[File Transfer Assistant] : You there.jpg
[File Transfer Assistant] : Need to ask you something.
[Where's the Gray Uma Musume?] : Hehehe. So you finally remembered me.
[File Transfer Assistant] : Cut the crap, I'm serious. What would you do if you faced a race you absolutely had to win, with no room for loss?
The moment Platinum saw Golden Sixty's name, she bared her teeth.
If she honestly had any other choice, she really wouldn't be dealing with Golden Sixty's nonsense.
Once a conversation with Golden Sixty started, she'd just ramble on and on until you couldn't take it anymore and started replying with 'Yeah yeah, sure, right, uh-huh.'
Maybe it was because Platinum was, well, Platinum, that she had this 'privilege.'
Maybe others wanted Golden Sixty's attention and couldn't get it, but right now, Platinum was thoroughly annoyed by Golden Sixty's endless prattling.
[Where's the Gray Uma Musume?] : I'm not quite sure what you mean.
Just as Platinum was about to explain in more detail—omitting the parts about the Soul Dissolution symptoms and the System shop—she saw Golden Sixty send another message.
[Where's the Gray Uma Musume?] : Let me ask you, what is 'losing'?
Platinum felt a vein throbbing on her forehead.
She immediately pulled up the shop interface and searched for "a pill that lets you slap the idiot on the other side of the screen through the phone."
Finding no results, she angrily closed the shop, all in one furious motion.
This wasn't the same Golden Sixty from last year.
After winning the Hong Kong Mile, Golden Sixty's confidence was back, back to her "the sky's first, I'm second" attitude, practically walking around with her nose in the air every day.
After recovering from her injuries, her physical condition had returned to its peak, once again reigning supreme over the Hong Kong racing scene.
Seriously? Seriously?
Who was it that said in front of everyone, "Perhaps it's time to pass the stage to the new generation?"
Who was it that announced, "I'm done?"
Weren't you practically in tears before? And now you've done a complete one-eighty?
Platinum immediately wanted to fire back a retort, but then she remembered she needed a favor from her. She had to swallow her anger.
So what if I have to play the meek one? It's not like I haven't done it in front of Symboli Rudolf before.
What was pride, anyway? Could you eat it? At a time like this, Platinum couldn't care less about face.
So, Platinum brought the phone close to her lips, coughed a few times to adjust her voice, and spoke in a sickly sweet, coy tone.
"Sixty, sis, just tell me, please..."
"I'm so scared of losing the Yayoi Sho."
"Next time I'm in Hong Kong, I'll treat you, mwah!"
An eerie silence fell on the other end of the phone. After a while, Golden Sixty's message finally arrived, late as usual.
[Where's the Gray Uma Musume?] : Don't be like that, you're scaring me. I'll talk, I'll talk.
Platinum was overjoyed. This move really worked! Seizing the moment, she continued in that sugary voice, "I just knew you were the best, Sixty-sis~"
Across the ocean, Golden Sixty, hearing the voice coming from her phone, lost her composure completely and tumbled right out of bed.
[Where's the Gray Uma Musume?] : I personally haven't been in a situation where I had to win. Uncle Francis and Grandpa Ni always tell me to know my limits.
[Where's the Gray Uma Musume?] : But Uncle Francis has been in that kind of situation. He told me that when you're in business and can't reach a deal with someone, and the deal is really important to you, you can drive out with a fleet of cars in the middle of the night to find them, and then take them for a spin on the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge. Usually, by the time you've driven until dawn, the deal is done.
[Where's the Gray Uma Musume?] : So I feel like, when you really, really want to achieve something, the most important thing is still to be... frank.
Platinum stared at the words on her phone, gritting her teeth, unsure how to respond.
That deal clearly didn't get done because you were 'frank'! How are you supposed to rely on 'frankness' for that!
It's definitely 'frankness' in another sense, isn't it! The kind of 'frankness' that happens over a river!
Now that I think about it... that Uncle Francis seemed like such a simple, honest, quiet, and steady middle-aged man. And he's involved in this ?
You really can't judge a book by its cover! So he's one of those, what do you call them... a smiling tiger.
Recalling the two weeks she'd spent staying in Hong Kong, and her conversations and interactions with Uncle Francis and Golden Sixty... Platinum broke out in a cold sweat. Had she actually been staying in the home of such a dangerous person for that long?
Yeah, maybe there shouldn't be a next time.
Silently closing the chat window with Golden Sixty, Platinum wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. So the stuff they show in movies really does have some basis in reality.
Just then, another message notification popped up on her phone. Platinum, thinking it was Golden Sixty again, nervously tapped the screen with trembling fingers, only to see it was from Sham.
[Sham] : Sorry, just saw this. The signal out in the suburbs isn't great.
[Sham] : I'd like to tell you 'There's no race in the world that you absolutely must win, and no race whose outcome is decided before it even starts.', but I get the feeling you don't want to hear that right now.
[Sham] : So all I can tell you is this: Prepare meticulously, give it your all, leave no regrets. You are very strong, believe in yourself. Don't let the pressure crush you. When you feel anxious and unsettled, get yourself moving, get busy. When you're occupied, you won't have time to dwell on these thoughts.
After reading just those few short sentences, Platinum's eyes lit up.
The weight of the words was completely different coming from Sham's mouth compared to Golden Sixty's.
She already knew deep down that her ability was enough to win, but her fear of losing was holding her back.
Since she couldn't stop herself from overthinking... she'd just fill her time with other things, leave herself no room to consider them.
"Alright!" In one fluid motion, Platinum did a kip-up, threw on her tracksuit, and ran out of the dorm.
She'd go to the training track and run a bunch more laps. She'd run until she was exhausted, then go back and sleep straight away!
When Agnes Tachyon, clutching her stomach and her lips, finally managed to crawl out of Manhattan Cafe's clutches and staggered her way to the training track, this was the scene that greeted her.
Platinum was alone on the empty track, steadily jogging.
The field lights had already been turned off, so Platinum had hung her phone in front of her, using its flashlight to illuminate the path as she ran.
Agnes Tachyon, at that moment, forgot all about holding her stomach.
She blinked in disbelief, looked again, and Platinum was still there.
She rubbed her face, looked again, and Platinum was still there.
She pinched her own cheek. It hurt a bit, but that still didn't completely prove she wasn't dreaming.
So, Agnes Tachyon pulled out her phone and called Manhattan Cafe.
"Cafe."
"What... calling me so soon? Can't bear to be apart?"
Agnes Tachyon clicked her tongue.
"I was just going to say your 'lesson' was too light. Didn't even have any kick."
Agnes Tachyon immediately felt a knife-sharp killing intent aimed her way. She shivered, shuddered, clutched her stomach, and started running herself.
Good news: she wasn't dreaming.
Bad news: she wasn't dreaming.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, 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.