Chapter 33

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Compared with the previous journey, this trip through the planes was exceptionally turbulent.

Inside the specially reinforced protective shield that System 001 had prepared for him, the little one did not even have time to properly admire the dazzling scenery of the planar transmission passage—so different from anything in the other worlds—before the violent jolting left him dizzy and disoriented within the shield.

“System, are we playing bumper cars?”

Though the tiny cub lacked a great deal of common knowledge, he somehow knew the names of every attraction in an amusement park. This was probably another result of the knowledge imparted by his “Little Sunflower Teacher.”

The cub knew that these amusement-park attractions existed, but he had no idea what they actually looked like. Anything he considered fun was simply categorized as an attraction in an “amusement park.”

When System 001 first noticed the unusual turbulence in the transmission passage, it had worried whether Su You would be able to endure it. But when it saw the little fellow bouncing back and forth inside the protective shield as though he were riding on a trampoline, System 001 fell silent.

In truth, the turbulence and chaotic currents within the transmission passage were also part of the elite-soldier program’s screening and trial for its candidates. If they could not even endure such turbulence during spatial transmission, they might as well withdraw from the challenges that followed.

Of course, the deeper meaning behind the program’s arrangement was something the cub could never have known. The little one merely thought that “the bumper-car passage is so much fun.” Even after the planar transmission ended, the tiny cub still looked as though he had not had enough. He gazed up at System 001 with eager eyes, wanting to know whether he could play one more round.

The silent Elite Soldier System 001 looked at the expectant cub and could only console him:

“Of course. When we reach the next amusement park, there will be a new set of ‘bumper cars’ waiting for Youyou.”

The normally upright and principled System 001 had no choice but to compromise in front of the cub. To the elite-soldier candidates, the entirely new plane was filled with unknown dangers. In the cub’s eyes, however, each new world had become a completely different themed amusement park.

The little one was probably still thinking about the fluffy creatures from not long ago, as well as the “spider hammock” and “giant-eagle flight” he had enjoyed only recently. Thus, once they landed safely, he raised his head and curiously looked around. The first thing he asked was—

“System, will there be fluffy creatures in this amusement park?”

System 001: “…Of course there will.”

As the elite-soldier system responsible for providing challenge guidance, training, and advancement missions to the candidates, System 001 had already received the world data transmitted by the Main System the moment the transmission began.

The world they had just entered was similar to a “half-beastman” plane.

It was called similar rather than identical for two reasons. First, the overall combat strength of the life-forms in this world was far higher than that of the half-beastman plane. Second, the creatures of this plane… still differed from half-beastmen in certain respects.

As for the fluffy creatures—

According to the information System 001 had received, many of the life-forms in this plane were covered in hair.

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Calling them “fluffy” was not entirely inaccurate.

However, judged by the mainstream aesthetic standards of the Main Universe, these “fluffy creatures” clearly did not conform to the prevailing ideal of beauty. One need only look at the tastes of the program’s audience to understand. The mainstream aesthetic of the Main Universe still favored humanoid forms, which was why the cub host had been so warmly embraced by the audience at the beginning, thanks to his exceptionally high humanoid index and adorable cub-like appearance.

But…

The system glanced silently at its cub host.

Yet, judging from its observations in the first world, the cub host seemed never to have encountered any life-forms from the outside world before. As a result, he possessed an abundant curiosity toward every kind of life-form, along with an instinctive fondness for them.

Whether it was the gray-wolf warrior Wolbeli, the golden lion Beriman, or the giant serpent, giant eagle, and enormous spider among the Twelve Sacred Beasts that came later, the cub regarded them all as adorable and friendly “good friends.”

System 001 looked at its host and pondered in silence.

So, even if its host saw the “fluffy creatures” of this plane, he probably would not find anything wrong with them… would he?

***

In truth, at that very moment, inside the virtual live-streaming sphere of the Main Universe, the audience’s mental avatars were watching the elite-soldier candidates on several of the hundred screens begin to encounter the “fluffy creatures” of the new plane. The audience throughout the main theater could not help but erupt into screams.

“Oh, damn it! What is going on in this plane? Wasn’t that just a headless dried corpse?”

“…Is that really the important part, my friend? Why does that headless thing, with a neck covered in mossy, green hair, have a head growing inside its stomach? There’s a head in its stomach!”

Although the diode spectators often blew themselves apart and transformed into puddles of negative-review slime, or exploded into fireworks to express their approval or disapproval of the program—and many of them even liked to sprout little flowers from their chests and heads—

Their bodies were transparent mental avatars. Protected by the Main Universe’s Entertainment Management Privacy Regulations, every audience member appeared as a semitransparent humanoid jelly. Thus, no matter how absurdly they changed shape, they never looked particularly frightening.

But now—

This was the brand-new Plane 25838.

That creature with a neck covered in moss-green hair, and a head emerging from its stomach… even had legs growing from its shoulders, which then dropped to the ground in the shape of the letter M.

The excessively realistic scene struck the audience’s mental avatars without warning.

For a time, the mental stability of the audience in the main broadcasting hall began to fluctuate violently once more.

It was not only the audience avatars. Even Maccamacca, the host, nearly screamed. Though the poor green-skinned Maccamacca managed to suppress the cry through the exceptional professionalism expected of a host, his green face turned black with fright in an instant.

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Good heavens, what kind of monster was this?

To be fair, the Main Universe was home to plenty of monstrous forms. In this bizarre and wondrous age of grand-cosmic entertainment, the audience had seen more strange shapes than they could count. Even Maccamacca, the host, was himself an insectoid life-form who was half human and half insect.

But…

When the audience’s mental avatars saw the hideous creature thrust out the head inside its stomach, bare its teeth, and extend a barbed tongue dripping with saliva to lick the body of an elite-soldier candidate, some viewers still could not withstand the shock. They screamed, exploded, and fled the venue.

“Program staff! You need to develop a mental-avatar protection mode! A mental-avatar protection mode, do you understand?!”

Even in the entertainment age of the vast cosmos, where appearance was supposedly a matter of personal freedom, a life-form like this ought to be classified as a deformity!

Meanwhile, inside Subspace 001, the diode spectators clung to one another, trembling and weeping as they screamed in terror.

“Good heavens, program staff, have you lost your minds?!”

“Baby, baby, our poor little Youyou! Why does he have to face such a terrifying world?”

“That monster’s enormous tongue—and the barbs on it—help! Program staff, I order you to teleport my precious Youyou back to the Main Universe at once!”

The frantic spectators of Subspace 001 continued shrieking, because from their godlike audience perspective, they had already seen a similar monster lying in wait not far from Su You.

Although their precious Youyou had grown just a tiny bit compared with the previous world…

Whether he was three and a half or five years old, should a cub like this really have to face an attack from such a terrifying monster?!

It was not only the audience of the Main Universe. At that moment, System 001 had also sensed the danger posed by the monster lurking nearby. But as an auxiliary system for the elite-soldier trials, once the challenge phase began, even its authority at the level of a Main God was restricted by the Main System.

For a moment, it seemed that the only one unaware of the danger awaiting him in this entirely new world was the tiny cub himself…!