Resting a hand against the cold metal wall of the starting gate, Offside Trap cast one final glance toward the stands before stepping inside. A moment ago, she had already found Terazumi Shinji's seat. In a stadium where not a single voice was raised for her, that alone was enough to steady her heart.
Beside her, Mejiro Bright noticed her sudden look back and, thinking something might be wrong, followed her gaze.
"What is it?"
All she could see was the endless sea of people, so she asked instinctively. Offside Trap only shook her head in reply.
Mejiro Bright could never understand that feeling. Even now, standing on the stage of Japan's highest-tier race, in this final moment, Offside Trap still felt like a child yearning for nothing more than a single nod from her trainer.
"There won't be any trouble with the gate today."
Thinking Offside Trap was worried about a repeat of the Kyoto Daishoten incident, Mejiro Bright offered a few words of reassurance.
"Thank you."
Offside Trap answered softly.
Under the starter's guidance, she stepped into her assigned stall. Silent Hunter, in the neighboring gate, looked especially fired up. The horse girl who had boldly declared before the race that she would challenge Silence Suzuka with a great escape was now practically vibrating with anticipation.
Offside Trap looked toward the stall on her other side. Advance Suzuka, also dressed in green, was visibly tense. This was not her first G1, but today's Tenno Sho Autumn field was packed with enough monsters to make even a seasoned runner feel suffocated before the race had begun.
Offside Trap pressed her lips together. The gate in front of her blocked her view of the course, but the track was already perfectly drawn in her mind. She would seize position in the first two turns, and only two rivals would be ahead of her.
"The race is about to begin!"
Listening to Akasaka Misato's commentary to track the progress of loading, Offside Trap lowered her body into her starting posture. She would not waste even a second. To defeat opponents this strong, she had to control every detail she possibly could.
She had once heard that among the world-famous Godolphin stable's internal rules, one of the most important was this: never make a single mistake. Drawing a deep breath, Offside Trap worked to calm the pounding of her heart, which grew stronger with every passing second.
Bang!
The instant the sound cracked through the air, Offside Trap burst out among the front-runners. She had no time to check how Silence Suzuka was doing on the inside. She drove her arms harder, already accelerating. The opening fifty meters would be where every escape and pace horse fought for dominance.
[Noble Bond activated: all stats increased by 5%; able to adapt to any pace.]
[Aberrant Shadowstream: every 100 points in any stat grants +1 to all stats.]
[Variable-Distance Supercar: within 800m, Strength +5%; 800–1400m, Intelligence +5%; 1400–2000m, Speed +5%.]
[Scorn of Preservation: during the race, all opponents lose 50 points in any stat lower than the horse girl's corresponding stat.]
[Level-One Counterclockwise.]
As the system notifications rang out one after another in Shinji's mind, Narita Brian beside him let out a sharp cry of admiration.
"What a start!"
Through the binoculars, the battle for the lead was already unfolding. Silence Suzuka's start had been blisteringly fast—but Offside Trap's had been even faster. The line she took toward the inside meant she had earned first choice of position today.
"And they're off!" Akasaka Misato's voice rose with unmistakable excitement. She had never hidden her admiration for Silence Suzuka before this race, but as a commentator, she remained neutral and objective on the job.
She would certainly be pleased that Suzuka's break had been clean, and that much could be heard in her tone.
"There's fierce competition for the front early on! Offside Trap and Silence Suzuka both break sharply, while farther outside Silent Hunter is already charging up as well. Just as predicted before the race, Silence Suzuka and Silent Hunter are already pulling away from the field along the arc of the first and second turns! Currently in third is Offside Trap, leading the pace-running group. Behind her are El Condor Pasa and Gold Journey!"
"Silence Suzuka—Silence Suzuka continues to accelerate! The overwhelming top favorite today has already opened up a three-length gap over Silent Hunter, and behind Silent Hunter there's another three-length gap back to Offside Trap! The field sweeps cleanly through the first turn and toward the backstretch. Silence Suzuka—what incredible speed! She is in absolutely phenomenal form today!"
In the stands, Narita Brian's delight at the clean break was already being swallowed by shock at Silence Suzuka's speed. Even she, a former Triple Crown winner, felt pressure at the sight of the leader pulling further and further away from the pack.
