The way an Uma Musume ran on the racetrack…
Exceeded ordinary limits.
The difference between a competitive athlete and an ordinary human was enormous.
So too was the difference between an ordinary horse girl and an actual racing Uma Musume.
Day after day of brutal training…
All for the sake of running on the racetrack.
That hardship.
That pain.
That torment.
An Uma Musume needed some kind of conviction to keep enduring it.
Without conviction…
She couldn’t keep running forever.
That was the question Tazuna had asked at the end.
And right now…
Li Ze couldn’t answer it.
“How would someone who only recently solved the problem of putting food on the table know something like that?” Back in his tiny apartment, Li Ze lay face-down on the blanket with a headache.
After Tazuna asked that question, the two of them hadn’t spoken much longer before leaving.
Yet those final few sentences had been more valuable than everything before them.
First…
Li Ze had agreed with Tazuna.
The auditing-student system suited his unusual circumstances far better than becoming a transfer student.
Once they’d agreed on that important point, Tazuna promised she would handle the procedures after returning to Tracen.
She would also clean up loose ends related to his identity records and racetrack footage.
Only then did Li Ze truly understand the phrase: Life is easier when you know someone in power.
Before this…
Every bureaucratic task had made him nervous.
He constantly worried that something here was wrong.
Something there would expose him.
Now…
Having someone help really was wonderful.
Then he remembered the last couple of things they’d said.
His thoughts slowly sank again.
“Big Sister Tazuna…
“Why do you seem so unsurprised by what’s happening to me?” “That?
“The reason is simple.
“Just look at me.” “I see…
“I understand.” Yes.
At that moment, Li Ze had understood.
In a world where Uma Musume existed…
There were probably supernatural things too.
Otherwise, how could he explain Tazuna looking this young despite being not much younger than Grandma from the welfare home?
Thinking about it that way…
No wonder Tazuna cared so much about what he called her.
So she’s another old lady whose real age is unknown, pretending to be young— The instant that thought appeared, Li Ze’s back suddenly felt cold.
He glanced left and right.
Just in case a hand appeared from nowhere and slammed his head into the keyboard.
“The Three Goddesses?” Li Ze quickly connected the possibility to this world’s dominant religion.
The religions from his previous world barely existed here.
They were fringe beliefs.
The mainstream faith centered on the Three Goddesses.
This world already has Uma Musume.
Could the Three Goddesses actually be real?
Li Ze remembered seeing statues of them in videos of Tracen Academy.
If he remembered correctly…
In the game, Uma Musume inherited stats before statues of the Three Goddesses.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t be sure.
He’d been the kind of player who couldn’t read Japanese, skipped every story scene, ignored events, and simply raised characters casually.
Still…
If people on the racetrack could already manifest invisible auras…
Then a little supernatural weirdness elsewhere wouldn’t be surprising.
I should sleep.
Tomorrow I’ll transform into Natsume Reiko and buy some clothes.
And maybe some skincare products.
Even though he’d effectively admitted the truth to Tazuna…
Everyone else still believed Natsume Sawa and Natsume Reiko were separate people.
The disguise needed maintenance.
Tazuna had already pointed out the holes.
Only an idiot would refuse to patch them.
Li Ze checked the time.
It was already one in the morning.
Nothing else needed doing tonight.
So…
Lights off.
Sleep.
And then…
Li Ze dreamed.
He dreamed of a thin young boy growing up.
During childhood, the boy endured his parents’ constant arguments and beatings.
His body carried many scars.
Eventually, his parents divorced.
Neither wanted him.
So he was sent to a children’s welfare home.
To outsiders, that sounded like a miserable fate.
For him…
It was the beginning of happiness.
Everyone at the welfare home treated him kindly.
Grandma Director.
The other children.
Older brothers and sisters.
But his naturally withdrawn personality had already become impossible to change.
He always remained on the edge of every group.
Until one day…
During lunch, the welfare home’s newly replaced television showed an Uma Musume race.
By coincidence…
It was the race that turned a regional “Gray-Haired Monster” into a legend.
The image of an Uma Musume rising from obscurity to the peak captivated the boy.
So he began learning everything he could about Oguri Cap.
A naturally frail girl…
Who ate endlessly…
And step by step became one of the strongest Uma Musume in history.
If Oguri Cap could rise from nothing…
Why couldn’t he?
For the first time, hope took root.
The boy studied desperately.
He was eventually accepted into a Trainer academy.
At the same time, he worked himself like a slave to pay tuition and living expenses.
And finally…
Because of a single moment of carelessness…
He closed his eyes forever in a bathroom.
Looking back over that brief life…
He had spent nearly all of it struggling merely to survive.
And in the end…
He fell while pursuing his dream.
He’s better than me.
Li Ze admitted it.
Am I still dreaming?
He opened his eyes.
The same cramped room surrounded him.
He checked his phone.
Around seven in the morning.
The sky outside was only beginning to brighten.
Weak sunlight entered through the apartment’s single high window, illuminating dust floating in the air.
Dreams…
Were never preserved perfectly.
Li Ze had dreamed many times before.
Ninety percent of those dreams disappeared after waking.
But this one…
Was different.
He remembered everything clearly.
As if every event had happened directly before his eyes.
No.
This wasn’t a dream.
These were the original owner’s memories.
Everything Natsume Sawa had experienced…
Had finally been handed to Li Ze.
The greatest flaw in his transmigration had been filled.
“But…
“It’s already been more than a month, brother.
“I’ve already contacted half your social network.
“What use is giving me your memories now?” Li Ze smiled bitterly.
During the past month, he’d repeatedly used the original owner’s tiny network of relationships in order to survive.
Without memories, each interaction had required endless improvisation.
If he’d possessed these memories from the beginning…
Everything would’ve been so much easier.
Why had they only appeared now?
Li Ze began thinking.
Why?
Those three words were probably an eternal nightmare every human being had to face.
Unless someone was born knowing everything…
They would spend their lives asking why.
Then he found a possible trigger.
The question Tazuna had asked last night.
What do you run for?
Connecting that question with everything he’d seen in the memories…
Li Ze thought he understood the answer.
A cliché story.
The original owner wanted the person who inherited his body to continue his dream.
Even if it wasn’t as a Trainer.
Even if it was as an Uma Musume.
He simply wanted to shine once.
To stop being so ordinary.
“Then…
“I can only promise to do my best.” As the sun slowly rose…
The boy made a promise to someone who no longer existed.
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