A Prison Expert at Tracen, Chapter 18

"You seemed to gather strength at a suitable angle, just like the other running styles, then pull away at full speed. But your training just now was different."

Although he was only standing by and watching the training, Zhou Yuang still noticed that Silence Suzuka had realized the little fangirl behind her possessed considerable potential, and that the longer the race, the easier it would be for her to be overtaken.

On top of that, Silence Suzuka might have been carrying the burden of being a senior. She was also a running idiot, and had the confidence from winning her debut race. So she had instinctively begun sprinting recklessly, just like she had as a child?

During her previous run, Silence Suzuka had accelerated and pulled away at the start, through the turn, on the straight before the uphill, and during the downhill.

She had not accelerated elsewhere, but she had not slowed down either.

Zhou Yuang opened both microphones and explained his judgment to Suzuka in the game and to the viewers in the comments.

Not only Silence Suzuka in the game—even the Uma Musume spectators present were stunned for a moment.

"Although you may think what I'm saying sounds a little absurd, this game was made by the Three Goddesses."

Switching to the streamer channel, Zhou Yuang explained himself to the comments.

The sensation just now had already allowed Zhou Yuang to figure out quite a lot. He did not believe that a game the Three Goddesses had worked so hard on could clip through things as easily as a Cygames game.

They were gods, at least. Could they really be as lazy as Cygames, deleting Silence Suzuka's original shoulder cape just because they were afraid of clipping?

"So it's absolutely realistic, and my deductions should be correct."

Silence Suzuka's way of running 2,200 meters just now was more or less a reckless front run, so her body had suffered some acceptable side effects.

If she ran like that again next month, then perhaps...

Would the next turn require her to rest—or study?

If she chose to continue training or racing, she would receive a debuff... Damn, were this game's optimization and punishment methods a little too realistic?

[Tracen Cold-Joke Master]: So, are you one of those excellent trainers?

After Zhou Yuang explained, a certain extremely clever person immediately said something that made him emo.

[Tracen Cold-Joke Master]: Come to think of it, there are only a handful of excellent trainers at Tracen right now.

Oh, hell! Don't!

Seeing that sentence, Zhou Yuang felt his vision go dark.

He knew exactly who this Tracen Cold-Joke Master was.

She was Tokai Teio's father, Symboli Rudolf. As the student council president of Tracen Academy, she possessed a great deal of authority.

Tracen's Student Council was considered staff, just the unpaid kind.

But looking up certain trainers' information would be absurdly easy.

Given enough time, even if she had to spend money and eat through a pity system, she could open blind boxes one by one until she opened her own box.

His own assigned Uma Musume, Oguri Cap, had been spotted by Symboli Rudolf, who had worried that she would be buried in the provinces, so she had gone there specifically to fish her out.

This domineering behavior was also jokingly called Emperor Shiren forcibly snatching the Gray-Haired Girl.

She was also called someone who had done every bad thing imaginable. If he were discovered...

But if Rudolf is the normal kind, then she's definitely a wonderful person.

But if she was not, then it would be the bizarre-text scenario.

Rudolf might come looking for him.

She might say things like, "You wouldn't want your identity exposed at Tracen, would you?" "The cafeteria budget is rather tight this month. You wouldn't want Oguri Cap unable to eat at the cafeteria, would you?" or "You wouldn't want to see what happens to this month's salary, would you?"

If he refused, his Uma Musume, Oguri Cap, would go hungry every day.

And he would have no money to feed her. Watching Oguri Cap grow thinner by the day, he could only grit his teeth and tell her, "Wait for me to come back."

Afterward, he would make a phone call and humbly ask Rudolf on the other end, "Ma'am, it's been many days since we last met. Have you been thinking of me?"

Then Rudolf's black luxury car would take him to Rudolf's enormous mansion, where Rudolf would lock him in the Basement and subject him to indescribable, ultimate humiliation.

Meanwhile, Oguri Cap would know nothing about it at home. From time to time, she would look at the street through the window, waiting for him to return with food. Then she would hear the doorbell ring.

When she opened the door, she would find a black-suited man carrying a pile of supplies.

He would drop the food, claim it was from him, then turn and leave, leaving Oguri Cap flustered. When she asked when he would return, all she would get was the cold backs of the black suits.

Driven by hunger, Oguri Cap would eat the food through her tears. Then, while eating, she would leave some behind, turn toward the doors and windows, and wait for him to come home and eat with her.

She would have no idea that this rookie, who had graduated only recently, had been beaten down by Rudolf's criminal underworld and polished smooth by the Emperor Shiren who had done every bad thing imaginable, becoming Rudolf's...

Tamamo's! Why is my imagination so good?!

Tamamo's, why was my brain imagining such bizarre things?

After imagining a textbook bizarre-text plot, Zhou Yuang wanted nothing more than to slap himself.

"On what basis are you assuming my identity?"

Zhou Yuang immediately rebuked Rudolf with righteous indignation.

His words carried a clear how dare you tone.

It left Rudolf completely confused.

"Not a trainer?"

But if he was not a trainer, he could not have observed an Uma Musume's condition so easily.

"Could you possibly be an Uma Musume? But no Uma Musume has ever been a trainer before."