Elsewhere in the stands, even Silence Suzuka's trainer, Nishizaki Ryuu, wore a stunned expression. He had sensed Suzuka was in excellent form today, but even he had not imagined she would display something like this. The members of Spica around him were equally astonished. Every horse girl there could see that Suzuka's pace had reached an absurd level—so absurd that even their original excitement faded into silent admiration of the spectacle.
On the high platform, Tojo Hana and the Rigil members behind her all watched the course below with grave expressions. Their plan had been for El Condor Pasa to stay as close as possible and not let Silence Suzuka get too far away—but Suzuka's speed today had already made that impossible.
Biting down, Tojo Hana fixed her eyes on Silence Suzuka. The horse girl who had failed to fully bloom under her care was now finally laying her brilliance bare in this race. Unlike the relatively conservative escape she had shown in the Takarazuka Kinen, today's Silence Suzuka was holding absolutely nothing back.
"The field is midway through the second turn, and Silence Suzuka still commands the lead."
[Positional Awareness.]
By Shinji's rough estimate, Suzuka's Speed and Intelligence had not been affected by Scorn of Preservation at all. Otherwise, there was no way she could have produced such an outrageous pace in the front half.
His gaze shifted backward, focusing on Offside Trap. Her expression remained calm. She showed no panic despite the ever-widening gap between herself and Silence Suzuka.
The effect of the Noble Bond was shining brilliantly here. Being unaffected by the pace of the race meant that Offside Trap's gradual increase in speed was not disrupting her own rhythm at all. Air Groove behind her was proof enough of that—the student council vice president, much talked about before the race, had already had her own rhythm thrown off by this breakneck pace.
But with your stamina and grit reduced, can you really hold on all the way to the wire?
Unlike the others, Shinji felt no anxiety at Suzuka's extraordinary form. Under the effect of Scorn of Preservation, the rest of the field was nearly incapable of threatening the eventual duel between Suzuka and Offside Trap. What Offside Trap had to do now was win that duel, and everything with it.
"They're onto the backstretch now! Silence Suzuka leads by six lengths, with Silent Hunter another five lengths ahead of the rest. Number six, Offside Trap, is also accelerating—actually, the field behind isn't going slowly at all. Offside Trap has been steadily increasing her pace. Behind her are Number Four El Condor Pasa and Number Eleven Air Groove, followed by Gold Journey and Goyo Lawyer!"
"In midfield, Mejiro Bright and Hishi Amazon are together. Mejiro Ryan is toward the outside, half a length ahead of Sunrise Flag and Sanshōko running side by side, with Takemasa Bōu just outside them. Nice Nature has chosen a position toward the rear and sits two lengths behind Sanshōko, while Advance Suzuka trails by another three lengths at the very back!"
As the commentator laid out the field position, Sanshōko, sitting well back in the pack, bit her lip and fixed her eyes on Offside Trap, whose figure was still just visible ahead.
The pressure of a G1 was something one could not truly imagine before entering such a race. Her longing for G1 glory, which had seemed so bright until now, was already wavering before the race had even reached the thousand-meter mark.
She could not see any path to victory. The horse girl in front had already put nearly twenty lengths between them, and even Offside Trap—still breathing steadily—clearly had plenty left in reserve.
But Sanshōko herself already felt the early signs of her breathing unraveling under the race's increasingly extreme pace and rhythm.
She did not know how to adjust anymore. If she consciously eased off to settle her breathing, then even if she produced a decent finishing kick, she would never make up the ground on the moving pack.
Tears were already beginning to gather in her eyes. She wanted to get closer to Offside Trap, to see the state she was in—but she simply could not.
At the head of the pace-running pack, unlike the girls behind her who were all keeping one eye fixed on her, Offside Trap's mind was entirely absorbed in calculating how she would hunt down the leader.
The gap to Silence Suzuka had indeed stretched, but that was only the illusion of this phase of the race. No horse girl could run all the way to the finish at a continuously increasing speed—not even Silence Suzuka. At the fourth turn, Suzuka would have to regulate her breathing and preserve strength for the final straight.
