Chapter 276

Miss Zuo feiya, code name Whipblade, indeed has the ears and tail of a horse girl.

The group called Kulanta, although most do not have the divine blessing like horse girls, nevertheless also possess the 'suitability for Originium Arts as living beings of Terra land,' which can be attributed to the world's blessing.

Under such a blessing, even when they arrive in this world, they are in no way inferior to those similar 'kindred'.

In physical quality and also in combat talent, Miss Whipblade's distant niece, Radiant Knight Lin Guang, can prove this.

As for herself……

Her combat ability naturally surpasses most active horse girls, but in terms of speed—she is naturally far behind, with nothing comparable.

This is also the normal difference between Kulanta and horse girls.

Radiant Knight Lin Guang's kind of Kulanta, with extraordinary combat power and astonishing running speed, is already considered the peak of this group——

——converted, it is as rare and remarkable as a Triple Crown horse girl.

Perhaps it could be considered the same rank……

Aomo thought so, after all, in the development history of horse girls there have been cases of Triple Crown horse girls participating in military operations and stellar expansion.

Although it is a case from hundreds of years ago, the record of being able to trample gravity, pierce the atmosphere, and shatter the stars shows that the ceiling for horse girls developing toward combat is quite considerable.

The formalization did not grant them superhuman physiques; practicing after graduation is also fine, after all, their athletic careers are mostly short, and they are still young when they retire and graduate.

The possibilities that humanity possesses have not been rejected for these girls bearing otherworldly souls.

But this obviously cannot explain the reason why the Triple Crown horse girl Qianming's representative and the Kulanta knight Suo feiya became friends.

"How did you get to know Sophia? On the journey, hehe~"

The brown-haired horse girl answered casually.

"You also know she works as an instructor at Rhodes Island, but Rhodes Island also has holidays, of course, not summer vacation, just plain staff leave, and Sophia is enjoying her staff leave."

"By the way, you should also know she has two nieces, right? Ha, I guess you definitely know, and then we'll talk about those two nieces."

But her answer was also detailed, as if she already understood a lot.

"The elder sister, Miss Majalie, has always been goal-oriented, and this is no exception in this world."

"The younger one, that is Maria, has plunged into engineering, and the uncles of those two, Maenna, is also a workaholic; after coming to this world not long, he returned to his original world, his heart still there."

But Sophia is obviously different; her attitude toward her hometown is complicated, and she doesn't necessarily have to go back there, but here in Rhodes Island, she doesn't have a goal like her two nieces do...

So she would take advantage of the holiday, go out traveling, and then meet me, who was also traveling… huh? What's that look of yours? I'm really traveling, and I also suggest you take advantage of your free time to try traveling more.

She even got to know many, not limited to the donkey friends she met on this trip.

Just staying in one place, observing people from all over, eventually you'll find your knowledge insufficient, right?

The kid called Mancheng Chazuo quite likes mountain climbing, and her sister, Zhouri Weiyuan, also loves running around everywhere, creating troublesome cases—of course, she calls her own behavior 'wrapping up,' meaning she's just concluding the cases.

Speaking of which, it's surprising that she and you are still cooperating, especially that Trainer Linton would actually come to me asking about Luna's affairs.

Ah, you don't know Luna? This is Rudy's childhood nickname; as long as you investigate the Ludaofu Xiangzheng family deeply enough, you can also get in touch with it, and we and Roundgood also call her that in private, but please don't mention it in front of others.

After all... what she wanted to become was never the moon, but the sun.

【rd100=50】

【rd100=40】

【Investigation check passed】x2

But compared to that, what you probably want to ask most is why you got involved with Sophia, right?

Indeed.

If one were to say that developing from hitting it off with a donkey friend to being able to bring up family matters is already not easy, but Qianming is exactly the type that 'looks like they have many friends,' and indeed that's true, just as Aomo once said to Ludaofu Xiangzheng:

"She probably gets along fine with anyone."

