The moment Platinum saw Agnes Digital's casual outfit... well, let's just say it fit her mental image of Agnes Digital perfectly.
They stood facing each other in silence, the awkwardness in the air so thick you could almost touch it.
Platinum shut her eyes, gritting her teeth. 'God, if you're punishing me, just strike me down with lightning. Don't make me endure this kind of torture.'
This face-to-face silence was absolute agony!
If she'd known this would happen, she'd have dragged Agnes Tachyon along!
According to Platinum's self-invented law of social dynamics, two socially awkward people can't connect directly.
You need a bonding agent in the middle—something like Link's Ultrahand, but ideally, it's a mutual friend who knows both socially anxious parties and can keep the conversation from dying.
Agnes Tachyon, I misjudged you! You weren't nerfed; you've become the Sheikah Slate!
"Um... it's just... well..." Agnes Digital stammered, her voice trembling like a winding mountain path, "Is there something you need?"
Platinum carved a stiff smile onto her face, cold sweat dripping. Her original strategy of randomly knocking on doors to see if anyone was home clearly wasn't going to fly now.
Well, no choice but to go for it!
So she pointed a finger past Agnes Digital into the room. "Could I... come in and talk?"
Agnes Digital couldn't help but gasp softly.
So this wasn't just a random door-knocking prank after all?
She was really, truly here to see her?
A wave of overwhelming surprise hit Agnes Digital, so potent she almost lost control of her expression. She quickly covered her cheeks, as if to prevent her face from literally melting onto the floor.
'Restrain yourself, Agnes Digital, restrain yourself! Don't scare her off!'
"Come in..." Agnes Digital mumbled indistinctly, stepping aside from the doorway.
The blanket bunched up in a heap on the bed, the curtains drawn shut, and the lamp switched on precisely because the curtains were closed—it was all so familiar, it felt just like stepping back into her own dorm room.
Why the lamp? Because with the curtains closed, the room was too dark.
Why the curtains? To keep the morning sun out for a comfortable sleep-in.
Why the unmade bed? For the ability to collapse into sleep at a moment's notice.
A perfect explanation.
"Ah, it's not usually like this, I'm actually very tidy in the dorm! This is just... well... I just arrived and haven't had time to clean up yet, that's all," Agnes Digital explained frantically, hurriedly pulling the curtains open.
'Thank goodness I hadn't put up the posters yet... She'd definitely think I'm some kind of weirdo.'
The computer on the bed, left unpaused by Agnes Digital, was still noisily playing something.
"So fast, Platinum is so fast! Leading by a huge margin, incredible! She's about to lead from start to finish..."
"What's this...?" Platinum tilted her head, faintly hearing her name from the computer.
Then, she saw the screen clearly. Just at that moment, the camera focused on Platinum bursting out of the final turn.
As she flew past, the other Uma Musume emerged from the bend behind her, the thunderous vibration of their galloping hooves causing the camera to shudder slightly.
"Isn't this the Saudi Arabia Royal Cup race?" Platinum scratched her head, somewhat embarrassed. "I didn't expect you to watch this."
"Not at all!" To Platinum's surprise, Agnes Digital, upon hearing this, grabbed her hand and shook it vigorously up and down. "It was a truly, truly magnificent race!"
Platinum didn't really have a full grasp of the fact that she'd won a graded stakes race.
After all, she'd mostly been living a life of eat-sleep-eat-sleep at Tracen Academy. A G3 victory might catch the eyes of enthusiasts, but it wasn't exactly household fame.
Plus, with so many Uma Musume living at Tracen Academy, the local residents had sort of an unspoken rule—try not to disturb these spirits in their daily lives.
So, in the days right after her win, Platinum had deliberately strutted around the shopping street outside Tracen Academy, preening. But no one recognized her. No one asked for an autograph or a photo.
It ended with her slinking back to her dorm room at night, crying her eyes out, and vowing never to search for herself online or pull such stunts again.
To think Agnes Digital had watched this race... it made Platinum feel a little giddy.
'Keep praising me, I love hearing this.'
And Agnes Digital really played along, holding Platinum's hand, her eyes sparkling.
"Especially the final sprint, it was absolutely brilliant! Though the second-place finisher, Splendid Aqua, is also very cute and talented, she was still left in your dust."
"The recording of this race has hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. That means hundreds of thousands of people have already witnessed your glorious victory!"
"I've always believed, deep down, that you're someone who can stand on a G1 stage and take the win."
"It's really not that much... hehe..." Platinum's ears spun rapidly, betraying her inner thoughts. "Mind if I sit on your bed?"
"Of course not! Please, by all means!"
According to Platinum's self-invented law of social dynamics, two socially awkward people can't connect directly.
You need a bonding agent in the middle—something like Link's Ultrahand, it could be Agnes Tachyon, but it could also be a race recording.
The two of them sat on the bed, scrolling through other race recordings.
Agnes Digital would pause and explain why a certain Uma Musume chose to run that way, the various reasons for their loss—not simply a lack of raw ability.
She also broke down in detail why the winning Uma Musume had won—not just pure speed, but also strategy and tactics.
"Take you and Splendid Aqua as an example. In the end, she didn't achieve her ideal time. Was it because she didn't want to?" Agnes Digital spoke knowledgeably.
"She was actually affected by you. Not pulling ahead to create a large gap early on was a brilliant move. It gave her the illusion that you, leading the whole time, were steadily draining your stamina. When you both started accelerating, your initial acceleration was almost identical."
Her explanations were way easier to understand than anything Okino or Agnes Tachyon said. Those two—one would just say 'play it by ear,' and the other would scoff 'do you even need to learn this?'
"Mmm..." Platinum rubbed her eyes and yawned.
She hadn't slept well the night before, and this body of hers, still so childlike, craved sleep intensely.
"When Splendid Aqua realized that accelerating wasn't closing the gap, her confidence began to crumble bit by bit. Mental state is incredibly important in a race; the final stretch is really a test of an Uma Musume's willpower."
"That's why she ended up nearly ten lengths behind you. Otherwise, with her ability, she could have kept it to within four lengths... though she'd still have been second, of course."
Noticing the lack of sound behind her, Agnes Digital turned around to see Platinum leaning sideways against the pillow, her head drooping slightly, emitting the even breaths of sleep.
She was just a kid, barely into her adolescence.
Agnes Digital pressed her lips together in a soft smile and wrapped an arm around Platinum's neck, intending to lay her down properly on the bed for a stable nap—
A small, transparent medicine bottle tumbled out from Platinum's tilted pocket onto Agnes Digital's bed.
The few pills inside rattled softly with the impact.
Seeing those pills, Agnes Digital's movements froze instantly.
--+--
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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.