After filling his stomach, Nakajima Shin was about to text Urara when he spotted her.
He hurried over and told her to wait for him at the training track during her afternoon class.
Then he headed straight for Trainer Musaka’s private office without stopping.
When he arrived, he just happened to see Musaka walking in.
No need to wait around.
Before knocking, Shin turned back to Teio, who had been following him since the cafeteria.
“Wait outside for a bit.
No need to come in with me.”
“Huh?
Is there something wrong with me?” Teio asked, looking herself up and down with a hint of worry.
“No, it’s just unnecessary.”
Leaving it at that, Shin knocked, stepped inside, and closed the door.
Teio watched the wooden door shut.
Her horse ears twitched nervously.
She peeked down both sides of the hallway, made sure no one was around, then carefully pressed her ears against the door to eavesdrop.
Stepping inside, Shin looked at the veteran trainer wearing thick glasses and greeted him with a smile.
“Sorry to bother you, Trainer Musaka.”
Musaka Ginjirou, who had just sat behind his desk, rarely heard anyone call him by name.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
He adjusted his glasses and replied kindly, “You’re…
oh, right.
The new trainer taking over for Urara?”
“That’s right.
I’m Nakajima Shin.
Sorry to interrupt.” Shin stood before the desk.
“Actually, I came to ask you for a small favor.”
“You want to arrange a mock race, don’t you?” Musaka seemed to read his mind, a grin spreading across his face.
“Correct.” Shin nodded.
“I’m just a rookie trainer.
If I’m going to throw my trainee into the Arima Kinen right out of the gate, I really need to test her actual strength against a formidable opponent.”
“No problem.
Come to the track when afternoon training starts.
I’ll have the starting gates set up, and I’ll try to get Tamamo Cross to join the mock race as well.” Musaka agreed readily, even throwing in an unexpected bonus.
Shin immediately thanked him with a smile, exchanged a few pleasantries, and turned to leave.
Just then, Musaka asked, “By the way, do you have an official trainee yet?”
Sigh.
So he did ask.
That was exactly why I didn’t let Teio follow me in.
The thought flashed through his mind, but his smile never wavered.
“Of course.
She’s a fantastic trainee.”
“Oh?
Who is she?”
“Tokai Teio.”
“…Uh, I think I’m getting old.
Didn’t quite catch that.
Could you say your trainee’s name again?”
Shin didn’t hesitate.
He answered firmly, “Tokai Teio.
My trainee.”
“…Haha, what a fine trainee.” Musaka forced a smile, adjusting the cap on his head.
“Forgive me for asking, but are you aware of her leg issues?”
“I wasn’t fully aware yesterday, but I read up on it on the forum today.”
Seeing his relaxed expression, Musaka asked cautiously, “Uh, you don’t have any…
other concerns?”
“Others just fail to see her true worth.
I got lucky and found a treasure.” Shin replied with a smile.
“Is that so…”
Musaka rubbed the cane beside his foot, pulled his cap down over his eyes, and sighed.
“Looks like I really am old.
I don’t have the same fire you young folks do.”
“Everyone ages once they step into the real world.” Shin smiled softly.
“But luckily, I’m still stuck in childhood.”
“Then keep that good mindset.
Don’t end up like me, needing a sturdy cane just to keep moving forward.” Musaka lifted his cane and chuckled.
Shin nodded with a smile.
“See you later, Trainer Musaka.”
“See you later, kid.”
Shin waved, opened the door, and stepped out to find Teio facing away, leaning on the railing and watching birds soar.
Her tail swayed back and forth.
“Let’s go, Teio.”
“…Yeah.” Teio’s response sounded a bit off.
But Shin didn’t mind.
Maybe she was just too absorbed in the view to react properly.
They soon arrived at the training track and found Urara waiting.
“Trainer, how’s the mock race looking?
How’s it going?” Urara asked eagerly.
“It’s set.
Tamamo Cross might join the race too,” Shin replied.
“Yay!”
Urara jumped up, pumping her fist in excitement.
This was her first chance to race against top-tier Japanese powerhouses like Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross.
As an Umamusume with 112 races under her belt and zero wins, she technically had no qualification to challenge OP, G3, G2, or G1 majors.
She was only eligible for lower-tier allowance races-the exact bracket Shin had pessimistically assumed Teio would be stuck in.
Naturally, in races that low, Urara would never cross paths with elites like Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross.
If it weren’t for the Arima Kinen’s unique voting system for selecting participants, she might never have stepped onto a G1 track in her life.
But thinking about why fans voted for her-because her relentless running despite never winning inspired so many people-Shin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Were these fans trolls?
Pushing her into races she couldn’t possibly win, torturing her on a massive stage like the Arima Kinen?
Luckily, he had the system now.
It could multiply his original twenty percent chance of victory by who knows how much.
If only it wasn’t already October, Shin thought.
Only three months left.
With such a short window, the support cards won’t have time to fully maximize their potential.
Urara’s current stats were so low that after one glance, he dared not look again.
Even in the game’s URA raid events, if anyone reached senior year with stats this bad, he’d suspect they were a masochist deliberately torturing themselves.
Honestly, he worried that even with a full set of six support cards, it was doubtful her stat growth over three months could catch up to Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross.
After all, those two red-and-gray legends probably had all stats breaking 1200.
In campus run mode, using the five-Speed-one-Stamina card combo, he’d need all five cards to activate simultaneously for at least two or three rounds just to make Urara’s stats look decent.
So he could only prepare for the worst-case scenario regarding stat growth.
But having ridden White Lily through so many brutal battles in his past life, he wasn’t exactly terrified.
If the stats were lacking, so be it.
Didn’t he have plenty of track experience as a jockey to make up for it?
Once this mock race was over, the equation for victory would already be more than half formed!
Watching Urara’s excitement settle, Shin told her to go for a warm-up run.
He wanted her to get used to the feel of running on the grass and prepare for the mock race.
As for himself, he had some errands to run elsewhere.
Author’s Note:
PS: I never expected that on the exact day I posted this chapter, Urara would pass away.