Just as Rice Shower crossed over to another world...
In the original world, time was flowing rapidly.
Because the system hadn't made any adjustments, the time flows between the two worlds weren't synchronized.
Here, after Trainer P's mediation, 'Tokai Teio' had accepted reality. She no longer thought about reclaiming her former power from [The Overlord], instead throwing herself into intensive training. When her teammates asked about it, she no longer hid what was troubling her. Even though she didn't think anyone would believe something so absurd, she chose to face it honestly.
At first, when everyone in Team Spica heard about this, their initial reaction was indeed disbelief. After all, permanently stealing power? Such a ZONE effect was completely unheard of. But since these words came from 'Tokai Teio's' own mouth, no matter how unbelievable, it was probably true.
Everyone knew that with 'Tokai Teio's' competitive personality, she would never make up such an excuse after a defeat to deceive them. Moreover, 'Tokai Teio's' current abilities had indeed declined significantly. Even accounting for her previous injury, this rate of regression was abnormal. So no matter how hard to believe, what 'Tokai Teio' said was likely the truth.
"A ZONE that steals an opponent's power and makes it your own?"
'Mejiro McQueen' murmured: "No wonder Rice Shower kept hiding her ZONE's effects in previous races."
It wasn't that she was holding back—she simply didn't want to use that power.
If she hadn't been pushed to the brink by 'Teio' and the others during the Japan Cup, Rice Shower probably would have kept hiding this trump card.
McQueen couldn't really judge Rice Shower's choice, but she was certainly shocked by the power Rice Shower had concealed.
No wonder 'Teio' had suffered such a crushing defeat. Facing such an unreasonable ability without any mental preparation, it would indeed be difficult to have any chance of winning.
"Hey, hey, isn't this power way too broken? I mean, ZONE effects are already pretty overpowered, but this one's especially unfair!" 'Gold Ship' couldn't help but exclaim.
Just by racing, she could steal her opponents' power—wouldn't such a person only grow stronger with each battle?
And that wasn't all. Opponents who raced against her would even fall into a weakened state for a period of time afterward.
How could anyone possibly defeat such a person? This was a complete and utter [Monster]!
Daiwa Scarlet said: "There's no way to beat someone like that."
Vodka laughed: "What, are you scared?"
"Of course not! I'm just stating facts. Do you really think you could outrun someone that unreasonable?"
"I don't know, but I won't decide I'm inferior to my opponent before I've even raced them."
"Vodka, you're all talk!"
"What are you two even arguing about? Setting aside whether you'll even face Rice Shower, there's no way she'd target either of you anyway."
'Tokai Teio' exasperatedly pulled the two apart, but her words instantly drew unified resistance from them both.
"What did you say?! Are you saying I'm weak?"
"Don't forget you're the weakest one on our team right now!"
"What—you two!"
Before the three could start fighting, Okino stepped forward to hold back 'Tokai Teio', while Special Week restrained Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka. Though the three were glaring at each other with gritted teeth, none of them were actually using any force.
"The top priority right now is still getting 'Teio' back to her original condition."
"No, Trainer, I don't just want to return to my original condition—I want to surpass my past self!"
'Tokai Teio' corrected the trainer's words. She wasn't the type to be satisfied with past glory.
Besides, her former self couldn't beat Rice Shower, and Rice Shower had now become even stronger. What good would it do to merely return to her previous peak? She couldn't get her revenge that way!
So she absolutely had to surpass her former self.
And then challenge Rice Shower once more!
"I know, but shouldn't you be thinking about your agreement with 'McQueen' first?"
'Mejiro McQueen's' expression shifted upon hearing this.
"I couldn't care less about that."
"Besides, even if 'Teio's' strength recovers, she still won't be a match for me."
"You've got some nerve saying that, 'McQueen'!"
"It's the truth. I made that judgment even after witnessing your full power at your peak. Don't you understand what that means?"
"Then I'll surpass that limit and run to the ends of the earth!"
"Big talk. If you're going to run to the ends of the earth, then I'll soar above the heavens!"
Their gazes crackled with electricity in the air. After facing off for quite a while...
'Mejiro McQueen' suddenly dropped her serious expression, a faint smile appearing on her face.
"It seems you really have adjusted your mindset. We don't need to keep worrying about you."
"Of course. Who do you think I am? Though it was unnecessary concern, thanks anyway."
'Tokai Teio' returned the smile with a bright grin of her own.
The two exchanged knowing smiles. Their argument just now had merely been a way of testing each other.
'Mejiro McQueen' confirmed that 'Tokai Teio' wasn't putting on a brave front, while 'Tokai Teio' knew that 'Mejiro McQueen' was still waiting ahead for her to catch up. The teammates around them suddenly felt like they'd been reduced to background characters.
Okino clapped his hands at this point.
"Alright, next up is intensive training and rescheduling our race calendar."
With 'Tokai Teio' revived, one could imagine she would soon return to the racing scene stronger than ever.
But none of these people mattered to [The Overlord], since none of them had any real connection to Rice Shower. In comparison, Mihono Bourbon—who had once been Rice Shower's rival—was far more worthy of her attention. According to the information she'd gathered, Mihono Bourbon and her trainer had gone elsewhere for specialized training.
[The Overlord] thought of the secret base from the anime—the place Mihono Bourbon and [Rice Shower] had shared: the academy's old school building.
Though it was an abandoned location, the training grounds and equipment had been preserved. And because it was near the deep mountains, they could even do rock climbing and other training there.
Rather than saying the place had been abandoned, it was more accurate to say the Chairwoman had intentionally kept it as a training facility.
But despite knowing about this place, neither [The Overlord] nor the previous Rice Shower had ever actually gone there.
