Twin Turbo lay sprawled by the edge of the pool, panting heavily.
Perhaps Offside Trap's victory in the Kyoto Daishoten had stirred something in her, because instead of returning to her own team's training as she should have after that race, Twin Turbo had continued showing up every single day after the event, asking Terazumi Shinji to let her serve as a training partner.
Shinji did not even glance at the utterly exhausted Turbo at his feet. Once Offside Trap's Speed had begun approaching its cap, he had swiftly shifted the focus of training toward Stamina and Guts.
As for Twin Turbo, having her train alongside Offside Trap would only make her suffer. Whether she could endure it or not was her own problem.
"Hey… when… do we… start… the next… simulation training…?"
The broken-up sentence came out in pieces. Shinji turned to look down at Twin Turbo by his feet with the same calm expression as ever. The petite horse girl's eyes were already starting to lose focus, yet she still forced herself to center what little concentration she had left on him.
"There won't be any more simulation training after this."
"?"
Twin Turbo's eyes widened slightly.
"Then what am I…"
She looked lost. If that was the case, then what exactly was she still doing here?
"Yeah, I've got no idea either."
Shinji clicked his tongue. At this point, he was beginning to suspect Twin Turbo was just here to mooch lessons. He was already thinking about charging Minamizaka a coaching fee.
"I'm leaving!"
She angrily tried to push herself up onto the poolside, but with all strength gone from her arms, she simply could not get her body up. Her expression shifted again and again before finally settling into something almost coquettish.
"Could you pull me up?"
"In your dreams," Shinji replied flatly. "Too heavy."
Truth be told, the way Twin Turbo acted cute gave Shinji goosebumps, so he immediately stepped sideways twice to put a bit more distance between them.
Twin Turbo decided once again that Minamizaka was a truly wonderful man. This was probably the umpteenth time she had thought that while training under Terazumi Shinji.
Then her eyes drifted to Offside Trap in the distance. The girl was still swimming with grim determination. She had already gone back and forth countless times, yet her expression remained resolute. Even though a bloodshot pain had begun to creep into her eyes, she still refused to stop.
For the first time, Twin Turbo found Offside Trap a little frightening. Pain that started as soreness and developed into full-on agony was something every horse girl would experience in training. But to go beyond that point—beyond pain—and still force yourself onward… that was the mark of a real monster.
Twin Turbo shook her head, gathered her strength, and pushed herself up onto the poolside.
"Seven more laps! Hang in there!"
Shinji stood by with a life ring in hand. What he wore today was not suitable for getting into the water, and even if it were, with his swimming speed being scarcely distinguishable from splashing in place, there was no way he was personally dragging a collapsed horse girl out of the pool.
He was afraid he'd drown himself first.
At those words, the redness in Offside Trap's eyes deepened. Right now, she felt like she was walking a tightrope. She had no idea whether cramps or the end of training would reach her first.
"Ah—"
And as always, the one thing you least wanted to happen was the thing that happened.
As Offside Trap touched the wall and pushed off to turn, the leg she braced against the underwater wall suddenly cramped, drawing a cry of pain from her.
Splash!
A huge spray of water erupted as the life ring landed. Offside Trap grabbed onto it and spat out a mouthful of water.
"Trainer."
"Yeah?"
"Next time… could you not throw it at my head?"
"If I'd thrown it crooked, you'd have shut up."
[Negative emotion +10]
Offside Trap drew a deep breath, but found no real grounds to argue back, so she could only wait for the cramp to ease.
On the side, Twin Turbo's mouth twitched at Shinji's sheer roughness.
She was feeling more and more sorry for Offside Trap. She didn't need to know how much suffering lay in the other girl's past. All she knew was that right now, this was clearly one of the greatest hardships of Offside Trap's life.
"I'm off~"
Twin Turbo turned and headed for the exit. No matter what, it was time for her to go back to her own team. She had been away from training with Machikane and the others for quite some time, and she had begun to miss them badly.
What she still didn't know was that when she returned to her squad and stepped onto the track with them again, the teammates who had once been difficult for her to keep up with would no longer even be able to catch her shadow. Shinji's training was brutal enough to verge on dangerous, but if you could survive it, the results were undeniably extraordinary.
Watching Twin Turbo leave, Shinji finally walked over to the poolside. Offside Trap slowly made her way over, looking up at him with a hint of confusion in her eyes.
"Since you have to rest anyway, this is a good time to give you a present."
The moment he said that, the pain wracking her body seemed to lighten. Her sluggish movements quickened slightly, and with a burst of effort, the horse girl launched herself up onto the edge of the pool.
Compared to the struggle Twin Turbo had gone through just to climb out, Shinji had to admit once more that Offside Trap's willpower was truly exceptional.
Come to think of it, any horse girl who had overcome tendonitis three times was bound to rank near the very top in sheer mental strength.
"This is for you."
He held out a ring.
Offside Trap's expression shifted in an instant—from anticipation, to shock, to wild delight. Shinji watched as she handled the ring as though it were the most precious treasure in the world and slipped it onto her ring finger, and the corners of his lips curved upward.
