"Diaaa—! Wake up, wake up, wake up! It's morning already!"
The night had receded, but the thin veil of mist still hanging over Tokyo had yet to fully clear. In the walkway outside the racecourse, a girl's booming shout jolted the entire line of campers awake.
Inside one of the tents, the black-haired horse girl kept shaking the friend still fast asleep beside her—the one with that very distinctive white diamond marking on her forehead.
Satono Diamond was rocked awake by sheer force. She opened her eyes blearily, then chopped Kitasan Black on the head with the edge of her hand before finally groaning, "Let me sleep a little longer! It's only a little after seven. They won't even start letting people into the racecourse until after eight, maybe nine! Getting worked up this early won't get you inside any faster!"
The moment she thought about it, irritation came right back.
Originally, coming to watch this year's Satsuki Sho with her childhood friend had been a wonderful plan. And with her favorite, Dyna, among the runners, it should have been happiness on top of happiness. It was supposed to be the best day of the year.
Instead, because Kitasan Black had insisted they come early and camp outside the track, Diamond had discovered halfway there that something was very wrong.
Why was the train heading to Chiba?
Wasn't this year's Satsuki Sho being held at Tokyo Racecourse? Had she missed the news that Nakayama had already finished repairs and was reopening in time to host the race after all?
The result was that when the train reached its destination and the two of them got off, Kitasan Black pulled out her phone, opened the map, selected Nakayama Racecourse… and only then saw the message:
Under repair. Reopening date to be determined.
Then she had scratched her head, stuck out her tongue, and said, "Oops. I got too excited and forgot this year's Satsuki Sho is at Tokyo. Ehehe."
Diamond had immediately chopped her.
By the time the Satono family's private helicopter rushed them back to Tokyo, Kitasan Black already had a huge lump on her head. It was night by the time they left the helipad, so Diamond had adopted the same strategy she'd used years ago when she went to watch Tokai Teio race.
She had the family driver take them straight to Tokyo Racecourse, had a nearby Satono-owned business prepare camping gear for them in advance, and when they arrived, people were already starting to set up outside.
At least the Satono family had secured them the best possible spot in line. That was probably the only good thing to happen all day.
Diamond had been too exhausted to care. The moment she crawled into the sleeping bag, she'd felt it was the most comfortable thing in the world.
Satono Diamond.exe had stopped running.
Until, of course, she got shaken awake again at dawn by that little menace, Kitasan Black.
"Ugh… that hurts…"
This time, it was Diamond herself who cried out.
She had chopped Kitasan Black in exactly the same spot as yesterday, with the same hand—but somehow the other girl's skull felt even harder today. Her own palm had swelled instead, and the pain instantly drove off the last of her sleepiness.
She shook out her hand, decided there was no point in trying to sleep again, crawled out of the sleeping bag, straightened clothes she hadn't even bothered taking off, then stepped out of the tent and stretched.
Her whole body crackled.
It actually felt pretty good.
"Kita-chan, the weather's great today. Fast ground!" Kitasan Black, completely unbothered by the hand chop, followed after her with two energy bars in hand. This was their standard racecourse-camping breakfast. Survive the morning hunger, then buy lunch inside later.
Diamond looked up at the sun rising beyond the thinning mist and nodded. "Yeah. The weather's going to be perfect. Dyna is the fastest horse girl there. She'll definitely win the Satsuki Sho."
It sounded almost like she was talking to herself.
Then she took a bite of the energy bar and immediately started coughing.
Kitasan Black had bought the wasabi flavor.
By noon, at Tokyo Racecourse—
Dyna woke from the soft, luxurious mattress and rolled over, only to find Cody's Wish in blue standing right there beside the bed, meeting her gaze.
"Morning, Miss Cody's Wish… ah, no. Good afternoon, I guess."
By now, Dyna was long used to Cody's Wish appearing on her bed whenever she pleased. It had been happening on and off ever since they first met. If anything, having someone there to keep her company while she slept actually gave her a strange sense of comfort. She had always lacked a little security.