But bringing that newly hit-it-off friend into this kind of sensitive information exchange... Aomo couldn't help but wonder about her purpose.

"Well, it's not really that sensitive, after all—the Xiangzheng family wouldn't go scattering nanoscopic surveillance devices in the air to catch us via sensitive keywords, would they~"

【rd100=54】

【Linton, observation check passed】

【rd100=70】

【Linton, erudition check passed】

"Moreover, don't you think our team also needs someone unrelated to the transmigrants to lower suspicion a bit?"

What is that guy who just throws on a hood and pretends he's stealthy saying?

【rd100=96】

【Qianming, stealth check failed】

No matter how you look at it, you're the most suspicious, right?

"Alright, alright, stop looking at me like that; speaking seriously, the Xiangzheng family also has someone who invited the Lingguang family to collaborate."

"It couldn't be horse racing, could it?"

Aomo wordlessly flicked the two dice hanging in midair.

Two 【default matching skin】 dice collide, continually emitting faint crimson light cracks, with sparks faintly bursting.

Clearly they are in midair, yet it seems as if there is an invisible receiving surface accelerating the consumption of their kinetic energy, causing the values to finally stop at a rather low point.

【rd100=24】

【Linton, stealth check passed】

Complex patterns flashed into existence beneath his feet and then vanished, while his own form began to turn semi-transparent.

Seeing this, Mr. C. B, who had been calmly narrating and chatting all along, suddenly became a bit frantic.

"There's no way… wait, how come your 30-point stealth succeeds while my 80-point is almost a total failure?!"

"Ah… there was clearly a chance to ambush the opposite side," Aomo sighed while gazing at the ghouls rushing out from the road ahead, "now we can't finish them in two rounds."

"You're not even planning to comfort your teammate, huh?"

My eighteen years of life experience tell me that the power of words is always feeble.

"Come on, say something impressive!" Qianming, who was the first to be dragged into the combat round, said half-annoyed.

"Words of comfort... this is just a ghoul," Aomo quietly circled the monster confronting Qianming, moving to its rear, "If you switch to half-turn-based, relying on your agility and shooting, you still have a chance to finish it quickly with a three-shot burst."

"With a 70 shooting, you should at least succeed one round, right? Sheriff Qianming?"

"What joke, at least succeed two rounds!" Qianming raised his hand and fired three shots, seeing the green die wrapped in gold patterns at the front suddenly trace three numbers.

【rd100x3=82、71、99】

【Qianming, shooting failure, failure, great failure】

Bang!

A deafening sound and sparks erupted together, accompanied by some blood and weapon fragments.

It blew up.

"..." Not knowing what to say, but Aomo, who shouldn't waste time in half-turn-based mode to make a fork, could only switch the staff to his right hand and grip the handle.

After all, the monster had already reached Qianming's front.

Thus, just before its agility check to attack, the thin blade detached from the staff and already stabbed toward the monster's unguarded back.

【Stealth state ended】

【Lin Dun has entered combat】

【rd100x2=60、20】

【Lin Dun, melee (65) activated successfully, gained sneak attack bonus, gained 'Clash Affinity' bonus】

【Lin Dun dealt 8+10 damage to the ghoul】

【"Clash Affinity" activated, the ghoul will lock onto Lin Dun to attack】

The slender yet sturdy blade pierced skin and flesh, and the palm pushed out a vicious secondary wound; in an instant, under the 80% realism setting, the faint health bar had only a sliver left, but the ferocious black-haired monster also twisted fiercely!

Its cloudy pupils stared at the young man in a suit, as if still harboring hatred from life.

The claws, still bearing torn glove leather, waved—there was no room for error—!

【rd100x2=1、30】

【Lin Dun, great success in evasion】

Based on agility points and the two-stage judgment in half-turn-based mode, an unexpected great success arrived.

The youth, who only intended to sidestep, was forced by the gratuitous bonus into a phantom afterimage and unnatural fluidity akin to a perfect dodge in an action game.

