“Did you hear?
Tojo Keiko was hospitalized because she pulled all-nighters writing exam papers.” “Seriously?” “Just how many tests do you have to take to end up in the hospital?
Doesn’t she join any clubs?
Doesn’t she ever go out to play?” “Wait, who is Tojo Keiko?” Whispers about Keiko quickly spread across the school.
The formerly invisible nobody who was as unnoticed as pond scum had suddenly become a celebrity.
In a school environment, rumors traveled fast, quickly spreading to everyone, and soon even students from other schools heard about the girl who studied herself in the hospital.
Keiko didn’t really care.
Honestly, although she had gone overboard that week, it was also a test to see how much stress an Umamusume’s body could handle.
The result was—Umamusume’s constitution was truly magical.
For a human, a schedule like that would have sent them straight to the ICU, but for an Umamusume, it was just mild overwork.
Thank goodness this world was gentle toward Umamusume.
Otherwise, with a body like this, capitalists would have worked them 24/7.
Keiko thanked the gods once again for reincarnating her into this peaceful daily-life world.
Having died from overworking in her past life, she at least had an indestructible liver now.
But she had a new problem.
She was currently confined to her hospital bed, with Diamond and Kita-chan taking turns to watch over her.
Until she fully recovered, neither of them had any intention of letting her touch a single test paper.
But there were only three days left before the exam.
Keiko sat in her bed, feeling as anxious as a high school senior three days before the college entrance exam.
She looked up.
“Diamond-san, can I please just do one test paper?” “No.” Diamond replied without looking up, focused on peeling an apple.
“Wait until you’re fully recovered.
Here, eat some apples.” Keiko ate the apple with a sigh.
While she was grateful to Diamond for paying her medical bills and staying by her side, she was about to take Todai’s early entrance exam.
Without practice, she felt completely unprepared.
She had to admit she had gone too far this time, making Diamond raise her guard significantly.
“Diamond-san…
at least bring me my study guides.
I’m so bored just lying here…” Keiko pleaded, trying to squeeze out any opportunity to study.
But Diamond was prepared.
She placed a stack of manga that Kita-chan had brought on the nightstand.
“If you’re bored, read these.
Kita-chan said you can read whatever you want, since this set is meant for sharing anyway.” “…Okay.” With her second plan ruined, Keiko went silent.
She began trying to recall the exam patterns in her head, attempting to study through meditation.
As she reviewed what was basically a history of Japanese village skirmishes in her mind, Diamond suddenly asked a question.
“Is getting into Todai really that important to you?” Diamond’s question made Keiko pause her mental revision.
It was hard to explain how much this meant to her.
She couldn’t very well say she had died of overwork in her past life because she chose the wrong major and ended up dirt poor, could she?
Getting into Todai wasn’t actually the point.
For Keiko, she just wanted to see if she could have been happier if she had chosen a more promising career path back then.
In her heart, she still loved art, anime characters, games, and animation.
But during the first half of her past life, she had kept that love hidden deep down.
In elementary, middle, and high school, she had always been the perfect model student in everyone’s eyes.
But she was also a completely boring kid.
While others played games, she did test papers.
While others enjoyed their youth, she did test papers.
While others fell in love, she was still doing test papers.
And then, after a lifetime of obedience, she had finally acted selfishly when choosing her university major—only to run straight into the AI art wave and end up unable to buy food.
She couldn’t help but wonder if she had made a mistake.
Her luck was always terrible, so bad she couldn’t even trust herself.
It felt like only studying would never betray her.
If she had chosen a major with a brighter future, would she have been happy?
She wondered…
and she hesitated.
Everything she did was just to live a happy life.
Her past life had been tragic enough; she wanted to be truly happy at least once in this life.
That obsession kept her going, driving her toward her ultimate goal.
“I just…
want to live a happy life this time…” She turned her head away, unable to look at Diamond.
Her eyes grew slightly red.
“Because my luck is just too bad.” Diamond went silent.
She couldn’t possibly understand what Keiko’s past life was like.
But she could fully feel the emotion behind those words.
This anxious, insecure feeling made Diamond think of Keiko’s family background.
For an orphan like Keiko, how did she view herself?
Keiko was poor and unfortunate.
The only ways left to change her fate were studying…
or making a name for herself in racing.
She must have tried racing, or she wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Kita-chan.
But she ultimately chose to study because she lacked the confidence of a normal Umamusume.
Although she had the talent, she couldn’t bring herself to trust it.
She was so obsessed with Todai because she didn’t want to take a gamble.
She didn’t trust herself, so how could she gamble on being a genius?
Diamond felt she finally understood Keiko—her insecurity, and why she chose to study for Todai.
She reached out and held Keiko’s hand.
“If this is really that important to you, then as your friend, I have to support you.
But…
I need you to take care of yourself.
You can study, but you can never repeat what you did this past week.
I want you to understand that I hate seeing you destroy your health like that, just like you want me to understand how important Todai is to you.” “Diamond-san…” Keiko knew Diamond was genuinely worried, and she appreciated it.
In this world where she had no one to rely on, the only person she could trust was Diamond, a friend who supported her unconditionally…
and Kita-chan too.
“Thank you…” Keiko thanked her sincerely, though to Diamond, such formal thanks felt a bit out of place.
“We are friends, after all.” Diamond made a call, ordering her family staff to bring all of Keiko’s unfinished test papers and study guides to the hospital.
