I woke up from a dream.
Maybe it was because I'd been playing too much Uma Musume recently, but last night I actually dreamed I had become a horse girl.
It was a really vivid dream. Even after waking up, I could still feel the enhanced physical strength.
Just as she got out of bed to go to the bathroom, something behind her suddenly swayed.
A light purple horse tail was swinging as if it had a mind of its own.
The next second, she stiffly looked behind her.
'What... is this?'
'Calm down!'
'First, take a deep breath, and then confirm I'm not in a dream within a dream!'
"Haaa... hooo..."
She closed her eyes, and as she breathed, her mood gradually calmed.
'Okay.'
This shouldn't be a dream. It must be an illusion seen in my hazy state right after waking up.
She opened her eyes, looked back, and her expression instantly collapsed.
"H-ly sh*t!"
The light purple horse tail swayed gently. The texture of the hair was gorgeous, as if it were glowing.
"It's actually rea—" Her shout stopped abruptly. With dawning realization, her eyes flew wide open.
Immediately, she looked down at her chest.
Beneath the men's pajamas, there was a slight swell. Although the curve was only the size of a small steamed bun, she had to admit—it was very white and tender!
Pressing her lips together, her heart pounding, she reached out with trembling hands and slowly felt...
"..."
After a moment of investigation, she lay back down on the bed, feeling unimpressed.
After a while, she suddenly rolled out of bed, quickly put on her slippers, and dashed to the bathroom.
The moment she entered the bathroom, she saw her current appearance in the mirror.
A horse girl, Mejiro McQueen!
A popular character in the Uma Musume series, known by fans with nicknames like "Fatty," "Thousand-Jin Young Lady," and "Plank McQueen"!
In the mirror, the aloof-looking young lady blinked with a blank expression.
At this moment, she had only one thought in her mind.
The real-life "Fatty" is actually really pretty!
"Who is this stunning, drop-dead gorgeous beauty before me? That's right, this beautiful girl is me."
...
With the sound of a toilet flushing.
Mejiro McQueen walked out of the bathroom with a relaxed expression.
What the hell, my adaptability is just too strong!
She had completely gotten used to this body; she didn't feel anything wrong with it at all.
And although her 'son' was missing, she didn't feel any sadness. On the contrary, she was excited!
This body, so healthy it could be called athletic, was simply irresistible!
Beautiful, powerful... compared to this, her original body could basically be called trash.
She felt like she was practically a superman now. This body seemed to hide infinite potential!
This is so awesome!
If she wasn't worried about causing chaos by running out looking like this, she would have already gone to a nearby track to run a few laps.
Returning to her room, Mejiro McQueen opened her computer screen. The Uma Musume game, which she hadn't closed before bed last night, was still running.
Taking a closer look, she noticed something was wrong.
"Hm? This is..."
Although it was mostly the same, this wasn't the game from her memory.
"Where did my main horse girl go? Where did my big ol' Mejiro McQueen run off to?!"
The horse girl who was usually on standby on the game's main screen was gone!
And Tracen Academy in the background was completely empty, without a single person in sight!
"Could it be..."
Looking at the drastically changed game interface, Mejiro McQueen moved the mouse to the character list.
In the character list, the horse girls she had originally paid to pull...
...were all cleared.
Now there was only one unlocked character left: Mejiro McQueen.
"All the alternate-skin characters are gone. Hmm, that makes sense. Let me check the skill pool... Huh? Huh!"
Mejiro McQueen opened the character's innate skill pool. The array of colorful and gold skills on it almost blinded her.
"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!"
"Is this the skill pool from every character plus every support card in the game?!"
(Note: Skills from original Mejiro McQueen + alternate skins + same-character support cards)
Moreover, the game's "Unique Skill" had been replaced by a normal flashing skill, and it showed her Unique Skill as "locked."
Shock!
A shiver ran through her!
"This can't be that 'Zone' from the manga, can it!?"
It seemed unbelievable, but this appeared to be the truth.
"Okay, the characters are deleted, and the support card mechanic and gacha pool are gone, but—" Mejiro McQueen's face was flushed with excitement. With this current skill pool, who needs support cards? If she learned all these skills, wouldn't she be invincible? She clicked on the skills one by one, looking at their detailed descriptions, almost drooling. "Invincible! Not only is the skill pool huge, but these skills don't even have distance restrictions?!"
That's right. The skills that originally had track distance restrictions in the game now had no such limits. It was as if to say, as long as you can learn it and master the timing to use it, you could even use a skill meant for long-distance races in a short-distance race!
