Xingyun Liuge accepted Chihaya Yui's help, because in her current state, she was basically strong as a demon god.
Punching a cow to death with one fist might be a little difficult, but smashing one flat with a hammer? That was definitely no problem. After all, she could use Mordekaiser's power.
She had also spent some time on the road studying the reroll dice.
They were really useful. One die would automatically regenerate every natural month—every thirty days—but the maximum storage limit was two. Participating in an official race could also shorten the cooldown by a certain amount, with no upper limit.
Using one reroll die would randomly refresh a new champion, and once obtained, that champion was hers permanently. As long as the champion was already in her champion pool, she could switch freely before entering the starting gate, though changing champions in the middle of an official race was forbidden. At the same time, each champion had an internal cooldown that prevented them from appearing in consecutive races.
Xingyun Liuge didn't know what "entering the gate" meant yet, but she noticed one detail:
The internal cooldown said a champion couldn't appear in consecutive starts, while the die cooldown and the no-switching rule both referred specifically to official races.
Did that mean that if she inserted a practice race between two official races, she could effectively use the same champion "consecutively"?
Xingyun Liuge wasn't sure. She felt she would need to experiment more to figure it out.
But one thing was certain: the sooner she used a die, the sooner its cooldown would start ticking.
She absolutely couldn't afford to delay the next refresh cycle.
So she silently cast the die.
Lucian, the Purifier: "Everybody dies. Some just need a little help."
"…?"
Xingyun Liuge fell silent. She had a bad feeling her luck today might not be very good. She decided to hold onto the other die for now and wait until her fortune improved before using it.
Still, Lucian had at least one dash skill, so it was not a total loss. If she had accidentally rolled a champion with neither mobility nor a speed boost, that would have been truly miserable.
Come to think of it… she didn't have a firearms permit.
Could she get arrested over this?
Letting her thoughts wander in that direction, Xingyun Liuge smoothly followed Chihaya Yui to Kasamatsu Tracen Academy. The chairwoman there turned out to be wonderfully easy to talk to. She patted her chest and declared:
"Xingyun Liuge, this will be your new home from now on. Please stay here without worry! Tracen is the home of every horse girl! I'm sure you'll find a future here that belongs to you alone!"
Xingyun Liuge was a little moved.
Had she arrived in a truly gentle world?
Could this actually be the legendary utopia?
She might have turned into a horse girl, but in exchange she had gained the possibility of running.
What frail, sickly girl could possibly resist the chance to run as much as she wanted, to personally feel the wind brushing past her face?
If she could, then yes—
She really wanted to stand on the track and try it for herself.
Besides, starting with Morde was not actually bad at all.
Darkness Rise (Competition): Every time you overtake an opponent, you gain a 3% movement speed increase for 4 seconds. This effect stacks.
Indestructible (Competition): Each time you win an official race, you recover half of the stamina you consumed in that race. If you lose an official race, you recover one quarter of the stamina you consumed. This recovery can be stored.
Death's Grasp (Competition): After a brief delay, you can turn a 10-meter-by-10-meter area either in front of or behind you into a heavy track, accelerating stamina loss for all opponents within that area.
Realm of Death (Competition): You can designate one opponent and steal 10% of all their attributes until the end of the race.
Other than Obliterate, which had nothing but destructive power, Mordekaiser's passive and three skills were all perfectly suited for racing.
Though, of course, Obliterate could not be used during a race.
Looking at it that way, this world really did seem peaceful, and it probably was not the kind of place where superpowered races existed.
Probably.
Most importantly, those effects were only the racing versions.
Outside of competition, Darkness Rise, Obliterate, and Death's Grasp all retained their destructive potential, which meant she did not need to worry about her own safety at all.
There was one more thing.
If she used Realm of Death outside a race, its duration could last as long as an astonishing seven hours.
Within it, she could conduct a simulated battle with any chosen target, and if she won that simulated battle, she would permanently gain 10% of the loser's total attributes.
On top of that, Realm of Death and Indestructible had a special interaction:
Once the simulated battle ended, she could immediately recover all of the stamina she had spent.
Not a single bit of this was about base stats.
It was all sweat and hard work.
So, after being assigned a single room in the dormitory, Xingyun Liuge immediately locked the door and activated Realm of Death. She was already impatient to meet her simulation target. Maybe she could even gather more information about this world from them.
"Eclipse, Secretariat… oh no, I don't know any of them…"
Xingyun Liuge started to get a headache. The only name that felt even remotely familiar was Symboli Rudolf, and she had only heard it earlier that day from Chihaya Yui. She recognized the name, and that was all. She had absolutely no idea what the person herself was like.
Looks like getting information was impossible.
She didn't know a single one of them. She had never even heard of them before. How was she supposed to get intel like that?
At this point, she might as well just try running. Even getting a firsthand feel for what it was like to run would be good enough.
"Symboli Rudolf is an undefeated Triple Crown winner, so she should be really strong. Better not pick her…"
Xingyun Liuge muttered to herself.
But the problem was, she knew none of them. She had no idea who was strong and who was weak. She was, quite literally, completely in the dark.
After thinking for a moment, she decided to leave the choice to luck:
Random.
In the blink of an eye, an expressionless horse girl appeared within that world.
"Let me see… your name is Eclipse? Nice to meet you?"
Xingyun Liuge tried greeting Eclipse's phantom, but just as the detailed description of Realm of Death had explained, simulation targets were merely peak echoes drawn from the past and the future. They had no life, no self-awareness, and though they could be seen, they could not be touched.
Even if Xingyun Liuge wanted to chat with them, they would never respond.
They existed for one reason only:
Because Xingyun Liuge wanted to run.
If she had known that Eclipse was the king among kings, the legendary horse whose history had left behind the saying "When one horse takes the lead, all others lose their light," she probably would not have challenged her with such confidence.
1600-meter Mile Race. Turf. Sunny. Firm going.
It was Xingyun Liuge's first time stepping onto grass.
Her first time seeing what a "gate" actually was.
The breeze blowing straight toward her made her squint happily in delight, to the point that she completely forgot to assume a proper starting posture.
Then the gates burst open—
and Xingyun Liuge felt as if a violent tempest had erupted from flat ground.
The gentle breeze instantly shed its mildness and transformed into a howling storm.
Subconsciously, Xingyun Liuge threw up both arms to shield her eyes, which she could barely open.
"What just happened?!"
Within that roaring storm, her voice was stretched thin, and she heard an echo descending from the heavens:
What just happened?!
As if to say:
Important things should be said twice.
By the time the gale had fully passed, Xingyun Liuge received Realm of Death's result:
Eclipse has reached the finish line.
"…Huh?"
Xingyun Liuge was completely dumbfounded.
Yes, she had been careless at the start. Yes, she had been stunned by the gale Eclipse kicked up the instant she launched forward.
But then…
That was it?
It was over already?
Had she randomly selected some kind of horse queen from another era?
How was she supposed to compete with that?
"…Maybe I should change simulation targets first?"
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 150)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter100)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 60
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 50
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 50
The Way the Umamusume Look at 31
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 26
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