"And leading the pack is Meisei Opera! In second place, neck and neck, are Fujimasa March from Kasamatsu and Copano Rickey from Oi—both trying to overtake each other—!"
The commentator's fervent voice echoed through the venue, whipping the crowd's cheers into a roaring crescendo.
But amidst the excitement, not everyone was in the mood to simply enjoy the race.
Manhattan Cafe and Agnes Tachyon sat in the stands, their attention only half-heartedly on the track.
"She didn't show up…"
"Yeah, she didn't."
Their exchange was brief.
There was no sign of what the advance letter had hinted at. This was just an ordinary dirt race. Not that it was completely without its moments, but for Agnes Tachyon, watching this felt like a waste of time.
She wasn't so idle that she'd spend hours traveling all the way out here just to cheer for some Uma Musume she didn't even know.
Of course, if any of them were willing to assist her with her dirt track experiments, that would be a different story.
But no such luck.
At least, not so far.
Click—
A crisp sound came from right beside them.
Fujii Senosuke stood holding his camera steady, snapping pictures of the Uma Musume on the track.
It was a real shame the website's promise hadn't materialized, but this was still a legitimate race. He couldn't just go home empty-handed.
'At least let me get a story out of their performance…'
That Uma Musume, Meisei Opera, had led from the start and showed no signs of fading even in the final stretch. It was clear just how formidable she was.
If she could maintain her lead all the way to the finish, he could spin a piece with a headline like, 'Local Talent Defeats Central Elite, the Next Oguri Cap is Born?'
Just as Fujii Senosuke pushed thoughts of the 'Black Ghost' aside and focused entirely on the race…
"We've been tricked…"
He overheard the murmurs.
"Wasn't it promised she'd appear at the race?"
"Yeah, I came all the way here because of that post."
"What a letdown."
"Who even posted that, anyway?"
The hushed complaints wormed their way into his ears, barely audible beneath the cheers.
His heart sank. Fujii Senosuke suddenly remembered—his website still had that post supposedly from the 'Black Ghost,' and people had actually believed it, traveling who-knows-how-far just to see her.
Crap, he needed to delete it, fast!
Thinking this, he fumbled for his phone, intending to use his admin privileges to clean up the site.
But when he navigated to the page, the website he'd painstakingly built had, at some point, been replaced by a string of English characters.
[Eclipse]
The word was stamped in the center of a black background.
The message board he'd set up, the Ghost's race records—all of it was gone. Only this single word remained, stark and alone.
He couldn't click anything. He was completely locked out.
Fujii Senosuke furrowed his brow, refreshing the page repeatedly, but the word just kept staring back at him, almost mocking his helplessness.
"Agnes Tachyon."
"Hmm?"
"The website… can you still log into it?"
Fujii Senosuke asked urgently.
"The website?" Pulling out her phone as he spoke, Agnes Tachyon navigated to the site. Just like him, all she saw was that single word.
"What's going on?" Manhattan Cafe asked.
"Not sure. The page just turned into this when I opened it," Fujii Senosuke replied, shaking his head.
"Eclipse." Agnes Tachyon narrowed her eyes.
"If it's the same for you, then it's not just my phone acting up."
Fujii Senosuke said, "I'll try to access the control panel when I get back, see if I can fix it."
He never expected something like this…
Clearly, his site had been hacked. And so thoroughly, too. It was perfectly fine before the race started, and then poof—right after the race began, it turned into this.
Could it be retaliation for the site spreading false information?
Whatever the reason, having his little site hacked was a major headache. He wasn't exactly a computer expert; a lot of this was learning on the fly.
He'd run into countless problems while building it, barely managing to solve them by asking colleagues who handled web design.
"Will it be troublesome to fix?"
"Depends. I won't know until I actually get my hands on it."
"I see…"
Manhattan Cafe lowered her gaze.
Agnes Tachyon seemed lost in thought, silently staring at the word on the screen.
"Can she catch up!? She's overtaken Fujimasa March! Copano Rickey is charging for the finish, but Meisei Opera shows no sign of weakening! They're accelerating!! Both are accelerating! Copano Rickey is closing in, Copano Rickey is closing in!"
"And they've crossed the finish line—!"
"What a close one! A mere half-step difference! The winner of this [Miyako Stakes] is Meisei Opera, from Mizusawa!"
As the race concluded, the stadium erupted in thunderous applause.
Amidst the surrounding ovation, Manhattan Cafe and the others left the venue, their minds heavy with unspoken thoughts.
--+--
She lost…
Bent over, hands on her knees, Fujimasa March gasped for air by the trackside.
On the most challenging slope, right near the end of the race, her footing had slipped, sending her tumbling behind.
She knew about that slope. Her trainer had told her. They'd even done grip training for it. But when Fujimasa March actually set foot on it, she realized it was nothing like she'd imagined.
Stepping onto that slope felt like an invisible hand was pushing her back.
Helpless, struggling, unable to resist, she could only watch as the others overtook her, surging ahead.
In that moment, Fujimasa March understood.
Truly strong Uma Musume will shine, no matter where they come from.
Losing this race wasn't because of her local origins. It was simply because her own strength wasn't enough.
Stamina, tactics, strategy—in every aspect, the gap between her and the others was vast.
Losing felt like an inevitable outcome.
Is that how it is…?
Fujimasa March gritted her teeth.
Even though she'd trained so hard, even though she'd dedicated all her time to practice, even though she thought she was mentally prepared… facing her first defeat here at the center, she still felt a sting in her nose.
"Am I… really that weak…?"
Clap, clap, clap—
A crisp round of applause broke through her thoughts.
"Beautiful!"
A woman with long, golden hair was clapping enthusiastically, her starry golden eyes fixed on Fujimasa March.
She hopped over the railing, trotted up to Fujimasa March, blinked, and gave her a thumbs-up.
"It was really a wonderful match."
Huh… Huh?
Fujimasa March blinked in confusion.
"T…Thank you?"
"Never thought I'd stumble upon such an exciting match just by watching a random race. Quite the surprise," the girl said, her earlier American accent seamlessly shifting into fluent Japanese.
"How about we have a little chat, Japanese Girl?"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.