Outside the gates of Tracen Academy stood an Uma, leaning quietly against the wall, her arms folded neatly beneath her ample bosom as she had been since morning.
She was an extraordinary horse girl, standing a striking 1.9 meters tall, her well-built frame lending her an unmistakable presence. Long blonde hair cascaded over her left shoulder, while her ears drooped slightly and her tail swayed in a slow, rhythmic motion.
Though if one looked at her, the most striking feature of all was undoubtedly the large, tear-shaped mark on her right cheek. Though it didn't diminish her beauty, it created an oddly alluring appearance.
Paired with the intimidating intensity of her azure eyes, it gave rise to an aura that felt both mature and distant—one that told one should consider their life choice before messing with her.
(A: I use Knight of Despair Rodion from Limbus Company for her appearance.)
This horse girl's name was Silver Tear. The name came with the tear-shaped mark on her cheek.
Currently, Silver Tear was staring at the translucent screen that somehow blinked into existence in front of her face, hovering at eye level. Lines of code scrolled calmly, accompanied by a soft chime.
[Uma Gambler System]
"..."
Silver Tear fell silent the instant those words appeared before her. Every single time she looked at that floating text, she could feel her brain crashing out and throwing hands with this bastard.
She only managed to rein it in after a grueling mental fight. Simply because it would look stupid if anyone saw her throwing her fists at thin air.
A gambling system? Seriously?
It was so absurdly cliché that she briefly wondered if she was being pranked. Setting that aside, even if, just hypothetically, she had to gamble, she couldn't even do that!!
She was broke as hell!!!
At least be something useful! Silver Tear thought irritably.
Strongest Uma Training System. Ultimate Racing Optimization. Anything but this useless freeloader system.
Her irritation mounted, stacking neatly into the five stages of grief in record time. Denial had passed. Anger lingered. Bargaining failed instantly. Depression followed shortly after.
Finally, she exhaled long and slow, shoulders sinking slightly as if resigning herself to the universe's poor sense of humor.
'Fine. Fine.' She conceded inwardly. 'A beggar can't be a chooser.'
Just then, Tazuna Hayakawa noticed the tall Uma Musume standing alone in front of the gate, staring blankly ahead. With her usual professionalism, she prepared to approach and offer assistance.
Before she could speak, she heard a low, displeased voice.
"Introduce yourself." The words were flat, carrying a faint edge of irritation and disdain.
Tazuna Hayakawa froze.
The tone alone made her blood run cold. When she looked up and met Silver Tear's gaze, it felt as though she had been placed under judgment without trial. It was sharp, slightly upturned, and unnervingly calm, which made her instinctively take a step back.
"I-I'm T-Tazuna H-Hayakawa…" she stammered, her voice trembling uncontrollably. By the end of her introduction, it was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.
Silver Tear, meanwhile, didn't even notice her.
[Of course, Host. Every skill displayed contains an element of gambling. Coin tossing, dice rolling… even acquisition itself depends entirely on luck.] The system's response was calm and polite, almost like one of those corporate sales.
"Hah?"
Silver Tear's irritation spiked instantly.
Are you F###### serious?
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she read on, annoyance bleeding into her expression. Her presence sharpened without her realizing—an invisible pressure blooming outward like a silent wave.
Only then did she notice movement in her peripheral vision.
She turned her head slightly and saw Tazuna Hayakawa standing there, pale and rigid, staring at her as if facing a natural disaster.
"…Why are you looking at me like that?" Silver Tear wondered, genuinely confused.
She hadn't done anything. She was just reading.
This was weird.
To Tazuna Hayakawa, however, the moment that towering Uma Musume's gaze settled on her fully. That cold and steady gaze made the secretary feel as though something crawled up her spine and lodged itself in her chest.
Her instincts screamed.
"I-I'M SO SORRY!" Tazuna immediately bolted out while shouting those words.
She fled down the corridor at a speed Silver Tear didn't even realize she was capable of, vanishing around the corner in a blur of green.
Silver Tear stared after her, mind lagging several seconds behind reality.
