Overtake Trap gazed out the window with shining eyes.
The brilliant white clouds and blue sky intertwined beyond the glass, sunlight refracting through them as though it were turning inside a mirror, filling the girl's eyes with dazzling color.
This was Overtake Trap's first time on a plane.
Unlike Saint Halo and Narita Brian, who had both flown before, her excitement was only natural.
She had insisted on taking the window seat, dragging Terumi Shinji into the seat beside her.
It was not a spot Shinji particularly liked. Sitting in the middle always made movement inconvenient, and with strangers nearby, he felt a bit uncomfortable as well.
That was right—because their tickets had been booked at different times, Saint Halo and Narita Brian ended up seated in the row ahead of them. Still, there did not seem to be any problem. Shinji had not received any system notifications about rising emotional energy, so he closed his eyes in peace and rested.
If there had not been so many unfamiliar people on the plane, Overtake Trap probably would have been tugging at him every few moments, pointing out one beautiful thing after another outside the window...
Thinking that, Shinji found himself oddly grateful for the other passengers.
Thanks to everyone maintaining such a quiet atmosphere, he was finally able to rest properly.
[Shinji, aren't you going to open your reward pack?]
"The emotional energy I've got right now is enough for the moment. I'm not in any rush…"
Of course, Shinji was not about to admit that emotional energy had been rising so quickly he had simply forgotten about it. He promptly supplied himself with what he considered the most appropriate excuse, earning a derisive little heh heh from the system.
"Look at you. Why the hostility?"
The corners of Shinji's mouth lifted slightly.
At that exact moment, Overtake Trap happened to glance over and catch the expression. Quietly, she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of him.
"Open it for me."
The system did not reply, merely laying out the contents of the Arima Kinen Domination Pack after opening it.
[Emotion Energy +100]
[Attribute Points +25]
[PT +120]
[Catapult Horseshoes (Speed +20, Power +20)]
It was exactly the same kind of equipment embedded into Overtake Trap's racing shoes—also the first piece of gear Shinji had ever obtained from the system.
A trace of nostalgia surfaced on the man's face.
Back then, he had thought the effect of that equipment was truly excellent.
But looking at it now, it was probably just among the most ordinary tier of items in the system's inventory.
Not particularly lucky, but Shinji was not the type to brood once a pack had already been opened. He understood perfectly well that no amount of ritual, no matter how seriously performed, would actually improve his luck.
At most, it offered psychological comfort.
And if the result turned out mediocre, that psychological comfort might well transform into even greater disappointment.
[By the way, if you had to pick, which piece of equipment or item would you most want to get?]
At the system's sudden question, Shinji thought for a while.
There were many pieces of equipment and many tools in the system, and plenty he would love to obtain again.
Things like Banner of Dreams, which provided stats and an extra rune slot.
Or something like Conservation Codex II, which made him eager to collect the full set just to see the final effect.
But the thing he wanted most...
In the end, Shinji thought of the Seed of Blessing he had fed Overtake Trap before the Autumn Tenno Sho. The power of system blessings was beyond question, and the Seed of Blessing, which could speed up a horse girl's access to such blessings, was naturally even more tempting.
That, in turn, made him even more curious about what sort of blessing Saint Halo might receive.
Now that she had settled on the Noble rune bond, Shinji believed it was the most suitable one for her. He vaguely remembered the exclusive blessing he had once seen for Noble when he'd been choosing blessings for Overtake Trap. That blessing seemed like it might suit Saint Halo very well, yet after summarizing the relationship between Overtake Trap's blessings and her rune bonds, he also felt that Noble did not seem as overwhelmingly strong when paired with other bonds as he had first imagined.
Unless the other bonds were stacked high enough, merely activating the minimum threshold of a bond did not bring all that much benefit.
Hopefully, when the time comes, something even better will appear.
With only that expectation to go on, Shinji watched as the system displayed his current status panel before him.
Host: Terumi Shinji
Emotion Energy: 4397
Horse Girls: Overtake Trap, Saint Halo, Narita Brian
PT (can only be gained through races +60 and packs): 1505
Attribute Points (can only be gained through races +10 and packs): 180
Inventory: Tether Domain Anklet, Conservation Codex II, Noble Key, Banner of Dreams, Believer Crest, Crude Doll, Catapult Horseshoes
Looking at the now rather abundant pool of emotional energy, Shinji glanced toward the back of Saint Halo's head in the row ahead, then decided to draw another rune for her.
The system gave a light chuckle. Shinji could tell it had been waiting for this very moment for quite a while, otherwise it would not have gone out of its way to display his panel automatically.
It simply wanted him to notice he had hoarded quite a lot of "money."
In the next instant, Saint Halo's rune page unfolded before him. Besides the four runes left over from the last time, a new one had appeared:
(Mystic)(Restorer) Hidden Weapon(Outside of races, increases the horse girl's overall ability by 0.1% each day) — 900 Emotion Energy
A rune that did not suit Saint Halo very well.
Shinji immediately refreshed it, swapping it out along with another rune he found equally unsuitable for her, Battlefield Gallantry.
After spending 100 Emotion Energy, the display changed again.
(Battle Maniac)(Earthwarden) Will to Chase the Sun(As the horse girl runs, the effect the track has on her gradually lessens, and she becomes increasingly skilled at physical collisions) — 1000 Emotion Energy
(Noble)(Mystic) Quiet Orchid(If there are no other racers within one body length during a race, the activation rate of all skills increases by 25%) — 900 Emotion Energy
Shinji looked at the two freshly rerolled runes with some helplessness.
Although Quiet Orchid carried the Noble bond, its effect was hardly ideal for a horse girl running a stalking style. Besides, compared to others, his horse girls were not exactly overflowing with large numbers of skills.
Let's go with Strong Right Prevails.
[Strong Right Prevails purchased. Minor rune: Speed +7, Power +9, Inspiration +12. Refresh?]
No need. Keep it as is.
A very good minor rune. For the first time, Shinji did not bother rerolling.
The screen vanished.
His closed eyes slowly opened, and the darkness gave way once more to light.
He happened to catch Saint Halo peeking back through the gap between the seats. The girl seemed curious about what Shinji had been doing, only to meet the eyes of the man who appeared to have "just woken up."
He raised an eyebrow.
She had no idea that, in the short span of time just passed, she had been fitted with yet another rune.
"Trainer~"
"Hm?"
"What's that?"
The call came from beside him.
Shinji turned and followed the direction Overtake Trap was pointing. The girl indicated the spoiler panels on the wing outside, which were beginning to lift and lower. Her uncertain tone, tinged with a little unease, made him suppress a smile.
"That? You'd better listen carefully..."
Shinji pushed up imaginary glasses with a solemn face, acting like a high school teacher about to begin a lecture.
Overtake Trap immediately shrank back a little, sensing something ominous.
"This thing is not simple. It's called a spoiler—"
"It mainly functions to reduce speed, and to assist the ailerons in..."
His voice was soft, as though slowing himself down on purpose so the girl could understand.
Unfortunately, that did nothing to actually help his horse girl understand.
Her eyes went blank. She nodded numbly while inwardly wishing he would stop and let her go back to admiring the endless beauty of the sky outside. Instead, he just kept explaining, dragging her deeper and deeper into the lesson.
[Negative Energy +40]
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 147)
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 (Chapter185)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter215)
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 185
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/1
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 206
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 190
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/23
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 106
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 125
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 90
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 80
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 86
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 65
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 59
Checking In in Demon Slayer 59
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 73
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 45
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 36
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 40
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 60
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 43
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 30
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 31
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