I… lost?
Even with a system, even after, during the race, combining the system's given techniques and experience into a new running form, even with a finisher of that level—
I still lost?
Stardust Mirage stood dazed on the turf; the roaring shouts of the crowd around her seemed to have nothing to do with her.
No—she didn't lose.
She only took second place. She still achieved the prize money she wanted. From the start, wasn't second place her goal? How can you call that losing?
Right—she didn't lose. The prize money is already in hand…
In Stardust Mirage's head, thoughts popped off one after another, utterly uncontrollable.
She was in a strained state. Her legs felt as if filled with lead, unable to move at all; her lungs felt as though stuffed with two flaming lumps, ripping and burning with heat. Her whole body no longer felt like it was under her control.
Her consciousness kept drifting; one moment it felt like everything was over, the next like she was still on the course, teeth clenched, chasing Tokai Teio's back.
Lost.
No matter how she tried to fool herself, no matter how many times she repeated "I only wanted second place," all the thoughts in Stardust Mirage's mind gradually condensed into two words.
Yes—she lost in the head-to-head with Tokai Teio.
Stardust Mirage shook her head hard to fling away the clutter, wiped the sweat from her face, and tottered toward the runners' exit.
Behind her, the crowd chanted the champion's name in sonorous unison:
"To! Kai! Te! io!"
"To! Kai! Te! io!"
A miracle racehorse. An undefeated genius. And… an unbending Teio. Those titles you only truly grasp after running against her. She's really that strong!
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"You only really know after you run—after all, Teio's a touch stronger," Air Groove said with a smile, walking beside Symboli Rudolf.
"You think Teio won?" Rudolf walked half a step ahead, making it hard to see her expression.
"She did, right? She took it by a head, didn't she? Don't tell me you still want to scold Teio even now?" Hearing her tone, Air Groove was puzzled. Why that lowered voice—was she unsatisfied even with Teio running like this?!
"No—Teio's already done enough."
Rudolf shook her head.
She could never be harsh with this child she doted on most. If anything, that last explosion even stunned her with how brilliant it was. This was an unprecedented performance—beyond perfect.
But—she wasn't satisfied.
Symboli Rudolf, the one revered as the Emperor, the legendary undefeated Triple Crown and seven-time champion—she found the final sprint wanting.
Teio's burst was flawless. But the other one?
From the very beginning, Rudolf had noticed that Stardust Mirage seemed lacking in the will to win.
Back then Rudolf had merely thought it was because this racehorse hadn't yet experienced a real race.
Yet in that last duel—she hesitated.
At that intensity, there shouldn't be any clutter in your head. Whether Teio or Stardust Mirage, both had poured their whole selves into the race; but… why hesitate?
"Stardust Mirage… she's still unsure why she runs," Rudolf said her thought aloud.
"Unsure?" Air Groove repeated, surprised. "She ran to that extent, even used Oguri Cap's way of running—can someone confused about running do that?!"
"I won't be wrong. I hope this defeat wakes her up. With a racehorse of that caliber, the ending shouldn't be like this."
Rudolf sighed. She spoke without her usual lofty tone because only Air Groove was present.
Her words didn't mean she'd give up the plan to bring Stardust Mirage into the Central Academy. With an unpolished racehorse, any problem is unsurprising. What matters is how you educate thereafter.
She was merely… regretful about how that segment played out.
"To take the lead while ten thousand fall silent… Stardust Mirage, if you understand that truth, how far can you go?"
——————————————————
"Hiss… I can't move a step…!" Stardust Mirage, getting her muscles worked by staff, sucked in cold air and complained.
At this moment she was lying on a massage table in the runners' lounge, a track-appointed therapist loosening muscles to ease race fatigue.
"But at least I got second place—that means I get the prize money."
Face down on the table, she sighed inwardly.
Her duel with the legendary Tokai Teio had ended in her defeat.
At first, Stardust Mirage found it hard to accept; thankfully, she gradually settled. Everything would be as before—next choose some graded races without overly strong opponents, and win enough prize money.
No need to go mad like today, pouring everything in and fighting for that first place like a lunatic.
Right—she'd heard a system prompt as she finished. Might as well check it now!
[Detected: host finished debut with a second; reward 57 PT.]
[Training templates unlocked; Career Quests unlocked!]
[Training Template: Any race running training by the host can be templated; attributes increase by a certain amount depending on content and effectiveness.]
[Career Quests: Require the host to participate in races and achieve corresponding placings; completing a Career Quest grants corresponding rewards.]
[Next Career Quest: Year 2, January 27, G3 Kyoto Himba Special; required placing: top 2.]
[Quest Reward: Random +10–50 to one attribute; Panacea x1.]
[Detected: host created a skill. Effect: when locked in a mid-race contest, can increase speed for a short time.]
[Name and record this skill?]
"Ah, that one?" Stardust Mirage recalled the step-form with which she twice jumped past Teio like using "shukuchi," and nodded inwardly.
Combining Oguri Cap's technique, her own experience, and the stability afforded by the system panel, she had managed to use it to seize advantage. She hadn't expected the system to acknowledge such a move.
"Call it Shukuchi."
[Skill: Shukuchi recorded. Host has acquired skill: Shukuchi.]
Tokai Teio…
As she replayed the race, Stardust Mirage could not help but recall Teio's face in the final sprint, filled with resolve.
It's over. It really is over.
In under two minutes, the race felt like a dream.
[Tokai Teio! Tokai Teio! To—kai—Te—io daa—No. 2 runner Tokai Teio, first by a head!!!]
The announcer's voice seemed to roar in her ear again.
Right now, Tokai Teio was probably still basking in the crowd's cheers.
If only I could have been a bit faster, accelerated one more time—how would the result have been?
The one standing on that course now…
The masseuse quietly stopped her hands.
Right before her eyes, this second-place finisher was staring blankly at the wall toward the track. At some point, her face was streaked with tears, and she seemed not to notice at all.
But the race really was already over.
Writing to here, I wonder if readers can accept that the protagonist lost her debut?
Honestly, it was foreshadowed from the start.
Even the volume title says the debut would come out crooked, and the earlier plot kept saying the protagonist lacked a will to win.
I really worry you'll feel it's a bit too cruel to the protagonist.
But personally, for a hot-blooded sports story, if the protagonist starts by looking down on the sport, she has to accept a failure to wake up—that's classic.
Many works write it this way: at the start, "I hate mahjong/swimming/running/American football," then the first real go shows her advantage isn't that big, she's beaten, and only then is the will to win born.
I think Stardust Mirage should have that psychological process, so Chapter Ten focuses on her losing, trying to fool and comfort herself, and finally still crying from unwillingness.
From here, Stardust Mirage truly becomes a runner, gaining the resolve to win, and thus earning the right to stand on the same stage with those other horse girls who run desperately.
After all, we can't have everyone else be "the unbending Teio," "a true man," "a runner from another dimension," "the generalissimo," and when it comes to the protagonist it's just "the system turned on," right? If she won purely by a system that just grants points and steamrolls the fruit of others' hard training, that wouldn't be hot-blooded at all.
So the system's main role is to raise the protagonist's ceiling—i.e., "training gains won't disappear," "she won't be tormented by injuries," "learned skills remain stable"—ensuring there won't be a hard cap where no amount of training helps. Overall, she still has to rely on her own training and breakthroughs. That's the idea.
There won't be a system that directly adds points until she's invincible; I hope you can accept this style.
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