Regardless of how perfect the camouflage of his speaking style is, he should minimize chances of comparison and association. Thus each of his statements is essentially driven by strong purpose, then masked by the diversity of his presented field, making it hard to analyze any common points.

And those few posts about Heaven Gate City racecourse ghost stories are exactly the type he doesn't reply to.

Although they're hot in the local sections, with plenty of replies and reposts, they still haven't reached the heat threshold to appear on the central section; besides, they're discussion posts, not help requests, so there's no need to respond.

But they are obviously the kind that Chazuo would care about.

Keywords: "screen," "extra occupation," "no signal," "noise," "cold," and the "intermittency" that runs through all of the former.

Although its actual description doesn't seem very supernatural to many transmigrants in Heaven Gate City, it's more like the result of the racecourse's own safety system and poor network quality.

But they are indeed an important component of the Federation's modern supernatural phenomena.

——After all, the internet covers everything, and screens are everywhere in the technological age.

Abnormal manifestations caused by spiritual bodies often correlate with the malfunction-like performance of various technological products.

But at this time, this moment, caring about rumors of this place, right, right?

You guys haven't forgotten what I'm busy with, have you?

Or do you think I've already finished being busy?

Alright, I really do seem to have finished being busy, and I really do have some free time for now.

Leaving distance aside, Heaven Gate City's transportation system is indeed more developed and superior than Border Gate District's, with wilder routes; just having unrestricted airspace and flying cars running everywhere already beats Border Gate District, let alone the additional traditional nodes, transfer points, and other long-distance movement options installed.

The few girls each holding their monster cards can also travel without problem, and besides, I myself have nothing particular to do.

So not talking about distance, what if we just talk about time?

But it's already 8 p. m. now!

Although Heaven Gate City covers a large area, it's not so large as to have a several-hour time difference; you guys want to try sneaking into the racecourse late at night?

Or are you saying you want to visit the real names and addresses mentioned in those ghost story posts, which are obviously just for drawing traffic?

As an evening leisure activity, this is really not leisurely at all.

If it were supposed to be a classic courage-testing segment of summer training, it would still be off——is this group of people the type to be afraid of ghosts?

I think the black-haired horse girl beside Bopang who looks so timid fits the target audience better…… Seeing the reaction of that girl beside Bopang, Aomo thinks subtly.

But if she went, she'd likely summon a Galactic Empire Crown Prince in a chain, which would again be unsuitable.

Like being tied to the three-word teacher of Like Moon Station, although that's indeed the original, it also pushes the plot into Aopeng's consistent direction of 'It must be aliens/monsters doing it!' → 'Just beat it!'

Aomo guesses that the racecourse situation is the same, but even if it's not a trick and there really is some wandering vengeful spirit causing trouble, it doesn't matter.

Call a Daoist, exorcist, priest, or similar worker.

For handling supernatural incidents, the Federation has long established a profession system with official backing, and the main employment direction for Chazuo's graduates is also this field.

But that doesn't mean we must now go after achievements.

"In short, you mean you're not going? Obviously Suzi said your camera can easily photograph ghosts?"

With a small sachet tied by a string hanging from her index finger, swaying back and forth, the girl who had changed into cool summer clothes pouted regretfully, then paused her finger, the sachet fell into her palm, and she waved at the four girls beside her.

"Yeah, you have your own things to do, Chazuo can catch ghosts on her own, juniors, our trainer isn't planning to go, let's just go ourselves~!"

"……"

Watching Qianming leave without looking back, he also saw himself shining brightly in the four horse girls' differing gazes. In his mind he was still pondering Qianming's intention in bringing these girls to find him for 'making trouble', Aomo, when suddenly he felt he might be overthinking.

Or rather, he actually shouldn't be thinking about these things.

It was merely a post-meal digestive activity; together with those few little girls, led by an older girl, they set off on a path that might have some ups and downs, or might just be a boring short adventure—what's the problem with that?

Why must he adopt a skeptical attitude of 'What on earth are you thinking?' and 'Is there some deeper meaning?' to witness all of that?

He had thought he could already separate work mode from life mode quite clearly, but it seemed a hint of his old ailment might be flaring up again.

Watching those four girls also, in their respective styles of farewell, turn and follow that guy's steps, Aomo also set aside the doubt that had risen in his mind: 'When will she ever be able to stay there and lead Suzi, Aizhi, and them?'

He sighed.

(End of chapter)