One afternoon a few days later, at Central Treisen Academy's track.
Standing outside the fence around the outermost grass track, Anjing Zhen had a shoulder bag slung over him and held a tablet in one hand, scribbling away. Beside him stood Kitasan Black, brimming with confidence.
"Okay, everything's ready on my end."
After checking the track data, Anjing Zhen turned to look at Kitasan Black, who was warming up beside him.
"Little Kita, you..."
Before he could finish, Kitasan Black vaulted over the fence with a "Heave-ho!" and stood at attention, saluting Anjing Zhen. Her voice brimmed with impatience to get started.
"I'm ready! We can start anytime!"
"Mm, you've got plenty of spirit. Let's start with an 1,800-meter run on grass."
Taking a stopwatch from his pocket, Anjing Zhen gestured for Kitasan Black to stand at the starting point.
"Don't overthink it. Just run the way you usually do. Ready?"
"No problem at all! I'm ready, Trainer!"
"Mm... good."
After glancing at Kitasan Black's running stance, Anjing Zhen raised the stopwatch.
"Three, two... one!"
As he counted down to one, he quickly lowered his arm.
At the same moment, the earth seemed to tremble, and a figure streaked through his vision, leaving behind a black blur.
That kind of power... It really was ridiculous.
Watching the black blur, Anjing Zhen couldn't help recalling what had happened a few days ago. He remembered the same faint tremor beneath his feet, followed in an instant by a black-haired figure rushing toward him and growing rapidly larger in his sight.
But he soon settled his thoughts and kept his eyes fixed on Kitasan Black as she ran along the track. Whenever she passed a distance marker by the fence, he clicked the stopwatch with perfect timing.
A little over two minutes later.
Kitasan Black ran up to Anjing Zhen with an expectant look. She didn't look at all like she had just run 1,800 meters. She wiped nonexistent sweat from her forehead and blinked at him.
"How was that, Trainer? How did I do?"
"Rest for five minutes, then run three more times."
Without offering an evaluation, Anjing Zhen held the stopwatch and tablet under one arm and calmly made notes on the screen with the other hand.
"When you're running, you probably don't notice how far you've gone or how much time has passed, right?"
"How did you know, Trainer?"
Kitasan Black froze for a moment, then scratched her head.
"Yeah, I just focus on what's ahead and run as hard as I can.
"The teachers have told me to pay attention to the markers, but I tried it a few times, and I slowed down whenever I got distracted. So I stopped keeping track of how far I'd run.
"Trainer, is that... a serious problem?"
Still in no hurry to judge, Anjing Zhen shook his head.
"The data from a single run is too unreliable, and I also need to assess your stamina limits. Let's talk after you've finished three laps."
"No problem!"
Kitasan Black nodded without hesitation and flexed her arm, full of vigor.
"I feel like I don't need to rest at all. I can run again right now. Is that okay, Trainer?"
Anjing Zhen glanced at Kitasan Black's face and listened to her breathing, then shook his head.
"I said to rest for five minutes, so rest for five minutes..."
He had only gotten halfway through the sentence when he saw his Uma Musume stiffen. Realizing that his tone might have sounded a little harsh, he changed tack.
"You have to give me a little time to organize the data, right? Wait five minutes. We'll do the same after each lap."
Kitasan Black perked up at once.
"Okay! I won't bother you, Trainer!"
Over half an hour later.
"Phew... How was that, Trainer? I did pretty well, right?"
Kitasan Black finally looked a little tired, and a glistening sheen of sweat had gathered at her temples. But she was still full of energy as she stood beside the fence after running four laps of 1,800 meters, looking eagerly at Anjing Zhen.
This stamina... Wasn't it a little too impressive?
Even though he'd already seen Kitasan Black's physical stats, Anjing Zhen was still surprised to witness it firsthand.
Uma Musume were fast, but running at high speed also took a heavy toll on their stamina.
If that had been a race, most Uma Musume would have needed to rest for at least an hour after one lap. They would also have needed to take care to recover over the next two or three days, or they might risk lingering injuries.
Even as a training run, four consecutive laps of 1,800 meters was a considerable effort. Most other Uma Musume would have been panting by now.
But this girl only looked a little tired. Her stamina really was extraordinary.
At the same time, Anjing Zhen vaguely remembered that Kitasan Black in another world had also possessed an absurd amount of stamina. Before her debut, she'd undergone incredibly grueling special training, laying the foundation for her astonishing achievements later on.
But he had no intention of using that kind of training.
In his previous life, Japanese Horse Racing World had gotten off to a late start, and its training methods could be called backward. Many special training programs seemed to push racehorses past their limits.
The training Kitasan Black had endured in that other world had been even more extreme. It had drawn criticism for a long time, even within the Japanese industry.
And aside from a small number of racehorses like Kitasan Black, not a single one could endure it.
This approach was undoubtedly too cruel. What's more, the one he was training now was a lively, adorable girl. Anjing Zhen knew he wasn't as unscrupulous as his "colleagues" in his previous life.
Besides, he had a better and safer training method.
"Great job."
After praising Kitasan Black, Anjing Zhen saw her face light up with joy and couldn't help smiling too.
Then he handed her the stopwatch and tablet and walked onto the track through the entrance a few meters away.
"Trainer, what are you...?" Kitasan Black asked, surprised.
"I'm going to run 100 meters. Don't worry about my speed; I definitely can't run as fast as you."
Standing near the fence, Anjing Zhen took off his tie and tied it over his eyes. He "looked" toward Kitasan Black.
"Pay attention to how well I judge distance and time."
"Distance and time... Okay! I'll watch closely!"
"Good."
After nodding, he gave no further signal. With nothing but darkness in his vision, Anjing Zhen pushed hard off the ground and sprinted forward.
About ten seconds later.
Breathing slightly hard, Anjing Zhen took off the tie and looked back at Kitasan Black.
"Did you notice?"
"Notice...? Ah, I get it."
Kitasan Black paused in surprise. Then one ear twitched, and she pointed to a marker beside the fence.
"Trainer... You ran exactly 100 meters, no more and no less!
"And you didn't look at the markers at all...
"No, you didn't look at anything!"
Mm, she was perceptive too.
Privately praising his Uma Musume, Anjing Zhen tied his tie back on and walked over to her outside the track, then explained.
"Whether or not you look at the markers, you can still get a rough sense of how far you've run and how much time has passed.
"That's important in a race, especially the more intense the competition gets.
"On top of that, once you understand your stamina and your opponents, you'll know when to speed up and when to conserve your strength.
"Of course, this matters. And the reason I said it wasn't that serious is that you have other, more obvious problems."
"Other, more obvious problems..."
Kitasan Black's ears twitched, their tips drooping slightly. She clasped her hands together and picked at her fingers.
"Is it... my strength?"
Happy New Year, everyone!
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