"Mihono Bourbon is in the lead! Her pace hasn't slowed one bit—Mihono Bourbon is leading wire to wire!"
The announcer's voice boomed across the venue.
The crowd was electric.
Spectators roared her name, the entire stadium chanting in unison for Mihono Bourbon.
Her transcendent front-running style was as breathtaking as Silence Suzuka's legendary breakaway runs from years past.
As the race entered its final stretch, Mihono Bourbon—who had led from start to finish—charged ahead at the front of the pack.
Her singularly focused form was nothing short of dazzling.
By now, she had completely left the other competitors in the dust.
...
Rice Shower watched from the stands, her heart heavy with conflicting emotions.
Mihono Bourbon was strong. After that hellish training regimen, she had become terrifyingly powerful.
Observing the entire race, Rice could confirm that Mihono Bourbon's speed was exceptional.
Her skill system had been honed to near perfection.
Aside from her innate stamina deficiency, Mihono Bourbon already possessed the potential to reach the super first-class tier.
Whether it was her gate break or her acceleration, she commanded a power that other frontrunners simply couldn't match.
If Rice's assessment was correct, Mihono Bourbon's stats—excluding stamina—had all reached S to S+ rank.
The results of that hellish training were truly terrifying.
The only things holding her back were her limited repertoire of high-level skills and that persistent stamina weakness. Otherwise, she'd already have the power to challenge the Hall of Fame tier.
Rice also noticed that Mihono Bourbon's running style closely resembled McQueen's.
Both of them continuously activated skills from the moment they left the gate to maintain their acceleration.
The difference was that McQueen's skill effects stacked progressively, while Mihono Bourbon's merely sustained her current speed.
Even so, that flawless, relentless running form—without a single opening or moment of weakness—posed a massive threat to Rice's current abilities.
Mihono Bourbon wasn't running a breakaway.
In the early stages, she didn't aggressively compete with other frontrunners for position.
This was likely due to her physical limitations.
Unlike McQueen, Mihono Bourbon lacked both the stamina reserves and the skills to lock in her energy.
Of course, her abilities couldn't compare to McQueen's overall.
But that running style—so similar to McQueen's—still put immense pressure on Rice.
And if her intuition was right...
Although Mihono Bourbon hadn't entered the ZONE yet, she was like McQueen in another way: she could maintain Flow state throughout an entire race.
She's strong.
Stronger than Rice had initially imagined.
This wasn't the Mihono Bourbon from the original timeline. She was more like a player-trained character from the game.
This was the change brought about by the world's elevated level.
The higher a horse girl's innate talent, the greater her potential ceiling in higher-level worlds.
And Rice was certain that Mihono Bourbon would eventually overcome her stamina weakness.
Even if this world was different. Even if history had changed.
Even if Rice herself was no longer the Rice Shower she once was.
It seemed they were still destined rivals, fated to clash.
The Classic Triple Crown—this was the trial that would forge her into a hero.
She absolutely had to claim it.
Her opponent was powerful.
So she needed to become even stronger.
The pitch-black aura surrounding Rice Shower intensified, growing more menacing by the second.
Even ordinary spectators could feel the extraordinary presence radiating from her.
...
Kuronuma, Mihono Bourbon's trainer, had been observing Rice the entire time.
So the moment something changed within her, he noticed immediately.
So this is what a horse girl who's entered that supreme domain looks like?
Incredible.
Compared to ordinary competitors, she's like an entirely different species.
He had complete confidence in Mihono Bourbon.
He believed she would absolutely become a legendary racehorse someday.
But Rice Shower's existence made him feel tremendous pressure.
They're different.
Famous horses and monsters were fundamentally different.
If a famous horse was someone who could reach the conventional limits of excellence, then a monster was someone who shattered those limits entirely.
Common sense didn't apply to monsters.
Kuronuma felt deeply troubled.
He had no idea how to devise tactics against Rice Shower.
Because a monster like her could unleash any extraordinary ability during a race.
And then there was the ZONE's special effects.
Unless Rice hadn't mastered the ZONE yet, this upcoming Satsuki Sho would be extremely dangerous.
"Only ZONE can counter ZONE."
This was a saying that circulated throughout the horse girl world.
Kuronuma didn't actually believe it.
In his view, ZONE was simply a more specialized skill.
But the saying spoke to ZONE's overwhelming power.
At least historically, there had never been a case of a horse girl without ZONE defeating a monster.
However, monsters weren't completely invincible.
History had seen such cases.
Some competitors had temporarily entered the supreme domain during their race against a monster and defeated them.
Even if those competitors could never truly access the supreme domain again afterward.
In that one race against a monster, they had undeniably transcended their limits.
Kuronuma seriously considered that possibility.
There's no way to teach someone how to enter ZONE. While certain banned substances exist overseas, that kind of artificial supreme domain is meaningless.
That leaves only one option.
He couldn't guarantee Mihono Bourbon would enter the supreme domain.
But he did have ways to temporarily increase her chances.
As a high-level trainer, if he didn't have at least that much up his sleeve, it would be embarrassing.
(Somewhere, a certain Okino sneezed.)
...
When Kuronuma snapped out of his thoughts, he realized Rice Shower had already left the venue.
Rice ran all the way back to Tracen Academy on foot, then immediately began her next training session on the practice track.
A light drizzle was still falling.
But she had no intention of resting.
She wanted to become stronger. Strong enough to definitively defeat Mihono Bourbon.
Just having a chance to win isn't enough!
She was alone on the training grounds.
Trainer P was on his way back to the dormitory when he passed by the practice track and heard sounds coming from that direction.