Rudolf was very puzzled, but as someone with a strong mind of her own, she did not let the matter go.

[Hates Flashes and Manic Guys]: But when you introduced yourself, you said you were Mysterious Trainer A, right? If you're not a trainer, why call yourself one?

One of her classmates was very eager to investigate this Mysterious Trainer A.

Perhaps that classmate would bring the documents to her and ask her to investigate without even needing her to bring it up.

"Interesting. I'll look into who that trainer is later."

She was happy to see more talented trainers come to Tracen Academy to help the Uma Musume.

At the same time, finding this trainer should not cause any major problems, right?

After all, the Three Goddesses were benevolent gods who wanted the Uma Musume to be happy and healthy.

"Because I haven't passed the exam yet... Ahem, stop talking about this. Continuing will damage the harmony of this Livestream Room."

Zhou Yuang was no fool. Without a second thought, he threw out a smokescreen.

Just keep your eyes on the students. Don't keep staring at someone who has already entered Tracen Academy, okay?

There were only a few hundred trainers in Tracen Academy.

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Chapter Eleven: We Made a Promise

"All right, let's continue the livestream. Silence Suzuka is reacting."

Silence Suzuka, sitting across from Zhou Yuang, had heard her trainer's words, and her little face had gone pale.

"Trainer, do you mean... if I keep running as a Front Runner, something will happen to my body?"

Silence Suzuka in front of the screen grew tense as well.

She still remembered the panel from back then. Every running style except Front Runner had been unbearably terrible.

It seemed that becoming a Front Runner was her only way out.

What happened to the promise that when God closed one door, He would open a window?

"It's not a matter of whether something will happen. It's that the damage to your body will be severe. What happens depends on the extent of the damage. It might even become serious enough that you'll have to skip races and rest afterward."

Zhou Yuang did not want to put pressure on Silence Suzuka, so he deliberately made it sound dire.

You! You're not allowed to race!

Although this was somewhat like scaring a child, it was still better than telling Silence Suzuka that one careless mistake could leave her with a comminuted fracture, right?

That kind of pain would drive any Uma Musume to despair.

"What?! Then... wouldn't that mean Literacy-kaa-san is in trouble?!"

Special Week immediately grew nervous beside them. Without a doubt, she was putting pressure on Silence Suzuka.

Zhou Yuang did not even think about it. He reached over and flicked Special Week on the head.

She cried out in surprise, then crouched down while clutching her head.

"Then, Trainer, what should I do? Do I need to change my running style?"

Winning a race was one thing, but being unable to race was undoubtedly cruel.

Far too many Uma Musume had suffered that kind of cruelty.

Who would not want to give everything they had on a stage suited to them?

Without a doubt, Silence Suzuka wanted to race. She did not want to lose, and even less did she want to become unable to compete.

"...Are you planning to change the way you run?"

Zhou Yuang folded his arms and looked at Silence Suzuka.

Silence Suzuka could not leave reckless front running, just as a trainer could not leave an Uma Musume, fish could not leave water, and the 3D section could not leave Jerusalem.

Reckless front running was a double-edged sword belonging to Silence Suzuka. Even with its tremendous danger, it was still the confidence that allowed Silence Suzuka to conquer the racetrack.

She had no other method that could replace it.

Because she was both the propagator of reckless front running and its captive.

"If you use another running style, you won't win as easily as you do with Front Runner."

In other words, Silence Suzuka who left reckless front running was not Silence Suzuka.

And she would lose horribly.

She would be buried in the mass of horses, unnoticed by the commentators and ignored by the audience.

The audience would only pay attention to the Uma Musume charging at the very front of the Fifth Pack—the one who crossed the finish line first.

Exceptions existed, but they were rare.

"This..."

Silence Suzuka was troubled. She looked at Zhou Yuang helplessly.

Should she choose a conservative running style for the sake of her body?

Or should she stake her future on that beautiful victory?

Those beautiful eyes stared at her trainer. A trainer did not merely train an Uma Musume; he was also responsible for arranging most aspects of her life.

In reality, racehorses had jockeys, trainers, stable hands, and other managers, as well as owners with the highest authority.

But in the world of Uma Musume, the people who trained them, taught them how to race, and arranged their daily schedules were all called trainers.

In other words, when an Uma Musume was troubled, she could directly seek help from her trainer.

At that moment, two choices suddenly appeared in front of Zhou Yuang.

[Option 1: Maintain your running style and original purpose. Keep running your way!]

[Option 2: Change your running style so you can race more!] ```

Seeing the two options, Zhou Yuang froze for a moment.

The comments, however, did not think as hard as Zhou Yuang had.

[Uma Musume Fan]: If she maintains her running style, she might get injured, but if she changes it, she might not achieve any results... Ah! Why does it have to be like this?

[Tracen Cold-Joke Master]: It can't be helped. Uma Musume rely heavily on talent. Sometimes, the style that suits them best is precisely their burden.

[Skipping Genius Girl]: Is there really no way? If she can't use the method she's best at, it must be incredibly painful, right?

[Unbreakable Glass]: Then, Mr. Trainer, what are you planning to do?

The Uma Musume outside the screen all stared at the two choices on the screen.

One would let Silence Suzuka continue running by relying on her talent. The other would allow her talent to gather dust for the sake of her body.