With a hair's-breadth margin, yet calmly, he avoided the two claws and the pounce.

But the smooth ending was not the expected cool counterattack, but the youth's shout:

"Teammate! Teammate! What are the teammates doing?!"

"My gun didn't just blow up, did it?!"

【rd100x3=32、46、72】

【Qianming, melee activated successfully, success, failure】

With a 70 melee threshold, two successful punches were enough to make up the final damage.

This person initially shouted, "I've always wanted to try being a cop!" but judging from the stat allocation, her understanding of police likely leans toward a SWAT team.

"With such high melee points, why care about guns or not?" Aomo, crouching to observe the ghoul, had a subtle expression.

"High melee points but low constitution; in this game, constitution affects melee attacks, so it's just scratching."

Qianming, likewise crouched, gazed wistfully at the gun fragments on the ground, obviously mourning her pistol that had been used seven times without exhausting its ammo.

"As a finishing blow, it's enough; the CoC tabletop rules emphasize struggle, not mass slaughter—you can't expect high damage output, just enough to whittle down the opponent's HP is fine." Aomo lifted the ghoul's arm to glance, then glanced at his own sanity value, which he had just overlooked and now dropped two points, "Also, sanity value—don't forget to monitor that."

"The person who dealt 18 damage with a staff-sword says output damage can't be high..." Qianming muttered beside him.

Aomo, seemingly unhearing, said: "This game shows few judgment points, but there are many hidden ones; losing two points makes me a bit dizzy, and if it truly drops, I probably can't avoid genuine mental contamination."

He said, standing up: "Let's withdraw, save and leave."

"Huh? Why? Did you find something?"

Having investigated information that could fill three pages of a clue notebook and endured three rounds of combat, she was clearly progressing well, even beginning to adapt to this game pace she previously avoided, yet suddenly heard Aomo's proposal to stop the game.

"Yeah, what did you find? The problem is quite serious," Aomo wordlessly lowered his head, gazing at the corpse before him, "I feel something's off just from looking at the 'Clash Affinity' entry record."

"Um... what do you mean?"

Qianming's reaction was not slow; looking at the ghoul on the ground, her expression likewise became complex.

"Anyway, let's log out first."

Aomo said, calling up the exit interface, then rose from the device, only to see Zhouri Ningjing standing before the device.

Arms crossed, face unsmiling, she looked down on him from above.

Her pair of black ears drooped slightly, a clear sign of irritation.

Yet she smiled and asked, "Backstab feels good, right?"

"Maybe later we can find a way to turn the ghoul back into a human."

Aomo turned his head to glance at Qianming representative rising from the other device, then looked back at Zhouri Ningjing and beside her, Zuofei ya, who had been smiling but now forced a smile.

The Whipblade Knight, true to its codename, adept at using a flexible sword as a skillful weapon, but obviously could not withstand the monstrous strength of the black Zhouri.

Thus a certain 'ghoul' came to demand accountability.

Well, more precisely, it was the player Zhouri Ningjing, transformed into a ghoul and thus disqualified from the game.

"Clash Affinity"—this buff that increases output during internal conflict—had also appeared in Aomo's options, but he didn't select it.

Ordinary people basically never carry it, let alone have it designated to affect a specific person.

Looking back, Aomo could anticipate that the other party expected to someday wield internal conflict as a god of civil war, but……

"How did things go wrong over there?" Qianming approached and softly asked Zuofei ya while pulling her.

After hearing that, the latter glanced at Zhouri Ningjing, then at the Qianming representative, and finally at Aomo, feeling somewhat lost for words.

Whether it's some comments on the forum, or memories of Miss Zuofei Ya in my recollection, they all show her strong-willed, straightforward nature, even being quick to speak, and she might even openly argue with the leader of the instructor group due to differences in training policies.

But at this moment, the other party was somewhat speechless, which made Aomo look at her, then glance toward Zhouri Ningjing, vaguely guessing something.

