Chapter 623: NO.204: No matter, I will accelerate

NO. 204: It doesn't matter, I will accelerate.

【Vega: Is there a plan that lets training be completely undisturbed?】

【Umastar: If there is, surely it could become popular across the internet overnight, usable for training, and thus also for study and cultivation.】

【Vega: I heard that completely closing off one's inner self is enough.】

【Umastar: That kind of undisturbed state isn't just training; it also includes bodily death.】

【Vega: In that case, would I be able to see her?】

【Umastar: I always suggest you seek spiritism's help for communicating with spirits, rather than these dangerous-sounding suicide jokes.】

【Vega: But this is what Castor said.】

【Umastar: Stars don't speak, except for giant life forms like Cthugha that resemble celestial bodies, Miss Vega.

Where else did you see Castor? Have you left the district?】

Even though environmental protection has been advocated for a long time, and even though many policies in Jiemen District have placed its environmental pollution at the bottom among federal districts, the brilliant starry sky remains a luxury.

In the city most of the time you can only see a few scattered stars; out in the countryside and mountains it would be much better, but a good stargazing spot still requires going to high mountains and picking the right time—for example, a moonless night.

The darker the moonlight, the better for stargazing.

But even so, given Jiemen District's position, Gemini remains an uncommon constellation.

Gemini α (Castor), on the left, is the younger sibling; Gemini β (Pollux), on the right, is the elder sibling.

In the Hesya myth, Pollux and Castor are twin brothers; the former grieves over the latter's death, wishing to die alongside him, but cannot due to his immortal life.

His sorrow moved the heavens, and thus the two were placed as constellations, one standing in heaven and the other in the land of death.

Vega evidently based on this myth, regards her deceased sister as Castor, but to netizens, such dangerous remarks cannot be ignored.

After the other party had not replied for over five minutes, Umastar quietly tapped the help customer service on Umastagram to confirm Vega's condition.

Thanks to the positioning effect, while camping on a certain mountain, the already-asleep Miss Zhiji was awakened by the URA Association's rescue team, proving it was just a false alarm; she had merely fallen asleep while typing.

But this didn't prevent her from being lectured by the rescue team members: don't lightly send such dangerous suggestive remarks, and certainly don't go camping alone in such remote wilderness.

Even horse girls have the same safety hazards.

Those words are largely effective.

For a long time after that, Umastar never saw Vega post similar remarks again, though it could also be that she found his opinion too harsh—after all, in every sense it was quite embarrassing.

Even if at that time her heart's wall was already constantly thickening, for a girl who was still in ninth grade and about to enter high school, it counted as a heavy blow to her inner self.

But precisely for that reason, Aomo feels she will likely never forget it in her lifetime.

Even if she forgets the so-called 'witnessing perseverance' promise, it's still hard to forget the moment of social death a few years ago.

Just like now, when he asks about perseverance, the other's bewilderment doesn't seem like recollection but more like not having reacted yet—but!

When he directly brought up 'Castor', Aimu Zhiji's expression changed immediately.

That change was remarkable, shifting from disbelief to flustered panic, and when sizing herself up it turned into uncontrollable anger.

Like a child, she almost wanted to jump up, glaring at Aomo, biting her lip in anger.

But she isn't really that much of a child.

She also knew her classmates were nearby, and knew this didn't fit her 'persona', so she struggled to suppress that overly frank expression.

From this perspective, Aomo had to agree that idol culture is dross, making these young‑aged children pre‑shape their images, living like the virtual idols that appear in history books.

Well, that's just as in the history books; nowadays virtual streamers are purely virtual, merely wearing a skin and not truly deserving the name—rather, these days everyone has an online‑only avatar, just like Aomo and Shinjo Akane initially chatted.

Although there are also those who go online with their real names, confident social butterflies and super lazy dogs who simply upload their appearance unchanged.

But the vast majority still enjoy giving themselves a more extravagant look.

Even Bourbon, in GBN, gave herself a mecha‑girl look—aside from the pink color scheme, she has headset‑like antennae resembling horse ears on top, making it hard to directly associate with her real self.

But this is digressing, and it cannot even capture the surge of fury building in the girl before us as she suddenly meets the netizen face‑to‑face.

"Is it you?"

She evidently still had her reason, staring at Aomo with the bewildered gaze of someone on Narita Road, recalling their first meeting: "So you're asking about spirit communication?!"

