Chapter 34
Let me show you my runaway lead!
Stardust Mirage accelerated to an incredible speed in an instant. She knew short-distance races placed even more emphasis on early acceleration than usual, so she unleashed her full power from the very start.
Leading means leading!
But just as she was about to adjust her breathing to maintain speed, hurried footsteps suddenly closed in from behind—
"Hahaha, you're pretty fast! Where are you from? What's your zodiac sign?"
To her left, Daitaku Helios followed closely, each step leaving a mark, smiling brightly at full speed.
"Bakushin! Bakushin! The blood of Sakura, help me explode to victory!!!"
To her right, Sakura Bakushin O was already in a frenzy, eyes burning with fierce determination, keeping pace without yielding an inch.
"Master has ordered: the running style for this race is front-running."
The cybernetic horse girl Mihono Bourbon didn't fall behind either. With her flawlessly precise form, she steadily closed in from the outer track...
Less than 200 meters from the start, four front-runners were already locked in a heated battle—this was the brutal battlefield of the lead!
At that moment, Stardust Mirage had secured the lead with the essential front-runner skill, Ground Work. But the three horse girls behind her weren't far off, sticking close.
"Damn it—why are there so many front-runners?!"
Just as she entered the first turn, she sensed trouble.
The three behind her were too close. If she tried to force her way through the turn with her Shukuchi technique here, she risked fouling by interfering with others or even causing an accident.
But without Shukuchi, she'd struggle to maintain her slight lead. What should she do?
Whether to the left or right, horse girls were pressing against her, making even a normal turn difficult—
This unprecedented situation left Stardust Mirage momentarily unsure how to handle it. And in her hesitation, the other three, with their skilled cornering techniques, overtook her with only slight slowdowns.
Fourth place!
Gritting her teeth as she stared at the three backs ahead, she thought: As a front-runner, she'd been overtaken by so many?!
"Damn it!"
The moment she exited the turn, Stardust Mirage wanted to reclaim the lead.
But now, an insurmountable wall appeared before her.
The three horse girls ahead, as if prearranged, fanned out side-by-side after the turn, forming an impenetrable barrier. If she wanted to break through, she'd have to go around them from the far outside.
But this was only a 1400m short-distance race. Stardust Mirage knew she didn't have the stamina to spare for a wide outside charge and still catch up.
What to do, what to do, what to do, what to do, what to do, what to do?!
Her mind raced as she ran, recalling all her running memories to find a solution.
But as a front-runner, she'd always been ahead. Even if someone overtook her temporarily, it was always just one person ahead.
She'd never faced a situation where her path was completely blocked like this.
This wasn't even front-runner territory anymore—only stalkers encountered this kind of situation... Wait, stalkers?
When it came to stalkers, her running memories included more than one strong contender...
At that thought, staring at the three backs ahead and the nearly half-over race, Stardust Mirage suddenly lowered her head—
[Start from that position!]
...
"Stardust Mirage isn't adapting well to her current position. She can't find a path to chase."
Oguri Cap, who had somehow found two large bowls of yakisoba to eat, sat in the stands and commented.
"Haha, it's only natural for someone who always runs as a front-runner to be flustered when three others join the lead," Musaka laughed, not seeming too concerned.
"If it were me, I'd follow right behind Sakura Bakushin O, using her slipstream and waiting for an opening. She has the least experience, so even if she tries to form a blocking wall, she can't do it as perfectly as the other two." Oguri Cap analyzed the race situation.
As a horse girl who mainly used stalker tactics, she'd faced similar situations countless times—even being surrounded by over a dozen opponents mid-race. Naturally, she was experienced and spotted the weakness immediately.
"It depends on whether Stardust Mirage can realize it herself," Musaka said, watching Toyama Hikaru rapidly recording data on her tablet beside him. Smiling, she turned her attention back to the race.
...
Stardust Mirage followed behind the three, silently calculating the remaining distance. Her running form now was vastly different from usual, but with each step, she subconsciously adjusted her posture.
Oguri Cap, Tokai Teio—every movement these two made during races revived in her memory, quickly absorbed into Stardust Mirage's own actions.
Even if her current form was still somewhat awkward, Stardust Mirage clearly felt that running this way not only conserved energy but also let her benefit from the slipstream created by the front-runners breaking the wind—
And more importantly, that position was approaching!
