“Special Week, you’re truly incredible!
If it were me, I’d definitely be accelerating right here too!” Tokai Teio jumped for joy on the sidelines.
“Oooh!
She’s closing in on Silence Suzuka!
Keep going, Spe-chan!” Just as Tokai Teio said, Special Week—having triggered her unique ability—was chasing after Silence Suzuka like an unstoppable wild horse.
In the brief 200-meter stretch before reaching the final corner, Special Week had narrowed the gap between them to just three horse lengths.
Special Week was stepping right into Silence Suzuka’s *Silent Territory*.
Realizing this, Silence Suzuka curled the corners of her lips into a faint smile.
Rounding the final bend, she lowered her posture once more and drove her left leg into the turf with explosive power!
[ Unique Skill Activated: *I Won’t Give Up the Scenery Ahead!* (Explosive acceleration in 1st place on the final stretch) ] “Woah!
Can Silence Suzuka STILL pick up speed after such a massive Great Escape?!
That’s way too strong…” Tokai Teio was left dumbfounded.
A 2,000-meter race wasn’t overly long, but it certainly wasn’t short either.
Yet right now, with 400 meters still remaining to the finish line, Silence Suzuka had already launched her final sprint!
This proved that even while executing her extreme Great Escape, Silence Suzuka still possessed vast stamina reserves—more than enough to sustain maximum speed through the entire 400-meter final stretch!
“Surprised?
But this is the real Silence Suzuka,” Kouki said with a smile, turning to Tokai Teio.
Silence Suzuka, known as the “Fastest Functional Beauty,” was practically the living icon of the Umamusume Escape running style.
Even an extraordinarily powerful Umamusume like Smart Falcon would eventually earn the legendary title—*”The Silence Suzuka of Dirt.”* That alone showed just how legendary Silence Suzuka’s status was in the hearts of racing fans.
However…
“Eh?!
Spe-chan isn’t done yet!” Tokai Teio’s sudden shout snapped Kouki out of his thoughts.
[ Skill Activated: *Spurt* (Final straight acceleration) ] Kouki noticed the white acceleration aura flashing around Special Week.
With the combined boost of her unique skill and *Spurt*, even Silence Suzuka couldn’t pull away from her!
On the track, the distance between Special Week and Silence Suzuka remained locked at three horse lengths.
‘How is this possible…?’ Suzuka herself was shocked.
Even though Kouki had warned her that Special Week was extraordinarily talented and destined to shine in the future…
This final stretch speed was just terrifying!
She was running at absolute full power, yet she couldn’t break away!
One had to remember that Spe-chan had grown up on a rural farm in Hokkaido with zero systematic training!
“I’ve made up my mind to become the Number One Umamusume in Japan!” “Not just because of my promise to my mothers, but because I’ve thought about it deeply!” “I want to get stronger!
I want to run faster!
And then…” “I want to become Suzuka-san’s true rival!” “I won’t ever let Suzuka-san look so lonely again!” “Suzuka-san!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” As Silence Suzuka crossed the 200-meter mark, Special Week suddenly let out a passionate, full-throated scream.
Suzuka froze.
She couldn’t fully decipher all the overwhelming emotions packed into that shout.
But she could hear it with crystal clarity—Special Week’s footsteps were closing in behind her.
‘Special Sunday…
even if it’s you, I won’t surrender victory to anyone!’ Silence Suzuka picked up her stride once more.
Harnessing her remaining stamina, she gradually re-extended the gap that had just shrunk.
With 100 meters left to the finish line, she re-established a firm four-length lead over Special Week.
*** ‘Holy cow…
what on earth is happening?!’ In Kouki’s eyes, the entire scene suddenly turned bizarre.
Floating in his system vision, the white acceleration aura representing *Spurt* around Special Week suddenly shattered, destroying the skill icon on her skill bar.
Then, a brilliant golden light burst forth from Special Week, coalescing into a brand-new skill—[ *With All One’s Might (Full-Throttle)* ]!
‘What the?!
Mid-race skill evolution?!’ Kouki was utterly stunned.
Instinctively, he turned to look at Tokai Teio, only to find her staring at the track as well, her eyes wide with shock and bewilderment.
“Hey!
Trainer!
Why is Spe-chan STILL picking up speed?!” Tokai Teio asked, pointing frantically at Special Week.
How on earth was he supposed to answer that?
*’Oh, she realized she couldn’t catch up, broke her white skill, and evolved it into a Gold skill on the spot’*?!
Naturally, Kouki couldn’t reveal the system’s inner workings.
