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Updates will remain irregular from the next chapter onwards.
Dash Through! My First Mock Race
Before I knew it, three months had passed since I entered Tracen Academy. With the outside world baking in a scorching heatwave, I found it too troublesome to go out, making it the perfect season for staying home and playing games.
The changes during this period were remarkably smooth.
As usual, my training consisted of just one lap around the turf course. Once that was done, I followed the routine of heading to the trainer's room for a massage.
However, lately, I've been told to maintain my posture more often during the massage. It tires out my abdominal and back muscles, so I don't particularly like it, but when they say it's to relieve fatigue and prevent injuries, I can't really refuse, so I just go along with it.
During those times, I beat my trainer soundly in a game I'm good at.
Recently, my favorite game is one where you play as a plumber and his friends racing cars. It's a classic with a long tradition, but my trainer apparently has little experience. He consistently crashes into the items I throw at him and gets knocked off the course. It's become a regular occurrence.
Although his skills are gradually improving, he prioritizes safety and refuses to use shortcut courses, so the day he beats me is still far off.
Furthermore, going out with my trainer has proven to be incredibly beneficial.
When my trainer invited me to go shopping on a weekend, I decided to visit the usual game shops and bookstores nearby.
After doing this a few times, my trainer completely memorized my preferences. Now, while I'm playing, he buys the specific items I want for me. Thanks to him, I can lie down and read weekly magazines without having to step out into the heat.
I've become quite close with King Halo, or "King-chan" as I call her.
At first, I had a slight aversion to her attitude, but it turns out she is essentially a caring person. Since I often forgot to submit assignments or homework because I wasn't listening to the teacher in class, she, being in the same class, gradually started taking care of me.
The advantage of my second life was completely exhausted by elementary school, and my academic ability has already stepped one foot into the danger zone. Plus, the lessons about racing are just too complicated.
Why on earth is the system so complex? For now, I'll just leave this part to my trainer.
King-chan seems to have quite a bit of influence, as my circle of friends is slowly expanding through her.
Recently, I've been having lunch with Special Week from the next class, "Spe-chan," and King-chan about once a week.
Apparently, Spe-chan ran so well in a mock race that she's been officially recognized as a rival.
Feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, I dug into my fading memories. She must have been popular on the internet in my past life.
I remember her as a greedy Uma Musume who wouldn't yield to anything, shouting "I won't give it to you!" Actually, the way she eats in the cafeteria feels close to madness. However, in her daily life, she's friendly, and she's a very good girl of the type that's fun to watch.
With them, the conversation often turns to racing. More often than not, due to my naturally quiet nature, I end up being the listener.
Recently, the topics of conversation have centered on things like the Tenno Sho, where Maya no Top Gun clashed with Maruzens Sunday and Sakura Laurel, breaking the record by nearly three seconds, or the Oaks, where the Empress, Air Groove, avenged her regret of not being able to run in the Oka Sho.
Thanks to this, I feel like I'm slowly starting to understand what racing is all about.
Spe-chan recently got a trainer and seems to be experimenting with training menus, so she talks about it often. Today, as part of that, she's on a diet, so the usual tower of white rice she eats has gone silent. It seems she had to be content with a "large" portion, which is just barely one step away from a "super-large" serving.
After Spe-chan finished talking about her training, she muttered, "By the way..."
"I feel like I've never seen Wee-chan training. Where do you usually train?"
Spe-chan asked with an innocent smile.
I can't ruin the innocence of this beautiful girl's lovely smile with a weird element. Thinking that, I hesitated to answer, but King-chan came to my rescue from the side.
"Although you looked energetic when I saw you running the other day, is your leg condition still not so good?"
As expected of "King Mom." She instantly sensed I was stuck and changed the question.
"Uh, yeah. My trainer said to stop after one lap to prevent fatigue from building up or pain from appearing. After that, I just get a massage in the trainer's room. It feels so good and relaxes my legs, so maybe that's why I can run every day."
"Eh? Does Wee-chan have an injured leg?"
When I answered that, Spe-chan asked with a very worried expression. This is... I feel a huge sense of guilt.
"Umm, it's not that I'm injured or anything. I just want to avoid running long distances or doing high-load training."
