At the same time as Kitahara Shinji was looking at the screen, his expression gradually becoming subtle.
Tracen headquarters, Ritto Dormitory.
The being known as Vodka, with brown hair and gray eyes, was staring at the screen, her expression a little conflicted.
She was the 'Grasp Victory' who was chatting with Kitahara Shinji.
However, contrary to Kitahara Shinji's prediction, Vodka was not a teenage boy, but a proper horse girl who had entered Tracen headquarters on her own ability and talent.
And her reason for asking Kitahara Shinji this question was also a little different from what he had predicted.
It wasn't to chase a girl, but to apologize to her roommate.
How should I put it? Vodka's relationship with her roommate, named Daiwa Scarlet, was rather strange.
If you said their relationship was bad, they were stuck together like a set of bound equipment all day long, almost never apart.
But if you said their relationship was good, most of the time they were bickering and arguing, and they could argue about anything.
For example, recently, they were arguing about a trainer named Kitahara Shinji.
The whole thing started one day when Vodka was browsing the forums and saw some news about that trainer named Kitahara Shinji, and then casually brought it up with Daiwa Scarlet.
And as they chatted, Vodka found that Daiwa Scarlet seemed to hold that trainer named Kitahara Shinji in high regard.
The reason was that Daiwa Scarlet was good friends with Agnes Tachyon.
Knowing that Kitahara Shinji was Agnes Tachyon-senpai's trainer, and having heard many good things about him from Agnes Tachyon, her impression of him was extremely good.
This might sound a bit strange.
After all, Agnes Tachyon's reputation in the academy was so bad that even horse girls would generally avoid her. How come Daiwa Scarlet seemed to trust her so much?
The answer was also simple: Agnes Tachyon was very good to her.
Since they met, Agnes Tachyon had provided Daiwa Scarlet with various kinds of help for free, and had never once asked Daiwa Scarlet to test a potion for her, let alone tricked her.
She even gave her most of the rare, side-effect-free enhancement potions, keeping only a small portion for herself. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she treated her like her own daughter.
In this situation, even though Daiwa Scarlet also knew that Agnes Tachyon had a bad reputation in the academy, she still respected and trusted Agnes Tachyon very much.
So after the other party gave Kitahara Shinji a very high evaluation, she immediately chose to believe it, and her impression of him was already extremely good without even meeting him.
But Vodka was not happy about this.
Don't get me wrong, she wasn't a lesbian, nor was she jealous. She just didn't get along with Daiwa Scarlet.
Even in daily life, if Daiwa Scarlet said left, she would definitely say right.
If Daiwa Scarlet said white was pretty, she would definitely say black was better.
So now that Daiwa Scarlet said Kitahara Shinji was a good person, Vodka immediately started to refute her.
And, as time went by, the argument between the two became more and more intense.
Daiwa Scarlet just believed in Agnes Tachyon, and just thought that Kitahara Shinji was a pure 24K gold good trainer.
And in order to refute Vodka's point of view, she even went to learn a lot of information about Kitahara Shinji, and in the process, her impression of him continued to improve, and her position became more and more firm.
And Vodka was similar to her. In order to refute her point of view, she also collected various information and evidence, trying to prove that Kitahara Shinji was not as good and amazing as he was hyped up to be online.
And in this process, not only did her position gradually become firm, she even became friends with the opinion leaders of the camp that questioned Kitahara Shinji.
The two sides now cherished each other and would often discuss how to expose Kitahara Shinji's true face under his skin.
Then, under these circumstances, yesterday, while Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet were eating and arguing, she accidentally flung the food from her chopsticks, and it landed on Daiwa Scarlet's skirt.
It was a little skirt that Daiwa Scarlet particularly liked, and it was white.
The food she dropped was very oily, and as a result, it left a clear mark that couldn't be washed off.
Although Daiwa Scarlet only took the opportunity to lecture her for half a day afterward, as usual, and didn't show much else, after returning to the dorm, Vodka still noticed that her expression seemed a little different from usual. After changing her clothes, she held that skirt and looked at it for a long time.
This made Vodka feel very bad, so she thought of buying her something as compensation.
But the problem was, although Vodka was also a girl, her personality was a bit of a tomboy.
While other girls' closets were full of skirts and cosmetics, her closet was full of shorts, windbreakers, and even sunglasses.
While other girls liked to watch romantic soap operas and buy cute things like dolls, she liked to watch action movies and especially liked motorcycles, and was currently working hard to save up her new year's money to buy one.
And so far, although she had many female friends, and because of her personality, she was quite popular among girls, she had never really given another girl a proper gift.
After all, other girls were mostly not interested in the things she liked, and she wasn't interested in the things other girls liked.
So, when faced with this situation, the first thing that came to her mind was to ask for outside help.
Then, the name 'Carrot-Hoku' automatically popped into her mind.
Although she had only known him for half a month, her impression of this Carrot-Hoku was incredibly good now.
