The orientation in Tracen Academy's main hall had unfolded with a quiet intensity that set my nerves on edge. I was able to feel the passion for the races around me, even my heart skipped a beat or two after hearing about a future I never had in mind.
But to put it simply, we were all in the Twinkle series now, but we first have to debut and chose a career path, which would be disscussed with each instructor after our capabilities are measured, I really tried to concentrate in the orientation, but for somereason my thoughts became scattered, maybe its not just my body but how my mind works too was somewhat changed. But yes, after our debut we have to keep competing, novice races, then graded races from III to I...
'Uuuughhh...' My mind spinned tried to process all the information dumped into me, in the game I just overpowered everything with the most broken support cards and rented the strongest support umas from the people I followed, then I put all the training into speed and with and just banged everything... but now, for I highly doubt something like that would work 'There is no skip button too...'
"Are you alright, Meek-san?"
I heard Flashy Motion by my side and jumped in surprise; the orientation kept going, but without noticing, my mind was already on the moon.
"Nnnn," I answered, nodding with my head, "I wasn't sleeping, I swear."
For some reason, Flashy laughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.
"You are so funny, Meek." Then she removed a small branch that was on the back of my hair from my adventure swimming in the bushes.
As we were talking, suddenly the umas around us began cheering, and both Flashy and I looked surprised and confused. It seemed like the orientation ended while we were fooling around, and we both missed out on something. Looking at each other, we just followed the rest as we quit the room.
...
...
...
1 Hour later
"I... I... I can't anymore!!"
My petty, not-so-loud scream was followed by my collapsing on the ground.
After the orientation, we were taken on a small tour around Tracen Academy, where we saw the training facilities, the dorms, the library the pools and other facilities... yes, including the cafeteria where I saw a very familiar Oguri Cap eating a mountain of food, and the most important asset, the trunk where people can go to scream when they feel bad.
'This place is amazing,' I thought, amazed by the sheer magnitude of all the infrastructure, but of course, horse racing moved quite a bunch of money back in my home world; this place shouldn't be different, and probably it moved more. When we finally arrived at the front, I saw the statue of Aspiration. 'So my moment has arrived... he.... I will get amazing powers from this statue... I can't wait for it...'
(No, you won't right now)
(In order to get inspiration, you have to prove yourself first, and right now you have zero feats)
'A'
And my hope to get cheats from the very start suddenly vanished. And to worsen it, my fears became reality. After the small tour, we were led to the track fields where we were put into some mock races.
'I can't lose, I'm Happy Meek,' I thought as my name was mentioned to take the test. I didn't even hear the names of the rest as I stretched like a pro, even though it was my first time really doing it, when Flashy Step stopped right beside me, she smiled.
"You look very confident," She said happily. It looked like she was eagerly waiting for her turn to run. "Let's have a good race!" And suddenly her face turned serious, and she focused on the path ahead.
It was very simple, 600 meters, no curves, just a straight line, and 6 runners. I tried my best to imitate the rest.
'I can do it, I have a strong body, Happy Meek stats are amazing,' I said to myself, but I didn't notice that the rest had already started the race when a whistle was heard. 'Damn!'
For the trainers watching the race, it was curious, I looked so confident and focused, and still started late for a second, a second that already gave the rest a huge advantage. Among them, a girl with black, blunt-cut hair framed her face neatly, and she wore a crisp white blouse with a frilled collar, a snug black vest, and cuffed jeans paired with black ankle boots. She took notes of the trainees as she looked at me fail miserably at the start of the mock race.
While for me...
At the start, I was able to catch the group; I just ran using the muscle memory of this body, and this body was indeed very strong, as I thought. It was easy. I could do it, I could win.
'I can win!' I thought to myself.
And so I passed the fifth, and the fourth... It was a little hard, but I passed the third girl and fought with the second for a moment, it was amazing; everything looked so fast, yet everything was happening in the span of a few seconds.
'I can win, I'm the protagonist! Hehe' But then I realized... 'Where is the first?'
And ahead of me, by at least six bodies of distance, Flashy Step ran as if the devil was chasing after her. That girl was a natural front runner; she was mighty running in the turf, my heart skipped a beat, she looked regal, but even so I pressed myself, I knew I could catch her, I knew I could pass her, I knew Happy Meek was able to go ahead and win, she won against me so many times in the game damn it!
And then...
'I can win...' My mind began to spin again. 'I'm the protagonist of the story... Am I?' The confidence in me began to waver 'What am I even doing? I have never run before...' And so one of the other umas passed me 'B-But at least third!?' and then another one 'Come on!'
Suddenly, I felt my body heavy, and I began to notice my agitated breathing, and my side began to hurt. I remembered clearly now the taunts when we had physical education in my old life—"fatty"—flooded back, sapping my momentum. Another runner overtook me, and Flashy Motion stretched further ahead, an impossible target.
My legs faltered, my vision blurred, and I stumbled across the finish line in a daze. The scoreboard blinked: Happy Meek, 6th Place (out of 6). I collapsed onto the grass, my chest heaving, my cream-colored ears drooping, my tail limp. Which led me to the previous situation...
"I... I... I can't anymore!!" I said, feeling frustrated.
Why am I so upset? This is just a mocking exercise, nothing serious, but I felt ashamed. Wasn't I supposed to be very fast and resilient!?
(Answer: Your body is more than capable of winning, but your mind gave up first.)
Hearing the system answer for me made me feel even more upset; it was clearly saying it without any trouble; the problem is not Happy Meek, but my loser mentality, and yes, it hurts and angers me at the same time. I puffed my cheeks. Flashy Motion jogged back, her chestnut ponytail swaying, her expression a mix of concern and pride.
"Hey, Meek, you made it!" she exclaimed, kneeling beside me with a warm smile. "That was a tough start, but you still tried."
I didn't know if she was making fun of me or not, but she was first. Before I could say something rash, the girl who had been taking notes walked toward us. I opened my eyes wide, she was...
"Hello there, girls," She said, looking at both of us. "My name is Aoi Kiryuin, I work as a trainer here at Tracen... would you both like to join my team?"
Flashy and I looked at each other, puzzled by the sudden invitation. I mean, I knew something like this might happen to me, but both of us?