Sometimes I wonder who to blame for White Lily’s death.
Me?
But I was just a jockey.
My friend?
He just left a dying wish for us to fulfill.
The racetrack?
They were only following his orders.
If it’s not the fault of people, then is it the horse’s?
That would be ridiculous.
To blame a horse that died innocently.
So in the end, I decided it was my fault.
I’d already watched her break her legs multiple times.
I should’ve convinced everyone to let it go, to stop pushing my friend’s dying wish.
It was the only thing someone in my position—both an outsider and family—could have done.
But I didn’t.
I just stood by and watched it happen.
[Can you tell me?
Why didn’t you do it?]
Maybe it was because of my friend’s wish.
Maybe it was because of watching her stubborn, relentless run.
Or maybe it was the arrogance of the world’s greatest jockey…
But in the end, as I watched her collapse in my arms, her wet tongue licking my cheek, those bright, gem-like eyes dimming as her head finally fell…
I understood.
It was just because of the ugly truth about me.
My ugly heart told me to just look on!
I needed money.
I needed it more than anyone else in the world.
My family, my ranch, my home, everything I had…
it all slipped into my brother’s hands with a single will from my parents, and then…
Turned to ash.
I wanted it all back.
I wanted to claw it all back with my own two hands.
But I was just trash.
A college graduate who couldn’t find a job.
I could only work customer service.
I could only do data labeling.
I could only deliver takeout.
…I accepted it all.
But that damn scholar’s gown just wouldn’t come off.
I wanted to tear it off.
Even if it meant losing half my skin and flesh.
But then I remembered my parents’ dying eyes.
Their words echoed: “College grads make good money.
Use the family assets to pay off your brother’s debts.
You just need to live well.”
…Damn it.
My pathetic pride stopped me from tearing it off.
Instead, it made me wrap my arms tighter around the fabric.
After enduring it for so long, just as I was about to force it off, even if it meant tearing my heart out, my friend called.
He wanted me to be a jockey.
To win race after race.
To make White Lily, left to him by his father, the world champion.
It was something I could do.
It was my only chance to make enough money!
[So you just stood by and watched White Lily run herself to death…
for money?]
Yeah.
Pretty ugly, right?
[Do you regret it?]
At this point, what good does regret do?
I just hope White Lily never has to cross paths with me again.
Or with someone as ruthless as a greedy horse owner.
[Then…
what are you going to do now?]
I want to run away.
Somewhere I’ll never see a horse or hear them neigh again.
I want to go back to where I can get everything back.
I want to go home.
[But there are plenty of horses there.]
…That’s why I’ll build a ranch far from civilization.
I’ll tend to hundreds of cattle and sheep on my own.
I’ll live alone.
[But that doesn’t exactly mean you got everything back, does it?]
But at least I’d be back to how I used to be.
[What kind of life?]
Lying on the grass, lazily watching clouds drift by, listening to cattle and sheep chewing on wild grass.
Thinking of nothing.
Doing nothing.
Just enjoying a quiet, simple happiness.
[Will that really happen?]
…Probably not.
Can a life with a missing piece ever truly be happy?
[But you still chose to do it.]
Because I had no other choice.
[If I gave you a chance at happiness, what would you do?]
I’d hold onto it with everything I had.
No one would ever take it from me again.
[Even if this happiness goes completely against what you planned?]
If it brings me happiness, I’d gladly let a stampede trample me.
[Is that your wish now?
The person you want to become?]
Yes.
I want to be embraced by happiness.
[When you open your eyes again, everything will be as you wish.]
Nakajima Shin opened his eyes, staring dazedly at the unfamiliar room around him.
Sunlight slipped through the curtains, casting beams across the blackboard in front of him pinned with a map of Nakayama Racecourse.
On the wooden desk where he rested his elbows, a printed training plan lay ready.
His phone buzzed.
Shin turned off the alarm, leaned back in his chair, and muttered, “Weird.
I feel like I was talking to someone pretty important in my dream.
Am I imagining things?”
Just as he tried to recall fragments of the conversation, a sharp ding echoed in his mind, and a holographic screen flooded his vision.
[Don’t be afraid, child.
I’m here to save you.]
Shin tilted his head, hesitating.
“System?”
[That’s right!
The Umamusume Training System makes its grand entrance!]
His eyes lit up instantly.
Excitement surged as he pictured raising Umamusume, making a fortune, and eventually returning home.
But then his earlier words caught up with him.
“Wait, why save me?
Did I do something wrong?”
The most people he’d offended in the last two days were Hagino Top Lady and Symboli Rudolf.
Even if their conversations got heated due to clashing views, it couldn’t be serious enough to require a system rescue, right?
They weren’t that petty.
[I was just quoting a meme.
Don’t overthink it.]
[Anyway, hurry up and see how powerful I am!]
The system sounded a bit rushed.
Shin got the feeling it was hiding something, but after turning it over in his mind, he found nothing suspicious.
He let it go and started exploring the interface.
The interface was barebones.
Only three tabs: Training, Support Cards, and Quests.
It looked like it was thrown together in a rush.
But Shin didn’t care.
As long as it wasn’t one of those useless platform systems that just leech off their hosts, he’d take it.
He tapped the Training tab.
3D models of his two trainees popped up, moving around.
Below them were the familiar stat training options: Speed, Stamina, Power, Guts, and Wisdom.
Next to them was a confusing icon of two palm trees.
It looked exactly like the daily routine from the mobile game.
The system chimed in right on cue.
[As the name implies, once you sign a trainee, she’ll appear here.
Then you can boost her stats through training, just like in the game.]
*
“Wait, is that just a copy of the Desert Island event?” Shin stared at the palm tree icon.
The event was currently exclusive to the JP server, but he’d definitely heard of its infamy.
The broken stats from stacking five Speed and one Stamina support cards were so OP that Cygames had to patch it just to sell more cards.
He just didn’t know if the system’s version was pre-patch or post-patch.
But either way, winning races and making a fortune would be a piece of cake.
Absolutely, no doubt about it.
[Copy?!
You don’t call it copying when it’s a system!] the system argued hastily.
What followed was a string of confusing jargon about “everyone raises Umamusume” and “borrowing code.”
But Shin didn’t laugh at it like those mocking Kong Yiji.
Instead, he kept a straight face, completely stone-faced.
He didn’t have a habit of mocking others for fun.
Besides, this might be the system’s last shred of dignity.
…Well, actually, if that were true, it kind of was funny.
But since it hadn’t hurt anyone and was actually helping him, he couldn’t be ungrateful and crush it.
“Please take care of me, System-kun.” The corners of Shin’s mouth lifted into a bright smile.
[…Huh?] The system, still mid-explanation, paused.
“I’m counting on you to help me out for the days ahead.
I need you,” Shin said seriously.
The system instantly cheered up.
[You got it!
Leave everything to me!]