Chapter 188: Burst Front Running?!
Guided by the staff, Ribbon Victory stepped into her starting gate and glanced to her right.
Ribbon Victory was in gate 4 for this race. Angel Wing was in gate 2—only one gate separating them.
Angel Wing's eyes were wide with excitement as she stared straight down the track, her slightly unruly short hair trembling with each breath, looking utterly impatient to start.
Ribbon Victory chuckled softly, then turned her eyes to the left, stopping for a moment at gate 6 as her expression grew serious.
In this race, aside from Angel Wing, the one she paid the most attention to was, of course, Kitasan Black. After that came Satono Rasen in gate 6.
This was another opponent who had defeated her before, and purely in terms of closing kicks, she was probably the one who required the greatest vigilance in the latter stages.
Ribbon Victory would be running a front runner running style this time, which meant she had to account for pursuit from rivals like Satono Rasen.
Then, without moving her head, she let her gaze drift farther out.
'Kita-chan is in gate 13 this time… the far outside.'
'The short uphill right after the break and the long run into the first corner at St. Lite Kinen are both bad for the extreme outside. My position is the exact opposite.'
'That means I can grab the lead smoothly like in the Japanese Derby—at the very least, I'll get to the front faster than Kita-chan.'
'And then, I absolutely can't repeat the same mistake as last time. I have to stay constantly alert to Kita-chan's pace, rhythm, and stamina management…'
'Yes. If I can keep control of the race's tempo from start to finish, then even against Kita-chan…'
'She won't have many ways to respond!'
With that thought, Ribbon Victory withdrew her gaze and looked straight ahead over the gate, fixing her eyes on the track.
Under the bright autumn afternoon sun, the turf looked like a vast emerald velvet carpet.
The innermost lane bore the scars of the ten races that had already been run, but slightly farther out, the condition of the grass was excellent.
From the stands, the cheers and encouragement hadn't yet reached their peak, but waves of sound were already rolling over from the side of the crowd.
Closer by, the live orchestra's entrance music had long passed its climax and was now gradually fading toward its finale.
The commentator's voice, however, seemed reluctant to let go of that energy, growing ever more animated as it echoed through every corner of the racecourse.
"Ladies and gentlemen!"
"All the racers have now entered their gates!"
"Each racer carries a burning desire for victory—who will rise above the rest and write a chapter of glory of her own?"
"Now then, the G2 St. Lite Kinen, Nakayama Racecourse, turf, 2200 meters…"
"Start!"
'Now!'
A shout erupted in Ribbon Victory's mind—completely unlike her usual hesitance. Her eyes sharpened, every muscle in her body shivering as if electrified. In the blink of an eye, the gates snapped open, falling backward as her field of vision burst wide.
'Perfect! Just like this! Next—'
The joy of a clean break hadn't even had time to spread through her when an abnormal sound suddenly tore through the air to her left—like a thunderclap exploding on flat ground, slamming straight into her eardrums.
Her spine tingled with shock. She stared sideways in disbelief.
As if fired from the gates themselves, a black figure shot forward, leaving behind a distorted, blurred afterimage.
The forward lean of that afterimage was extreme. Each stride covered an enormous distance—and in the very next instant, that figure had seized the very lead position Ribbon Victory had been aiming for.
Kitasan Black?!
Once Ribbon Victory realized who it was—the one who had made that sound and launched forward like a projectile—her mind went blank.
It wasn't just her. From both sides came the sounds of staggered breathing and disrupted footwork, proof that the other racers were just as stunned.
Over in the stands, a moment of silence fell. The spectators were clearly stunned as well.
Even the commentator was stunned—for a moment.
"Alright, all the racers have broken cleanly from the—eh, ehhh—?!"
His voice shot upward, the next words filled with disbelief:
"Ki—Kitasan Black has taken the lead right from the start…!"
"One length—"
"Two—"
"Three—!"
"Three and a half lengths—?!"
After stretching out the words in a shrill cry, it was as if an electric shock ran through the commentator. He snapped back to his senses, and the voice blasting through the broadcast suddenly erupted like a volcano.
"Kitasan Black is in the lead! Kitasan Black is in the lead! Kitasan Black leads by three and a half lengths!"
"An unbelievable break from the gates— the other racers all seem to have been stunned! Taking advantage of that opening, Kitasan Black has seized the front running position in one fell swoop and built up a considerable gap!"
"This is a running style she's never shown on the track before—this start, this margin…"
"Could it be that in this St. Lite Kinen, she's running—"
As if shaken by the very words he was about to say, the commentator's voice abruptly cut off. After a brief silence, he finally shouted, almost hoarse:
"—Burst Front Running?!"
The fact that they could compete in the same race meant that the participating racers were all roughly in the same tier of ability. Victory often came down to who was faster by just 0.1 seconds—or even less—making the chances of opening up a huge gap vanishingly small.
On top of that, Burst Front Running wasn't something you could pull off just by running recklessly. It required exceptional talent, and Umamusume capable of it were exceedingly rare throughout racing history.
If it really happened, the enormous distance gap, the sensation of two racers as if on parallel racetracks—one far ahead, one far behind—and the suspense of whether a racer with an explosive closing kick could catch up in the end… all of it was enough to make one's blood boil with excitement.
That was why Burst Front Running, like a brilliant meteor streaking across the night sky, possessed a uniquely spectacular appeal in the Twinkle Series—yet appeared only on the rarest of occasions.
And now, prompted by the commentator's words and witnessing Kitasan Black unleash Burst Front Running from the very start, the stands erupted like a powder keg. The spectators, who had fallen briefly silent in shock, exploded into thunderous cheers.
"Burst Front Running—! Burst Front Running—!"
In perfect unison, the crowd screamed themselves hoarse, faces overflowing with irrepressible excitement.
At the very front of the stands, as if struck by an invisible current, Agnes Tachyon instantly shed her usual casual, languid demeanor.
Her previously half-smiling eyes were now wide open, her crimson pupils blazing with scorching light. That light held not only the same exhilaration at the thrilling race as everyone else, but also her own unique madness and obsession.
Her lips trembled slightly as she muttered to herself, her voice quivering with excitement.
"Of course… I knew it…"
"Kitasan Black's potential is unfathomable—she's nowhere near her limit!"
She clenched her fists tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force, her body leaning forward as if she wanted nothing more than to charge onto the track and run alongside Kitasan Black.
"That's it! That power that smashes through every shackle—this speed that transcends the limits of distance!"
She suddenly let out an almost hysterical scream. In that moment, her crazed expression made it seem as though the entire world consisted of nothing but the race before her—and Kitasan Black within it.
Completely unable to focus on the race anymore, Makoto rubbed his ears, still ringing from the noise, and pulled his gaze away from the binoculars. Staring in disbelief at the suddenly unhinged Agnes Tachyon, he said:
"Uh… Doctor Tachyon… have you always been this unhinged?"
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Note:
This is how Agnes Tachyon looks like right now
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1617249?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/155512898?collection=1617249
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/155512898?collection=1617249
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1617249?view=condensed