An Obedient Uma Musume Is a Good Uma Musume

Her voice was steady.

"Really?"

Zhou Yuang's character didn't believe her.

"Really."

At that moment, Silence Suzuka's voice seemed to tremble slightly.

"Look at me."

Zhou Yuang's character hesitated for a moment before saying something rather clumsy.

"Really! ...I already told you I'm fine."

Silence Suzuka suddenly shouted abnormally loudly, and her words gradually became choked with sobs.

Crystal-clear tears fell drop by drop onto the bedding, leaving everyone stunned.

She turned her head toward Zhou Yuang, tears streaming incessantly.

Unwillingness, pain, despair, and all sorts of emotions were practically written across her face.

She had clearly been streaking ahead on the track moments ago, smiling and enjoying her own pace, only to suddenly fracture her bone and lose the ability to maintain that pace.

When she slowed down, her mind must have gone blank, leaving her to rely solely on instinct to protect herself.

Afterward, the pain from the fracture made her pass out. When she woke up, she found herself sitting on a hospital bed.

The leg she had always been proud of was suddenly wrapped in a plaster splint. It was like a painter injuring both hands, a singer losing their voice, or a warrior having their weapon destroyed.

Only then did she remember the tragedy that had happened earlier.

No matter how fast she ran, she was still just a frail Uma Musume.

Just now, comforting Special Week in return had already been the limit of what this gentle Uma Musume could do.

Looking at the Trainer standing before her, Silence Suzuka could no longer hold herself back.

She let out a cry of frustration.

"Trainer... am I... never going to be able to return to the track again?!"

Clutching the damp bedsheet, Silence Suzuka looked at Zhou Yuang.

She didn't know whether she was seeking comfort, nor did she know what Zhou Yuang could do.

She only wanted to cry her heart out—as an Uma Musume, as a female high school student, and as an injured child.

Zhou Yuang's character was incredibly clumsy at that moment. The speechless "Zhou Yuang" could only step forward and pull Silence Suzuka into his arms.

He became Silence Suzuka's temporary support, letting her vent her emotions.

Zhou Yuang himself didn't know what to say. Like the Uma Musume viewers, he remained silent.

[Uma Musume Fan]: Tamamo's! No! Gah! I don't want to watch this!

Some leader of the DDs voiced everyone's feelings. This scene was truly unbearable for them to watch.

Fractures were the most serious topic among Uma Musume. Any Uma Musume would be terrified at the sight.

Just as everyone was panicking, a crisp alarm suddenly rang out.

Then Zhou Yuang's vision shifted, and he appeared in a place that looked like a dormitory.

He was lying on the floor, clutching a bedsheet in his arms.

Meanwhile, the alarm clock at the head of the bed kept ringing.

"An alarm clock... can move?"

After discovering that he could stand up, Zhou Yuang reached out and touched the alarm clock, making it shut up.

"Was that just now a dream? A nightmare foreshadowing a bad ending? Good grief, this is something else."

Looking at the alarm clock in his hand, Zhou Yuang developed a headache.

In the Uma Musume game, there was a mechanism called the Clock.

If one's Uma Musume lost an important race during a game, the Clock could be used to start over.

Then the story would depict the Uma Musume's loss as a nightmare caused by the Trainer.

This time-reversal mechanism was also called the Clock of Life Replay by players.

[Uma Musume Fan]: What? It was a dream? Good, good, good! That's great!

The Pink-Haired Girl in front of the screen nearly jumped for joy. That bad ending that kept Uma Musume from obtaining happiness could just get lost!

[Unbreakable Glass]: If the fracture was just a dream, that's good enough.

[Festival Girl]: Hooray!

After discovering that it had only been a dream, quite a few Uma Musume clapped in celebration.

Outside the screen, Silence Suzuka also breathed a sigh of relief.

"So it wasn't... Wait a second, a bad ending?"

A bad ending... If it was an ending, did that mean it would still happen?

Silence Suzuka grew tense again, watching the screen without daring to relax.

Speaking of which, can I take this Clock with me?

Zhou Yuang was considering whether he could get something for free when the phone at the head of the bed rang.

The caller's name consisted of four characters.

Silence Suzuka.

Chapter Fourteen: An Obedient Uma Musume Is a Good Uma Musume

Before Zhou Yuang could react, an alarm-clock icon appeared before his eyes, followed by a clockwise opening animation. A white interface covered his vision.