"Great. I am now infinitely motivated. Let me race already!"
Mejiro McQueen was thrilled.
After all, with such a strong character, wouldn't it be a waste not to try and push its performance to the limit?
[Training]
[Story]
[Character]
[Races]
These were the only functions left in the game.
Without hesitation, Mejiro McQueen decisively entered the Training Scenario. Although she really wanted to see what [Story] and [Races] were, both of those options required a fully trained character to enter.
[Begin a new simulation training?]
[Yes/No]
"Yes!"
Her consciousness suddenly ascended, and with a jolt, she "woke up" again.
Mejiro McQueen, who had just been at home on her computer, suddenly appeared in front of a large gate. Looking out, she saw it was the game's Tracen Academy.
Immediately after, some information appeared in her mind.
"Six months. I have to train and study for six months to improve my stamina and master skills, then participate in the debut race."
Her expression froze.
Wait, is this simulation training entirely based on my own efforts?
Where's the Trainer?
Where's the team?
None?
Even Tracen Academy is just an empty shell.
Aside from being fully equipped, there wasn't a single person, not even a ghost!
So, she'd transferred from a 'prison' game (a grindy game) to start a real prison sentence here?
Damn it.
If she weren't one-thousand-percent satisfied with this body, she would have already aborted the process and quit the simulation.
"No rush. Even though there's no one in Tracen Academy, when it's time for the races, the opponents can't all be AI, right?"
They...
...can't be, right?
She was trying to comfort herself, but she suddenly felt a sense of dread.
Because if she wasn't mistaken, the simulation training's timeline was the same as the Uma Musume game she used to play.
And in the game, the training, when converting the turns, lasted for three whole years!
In other words, she might have to spend three full years all alone in this empty, simulated world!
Although the future felt a bit dark, since she was already here, she decided to stick with it.
She took out the phone from her school uniform pocket. Using the Tracen guidance manual app, she memorized the academy's map and its various facilities.
And so, Mejiro McQueen began her high-intensity training.
Injuries in the simulation training wouldn't carry over to reality, so she wanted to test the limits of this body as much as possible.
Fortunately, there was an AI program on the phone to assist with training.
It could create a training plan based on her goals, so she wasn't just fumbling in the dark.
Before starting the training, she never thought she had such strong willpower.
Thankfully, the food automatically produced in the cafeteria was absolutely delicious, which significantly eased her mood.
Plus, she had the entire Tracen Academy to herself, and at night she could enjoy the large bathhouse all alone. This life was pretty awesome.
The only drawback was the lack of internet. Although the computer worked, it only contained information related to horse girls and racing. There were no games and no one to chat with. If she hadn't already been used to being alone, she might not have been able to endure it.
But as she trained day by day, feeling her body grow stronger and watching her simulation run times improve bit by bit, the sense of accomplishment made her feel incredibly fulfilled. Three months later, she had completely immersed herself in this mechanical daily routine.
Time flew by, and six months soon...
...passed.
Mejiro McQueen followed the guide to the racecourse. Here, she saw many horse girls, and the spectator stands were bustling with excitement.
But as she investigated further, she discovered they were, as expected, all robots. Although they felt like real people, they had no self-awareness.
If I were still the man I used to be, maybe I would have had some impure thoughts at this moment?
Mejiro McQueen reached out and touched the body of the horse girl in front of her, thinking this with no emotional fluctuation whatsoever.
She retracted her hand and looked at her own stats panel.
Six months of hard work had raised her stats to a very respectable level.
After all, this was different from the game.
There was no inheritance breeding or support card mechanic here.
As long as you were willing to work hard and your body had the potential, you could develop that potential through training!
Therefore, stats that might take a year to train in the game could now be achieved in a much shorter time.
Of course, it wasn't all advantages.
In the game, although the developers would cap player stats, the numbers in these types of games always inflated with new versions.
But now, in the real world, although the early-game stats could be raised faster through training, it became harder and harder later on.
However, the current Mejiro McQueen was concentrating on the New Horse Debut Race before her.
Although she spotted a star horse girl among the robot opponents who shouldn't have been in this race, she only glanced at the other's stats panel and paid it no mind. That debut-class panel, similar to the one in the game, was no match for her now!
The moment the race began, Mejiro McQueen shot out of the gate, taking the lead. Since the skills no longer had those restrictions, she naturally chose a front-runner strategy.
Because the view from first place is completely different!