At Tracen, Good at Doing Time

Her voice was steady.

"Really?"

Zhou Yuang's character didn't believe her.

"Really."

This time, Silence Suzuka's voice seemed to tremble.

"Look at me."

Zhou Yuang's character hesitated, then said something rather clumsy.

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

Silence Suzuka suddenly shouted, completely unlike herself. Then her voice began to break.

Clear tears fell onto the bedding, one drop after another, leaving him stunned.

She turned to Zhou Yuang, tears streaming down her face.

Frustration, pain, despair—it was all written across her face.

Only moments ago, she had been far ahead of the field, smiling as she ran to her own rhythm. Then her leg had fractured, and she could no longer keep that rhythm.

As she slowed, her mind must have gone blank. She could only rely on instinct to protect herself.

The pain of the fracture had knocked her unconscious. When she woke, she found herself in a hospital bed.

The legs she took such pride in were suddenly encased in a cast and splint. It was like a painter injuring both hands, a singer losing her voice, or a warrior breaking her weapon.

Only then did she remember the tragedy that had happened.

No matter how fast she ran, she was still a vulnerable horse girl.

Comforting Special Week earlier had already been the most this gentle horse girl could manage.

Now, looking at her trainer, Silence Suzuka could no longer hold it in.

She broke into anguished sobs.

"Trainer... will I... never be able to return to the track?!"

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

She didn't know whether she was seeking comfort, or what Zhou Yuang could do for her.

She just wanted to cry her heart out—as a horse girl, as a high school girl, as a child who had been hurt.

Zhou Yuang's character was painfully awkward. With no words to offer, "Zhou Yuang" could only step forward and hold Silence Suzuka.

He let her lean on him for a while and pour out everything she felt.

Zhou Yuang himself didn't know what to say. Like the horse girls watching, he fell silent.

[Horse Girl Enthusiast]: Tamamo, no! I can't take this! Waaah! I don't want to watch!

That devoted fan had voiced what everyone was thinking. They really couldn't bear this scene.

A fracture was one of the most serious things a horse girl could face. Any horse girl would be frightened to see it.

Just as everyone's anxiety mounted, an alarm rang out with a sharp, clear chime.

Zhou Yuang's view shifted, and he found himself somewhere that looked like a dorm room.

He was lying on the floor, clutching a blanket.

The alarm clock by the bed kept ringing.

"An alarm clock... I can move now?"

Once Zhou Yuang realized he could stand, he reached over and silenced the clock.

"Was that whole scene a dream? A nightmare foreshadowing a bad ending? Man, that's just..."

Zhou Yuang looked at the alarm clock in his hand, his head aching.

The horse girl game had an alarm clock mechanic.

If your horse girl lost an important race, you could use an alarm clock to try again.

The story would then show that her loss had been a nightmare her trainer dreamed.

Players also called this time-rewinding mechanic the Clock of Life Replay.

[Horse Girl Enthusiast]: What? It was a dream? Yes, yes, yes! Thank goodness!

The pink-haired girl in front of the screen nearly jumped up. A bad ending that robbed a horse girl of her happiness could get lost!

[Unbreakable Glass]: I'm glad the fracture was just a dream.

[Festival Girl]: Yay!

When they learned it was only a dream, many horse girls broke into applause.

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

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

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

Silence Suzuka grew tense again. She kept her eyes fixed on the screen.

Come to think of it, can I take this alarm clock with me?

Zhou Yuang was wondering whether he could snag it when the phone by the bed rang.

The caller's name was four characters long.

Silence Suzuka.

Good Girls Listen to Their Trainers Before Zhou Yuang could react, an alarm clock icon appeared before his eyes. A clockwise transition swept across the screen, and a white interface filled his vision.

In the next instant, he found himself in a park.

"The alarm clock's gone?"

Zhou Yuang was annoyed to find his hand empty, but the feeling quickly passed.

Silence Suzuka stood across from him.

She wore her usual plain but cute casual clothes.

Her long legs, clad in black stockings, looked firm and slender.

There was no sign of a fracture.

She herself didn't look well, though. One hand gripped her other arm.

"Silence Suzuka, what's wrong? Why did you call me out of the blue?"

A dialogue box had appeared before him, so Zhou Yuang greeted her.

"Um, Trainer, I... didn't sleep well last night."

Silence Suzuka's opening words made Zhou Yuang's heart sink.

What?

Stamina +30, gained [Sleep Deprivation]?

Great, great. Off to the infirmary we go... opens the quit-training menu... No, wait!

"What happened? Why didn't you sleep well?"

Looking at the visibly shaken Silence Suzuka, Zhou Yuang had a hunch.

"Did something happen? Can you tell me about it?"

"Well... Trainer, I had a nightmare last night."

Silence Suzuka hesitated, but when she looked at Zhou Yuang's face—or rather, the A where his face should be—she somehow sensed that he was taking this very seriously.

She remembered everything that had happened before, pressed her lips together, and nodded.

She said she had dreamed of racing in the upcoming Tenno Sho Autumn. During that race, she had fractured her leg.

There was no doubt about it. She had dreamed of Silent Sunday too.

[Horse Girl Enthusiast]: Same dream, different beds. I get it, this is something sweet. Delicious! #(crying)

[White-Eyed Manga Teacher]: You really know how to lick sugar off the edge of a knife.

[Maternal Demon]: Still, it's incredible that they both dreamed about the same thing.

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

Outside the screen, Silence Suzuka was surprised.

If they could, might she dream about this trainer tonight?

And if she did, would she be able to see Mr. AT's face?

She gazed thoughtfully at the trainer on the screen, whose face was marked with an A.

"I see. I understand."

Zhou Yuang nodded as he listened to Silence Suzuka.

He had a general idea of the situation and was already weighing his options, but he needed to confirm something first.

"Suzuka, you look pale. Do you want to get some sleep?"

Silence Suzuka's face was deathly pale. She looked like she needed care.

She shook her head, turning down his suggestion.

"No, I kept to my usual sleep schedule."

"Then why do you look so worn out?"

Something was definitely wrong. Zhou Yuang felt as though the slender Silence Suzuka might collapse at any moment.

She might be capable of those terrifying frontrunning performances, but at heart, she was still a sensitive, vulnerable girl.

"Um... I think it's because..."

Silence Suzuka stumbled over her words. She wasn't good at talking about herself at times like this.

The nightmare still frightened her so much that she didn't dare run, even when she was out walking.

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

Silence Suzuka usually went for a run after waking up, then headed to Tracen Academy.

Of course, she also ran a lap at night before returning to the dorm.

But now, even walking a little faster frightened her.

She was terrified that her vision would lurch just as it had in the nightmare, followed by a stab of agony in her leg.

"I see. Would you like to get some sleep, then?"

Seeing how lost Silence Suzuka looked, Zhou Yuang knew he couldn't leave her like this.

She might even have trouble getting back on her own.

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

She shook her head, seemingly at a loss for what to do.

Zhou Yuang thought for a moment.

"Suzuka, you've got plenty of time right now, don't you? Would you come somewhere with me?"

Zhou Yuang remembered Silence Suzuka's storyline from the game. And since this place was a game world modeled on reality, he knew how to handle things.

Although he spent most of his time improving himself, he often explored the area and exercised too.

He had already found plenty of places suitable for training or taking a horse girl out.

Taking Silence Suzuka to one of them now made perfect sense.

"Right now?"