Hearing that, King-chan opened her mouth.
"Even if you can't train, we need you to race. I need to defeat you completely to prove that this King isn't just a 'first-rate' Uma Musume, but a 'super-first-rate' one!"
"Hey, King-chan. What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
Spe-chan, who only knows King-chan's caring side towards me, looked confused. But ignoring that, King-chan continued.
"Honestly, I'm not worried at all. Even without training, it's clear that you are a formidable opponent. Since you are the rival I, a first-rate Uma Musume, have acknowledged, I don't think you'll crumble at something like this. Besides... Spe-chan, you are aiming to be the number one Uma Musume in Japan. Do you realize that she is your biggest wall?"
"Eh?"
"Hey, King-chan."
I hurriedly tried to stop her, but King-chan, once in this mode, wouldn't stop.
"And you too, Wee-san. Every day you intimidate everyone with that running style, so I won't let you say you have no will to fight! I'm signing us up for a mock race with me and Spe-chan today! One lap should be fine, right? I'm giving you the right to run with King!"
However, I also have a pride that won't be crushed by that pressure.
"Alright. But, I have one condition."
"A condition? Well, if it's something King can fulfill, I don't mind."
"Help me with my History and Japanese homework."
No, History is different from what I remember in so many ways! It's hard because Uma Musume are involved... Japanese, well, yes, okay.
"......"
When I told my trainer I wanted to do a mock race, he looked surprised but happy, gently petting my head. Leaving the course setup and other details to the happy trainer, I walked slowly toward the course, when I felt a strange gaze from behind.
Turning around to look, I spotted a suspicious man staring at me from the shade of a nearby bench. Instinctively following the direction of his gaze...
My crotch and thighs. Ugh...
Because I used to be a man, I understand what it means when a man stares at a girl's crotch.
My current appearance is that of a beautiful girl, and my body shape is particularly appealing to those with certain tastes.
He must be thinking all sorts of things. I was about to scream at him when...
"Oh? Trainer and Wee-chan."
A voice called out, and Spe-chan arrived with another Uma Musume.
It was a misunderstanding. He was just looking at my legs.
Stepping away from my trainer, who was excitedly continuing to talk about his impressions of my legs, I had Spe-chan introduce the Uma Musume next to her.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Silence Suzuka. I'm Spe-chan's roommate and share the same trainer, so I came to watch today."
This time, I found myself staring at a certain part of her (the functional beauty of the fastest).
No, it was a misunderstanding. I remembered a certain warning note about Suzuka-san I saw on SNS... I had no other intentions.
I hope so.
It seemed Suzuka-san had been practicing with the starting gates recently, so we decided to use the borrowed gate since we had it.
Spe-chan looked troubled, saying, "The gate is narrower than I thought."
But narrow and dark places are my specialty. The gate, blocking out the sunlight, was nothing but a blessing for me.
Click!
The gates opened, and the race began.
Or so I thought, but Spe-chan got a terrible start. Caught off guard by that, King-chan also seemed to be a beat slow, and naturally, I took the lead.
For me, who always ran behind someone else in elementary school, running at the front of a race was honestly a first-time experience. However, since it was a course I often ran on for training, I knew the layout well enough.
As I ran the first straightaway thinking about these things, I was not attacked by the sound of popping footsteps from behind, but by the intense summer sun piercing my back.
Other than the strange poles with numbers written on them (furlong markers) planted sporadically along this practice course, there was nothing installed to cast a shadow.
I felt as if I were being crushed by the intense direct sunlight and the heat rising from the turf. There was nowhere for the heat generated by my body to escape.
Recently, I had asked to do my training at dusk, so I found it even harder to withstand the midday sun.
By the time I entered the curve from the first straight, the heat had made me lose track of the pace I usually ran. Well, to begin with, I don't usually think about pace, and races aren't run at the same pace as practice. If there's no Uma Musume to use as a benchmark, I don't even know how to control my pace.
By the time I finished the curve, I had reached my limit. My mind was filled with disjointed thoughts: Why doesn't the practice course have a roof? Or maybe sprinklers? I want a water station like marathon runners.
Conscious only of finishing this race, I dashed through the final straight.
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