Chapter 587: NO．169：The End Has Come for the Glutton!

NO. 169: The end has come for binge eaters!

【Why Don't You Evolve?: So you can't even get on GBN anymore?】

【Moon Ring Snake: Well, not entirely impossible—you can log in using someone else's identity, or even temporarily forge documents.】

【Why Don't You Evolve?: Sounds like a hassle, not really something you'd do.】

【Moon Ring Snake: People change, and sometimes you just have to do things you don't want to.】

【Why Don't You Evolve?: If it were the old you saying this, I wouldn't believe it, but now…】

Ω-type support craft… Surely there aren't other models, right? Like, say, α-type?

【Moon Ring Snake: No, I neither have the inclination nor the time for that.】

【Why Don't You Evolve?: Too bad, but oh well—at least I still have this gift. When I get home tonight, I'll show it to Ami. I can already picture her staring at the photo and asking endless questions.】

【Moon Ring Snake: Just thinking about it makes me feel like it'd be noisy.】

【Why Don't You Evolve?: I don't mind, actually—I kinda like the hustle and bustle. But you'd better watch out when she comes to bother you.】

【Moon Ring Snake: Not to worry—I've built up plenty of experience dealing with this kind of thing lately.】

Just like now, I look up, and there's Aries Suzuko shouting on the treadmill: "I'm not wrong, I'm starving, and there's no tea set in the room!"—her protest echoing.

Shift my gaze slightly, and I can see another identical treadmill, but with the resistance cranked way down, where New Conditions Akane runs, unable to bring glory to humanity.

Compared to Suzuko's effortless, loud-running form—unafraid of side stitches—she's panting even from a light jog, unable to finish a sentence, let alone shout a tiny snake's name without her voice cutting off mid-syllable.

At first listen, one might think something salacious is going on in the room.

Indeed, athletic girls in the "sultry" domain are still a fairly broad creative label.

A beautiful girl in a sports bra and shorts, drenched in sweat on the treadmill, remains pleasing to the eye—especially if her figure is full-figured, or even slightly plump.

Rendered as a paper doll, she'd be even more alluring.

But since she's not a paper doll, Aumu still stands rather far away.

So far, in fact, that he's right by the lab door, keeping it open for ventilation, and always ready to walk away.

After all, he's not some odor connoisseur—the scent that disperses with sweat usually only holds special appeal in textual descriptions.

As for theoretically, it's not just about hearing being abnormal in horse girls…

Toresen is, after all, a sports school—Aries Suzuko is probably quite used to that kind of air composition—roughly speaking.

In short, Aumu, who doesn't want to think about this sort of thing, believes they should pay the price for their two-day takeout binge, so he won't call a stop to it.

New trainers fresh from academy-style education usually only possess exercise theory and judgment skills tailored to horse girls.

Aumu is clearly not one of them—he spends far more time observing humans than horse girls.

Even if Akane tries to jump off the treadmill, a giant mage's hand will snatch her back onto it.

Whether she's reached her limit, she says it's pointless—Aumu will judge for himself.

And besides that…

He turns his head, looking toward the outside of the lab.

Through the corridor, he can see straight to the end of the living room—though his view is limited by the walls, he can still catch the reflection in the window: Bourbon and Hakujin are battling it out at the long table with the 00q parts most commonly used for Gunpla modifications.

Honestly, this is a bit too rushed—newcomers don't need to rush into Gunpla modding, even if the GBN newcomer rooms often have veteran oil slicks; mastering basic operation is definitely more important than upgrading performance.

But… how to spend holiday time is ultimately their own freedom.

Besides, GBN hasn't launched yet, so aside from doing other things, all they can really do is "maintain and research units."

Though as the one responsible for the mess, I don't really have the standing to say this, but I'm starting to think GBN's tech department is truly trash.

Maintenance time has already exceeded two hours, and I have no idea what kind of compensation email they'll send.

Just thinking about GBN's servers makes him raise his hand again, poking at the light screen, and typing a line into the ongoing conversation:

【Moon Ring Snake: When you're in the game, do you keep your network surveillance vision active?】

【Why Don't You Evolve?: Hmm? I sneakily opened it twice when my hands got itchy, but I didn't touch any data—just out of habit, I glance at this kind of deep game intrusion twice.】

【Moon Ring Snake: Understood—network surveillance often comes with this kind of habit.】

【Why Don't You Evolve?: Yeah, but GBN seems to have had almost no incidents like this so far.】

【Moon Ring Snake: A cautious operational style naturally has its benefits.】

【Why Don't You Evolve?: Just say it's lazy and low-output already—so what did you want to ask?】

【Moon Ring Snake: When I was losing control—specifically, in the few minutes before my final battle with Evolto—did you notice any unusual data streams?】

He recalled that moment—their shouts, and White Jin's cries.

But at the same time, there was the call of the New Universe, right before his eyes.

Compared to the first two, this one appeared too illusory and fleeting—when he tries to recall it, it feels like some kind of hallucination.

But when he directly accesses the memory files, he can confirm that the other party left traces on the retinal and auditory nerves.

It wasn't a hallucination, but he also remembers that the manifestation of the New Universe always requires overcoming numerous resistances.

