Even the easygoing Vodka couldn't help but feel impressed.
Daiwa Scarlet nodded, too. She often disagreed with Vodka, since their personalities had never quite gotten along.
But when it came to praising and evaluating Platinum, they were in complete agreement. Neither of them had the slightest objection.
Compared to the top Uma Musume schools in Europe and America, Tracen Academy still hadn't produced many world-class Uma Musume, and fell far short.
But in Japan, it stood alone at the top, leaving the second-best school so far behind that no one could even say by how much.
Its educational resources, average trainer quality, training facilities, and the strength of its Uma Musume were all on a completely different level.
Generally speaking, even a gifted genius needed to attend a school worthy of her talent to improve quickly. Conversely, poor educational resources could hold her back and slow her growth.
After all, talent determined one's limits, but reaching those limits took unwavering effort, strong rivals, and an excellent training environment.
Take Vodka, for example. Without Daiwa Scarlet as a formidable rival in Training Races, Vodka's growth would certainly have been slower. That was the kind of excellent environment and competition Tracen Academy could provide.
And yet Platinum's name had never appeared at any famous school in Japan!
She couldn't possibly have come from a prestigious family, either. If she had, they would have publicized it long ago to bring fame to the family. The Mejiro family's Uma Musume, for example, were often popular from the moment they made their debuts.
Platinum had attended no famous school and wasn't from a prestigious family. How could anyone describe what she'd accomplished as merely "inspirational"?
Despite all that, Platinum had gotten stronger with every race. She was a completely unheard-of phenomenon!
Or had Platinum undergone some terrifying training that no one knew about?
Or fought fierce battles against some terrifying opponent beyond ordinary understanding?
That seemed... unlikely, didn't it?
Even if some retired Uma Musume had been incredibly strong, she was retired. Surely she couldn't be stronger than an active GI champion.
Unable to make heads or tails of it, Daiwa Scarlet gave up trying to figure it out.
Beside her, Vodka suddenly smiled, as if something had just occurred to her.
"Scarlet, I'm so jealous of you..."
"Huh?"
Daiwa Scarlet turned to stare at Vodka, who was usually at odds with her, puzzled.
"Five lengths."
"?"
"You're the opponent Platinum beat by the fewest lengths in her first four races."
"??"
Daiwa Scarlet's smile froze, her expression turning complicated.
As far as the results went, that was true.
Platinum had beaten Daiwa Scarlet by five lengths in the Debut Race. A week later, she'd beaten her older rivals by fifteen or sixteen lengths in a GIII graded race. Half a month after that, she'd won the Oaks by ten lengths with Looking Back at the Moon!
And in the six GI races of the Classics, she'd claimed first place in the Japanese Derby by a full fourteen lengths!
In every other race, she'd won by "double-digit lengths." Only in her Debut Race against Daiwa Scarlet had the margin been in the single digits—"just five lengths."
A month ago, right after losing, she'd been furious, wondering why she'd lost by so much. Five whole lengths! Had she not been working hard enough lately...?
But only a month had passed, and even she had to admit... it was unbelievable. How had she lost to Platinum by only five lengths?
The contrast was just too stark.
Vodka leaned close to her phone and continued.
"I just found a few comments. Someone was saying:"
"Daiwa Scarlet is definitely a future Triple Crown-level contender. Jungle Pocket and Mejiro Dober, who are both incredibly strong, were left far behind, but Daiwa Scarlet lost to Platinum by just five lengths!"
"We can look forward to Daiwa Scarlet possibly beating Platinum someday. After all, she only lost by five lengths!"
Hearing this, Daiwa Scarlet's breathing grew ragged, her ample chest heaving. She hurriedly raised her hand and made an "X" sign, telling Vodka to stop.
She couldn't even figure out whether she should be happy, angry, or relieved...
But no one knew better than Daiwa Scarlet that she wasn't strong enough to match Platinum's performance in the Classics!
She was so weak that she hadn't even made Platinum use her full strength!!
Then another thought struck Daiwa Scarlet.
(What if Platinum completely sweeps through Japan and has no rivals left?)
(Then... could things really turn out like this?)
A scene took shape in the mind of young Daiwa Scarlet.
One genius Uma Musume after another was effortlessly "cut down" by Heavenly Horse Platinum.
Then all of Japan eagerly awaited the next challenger.
"Go on! You were the first monster to come close to the Heavenly Horse. Show us what you're truly capable of at your peak!"
"Tokai Teio, whom we placed all our hopes in, has fallen at Platinum's feet..."
"You're the only one left. Can you win?"
"The phantom champion with the most impressive record—she only lost by five lengths! Daiwa Scarlet was definitely holding back."