You think just because I can't lead, I'm powerless?
A gentle breeze brushed past at that moment, lifting the bangs on Stardust Mirage's forehead and revealing eyes that seemed to burn with fiery intensity.
850m... 800m... 780m—
—777m!
Festive Miracle, activate!
"Bakushin!!!!!!"
Sakura Bakushin O, gritting her teeth and shouting, was still sprinting madly. Today was her first race against other horse girls, and Bakushin O knew nothing about pacing—she'd been going all out from the start.
Though the Sakura family's formidable physical prowess had carried her to the lead this far, even that had limits!
Damn, I'm running out of strength—Huh?!
A sudden, spine-chilling sensation from behind made Sakura Bakushin O lose her last ounce of breath.
Her movements faltered abruptly. With a cry of "Muri—!" (Impossible!), she fell back into the main pack, dropping farther and farther behind.
But Daitaku Helios, who took over the lead, had no time to rejoice before feeling the same oppressive aura!
What is this?! How can such presence appear in a training race?!
She inwardly wailed. The breeze that had been brushing her face suddenly felt like a headwind, hindering her steps and arm swings.
However, the center of the storm, the sound of footsteps, was drawing ever closer...
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Each step thundered against the grass. Stardust Mirage, aided by the boost provided by Festive Miracle, channeled all her formidable strength into her legs.
At this moment, in her eyes, the once-impenetrable wall of bodies showed a gap due to Sakura Bakushin O's loss of speed.
So, what she had to do was simple.
The wind pressure, created by her own sprinting, constantly battered her face. Yet Stardust Mirage relished the sensation of the strong wind against her skin; it was the very reason she chose to be a front-runner.
And now, the commentator's impassioned voice seemed to echo in her ears once more:
["Tokai Teio is closing the gap! The two horse girls are about to run neck and neck!"]
["Stardust Mirage! Stardust Mirage! Tokai Teio! Stardust Mirage! Tokai Teio! Tokai Teio! To·kai·Tei·o—!!!"]
So what if it's about chasing down the leader from a forward position? If Tokai Teio could do it—
"—There's no reason I can't do it too!!!"
With her furious roar, Stardust Mirage's sweat instantly evaporated, turning into mist that refracted light in the air, faintly forming the fleeting silhouette of a dragon.
She felt her heart pounding at its limit, each beat pumping blood and energy to her limbs.
At that very moment, an energy born from an unknown source surged from the corners of her body, converging towards her heart—
Faster, faster, faster still!!
In the system panel's section for unique skills, which Stardust Mirage hadn't noticed, beneath the line of text for "Festive Miracle," a new, colorful skill description flickered into existence...
[Unique Skill: Drumbeat of Victory, activated!]
The moment these words fully materialized, Stardust Mirage felt power flooding through her entire body. Although it only flashed briefly before vanishing again, it was enough!
In that instant, every horse girl in the race felt a sudden heaviness, as if something had pressed down on them. Countless invisible chains seemed to follow, binding their limbs, holding them back...
This strange, oppressive sensation was indeed an illusion, swept away in the blink of an eye.
But now, in the eyes of the spectators, Stardust Mirage's running style was identical to Oguri Cap's from days past, at least seventy to eighty percent similar.
She leaned her body forward sharply, using the explosive final kick this style unleashed to push her speed to the absolute limit of the entire field.
At this moment, she had completely transformed into a gust of wind, sweeping past the entire race, overwhelming everyone with unstoppable force, and charging across the finish line!
"First place, Stardust Mirage!"
The trainer standing at the finish line raised his stopwatch and shouted.
Hearing the announcement, Stardust Mirage lifted her head and steadied her center of gravity.
The powerful inertia from her full-speed dash still propelled her body forward for dozens of meters after crossing the line before she finally wobbled to a stop.
First place achieved!
Panting heavily, she looked at the trainers announcing the other racers' results and couldn't help but let a smile touch her lips.
This was just an ordinary training race, with hardly any spectators, yet she still had opponents to compete with on the track.
Although she had been utterly reluctant to participate before the race, once she stood on the field, Starry Fantasy was a completely different person. Even in a mere training match, she held nothing back.
