Volume 1: Uma Musume—Launch!
Uma Musume.
Girls born to run.
In this world, rumored to have been created by the Three Goddesses, there existed a race of demi-human girls with equine ears and tails.
Aside from those horse-like traits, they were no different from ordinary humans.
Their entire race, however, was female.
Some would live and die in obscurity.
Others were born bearing names that had written glorious chapters of history in another world.
They inherited the souls carried by those names—and would challenge the destinies those names represented.
They were fated to answer destiny’s call and compete in races of their own, with victory and defeat yet unknown.
They would run onward without end.
Their eyes saw only the finish line, the trophies that represented glory, and the happiness they yearned for.
As a bright morning dawned over Tracen, horse girls in purple uniforms arrived one after another, some jogging and others strolling, either alone or in small groups.
They greeted the woman in a green business suit standing at the gate, then entered the campus.
This was Tracen Academy—the premier institution in Japan for training racehorses reborn as girls.
Only horse girls admitted into an academy like this could truly be called Uma Musume.
“I have arrived at Japan’s finest Uma Musume training institution—Tracen Academy.”
How beautiful you are, Tracen!
Wasn’t that Tazuna Hayakawa over there?
Well, never mind her.
He would rather look at the horse girls beside her.
Compared to the auntie standing at the gate as a receptionist, the middle- and high-school girls studying here were naturally far more attractive.
Of course, that was only one reason.
Zhou Yu’ang had once been an ordinary Chinese shitposter.
Then the Uma Musume mobile game had driven his blood pressure so high that his life had been forcibly rerolled.
In this life, he was a handsome adult man with neatly cropped black hair.
After being reincarnated into the world of his favorite franchise, he had naturally worked his heart out.
Having already lived once, he had no interest in mingling with children his own apparent age.
Even when he was isolated, he had not cared.
Improving himself was all that mattered.
While other children played, he studied.
While other children studied, he studied even harder.
He had clawed his way through the competition with the grades of an elite student, qualified as a Central Trainer, and officially begun working at Tracen several days ago.
For no other reason than that Zhou Yu’ang loved horse girls.
As a side note, Uma Musume was a multimedia franchise created by the Japanese company Cygames, featuring anthropomorphized girls based on real racehorses.
He had first encountered it through the anime’s first season.
Once he fell into the rabbit hole, he began playing the mobile game, then transformed into the sort of shameless multi-oshi fan who consumed every anime, manga, and related work the franchise produced.
Only the mobile game itself was like a plate of Nine-Turn Large Intestine—an experience too complicated to describe in polite company.
Players took on the role of Trainers responsible for raising horse girls and helping them win race after race.
Then the game’s revolting mechanics sent their blood pressure through the roof.
The Chinese version had even been saddled with the absurd title Shining!
Excellent Girl.
But enough about that.
Unlike the flat paper waifus of other gacha games, every horse girl had her own entertaining personality and story.
They also had some of the best 3D models in the entire industry.
For a horse-loving gentleman like Zhou Yu’ang, they were irresistible.
Every one of them was kind, pure, and breathtakingly beautiful.
Most importantly, they were demi-human girls.
Their ears and tails moved in response to their emotions.
The first time Zhou Yu’ang saw a real horse girl in this world, his little brother practically lit up.
The little brother told the big brother that once they grew up, they absolutely had to marry a horse girl.
The big brother heard that foolish declaration and nearly slapped the little brother senseless.
What kind of pathetic ambition was that?
Marry one horse girl?
Wrong!
Marry thirty!
One for every day of the month!
And what about February or months with thirty-one days?
Had no one ever heard of local multiplayer?
The big brother gave the little brother a deeply satisfying answer.
As for his kidneys and pelvis?
Who had granted those things human rights?
“Good morning, Trainer Zhou Yu’ang.
You’re as energetic as ever today.”
The woman named Tazuna Hayakawa looked at him.
His earlier declaration had nearly made her laugh.
Ever since Zhou Yu’ang’s first day at Tracen, she had noticed his mysterious and excessive enthusiasm toward horse girls.
He was always staring at them with burning eyes and saying things that sounded a little strange.
Still, seeing such a lively new subordinate made her happy.
Yes, Tazuna was one of Zhou Yu’ang’s superiors.
She was not a receptionist.
She was the chairwoman’s secretary, responsible for assisting the chairwoman and handling Tracen Academy’s countless daily affairs.
In the mobile game, she was the hidden master who inherited Cygames’ traditional “green devil” role.
Some players theorized that she was secretly a horse girl herself—and an overwhelmingly powerful senior whom every student at Tracen feared.
Much like another Cygames title, she would run down a hallway whenever the player performed a gacha pull, then open a door to reveal the results one by one.
Under normal circumstances, she served as a convenient helper who advised the player.