She wouldn’t dare let Keiko study alone in the dorm again; she had to keep an eye on herself.
She also suddenly began to look forward to a miracle—the miracle of an Umamusume getting into Todai.
As everyone knew, Todai had never accepted an Umamusume.
But Diamond felt that if any Umamusume could do it, it would be Tojo Keiko.
Because the way she worked hard was truly sparkling.
Just like a shining diamond— People who chase their own happiness are always at their brightest when working hard for it.
No one should laugh at them, and no one should stand in their way.
In her heart, Diamond cheered for Keiko.
She had already given up on going to Tracen Academy together with Keiko, because their friendship wouldn’t end just because of separate schools.
Besides, she wanted to see her friend fulfill her dream.
“I think I understand a bit of what Kita-chan meant by…
making her heart flutter.” Diamond whispered softly.
“Because some people really make you worry for them, while making you admire them at the same time…” And…
they make your heart beat so fast…
Meanwhile, Symboli Rudolf also heard that Keiko was hospitalized.
Hearing that she was fine, she let out a sigh of relief.
She hadn’t expected Keiko’s resolve to go to Todai to be so strong that she would study herself into the hospital.
And she heard the girl was still studying intensely in the hospital, only holding back slightly.
She couldn’t help but admire Keiko’s determination, becoming even more interested in an Umamusume with such resolve.
She looked forward to their bet, wondering if the girl would surprise her.
Rudolf was a woman of her word and never went back on it.
But she also liked to have a backup plan.
So, she met with the professor she knew and made a smiling suggestion.
“I believe the University of Tokyo and Tracen Academy should have more exchanges.” Rudolf said with a smile.
“I don’t think there should be a general consensus that Umamusume are lacking academically.
I want to see an Umamusume achieve academic success and shine in her own field.” “Rudolf, you can just get straight to the point.” The kind-faced professor laughed.
“I am indeed very interested in Tojo Keiko-san.
She is one of the youngest challengers in Todai’s history, and an Umamusume at that.
Todai has never enrolled in an Umamusume, so not just me, but many other professors are quite curious.” “Then, our cooperation should be very pleasant—” Rudolf rested her elbows on the desk, steepled her fingers, and smiled as she sat across from the famous professor, who was also the President of the University of Tokyo, presenting her two backup plans.
No one knew what agreement the two had reached.
But both the President and Rudolf left the cafe with satisfied smiles.
Meanwhile, completely unaware that she had been targeted by two heavyweights of their respective fields, Tojo Keiko was still working on test papers, eating grapes peeled by Diamond, and focusing entirely on her studies.
Three days passed in a flash, and Keiko was discharged from the hospital.
She looked up at the blinding sunlight outside, but didn’t feel relaxed at all.
Her battle had only just begun.
Sure enough, a red luxury sports car soon pulled up right in front of her.
The driver poked her head out and called out.
“Are you Tojo Keiko-san?” “Yes.” Keiko nodded.
“And you are?” “Just call me big sister Maruzensky~” The stylish lady, who dressed with an odd last-century fashion sense, smiled and waved.
“I’m taking you to your exam site.
Rudolf asked me to pick you up.” Keiko stared at the sports car.
Although she didn’t know much about cars, she could tell from its sleek look that this was a luxury vehicle she couldn’t afford even if she sold a few of her organs.
Feeling slightly lost, she climbed into the passenger seat, buckled her seatbelt with high safety awareness, and then asked.
“Big sister Maruzensky…
Why does that name sound familiar?” “Just your imagination~ I’m just an unknown Umamusume who had a few small wins.
Compared to Rudolf, I’m nothing.” Maruzensky replied with a smile.
“Oh, by the way, don’t talk for a bit.” “Eh?
Why?” “Because you might bite your tongue.” Maruzensky grinned as she shifted gears.
With a massive force pushing her back into her seat, Keiko realized she had just boarded a highway express straight to hell.
“Yahoo~ New cars really are built tough~” “Waaaah!
Slow down!
Waaah!” Keiko’s screams echoed.
She felt like the wind was slapping her face.
Her body was flying forward, and her soul was struggling to catch up behind.
Was she really not speeding?
Were there no traffic police in the Umamusume world?
Although Maruzensky loved speeding, her driving skills were top-tier.
Even though Keiko lost half her soul during the ride and threw up all over the ground the moment she got out of the car, she did arrive at the exam site safely.
Looking up, she saw the grand gates of the University of Tokyo.
The terrible dizziness seemed to be wiped away by a mysterious force.
After clearing her stomach, she finally realized she was standing on the starting line.
Although it felt different from a real racetrack, in this race—Keiko had already entered the gate.
Maruzensky patted her back and laughed.
“You adapt pretty quickly!
Want to learn how to drive from me?” “…No, no!
You should go find the kid from the Fujiwara Tofu Shop instead.
I’m sure he’d love to race you.
His AE86 is fast.” Keiko shook her head quickly, her previous ambition completely wiped out by fear.
“I can’t handle that!” “Eh~ But I think you’d be great at it.
How about this: if you actually pass the exam, I’ll personally give you a car.
I just got a few new ones in my garage anyway.” Maruzensky smiled, trying to tempt Keiko.
“If you don’t want a car, I can give you some other reward.
Just think of it as a little encouragement from my big sister.” Keiko had no interest in driving, but when the older girl leaned in close with her impressive figure, Keiko chickened out.
The sheer physical presence was quite overwhelming.
“I…
I understand.”