The next day, morning.
Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond came outside the school early in the morning.
If they were going to run a mock race, the school's training grounds would actually be more suitable.
But Kitasan Black didn't want to reveal her abilities in front of others, so they could only choose to come outside the school for this match.
Kitasan Black glanced at Satono Diamond beside her, whose face was full of excitement.
"Let me make this clear first—I'll only race you this once."
Don't think you can milk this leverage for the rest of her life.
If she was really pushed too far, it wasn't like she had no other options.
She just didn't want to use extreme measures, which was why she had tried to resolve things through dialogue.
Even when threatened, she had still agreed to race Satono Diamond once.
But this was already the limit of what she could tolerate. If Satono Diamond continued any further, then she would truly come to hate Satono Diamond, and she would no longer restrict her own methods afterward.
"I understand. Also, what kind of person am I in your eyes, Kitasan-san? Do you really have to distrust me this much?"
Satono Diamond felt Kitasan Black had misunderstood her.
But looking at the Diamond ojou-sama who was now all innocent-looking and adorable, Kitasan Black couldn't help but internally retort—It's precisely because I know exactly what kind of person you are. And besides, who was it that had used this matter to threaten her last night?
Satono Diamond didn't know what Kitasan Black was thinking at this moment.
While doing warm-up exercises, she asked Kitasan Black, "What should we use instead of a starting signal?"
Kitasan Black took out her water bottle.
"We'll use this. I'll count down three-two-one, then throw the bottle in the air. When it hits the ground, that means the race has started."
"You won't pull any tricks with that, will you?"
"Of course not."
"That's hard to say, because you're so good at deceiving people, Kitasan-san."
Kitasan Black was speechless.
Even if she really was a deceiver, she wouldn't stoop to pulling tricks on something like this.
Where did this ojou-sama get the confidence to think she needed such underhanded tactics to race her?
She could give this ojou-sama a head start and still couldn't possibly lose.
"To deal with you, I don't need underhanded tactics. Just let me know when you're ready."
"Understood."
Satono Diamond didn't immediately call start.
Though she did feel somewhat impatient right now, precisely because of that, she needed to be even more serious and give it her all.
She performed her series of warm-up exercises with extreme care, getting her body into the optimal racing state as quickly as possible.
Kitasan Black watched Satono Diamond's warm-up routine from the side and didn't urge her to hurry. She just stood there watching.
Seeing Kitasan Black not even doing warm-ups, Satono Diamond couldn't help asking, "Doesn't Kitasan-san need to prepare?"
She knew Kitasan Black was strong, but Kitasan Black's current behavior made it seem like she wasn't taking her seriously at all.
(Are you really that certain you can beat me?)
Thinking of the speed she had witnessed from Kitasan Black yesterday, Satono Diamond's mood grew somewhat heavy.
She would most likely lose this race, but she still had to show her own flair.
As a daughter of the Satomi family, she absolutely would not allow herself to lose too badly.
Hearing Satono Diamond's question, Kitasan Black replied calmly.
"I think to deal with you, this state of mine is already sufficient."
This time Kitasan Black was imitating a certain Demon King-senpai's manner of speaking.
She figured that to make herself unlikeable, she should probably use the Demon King-senpai's techniques.
After all, the Demon King-senpai had truly achieved the feat of isolating everyone all by herself.
Though the current Demon King-senpai no longer had her former glory, and had even fallen so far as to become McQueen-senpai's lackey—
The Demon King-senpai had at least been glorious in the past. Her successful experience was still worth emulating.
Looking at Kitasan Black mimicking the Demon King-senpai's bearing, Satono Diamond once again felt something similar to last night's sensation.
"Kitasan-san!"
Satono Diamond excitedly ran up in front of Kitasan Black.
Seeing Satono Diamond's reaction, Kitasan Black sensed something was wrong and instinctively took a small step back.
But Satono Diamond immediately closed the distance.
"Stop, whatever you want to say, say it from there!"
Kitasan Black raised her hand to stop Satono Diamond from coming closer.
"Just now, Kitasan-san—you were really cool."
Satono Diamond's big eyes sparkled, looking very cute.
Though she didn't know which version of Kitasan Black was the real one, the feelings she was experiencing were definitely real.
Whether it was the warmhearted Kitasan-san she saw yesterday morning helping passersby, the somewhat melancholic Kitasan-san she saw last night, or the domineering Kitasan-san she just saw—they all had a special appeal!
Kitasan Black: "..."
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The Diamond ojou-sama's attitude had changed so drastically all of a sudden. This was just too strange.
