"She's insane! The Tyrant and Gentildonna are total pushovers—our Kitasan Black is on another level!"
"She's literally invincible at this point, right?"
"Even the Tyrant and Gentildonna together couldn't touch Kitasan Black—they got humiliated with outside placings. I seriously can't think of anyone in Japan who could challenge her right now."
"Bring back Duramente! Our girl can definitely win!"
"Give it up. Even Duramente probably couldn't do it. If she actually came back, her undefeated aura would just get shattered. Don't tell me you actually want to see that."
"She dominated the Tyrant and Gentildonna on a heavy track. Forget Duramente—even if you brought over Frankel or Venus Paques, they'd probably kneel. Maybe a reincarnation of Eclipse would have a shot. Secretariat is debatable."
"Honestly, it really is absurd. Who could've predicted that after her debut race, Kitasan Black would only get more dominant with each outing? Is she seriously still improving? I know she's a newcomer in her growth phase, but this is ridiculous. She's already this strong and she's getting stronger? Do the other racers even have a chance?"
"She's gotta be cheating, right?"
"Excuse me, she's just built different. Where's your proof?"
"Speaking of which—is Kitasan Black even going to bother with Classic-year races next year? She's not just going straight to the World Tour, is she? If she runs the Classics, I genuinely don't know how any of the other rookies are supposed to compete."
"Compete? Not getting lapped is already a win. Look—even the Tyrant and Gentildonna got outside placings. If you can just place, doesn't that technically mean you're stronger than them? Hilarious!"
"Okay, you guys are reaching now!"
"Aren't you all getting ahead of yourselves? The most important race for Kitasan Black right now is the upcoming Arima Kinen! That's the final leg of the Autumn Triple Crown! What's making you all disrespect the highest-level Grand Prix like this?"
"The Arima Kinen Grand Prix? That's a walk in the park for her."
"Surely nobody thinks our Kitasan Black can't win the Arima Kinen? Unless the governing body rigs it, I can't even imagine how she loses!"
...
The Japan Cup results sent Kitasan Black's popularity into the stratosphere once more.
Following her dominant victory at the Tenno Sho (Autumn), she had now captured the Japan Cup as well. Only one step remained before she'd achieve the legendary Autumn Triple Crown.
And this year's Kitasan Black was still just a debut-year racer—a newcomer who hadn't even entered her Classic year yet, on the verge of claiming the senior Triple Crown. It was absurdly unprecedented. If she succeeded, even if she retired on the spot, she'd be recognized as a true monarch of the sport.
And since uma musume virtually never retired this early unless their bodies failed them, her blindingly brilliant future was all but guaranteed.
Her promotional posters now lined every street. Electronics stores had her race highlights on loop. With the Japan Cup's perfect curtain call, Kitasan Black had become the nation's hottest star. Everyone was waiting to see if she could complete the impossible: winning the Autumn Triple Crown as a debut-year racer.
She didn't disappoint. Shortly after the Japan Cup, the official announcement came: Kitasan Black had confirmed her entry in the Arima Kinen Grand Prix.
The world erupted.
By now, Kitasan Black's following extended far beyond Japan. Her name and terrifying record had begun circulating in other countries—especially once her race footage was uploaded to international platforms. Horse enthusiasts worldwide were stunned. Even through a screen, her dominance was unmistakable.
That crushing power that steamrolled every opponent—it was beautiful.
Once you'd watched a Kitasan Black race, you couldn't look away.
That seemingly endless breakaway sprint felt like it could sweep you into a dazzling new world. And when you added her flawless Winner's Stage performances on top of that—could any fan really say no to this girl?
Of course not.
Her name echoed across the entire globe.
Before her debut, no one had imagined a girl could become a world superstar in her very first year. But there she was.
Born from humble roots. Virtually unknown before she debuted. To all appearances, just an ordinary girl from the countryside. Yet the moment she set foot on the track, she radiated the aura of an absolute monarch—as though she'd been born a legend of the sport. The vacant throne seemed to have finally found its true owner. No one questioned whether Kitasan Black had the strength to become the world's strongest.
How could you not love a girl like this?
The skeptics had been slapped in the face so many times by her overwhelming victories that they'd given up entirely. They'd never seen an uma musume this ridiculous—from her debut race through GI, every single outing ended in a blowout. It was monstrous.
After watching her race footage, fans naturally wanted to learn more about her life.
But to their frustration, information about Kitasan Black online was astonishingly scarce. People were shocked to discover that a racer on the cusp of the senior Triple Crown didn't have a single published interview or feature story. She didn't even have pre-race or post-race interview records. The fans were furious.
What is the URA and Tracen Academy even doing?
How dare you show so little respect to our great Kitasan Black?
No records. No interviews. Not even official merchandise. Was this acceptable?
Absolutely not!
A tidal wave of petitions and complaints crashed across the internet.
The association could only suffer in silence.
We've told you—Kitasan Black herself refuses!
But that explanation only drew more accusations. Was the association's attitude the problem? Were the terms they offered too poor?
Why else would Kitasan Black decline something so obviously beneficial?
Exactly. Under normal circumstances, that's how anyone would see it.
There was no logical reason for Kitasan Black to refuse.
So clearly, it couldn't be her fault.
Faced with these unreasonable fans, what could the association do? Arguing with people this far gone was pointless.
