Under the [explanation] provided by Gold Ship and Tokai Teio, Nishizaki Ryu and [Gold Ship] finally learned where they'd come from.
The strongest in a world — beings who had transcended every era, past and present. Transcenders of their own worlds. That was why they'd been granted the privilege of crossing between worlds.
Honestly, it was a tall story to swallow. But Gold Ship and the others were standing right in front of them — fact, not fiction. And though they hadn't yet seen what these four could actually do, they could feel it. That pressure, heavier than the student council president's, was proof enough.
Nishizaki Ryu drew a deep breath and asked the question on his mind.
"Then that Kitasan Black... she's the same?"
The previous Kitasan Black had said it herself — in her world, she'd never lost a race. And in Nishizaki Ryu's understanding, uma musume who retired with unblemished records could be counted on one hand in all of history. So the possibility that she was her world's strongest wasn't absurd at all.
Gold Ship hesitated at the question. Truthfully, she couldn't swear the little brat had never lost. And if she had lost, did she really qualify as a Transcender of her world?
But beside her, Tokai Teio nodded with total confidence. "That's right!"
Like McQueen, Teio had already noticed what was different about Kita-chan now. Unlike Gold Ship, who couldn't be bothered with subtleties, Teio's perception was actually the sharpest of the group. Teio was the ultimate, all-rounder uma musume — even in fields beyond racing she pushed herself to the peak, including considerable talent as a trainer.
"..."
Gold Ship shot Teio a look. And realized, to her dismay, that Teio was being completely sincere.
What the heck?
Why does everyone seem to believe in that little brat? Am I seriously the only one who hasn't seen through her act?
Gold Ship felt a sudden, unpleasant lurch in her stomach. McQueen's earlier attitude had been the same.
It wasn't that Gold Ship lacked the ability for that kind of perception. She was just the type who preferred real, live combat over careful observation. Put simply, she'd never bothered developing that skill because it wouldn't help her win races. McQueen, in contrast, handled everything outside of racing with the same diligence. And Teio wanted to excel at literally anything she touched.
Gold Ship was different. She was laser-focused on racing. Nothing else really registered. Ever since she'd lost to McQueen, Gold Ship had been utterly consumed by the pursuit of racing.
When Nishizaki Ryu heard Teio's answer, he believed her on the spot. If it had been Gold Ship making the claim, he might have suspected a prank — even though this Gold Ship looked nothing like [Gold Ship], his first impression ran too deep.
Tokai Teio was a different matter. The way she carried herself felt upright and dignified. There was something inherently trustworthy about her — like the student council president. So even though the story was hard to believe, he was already seventy, eighty percent convinced.
McQueen had nothing to say to that. She'd said she didn't want to expose their secret or the System — but she'd never said anything about fabricating a fake identity. Still, awkward as it was, on reflection the "Transcender" framing wasn't entirely false. They really were the strongest in each of their worlds. In their own worlds, they had the confidence to beat even the legendary monsters of history back from the dead. On top of that, their abilities had genuinely exceeded the ceiling of their respective worlds — they were cheating, after all. So aside from the fact that the name "Transcender" was a bit chuuni, everything Teio had said was arguably true. McQueen decided silence was her best option.
Rice Shower, meanwhile, was so embarrassed she wanted to claw at her toes. It wasn't that she lacked confidence — "world's strongest" wasn't a stretch for her either — but openly bragging about it like this was mortifying. Still, underneath her embarrassment, Rice Shower found herself admiring her two senpai. That kind of confidence was dazzling.
"Could you tell us more about yourselves?" Nishizaki Ryu asked curiously.
The others were equally curious — especially [Tokai Teio] and [Mejiro McQueen]. The moment they'd laid eyes on their other selves, a strange, powerful feeling had stirred in their chests. Like looking at the version of yourself you'd always dreamed of becoming.
Tokai Teio smiled. "Of course."
Telling stories about herself? That was literally her specialty.
Posturing like the wind — it was practically instinct at this point.
Gold Ship stared flatly at the one who'd just stolen her spotlight. Sure, she'd opened this conversation, but now Teio had seized the center of the stage. That said — Gold Ship didn't particularly want to tell stories anyway.