"Good afternoon," Cody's Wish replied. "Make sure you eat something high-energy for lunch. The showdown of destiny starts at three-forty."
"I know~ Is Sea the Stars still asleep? I haven't seen her at all." Dyna padded over in her slippers, opened the wardrobe, and took out the race outfit she hadn't worn in a while, laying it on the bed. "Whew… An outfit with this much meaning. It's finally time to wear it for a stage like this."
"Every horse girl with a custom race outfit goes through this. I'll give you some privacy~"
No one disturbed her while she changed. And since she'd already gone through the process many times by now, the only trouble left was the usual struggle with the chest area.
Once she was done, Cody's Wish returned, circled her once, smoothed a few wrinkles, adjusted a few details, then stopped behind her and placed both hands lightly on Dyna's shoulders. Looking at the horse girl reflected in the mirror, radiant and ready, she smiled in satisfaction.
"Perfect. Go out there just like this and amaze everyone."
The skirt fell almost to the floor, layered on both sides and gradually rising until it cinched snugly at her waist. The tailor had really gone all out to turn ordinary pink into something impossibly vivid and many-hued. The waistline was sharply tailored, but above that, there was no disguising the fullness of her chest. The open window there revealed a deep, unmistakable valley that seemed to serve no purpose beyond letting in a bit of cool air.
Dyna's embarrassment lasted only a moment.
Then she clenched her fists at her chest, took a deep breath, and told herself, "I'm ready… I'm ready."
Before leaving the room, she made sure to take her card case with her.
On the way to the dining hall, she passed other horse girls racing in the Satsuki Sho. They were all wearing their own outfits too—but none of theirs was as boldly open as hers.
"Good afternoon. Looks like you slept well. You look full of energy."
Opera O was already there by the time Dyna arrived. She'd seen this outfit on Dyna so many times that it no longer surprised her in the slightest. Once Dyna had gotten her food and finished eating, it was nearly one o'clock.
From there, all the Satsuki Sho runners would be gathered and sent to the waiting room together, where they would stay until called for entry, and where they'd also undergo one last physical check to eliminate any possible issues before the race.
Since Opera O was only an accompanying person, she couldn't go in with her. They would have to part here and not meet again until race entry, when Opera O would provide the final tactical advice based on everything she had gathered.
The "waiting room" was really just a very large lounge.
The big screen inside showed races from every racecourse running that day, and also displayed the live support percentages for every horse girl in the Satsuki Sho.
The moment Dyna entered, every eye in the room turned toward her, and it felt as though she had stepped into a freezing cavern.
All except one pair of eyes carried the same meaning:
Watch out. She's dangerous.
Dyna sighed inwardly. She hadn't expected to become the kind of runner who received this treatment.
The most unusual gaze, though, belonged to Orfevre—fifth in popularity, with only nine percent support.
Orfevre's glittering gold race outfit was eye-catching enough on its own, but the look in her eyes held neither hostility nor fighting spirit. It was only… level. Equal. Calm.
That puzzled Dyna.
The Orfevre she knew had always been a broad-striding, forceful, flamboyant horse girl. So why did she suddenly look so hesitant today, of all days, here of all places?
Still, Dyna had no intention of concerning herself too much with someone else's affairs. Even if Orfevre were to retire on the spot today and leave the sport altogether, that would have nothing to do with her.
The overwhelming favorite for the Satsuki Sho was, of course, Dyna herself, with forty-eight percent support. At this point, it could honestly be said that half the audience coming to Tokyo Racecourse had come for her.
Yet the screen in the waiting room was currently showing a G3 dirt race at Hanshin.
The race Wonder Acute was running in.
That made Dyna stand out from the rest of the field more than anything else. While every other girl in the room was focusing on the Satsuki Sho, she was watching an entirely unrelated dirt race with single-minded intensity.
"In the final straight, Wonder Acute's acceleration came too late! She can't catch up! Golden Flash has broken free of the pack and is still out in front!"