The day before, after finally saving enough emotional energy to buy Mockery of the Defender, Shinji had immediately exchanged for it. To his surprise, he had gotten lucky and rolled a luxurious minor rune set of Guts +10, Stamina +9, Will +7, which made him keenly aware that yesterday his luck had been unusually good.
Of course, it was also possible that all the bad luck had been spent on running into Sansho Drum.
So Shinji had opened the First Graded Stakes Victory Gift Pack, hoping for some useful gear. This ring—Lighttone Sky Ring—had been what came out of it.
[Lighttone Sky Ring (Horse Girl's Guts or Stamina +50)]
Even leaving aside the fifteen shared attribute points, the forty-five shared PT, and a seed whose effect was still not entirely clear, this ring alone was already worth the entire gift pack.
"Well? Do you like it?"
"I do!"
Offside Trap's eyes saw nothing now except the exquisitely crafted silver ring engraved with green patterns.
Shinji reached out and gently rubbed the top of her head. The horse girl tilted her head upward and nuzzled against his palm.
Her wet hair was warm, and the sensation that spread across his hand was strangely pleasant.
"Tomorrow's interview might include a few nasty questions, but don't worry. I'll be there too."
The incident between Offside Trap and Silence Suzuka had, after being spread around by those two little fans, caused a huge stir online after all. But at Shinji's insistence, Offside Trap had barely touched the internet during this stretch, and only knew the rough outline of what had happened.
"Okay."
She nodded seriously. So long as she could see his face, an incredible sense of reassurance filled her. This was the security her trainer gave her—the kind that let her find the courage to face every hardship and challenge on the path ahead.
Shinji could clearly see how deep her dependence on him had grown, and this was exactly what he wanted. Satisfied, he nodded to himself.
Then the system panel displaying Offside Trap's current status flickered into view before him.
And that, too, filled him with confidence—and peace of mind.
[Trainee Horse Girl: Offside Trap
Condition: Perfect
Popularity: 47,209
System Blessing: None
PT (used only to buy skills): 202
Attribute Points: 13
Five Stats:
Speed 950 + 50 (970)
Stamina 727 + 11 (926)
Power 865 + 78 (1015)
Guts 912 + 28 (1132)
Wisdom 555 + 8 (993)
Running Style Aptitude:
Front-runner E / Pace Chaser B / Mid-pack B / Closer D
Distance Aptitude:
1800m–2400m
Track Aptitude:
Turf A / Dirt D
Skills:
Unyielding Wings That Yearn for the Distant Sky (Unique) Lv.3
[When in the front group on the final straight while the leading horse girls fall into a melee, and she is not in a fight for placement, speed increases and she is more likely to secure a good line]
Body and Soul (Gold)
[At the critical moment of the final sprint, speed increases]
Counterclockwise Lv.1 (Green)
[Becomes slightly better at counterclockwise tracks]
Lightning Stride (Yellow)
[When in the rear during the middle phase of the race, slightly less likely to be boxed in]
Straightaway Adept (Yellow)
[Slight speed increase on straight sections]
Position Sense (Yellow)
[Slightly easier to secure a good line in the early phase of the race]
Unshaken in Crisis (Blue)
[If boxed in during the middle phase, slightly recovers stamina]
Domain: Not awakened
Runes:
(Vassal Lord) (Earthwarden) Dimensional Flowshadow
[On good tracks, for every 100 points in any attribute, all attributes +1; on non-good tracks, all attributes +10%]
(Speed +10 / Stamina +2 / Inspiration +17)
(Exclusive Driver) (Vassal Lord) Variable Supercar
[During races: within 800m, Power +5%; 800–1400m, Wisdom +5%; 1400–2000m, Speed +5%; 2000–2600m, Stamina +5%; above 2600m, Guts +5%]
(Speed +9 / Guts +8 / Will +6)
(Battle Maniac) (Vassal Lord) Duel Master
[If entering a duel state on the final straight, all stats +15%]
{Duel State: when the involved horse girls are at least two lengths ahead of the pack, clearly holding the advantage, with no obvious winner among them}
(Speed +4 / Power +1 / Guts +10)
(Vassal Lord) (Abyssal Cantor) Mockery of the Defender
[During races, all opponents' stats that are lower than the horse girl's corresponding stats are reduced by 50; if there exists an opponent whose every stat is higher than the horse girl's, that opponent's all stats are reduced by 5%]
(Guts +10 / Stamina +9 / Will +7)
Noble Crest Rune Emblem
(Speed +7 / Power +7 / Wisdom +7)
Vassal Lord (4):
The horse girl's five core stats receive a lower-bound lock and cannot decline on the real-world level; any gains in the five stats from any real-world source receive an additional 30% increase.
Noble (1):
All stats +5%; can adapt to any race pace and display the vast majority of her true ability. (Inactive)
Special Status: Tendonitis
Equipped Gear:
Launch Horseshoes
[Horse girl's Power and Speed +20]
Lighttone Sky Ring
[Horse girl's Guts or Stamina +50]
{Currently set to Guts}
More suited to training Power and Guts.]**
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 115)
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 (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
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 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 32
Uma Musume: From Beginner 26
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