What followed was Teio regaling Nishizaki Ryu and the rest of this world's Team Spica with their tales: the McQueen who had achieved the "One Horse Leads, All Others Pale" accomplishment in her own world; the Demon King who'd beaten down the entire planet and conquered even the Arc de Triomphe; Teio herself — the ultimate Tokai Teio who transcended every era, past and present; and the [Overlord] Rice Shower, powerful enough to make the world itself tremble—
Nishizaki Ryu and the others started listening seriously. By the end, they were wide-eyed and slack-jawed.
The stories were just too much. Things Nishizaki Ryu couldn't have even imagined.
And it was around then that it clicked for them: these four weren't from the same world. They were Transcenders from different parallel worlds. Special Week looked a little lost on the "parallel world" concept, but everyone else grasped it well enough — modern fiction was full of that kind of setting in novels and films. They just hadn't expected something that was purely fantasy on paper to actually be real.
It was hard to believe. But with the proof standing right in front of them, they had to accept it, at least in part.
"So yeah — as for Kita-chan, she's also the strongest of her world. I don't know her exact record, but one thing I can say for certain: in terms of sheer ability, Kita-chan is absolutely the strongest in her world!"
During her storytelling earlier, Teio had already covered it: the so-called "strongest" and "Transcender" titles weren't about career records. After all, none of them had retired yet. None of them had even raced three full years. Retirement was still a long way off.
If you insisted on comparing records, well, her own meager "unbeaten Triple Crown" would be a little embarrassing to drop in this company. In terms of actual competitive record, Gold Ship was the strongest of them — a veteran of countless Demon King campaigns who'd run the Arc de Triomphe. But records were hollow numbers.
The actual strength ranking, as things stood, was: McQueen first, then Rice Shower. Then herself and Gold Ship. Teio simply hadn't fully developed her capabilities yet — she hadn't even fully awakened ZONE. And Gold Ship, because of her reckless mistakes in her youth, had capped her own potential. In their internal scuffles, Gold Ship was missing a ZONE skill from her skill panel. She'd since given up on ZONE entirely and was instead tinkering with some "Overload Mode" of her own.
So career records really weren't worth getting hung up on — or so Teio claimed.
Truth be told, though, her hands were a bit tied. After clearing a Story Mode world, time synchronized across every world. Even if she wanted to race, she had to wait until the actual race dates arrived. So was she just declining to brag about her record?
No. There was nothing to brag about.
So she had to invent some new framing to paper over the fact that her competitive record was thin. Nishizaki Ryu and the others bought it. But both McQueen and Gold Ship saw right through what Teio was covering up. Gold Ship responded with nothing more than a scornful cold laugh. McQueen genuinely didn't care. Rice Shower didn't even question it — in her heart, Senior Teio is really really strong! And Senior Gold Ship too. (Gold Ship, who'd been beaten up more than once: ...)
Just as Nishizaki Ryu's group was reeling from it all, [Gold Ship] suddenly noticed a blind spot.
"Wait. So that means you all are actually younger than us, right?"
Her side had been racing for four or five years now — real veterans. Teio and the others had been in the game less than three.
Nishizaki Ryu stared at his teammate, speechless. What does that have to do with anything? And if these girls were already this strong at such a young age, wasn't that even more impressive?
But [Gold Ship] was [Gold Ship]. Her focus was always on the weirdest details.
"Hmph. Your focus is as bizarre as ever. Shouldn't you be asking why I'm the world's strongest and you're not?"
Gold Ship opened with full sarcasm. A vein throbbed on [Gold Ship]'s forehead.
Kitasan Black, now in her performance outfit, emerged from the locker room — and was startled to find everyone still waiting.
"You're really going to go up on that stage?"
Gold Ship's eyes went to Kitasan Black's outfit. Is this really the Kita-chan I know?
"It'd mess up the other me's life if I didn't."
Kitasan Black shook her head. She definitely didn't want to go up. But not going up would cause real problems for [Kita-chan].
"..."
It hadn't actually occurred to Gold Ship that her little sister might be such a decent kid. They hadn't spent all that much time together, and during that time, Kitasan Black had acted like a textbook slacker. Gold Ship had never really gotten a deeper read on her.