Not long ago, when the Diamond ojou-sama looked at her, there was still a very obvious malice deep in her eyes.
But starting this morning, she could no longer see that malice in Satono Diamond's eyes at all.
What had happened to cause Satono Diamond's attitude toward her to change so dramatically?
And at this point, what was this ojou-sama still doing acting cute in front of her?
Thinking of how Satono Diamond had looked yesterday when domineeringly threatening her, Kitasan Black didn't find Satono Diamond cute at all.
This ojou-sama was definitely black inside if you cut her open.
"Are you ready? If you are, let's begin."
Kitasan Black deliberately acted like she wanted to start the race right now.
She knew, of course, that Satono Diamond wasn't actually ready yet, but this ojou-sama was talking too much. She needed to scare her a little.
"Not yet, wait a bit more."
Satono Diamond said hurriedly, then quickly returned to her warm-up state.
Seeing the Diamond ojou-sama go back to preparing, Kitasan Black said nothing more.
She hadn't expected that even the Demon King-senpai's techniques would be ineffective against this ojou-sama.
Kitasan Black felt sad.
Neither McQueen-senpai's nor the Demon King-senpai's techniques worked.
Could it be she'd have to use Teio-senpai's or Rice Shower-senpai's techniques?
That would be even more useless.
After all, Teio-senpai's persona was like a fairy-tale prince.
Using Teio-senpai's approach would probably just raise affection levels even higher.
As for Rice Shower-senpai—Rice Shower-senpai had absolutely no experience in this area for her to reference, since Rice Shower-senpai had social anxiety.
And if she imitated the Overlord version of Rice Shower-senpai, probably just one glare would be enough to suffocate anyone with a weak will.
So among all her senpais' templates, Kitasan Black still felt McQueen-senpai's template was the most useful.
Because McQueen-senpai's template truly had no flaws.
As for raising affection levels—that wasn't McQueen-senpai's fault. These young ladies just had something wrong with their heads!
Though her expression remained unchanged, Kitasan Black's mood wasn't actually that calm right now.
Because when facing Satono Diamond, she had run out of techniques to use.
Her senpais' techniques were so excellent, yet she had bungled everything.
What to do? She suddenly wanted to just give up on everything.
She couldn't even handle an elementary schooler. Kitasan Black began to doubt whether her choices had been wrong.
Was becoming an uma musume really the right decision for her?
After all, among uma musume competitors, there were plenty of people more difficult to deal with than the current Diamond ojou-sama.
Could she really handle them in the future? Maybe she should just give up on becoming an uma musume?
"I'm ready, Kitasan-san!"
Satono Diamond's voice roused Kitasan Black from her wandering thoughts.
Hearing this, Kitasan Black nodded and said listlessly, "Then let's begin."
If McQueen and the others were here, they would probably be able to see that this kid had reverted back to her original attitude.
Before, though she had wanted to become an uma musume for better slacking, at least that version of Kitasan Black had developed some motivation. But now, Kitasan Black was starting to want to retreat again.
Why bother working hard? Even without becoming an uma musume, wouldn't having Mom and Dad support me be pretty good slacking too?
As for failing to pass Story Mode and McQueen-senpai and the others getting angry—
So what?
It's not like the senpais can enter this world anyway.
And most importantly, she fundamentally didn't enjoy racing.
The instant she stepped onto the starting line, that hollow feeling in Kitasan Black's heart grew even stronger.
She felt no joy whatsoever. Standing here, all she could feel was emptiness.
Kitasan Black glanced at Satono Diamond beside her, face full of anticipation.
Was running really something that joyful?
Knowing full well she would lose, yet still showing that expression.
Kitasan Black really doubted whether Satono Diamond understood what she was doing.
She wanted her to use her real ability to race, right?
"Kitasan-san, what are you looking at me for? Start already. I really am ready."
"You can still back out now. If you insist on racing me, you'll definitely regret it afterward. You might even give up your dream of becoming an uma musume because of this race."
Kitasan Black gave one final warning.
She genuinely wanted Satono Diamond to give up right now.
Even if Satono Diamond went to race active professional uma musume, it would be better than racing her.
Because if she raced her, she would truly fall into despair afterward.
"Don't underestimate me, Kitasan-san. And when you say it like that, it actually makes me look forward to it even more!"
"Hah... How boring. Then as you wish."
Kitasan Black's cold tone at this moment came from the heart, no longer any pretense.
Satono Diamond felt Kitasan Black's entire aura had changed.
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
The water bottle flew high, spinning through the air before falling toward the ground.