Even now, knowing Mihono Bourbon was training there, [The Overlord] had no intention of spying.
She simply hoped Mihono Bourbon could gain sufficient power through this training, because if she wasn't strong enough, there was no point in talking about saving Rice Shower. She didn't expect Mihono Bourbon to become as strong as herself, but at the very least, Bourbon should become strong enough to barely keep up with her.
If Bourbon couldn't even do that, then [The Overlord] wouldn't expect anything from her afterward.
Of course, these were merely her thoughts.
If Mihono Bourbon had no intention of saving Rice Shower in the first place, [The Overlord] wouldn't force her. She would simply save Rice Shower in her own way.
At this time, [The Overlord] still hadn't discovered that Rice Shower had crossed over to another world.
Because in her perception, Rice Shower's soul had always been in the mental space.
Meanwhile, Mihono Bourbon was undergoing intensive training. During the Arima Kinen, she had officially confirmed what changes had occurred in Rice Shower.
The person there now was no longer the Rice Shower she once knew.
That person's eyes held no desire for victory. In their races, she could see no color whatsoever.
Though they were certainly powerful, that strength was completely different from Rice Shower's strength.
Mihono Bourbon didn't know what had happened to Rice Shower, but she didn't like the current Rice Shower. She also didn't know what she could do to bring back the original Rice Shower.
But as an uma musume, the only thing she could do was race.
She would have a heart-to-heart dialogue with Rice Shower in their next race!
She would show Rice Shower everything she had learned from her!
For that, she needed to become stronger!
Focus solely on victory itself! That's right, isn't it, Rice Shower?!
Mihono Bourbon recalled Rice Shower's eyes from back then, trying to understand that feeling and immerse herself in it.
Let spirit transcend flesh!
What Rice Shower had once achieved, she had no reason not to achieve as well.
Trainer Kuronuma watched Mihono Bourbon, who seemed possessed by something, and felt unprecedented shock.
He had never known an uma musume's willpower could reach such heights.
Uma musume really are incredible.
He had originally thought Rice Shower's achievements back then were because she had entered ZONE from the very beginning.
But now Mihono Bourbon's state told him that even without entering ZONE, as long as one possessed that level of conviction and resolve, any uma musume had the chance to step into this realm.
This training effect completely exceeded his imagination.
If this continues, there might actually be a chance to defeat that monster.
Trainer Kuronuma gripped his stopwatch excitedly.
Honestly, when he first heard Mihono Bourbon say she wanted to defeat the current Rice Shower, he hadn't believed in that idea at all.
Because even if Mihono Bourbon became the great racer he had once envisioned, he still didn't think she could outrun the current Rice Shower.
The current Rice Shower was so strong that he felt like he was looking at those legendary monsters from history.
But now, this Mihono Bourbon who had exceeded his imagination might actually have a chance to accomplish such a thing.
The various parties in discussion could all sense the different auras throughout the academy.
Legacy World sighed somewhat.
It's like a chain reaction. The students here are getting stronger and stronger.
Was this the so-called golden generation?
No wonder this country had suddenly grown bold enough to aim for the world stage.
An explosive awakening of ZONEs.
The successive emergence of geniuses and monsters.
Setting aside everything else, just that child called Rice Shower—if she could maintain the level of power from those last two races, she had the strength to challenge the world's best.
How... enviable.
Turf Dream, this will be both the best and worst of times.
Originally, Legacy World had absolute confidence in her student, because Turf Dream's talent was the most exceptional she had ever seen.
But now, she could no longer maintain that confidence.
The power [The Overlord] had demonstrated before was something even she wasn't confident she could defeat.
Moreover, such a strong competitor was practically in the same cohort as Turf Dream.
Right now, Turf Dream couldn't defeat that child.
"Legacy World? The paperwork is done. Please take care of us from now on."
Symboli Rudolf pushed a stack of documents across the table toward Legacy World.
On the first page were the profile details for the three of them as exchange students.
Of course, their professional career records wouldn't be reset just because they were exchange students.
Though Legacy World and Rigantona had obtained exchange student status, they couldn't continue participating in this country's main races.
However, Turf Dream, who had just debuted, had considerable room for maneuvering.
Of course, Japan hadn't simply handed over exchange student status for nothing. A new race had been added as part of this arrangement.
As long as Japanese competitors could pass this race, they would directly receive a ticket to the Arc de Triomphe. This was the committee's primary reason for supporting this international exchange.
After all, in the world of uma musume, the Arc de Triomphe was the true world championship, and tickets weren't easy to obtain.
Horse racing in reality wasn't exactly a mainstream global activity.
But in the world of uma musume, it was different—uma musume racing was the number one athletic competition in this world.
For Japanese uma musume who originally wanted to obtain Arc de Triomphe tickets, they first needed sufficient results, and second, they needed recognition from the local committee.
Typically, achieving these two conditions meant going there to run debut races and classic races, competing with local competitors for ticket qualification.
The reason the Demon King had been able to participate directly back then was because her race record and achievements were so terrifying that she had earned worldwide recognition, allowing her to jump straight from Japanese races to the Arc de Triomphe.
But ordinary competitors couldn't get such privileges.
And as everyone knew, Japanese turf and overseas turf were completely different things.
So competitors from Japan found it difficult just to obtain Arc de Triomphe tickets, let alone actually participate in the race.
Therefore, gaining a direct pathway to the Arc de Triomphe was an opportunity the committee absolutely couldn't pass up, even if it meant opening domestic races to these exchange students!
As for whether this might eliminate the survival space for local competitors? If they were going to compete on the world stage, this was something they would have to face sooner or later.
If local competitors truly couldn't hold their heads up because of this, then that would simply be their limit.
...
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