After losing her first debut race to Tokai Teio, who had won with sheer willpower and unleashed the Ultimate Teio Step, she had learned this truth: If you don't run, you can't lose, but if you run, you must win!
The training ground was now buzzing again. Trainers were running to their assigned horse girls, and Musaka Ginjirou was also walking over, applauding.
Behind him, Toyama Hikaru, looking somewhat astonished, showed an interested expression. Oguri Cap, however, had reverted to her initial nonchalant attitude and was once again devouring her yakisoba. As for Rudolf, Air Groove, and Hayakawa Tazuna, they had already gone to the completely mistaken Sakura Bakushin O's side, apparently intending to speak with her as well.
The two trainers approached Stardust Mirage. Toyama Hikaru helped the slightly exhausted filly to her feet and led her towards the rest area.
"Was that running style really something you grasped on the spot, just as old man Musaka said?" Toyama Hikaru asked as they walked.
"Not exactly. I've been studying Oguri Cap's running style for a while. This time, I just happened to be in a forward position and tried it out," Starry Fantasy explained, taking the sports drink handed to her by the old man and gulping it down.
"I have lost, Master."
As the trio walked back, the second-place finisher of the training race, Mihono Bourbon, also approached and reported her result to Toyama Hikaru.
Her expression and tone still seemed unreadable. Stardust Mirage couldn't even discern Mihono Bourbon's mood from her ears and tail.
"I told you from the start to run from behind, so it's fine," Toyama Hikaru said, reaching out to pat Mihono Bourbon's head. "The reason I organized this training race was to let you get used to the rhythm of running from a forward position. Otherwise, if you can't take the lead, you'll be very passive—did you learn anything?"
Mihono Bourbon fell silent for a moment, seemingly recalling the strange, oppressive feeling at the end of the race. After a while, she slowly nodded.
"That's good. Learning something means the training race was effective," Toyama Hikaru chuckled.
Then the four of them returned to the rest area, letting the two horse girls sit down and relax their overworked legs.
Toyama Hikaru looked over the data on her tablet again, then raised her head to address Starry Fantasy. "According to the information the old man gave me, you're the type who can handle high-intensity training quite well, right?"
"You could say that," Stardust Mirage replied, recalling the previous training sessions that had left her vomiting, a lingering sense of dread still present.
But she had no intention of avoiding training. In fact, only high-intensity foundational training could allow her to use the system to continuously improve herself.
"Hey, Toyama girl, do you remember what I told you?" Musaka Ginjirou, standing to the side, frowned and interrupted their conversation.
"Of course I remember. I won't ruin such a promising talent—but the necessary training can't be skipped either. Stardust Mirage's training data shows she hasn't reached her limit yet. I'll arrange suitable methods to help her improve further."
At this point, Toyama Hikaru seemed to remember something and turned back to Stardust Mirage, asking, "By the way, as a horse girl, what are your goals? We trainers develop appropriate training and race plans based on our assigned horse girls' objectives."
Stardust Mirage then fully disclosed her need to participate in the G3-level Kyoto Himba Stakes next and her desire to compete in the Classic Triple Crown races.
Looking at Mihono Bourbon beside her, who didn't seem to have reached her limit, Stardust Mirage couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation. She knew Bourbon wasn't originally a type known for stamina, but now the other filly clearly had better endurance than she did. This indicated the trainer had provided significant help.
Maybe she really has some skills?
Stardust Mirage secretly hoped so.
"There's one more thing," Toyama Hikaru spoke again, snapping Stardust Mirage out of her reverie. "Why did you fall back so much on the turn?"
"This—" Stardust Mirage didn't know how to explain the predicament she faced on the turn in detail and could only cast a pleading look towards the more familiar Musaka Ginjirou.
"Ha, this kid usually runs on the leading path during turns, so she isn't affected by others and uses a rather bold turning style," Musaka didn't disappoint Stardust Mirage and explained. "This time, encountering several front-running style horse girls at once, she probably couldn't remember how to turn normally at that moment."
"I see..." Toyama Hikaru made another note on her tablet, then suddenly looked up.
"In that case, turning practice needs to be added to the regimen as well!"
Seeing the aggressive glint in the female trainer's eyes, Stardust Mirage, still massaging her ankle, shivered involuntarily.
Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
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