The moment she heard the bottle hit the ground, both of them sprinted from the starting line simultaneously.
Satono Diamond felt her condition was excellent, but in the next moment a black shadow shot past her.
Even starting at the same time, the gap was enormous.
Expression hollow, Kitasan Black had already left Satono Diamond's figure behind the instant they started.
Shadows appeared in her eyes at this moment.
After taking the lead, what came next was absolute domination!
(As expected, this is the result.)
Even using only a tenth of her ability, it wasn't something Satono Diamond could contend with.
Too weak.
Though this world was indeed an upgraded world, so what?
Her senpais were all the world's strongest uma musume!
And having inherited this power, even as just a fake, she wasn't someone the uma musume of this world could challenge.
Even if she wasn't a true uma musume, this inherited power was undoubtedly the strongest!
Because this was her senpais' power—the power of the world's strongest!
What right did any of you have to compete with me, who possessed this power?
Within her hollow eyes, countless shadows accumulated. The course of the race was completely controlled by Kitasan Black.
McQueen-senpai's leading. The Demon King-senpai's explosive power. Teio-senpai's all-around strength. And Rice Shower-senpai's inherited tenacious spirit!
If she hadn't perfectly inherited these powers, then perhaps someone might be able to challenge her.
But unfortunately—
She, Kitasan Black, had perfectly inherited all these powers. She could even produce effects similar to her senpais' ZONE.
Precisely because of this, she found uma musume racing so utterly boring.
As long as she stepped onto the track, she would become an [Absolute Destroyer]!
She would effortlessly crush those uma musume's worldviews and dreams!
Opponents? Before this supreme power, there simply wasn't anything that could be called an opponent.
By now, Kitasan Black had completely shaken off Satono Diamond.
Even without having reached maturity yet, the current Kitasan Black had the ability to compete with professional uma musume.
If she used skills, she could even defeat professional uma musume in battle.
For Satono Diamond to challenge her now was simply not knowing her own place.
(This is what you wanted to see. I've granted your wish—but can you handle it?!)
Not bothering at all with the lagging Satono Diamond, Kitasan Black continued her lead.
Skills, domain imitation—none of these techniques were being used.
But even just the gap in attributes and experience was enough for her to crush Satono Diamond.
A crushing defeat! But it wasn't just a crushing defeat!
Because Satono Diamond couldn't even chase her shadow!
From behind, Satono Diamond watched the widening gap, watched Kitasan Black's ever-advancing figure, her heart shaken beyond measure. She had already pushed her own speed to the limit, and even her body was beginning to strain.
But she couldn't catch up at all.
From the moment the race began, the gap between them had been constantly widening.
She had never seen such dominant leading!
Right now, she could barely even see Kitasan Black's silhouette anymore.
(How can this be... Is this Kitasan-san's true ability?)
Satono Diamond couldn't believe it.
After all, she and Kitasan-san were peers of similar age, and classmates too.
Even if there was a gap in ability, there shouldn't be such an enormous difference.
And she wasn't some mediocre student either.
Satono Diamond knew clearly that while she wasn't some monster, she was at least a genius.
So what was going on with this situation?
This race was completely different from the heated competition she had imagined.
Right now she couldn't feel any passion whatsoever.
All she could feel now was coldness.
Even though they were on the same track, she now felt something different.
She and that person were not the same.
She and the person ahead of her—they had never been beings from the same world to begin with!
Was Kitasan Black the destined rival of her fate?
That monster?
Satono Diamond suddenly felt her previous thoughts had been rather laughable.
The race ended quickly. After Kitasan Black revealed just a bit of her true ability, Satono Diamond couldn't even chase her shadow. She waited at the finish line for quite a while before finally seeing the shell-shocked Satono Diamond arrive.
Recalling how the Diamond ojou-sama had looked before the race, then looking at her now, Kitasan Black felt disappointed.
See? She had said it would turn out this way. That's why she had deliberately kept her distance from them.
"Now you understand, right? The race is over. Don't ever bring this up again, and don't approach me anymore!"
Kitasan Black figured the Diamond ojou-sama must be terrified by now.
Though the Diamond ojou-sama's mental maturity was surprisingly precocious, being so easily crushed in her area of expertise—she must be very hurt right now.
Actually, she knew that if she had done this earlier, she might have been able to distance herself from the Diamond ojou-sama long ago.
But looking at the Diamond ojou-sama's current state—that look of questioning her existence—it really was pitiable.
Would she just give up racing like this?
It was precisely because of such worries that Kitasan Black had chosen not to use this method from the start.