She no longer doubted, only feeling utterly spooked; she never imagined that the horse‑racing enthusiast who gave explanations all over the forum would actually be a trainer, even a central trainer… no……

He seemed to have accidentally entered midway, which is why… Aimu Zhiji, looking at this youth who at first glance didn't appear to be a few years older than her, added the final descriptor in her mind.

Young……

Is it really this young guy who keeps lecturing me?

"It's me, but please don't forget, it was you who originally said let me watch you persevere."

When Aomo redirected the topic back to the present, the girl's anger completely subsided; familiar coldness like a mask covered everything, and she easily reverted to the Aimu Zhiji that both of them knew.

Although the impact of the grudge over social death is great, it's clear that the competition, or rather her obsession, remains the top priority.

"I also told you back then not to meddle with me!" she said coldly.

"Don't meddle with you, look at how you're struggling?"

"Struggling? There's no struggling."

"Look at you acting awkward in front of friends?"

"Awkward… I'm not… and not friends……"

"Your mind is about to collapse, yet you still insist on being stubborn?"

"How can you keep talking to yourself?"

"Did you see that, Narita Road classmate?" Aomo suddenly turned his head toward the clueless blond horse girl, "If you want to converse smoothly with Miss Zhiji, you need to appropriately bypass her words; ordinary logic will only be cut off by her, and you still lack a bit of willfulness."

"Um, oh, uh…" The bewildered Narita Road, hesitating, engaged in a turtle‑crawl train of thought, the result of which was—a sudden deep bow!

"Thanks for the guidance!"

Aimu Zhiji turned her whole face aside, narrowed her eyes, and refused to look any further.

"But how is Trainer Lin Dun…"

"This is a secret, Miss Chengtian Lu," the youth said calmly, smiling as he spread his ten fingers crossed before him, "The secret means don't ask too much."

How did he come to know? This experience is the conclusion he drew from his review.

However, the core of this review is not Aimu Zhiji, but himself.

He was reviewing how he almost had his rhythm taken away by Qianming back then.

And ultimately, the conversational technique Aimu Zhiji uses to get along with people and end deadlocked arguments is what he taught.

It's the same as his.

"You're starting to keep secrets again?"

"Of course, I came here to prove my identity, or rather to uncover an even more spicy secret." Aomo said, his gaze shifting from Aimu Zhiji to Chengtian Lu, who was pondering his method.

"Sorry, I have to leave first for something!" Aimu Zhiji suddenly said.

In front of someone who holds too many of your secrets, direct confrontation is simply irrational.

She directly chose to leave!

And this was also to sort out her already chaotic feelings and thoughts.

Starting from early this morning, her mood was terrible, her thoughts were chaotic, and she even had some inexplicable impulses, prompting her to voluntarily go to the infirmary.

As a result, just as now, not only was she not healed, but she also got involved with an even more troublesome guy.

But obviously, devils are never that easy to shake off; they always offer conditions or words that make it hard for you to move forward, often full of temptation, dreamlike and illusory, like a certain phrase:

"I can let you truly see your sister."

And yet it often does not amount to temptation.

Modern devils have long upgraded their rhetoric in their struggle against humanity, laying bare even the most obvious costs before you, making them unacceptable yet unavoidable to face.

"But you must truly face Miss Chengtian Lu, face the failure you feared in that Kyoto Report Cup."

"Fear… failure?"

Chengtian Lu, who seemed unable to understand those words, turned his head to look at Aimu Zhiji standing far away, unwilling to turn back.

Nobody would think Aimu Zhiji would fear failure.

She is clearly the embodiment of steadfast will, a bloodless, tearless running machine; when placed alongside the emotionally rich Chengtian Lu, the disparity becomes even more stark.

But Chengtian Lu also didn't hear Aimu Zhiji's rebuttal; clearly, she had been countering the trainer's words all along.

She only heard the trainer's further words in that brief silence.

"Yes, fearing failure—I have a request for you, Miss Chengtian Lu." The trainer looked at himself, his dark red eyes carrying a hint of inquiry.

"I hope you can run alongside Miss Zhiji once."

"Right now, in that temporarily vacant Saichang."

Just as madness only needs a bad day, giving up stubbornness only needs a little joint run.

But such a joint run might never come to pass in the end.

Only then would someone's push be needed.

Even if only half of them is human.