"The absolute champion, and the loneliness that came with it. The one who taught her to love was..."
The worst part was, this wasn't just some wild fantasy. It really could happen!
Maybe Daiwa Scarlet would end up known as the "Phantom Uma Musume."
Daiwa Scarlet felt a shiver run through her, her legs trembling slightly.
Ah, her against Platinum?
Could some monster please come along and take down the Heavenly Horse? She didn't want everyone placing such high hopes on her!
"Ugh... I'm starting extra training."
"Otherwise, next time I race Platinum, I might lose by more than five lengths!"
Daiwa Scarlet was forced to regain her motivation for extra training!
The next day.
Tracen Academy was bustling with excitement.
Countless young Uma Musume were discussing the recently concluded Japanese Derby with their friends, classmates, or trainers.
And it wasn't only happening at Tracen Academy. Countless people across Japan had watched that astonishing Derby, a race worthy of going down in history!
And in one of the infirmaries!
Lin Anran, the doctor, furrowed his brow slightly, his expression quite conflicted, as if he'd run into a difficult problem.
The young Uma Musume standing before him wasn't injured at all, yet her predicament was closely connected to the unscrupulous young doctor.
"Doctor, I think I've been hallucinating lately. Yesterday, during the Derby, I got overtaken by that awful Heavenly Horse, and then I got shot!"
"My trainer told me I've been traumatized and that it's all in my head! What do you think?"
The unscrupulous doctor sighed.
"First of all, I'm a doctor, not a psychologist."
"Secondly, you're the fifth Uma Musume to come ask me about this today. Next!"
He'd better clock out early and go collect his race winnings.
What would he get as a reward this time—his uncle, or one of the other Kulantta?
Fifty-some minutes later!
"There's finally no one left..."
Lin Anran let out a deep breath, feeling somewhat outraged.
Damn it! Why were so many young Uma Musume who'd been shaken by the Derby coming to him?
It had only been an hour or two, and he'd already seen almost ten Uma Musume who'd been left reeling. Was the Transcendence Effect really that devastating?
The worst part was, he wasn't a psychologist, so he couldn't charge them the way a psychologist would. He'd spent ages comforting them for free.
But the moment he thought about the Japanese Derby's prize money, Lin Anran regained his composure.
"Right, I'll stop paying attention to these unimportant things."
"For now, I should get ready to collect..."
After talking to himself, Lin Anran casually picked up the tea on his desk.
The label on the cup read:
Sticky Rice Fragrant Lemon Tea, warm, no sugar
Lin Anran enjoyed the delicious tea, set it back down, and was about to claim his system reward when—
His phone, lying on the desk, suddenly chimed with a notification.
The unscrupulous young doctor's attention was drawn to it, and he looked over.
He saw that several unread messages had appeared on his social media account.
"Which little nobody could it be?"
Lin Anran quickly logged into his social media account and opened his messages...
It didn't take long for him to see several messages from Dahlia and Secretariat.
Lin Anran tapped on Dahlia's messages first.
Dahlia: Doctor Lin, I won my Debut Race!
Dahlia: Now I'm preparing for a graded race and taking another step toward becoming "the strongest."
The messages were extremely brief, apparently just a quick update.
Dahlia: Oh, do you remember Star of Kaido? She got injured while traveling in America and came to you for treatment. She recently won her Debut Race, too.
Dahlia: Her opponent was really strong, but I won't lose. I made a promise!
Dahlia: Please be ready~
After reading the messages and noting the name of another Uma Musume, Lin Anran didn't think much of it.
It took him another second of thought before he remembered.
"Star of Kaido... Oh, she's the daughter of Haidoushi, the Arc de Triomphe Champion."
Haidoushi was a Chinese Uma Musume who had gone to Japan to study and train. She wasn't taken seriously and attended only an ordinary Uma Musume school, unable to get into Japan's Tracen Academy.
Later, her school even went bankrupt. Haidoushi then moved to Europe to make her debut, but her results were consistently poor.
Yet in the end, beneath the rain and on Heavy Track, she won the Arc de Triomphe, the world's premier turf race! She shocked the world!
It was worth noting that an Uma Musume's nationality—or rather, her "registration"—was generally determined by where she made her debut, where she trained, or similar factors.
So Haidoushi and her daughter, Star of Kaido, who both debuted in Europe, were counted as European Uma Musume, while Platinum was considered a Japanese Uma Musume.
Countless Japanese spectators had lamented that Haidoushi hadn't debuted in Japan, and that she hadn't gotten into Tracen back then... If she had, wouldn't a Japanese Uma Musume have won the Arc de Triomphe?
Before you continue