"…Huh?"
Three metaphorical question marks popped up in her head.
She stood there in silence, expression unchanged, carefully maintaining her poker face as she tried to reason it out.
'She must've been in a hurry.' Silver Tear concluded logically. 'Yeah. Definitely not related to me.'
Absolutely not.
Lowering her gaze, Silver Tear looked down at the Tracen Academy application form still clutched in her hand and muttered quietly to herself. "…So who am I supposed to give this to?"
The system window hovered patiently in front of her.
[Host Intimidation Level: Abnormally High.]
She frowned. "…And who is the cause for that, huh?"
[I'm not as useless as you may think. Let me show you an example first.]
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[Skill: Runner from Another World]
Grade: S
Type: Active/Unique
Description:
You are not an Uma Musume that originated from this world. Even the Three Goddesses failed to detect the anomaly that is you. Your existence follows no established records, blessings, or limitations of this world.
The rules governing Uma Musume do not fully apply.
Effects:
Upon activation, toss 3 coins. The outcome determines the effect granted:
If the result is 2 Heads or more:
Gain +100% Endurance, Speed, and Power for 5 seconds.
If the result is 2 Tails or more:
Suffer –30% Endurance, Speed, and Power for 3 seconds.
Hidden Effect:
For every 0.5 seconds you start later than the pact, you gain an additional +5% chance for each coin to land Heads during the tossing phase. (Maximum bonus: 45%)
Note:
You win more often than you should.
And when you lose, the punishment is… lenient.
Now then, shall we gamble?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yeah, Silver Tear wasn't a native of this world, but after a series of events, she ended up here, gaining an Uma Musume body through pure coincidence.
Silver Tear stared at the translucent panel floating in front of her.
"…So." She said slowly, eyes moving line by line. "It's not actually random."
The system offered no response.
She crossed her arms beneath her chest, tail swaying once as she reread the Hidden Effect. Her expression didn't change, but something behind her eyes sharpened.
"For every half second I start later than the pact." She murmured. "I gain five percent more chance of Heads."
She did the math immediately.
Nine intervals. Forty-five percent maximum.
"…That's a lot." she concluded flatly, thinking if this could actually be used in an actual race.
"Three coins. Baseline probability is fifty percent per coin. With forty-five percent added…" Her gaze drifted slightly upward, unfocused—not intimidating on purpose, just calculating.
"Each coin becomes… ninety-five percent Heads."
"So waiting four and a half seconds guarantees the buff. More or less." She paused.
"…But that also means I intentionally start late." Her ears flicked. "That's a massive throw."
[Skill is designed to encourage risk-based decision making.] The system interjected.
"Mm." She stared at the penalty.
"Minus thirty percent Speed and Power for three seconds. That's not something that fatal. I can recover from that."
She tilted her head. "You call this gambling?"
The air around her tightened.
A pair of passing Uma Musume slowed instinctively, sensing pressure without understanding why.
"This is totally biased." Silver Tear sighed, sounding genuinely amused.
"The upside is massive. The downside is short. And you even reward me for being late."
She tapped the panel with one finger.
"You're not a gambler system." she concluded. "You're a cheater."
[Have you seen a gambler who doesn't cheat? I haven't.]
"True, I give you that." Silver Tear adjusted her choker slightly, a faint, crooked smile unknowingly forming at the corner of her lips.
"Optimal use is activating this after the start, delaying just enough to cap the bonus, then closing the gap from the delaying start or overtaking immediately."
"This will make a spectacular show for audiences, and gaining fans would be easier."
She frowned.
"…Though this also means everyone will assume I'm deliberately looking down on them." Her eyes sharpened slightly at the thought.
Silver Tear stared at the skill one last time.
"…How interesting."
[Shall we gamble then?]
"It's not gambling if I know I will win every time, so I'll accept it. Put on a little show and rake in some money, shall we?"
[I will wait for the day when you roll 2 tails even with 5% chance.]
"Don't jinx it!" Silver Tear snapped at the bastard system.
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A/N: I will toss coins in the future to write based on the result, lmao.