In this world, however, she was unquestionably one of the academy’s senior administrators, managing both horse girls and Trainers.
She had always respected and tolerated unusual students and Trainers, as long as they did not cause genuine trouble.
“Morning, Miss Tazuna.
I’m heading to work.”
What did it feel like to suddenly start acting deranged before work, only to be caught by your boss?
Zhou Yu’ang could not quite describe it.
Still, what he had said aloud was much better than being overheard declaring his intention to marry thirty horse girls.
He hurried into Tracen and headed toward his office.
Unlike ordinary teachers, a Trainer’s job was essentially to teach horse girls how to run and take proper care of them.
It was not exactly easy, but while their assigned horse girls were attending classes, Trainers without other duties could slack off.
After arriving at his office, Zhou Yu’ang brewed a pot of tea and prepared two cups.
He poured a small amount into one, carried it to the sofa, and leisurely began to drink.
Being hired with outstanding examination scores came with certain benefits.
Unlike in the anime, where advanced Trainers were packed together into a shared workspace, highly ranked new hires received private offices.
After Zhou Yu’ang watched the clock’s hands complete several circles, the office door was suddenly thrown open.
A slender, delicate hand had pushed it.
That small white hand had casually exerted more force than an ordinary adult could produce at full strength.
The sliding door slammed against its frame with a loud crash.
Zhou Yu’ang looked up at the white-haired horse girl standing in the doorway, a trace of helplessness appearing on his face.
“Oguri Cap, I’ve told you before.
If you open and close the door that hard, you’re going to break it.”
Surely she did not expect him to file a request for a replacement door mere days after starting work.
“Sorry.”
The white-haired horse girl called Oguri Cap immediately lowered her ears.
They folded adorably against the top of her head.
Her beautiful face also adopted an expression that made people instinctively want to protect her.
Oguri Cap was the first horse girl Zhou Yu’ang had recruited after beginning work at Tracen.
She came from a small rural region called Kasamatsu.
After her exceptional talent was discovered, she had been scouted by Central Tracen.
On her very first day, unfamiliar with the area and blessed with a naturally airheaded personality, she had gotten hopelessly lost inside the academy.
She would depart from one place, run around in circles, then return to the exact same point.
Each time she returned, she became increasingly astonished.
When she noticed the same person watching her complete lap after lap, the confused country girl scratched her head and wondered why Tracen contained so many identical people and buildings.
Zhou Yu’ang, despite being a new employee himself, had not gotten lost.
Well versed in the sacred right-hand-torch law of maze exploration, he had wandered around Tracen searching for a horse girl to become his trainee.
After watching Oguri circle the same area several times, then lower her head in contemplation, he had approached her without hesitation.
He had enthusiastically guided her to the cafeteria.
After witnessing the healthy appetite with which she demolished her meal, he asked the innocent country girl whether she already had a Trainer.
Once he confirmed that she did not, he issued an invitation with all the shamelessness of someone exploiting a vulnerable person.
Do not blame Zhou Yu’ang for being unscrupulous.
Any Uma Musume player would immediately demand a reward after helping someone.
This unfashionable country girl was Oguri Cap.
Anyone who played the mobile game respected Oguri Cap.
You did not love her?
You were merely pretending to be strong!
You probably did not own her, which was why you claimed not to like her!
In the mobile game, Oguri Cap had both a base version and an alternate outfit.
Her base version possessed excellent growth rates and had remained a strong, reliable character since launch.
She could compete on many courses, and even unsuitable tracks could be modified enough for her to steal a share of the spotlight.
Her alternate version, meanwhile, had once become an outright god of the game.
Its unique skill activated reliably and offered enormous value.
Few other characters could compete.
In the championship mode where three players each fielded three horse girls, countless players used one alternate Oguri Cap accompanied by two dedicated supports.
Some races featured three alternate Oguri Caps and six sacrificial assistants, reducing the entire event to a clone war fought solely to determine whose Oguri would win.
After that, Oguri Cap became the central figure of the Church of Cap.
Players bowed before her, and she ruled the rapidly expanding roster for an entire year.
Even after the developers were cursed into buffing every character through skill evolution, she remained an active top-tier pick.
That was merely her performance in the game.
In reality, the racehorse who inspired her held an enormously important place in Japanese racing history.
She was often called the quintessential hot-blooded protagonist of horse racing.
Born in obscurity, she fought her way out of a remote regional circuit and into the central leagues, where she continued slaughtering the competition.
After falling into a slump, she recovered, mounted a spectacular comeback, won in overwhelming fashion, and retired at the height of her fame.
Plush toys based on the horse sold out by the millions in different sizes, generating hundreds of millions in revenue with ease during the previous century.
From every possible angle, Oguri Cap was a horse girl worth fighting for.
Zhou Yu’ang watched her obediently sit opposite him.
He poured her a cup of tea and produced several packets of rice crackers.
