The seven-runner training race was over, but the crowd didn't budge. Anyone who could skip work to watch was a hard-core fan; how could they miss the main course—the Winner's Stage!
The earlier race had not left a single breath—hot-blooded to the last second, every runner throwing their all into victory. On the final run, Stardust Mirage and Taiki Shuttle had gone past imagination, burning every drop in that last sprint. Wind and thunder gathered and helped Mirage seize the win. The audience was still ablaze, clustered around the venue and waiting for Stardust Mirage's surprise.
What will she sing? How bright will she shine? What's her winner's outfit?
The lights snapped: a beam picked out the girl on the central platform. The hubbub died like a cutoff line; every eye anchored to the white blaze at center.
Thunk, thunk. Two more beams crossed. In the glow, Stardust Mirage lifted her head; her blood-red eyes shone.
On stage, she saw almost as many faces as the race itself. Every gaze was fixed on her. This stage belonged to her alone. Thinking that, time smoothed out; she saw Teio in her own Winner's Stage, haloed by fans.
"So bright," she felt, "like the morning star…"
Something in her chest chimed. All hesitation vanished under the song about to come. If you don't get on stage, you don't have to agonize over singing—but since she was here, she would seize the winner's light.
This time, I caught the starlight!
On the platform, she slowly reached a right hand forward. The space around her shifted with her will. Wind-chimes rang a clear prelude, and a crisp declaration flowed:
"The song is 'リセット'… No—'Reset (Re-Production)'!"
Dun-dun-dun-dun, dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun—!
Countless lamps flared, lining both sides as if laying a starry road at her feet. She sang and walked forward.
"As long as… I run out."
"Look—you can hold it in your hand."
"That ticket to tomorrow I once let slip!"
At the first note, her stage-side worries were blown away. She threw her whole self into the singing. The song mirrored her heart, tugging up memories. That was the last 200 m of her debut, Teio ahead, the gap close enough to touch—the ticket to victory—yet she hesitated. That brief moment turned into the chasm between winner and loser and completely separated her from Teio.
She handed the win… to someone else.
But that loss woke her for real.
"From right here, I'll depart—!"
"To take it back—Reset again!"
She saw herself after losing, begging Oguri Cap and the old man Rokuhira to train her. The back that ran till she retched and still wouldn't stop.
"Peaceful life," "attachment to the strong"—these were words she'd used to lie to herself since crossing to this world. After being torn from everything she knew, the fallen her discovered a pursuit. She met it—stumbled on it. From that day, she was reborn.
If she had to name what she craved now—it was to shine.
To stand before all, seize the win, and in the arena be watched by all—to be the brightest star.
To clutch every chance to shine, she would do anything. Kill herself in training, force herself stronger at the cliff's edge—even stand on this stage and sing.
Even now, as she sang, a greedy voice in her chest shouted—to lock every gaze on her and become the one everyone longed for! From now on, whether on the course or onstage, she would not let go—
This was her performance as a winner, and—her challenge letter to every rival!
"This vast world—it belongs to me!"
"Once more—Reset, to take it back!"
"Power to move forward—fill me more!"
"Once more—Start stepping ahead!"
She saw the view in the no-win race, when she stunned the field by blasting off in a Great Escape; in training races when she overhauled the lead trio, sweat flying—even if briefly behind, she saw only the finish, a view she would yield to no one. She no longer hid her desire to win, no longer masked her pursuit of shine. Seeing her own heart clearly in song, the world before her had never been so clear. From now on, if it gave her even 0.01% more odds to win, she would never dodge it again.
Today's Winner's Stage was the place of her rebirth—
—I, Reset!
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