Having realized her own weakness, and then immediately transformed into an invincible state, Gotham Song once again felt herself unstoppable.
At this very moment, even the all-knowing, almighty Three Goddesses couldn't possibly match her strength, right?!
She was a god walking among mortals.
With this awareness burning within her, she boarded the train headed toward the venue, and after an hour, managed to extricate herself from the encircling crowd.
What are you all looking at? Never seen a pretty Uma Musume before? My Ardan-neesan's beauty is unrivaled under heaven!
However, the only regretful part was that her beloved Ardan-neesan was still dressed in everyday clothing—
After all, Gotham Song's own impulsive decision to cosplay wasn't something Mejiro Ardan could easily match on short notice. And as for Manhattan Cafe—though she did have other outfits available—she ultimately chose casual clothes as well.
Whatever. The two of them could perfectly cosplay their casual selves at this convention—Gotham Song could totally accept that.
In short, Gotham Song was in a rather fantastic mood right now, as if she was going purely to play, but actually, what exactly did she have to accomplish today?
Just as she was about to hand in her ticket and enter, Gotham Song's breathing gradually steadied. She had never forgotten exactly why she'd exhausted herself to fly thousands of miles from Japan to America…
Though her elder sisters both seemed completely unconcerned, even behaving as if this were purely a fun outing, Gotham Song still mustered her utmost seriousness. Her gaze shifted to the promotional wall outside the convention hall.
An ultra-talented Uma Musume cosplay group that had burst onto the scene within the past half-year—Dream's Other Shore? What a simultaneously obvious yet subtle name.
Until meeting Secretariat face-to-face, Gotham Song had only held her own suspicions—though those around her had also seemed to agree—which was why she'd come from across the ocean all the way to New York. But the specifics, the exact confirmation of their identities, had still remained a question without an accurate answer.
Yet yesterday, after seeing Secretariat trapped in the muddy pit of reality, she'd finally obtained a definite answer.
Gotham Song's intuition—or rather, her judgment—had been entirely correct. Every single Uma Musume on those posters was indeed the real deal, cosplaying themselves in order to experience this world completely different from their own eras.
But how exactly had Secretariat known?
Apparently, Secretariat had some acquaintance with one of them, which was how she'd been given a heads-up. Moreover, as the biggest driving force behind the Dream Cup, Secretariat had recently learned quite a few more details.
For instance, before the last Dream Cup, some Uma Musume participants from the past had also briefly returned to this world. According to previous records, there weren't actually strict limits on returning or on how long they could stay. As long as those Uma Musume wished it, they could remain indefinitely.
Yet none of the Uma Musume from before seemed to have chosen to stay, according to the records.
Their reasoning had been simple and straightforward:
"We came to race. Once the race is done, what are we supposed to stay around for—celebrating New Year's?"
Hmm… All you could say was, they truly carried themselves like seasoned seniors?
Of course, those were words spoken by previous visitors to this world, and Gotham Song hadn't paid much attention back then. After all, she genuinely didn't know many historical Uma Musume very well. What truly occupied her mind was…
What would the "herself of the past" do here?
And what words would she offer to the current Gotham Song?
Such things were indeed impossible not to be curious about.
The sun blazed high overhead. It was nearly June, and summer heat had already enveloped the northern hemisphere. Gotham Song was immensely grateful that her costume was well-made. Although it still felt complicated and cumbersome to wear, thanks to its exquisite craftsmanship, the cosplay outfit that could actually pass for everyday wear didn't feel too much like a sauna…
Well, actually, it was still rather sauna-like after all.
In short, after enduring for what felt like an eternity, as if she'd persevered through a lifetime, Gotham Song finally squeezed into the convention alongside her two elder sisters.
How to describe it?
An Uma Musume-world convention was clearly very different from one in the human world, the most obvious difference being the characters cosplayed and… the sheer density of girls?
Although it was already common to see women at conventions in the human world, here, it seemed entirely dominated by Uma Musume. Furthermore, most weren't even cosplaying anime characters.
As Gotham Song walked through the crowd, she encountered countless "familiar faces."
The most frequently spotted were cosplayers of Secretariat and Festival Glory, with countless versions of Gotham Song herself and Twilight Song scattered everywhere. Thus, Gotham Song cosplaying as Mejiro Ardan, Ardan herself, and her cousin Manhattan Cafe ended up becoming the three hottest Uma Musume in the entire event.
They were basically universal adapters…!
They paired perfectly well with Gotham Song and Twilight Song both—though Manhattan Cafe apparently had no overt connection to Twilight Song. To Gotham Song's utter amazement, however, a cosplayer had casually whipped out two hair ribbons and instantly transitioned from past to present—literally time-traveling on the spot.
This feat not only left Gotham Song utterly dumbfounded, but also completely stunned everyone else around. And as the very witness to this temporal transcendence, Gotham Song could only offer a single reaction:
"Alright, alright. You're definitely it."
Overall, the atmosphere at this convention was astonishingly harmonious, though the level of exposure was surprisingly high. Still, given this was New York, perhaps such freedom was understandable.
After finally escaping from the encircling crowd of "herselves," Gotham Song took a deep, exhausted breath.
Truth be told, these past ten-some minutes had been far more exhausting than an entire race. Indeed, at a convention like this, if you were just an ordinary visitor, ten minutes would be enough to make multiple laps. But if you weren't a mere passerby… you probably wouldn't even manage a single loop in ten minutes!