The moment Oguri smelled them, her eyes lit up.
She held the cup in one hand and grabbed a cracker with the other, nibbling like a hamster.
Her ears twitched happily in response to the food, making Zhou Yu’ang increasingly tempted to touch them.
Oguri Cap’s ears were so fluffy.
They had to feel wonderful.
But we haven’t known each other for long.
Doing that would be rather presumptuous.
Zhou Yu’ang used one hand to restrain the other.
His love for horse girls was genuine.
Even before joining Tracen, he had always followed horse-girl racing and collected related merchandise.
Setting aside his previous life, even his room in this world was piled high with character goods, race recordings, posters, and other memorabilia.
He was perfectly willing to wave glow sticks and shout himself hoarse beneath the Winning Live stage.
But running up to a horse girl and acting like a deranged superfan was something he could not do.
“Trainer, what’s wrong?”
Oguri raised her head.
Noticing Zhou Yu’ang spacing out, she tilted it in confusion.
As she did, her food-stuffed cheeks bounced softly.
At the sight, Zhou Yu’ang felt the hand restraining his other hand begin to lose control.
“Nothing.
I was thinking about your upcoming training plan.”
And how he was supposed to use his bargain-bin system.
The system had only completed its final update the previous night, thanks to three chronic slackers, and was now ready for use.
Unlike ordinary systems visible only to the protagonist, his could be seen by others.
The three individuals who occasionally treated it as a video-call device had personally explained that horse girls could see it.
Zhou Yu’ang looked forward to activating it in front of certain horse girls who disguised themselves as ordinary humans, then using a few operations to expose them.
Naturally, the system’s items and special functions could only affect horse girls or Zhou Yu’ang himself.
“I see.”
Oguri glanced down at Zhou Yu’ang’s hands, then resumed eating her morning snacks as though nothing had happened.
Only after Zhou Yu’ang reminded her did the secretly overfed horse girl rise and run off to class.
Even horse girls were athletes, they still had to study.
In this world, anyone who wanted to compete in official races had to pass their academic courses.
No matter how strong you were, if your humanities grades failed, the academy would drag you off the track.
Once Oguri left, the already quiet office became empty and cold.
Only a rookie Trainer remained.
In the game, Zhou Yu’ang could mass-produce monstrous undefeated champions with the click of a button.
In reality, he had to keep his feet on the ground and work as an ordinary coach.
“Good thing I have the system.
Maybe I should contact those three pieces of trash first.”
He had nothing else to do, and Oguri was in class.
The system had only been completed last night.
Of course he was going to play with it.
Without hesitation, Zhou Yu’ang reached out and summoned the interface.
An image of horse girls racing appeared before him, then faded away.
A jingle more familiar to him than the school bell suddenly rang out.
“Uma Musume!
Pretty Derby!”
Zhou Yu’ang was profoundly grateful that he had not activated it in public.
A shameless extrovert would have waited until everyone turned to stare, then screamed, “Uma Musume—launch!” like a lunatic.
He tapped the interface.
The loading bar froze at forty percent, then sixty, then briefly stalled at one hundred.
A white light flashed.
What appeared next was a scene Zhou Yu’ang knew better than the floor on which a certain dead brigade leader had once lain.
It was the lobby of Tracen’s main building—the mobile game’s home screen, where the selected character normally stood.
However, the figures waiting there were neither horse girls he owned nor the certain “Number One” lady who appeared by default at the beginning of the game.
Instead, there were three horse girls.
One yellow, one red, and one blue.
Fortunately, the system had a wide display rather than the game’s original vertical screen.
Otherwise, the three of them would have been packed together like Dugtrio.
“Hello, little Yu’ang.
Long time no see.
Did you miss me?”
The red horse girl in the middle, whose skin had a warm bronze tone, greeted Zhou Yu’ang and blew him a kiss.
The two beside her were already accustomed to her behavior.
One wore a stern expression.
The other smiled with permanently narrowed eyes.
“I did.
I missed you terribly.”
All three were as beautiful as any other horse girl, and they possessed a maturity that many ordinary students lacked.
But that was not why Zhou Yu’ang cared about them.
Their names were Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian, and Godolphin Arabian.
In the seventeenth century of a world where horses existed instead of horse girls, three stallions bearing those names had been brought from the Mediterranean and Middle East to Britain.
Together with over a hundred other breeding stallions, they helped create a new breed—the modern Thoroughbred racehorse.
Because the bloodlines of all modern Thoroughbreds could ultimately be traced back to those three, while the achievements of the other stallions faded into obscurity, they became known as the Three Foundation Sires.
In the world of Uma Musume, those three horses had been transformed into women and elevated into the Three Goddesses.
In other words, they ruled this world.
As a reincarnator, Zhou Yu’ang could hardly afford to disrespect them.