She dwelled in the vast, boundless data world—every step she took was fraught with obstacles, even her own existence unstable—so she needed the actions of the Toresen Goddess AI and the Super Agent, while Aumu himself tore through barriers with Magan Zero, just to get her information through.

And this time, he did nothing.

That can only mean the other party paid the price.

【Why Don't You Evolve?: Special… data stream? I was in a hurry shouting at you then—where would I have had the bandwidth to notice that?】

That's right…

…Indeed.

He leans back slightly against the wall.

【Moon Ring Snake: Then there's nothing to be done—but if you ever encounter it, or hear the name 'Neouniverse,' please contact me.】

【Why Don't You Evolve?: Say 'please'—if you need help, just say it straight. What is Neouniverse? Some weird name—could it be a horse girl?】

【Moon Ring Snake: …Don't go assuming every strange phrase refers to horse girls.】

【You haven't evolved: aren't you a horse girl?】

【Yuehuanshe: Yes】

【You haven't evolved: Tsk tsk, you say you're already a trainer, so the problems you encounter couldn't be anything but horse girls—what else could they be? It can't be Digimon, and you don't accept Beast Tamers, even though there's a rather suitable Digimon right beside you】

【Yuehuanshe: I'd rather be the Party A who gives Party B honest holidays】

Although he had already 'fought' once with that PR assistant over contacting the other party in advance during holidays, to ensure smooth cooperation, at least he wanted to avoid a second occurrence.

【Yuehuanshe: Moreover, you need to broaden your horizons—for example, monsters and aliens; I've been particularly affiliated with them these past few months】

【You haven't evolved: As an old-timer in the Digital World, where would I need to consider these? Alright, I'll focus on passing through the surface Digital World, and I'll also show your rather well-restored Omega X Armor to Omega Beast】

【Yuehuanshe: Doesn't he have a phone?】

Nowadays, any Digimon that has considerable contact with the human world prepares an electronic terminal.

When in the Digital World, one can use the terminal to cross multiple barriers and contact the surface layer; when in the real world, it can also serve as a 'door' to sneak into the network world.

Aomo bought one for the Witch Beast too.

【You haven't evolved: If we can meet in person, why use a phone? Of course, meeting in person is for giving surprises—don't be so rigid, Aomo】

【Yuehuanshe: Fine, then you're busy; if anything comes up next time, I'll call you again】

【You haven't evolved: Good, best if it's news about your research on Alpha Armor—that way, the section chief might not make you try coffee anymore】

【Yuehuanshe: That line is truly attractive, a pity my leisurely student days have long since drifted away from me】

【You haven't evolved: But I think you weren't idle back then either—every time you logged in, you set a time at night, even weekends were the same, and occasionally you could see you writing columns on forums hanging outside in the game world】

【Yuehuanshe: You're not in a hurry anymore?】

【You haven't evolved: Alright, new universe, right? I'll pay attention, 88~】

The dialogue thus came to an end, as Aomo lifted his gaze again toward that person who had secretly crept to the front end of the treadmill and was crouching there, under Suzi's strange gaze from not far away, covering his ears while stealing a bell.

Mercilessly raising his arm in a hollow gesture, the silver-colored magic claw variant reappeared above the other's head.

Like an eagle catching a chick, he easily lifted the whole person up.

The 17-year-old boy, having restored to eighty percent of his strength, was precisely the capital Aomo dared to bring Bai Ren and Bourbon back home openly, and then openly seek trouble from Suzi and Qiemi.

These two days, they had both added how many trash bags and takeout bags at home, Bourbon had tallied them clearly.

As for this, Suzi admitted defeat without hesitation, while Qiemi still wanted to struggle.

The reason was obvious.

"Little snake, don't—"

"

Having already leaned her legs toward her favorite female friend, as if wanting to compete with the animated Lai Sha, Miss Xin Tiao's cry was so miserable it sounded exactly like Aomo had summoned four speed-climbing radishes specially to come, in order to utterly humiliate her monster.

But that was merely to make her run to lose weight.

The settings couldn't even compare to Suzi's side.

One can only say that Miss Xin Tiao's exercise awareness is indeed far from being comparable to that of Miss Ai Li, who graduated from a sports academy.

And regarding this, the demon controlling the magic claw, mercilessly.

So, that magic claw hovering above the treadmill belt, very easily, loosened its grip.

"Make me run!"

"Do you still remember what you said a week ago—that you wanted to lose weight? Are you going to bring all those extra pounds to see Miss Baoduo later? Tech fat-burning? Does tech fat-burning even make sense? Even Suzi, who has all kinds of lab equipment, doesn't have your kind of thinking! What are your cries even supposed to be? Those words of yours wouldn't even be tolerated by Gulitte! Do you want to bring your desperate fat and die stuck in calories?"

"Ah ah ah, stop reciting, stop reciting, little snake, stop reciting!"

"You still have the energy to speak fluently in one sentence—run another ten minutes for me! After that, there are still sit-ups; indeed, losing weight can't be hoped for from your self-discipline."

"Wuu wuu wuu!"

Miss Xin Tiao, whose expression looked like a mentally disabled goddess, temporarily lost her ability to speak.