Dyna's heart clenched.
But Wonder Acute, forced too far to the outside, had missed her ideal moment to launch. In the end, she couldn't even touch Golden Flash's shadow, only watch the other horse girl take the graded win.
"Golden Flash splits the clouds and lights up Hanshin today! Undefeated in the new season, she claims her first graded victory! A commanding one-and-three-quarter-length win over the favorite, Wonder Acute!"
Dyna had no interest in anything the commentator said after that.
She only knew one thing.
Wonder Acute had lost.
"Coo, coo."
Only Dyna could see Cody perched on her shoulder, rubbing its head against her cheek. At the same time, it looked toward Orfevre and flared out the wings she almost never saw spread—like a bird baring hostility.
So even Cody didn't think much of Orfevre.
That almost made Dyna laugh. She reached up and gently tapped its little head. "All right~ Don't be so hostile."
The waiting room was extremely quiet. This wasn't like the waiting areas for Class races, where girls still had the leisure to chat with each other. This was a G1. More than that, it was a once-in-a-lifetime classic stage.
In a little while, they would tear into each other on the track, and only one of them would emerge the winner.
Dyna sat down on the sofa in the farthest corner, placed the card case on her white-tights-clad thigh, opened it, and took out Urban Sea.
Ever since she had fully absorbed Ballet into her own strength after the Short Wave Cup, she had mastered a highly practical ability:
Temporary card fusion.
A small, controlled enhancement of her own power. Because it was fully under her control, it was far safer than the old uncontrollable resonances.
"You picked my mother instead of me?" Sea the Stars's voice echoed by her ear, sounding faintly displeased. "I'm standing right here, you know."
Dyna held Urban Sea tightly in her hand and answered inwardly:
"Stronger power should be used on a more important stage. For the Satsuki Sho, this is enough."
Then she crushed the card.
The fragments, visible only to her, burst into dust, wrapped around her fist, sank into her skin, and vanished.
Warmth spread from her hand through every limb. When Dyna opened her eyes again, a faint layer of gold had settled over the crimson of her irises.
The fusion was complete.
And the power it granted felt far stronger than what she had gotten from Ballet.
Betweener A → S
Chaser A → S
Deep Chaser A → S
Speed B → A
Competitive Grit D+ → B
Mental Strength S → S+
Pseudo-Domain: Light of Urban Sea
Dyna flexed her body.
As long as she didn't get boxed in, even charging from the far outside would be enough to blow past the rest of this field.
By the time Tokyo Racecourse's 10th race, the Open-class Metropolitan Stakes, had finished, the Satsuki Sho runners were summoned into the underground passage by the announcement system.
Dyna was the last one to leave the waiting room.
And immediately ahead of her was Orfevre.
Orfevre stepped out, glanced back at Dyna—and just when Dyna thought she might say something shocking, she merely turned and left.
"Orfevre's acting really strange today…" Dyna muttered to herself as she closed the door behind her.
"Only the fastest horse girl can win the Satsuki Sho! This year's Satsuki Sho, relocated to Tokyo after the great earthquake, carries extraordinary meaning—it will be a one-time event in history! And now the support rate for the number-one favorite, the undefeated four-for-four Dyna, has surpassed fifty percent! The march toward the dream of an unbeaten Triple Crown begins here!!"
Dyna hadn't even entered the race grounds yet, and the announcer was already doing his usual over-the-top hype job, talking her up so much that her ears softened against her head.
For some reason, praise like that made her incredibly embarrassed.
"Fifth favorite Orfevre, who has already lost twice to Dyna, seems out of sorts today—perhaps low in spirits? Let's hope she can adjust before the race!!"
When Dyna heard Orfevre's name mentioned, she saw a JRA staffer nod to her, signaling that it was her turn to enter.
Dyna nodded back and stepped forward, resolute, into the sunlight of Tokyo Racecourse.
The cheers hit her like a tidal wave.
