In Tracen, Skilled at Doing Time

Zhou Yuang turned his head to look at the other Uma Musume. Since Silence Suzuka wasn't the only Uma Musume on the track, there was nothing wrong with him looking at the others too.

What was wrong with me, a Trainer, standing by the track and watching all the Uma Musume?

Zhou Yuang immediately turned his head toward the other Uma Musume around him.

On the other side of the field, an Uma Musume was training.

At first glance, that Uma Musume looked ordinary. She only showed her back, but her brown twin tails were impossible to overlook.

Even if someone hadn't played the Uma Musume game for long, they would still know what this Uma Musume looked like because of all the memes.

That's right. This was the most famous meme character in Uma Musume—the Smart Falcon whose name had been mentioned earlier, and whom everyone nicknamed Kikiko.

Smart Falcon also had a resounding title: the Silence Suzuka of the Dirt Track.

Although Silence Suzuka herself couldn't actively approach him for certain reasons,

why couldn't he find a substitute for Silence Suzuka?

'This Uma Musume, Kikiko, is unquestionably blessed with both looks and strength.'

Not only that, she was also an idol. Unlike the other Uma Musume, she wanted to become an idol.

Although she wasn't exactly a famous idol in the game, Cygames had still been merciful enough to give her an exclusive event.

It was an event called "Everyone's Top Uma Idol Project."

The rewards were a pile of useless junk and an Agnes Digital SR card with an incredibly hot card illustration that was completely unusable.

The event counted the number of fans gained by all the players on the server while they trained Uma Musume during the event period.

Those fans were then counted as Agnes Digital's fans.

In the end, thanks to the efforts of players across the entire Japanese server, Agnes Digital gained 3.3 trillion fans—a number greater than Earth's current total population—and was consequently given the title of Universal Idol.

However, when everyone farmed that event, they basically used the easy-to-raise Oguri Cap.

So... the Cap Sect was all they needed.

Back to the point: Smart Falcon was an idol trainee who cherished the dream of becoming an idol but hadn't yet had the chance to develop.

Although she wasn't very famous, she did have the burdens of an idol.

She cared about professional conduct as an idol.

Because she valued her identity as an idol, she never dared to make bold advances on her Trainer in the game's story. Since she was hopelessly inept at romance, everyone had firmly established her identity as Kikiko.

Zhou Yuang thought it over. Smart Falcon hadn't been pulled into the livestream once before, but what about later?

He would use the identity of an idol chosen by the Three Goddesses to deceive—no, recruit Smart Falcon.

Then he would tell her that he would be her Trainer and producer, and in exchange, have Falcon-chan prevent him from being arrested.

This Uma Musume was simply too easy to deal with. She wasn't aggressive and was easy to talk to.

Even if he couldn't recruit her to cooperate, she was still a fairly strong Uma Musume. How could he, as a Trainer, not have ideas about her?

Zhou Yuang still remembered that when he had first arrived at Tracen Academy, the Trainers there had been engaged in intense competition.

There had been a Trial Race that day. As soon as an Uma Musume finished racing, a group of Trainers rushed over.

They threw out all kinds of dazzlingly exaggerated pitches.

At the same time, the mockery and passive-aggressive remarks between colleagues never stopped.

It made Zhou Yuang suspect that certain Trainers had no moral boundaries.

Fortunately, his livestream was limited to Uma Musume. If the audience had included Trainers, some of them might have harassed the Uma Musume who appeared after seeing the game's stats and story.

Some might even have impersonated him, AT.

Just thinking about it made him sick.

Uma Musume were generally kind, but humans weren't necessarily the same.

The Rice Shower portion of the second anime season and Kawakami Princess's storyline in the mobile game both showed that not everyone in the world of Uma Musume was kind.

That was why Zhou Yuang had gone to find Oguri Cap so early—he had been worried.

As an aside, Oguri Cap's real-life counterpart had suffered through many troubles, such as issues with her owners.

In reality, Oguri Cap had changed owners several times.

Her first owner had been like an old father figure. He lacked the ability to send Oguri Cap to race in the central circuit, so, out of consideration for her future, he chose a second owner after being persuaded by owners from the central circuit.

The second owner turned out to be someone who evaded taxes. He later had his owner's license revoked, and the other owners immediately became interested, coming to his door to ask about prices.

Perhaps to make money, the second owner chose to lease her out for 300 million yen a year, while retaining the breeding rights and all the money earned from breeding.

That exorbitant sale price led the third owner to drag Oguri Cap out to race constantly without the slightest hesitation. The schedule could practically be considered abuse.

Oguri Cap was forced to soak in hot springs to recover from exhaustion and preserve her life.

At one point, the hot-spring treatment even caused Oguri Cap's athletic heart to lose its vitality. Fortunately, she eventually recovered. Otherwise, she would have been ruined.

Zhou Yuang was actually somewhat afraid that the Oguri Cap of the Uma Musume world would also be passed from one unscrupulous person to another, just like her real-life counterpart.

What if, after entering the central circuit, she encountered an unreliable Trainer who was expelled from Tracen for committing some offense, just like the second owner? What if she then encountered someone who forced Oguri Cap to race constantly?

Trainers generally received a guaranteed salary. Whenever an Uma Musume raced and won, however, a portion of the prize money—roughly ten percent, like the shares given to Jockeys, Stable Hands, and others in reality—would be distributed.

Trainers could obtain part of the prize money as an additional commission.