Someone's training at this hour?
Rice Shower immediately came to mind.
Regular students wouldn't do something like this.
And competitors who had trainers wouldn't do anything this extreme—their trainers wouldn't allow it.
No, wait. If it was that high-level trainer Kuronuma, maybe he'd be unreasonable enough to demand this.
P thought of the man who always wore sunglasses and a hat.
But today was Mihono Bourbon's race day, so it couldn't be her or Trainer Kuronuma.
That narrowed down who would be out here training at this hour to just a handful of names.
Given the race schedule, Rice Shower was the most likely candidate.
I knew it.
Arriving at the training grounds, P saw Rice activating skills amid the curtain of rain. Just as he'd thought.
He didn't immediately step forward to stop her.
He could sense an unyielding determination radiating from her.
This wasn't someone who'd change her mind from a few words of persuasion.
He carefully observed her training.
Her skill activation has become much more fluid.
She's mastered new skills too.
It was completely different from when he'd first seen her. Back then, Rice couldn't chain multiple skills together to maintain her speed form. Now she could do it seamlessly.
And it looked like she'd acquired quite a few new skills as well.
Her growth rate was astonishing.
But considering her training intensity, that growth made sense.
His only concern was whether this level of training was putting too much strain on her body.
...
On the track, Rice visualized Mihono Bourbon's image from the race she'd just watched—from the gate break to the final stretch. She locked her gaze onto the phantom "Mihono Bourbon."
The pitch-black aura churned around her. The terrifying waves of energy looked as though they were swallowing even the rain falling around her.
Not enough.
Still not enough.
I need more explosive power.
At this rate, I'll lose.
That skill—I need to master that skill!
Brilliant prismatic light flashed beneath her feet.
Just as she was about to launch forward, her body suddenly lost balance!
She managed to stabilize herself in time, but the skill activation failed.
P instinctively wanted to rush over.
But the moment Rice was about to fall, she stomped forward powerfully and steadied her stance almost instantaneously.
He stopped himself from running out.
But her adaptive reflexes left him stunned.
Without considerable physical flexibility, even if her mind reacted in that instant, executing such a recovery would be impossible.
This was an exceptional physical talent. The last horse girl who'd possessed this level of body control was Tokai Teio.
P fell into deep thought. Endurance and guts rivaling Mejiro McQueen, combined with physical talent comparable to Tokai Teio.
Logically, someone with these gifts shouldn't have remained hidden for so long before revealing her abilities.
Physical talent was different from learning aptitude—it should manifest much earlier.
So why had Rice performed like a late-bloomer type? Why had her early performances fallen short of those geniuses despite having these talents?
He thought about how her skill activation had just failed.
Is it her environment?
Rice didn't come from a prestigious background. She'd never received elite education. That was the biggest difference between her and those geniuses.
Of course, Rice might genuinely be somewhat slow when it came to learning.
But if she had a professional trainer, they should be able to develop a training regimen suited specifically to her.
What was the biggest gap between Rice and those geniuses right now?
Skills.
Exactly.
Based on his observations of Rice's recent races, he could confirm her physical abilities weren't inferior to any genius.
Even the currently strongest active competitor, Tokai Teio, couldn't surpass Rice in raw physical stats.
What Rice lacked was more effective training methods.
But this was just his own assessment.
P didn't know why Rice refused to join a team, so he couldn't exactly convince her to find a trainer.
What should I do?
P stood there holding his umbrella, watching Rice train while contemplating solutions and mentally recording every detail of her performance.
By the time he snapped out of it, he realized that months of observation had allowed him to construct a complete mental model of Rice Shower.
He now had the ability to design a proper training regimen for her.
If he couldn't convince Rice to find a trainer, then perhaps he could at least provide her with a more rational training plan.
But he was only a junior trainer. Would a plan he designed actually work?
P lacked confidence in his own abilities. He wasn't a traditionally trained professional—he'd come to this career from a different path.
His first mentor wasn't even a high-level trainer. His mentor was still studying to pass the Central Tracen certification exam.
He hadn't been at Tracen Academy long and hadn't learned much. Could someone like him really design a training plan worthy of Rice Shower?
Maybe I should ask some senior trainers for help?
But he couldn't find anyone suitable. The training plan Rice needed wasn't basic stuff.
Once it involved skill development and custom tailoring, the price would be steep.
And Rice was an active competitor. Unless she was willing to sign with a trainer, most trainers wouldn't agree to this kind of arrangement.
So finding another trainer to help Rice was essentially impossible.
...
By now, Rice had finished her training.
Three hours had passed without him noticing. The sky had gone completely dark, and the rain had stopped.
Rice stood behind the finish line, covered head to toe in mud.
Still no good.
She'd failed to master the Flash skill.
It was another Flash skill on her skill panel. To beat Mihono Bourbon, this was the technique she'd identified as essential.
[Pursuer of Blue Roses]: When chasing a target, convert willpower into speed!
If she could master this, Rice was confident she could catch Mihono Bourbon in the final stretch.
But Flash skills' learning difficulty matched their power. Mastering this before the race would be extremely challenging.
I'll continue tomorrow. There's still time before Satsuki Sho. Even without rest, I can still compete!
Rice made up her mind. She would train until the very last moment before Satsuki Sho began.
Only by pushing herself to this extreme would she have even a one percent chance of mastering this skill before the race.
Just as she was about to head back to the dormitory, Trainer P's figure suddenly appeared before her.
Rice looked at that familiar face and widened her eyes slightly in surprise.
Eh?
McQueen's trainer?
Team Sirius didn't exist in this world. So why was McQueen's trainer here?
...
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