In Tracen, I Excel at Going to Prison

Zhou Yuang was chatting here while keeping an eye on the livestream comments. Who could have known that an Uma Musume would suddenly walk over.

She was an Uma Musume who looked very mature.

She had short black hair, with only a single lock of bangs over her forehead. There was a hint of red eyeshadow beside her beautiful blue eyes.

She was tall, inspiring countless girls' envy.

(165 cm B905786)

You could say she had an S-shaped figure, full in the front and back.

Now, compare that to a certain Uma Musume.

(161 cm B705379)

There was no harm without comparison. Thankfully, they hadn't brought a heavyweight Uma Musume in for comparison.

[Side-Eyeing Lewd Manga Teacher]: Streamer, why does your gaze keep shifting back and forth between the two of them? Don't tell me...

That was exactly what he meant. Silence Suzuka's figure was clearly inferior to that of the mare in front of him.

Thankfully, he was a stallion. Otherwise, he'd be screwed... Not that it had anything to do with being male or female. He really was screwed.

Cy's setting was that the more injuries the real-life original suffered, the worse the Uma Musume's figure would be after being anthropomorphized.

And Silence Suzuka's original was a tragic horse. The racehorse Silence Suzuka had suffered a catastrophic fracture in his leg because he hadn't controlled his strength during a race.

Many people thought horses could only sleep standing up. That wasn't entirely true. Horses would lie down when they felt safe, but they spent more time standing—not only because they were vigilant, but also because horses disliked simply standing still.

Since horses couldn't lie down as obediently as humans, their injuries couldn't heal.

When they didn't heal, the pain became unbearable, and Silence Suzuka himself was taken away to be euthanized.

It had happened at the height of his racing career, yet he had met such a tragic end.

That was why he was called Silent Meteor.

But that was getting off track. In reality, Silence Suzuka's condition had carried over to the Uma Musume Silence Suzuka, resulting in this bamboo-pole-like figure.

"Silence Suzuka, you already have a trainer, so why are you still coming to the library to look these things up? Are you planning to discuss race knowledge with your trainer?"

The approaching Uma Musume spoke with Silence Suzuka and seemed very familiar with her.

At the same time, a nameplate appeared beside her.

She was Air Groove.

The vice president of Tracen Academy's student council, she was an Uma Musume known as the Empress for her strength and her way of conducting herself.

She was called the Empress, but she still had good relationships with the Uma Musume around her at times.

"Yes. Good day, Miss Air Groove."

Silence Suzuka closed her book and greeted Air Groove.

She was one of the Uma Musume who had a good relationship with Air Groove.

In the world of Uma Musume, they were schoolmates in the same year.

But in the real world, where horses existed, Silence Suzuka and Air Groove had an extraordinary relationship.

The stallion and mare had been rivals during the same era.

Oh, by the way.

Stallions and mares were professional terms in the horse-racing industry.

Male horses were called stallions, female horses were called mares, and castrated male horses were called geldings.

In the world of Uma Musume, since they were all girls, this distinction appeared in their ear accessories. An Uma Musume who wore an accessory on her right ear was a stallion, while one who wore it on her left ear was a mare.

In the real world, where horses existed, the owners of these two horses had a good relationship.

As everyone knew, older generations loved urging people to marry and playing matchmaker to bring families closer together.

The two horses had been privately promised to one another for breeding by their respective owners. After all, in their eyes, matters involving foals depended entirely on the owners' wishes.

Thus, people said that the two horses had been engaged. Unfortunately, Silence Suzuka himself had died young.

Then Air Groove, the mare, became a widow... No, that wasn't right. Humans and Uma Musume shared the same values, but humans and horses didn't share the same values.

Their ideas couldn't be forcibly applied.

Although thoroughbred breeding wasn't as chaotic as that of mice, hamsters, or Greek mythology, it was perfectly normal for a horse owner to find several excellent stallions to breed with his mare.

Among racehorses, having the same father but different mothers, or the same mother but different fathers, was common knowledge.

After Air Groove retired, her owner dragged her off for breeding. One of her breeding partners was particularly noteworthy.

A stallion named Sunday Silence was an existence that couldn't be ignored.

He was a great stallion imported into Japan to improve Japanese racing bloodlines. In the racing industry, the original horses of many Uma Musume were this great stallion's sons or descendants.

Silence Suzuka's original was also the son of this stallion.

Air Groove's owner had originally planned to breed her with Silence Suzuka, because Silence Suzuka was the descendant of an excellent imported stallion like Sunday Silence.

Silence Suzuka and her brothers had all been outstanding, and her owner believed that Silence Suzuka's genetics couldn't be too bad either.

But Silence Suzuka died young. Then, after some consideration, his owner thought: Wasn't Silence Suzuka's father, Sunday Silence, still alive and capable?

Breeding didn't require the horse's consent. It only required the owner's willingness.

And so, this widow who had once been Silence Suzuka's rival became Silence Suzuka's stepmother.

To put it metaphorically, Cao Pi died young, Cao Cao tearfully attended the funeral feast at his grave, then went home and sought out Zhen Ji.

However, relationships between horses in reality couldn't be casually applied to Uma Musume.

In the world of Uma Musume, the two were merely acquainted female high school students of the same age.

"Good day. Who is this Uma Musume?"