"Hmph. Then I'll look forward to your performance."
Gold Ship's tone had softened out of nowhere.
Kitasan Black gave her a puzzled look. Strange. Am I imagining it? There was something loaded in the way Senior Gold Ship was looking at her. Like anticipation. Like fighting spirit.
No way.
Senior Gold Ship doesn't want to race me, does she?
The moment that possibility crossed her mind, Kitasan Black felt her soul leave her body. She genuinely had never wanted to race her seniors.
"I really don't think you should expect too much. Today isn't even my show."
Kitasan Black said it meekly. She would honestly prefer it if Senior Gold Ship went back to looking down on her the way she used to.
Gold Ship only laughed coldly and said nothing more. She wasn't thrilled with Kitasan Black's attitude, but change was change. Change meant this brat wasn't a lost cause after all.
Seeing the look on Senior Gold Ship's face, Kitasan Black had one clear thought: I'm done for.
She'd been marked by Senior Gold Ship. She did not want that. Senior Gold Ship was genuinely the worst kind of trouble.
Win or lose, you got latched onto. Win, and you became her target, to be hunted down with terrifying intensity. Lose, and — unless you'd shown zero potential at all — you became a "hero candidate" to be scrutinized and drilled mercilessly.
Senior Gold Ship was a demon of a person.
McQueen, watching this unfold, curled the corner of her mouth up slightly. She too was looking forward to seeing Kita-chan's potential fully realized. The current Kita-chan hadn't even awakened ZONE yet. Her stat sheet wasn't at its ceiling either. And yet, even now, she gave McQueen the feeling that she wasn't falling behind any of them. Wasting talent like that would be unforgivable.
And — McQueen wanted an opponent who could apply real pressure to her. When Teio and Gold Ship teamed up against her, yes, they could put some pressure on her. The problem was that those two couldn't genuinely cooperate. The moment they stepped onto a racecourse, even Rice Shower — the mildest-tempered of them — transformed into a victory-crazed monster. True, heartfelt teamwork was simply not something they could pull off. They had the ability and experience to compete as a team. They just lacked the concept of teamwork.
Besides, in uma musume racing, teamwork didn't really exist in the first place. Not among the strong, anyway. Only the weak resorted to it.
After that came the Winner's Stage performance.
Drained as she was, Kitasan Black dutifully saw the whole thing through. Floating behind her, [Kita-chan] was profoundly grateful. Thanks to this sudden turn of events, [Kita-chan] hadn't even had time to sink into self-pity. If Kitasan Black hadn't crossed over, [Kita-chan]'s mental state after losing the race would have gone exactly where you'd expect — disappointment and sadness, no question. She was just that kind of girl.
After the performance, Duramente turned to Kitasan Black.
"Will you be entering the upcoming races?"
She didn't ask about [Kita-chan]'s racing schedule — because the one she actually wanted to defeat was the current Kitasan Black.
Watching this from behind, [Kita-chan] fell silent. So it was true. Duramente didn't consider her a rival at all. The thought made her mood sink.
Kitasan Black, meanwhile, was just annoyed. The Duramente in her own world was exactly like this — completely outmatched in raw ability, yet incapable of understanding the word "give up."
"I'm not the rival you should be watching."
A well-meaning warning. Because treating her as a rival was hopeless. And besides — based on Senior McQueen's experience — [Kita-chan] of this world might also grow through Kitasan Black's possession of her body. If Duramente kept underestimating [Kita-chan] like this, she was in for a nasty surprise.
Kitasan Black was curious, though. Had Duramente of this world actually broken past her fate?
Because normally, thanks to the influence of destiny, Duramente — even if she didn't break her leg and retire like her real-world counterpart — would still be plagued by illness throughout her career. Even the Duramente of Kitasan Black's own world had already fallen ill. The Duramente of this world was weaker in raw strength. Could it be that because this world was ranked lower, the influence of destiny was easier to break through here than in her own world?
Turning that over in her head, Kitasan Black didn't take Duramente's challenge seriously.
Duramente, for her part, only silently clenched her fists, eyes blazing with fighting spirit.
Clearly, she hadn't taken Kitasan Black's warning to heart either.
...
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