The moment Agnes Tachyon returned to the villa, she spotted Platinum sitting on the lounge chair, staring motionlessly at the vase in front of her without even blinking.
Not sleeping, not scrolling through her phone, not playing games—this was the first time Agnes Tachyon had seen Platinum maintain the posture of a deep thinker for so long.
In her mind, Platinum was about as complex as a single-celled organism, maybe on par with a flatworm at best—a creature of singular focus, whose mind was usually occupied with nothing more than eating, playing, and, at most, figuring out how to sleep.
To Agnes Tachyon, Platinum pretending to ponder life's mysteries was like watching a gorilla gaze up at the moon—the first ape to look skyward, as if the bone hadn't even landed before humanity shot past the atmosphere.
In short, it was an evolutionary milestone.
Curious, she drifted over and waved a hand in front of Platinum's eyes. "You alright there?"
Platinum swayed gently in the lounge chair, her eyes shifting toward Agnes Tachyon for a moment before drifting back.
"Tachyon. Tell me, if you had to pick one among Golden Sixty, Urban Sea, Sham, and Agnes Digital, who would you choose?"
The question caught Agnes Tachyon off guard. "In what sense?"
"Just by feeling. Based on pure instinct, which of those four would you pick first?"
Agnes Tachyon thought for a moment, then replied, "Looking to reel in a sugar daddy? In that case, I'd recommend Symboli Rudolf. She seems pretty straightforward—a good fallback option."
"Of course, there's plenty of competition around Symboli Rudolf. You'd have to fight your way through. If it comes to it, I could hook you up with something."
"By that point, even Symboli Rudolf wouldn't be able to weasel out of it."
Meanwhile, all the way back in Japan, Symboli Rudolf sneezed out of the blue, feeling a strange, prickling sensation down her spine, as if someone were talking about her.
Platinum wore a complicated expression, hovering on the edge of saying something, before finally sighing, "Never mind, it's not like that… Ah, forget it. Go on, do your thing."
The look on Platinum's face was like that of a kid who'd just entered eighth grade and gotten lost in their own fantasies.
Agnes Tachyon gazed at her with a mix of pity and affection before heading upstairs.
When it came to people like Agnes Digital and Platinum, Agnes Tachyon's approach was always one of appeasement.
Whatever they said, she'd just nod along—'Yeah, sure, whatever'—because going along with it was the easiest path.
The moment you took them seriously, you'd already lost.
As for what Platinum was thinking or planning, Agnes Tachyon couldn't care less.
Even if Platinum sent confession messages to the entire school and started ten-timing them, Agnes Tachyon wouldn't bat an eye.
After all, it wasn't her brains they were after—just her legs.
Platinum, meanwhile, settled back into the lounge chair with a serious expression, her eyes fixed on the vase.
If the prophecy was correct, then in Hong Kong, without a doubt, she would encounter her second anchor.
Agnes Tachyon, as the first anchor, hadn't necessarily cured her condition, but she'd taken to her role as a pharmacist with surprising enthusiasm—so much so that she probably even recorded the exact length of every single one of Platinum's hairs.
Honestly, Platinum could tell Agnes Tachyon was thoroughly enjoying herself.
Though it hadn't been long, and the improvements Agnes Tachyon had brought about weren't fully apparent yet, Platinum was confident she would play an increasingly important role going forward.
Did Platinum regret going to see Agnes Tachyon that first time? Absolutely. If time were reversed, would she do it again? Without a doubt.
That was why Platinum still held firm belief in the prophecy.
The anchor was most likely in Hong Kong, and most likely one of Hong Kong's top Uma Musume.
Narrowing it down further, it almost certainly had to be one of the ones present here:
Golden Sixty, Urban Sea, Sham, Agnes Digital, or Leap of Faith.
First, she ruled out Leap of Faith—she saw her every single day at Tracen Academy, popping up randomly in bushes, sometimes even spawning alongside Fuji Kyoji.
Next… Agnes Digital also seemed unlikely. Even though they'd met through the special race in Hong Kong, since they were both at Tracen Academy, they were bound to cross paths sooner or later.
That left the most probable candidates: Golden Sixty, Urban Sea, and Sham.
To figure out which of these three was the anchor, Platinum had been racking her brains all afternoon, to the point where her head hurt.
Golden Sixty, as the champion of Hong Kong, was naturally an outstanding Uma Musume.
But it was hard to imagine how she could help with Platinum's Soul Dissolution Syndrome—especially when Golden Sixty herself was already planning to retire.
Besides, the way she looked at Platinum was kind of unsettling—Leap of Faith was exactly like her older sister in that regard.
Urban Sea? A hopeless sis-con who couldn't go three sentences without mentioning Sea the Stars.
It was equally hard to picture how she could be of any help. Unless… maybe the help wouldn't come from her, but from Sea the Stars, whom she never stopped talking about?
Then… what about Sham?
Sham looked fierce, but was surprisingly easy to get along with. Even though she was fierce.
Even though Sham was fierce, her cooking skills were unexpectedly decent—her spring onion noodle soup was pretty tasty. Even though she was fierce.
Sham gave off the vibe of someone who'd listen patiently without interrupting—a comforting, tree-hole type of presence.
Even though she was fierce.
After a moment of silence, Platinum crossed her arms, turned over, and lay back in the lounge chair.
What if… just what if… the anchor wasn't among those three at all?
Because the first time she met Agnes Tachyon, hadn't she felt almost pushed toward her?
This time, with these three, she didn't feel that… final layer of window paper about to be pierced.
But then again, what if the first time was just a tutorial, and Agnes Tachyon was like a guaranteed pull in a 10-roll gacha?
Who knows what Agnes Tachyon would think if she knew what was going through Platinum's mind right now.
Anyway, there was no use dwelling on it now. Platinum pursed her lips.
'Brute force for a miracle'—since she couldn't figure out which of the three it was, why not go after all three at once?
Three-pronged approach!
Besides, she hadn't forgotten the full scope of the prophecy. The anchor was only half of it—the other half was to wrap herself in as many 'threads of fate' as possible.
The so-called threads of fate… the fortune-teller's explanation had been muddled and unclear, so Platinum could only guess at the meaning.
In short, it probably meant either winning more races, building more connections with other Uma Musume, or making herself known to as many people as possible.
None of those were mutually exclusive. In fact, they didn't conflict with her search for the anchor at all.
Think about it—wasn't she keeping her distance at Tracen Academy to avoid the one-in-a-million chance of spreading Soul Dissolution Syndrome to others? It wasn't like she enjoyed being disliked.
Wanting to become good friends with other Uma Musume… well, wasn't this villa full of them?
And after this special race, everyone would scatter like stars in the sky.
Even if they grew close, Soul Dissolution Syndrome couldn't possibly spread over the internet, right?
Platinum's eyes gradually began to shine.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 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!
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If you guys wanna check it out.