Nevertheless, such a thing was perfectly normal and understandable… Gotham Song thought she could understand these kids, her fans, why they'd choose to "become Gotham Song" at such a place.
So, if there were no additional intentions involved, just purely cosplaying for its own sake—then what was the core motivation?
Of course, it had to be yearning and admiration. More precisely, because they loved that character or that person, they wanted to become her, or enter into her life, to possess everything they themselves lacked—deep admiration and genuine love must surely drive that emotion.
After all, cosplay was exhausting and expensive. If it wasn't genuinely driven by love and longing, what would even be the point?
Of course, that assumed one was purely cosplaying for fun, rather than involving oneself with anything else, anything unclean.
So, as the one being admired, Gotham Song actually completely supported that kind of behavior.
To yearn to become a strong Uma Musume like her, to obtain everything one didn't yet have—those dazzling, unimaginable glories of life… Somehow, thinking such things as the original herself felt like pure arrogance.
But then, what was the root cause behind all this?
It still came back to what Secretariat had said yesterday… Talent. Talent.
The most realistic, least fairytale-like thing in the world of Uma Musume—the one that always brought only helpless silence when mentioned. The greatest obstacle in an Uma Musume's spirit of competition, and the ultimate distinction between Uma Musume and horses… wasn't it?
Truly, what a cruel thing.
"Right? You think so too, Ardan-neesan—"
"Y-yeah… huh?"
Only, the voice that suddenly sounded behind her was clear and cool—so familiar, it felt almost foreign.
Why "familiar yet foreign"?
Familiar—because that timbre was one her ears knew well, something she'd once heard every single day.
Foreign—because compared to Gotham Song's current voice, roughened by rebirth, this one carried that crystalline clarity that could never return again—the one that belonged to the past Gotham Song.
Or rather—
The voice that belonged to Twilight Song.
"Shh. I get it. You don't want everyone else to find out either, do you—?"
Tch. Don't look at me like you've got me all figured out… How annoying.
Still—she couldn't deny it. Gotham Song really didn't want random people to know about something like this.
So, only after taking a deep breath did she finally turn to face the Uma Musume standing before her.
And in that instant, truly seeing "herself," Gotham Song realized something clearly for the first time—
Ah… I've grown. Taller, bigger… so much more than before.
Heh. Past me really was such a short little nobody, huh~
In Twilight Song's eyes, Gotham Song saw that familiar fire ignite—but she herself felt no urge to repent.
She simply, brazenly, laid her own thoughts right out in the open.
Obviously, Twilight Song was furious—furious beyond measure.
But that only made Gotham Song's lips curve upward. After all—
Round One? I already won that one.
Clearly, Twilight Song wasn't the impulsive sort either. Between the two of them, their mental states—no, their hearts—weren't all that different. If anything…
Twilight Song's burdens might actually be lighter.
After all—what burden could the dead possibly have to bear?
"Fine, fine, I'll admit it—you won. Anyway, let's change places. Being all cramped here, that's not my kind of battlefield. And you don't like chatting in front of a crowd either, do you?"
With that, Twilight Song decisively reached out her hand—like a pair of clamps, she grabbed Gotham Song's wrist. And right there, in front of the entire convention hall—
Twilight Song dragged Mejiro Ardan and bolted!
Gotham Song even faintly heard some young filly shriek from behind them:
"It's real—my OTP is real—Ruka-sama and Ardan-sama…!! Bliss!"
…Excuse me, what the hell?
Gotham Song's mouth twitched, but hopefully that kind of terrifying commentary was just an isolated case. Thinking that, she didn't bother saying more—
There were more important matters to deal with right now, weren't there?
Being dragged around by a dead person—that was not her style…!
But whether it was because she was in a healthier, more developed state now—or simply more mature—within the next second, the situation flipped. The two who'd been running with Twilight Song leading suddenly switched positions: Gotham Song surged forward, pulling her past self along instead.
Behind them, the shrieking chaos only grew louder and more frenzied…
How to even describe it?
Anyway, the loudest thing Gotham Song heard was probably—
"Hit me—hit me right here between the lips—aaagh!"
Cut off mid-scream, complete with a pained yelp—realistic to a fault.
But Gotham Song, now dragging Twilight Song out of the convention grounds, had no interest in caring about any of that. She only knew one thing—she'd won Round Two.
And in this grand victory, Gotham Song was rightfully overflowing with momentum.
"So? What exactly do you want to talk about, you who crawled out of the underworld just to challenge me—?"
Saying this, Gotham Song found herself surprised—because, truly facing her past self like this, she didn't actually feel much tension at all. From her heart, hot blood was pulsing strong and steady through every vein, filling her body with power.
Before seeing you, maybe I would've been afraid, anxious even. But now that you've stripped away all mystery and stand here openly before me…
What a surprise. Her heart boiled, yet her mind remained perfectly calm. The strange emotions that had been churning inside her blended into one—and from all of it, only a single, clear answer surfaced.
Twilight Song, huh. My past self wants to challenge me, is that it…?
Heh. Do you even have the qualifications?
I'll kill you.
Heehee.
I won't lose to anyone. And if someone dares challenge me and loses—don't expect mercy just because you cry about it, alright?
Sooner or later, I'll make you cry myself.
At that moment—no, only in front of her past self—Gotham Song could no longer suppress it at all.
Like black mud bursting free from her chest, she revealed the ugliest part of herself: that arrogance, that absoluteness—the will that denied any challenger, that vowed to tear apart any Uma Musume who dared step onto the track with intent toward her—
The monstrous malice she'd kept sealed away all this time.
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