In the afternoon, Kaito arrived at the training field. Besides Tokai Teio, Seiun Sky was there as well—she had officially become his Uma Musume.
If he remembered correctly, Seiun Sky's initial stats should all be in the low nineties, not even reaching a hundred yet. She had only just begun training.
These attributes didn't grow the way he'd once imagined. For example, Rudolf's Speed was over fourteen hundred—nearly ten times Teio's—but there was no way her actual running speed was ten times higher. Otherwise, if Teio ran twenty meters per second, Rudolf would be sprinting at two hundred meters per second—a human-shaped bullet.
It was more likely that the higher the stat, the gentler the growth curve became.
And unlike the mobile game, stats here didn't simply go up and stay there forever. If someone focused only on strength training for too long, stamina would start to drop. All attributes influenced one another. Spending too much time reading to raise Intelligence would cause the other stats to decline.
This was a constant process of give and take. A Trainer's job was to arrange training so that, within a limited time, the overall gains were maximized.
Kaito had never formally studied to become a Trainer. The books he'd read were half-understood at best. Still, back when he could see the Uma Musume's basic information and predict stat changes, he could judge which training was optimal. In fact, his predictive ability alone surpassed the experience of many Trainers—some of them actually caused their Uma Musume's overall stats to drop after training.
But at this stage, he couldn't see any of that. He could only rely on memory and past experience to plan their regimen.
"Start with warm-ups," he said.
"Yes," Tokai Teio and Seiun Sky replied in unison, jogging out onto the field. Kaito watched their backs.
That morning, after signing Seiun Sky, the system interface had appeared again, confirming that she was now one of his assigned Uma Musume. From that point on, he also held command authority over her.
Yet Kaito wasn't happy.
This world felt… fake.
On the surface, everything seemed normal, but in truth, it still felt like he was the only one really here. Maybe this was still the original game world—just without map restrictions, with the characters' emotions fleshed out.
Just when he thought there had finally been a real change, reality turned out to be just as heartbreaking.
Kaito felt like giving up.
Before, he'd barely held himself together by training Teio. If he did nothing at all, he'd already have become a useless wreck. He needed a goal—he couldn't let his lower instincts rule forever. Eventually, there would be nothing left to vent. He had to do something, to keep himself moving.
A person couldn't live without purpose.
Once he let himself be assimilated by this world, he'd become nothing more than a walking corpse driven by desire—maybe not even human anymore.
Instinctively, Kaito resisted that future. That was why he had always trained Teio with intent.
He wanted to turn her into a stat monster.
That was his purpose before—and it still was now.
After warming up, Tokai Teio and Seiun Sky ran back to him.
"Trainer, what's next?"
"Follow the plan I gave you."
"Yes."
Both girls glanced at Kaito, faintly puzzled.
While training, Tokai Teio whispered to Seiun Sky, "Don't you think the Trainer's been acting kind of strange lately?"
"How so?"
"He keeps muttering things I don't understand, talking about games and stuff. And he zones out a lot. Yesterday he sat by the flowerbed staring at the track without moving at all."
"What's strange about that?" Seiun Sky replied lazily. "Big guys his age like games, don't they? And zoning out—I do that all the time. Though I prefer sleeping."
"Is that really it…?"
"Probably. Oh, and it could also be because of your debut race. He might be stressed, so he relaxes by gaming and spacing out."
"Because of me?! My debut race is making the Trainer nervous?"
"I'd say that's very likely."
"Th-Then what should we do?!"
"Obviously, help him relax. Don't worry—leave it to me. If the Trainer sleeps in my arms for a bit, I guarantee he'll be full of energy the next day."
"Don't even think about it! You're not getting anywhere near my Trainer!"
"What do you mean yours? He's mine too."
"Damn it! The Trainer only needs me! Why did he have to sign with someone else?! Anything he wants to do to Uma Musume, he can do to me! Anything he wants to do to girls, he can do to me! What could he possibly still be dissatisfied with?!"
Teio flared up again, while Seiun Sky wore a soft, fluffy smile—one that somehow carried a terrifying edge of mockery.
"Maybe the Trainer likes someone softer," Seiun Sky said gently. "Or someone more comfortable to hold. That would be me."
"Hah?! There's no way you're more comfortable than me! Anyway, I'm going to comfort the Trainer, so don't you dare interfere!" Tokai Teio snapped, spinning on her heel and running off.
Seiun Sky watched her back, unhurried.
Didn't matter. You couldn't stick to the Trainer twenty-four hours a day.
But I can.
While Teio and Sky trained, Kaito studied his training schedule. He recorded the last stats he'd seen for both girls and noted the growth patterns from past training sessions beside them.
In addition to inter-attribute influence, there were effects within the same attribute as well. Repeating the same training for too long caused diminishing returns, while accelerating the decline of other stats.
Mixing different training types could create a one-plus-one-greater-than-two effect—but mood and condition mattered, too. Sometimes Teio's condition would inexplicably dip, reducing training effectiveness to almost nothing.
Changing her mood, however, was easy—much easier than in the game. A pat on the head, a squeeze of her cheeks, even rubbing her feet would improve her spirits. Even if Teio's ears drooped in a terrible mood, a kiss would make her perk right back up, energized in an instant.
So complicated.
Without the UI, he had to slowly recall everything by hand.
"Two sets of single-leg hops into squats… then…" Kaito muttered, sitting on the grass, deep in thought.
"Trainer."
Tokai Teio suddenly leaned in from behind. She had just finished training, sweat glistening on her body. The slightly salty scent of perspiration mixed with her citrus-like fragrance flooded his senses as she hugged him.
"What is it, Teio? Done with training already?"
"I'm on break," she said, "and I wanted to help the Trainer rest a little." Seeing Kaito's familiar expression as he studied the plan, that strange unease vanished. This was the same look he always wore when making her schedules. The Trainer was still the Trainer—the person she loved most.
"Ahmm~" Tokai Teio opened her cherry-red lips and gently bit down on Kaito's ear.
Her warm, wet tongue slipped inside, and she murmured sweetly, sticky and intimate, "Let me help you relax."