Because of her tomboyish personality, Vodka had always pursued being a 'cool' horse girl, and Carrot-Hoku perfectly fit her definition of cool.
Mysterious, powerful, taciturn, and seemingly with many unspeakable mysterious pasts.
She had added Carrot-Hoku as a friend at that time only because she had been beaten by him and was a little unconvinced, so she wanted to add him as a friend and schedule another match.
And after that, she witnessed Carrot-Hoku's rapid progress firsthand, watching him slay gods and buddhas all the way, with an almost 100% win rate, his ranking skyrocketing.
If it weren't for the fact that he usually played too little, he would have probably been on the leaderboards long ago.
And it wasn't just his gaming skills.
After getting to know each other for the first few days, she would also start to chat with him about topics other than games.
Then, she found that Carrot-Hoku was not only good at games; games could even be considered the most inconspicuous of his skills.
For example, she had once talked to Carrot-Hoku about horse girl-related matters and, in the name of a friend, raised some of her current problems.
And Carrot-Hoku, just after reading the text she sent, without asking her to describe it in detail, let alone asking for a video demonstration or data, directly gave a solution off the cuff.
At first, she thought he was joking. After trying it half-believingly, she found that those solutions were so effective they were a bit excessive, easily solving the problems that had been bothering her for a long time.
And it wasn't just horse girls. Although Carrot-Hoku didn't seem to have a deep knowledge of motorcycles, he seemed to have some interest in racing.
And during a casual chat, he complained that he actually wanted to save up to buy a car, but the people he knew were very opposed to it, and said that even if he bought it, they wouldn't ride in his car.
His words vaguely revealed an ultimate pursuit of speed, and he also mentioned that he had had several experiences of racing with others, but he did not elaborate, as if there was some hidden story.
And besides these two points, things like action movies, fighting techniques, and various strange things, as long as she mentioned them, he could give a quick and accurate answer, as if there was nothing in the world he was not good at.
And although he rarely talked about himself, just from the bits and pieces he occasionally revealed, it also gave a very extraordinary impression.
Especially when talking to him about the various exciting scenes in those action movies, such as fights and car chases that could make one's adrenaline surge, he would often complain about the unreasonableness of them and tell her not to believe them.
And when she wanted to refute, he could easily say what would actually happen in such a situation.
And even the various reactions and details were very detailed, in a way that didn't seem like something someone without experience could say.
So, although they had only known each other for half a month, Vodka already admired and even worshipped this Carrot-Hoku very much, and repeatedly expressed her desire to become his apprentice and become as cool as him.
So far, Carrot-Hoku had not agreed to her request to become his apprentice.
At most, when she sent him an invitation in the game, he would accept her invitation and play a couple of games with her, chatting with her a little in between.
But even though her request to become his apprentice was rejected, Vodka's impression of him did not decrease at all. On the contrary, she felt that this was how a master should be.
Then, the first time she thought of asking for outside help, she immediately thought of him.
Then she immediately went online, opened the game, and clicked on his avatar.
After that, after she sent the message a little nervously and waited for a while, Carrot-Hoku's side finally replied.
[Carrot-Hoku]: Then tell me your situation
[Carrot-Hoku]: I have some time right now, I can help you think it over
...
A moment later, the trainer's dormitory.
Kitahara Shinji looked at the message sent by 'Grasp Victory' on the screen, his expression becoming more and more subtle.
For various reasons, Vodka did not directly recount the incident to Kitahara Shinji.
She just briefly said that she had dirtied a friend's favorite skirt, described Daiwa Scarlet's reaction afterward, and then said that she wanted to give a gift as an apology, hoping he could give some suggestions.
This...
Kitahara Shinji pinched his chin, looking at the words on the screen, and slightly recalled some of the things he had talked about with Grasp Victory in the past. His gaze slowly changed.
Then, very rarely, Kitahara Shinji did not immediately answer Grasp Victory's question, but instead took the initiative to ask something else.
[Carrot-Hoku]: You said just now that you guys are often together?
[Grasp Victory]: Basically every day
[Carrot-Hoku]: She just lectured you as usual after that, without any sign of being angry? You're the one who wants to buy a gift to apologize?
[Grasp Victory]: Yeah
[Carrot-Hoku]: I seem to remember you saying before that you don't get along well with a friend, and you always bicker and argue. Is it her?
[Grasp Victory]: ...Yes
[Grasp Victory]: Is there a problem?
[Carrot-Hoku]: No, no problem at all. Let me think for a moment.
Looking at the words on the screen, Kitahara Shinji pinched his chin and thought for a while, then nodded slightly.
Case closed. It's a dense blockhead and a tsundere childhood friend.
If he had even a one in ten thousand doubt about 'Grasp Victory's' identity before, thinking that he might be a tomboy, then with the conclusion of this, that last one in ten thousand doubt dissipated.
