The counters were lined with a dazzling array of shoes. In the world of Uma Musume, everything revolved around them. The shoes were built with a rare sturdiness, as a horse girl's leg strength was so immense that normal shoes would simply fall apart. Not only were the materials top-notch, but the toes were reinforced with steel plates, serving as protection—and a weapon.
"Hello, how can I help you today?"
"I'd like to buy some shoes for my horse girl. Any recommendations? She has a race coming up."
"In that case, I recommend this model..." the clerk began a long-winded explanation."Okay, I have absolutely no idea what he's saying."
Steel-toed reinforcements, triple-ply soles, brands Luo Cheng had never even heard of... the clerk's technical jargon went completely over his head. Nodding along as if he understood, Luo Cheng turned to her.
"Teio, what do you think?"
"Obviously, we should get the ones with the best cost-performance ratio. Let's go with the reinforced resin ones; they're durable and hard to break."
"We'll take those."
"I'll go pack them up for you right away."
"No need, we'll just put them on now." Tokai Teio sat down on a chair and extended her foot toward Luo Cheng. "Trainer, help me."
"Okay."
Luo Cheng knelt down and began to help her remove her old shoes. Since they hadn't started training today, Teio's feet were clean. Usually, after a session, her white cotton socks would be soaked with sweat, leaving dark stains and a pungent, complex aroma of sourness, leather, and milk.
But right now, it was pleasant. Her lower legs and feet emitted a sweet scent of soap and citrus—crisp, dry, and free of any bothersome perspiration. It was the perfect state for... handling.
As Luo Cheng pulled off her shoes, Teio's face flushed a deep red. The moment his fingers brushed against the sole of her foot, her body gave an involuntary jerk.
It feels so good...
Teio had been feeling this way since the morning. she had a desperate urge to be close to her Trainer. After he had kissed her, she had been feeling restless and itchy with anticipation, which was why she had kissed him back. But instead of easing the tension in her heart, it only seemed to intensify it. She wanted to touch him, to seek stimulation from him; her young, budding heart was thrumming with desire.
The moment Luo Cheng grasped her foot, Teio couldn't help but let out a soft moan. Seeing this, the staff member tactfully stepped away, leaving the two of them alone.
However, while Teio was practically vibrating with excitement, Luo Cheng didn't react much. He simply guided her soft, tender feet into the new shoes, marveling at the incredible quality. For a human, these shoes would probably last a lifetime. For a horse girl, they might last a year. The amount of training they did daily would likely kill a normal person.
Luo Cheng had once tried to train alongside Teio. He knew he couldn't just "output" energy without building his own stamina, so he had tried to keep up. He nearly died on the track, while Teio looked like she hadn't even broken a sweat. Eventually, triggering some sort of protection mechanism, Teio had carried his collapsed body to the infirmary and tended to him with a wet towel.
Unless a human underwent some sort of genetic mutation to become a horse girl themselves, challenging them was impossible. Their baseline was a human's ultimate limit—and often far beyond it.
"All done." While marveling at their physical prowess, Luo Cheng finished tying the laces and looked up. Teio was covering her mouth, her eyes misty, her tail twisted into a literal knot, and her body was twitching slightly.
What's wrong with her? Luo Cheng was baffled. I didn't even give her a treat yet. Why is she acting like this?
It took a long while for Teio to come back to her senses after the sensation of being served by her Trainer. She wiped the corner of her eye, shocked that just being touched by him felt this good. If we did other things, wouldn't I just die from pleasure? she wondered with sudden, intense anticipation.
"Let's go, Trainer," she said reluctantly.
Now that she was a real person, there were things Luo Cheng found even harder to read. He had the staff pack up her old shoes, and they left the shop. The shoes were quite expensive—with the horseshoe plates, it came to seventy thousand yen—but they came with a warranty; any damage within six months would be repaired for free.
He wondered if buying these things mattered. He had arrived here at the same time marked in the manual, which meant he might eventually have to go back. He didn't know if everything he did would vanish once he returned or if it would carry over into the game world. Could he bring items back? Would his relationships with the horse girls change the state of the game world? These questions swirled in his mind.
Wait...
Luo Cheng stopped in his tracks. A thought occurred to him. He couldn't command anyone other than Tokai Teio because he wasn't officially their Trainer, and in the game world, he couldn't find a way to sign a contract with others. Now that he was in reality, did that mean he could sign contracts with them here and change his status in the game?
That might actually be it! Things he couldn't do in the game world could be done in reality, and vice-versa. The two worlds complemented each other!
Luo Cheng wanted to go back and test it immediately, but Teio had been holding his hand the entire time. The little girl's grip was like iron! It felt like being bound by steel cables. Teio, if you keep this up, I'll be afraid to let you hold my hand in the future! Heaven only knew why those soft, fragrant, sweet-smelling little hands possessed such terrifying power.
"Trainer, let's go to the snack street!" Teio was in high spirits. "We'll eat lunch out here and then go play in the afternoon!"
"No, I have something I need to do."
"Something to do... Oh, I see." Teio's ears drooped, and "disappointment" was written all over her face.
"...Well, I suppose playing for a little while won't hurt."
"Really! Hehe~" Teio's mood shifted from cloudy to sunny in an instant.
"Let's go then. Where to?"
Seeing her emotions shift so transparently, Luo Cheng pulled her in for a vigorous ruffing of her hair. To him, this transition felt like an "artificial idiot" evolving into a true AI. It was an evolution; the 2D girl had come to life! Luo Cheng's mood felt brighter than ever before.
Teio giggled and hugged him tightly.
"Takoyaki, ramen, conveyor belt sushi... I want to eat it all!" Teio's tail wagged, silently coiling around Luo Cheng's leg like a chain, binding the man to her side.
They played until evening. When they returned, Luo Cheng found Hayakawa Tazuna still standing at the gate.
"Trainer Luo Cheng, you're back."
"Yeah. Still working, Tazuna?"
"I saw that you hadn't returned, so I thought I'd wait here to welcome you."
"I'm truly flattered." Luo Cheng's eyes drifted toward Tazuna's black stockings. She seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally rubbing her long, beautiful legs together.
"It was just a whim of mine." She bowed, a flawless smile on her face. Her emerald eyes cast a fleeting glance at Tokai Teio, who was leaning against Luo Cheng, before returning to his face.
"To show my thanks, I'll treat you to dinner sometime, Tazuna," Luo Cheng said, pulling his gaze away from those tempting legs.
"Alright. I'll look forward to it," she replied with a beaming smile.
As he walked away, Luo Cheng glanced back and saw that Tazuna was still watching him.
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My : https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
Uma Musume: Inside the Game (40 Chapters – Ongoing)
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