The performance ended.
The moment she returned to the lounge, Mejiro McQueen was hit by a wave of drowsiness. She lay down on the sofa, and under the astonished gazes of the others, her consciousness returned to her original world.
[McQueen] reoccupied her body.
She opened her eyes, dazed.
Her mind hadn't fully caught up. She hadn't expected that person to leave so suddenly.
And this time, she didn't fall asleep along with her but consciously took over the body. What was the reason for this? Could it be... I've gotten stronger?
When Symboli Rudolf saw [McQueen]'s clear eyes, she understood what had happened. She asked, "You should be our original [McQueen] now, right?"
[McQueen] nodded subconsciously, then she noticed the curious gazes of the others.
Being surrounded and watched by so many people, and with that "looking at a rare animal" kind of stare, [McQueen] instantly panicked.
"I... why do I feel so tired wa! I can't, I can't hold on anymore wa!"
[McQueen] fled. Her speed even surpassed her previous limits.
Symboli Rudolf watched her retreating figure from behind and thought to herself, It seems her body has remembered that running style. Although I don't think [McQueen] can easily grow to that McQueen's level, she has finally grown.
Symboli Rudolf felt very gratified and looked forward to [McQueen]'s future performance.
...
Mejiro McQueen, having returned to her original world, saw that it was the morning of the next day.
Although the timing of her return was a bit sudden, she didn't pay it too much mind.
The events of the other world were like a dream to her, nothing she needed to pay too much attention to. As for the influence she'd left behind, she felt there was no need to worry too much. Even if that [McQueen] couldn't handle things, the Chairwoman and Symboli Rudolf would help her. And there was also the Mejiro family.
She just didn't know if she would be summoned again in the future. She still didn't understand what was going on, but she was too lazy to guess.
This phenomenon was beyond her comprehension. The only thing she could do was silently accept it.
She thought about the race [McQueen] was supposed to run next.
The Japan Cup... Will that girl be okay?
'I forgot to ask Rudolf and the others what that girl's situation was. If her consciousness was awake, then she should have been able to observe how I used my skills.'
If learning from scratch was dangerous, then [McQueen], whose body I've used, was learning from "1" instead of "0." As long as she puts her mind to it, it shouldn't be hard to learn, and the risk wouldn't be too great.
After all, I've already run two races in that body.
If she still couldn't learn after all that, there were only two reasons.
One: the "system skills" could truly only be used by me.
Two: the other girl was just too stupid.
Although she was curious about the result, it was something she couldn't confirm. In the end, Mejiro McQueen chose to put the matters of that other world aside for now.
She quickly returned to her own daily life.
Although there was still the Tenno Sho (Autumn) to run, the race was still a ways off. This meant she would be very idle.
Her Trainer and the others had gone on a hot spring trip and wouldn't be back for a while. Her life would consist of attending classes and personal training.
On this day, Mejiro McQueen went to the team's activity room as usual, training alone and cleaning up alone.
Mejiro McQueen felt like she had already entered her retirement life early. After finishing cleaning, she turned on the TV. On it was a broadcast of El Condor Pasa's first race overseas.
This was a GII-level race.
It was clear that El Condor Pasa had won relatively easily.
Having not seen her for a while, Mejiro McQueen discovered El Condor Pasa had mastered "Aura," and her strength had improved considerably. In Mejiro McQueen's memory, El Condor Pasa's performance when she raced against her had been rather average.
But now, El Condor Pasa was getting stronger; that powerful talent finally seemed to be cashing in.
But it wasn't enough. It was too naive to think she could get results overseas with this level of strength.
Mejiro McQueen thought to herself.
'To go race overseas before even reaching her peak... that decision is a bit reckless.'
Said person was completely unaware that she herself had caused this situation.
Right now, the Japanese horse girl racing world was in what could be called its most brilliant and also its darkest era. This was because a horse girl named "Mejiro McQueen" dominated this era. The strength she displayed wasn't just a little bit stronger than other runners; she truly had no rivals in this era!
If others stayed in the country to race against her, they would end up with no achievements to their name. So many Trainers had the same idea: take their horse girls to compete overseas.
The overseas races were indeed much more intense than the ones here, but at least they could still achieve some results. If the horse girl was in good form, they had a decent chance of winning.
But if they chose to stay, as long as they ran into Mejiro McQueen in a race... it wasn't a question of winning, but whether they could even get a decent result.