Her eyes swept past the great zelkova and further beyond. Offside Trap could still feel the immense energy surging through her body.
The final straight at Fuchu was brutally long. For horses who specialized in the finishing kick, it was hallowed ground—a place where miracles were born.
Offside Trap's finishing kick was excellent. For a pace runner, she had one of the top three closing bursts in the field. She had no idea that was largely due to stacked rune values, but she knew she had to make full use of it.
The eight-hundred-meter marker…
Her breathing began to lengthen. Behind her, El Condor Pasa and Air Groove were the first to notice the change. Offside Trap's stride altered ever so slightly. It was the kind of adjustment that would make her briefly ease off.
But both El and Air Groove instantly understood what she was doing.
This horse girl was gathering herself.
I need to move sooner. Six hundred won't be safe…
A sharp cruelty entered Offside Trap's gaze. She trusted her own will. She believed she could sustain a long drive and still keep running.
Many images flickered through her mind: the bitter memories she could never forget, and the voices she had read online.
The heated looks those reporters had given her in the interview—those were not the eyes of people treating her like a contender worth expecting anything from. They had only found a stepstool with which to lift another horse girl higher.
The moment she stepped out of the tunnel, she had already prepared herself for a grandstand with no cheers for her. No horse girl wanted to face a stadium packed with over a hundred thousand people and hear no response at all. A suffocating silence like that would shatter anyone whose mind was not strong enough.
But Offside Trap had held out. The crowd had never fallen silent, because Silence Suzuka had been introduced first, and Mejiro Bright came out behind her.
In a way, perhaps that was a kind of fortune. She had not had to face the oppressive silence of a black sea of spectators.
And yet, amid that unbroken roar, she had indeed heard not a single cry meant for her.
Her ears twitched. El Condor Pasa and Air Groove slipped past her on either side. The two horse girls, mindful of Tojo Hana's instructions, cared nothing for why Offside Trap had made the choice she had. They simply could not let Silence Suzuka get too far away.
[Unflustered Under Pressure.]
A blue light briefly wrapped around her body. Shinji lowered his binoculars and looked up at the giant screen. The camera showed Silence Suzuka alone; no one behind her could even fit in frame.
"Silence Suzuka has opened up a ten-length lead over the rest of the field, and behind her Silent Hunter still holds another eight lengths over El Condor Pasa! El Condor Pasa and Air Groove are moving up now, while Offside Trap drops half a length into fifth, with Gold Journey at her shoulder!"
"Past the one-thousand-meter marker—Silence Suzuka reaches it first! Silence Suzuka hits one thousand meters in fifty-seven point four! Fifty-seven point four?!"
Akasaka Misato's stunned cry sparked a wave of shock through the crowd. Silence Suzuka's fans were already beginning to celebrate as though she had won the Tenno Sho Autumn outright.
Narita Brian's face had gone completely dark. Putting herself into Offside Trap's place, she could no longer see any route to victory.
Unless…
She rotated her ankle slightly, and the light vanished from her eyes.
"It's happening…"
Suddenly Shinji's voice sounded beside her. Narita Brian, whose spirit had been sinking moment by moment, whipped around.
The shape of the race changed all at once at the eight-hundred-meter marker. Offside Trap, who had been on the verge of falling fully behind El Condor Pasa and Air Groove, suddenly accelerated. The inside line gave her an obvious lane to break through.
Up ahead, Silence Suzuka surged again past the great zelkova. It was a suffocating acceleration. She had barely taken a breath through the fourth turn before launching forward again, giving the horses behind her not even the slightest chance to close.
Nishizaki Ryuu's lollipop dropped from his mouth. The force of that surprise numbed his mind, and mechanically he turned to look in Shinji's direction.
For the first time, he felt a chill of belated fear. If not for that friend's warning, would the slight instability in Suzuka's leg really have endured this outrageous choice?
Thank you, Shinji.
Nishizaki turned back to the track.
His horse girl—the one who filled him with pride—was now charging at the finish, launching her final assault on victory.
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)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
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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 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
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From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
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 80
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 74
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 48
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 50
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 47
Uma Musume: From Beginner 42
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