Even if an Uma Musume placed every time, the commissions from repeatedly making her race would be a fortune large enough for an ordinary person to live extravagantly for a long time.

There was no guarantee that some Trainers wouldn't force Uma Musume to race constantly for money... During the Peak Cup, every player did exactly that. ()

Because of the game mechanics, players had no shortage of Coins at all during the Peak Cup.

Zhou Yuang had done it in the game, but that had only been a game.

It was nothing more than a matter of models and data.

Now, whether his Uma Musume raced or not was entirely up to the Uma Musume herself. Zhou Yuang would discuss it with her.

If Oguri Cap intended to race constantly, then she could do so. Zhou Yuang would be responsible for taking care of her body.

Back to the point.

Because he knew the history, Zhou Yuang knew what kinds of hardships the Uma Musume would encounter.

Although it was good for most people to overcome difficulties by taking the initiative, Zhou Yuang simply wanted to accompany the Uma Musume as a Trainer and help them overcome their hardships.

What was wrong with that?

'The Silence Suzuka of the Dirt Track. Twenty-three wins in thirty-four races. Her record isn't exactly outstanding, but how many Uma Musume could race that many times?'

A true expert at racing constantly in reality.

Without a doubt, this was a strong Horse.

Zhou Yuang had considered forming the Fifth Pack like the teams in the game's arena.

He planned to prepare three Horses for each distance category: sprint, mile, medium, long, and Dirt Track.

Building it would be a problem, but if he first brought in some racers, sooner or later, Uma Musume like Special Week would come to him on their own.

'I can't actively seek out Silence Suzuka right now, so I'll go find her Dirt Track counterpart instead.'

Zhou Yuang immediately intended to walk over, but he stopped after taking only one step.

An Uma Musume blocked his path. She stared quietly at Zhou Yuang and, under his surprised gaze, asked,

"Um, Mr. Trainer, you were watching me just now, weren't you?"

Silence Suzuka stood in front of Zhou Yuang and delivered a question that struck straight at his soul.

You were peeking at me while I was running just now, weren't you?

Chapter Twenty-Three: Uma Musume Fan Agnes Digital

"This..."

Damn it. I didn't take the initiative to find Silence Suzuka, so why did Silence Suzuka come looking for me instead?

The pig didn't want to crash into the iron plate... or rather, the cabbage. So why was the cabbage pushing its way toward the pig?

"I was just passing by. Since I'm a Trainer, I happened to look at the Uma Musume around me. Is there something wrong?"

The Three Goddesses had said that the game wasn't merely a game. Had the Silence Suzuka before him been affected by the game?

I'm doomed way too quickly!

Zhou Yuang kept his thoughts from showing on his face and looked calmly at the Carrot Sprite before him.

'Did Silence Suzuka come to find me by coincidence, or is there some deeper reason?'

"Um... I'm an Uma Musume without a Trainer. I've always run according to my own preferences. Mr. Trainer, may I trouble you for a moment and ask for some advice?"

Silence Suzuka was an incurable fool when it came to running, but that didn't mean she was a fool in every aspect of life.

She was still quite cautious in her actions. At the very least, she wouldn't be deceived easily.

The Trainer before her did give her a sense of déjà vu, but she still had to confirm whether he was actually AT.

A training method was one way to judge a Trainer's abilities.

Different Trainers would use different training methods for the same Uma Musume.

A Trainer might also propose several training methods for the same Uma Musume.

But the general direction would be more or less the same.

After hearing this, Zhou Yuang felt somewhat troubled.

The Uma Musume watching the livestream would definitely come looking for Silence Suzuka. Once they interacted with Silence Suzuka and discovered that he had given her advice, they would come looking for him.

Having prolonged contact with Silence Suzuka was a dangerous choice.

"Advice? Sorry, but I'm only a new Trainer. I can give you some simple advice, but I haven't carefully observed your running yet, so... giving you advice would be somewhat difficult."

Sorry, Suzuka. Pulling out the homework I prepared earlier would be the same as exposing myself. I can only give you some basic help for now.

But I'll definitely make it up to you properly later.

Facing Silence Suzuka's question, he could only pretend to be inexperienced.

"Huh?"

A new Trainer?

Silence Suzuka was puzzled by Zhou Yuang's words.

She remembered that AT had been an old hand of a Trainer from every angle.

'But this could just be his claim. Besides, knowledge has nothing to do with whether someone is new or experienced.'

"I see. I'm sorry. I was rude."

Silence Suzuka's idea had occurred rather suddenly, and she couldn't help feeling disappointed.

The green leaf on top of her head drooped as well, making her look somewhat pitiful.

"No. You were only asking questions because you wanted to learn. That can't be considered rude."

There was nothing shameful about an Uma Musume asking a Trainer questions. Zhou Yuang comforted Silence Suzuka, then looked toward Smart Falcon in the distance, wanting to go over.

But Silence Suzuka was right here. It would be unreasonable not to take the chance to build some rapport.

How could he possibly give up on Silence Suzuka?

"Come to think of it, what kind of distance do you plan to compete in? If it's a question of distance, I can tell you a few relevant things."

To be cautious, Zhou Yuang didn't mention the track. Naturally, he didn't bring up running styles either.

"Distance? I'd like to ask about..."

Silence Suzuka was just about to ask her question when a voice came from nearby.

"Police alert! Eeeeeeeeee!!!"

A somewhat shrill yet unmistakably perverted voice rang out.

Anyone who had heard it once would definitely never forget it.

'That voice... Oh no, it's that person!'