At last, the skies cleared.
Terumi Shinji and Offside Trap returned to the training grounds they had not visited in some time. The field, flooded by days of heavy rain, was dotted everywhere with puddles of every size. Offside Trap arched a brow at the sight.
"We're still training today. Don't get your hopes up."
Shinji's words shattered her beautiful fantasy at once. Pouting, the horse girl pulled a long face to show her disappointment.
"With that little self-discipline, and you still want to go overseas?"
Offside Trap found no answer to that, so she could only droop her ears and trail after him into the field. The trainer walking ahead had come fully prepared, rain boots protecting him from the risk of having muddy water pour straight into his shoes.
As for the horse girl behind him, she looked down at her running shoes, now thoroughly soaked through. The squelching, sticky sensation made her feel a little helpless.
[Negative Emotion +20]
A smile spread across Shinji's lips. He made no effort to hide it from her; instead, he laughed openly, thoroughly enjoying himself right in front of her.
"Today's training is about adapting to this kind of track. You've seen the weather these past few days, and you've also seen the forecast for the next two weeks. The Japan Cup this year is going to be at least a heavy track."
At those words, Offside Trap's expression turned serious. She had barely ever adapted to heavy going before. Her earlier confidence about the Japan Cup, once brimming over, now became something much less certain.
Seeing her snap into focus, Shinji nodded in satisfaction and had her start warming up.
Watching his horse girl grow ever more accustomed to the routines he had drilled into her—to the point that, aside from teaching her new things, she could practically manage her own training in full—Shinji could not help feeling a surge of pride.
After the Autumn Tenno Sho, he had officially become a G1-winning trainer. Even in Japan, only a handful of trainers ever reached that height. He was not the youngest among them, but in terms of how early he had achieved it, he was absolutely near the top.
Once Offside Trap finished warming up, her real training began.
Shinji could clearly see that every time she pushed off, she still showed a slight tendency to slip. Her strength was more than enough, but as expected, she was still lacking in the subtle changes of running form needed for different ground conditions.
Still, he was not worried.
After much careful thought, Shinji had ultimately used the +2 bond effect from Empress of All Under Heaven on Earth Guardian. At first, he had considered waiting—Earth Guardian leaned more toward utility and support, and perhaps it would be better to decide later, once more rune slots or synergies were unlocked. But after weighing everything again and again, he had concluded that completing Earth Guardian first and getting through the Japan Cup was what mattered most.
Shouting instructions at Offside Trap, he laid down his number one requirement for the day: every time her hoof landed, she needed to catch the wet, slippery earth with the rear edge of the shoe angled slightly upward. She was still not there yet, but the improvement was already obvious.
As long as she could fully adjust her running form, then with Deep Sea Rhapsody and a completed Earth Guardian synergy, Shinji believed the Japan Cup was theirs for the taking.
As the sun climbed higher, Offside Trap finally came to a stop after five full adaptation runs, having finished the day's assigned training.
She looked toward Shinji, anticipation shining in her eyes. He understood at once—she had gotten a little too used to playing around these past few days. So all he did was remind her to follow the usual recovery process, take care of her body properly, and go home to rest well today.
Naturally, that left her deeply disappointed. Her ears drooped again as she nodded.
"Oh, right." Shinji looked into her eyes and, after hesitating a moment, finally said it. "Miss Hayakawa talked to me yesterday. She still hopes we'll be the main faces of the Japan Cup promotional campaign… that we'll appear in the official trailer."
As he spoke, his brow furrowed. The malice the racing fans had shown after the Autumn Tenno Sho had been so vicious that, if not for Hayakawa Tazuna's request, he would never even have brought this up to Offside Trap.
He could have refused outright. Or he could have delayed two or three days, then told Tazuna that Offside Trap had no wish to participate in the publicity.
But when he thought of the look in Offside Trap's eyes whenever she dreamed of going overseas, he remembered that his horse girl was not the type to openly express all her hopes. She was always waiting—waiting for Shinji's judgment, for Shinji's arrangements.
And yet, he wanted her to voice what she truly wanted. Though he was the one who made the decisions, as their relationship grew closer, he had to respect her wishes and feelings too.
"The main face?" Offside Trap looked surprised.
Ordinary promotional appearances would not have elicited that reaction from her. Every horse girl entered in the Japan Cup would naturally receive a brief introduction; there was nothing strange about that. But to be made the main focus—she could already imagine the bafflement on the fans' faces when they saw the trailer.
"Yes. Miss Hayakawa has already secured support from both the student council and JURA." As he said this, Shinji reached out and wiped a fleck of mud from her cheek. "But what matters most is still what you want. I think this absolutely has to depend on you."
Offside Trap nodded. Of course she understood what he meant.
She lowered her head slightly, hiding her expression from him.
What rose in her mind was the scene after the Autumn Tenno Sho—the scene that still made her hurt every time she remembered it. Yet now, alongside the pain, it stirred something else in her as well. An urge.
She no longer wanted their cheers.
Once was enough. Having gone through something like hell once, she had no desire to endure it again. Even if those people changed their minds now, she wanted nothing from those who had already turned their backs on her.
What she wanted was not their adoration, but their submission.
She wanted those racing fans to bow their heads, to have no choice but to applaud her. She wanted them to clap for her even if resentment and defiance still churned inside them.
And then let them writhe in that contradiction until they lost their bearings.
From that point on, they could lavish all the cheers and applause they wanted—and she would still have no need to care.