Then, with a turn, he found himself in a park.

"The Clock is gone?"

Zhou Yuang felt a little angry when he discovered that his hand was empty, but his anger soon disappeared.

Silence Suzuka was standing right across from him.

At that moment, Silence Suzuka was wearing her seemingly plain but adorable casual clothes.

Her long, shapely legs were clad in black stockings.

What fracture? She didn't look injured at all.

However, she herself didn't look to be in very good condition. One hand was gripping the arm of the other.

"Silence Suzuka, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly call me?"

A separate dialogue box suddenly appeared before him, so Zhou Yuang could only greet Silence Suzuka.

"Um, Trainer, I... didn't sleep well yesterday."

The moment Silence Suzuka opened her mouth, her words made Zhou Yuang's vision go black.

What?

Stamina +30. Obtained [Sleep Deprived]?

Good, good, good. Go to the Infirmary. (Click to exit Training.) No, wait!

"What's wrong? Why didn't you sleep well?"

Looking at the seemingly flustered Silence Suzuka before him, Zhou Yuang had a premonition.

"What happened? Can you tell me about it?"

"Well... Trainer, yesterday I had a nightmare."

Silence Suzuka hesitated, but as she looked at Zhou Yuang's face, she didn't know why—she simply felt that AT carried an extremely serious air.

She couldn't help recalling everything that had happened before. Then she pursed her lips and nodded.

She said that she had dreamed of competing in the Tenno Sho Autumn that she had planned to enter, and that she had fractured a bone during the race.

Without a doubt, she had also dreamed of Sunday Silence.

[Uma Musume Fan]: Sharing a dream despite sleeping in different beds—I get it. This is sweetness! It's delicious! #(Crying)

[Side-Eyeing Lewd Manga Teacher]: To the person above, you really know how to lick the sweetness off the edge of a blade.

[Motherly Demon]: Still, two people dreaming about the exact same thing is incredible.

"Can two people really dream about the same thing?"

The situation left Silence Suzuka outside the screen rather surprised.

If that was possible, could she dream about this Trainer tonight?

Right, if she could dream of him, would she be able to see Mr. AT's face clearly?

She stared thoughtfully at the Trainer on the screen, the one with an A over his head.

"I see. I understand."

Listening to Silence Suzuka, Zhou Yuang nodded.

He had a general understanding of the situation, so Zhou Yuang had already begun making plans. However, there was one thing he had to confirm.

"Suzuka, you look terrible. Do you want to go to sleep?"

Silence Suzuka's small face was deathly pale. She looked like she needed to be cared for.

She shook her head, rejecting Zhou Yuang's suggestion.

"No. I keep a normal schedule."

"Is that so? Then why do you look so haggard?"

This state was absolutely abnormal. Zhou Yuang kept feeling that the slender Silence Suzuka could collapse at any moment.

Even though Silence Suzuka could easily perform that terrifying Front Runner race, her mind was still that of a fragile, delicate young girl.

"Well... it's probably because..."

Silence Suzuka suddenly became tongue-tied. She wasn't very good at talking about herself in situations like this.

Because of the nightmare, she was still so frightened that she didn't even dare run during her morning exercise.

"Because of that dream, I didn't go for my morning run."

Getting up in the morning to run a lap before going to Tracen Academy was part of Silence Suzuka's daily routine.

Naturally, she also ran a lap at night before returning to the dormitory.

But now, even walking a little faster made Silence Suzuka afraid.

She was terrified that her vision would begin rising and falling just like in the nightmare, followed by excruciating pain in her leg.

"Is that so? Then are you planning to sleep for a while?"

Seeing Silence Suzuka's helpless appearance, Zhou Yuang knew he couldn't leave her alone.

Perhaps even getting back would be difficult for Silence Suzuka.

"Um... I'm not sure."

She shook her head, seemingly unsure what she should do.

Hearing that answer, Zhou Yuang thought for a moment.

"Suzuka, come to think of it, you have a lot of free time right now, don't you? Would you like to come somewhere with me?"

Zhou Yuang still remembered Silence Suzuka's storyline from the game. Since this was a game, but the locations had been copied from reality, it would be easy to handle.

Although Zhou Yuang spent most of his time improving himself, he also often went shopping and exercised.

He had found quite a few places suitable for training and taking Uma Musume out for fun long ago.

It was perfectly reasonable to take Silence Suzuka there now.

"Now?"