He simply narrowed his eyes and said with an enigmatic, profound look: “Because she declared her dream is to become the Number One Umamusume in Japan.” “Is that so…?” Tokai Teio turned her gaze back to the track.
The gap between Silence Suzuka and Special Week was narrowing once more, shrinking to just three horse lengths.
At this rate, the margin would narrow to two horse lengths right at the finish line.
Neither of them expected Special Week to actually beat Silence Suzuka closing the distance to just two lengths against Suzuka’s Great Escape was already a massive triumph.
In Kouki’s understanding, no matter how hard Spe-chan tried, she couldn’t win this race because her base stats weren’t high enough yet.
Just like in the Umamusume game during the server launch days, when players tried raising their first horse and failed the URA Finals in second place.
Then using the first alarm clock…
only to place third.
Using a second alarm clock…
placing eighth.
After using the third alarm clock…
placing third again.
Three alarm clocks in a row, and still no URA championship.
It wasn’t a flaw in strategy her stats were simply too low to overcome the gap.
There was zero mathematical chance of winning.
Special Week was currently in that exact phase.
Her potential was limitless, but having grown up on a farm without formal training, she was only able to unleash this level of performance today thanks to the powerful motivation of chasing Silence Suzuka.
Had it been Seiun Sky setting a tactical Great Escape instead of Silence Suzuka, Spe-chan might have been left far behind.
Under the watchful eyes of Kouki and Tokai Teio, Silence Suzuka crossed the finish line—which was marked by cardboard standees of Hishi Amazon—with Special Week finishing two lengths behind in second place.
What pleasantly surprised Kouki was that while he had been hyper-focused on the front two runners, Rice Shower had quietly closed in, crossing the line just two lengths behind Special Week.
This was a direct testament to her daily training.
Although her final sprint was initiated about 200 meters later than Special Week’s, her solid footwork kept her remarkably competitive.
Kouki was overjoyed—today was a triple victory!
First, Special Week, who was about to join the team, had exploded with potential and awakened a Gold acceleration skill.
Second, Rice Shower had shown incredible stamina and resilience, finishing just four lengths behind Silence Suzuka.
And third…
heh heh heh.
Seeing the three exhausted girls resting on the track, Kouki rushed over with dry towels and mineral water with added electrolytes, complete with straws, reminding them to drink slowly.
Rice Shower, tears welling up in her eyes, clearly had something she wanted to say to Kouki, but in the end, she simply choked out a soft thank-you.
Kouki gently wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb and whispered softly: “You were amazing out there.” “Thank you, Onii-chan!” Rice Shower blushed bright red, breaking into a tearful, radiant smile.
At that exact moment, Kouki felt an icy glare piercing his back.
He instinctively turned around, only to see Special Week and Silence Suzuka whispering to each other, not looking at him at all.
‘Was it just my imagination?’ “Spe-chan, this race proved your incredible potential and bright future to me.
Would you like to join my team?” Kouki walked over to the two girls and asked Special Week.
“Eh?!
You want me to join your team?!” Special Week pointed at herself in utter shock.
“I want to!
I want to join!
I want to be on the same team as Suzuka-san!” Special Week cheered excitedly, jumping up and down on the spot until her legs gave out and she tumbled onto her bottom, making everyone burst into laughter.
“What a great race, Trainer!
You won.
I’ll keep my word and coach Special Week and Rice Shower in dance practice,” Tokai Teio skipped over with a bright smile and said to Kouki.
“I’ll definitely hold you to that dance practice, but there’s something even more important we need to settle first,” Kouki grinned at Tokai Teio.
“Something more important?” Tokai Teio tilted her head in confusion.
“Everyone, gather ’round!” Kouki clapped his hands, focusing everyone’s attention on him.
Then he grabbed the small hands of Tokai Teio and Special Week (who had just scrambled back to her feet), raised them high into the air, and announced loudly: “Today!
Our Team Lord officially welcomes two new members!” “Tokai Teio and Special Week!” “Let me hear a big round of applause!” Silence Suzuka and Rice Shower smiled and clapped warmly, while Special Week scratched her cheek, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Tokai Teio immediately slapped Kouki’s hand away and protested: “Hey!
I never said I was joining your team!
I only agreed that if I lost the bet, I’d help your team with dance practice!” “I distinctly remember saying that if I won, Tokai Teio had to agree to *one condition* from Kouki, right?
When did I ever state the condition was just dance practice?” Seeing the corners of Kouki’s mouth curl up into a smug According to plan smirk, Tokai Teio finally realized she had been played.
It turned out she had walked straight into his trap from the very beginning!
“Ehhhhhhhhhh?!!!!!!!!!”