If her opponent were a professional uma musume, then crushing them wouldn't matter.
As McQueen-senpai said, racing was a battlefield.
Since you stepped onto the racetrack carrying dreams and ambitions you wanted to fulfill, even if you were crushed by your opponent, that was something you couldn't complain about.
But what Kitasan Black was facing now were still just elementary schoolers.
Even if they might become uma musume in the future, right now they weren't yet.
That's why she would rather put up all those meaningless pretenses, just to get through elementary school peacefully.
But the Diamond ojou-sama had gone to great lengths to see her true abilities.
Now she had seen them. And the result? Regret, right?
"..."
Satono Diamond couldn't speak.
It wasn't just because she had used up all her stamina in that race.
Another reason was that her emotions right now were truly in chaos.
The ability Kitasan Black had just displayed far exceeded her imagination.
She could only think of two words to describe Kitasan Black's ability: Monster.
Kitasan Black looked at the dazed Satono Diamond, wanted to say something, but ultimately gave up.
Better observe for a while first.
If Satono Diamond really gave up on becoming an uma musume because of this race, she would intervene then.
For now, she would let Satono Diamond maintain her fear of her.
Though this decision was somewhat cold-hearted—
Kitasan Black was actually somewhat angry too.
Because this whole thing had been entirely provoked by Satono Diamond.
Though she hadn't shown it before, anyone who encountered someone like this—who wanted to pry into her secrets and use those secrets to threaten her—would find them annoying.
If not for the lingering affection the "Player" had left behind for the game's uma musume—
With what Satono Diamond had done previously, Kitasan Black should have been unable to tolerate such a Satono Diamond long ago.
But even so, seeing Satono Diamond like this now, Kitasan Black couldn't feel happy about it.
Because she truly hated this kind of thing.
Even if Satono Diamond had brought this upon herself, she still felt very uncomfortable.
Unable to bear this oppressive mood, Kitasan Black chose not to look at Satono Diamond right now.
Even after Kitasan Black left, Satono Diamond remained standing there, shell-shocked.
This race had dealt her a huge blow.
Because it was completely different from the race she had initially imagined.
She had thought she would see the hidden brilliance of Kitasan Black in this race.
But that kind of thing...
Brilliance did exist.
But that brilliance was too blinding.
Gazing at the sun from the ground and touching the sun were two different concepts.
If you felt sunlight while standing on the ground, it was indeed warm and comfortable.
But if you tried to approach the sun, what you would feel was the great terror that could incinerate everything in an instant.
What Satono Diamond felt right now was exactly like that.
She had still underestimated Kitasan Black.
Even though she had mentally prepared herself to lose before the race, reality had still exceeded her expectations.
Before such absolute difference in ability, any flutter of the heart was meaningless.
Because just as Kitasan-san had said—
They were people from different worlds.
Satono Diamond couldn't control her emotions right now.
By the time she came to her senses, she discovered tears had already streamed down her face without her knowing when.
It felt like something had ended before it even began.
Whatever thoughts she'd had before, after this race, they had all become meaningless.
Kitasan-san's leading—she couldn't catch up to it.
(So this is why Kitasan-san hid her abilities...)
Because it would cause disappointment.
She recalled Kitasan Black's expression when the race had ended just now.
She had thought Kitasan Black hid her abilities for some special reason, and had even been thinking that when they got to know each other better in the future, she would ask Kitasan Black for the answer to that question. But now she already knew the answer.
The reason Kitasan-san hid her abilities wasn't for herself at all.
It was simply because she didn't want to hurt those around her that Kitasan Black had chosen to disguise herself.
Thinking of how Kitasan Black had looked yesterday helping strangers, Satono Diamond knew this was probably the true answer.
Because fundamentally, Kitasan-san wasn't such a cold-hearted person.
It was just... the power Kitasan-san possessed was simply too overwhelming.
Satono Diamond wiped her tears and walked dejectedly toward the school.
She didn't know what attitude she should face Kitasan-san with going forward.
Perhaps, as Kitasan-san said, maintaining things as they were before would be best.
Right now, she had no confidence to approach Kitasan Black.
Living alongside such a monster—could she really maintain her sense of self?
(Crown, you and I were both wrong.)
Had they both been mistaken, confusing the trembling of fear with the flutter of destiny?
That elevated feeling—perhaps it wasn't telling them to approach Kitasan-san, but to stay away?
She didn't understand. She truly didn't understand anymore!
But there was one thing she could assert right now: they couldn't possibly be rivals to that monster.
...
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