Her eyes flickered as another image came to her mind: Silence Suzuka before the race, waving to her fans. The crowd favorite's eyes had been bright, filled with a tenderness and determination that came from the heart. She had truly wanted to live up to all the hopes placed upon her.
I don't need fans. They only need to witness.
Witness victory and defeat. Witness her climb, step by step, all the way to the summit beneath the gaze of countless eyes.
Shinji caught the shift in her expression.
When his horse girl looked up and gave him a firm nod, she said nothing aloud—but he understood the feelings she was trying to convey.
After a moment's thought, he spoke.
"If you're going to be the central focus, there'll probably be an exclusive pre-race interview. Let's start there."
"Even if we aren't doing it for them, we also can't let ourselves become a free vessel for all those homeless hopes. None of that has anything to do with us. The student council and JURA shouldn't get to sit back and enjoy the benefits either, waiting for us to clean up their mess."
His horse girl nodded again, fully in agreement.
"Then it's settled. I'll talk to Miss Hayakawa. As for this afternoon…" Shinji glanced around the field. "Same track. I still need to put you through specialized training to deal with the mud and all the interference this kind of surface throws up."
"Understood!"
Offside Trap — Current Status
Assigned Horse Girl: Offside Trap
Condition: Perfect Form
Popularity: 482,342
System Blessing:(Rainbow)Empress of All Under Heaven
(For each Vassal Lord rune, all stat caps increase by 10%; you may choose one non-Vassal Lord synergy, and its synergy count increases by +2.)
PT (skills only): 429
Stat Points: 37
Five Core Stats:
Speed 1054 +58 (1940)
Stamina 760 +11 (1852)
Power 913 +28 (2030)
Guts 966 +86 (2264)
Intelligence 579 +11 (1986)
Running Aptitude:
Front-runner E / Leader B / Betweener B / Chaser D
Distance Aptitude:
1800m–2400m
Surface Aptitude:
Turf A / Dirt D
Skills:
Unyielding Wings Longing for the Deep Sky (Unique) Lv.4
[When positioned near the front in the final straight, if the leading horse girls are locked in a melee but not yet fighting over placings, speed increases and good lines become easier to secure.]
Body and Soul (Gold)
[Speed increases at the critical moment of the final spurt.]
Level 1 Counterclockwise (Green)
[Slightly better at counterclockwise tracks.]
Lightning Stride (Yellow)
[When positioned toward the rear during mid-race, slightly less likely to get boxed in.] {Medium Distance}
Straight Specialist (Yellow)
[Slight speed increase on straights.]
Position Sense (Yellow)
[Slightly easier to secure a good route in the early stages.]
Unruffled in Crisis (Blue)
[If boxed in during mid-race, slightly restores stamina.]
Domain: Not Awakened
Runes:
(Vassal Lord) (Earth Guardian) Dimensional Drift
[On good going, gain +1 to all stats for every 100 points in any stat; on non-good going, all stats +10%.]
(+10 Speed, +2 Stamina, +17 Inspiration)
(Personal Driver) (Vassal Lord) Variable-Distance Supercar
[During races: within 800m, Power +5%; 800–1400m, Intelligence +5%; 1400–2000m, Speed +5%; 2000–2600m, Stamina +5%; above 2600m, Guts +5%.]
(+9 Speed, +8 Guts, +6 Will)
(Battle Maniac) (Vassal Lord) Duel Master
[If entering a duel state in the final straight, all stats +15%.]
{Duel State: when both/all involved pull more than two lengths clear of the rear and show a clear advantage, yet none of the duelists has an obvious winning edge.}
(+4 Speed, +1 Power, +10 Guts)
(Vassal Lord) (Abyssal Bard) Mockery of Preservation
[During races, every opponent's stats that are lower than the horse girl's corresponding stats are reduced by 50 points; if there exists an opponent whose every stat is higher than hers, that opponent's stats are reduced by 5%.]
(+10 Guts, +9 Stamina, +7 Will)
(Vassal Lord) (Earth Guardian) Deep Sea Rhapsody
[On good going, the lowest stat +200; on non-good going, the highest stat +200. For every base stat that differs from every other base stat by more than 50 points, that stat gains +50, reduced by 10% from course effects.]
(+8 Speed, +8 Guts, +4 Intelligence)
Noble Rune Crest
(+7 Speed, +7 Power, +7 Intelligence)
Synergies:
Vassal Lord (5):
The horse girl's five core stats gain lower-bound locking; in practical terms, they can no longer decrease. Any gains obtained in the real world to the five core stats receive an additional 30% bonus. Stat caps increase by 50%. During races, all stat-boosting effects gain an additional 5% effectiveness.
Noble (1):
All stats +5%, able to adapt to any pace and perform at close to full strength. (Not activated)
Earth Guardian (2+2):
Each Earth Guardian rune and each of its other synergies grants +5% course aptitude correction and +5 Power, +5 Stamina, +5 Guts.
Battle Maniac (1)
Personal Driver (1)
Abyssal Bard (1)
Special Status: Tendonitis
Equipped Items:
Launch Horseshoes
[Horse girl's Power and Speed +20]
Hollowtone Ring
[Horse girl's Guts or Stamina +50]
(Currently set to Guts)
Training Specialty: Better at Power and Guts training
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 126)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter130)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter89)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter157)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 133
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 125
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 84
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 143
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 115
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 99
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 75
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 75
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 52
Uma Musume: I Want All 51
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
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