The middle-aged man who served as committee chairman looked at the laptop his female secretary had placed before him.
On the screen was a video currently being watched by 8,000 simultaneous viewers. Its title was quite the attention-grabber: "Debut of a Legend: Witness the Legendary Uma Musume's First Race!"
The chairman's sunglasses reflected the screen's glow as he tapped twice on the touchscreen to begin playback.
The video opened with Barbatos dramatically throwing off her clothes.
Except, unlike the official footage from their committee, the video's creator had photoshopped an outfit onto Barbatos—a Baroque-style costume with a green cloak and a Cecilia flower pinned to the hat's brim.
The next shot showed Barbatos flinging the green cloak away, as if simply changing her attire. Next to her, several purple '『ゴ』'symbols had been edited in, accompanied by strange sound effects.
But the barrage of comments was already filled with:
--+--
"Ehe~"
"You can find Barbatos at the racecourse now, not just in Mondstadt!"
"Do something useful, Barbatos!"
"Auntie, press and hold~" and the like.
--+--
The chairman couldn't help but frown slightly. However, as the head of Japan's Uma Musume Racing Committee, he quickly smoothed his expression and continued watching.
The video didn't show the thrown green cloak being picked up. Instead, it cut directly to Barbatos entering the starting gate.
She still wore the same Baroque-style outfit, the green cloak draped behind her.
It seemed to be just a video where Barbatos had gotten a costume change.
But what was the point? Did changing clothes really boost a video's click-through rate?
Soon, the chairman noticed the difference. After the Uma Musume started running, Barbatos fell to last place.
The clothing was edited very convincingly; the video's creator was clearly highly skilled with computers. As everyone knew, videos couldn't be Photoshopped—being able to edit footage to this level, avoiding the 'floating head' effect, required top-tier talent.
Everyone on the committee had seen this race, and he was no exception. He knew what came next: Barbatos overtaking all thirteen opponents, making her move at the next turn.
Just before Barbatos began her sprint, the letters "wryyyyy" appeared around her. The font was peculiar, but it sparked a trend in the comments, which soon flooded with the three letters "wry".
The style of these letters closely resembled the '『ゴ』'symbols.
"?!"
What was this?! The chairman watched the changes that appeared during Barbatos's sprint.
As the chairman overseeing Uma Musume races, he also had some contact with other competitive sports and could somewhat recognize that the new additions were related to League of Legends.
The moment Barbatos sprinted, her shoes transformed—one became "Boots of Swiftness," the other "Mercury's Treads."
In her left hand, she clutched the [Ghost] icon, while her right arm was bent backward in the edit, not due to sloppy Photoshop work causing a spacetime distortion.
The video editor's technique was superb. They had bent Barbatos's arm backward, placing a green longsword in her hand, while faint golden ripples shimmered around her legs.
The comments at this moment were:
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"My Barbatos isn't cheating!"
"Give me road and oil!"
"It's the Thompson Ripple Speed Dash!"
--+--
By the time the race ended, the Winner's Stage segment had been edited to remove all the live audience. It was now set on a sunlit ocean, with a single head inexplicably suspended in the air. It was unclear why only the head remained, but the person seemed still alive.
And right before that head, Barbatos crouched, opening a CD player.
That dance once again appeared before the chairman's eyes, while the comments scrolled:
--+--
"Little Plane, aka Little Barbatos."
"Mista notices something's off."
"Angry Dude notices something's off."
--+--
Finally, as the video concluded, the screen showed a bloodied blond man. His hands were clasped together, cradling a popularity vote icon. "Barbatos! This is my final Hamon! Take it!"
Having watched the entire video, the chairman was at a loss for words. Below the video was a link to the popularity vote.
Though he was a middle-aged man, his broad experience gave him a general understanding of the references in the video.
"Currently, excluding votes from Chinese fans, how many fans does Barbatos have?"
The female secretary stood ramrod straight beside him. "Over 30,000 already, and the number is rising rapidly. It likely won't be long before her total fan count surpasses the Emperor's."
The "Emperor's" fans were mostly from Japan, but Barbatos had also gained 330,000 Chinese fans, with Chinese votes still pouring in steadily.
"Chairman, should we close the overseas fan voting window?"
"No need."
Japanese Uma Musume did compete overseas and had foreign fans, but they constituted only a small fraction of their fanbase. Barbatos was the sole exception.
The chairman turned the laptop around, facing the several elderly men who were about to speak. "Take a look at this as well."
The video wasn't long and soon finished playing.
"This… What the hell is this?!"
Even the usually dignified and respected committee members couldn't help but exclaim in bewilderment.
What was this? Why all the flashy effects? What was the point of this video?
They turned their gaze to the secretary standing stiffly beside the chairman. "Since you're showing this to us, what's the significance of this video?"
"It's not a matter of whether it's significant. It's really that rare kind of thing—a race video stitched together with elements from League of Legends, JoJo, and a certain Chinese game."
"I think I understand. This League of Legends you mentioned—is it popular?"
"League of Legends is an international esport, but it's not hugely popular in Japan."
"And that Chinese game?"
"It's a Chinese game with some popularity here."
"I see. And what about JoJo?"
"It's a Japanese Manga. It's quite well-known, but its fanbase isn't that broad."
"Then how much popularity can this video actually generate for Barbatos?"
The secretary gave a slight bow. "That's actually the good news. The elements in the video aren't extremely popular on their own."
The elders frowned. "So you're saying there's bad news too."
"Yes. The bad news is… it stitched them all together."
"?"
The chairman rested his chin on his interlaced hands. "After this video's release, Barbatos's fan numbers in Japan will also rise rapidly."
"To avoid inciting discontent among those fans toward our committee, Barbatos must participate in the Winter Dream Cup. After the race, we can adjust the Cup's entry requirements based on the circumstances."
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.