The roar of the crowd enclosed her so thoroughly that her ears almost hurt. As she stepped onto the course and turned her head slightly, she saw the stands packed with people as far as the eye could see, banners raised everywhere.
As for what exactly they were shouting—
It was just a wall of sound.
This was the first time Dyna truly understood what a big stage meant.
Compared to this, that race in France felt tiny.
"And last to enter—the number-one favorite, undefeated at four for four, already bearing a French G1 title—Dyna! Even the disadvantage of gate eighteen cannot dampen the crowd's faith in her! The first step toward the Triple Crown—can she meet expectations and conquer the Satsuki Sho?!"
"Woooah! Dia, look! See? I told you this spot was perfect! We can see Dyna so clearly from here!" Kitasan Black started shaking Satono Diamond again, but Diamond deftly slipped away.
Diamond honestly could not understand why Kitasan Black's luck was always so absurdly good.
Ignoring the chicken-like squawking beside her, Diamond gazed at Dyna with starry-eyed admiration. For a moment, it almost seemed like Dyna's beautiful chestnut hair had taken on a dazzling, brilliant gold sheen beneath the sun.
"So pretty…"
Kitasan Black tilted her head. Seeing the almost lovestruck look on Diamond's face, she muttered, "So Dia really was hiding that side of herself all along… yikes. Kinda scary." And silently labeled her in her head:
Secret pervert.
Before she started jogging toward the gate area, Dyna made a little gesture toward the main stand to greet the crowd, and every time she did, another huge roar erupted.
A strange sense of fulfillment took root in her chest.
The kind that lingered.
"The runners have reached the gate area and are completing their warm-ups! Officials are checking every stall and waiting for the order to load!"
As the waiting stretched on, the most discussed topic in the stands wasn't who would win, but Dyna's race outfit—the unforgettable, many-colored pink.
Stay in the rear. Cut inward. In Tokyo, the pack will fan out more through the turns than at other tracks. That's your chance. Take your position there, then break through from the inside.
Opera O's tactics were engraved deeply into Dyna's mind.
And Urban Sea's card continued exerting its influence, granting her a colder, sharper precision than usual.
"Miss Dyna, do you need help loading?"
In the end, Dyna was the only one left outside the stalls. When the official asked, she shook her head, then entered her gate under the eyes of the entire crowd without the slightest hesitation.
Even when the door clanged shut behind her, she felt no fear at all.
"All runners are loaded. The first leg of the Triple Crown, the Satsuki Sho, here at Tokyo Racecourse…"
The whole stadium fell silent.
Waiting.
Then with a sharp metallic crack, the gates flew open and all eighteen horse girls burst forward like arrows from a bow.
"They're off! Carrying the dreams and expectations of countless people, the battle for the Satsuki Sho begins now!!"
Dyna's start was the slowest of the field.
She immediately dropped to last, then without the slightest obstruction angled inward. It was completely different from the way she had shown an outside-running style in her past races. This time, she concealed herself at the very rear along the inner line.
Just as Dyna had predicted, Orfevre did not stubbornly cling to the rail. Using the advantage of her central gate twelve, she quickly settled into a spot in the outer half of mid-pack. Clearly she had learned from the Spring Stakes and was trying to avoid possible congestion on the inside.
But that also meant she'd have to bear the same kind of extra distance Dyna had already experienced herself.
"Orfevre chooses a mid-pack outer route! She doesn't want a repeat of getting boxed in! Dyna, meanwhile, has settled at the very rear after the break, but from there she has no real line of sight—her judgment will have to be perfect, or she'll miss her chance!"
Dyna's eyes kept flicking over the runners ahead, watching for any stumble or misstep. Now and then she caught glimpses of incidental contact in the crowding pack, but it all remained within racing norms.
No fouls.
One of the essential skills for a closer was reading the condition of the runners in front of you to infer the position of the leader further up. If Dyna could actually see the front-runner from back here before the turn—
That would mean disaster.
But on Tokyo Racecourse, true runaway leaders were rare.