He uses male pronouns online, his hobbies are no different from a typical young boy's, and now he explicitly says he doesn't know what to give a girl as a gift, and he has a tsundere childhood friend...
Kitahara Shinji refused to believe that this person could still be a girl, let alone a horse girl, or even a student at Tracen headquarters.
This wasn't just an advantageous position; it was a complete steamroll.
If he could still mess this up, he, Kitahara Shinji, would eat this computer screen in front of him.
And since this was the case...
After thinking for a few seconds, Kitahara Shinji quickly gave an answer.
[Carrot-Hoku]: In your situation, my answer is that as long as you give a normal gift that girls like, it will be fine.
[Grasp Victory]: Huh? Why?
Because you're a blockhead.
Kitahara Shinji complained in his heart, but had no intention of pointing it out.
As for the reason...
On the one hand, he didn't like to interfere in other people's love lives. On the other hand, he found it more entertaining this way.
Especially after hearing 'Grasp Victory' say that his friend was a horse girl, Kitahara Shinji was even more amused.
It wasn't that he had a bad personality, but in this semester since coming to Tracen, he had seen many blockheads who were so clueless it was almost aneurysm-inducing.
In the beginning, he would kindly remind and warn those trainers who were clearly in danger.
But after being repeatedly rebuffed dozens of times, and repeatedly watching them confidently say 'my relationship with my charge is very normal' and 'there can't be any problem', he slowly understood why the people in the Tracen trainer group chat regarded watching stupid blockheads get "jumped" as the best entertainment, and also wouldn't remind them.
—It was just that he didn't know why, but he felt that the way other trainers looked at him recently was also a bit strange.
So now, half out of a desire not to interfere in other people's relationships, and half out of assimilation into Tracen's culture, Kitahara Shinji decided not to point it out, and then seriously helped the other party choose a gift.
And after choosing the gift, because there was no one else in the room today, and Kitahara Shinji was still a little unaccustomed to the deserted environment, he did not immediately go offline, but continued to chat with Grasp Victory on other topics.
And as they chatted, the topic of conversation between the two turned to horse girl-related issues, and then...
[Grasp Victory]: Carrot-Hoku-niisan, have you heard of this person called 'Kitahara Shinji'?
Seeing this, Kitahara Shinji raised an eyebrow.
[Carrot-Hoku]: Tell me more
After that, under Kitahara Shinji's guidance, Vodka told him about the argument she had with Daiwa Scarlet before.
At the same time, she also stated her position, saying that she always felt that that Kitahara Shinji was not a good person.
Then she began to give various examples to prove her point, speaking clearly and logically, not at all like a mindless hater, but in a way that made her seem credible.
As for Kitahara Shinji's reaction to this...
Upset? Sad? Angry?
None of the above.
Forget about being angry; he was so moved he was almost in tears.
With the influx of transfer students and the passage of time, and the disclosure of some of the things he himself had done at Tracen, it was now almost impossible for him to slander himself, a difficulty second only to figuring out Eclipse's thoughts.
But now, looking at Grasp Victory in front of him, Kitahara Shinji thought to himself, if the people under him had this kind of fighting power, why would he worry about his reputation not being ruined?
And thinking of this, in order to maintain this rare high-level Kitahara-hater, Kitahara Shinji not only did not reveal his identity, but on the contrary, immediately agreed with her.
And said that he actually knew Kitahara Shinji too, and also thought that he only looked good on the surface, and was definitely not a good bird underneath...
And after chatting like this for a while, it was Vodka who couldn't take it anymore.
She said that although she didn't think Kitahara Shinji was as good as Daiwa Scarlet said, he probably wasn't as bad as he said either...
But although she said that, after seeing her respected Carrot-Hoku-niisan say so, Vodka was even more convinced of her own thoughts, feeling that that Kitahara Shinji was definitely not a good person, otherwise Carrot-Hoku-niisan would not have said so.
After chatting for a while longer, looking at the already dark sky outside, Kitahara Shinji stretched, said goodbye to Vodka, told her to go to bed early, and then logged off the game.
Then, just as he turned off the computer and was about to go back to his room to sleep, his phone on the table suddenly vibrated.
It was a sign of a new message.
He was stunned for a moment, wondering who would be sending him a message so late, and then picked up his phone.
But after opening it, the relaxed expression on his face gradually disappeared, and his brows gradually furrowed.
There was nothing wrong with the content of the message. It was just a normal invitation, first asking him if he was free tomorrow. If he was, the sender said he wanted to find a place to talk to him about some rather important private matters.
But the problem was, the sender's ID was Kudo Kazuya.
And at the end of the message, Kudo Kazuya also specially noted that if Kitahara Shinji felt uneasy, he could choose the specific location and time, and could also bring Eclipse with him.
Looking at this message, Kitahara Shinji's eyes gradually narrowed.
A moment later, with the sound of a light tap of his index finger, the moonless night gradually deepened, and darkness swallowed everything.
Until the sun rose the next day.
....
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