What could they do about this level of a challenge?
The Trainers were unanimous: there was nothing they could do.
Mejiro McQueen's strength was off the charts. She shouldn't be racing in a "leisure zone" like Japan. But alas, their opinions couldn't influence Mejiro McQueen. So, they could only change themselves. Since Mejiro McQueen wouldn't go overseas to race, they had to go.
El Condor Pasa was the first to scout the path.
After all, they were also wary.
Wary of running into a monster overseas, one like Mejiro McQueen who could dominate an era. If that really happened, it would truly be their darkest age.
...
Mejiro McQueen discovered that "Zone" really didn't seem to be a secret overseas. It was just that she hadn't entered this realm in the past, so even if someone used it right in front of her, she wouldn't have noticed.
So, had she really misunderstood the Committee and Rudolf all this time? Had they not restricted the race footage?
No, many of Oguri Cap's old race videos were indeed sealed. Besides, the "Zone" used by the two runners in this race... she didn't know how to evaluate it.
It was... a bit weak.
Perhaps it was precisely because they were so weak that even if Mejiro McQueen had watched their race videos in the past, she wouldn't have discovered they were runners who had activated the Zone.
There was indeed no need to seal this level of race footage. If she hadn't already entered this realm herself and couldn't intuitively sense it, she wouldn't even think these two were using the power of the Zone.
It must be known, El Condor Pasa had not entered the Zone. She was still only in the second stage ("Aura"). Mejiro McQueen was certain of this. But even so, the two runners in this race who had entered the Zone were not El Condor Pasa's opponents. They even became catalysts for El Condor Pasa's further growth.
'Is this really the Zone?'
Why was she so skeptical?
Because domains like hers and Rudolf's all had multiple effects, and they were powers that evolved based on their own innate talents and mental states.
But the "Zone" these two overseas horse girls displayed was purely mental concentration and a little bit of acceleration.
And, they had entered the Zone, but the part Mejiro McQueen couldn't understand the most was:
'Why aren't they using Tides and Aura?'
'Even if the Zone's effect isn't strong, if they had activated Tides and Aura, El Condor Pasa couldn't possibly have won, right?'
She didn't think those two runners were unwilling to use them. The answer was obvious: it's because they couldn't use them.
This was a race in their home country, and they had lost to a foreign runner. A runner who hadn't even entered the Zone! This was a race they definitely wouldn't throw.
Seeing this kind of "watered-down" (counterfeit) domain, Mejiro McQueen instantly lost interest. No wonder she felt nothing when watching the videos before. It turns out their watered-down ZONE was even less useful than Tides and Aura.
They had somehow entered the ZONE, but not only was their ZONE watered-down, they hadn't even mastered the first two stages. What was this? The purity was too low. She couldn't feel any power at all.
Of course, only Mejiro McQueen would dare to say such things. In truth, these two horse girls were still very strong, and they were only GII-level horse girls.
Yes, before discussing "strong" or "weak," one must first "X" out Mejiro McQueen from the comparison.
Otherwise, her answer would be the same.
Weak is weak. Against opponents of this level, she wouldn't even need her domain to eliminate all of them.
'As expected, my previous assessment was correct. Though I didn't realize they had entered the ZONE back then, they really aren't strong. How disappointing. I thought you were holding back, but I never imagined this was actually your "all-out" effort?'
Feeling bored, Mejiro McQueen quickly stopped paying attention to overseas races. Time passed. The Spica team returned from their training camp. The Tenno Sho (Autumn) opened.
But what stunned everyone was that there was only one participant in this race: Mejiro McQueen.
It wasn't that no horse girls wanted to sign up. The authority to register was in the hands of their Trainers. And all of these Trainers had chosen to forfeit this race because they knew Mejiro McQueen would definitely participate in the Tenno Sho.
So, when Mejiro McQueen arrived at the venue, she had no opponents. She could only run the race by herself. Even Mejiro McQueen's fans couldn't have imagined this outcome. Although they knew their young mistress would win, they never expected that all her opponents would be so scared that they'd withdraw.
When Mejiro McQueen finished the Winning Concert and returned to her dorm, a pop-up window suddenly appeared before her eyes.
[You have cleared this chapter's story. Character Card restrictions have been unlocked. Character worldline has been locked...]
Without giving her a chance to react, the pop-up finished, and her consciousness faded to black.
...
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