The horse girl directly ahead of Dyna was Swiss Watch, the second favorite. She seemed to be subtly but deliberately pinning Dyna in place. Dyna understood the tactic immediately.
But at the moment, she didn't care.
If Swiss Watch really thought she could trap Dyna through the bend, then she was welcome to try.
After the opening turn, the field entered a long stretch of calm running. Tokyo Racecourse was, in many ways, the most standard racecourse in all Japan; this straight was practically flat, with barely any undulation at all. Dyna remained pinned behind Swiss Watch, unable to advance from the inside. She could only wait.
Her chance would come in the bend.
"Waaah! Why isn't Dyna moving up yet?! At this rate she'll never catch them! She won't, right?! She won't, right?! Uwaaaah!" Kitasan Black's simple brain could not process the information needed to understand closer tactics. Diamond immediately stuffed bread into her mouth and pushed it in harder until Kitasan Black couldn't make another sound.
"Shut up! Dyna is waiting for the turn! You idiot who only understands front-running!"
As the field approached the third bend, just as expected, the runners began compressing inward. The squeeze along the rail intensified. Dyna sharply caught sight of the briefest opening on the inside left—a fleeting gap created by a runner ahead shifting her line.
She inhaled, called on every ounce of power in her body, and in the instant Swiss Watch's attention shifted ahead—
She surged.
"She's moving! Dyna moves in the bend! She seizes the opening ahead of her and breaks through Swiss Watch's block! Her position improves! With a much clearer view, Dyna's attack turns even sharper!!"
The roar from the stands swelled all at once.
Dyna dropped her center of gravity again. She didn't force her way through with brute strength; instead she read the movement of the runner ahead and slipped through the resulting gap like a fish through water.
To the outside, Orfevre caught sight of that chestnut shadow in the corner of her vision.
The place Dyna was about to take was precisely at Orfevre's side.
Instinctively, Orfevre wanted to shut the door.
It would have taken only the slightest lane shift to claim that ideal position—but in the instant she tried, the memory of that uncontrollable version of herself from the debut race flashed through her mind. The review room. The warnings from her sisters. The endless talk online.
All of it turned into a net around her.
Her movement slowed by half a beat.
And in that half-beat of hesitation, Dyna had already slipped past on her inside.
Once again, Orfevre fell behind Dyna.
"A perfect inward cut through the bend! Dyna has secured the ideal position! Orfevre is forced six wide through the turn, but her path ahead is now unobstructed—she still has a chance to duel Dyna in the long straight! Meanwhile Swiss Watch is trapped inside the pack and will still need an opening if she wants to break out!!"
Dyna could feel the hesitation radiating from Orfevre beside her—that timid, restrained aura completely unlike her usual boldness.
But Dyna did not spare it any thought.
Her body's suppleness was on full display, every movement through the crowded pack adjusted with exquisite precision, each step landing exactly where she wanted it to. If Orfevre was going to stay like this from now on, then she didn't deserve to stand on a big stage and compete with Dyna in the first place.
Tokyo's fourth turn was behind them.
All that remained was the fight down the straight.
Now Dyna was completely unbound.
Every bit of her focus went toward the finish line ahead.
The overtake in the final turn satisfied the trigger condition for Prayer: Flowing Radiance. With her strengthened grit supporting it, a blurred halo began to form around her body.
"Hm? What's that…?" Opera O was startled, because she knew perfectly well that those were the signs of a developing domain. But in a Satsuki Sho without a life-and-death duel, that should have been impossible.
How had Dyna done it?
"Well now, well now. Looks like Central Academy really did miss out on a prodigy." From the exclusive stand, Maruzensky was even more shocked. Even in her own day, she had never once awakened something domain-like without direct competition. Yet this junior, who didn't even attend Tracen, had just rewritten the rules in front of her.
Symboli Rudolf, on the other hand, looked troubled.
She knew Dyna carried far too much on her back. Perhaps it was exactly that mountain of expectation that had forced this domain into being under self-imposed pressure. But what effect would that have on Dyna's body?