Zhou Yuang looked toward Air Groove. Although Air Groove was stern, she greeted Zhou Yuang politely.

"Hello, Trainer. My name is Air Groove, and I'm the student council's vice president."

"My name is Mysterious Trainer A. Just call me AT."

He stated his name without the slightest hesitation, leaving Air Groove somewhat puzzled, but she treated it as though nothing had happened.

Zhou Yuang himself kept sizing Air Groove up.

Then he began speaking to the audience.

"This Uma Musume is quite dashing."

[Tracen Cold-Joke Master]: That's true. She's always so imposing, and she's exceptionally reliable too.

An Uma Musume who had spent a long time with Air Groove could naturally evaluate her.

And a trainer as knowledgeable as Zhou Yuang could of course evaluate Air Groove however he pleased.

Especially since, back when he was going to prison, he had often chosen Air Groove as his support card.

In terms of gameplay, Air Groove was genuinely excellent—so excellent that Zhou Yuang wanted to say to Silence Suzuka that Air Groove was great.

After all, Silence Suzuka's running style was front-running, while Air Groove was often used as support and frequently provided a pile of skills designed to counter front-runners like Silence Suzuka.

"But I don't really like her. I prefer long hair."

Speaking objectively, Air Groove was an exceptionally outstanding woman in both personality and ability.

She could be called perfect.

But she wasn't his type.

Zhou Yuang liked long hair best, especially the long, straight kind. Of course, long, wavy hair wasn't unacceptable either.

"Short hair is nice, but long hair has a more refined air. Whether it falls to the shoulders or the waist, it resembles a waterfall of silk. When an Uma Musume runs, it ripples in the wind, outlining one perfect curve after another—eye-catching and beautiful."

There was one even more important point. When a long-haired girl tied up her hair, she would gather it in one hand, revealing the snow-white nape that had been hidden beneath it.

If the livestream room had been filled with gentlemen instead of Uma Musume, they probably would have started holding a discussion about their preferences by now.

Unfortunately, not only was the room full of Uma Musume, but a certain character who had appeared was sitting in the livestream room too.

[Hates Flashes and Manic Guys]: Who! Asked! You!

First he evaluated someone, then he started rambling about how he didn't like short hair, and then he began acting deranged.

Who was discussing preferences with you?! Stop acting crazy here!

Who cares what you like?!

The Empress, Air Groove, forcibly suppressed her urge to curse and typed out a comment word by word, as if grinding her teeth.

[Invincible Lord of Seaside]: The streamer's words are baffling, but I support the person above.

[Uma Musume Fan]: Exactly. When an Uma Musume starts running, with her long hair streaming behind her... Just thinking about that scene makes me feel like I'm going to die!

[Side-Eyeing Lewd Manga Teacher]: You'd die just from seeing long hair streaming in the wind? If you saw an Uma Musume lying on a bed, her hair naturally spread across the white sheets and moving with every twist of her body, wouldn't you be doing sit-ups in the underworld?

[Hates Flashes and Manic Guys]: What are you talking about?!

[Tracen Cold-Joke Master]: Calm down. How about listening to a cold joke?

[Hates Flashes and Manic Guys]: No need!

Damn it, why were even the Uma Musume in the comments so infuriating?!

Air Groove stared at the comment feed, feeling her blood pressure reach its limit.

She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

She remembered her mother saying that an outstanding Uma Musume had to learn to control her emotions.

At least I don't have an irritating trainer like that... Although I don't have a trainer, I do have reliable colleagues and adorable juniors.

That trainer had made such lewd comments in front of so many Uma Musume... How utterly disgusting. Thankfully, she had never encountered a trainer like that in her life.

My future trainer definitely won't be such a disgusting trainer!

After thinking of a certain reliable student council president and her shy, adorable junior, Air Groove's blood pressure finally settled down.

Unlike certain people in the comments, each one more infuriating than the last.

After rubbing her temples, Air Groove looked toward the screen.

On the screen, Air Groove and Silence Suzuka were conversing and casually discussing racing for a while. Then Zhou Yuang chatted with Air Groove for a few moments.

It was basically just to get acquainted.

Air Groove was an extraordinary Uma Musume. In a racing world dominated by stallions, she had forged her own path and led the way for the mare queens who came after her.

That was why her image in Uma Musume was also that of a serious, meticulous, perfect lady.

She said that she hoped to see Zhou Yuang and this troublesome classmate achieve good results, then left.

However, she wouldn't be an NPC who merely showed her face and left. She had once been Silence Suzuka's rival.

There would be plenty of opportunities for her to appear later.

"Um, Trainer."

After seeing her classmate off, Silence Suzuka held her book and looked toward Zhou Yuang.

She seemed uneasy. What Air Groove had said earlier wasn't something she could simply laugh off and ignore.

"Should I listen to your advice more?"

"I think it's a good thing that you have your own ideas."

Zhou Yuang shook his head, rejecting Silence Suzuka's desire to obey him in everything.

"Although I can arrange what tactics you use in races as your trainer, how you make small decisions on the track depends on the Uma Musume's own thoughts."

In other games, players could directly control a character's every action. Uma Musume was different. The main point was whether the Uma Musume herself was willing.

If an Uma Musume was badly controlled, it meant her intelligence had been raised too little.

The recommendation was to switch to better stallions and better support cards.

"Yes, is that so? But I don't really understand how to think about it..."