When he first appeared in this world, the Three Goddesses immediately noticed something was wrong.
The barrier they had created was only supposed to allow the souls of racehorses to reincarnate here.
Human souls should never have arrived, much less souls from another world.
Yet after investigating, they found no fault in the world’s barrier.
There had been no malfunction.
That meant Zhou Yu’ang’s appearance was not an accident.
Either someone had helped him cross over, or he possessed some method capable of deceiving the Three Goddesses.
So they began investigating his background.
What they discovered was every memory he possessed of playing the Uma Musume mobile game since launch.
The countless times he had hit pity, suffered disastrous careers, and nearly died from high blood pressure made even the Three Goddesses wonder whether Cygames had been raised without a mother.
Then they looked back at Zhou Yu’ang.
Driven by his love for horse girls, he had rushed into that prison of a mobile game every day as though returning home.
The yellow goddess, Byerley Turk, evaluated him as something close to a prison warden.
After some discussion, they agreed to let him remain.
They had lived as gods for a very long time and could not casually stroll through the mortal world.
Yet they possessed emotions, and even they became bored.
Otherwise, they would not have bothered investigating Zhou Yu’ang’s gaming history.
A strange variable like him promised entertainment.
“Oh?
But Little Lamb looks as though he despises me.
I worked day and night for you, even endured all your client-style revision requests, and finally finished your system.
Yet you still look disgusted…”
Darley Arabian covered her face and began crying theatrically.
Compared with the other two goddesses, she was the most dedicated to seeking amusement.
She even left a broad gap between her fingers so she could observe Zhou Yu’ang’s expression.
Byerley crossed her arms sternly, clearly displeased.
She glanced toward the blue goddess beside her.
Godolphin Arabian smiled, reached out, and slapped Darley’s rear.
“All three of us built the system.
Besides, it’s time to let him use the official version.”
Byerley looked at Zhou Yu’ang.
Despite her severe and intimidating appearance, she was kindhearted.
She would have made an excellent drill instructor.
“Indeed.
Giving him a test version he could only look at was rather cruel.
Zhou Yu’ang must have been growing impatient.”
No, I’m not impatient.
You three are my honored lords—or should that be honored aunties?
Zhou Yu’ang gazed at the goddesses and decided he could wait.
They had personally approved his metaphysical visa, so he owed them a favor.
There was no chance he would show them genuine disrespect.
“You can use the system to complete games and missions in exchange for rewards.
Naturally, the career mode from your favorite Uma Musume mobile game is also available.”
“Do I look like someone who enjoys serving prison sentences?”
The moment Zhou Yu’ang heard that even after reincarnating, he would still have to play the idiotic career mode copied from Konami’s baseball games, he became so delighted he wanted to curse someone.
First, he would like to say: fuck Konami.
“Who completed at least three careers every day?”
Darley smiled at him.
Zhou Yu’ang slowly delivered his answer.
“I’m a Sbeam user.”
“You really should become a prison warden.”
Byerley sighed.
Then Godolphin, who had remained quiet for some time, spoke.
“However, the horse girls you raise in the game can grant stat increases to horse girls in reality.”
In that case, he had no choice but to return to prison.
He had always adored serving time in this game.
“And we added a particularly exciting new feature.”
“What feature?”
Something exciting?
Zhou Yu’ang looked curiously at Godolphin.
She waved her hand, and a new panel appeared.
It displayed a chibi version of Zhou Yu’ang drawn in the style of an Uma Musume spin-off animation.
Beside it were stats such as Speed, Stamina, and Power.
What?
Could the stat bonuses granted to horse girls after completing a career also be applied to him?
What caught Zhou Yu’ang’s attention most, however, was the pink person-shaped icon below.
A tiny number three was displayed beside it.
Zhou Yu’ang recognized it.
Wasn’t that the fan-count icon?
And that three…
Huh?
Zhou Yu’ang raised his head and looked at the Three Goddesses.
All of them were smiling.
Godolphin maintained her narrow-eyed expression as she spoke.
“Joy shared is joy doubled, young Trainer.
Through their running, horse girls bring happiness and passionate inspiration to the people of this world.
But who will bring happiness and inspiration to them?
Are they supposed to rely solely on running?”
“That sounds exhausting.”
Darley yawned.
“Proper rest is essential for maintaining the body.
Exercise is not the only form of entertainment.”
Byerley stared directly at Zhou Yu’ang.
At that moment, he sensed that something was deeply wrong.
But he could not escape.
The entire world belonged to these three.
They could do whatever they wanted.
“Therefore, make your debut, Little Lamb!”
Darley swept out one hand.
Godolphin smilingly delivered the finishing blow.
“Just as horse girls become idols for humans, you will become an idol for horse girls.
Debut as a streamer, then become the Trainer they all support.”
“What?!”
Were these three completely insane?