Preliminary Test (Happy New Year)

A few days later, in the afternoon, on the training grounds of Central Treisen Academy.

Standing outside the fence of the outermost grass track, Yasui Makoto, with a messenger bag slung over his shoulder, held a tablet and was constantly sketching and writing. Beside him was the ambitious Hokubu Genkoma.

"OK, I'm good on this end."

After confirming the venue data, Yasui Makoto turned his head to look at Hokubu Genkoma, who was warming up beside him.

"Koma... "

Before he could finish speaking, with a grunt, she hopped over the fence, stood at attention, and saluted Yasui Makoto. Hokubu Genkoma's voice was full of impatience.

"I'm ready! We can start anytime!"

"Mm, very energetic. Then let's start with a 1800-meter grass run."

Taking out the stopwatch from his pocket and signaling Hokubu Genkoma to stand at the training starting line, Yasui Makoto instructed:

"Don't overthink it. Just run like you normally do. Are you ready?"

"No problem at all! I'm ready, Trainer!"

"Mm... alright."

Glancing at Hokubu Genkoma's starting posture, Yasui Makoto raised his stopwatch.

"Three, two... one!"

As he counted to one, he quickly lowered his arm.

At the same time, the ground seemed to tremble, and a figure drew a black blur in his vision.

This kind of power... it's really exaggerated.

Gazing at the black blur, Yasui Makoto unconsciously recalled what had happened a few days ago. He remembered a similarly faint tremor of the ground, followed by a figure with short black hair rapidly enlarging in his sight.

However, he quickly calmed down, his gaze fixed on Hokubu Genkoma's figure on the track. He accurately pressed the stopwatch as she passed certain distance markers on the fence.

About two minutes later.

She ran up to Yasui Makoto with an expectant look, showing no signs of having just finished a 1800-meter run. Hokubu Genkoma wiped away nonexistent sweat from her forehead and blinked.

"How was it, Trainer? How did I run just now?"

"Rest for 5 minutes, then run three more times."

Without offering any evaluation, holding the stopwatch and tablet in one hand, and writing and drawing on the screen with the other, Yasui Makoto calmly said:

"When you run, do you usually realize how far you've run, or how long you've been running?"

"How did the Trainer know?"

Taken aback for a moment, Hokubu Genkoma then scratched her head.

"Yeah, I always just focus on running forward.

"The teachers have told me to pay attention to the markers, but I tried a few times, and each time I slowed down because I got distracted, so I stopped paying attention to how far I'd run.

"Trainer, is... is this a serious problem?"

Still not rushing to evaluate, Yasui Makoto shook his head.

"The data from a single run has too much error, and I need to assess your physical limits. Finish the three laps first."

"No problem!"

Nodding without hesitation, Hokubu Genkoma energetically bent her arm.

"I feel like I don't need any rest, I can run now. Is that okay, Trainer?"

Glancing at Hokubu Genkoma's complexion and sensing her breathing, Yasui Makoto shook his head.

"I said rest for 5 minutes, so it's 5 minutes of rest..."

He trailed off, seeing his Uma Musume's expression stiffen. He felt his tone might have been a bit harsh, so he changed his approach.

"You have to give me some time to organize the data, right? Wait for me for five minutes, and it'll be the same for each lap after that."

Hokubu Genkoma's spirits lifted immediately.

"Okay! Then I won't bother you, Trainer!"

More than half an hour later.

"Phew... How was it, Trainer? Was my performance okay just now?"

Finally showing a bit of fatigue, with a bit of glistening sweat on her forehead, but still looking energetic, Hokubu Genkoma, having completed four 1800-meter laps, stood by the fence and excitedly looked at Yasui Makoto.

This stamina... it's a bit too much, isn't it?

Even though he had previously understood Hokubu Genkoma's physical data, witnessing it firsthand now, Yasui Makoto was still a bit surprised.

Uma Musume are very fast, but high-speed running consumes a lot of stamina.

If this had been a race, a normal Uma Musume would need to rest for over an hour after one lap and would need to adjust and relax properly for the next two or three days, otherwise, there might be hidden injury risks.

Even in practice, the intensity of four consecutive 1800-meter runs was not small, and most other Uma Musume would already be panting heavily.

The one before him, however, only looked a little tired. This stamina was indeed unusually strong.

At the same time, Yasui Makoto vaguely recalled that Hokubu Genkoma from another world also had exaggerated physical abilities. Before her debut, she underwent extremely intense special training, which laid the foundation for her subsequent astonishing achievements.

However, he didn't plan to adopt that kind of special training.

The horse racing industry in Japan during his previous life started late, and training methods could be considered backward. Many special training regimens were suspected of exploiting the horses.

The training intensity endured by Hokubu Genkoma from the other world was even more exaggerated. Even within the Japanese industry, it was criticized for a long time.

Furthermore, aside from a few horses like Hokubu Genkoma, none could endure it.

This method was undoubtedly too cruel. Moreover, the one currently undergoing training was a lively and adorable young girl. Yasui Makoto knew that he wasn't as unscrupulous as his "colleagues" from his past life.

What's more, he had a better and safer training method.

"You performed very well."

After praising Hokubu Genkoma and seeing the young girl instantly beam with joy, Yasui Makoto couldn't help but smile as well.

Then, he handed the stopwatch and tablet to Hokubu Genkoma and walked into the field from the entrance a few meters away.

"Trainer, what are you doing...?" Hokubu Genkoma asked in surprise.

"I'm just going to run 100 meters... Don't worry about the speed, I definitely can't run as fast as you."

Standing near the fence, he untied his tie and bound it around his eyes. Yasui Makoto "looked" at Hokubu Genkoma.

"What you need to pay attention to is my grasp of distance and time."

"Distance and time... Okay! I'll watch carefully!"

"Good."

After nodding, without any further prompts, in complete darkness, Yasui Makoto pushed off the ground with force and charged forward.

About 10 seconds later.

Breathing slightly heavily, he removed the tie and looked back at Hokubu Genkoma, asking, "Did you notice?"

"Notice...? Ah, I understand."

After a moment of bewilderment, Hokubu Genkoma's ears twitched. She pointed to a marker sign by the fence.

"Trainer... you ran exactly 100 meters, not more, not less!

"And you didn't look at the marker sign at all...

"No, you weren't looking at anything!"

Hmm, her comprehension is pretty good.

He silently praised his Uma Musume. Yasui Makoto retied his tie and walked to Hokubu Genkoma's side outside the field to explain.

"Whether you look at the marker sign or not, you can roughly estimate how far you've run and how much time it took.

"This is very important in races, especially in intense ones.

"Combined with your understanding of your stamina and your opponent's condition, you can accelerate when you need to, and conserve energy when you don't.

"This is certainly important, and the reason I said it's not the most serious issue is because you have a more obvious and direct problem."

"A more obvious and direct problem..."

Her ears twitched, the tips drooping slightly. Hokubu Genkoma fidgeted with her hands, picking at her fingers.

"Is it about strength...?"

Happy New Year, dear readers!