Moreover, the Qianming representative, who is adept at understanding a new friend's family background upon first meeting, obviously also lacks no knowledge of Zuofei Ya, nor the surprise that comes from that understanding.

"For beginners, total party kills in Call of Cthulhu sessions are quite common."

Aomo merely shrugged, picked up the drink that was still more than half full on the side, and didn't bring up those two people's experiences.

After the hot-tempered, straightforward Zhouri Ningjing teams up with the strong-willed, confident Zuofei Ya, what kind of experience they'll have… is not hard to guess.

Since the teams were divided and the decision to act separately was made at the very start of the game, how could he not be surprised by this result?

But there's nothing to be done—who let the purpose of tonight's gathering be for him and Qianming to exchange information about the Symbolists?

If one truly aims to clear the game, the proper combination should be Aomo, Zhouri Ningjing, the Qianming representative, and Zuofei Ya.

The latter needs no mention, but although the former combination is destined to lack peace, Aomo, at least being a veteran of this type of game, can still tolerate Zhouri Ningjing's hot temper with the patience of caring for a child, if necessary.

Acting directly as a four-person squad would indeed reduce hidden risks, but look—Aomo and the Qianming representative earlier chatted about Zuofei Ya's family matters, then threw in a couple of disses toward Zhouri Ningjing, and finally brought up the past of Ludaofu Xiangzheng, which is obviously not suitable for those two to hear.

Thus came this strong-strong alliance, a mix of reckless and new, somewhat of a pairing that doesn't care about others' lives or deaths.

Of course, even with this strong-strong alliance, the Qianming representative's luck is rather poor, giving Aomo reason to believe she previously avoided this type of game because of her dice rolls and such…

"In such a setting, rash advances are taboo in the game, after all, restrictions abound from character creation onward, and the background is one of limited human wisdom and terrifying unknowns—ah, of course, perhaps we could try DND."

Upon noticing his own mention of "taboo rash advances," Zhouri Ningjing's face visibly darkened a few shades, and Aomo shifted his tone, pointing to the exhibit across from them where dragon and warrior squads were facing off, with live broadcasts of the battle being shown.

Speaking of which, when Aomo and the others were playing TRPG here, the fact that they hadn't clicked to make the stream public meant that neither the visuals nor the audio were leaked; although teammates might see shared screens, the death perspective doesn't even come with sound or chat.

To avoid the appearance of a fountain commander.

This is out of consideration for realism, and players who value gameplay and the "Endless War God, come out!" mode can simply leave this option unchecked in the early game.

However, veteran players always, when introducing newcomers, coax and trick them into checking it anyway (x).

The Qianming representative, Zuofei Ya, and Zhouri Ningjing are obviously full of confidence; they even clicked it before Aomo could say anything.

Then the "Zhouri Ningjing Whip Blade" team quickly tore up their cards and went idle.

Zuofei Ya didn't even have time to experience the Call of Cthulhu specialty—low SAN value—to assess the difference in neural damage caused by the Faction, and together with Zhouri Ningjing she drifted through the virtual scene until she drifted to where her teammates were, where she saw Aomo backstabbing Zhouri Ningjing and even performing a perfect dodge.

Pretty cool, albeit based on the premise that someone got padded.

"What are you still playing board games for! No dice allowed! Zuofei Ya.""Huh?"

Miss Whip Blade hadn't expected to be called up by Zhouri Ningjing, as if they already had a friendship blossom of kicking down doors and wiping out parties together.

"How about I buy you two drinks? My earlier behavior was my fault, just a habit."

Oh… damn, as long as you're not facing me, you'll even proactively reflect on your mistakes?

Aomo began to feel that "born to clash" was no longer just an optional tag in the game.

Recommendation: this book definitely won't get cut off like the last one did! (Probably

"I Cultivate While Leveling Up in the Dragon World"

I hope this book can stay alive a bit longer, so it doesn't look like I'm practicing evil arts using someone else's book.