And they genuinely didn't understand what Kitasan Black was thinking either.
So they continued their daily pestering of Chairwoman Akikawa and Symboli Rudolf to resolve the situation—because this really couldn't be put off any longer.
But Symboli Rudolf had no good solution either. That girl was completely impervious to both carrots and sticks. She simply wouldn't cooperate. And if Rudolf wanted to apply pressure, she first had to consider whether she could actually compel Kitasan Black to do anything. This wasn't the helpless elementary schooler of years past.
What gave Symboli Rudolf the worst headaches, though, was Kitasan Black's trainer. That man had absolutely zero qualities befitting a trainer. He let Kitasan Black skip class every day, only trained when she felt like it, and despite holding the title of "trainer," spent his days acting as a personal butler and babysitter. He was an absolute disgrace to the profession!
And yet—because his assigned racer's results spoke for themselves—as long as his written exams passed, Rudolf couldn't block his promotion. She could only watch helplessly as this disgrace of a trainer cheerfully collected his advanced certification, beaming with pride.
The frustration was enough to give Symboli Rudolf an aneurysm.
Meanwhile, Kitasan Black found watching Rudolf's impotent fury absolutely delightful. She had so much money now that she didn't even know how to spend it. The income from interviews and merchandise could wait indefinitely.
Of course, she could only afford this attitude because she was absolutely certain she'd keep winning. Most uma musume didn't have that luxury. Fame was inherently unstable—no matter how impressive it looked now, one loss or one training injury could send it plummeting.
Take Symboli Rudolf, for example.
Her standing within the industry was undeniable—she was the Emperor of Japanese uma musume racing. But current fans weren't particularly enthusiastic about her. First, her overseas campaign results had been embarrassing. Second, she hadn't competed in ages. Her merchandise sales were, frankly, dismal. The Satomi family had once paid a fortune for her figurine licensing rights and lost badly on the investment.
That expensive lesson was exactly why the Satomi family had stopped buying uma musume merchandise rights so recklessly.
The market was just unpredictable.
Rudolf's merchandise only sold well among fellow uma musume. Regular fans had zero interest in purchasing it. By contrast, Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen—whose race records paled next to the Emperor's—had figurines that flew off shelves. The Satomi family's Rudolf bet had been spectacularly unlucky.
Even so, the family wasn't giving up on that business sector. Merchandise was genuinely profitable—a cloth doll that cost almost nothing to produce could sell at fifty or even a hundred times markup to dedicated fans. The Satomi family had already identified their new target: the world's hottest star, Kitasan Black.
Chairman Satomi was working on Kitasan Black's father. The family's two young ladies were tasked with securing Kitasan Black's personal consent. This time, the Satomi family would redeem themselves and recoup every yen they'd lost on the Emperor!
But the campaign hit an unexpected wall.
Kitasan Black's father believed the decision should be Kita-chan's alone. He'd serve as an advisor, but he absolutely wouldn't make decisions on her behalf as her guardian. He knew his daughter well—she might look easygoing about most things, but she was actually incredibly strong-willed.
No matter how Chairman Satomi pressed, he was politely turned away.
And the two Satomi young ladies?
It would be generous to say they'd taken any action at all. In truth, they hadn't even started.
Satono Diamond had gone off the deep end with her training.
Satono Crown was simply terrified.
Every time Crown saw Kitasan Black now, the pounding in her chest felt less like excitement and more like a death sentence approaching.
The more she'd once believed in destiny, the more desperately she now wanted to reject it.
She did not want to be Kitasan-san's rival!
At least until she'd broken the Satomi curse, she absolutely refused to face Kitasan-san in a race. Because once they met on the track, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.
She would lose.
It wasn't a lack of ambition.
The gap simply couldn't be bridged by willpower alone.
Even the Tyrant and Gentildonna had met that fate against Kitasan-san. She wasn't even a GI racer yet—what business did she have competing against Kitasan-san?
This was supposed to be her fated rival?
Goddesses above—you must be joking.
The Three Goddesses heard Satono Crown's plea and sympathized.
When they'd first seen Kitasan Black's lazy, unmotivated attitude, they'd assumed she truly had no competitive drive. They'd even considered using the threads of destiny to light a fire under her. But as expected of the one chosen by the System—no matter how listless she appeared in daily life, the moment she set foot on the track, the instinct to compete took over.
This kind of person needed no guidance.
That hunger for victory was inherited—passed down through the line.
But regarding Satono Crown's existential crisis, the Three Goddesses had no solution.
Uma musume inherited fragments of racehorse souls from another world—the System had simply added a few extra elements. So Satono Crown's racing heart wasn't the Goddesses' interference at all. It was the cry of her own soul, roaring to compete against Kitasan Black.
Destiny did exist in this world, but its corrective force was minimal.
Because it didn't need to be strong.
With the Three Goddesses present, the world's will could sit back and relax.
Concepts like "suppression force" or "destiny correction" were entirely superfluous.
That was exactly why some uma musume could defy their predetermined fates. If they truly had the resolve and put in the effort, miracles were genuinely achievable—because the world of uma musume was a fairy tale world where all dreams could come true, a world where the souls from that other reality could shine once more.
It was simply that most uma musume couldn't reach that level.
And so Satono Crown's prayer was destined to go unanswered.
This is the fated death you "yourself" have chosen.
Don't run. Charge forward.
...
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