Rudolf didn't know.
And that was why she was afraid.
Afraid Dyna might burn away her potential in this very race.
The strongest will became a shapeless force.
Dyna's cadence did not change, but her stride length suddenly expanded. Every push off the ground carried enough power to shake the turf. The runners behind were thrown farther and farther back, while the halo around Dyna's body thickened to its peak—until it burst outward.
To the horse girls around her, it looked like that halo spread across the entire field, like a woven net pinning everyone else in place.
Pseudo-Domain: Light of Urban Sea
To hinder others, and in doing so create brilliance.
Because behind every light, there is always a shadow.
And Dyna's light cast darkness over the rest of the field.
"Dyna's closing kick is as sharp as ever! Her perfect positioning left her even more energy for the stretch! She's devouring the front-running group with ease! The other horse girls look as though someone hit pause on them—no one can match how quickly a closer can complete her launch!!"
Orfevre, who had already spent extra energy covering more ground, was caught in Dyna's net as well.
Any spark of competition in her had been extinguished completely.
She stared at that chestnut figure pulling farther and farther away, unable to fight back. From the start of the race until now, her mind had been in chaos, all the pressure she had bottled up finally crashing down on her all at once.
Dyna heard nothing now but the wind and her own breathing.
The heat in her chest peaked as the temporary card fusion resonated fully. Urban Sea's will became one with her own. Dyna could almost see the legendary mare herself burning down the final stretch at Longchamp, that "even against ten thousand, I will go on" spirit transforming into the power in Dyna's legs.
She did not look back at the runners she had thrown behind.
She only stared at the finish line.
Back then, no one had believed in Urban Sea.
Now, hundreds of thousands were watching Dyna.
"Dyna hits the line! Champion! Undefeated queen of the Satsuki Sho! She has turned the disadvantage of the outside gate entirely into her own advantage! Three lengths clear—an overwhelming victory! Dyna has shown absolute domination of this course!!"
The cheers crashed over the stadium like a tidal wave.
Even after crossing the line, Dyna did not stop immediately. She ran on a bit farther before the accumulated speed finally bled away and she came to a halt.
Bent over, hands on her knees, she gulped air. Sweat slid down from her temples. Her race outfit was smeared with mud and sweat and thoroughly filthy. Even her white tights were stained a yellowish-brown.
Behind her, Orfevre crossed the line second.
Though she had lost all courage to confront Dyna directly, Orfevre's fundamental ability still towered over the rest of the field.
Orfevre: 2nd
Dyna turned and saw Orfevre walking toward her step by step. The violet eyes that had once blazed so fiercely now looked like dead water, drained of all sharpness.
"You won."
The net of Dyna's pseudo-domain only fully dissolved from around Orfevre now. Her voice was exhausted, roughened by the effort of the race.
She had admitted defeat plainly.
And in that moment, Orfevre suddenly felt that she did not deserve to be Dyna's destined rival at all.
Because, somewhere along the way—
She had started giving up on herself.
At the same time, in the stands, Curren Chan casually snapped a few more photos. "Traaagic~ Was Orfevre okay?"
Beside her, Iketoe's expression was grim as he shook his head. "I'm suspending Orfevre's training for a while."
"Huh?" Both Curren Chan and Whale Voyage sounded surprised. But given the way Orfevre had raced today, it wasn't hard to imagine she was about to get a very serious lecture.
Yet the eyes of the crowd were never meant for the defeated.
Standing in the sunlight, the chestnut girl in the pink outfit gleamed.
The champion's sash settled over Dyna's shoulders.
And thus, under the gaze of all of Tokyo Racecourse, the Satsuki Sho came to its close in the hands of its victor.
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 138)
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 (Chapter160)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter175)
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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 163
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 150
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 170
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 145
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 125
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 100
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 90
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 55
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 55
Still playing traditional Honk 35
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 35
What Should I Do After Switchi 24
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 35
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