The term "Horse Girl" or "Uma Musume" refers to girls born with unusual physical characteristics horse ears and a tail. Their physical abilities surpass those of ordinary humans by three times. They were born to run, for the victories that lie ahead...
At Tracen Academy, a place for these "Uma" to train and become ideal Horse Girls.
"Hah... hah... hah... hah..."
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed at the academy's entrance gate. A girl in a green uniform, greeting the Uma and trainers, noticed the newcomer and spoke up.
"Good morning, Special Week."
"Mmmph! (Good morning!)"
Special Week, with a carrot in her mouth, mumbled a morning greeting to Tazuna Hayakawa. Not long after, a man followed the same path to the academy's front gate.
"Good morning, Mr. Hayato. And welcome to Tracen, officially," Tazuna said, turning to smile at Hayato. The tall man, wearing thick dark sunglasses, adjusted them slightly and returned the greeting.
"Good morning to you too, Miss Tazuna. I'm surprised you remember my name."
He was tall genuinely tall, over 190 cm. With his cool, dark sunglasses, white hair, and a face that seemed either annoyingly handsome or just plain annoying, it was part of his charm.
"Of course. It's part of my job, Mr. Hayato."
"Right, right. Well, I'll be going now~" he said with a slightly teasing tone, joking with her briefly before walking inside, muttering something under his breath.
The scene shifted inside the academy. It seemed all the Horse Girls were preparing to attend their scheduled classes... but of course, not everyone was going, right?
"Hmm... So the Mock Race is in the afternoon? It's still early morning. Guess I'll take a walk and explore a bit before checking out the Mock Race."
With that, Hayato walked towards a place not far from the statue of the goddess. Arriving at the test race track, he glanced around briefly.
'Grass track, 1600 meters... I see? And another round on the dirt track, 1400 meters? Fair enough, since each Horse Girl has different specialties.'
After that thought, he walked closer to inspect the track, even touching the grass surface slightly.
'The ground is decent, no major issues. So the potential we rookie trainers get to see from the Horse Girls is quite substantial, huh? But still...'
He turned to look at something resembling a status window floating beside him.
[Trainer System]
[Name: Hayato Aisawa]
[Position: Rookie Trainer]
[Contracted Uma: None]
[PT: 80]
[Additional: Skill Shop, Items, Healing Items, Trainer Skills]
'It's been about seven months, huh...'
That's right. Hayato was someone from another world. He had died from cardiac arrest during a "Goon" session in November the last day of the month. Having endured the NNN (No Nut November) challenge, he finally couldn't hold back and decided to sacrifice the challenge for the happiness of being a man! But before he could even finish, he died of a heart attack? And to make matters worse, when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in another world. The technology here was somewhat inferior to his original world. Moreover, it was a world he was familiar with not from personal experience, but from anime and games: the world of Uma Musume! And coincidentally, he had ended up in the body of a man who looked incredibly handsome, almost like a carbon copy of Gojo Satoru!
During that time, he spent one month learning and adapting to the new world, two months studying to become a Horse Girl trainer and other related matters, and the remaining time applying to become a trainer. Luckily, since he was a city resident, the application process was somewhat streamlined. Normally, he would have had to attend a central trainer academy, but the previous owner of his body had already graduated, saving him a lot of time. Because of that, he could directly apply to become a trainer! But after passing the central trainer exam, he needed to find an academy to join, right? So, he chose Tracen. Although the first time he came, he had to face the student council president, Symboli Rudolf, the queen of dry humor. Things went smoothly, but damn, it was almost deadly!
Anyway, let's get back on track before it's too late.
"PT points probably come from training Uma and winning races, right? So that means I need to find an Uma to join my team. Preferably someone reliable... No, wait, I'm the trainer. I should be the one helping the Uma shine!"
Realizing he had spoken aloud, he coughed lightly, glad no one was around to hear. It wasn't time for people to gather for the Mock Race yet. He quickly walked away from the spot.
Time passed, and it was now 1:00 PM.
The track he had inspected in the morning was now properly set up to showcase the Uma's abilities. There were two tracks, and about seven rookie trainers had gathered around the edges to watch making eight, including Hayato. About nine to ten Uma were participating in the race.
"Whoa... Looks like there are quite a few interesting Uma, huh?"
"Right? I hope I can get a good one."
"Just hoping won't get you anywhere, you know?"
The rookie trainers chatted among themselves while Hayato observed the Uma.
'Wow, this is so exciting! Even though I've only watched Season 1 and played the game a bit, seeing it in real life is way more thrilling!!'
Hayato watched the three starting gates, where Uma like Amazon stood holding the finish flag, and another Uma waited for the announcement to start running. And in that instant
Click!
Once all the Uma were in position and ready to run, the sound of the starting gate opening echoed, signaling the start of the test race.
While Hayato was captivated by the excitement, the other trainers were carefully evaluating each Uma. As for Hayato, he wasn't too concerned—they would probably try to recruit the top three first anyway.
'Each Uma really has their own unique running style, huh...'
The race continued to the finish line. It wasn't hard to guess what happened next. Shortly after the race ended, all the rookie trainers rushed over to recruit the top 1-3 finishers immediately. Hayato also walked over, but not because he wanted to recruit anyone—he just wanted to observe the other Uma casually. Naturally, he came across one Uma who finished in 4th place. However, it seemed like she hadn't even been serious about the race. Curious, he used his system to scan her.
[Name: Seiun Sky]
[Track Preference: Turf A / Dirt G]
[Distance: Short G / Mile C / Medium A / Long A]
[Running Style: Front A / Pace B / Late D / End E]
'From what I can see, her basic stats aren't bad, but they're not the best for a 1600-meter grass track, which is considered a Mile distance. It seems she tried to use a front-running strategy but failed because others overtook her?'
While he was processing this, Seiun, who had noticed the tall man staring at her for a while (though she couldn't be sure because of his dark sunglasses), spoke up.
"Hey, Trainer. If you're looking for someone who runs well, you should hurry and recruit one of the top three before someone else takes them. I'm really not that good."
Her tone was lazy and devoid of energy, as if saying she wasn't worth the attention. But he chose to ignore that for now and walked over to her. He spoke calmly.
"What you said is true, but I'm not interested in that. I only care about my own assessments. And you after thinking for less than a minute, I've made my decision. I choose you to be my Uma!"
His firm declaration was loud enough only for Seiun to hear. She paused for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, before turning to reply.
"Is that so? Well then, I'll be in your care, Trainer."
She responded in her usual relaxed manner, though there was a slight hint of relief in her tone at least she had found a trainer.
Shortly after Seiun accepted, the system updated immediately.
[Trainer System]
[Name: Hayato Aisawa]
[Position: Rookie Trainer]
[Contracted Uma: Seiun Sky]
[PT: 260 (+180 PT)]
[Additional: Skill Shop, Items, Healing Items, Trainer Skills]
[Name: Seiun Sky]
[Track Preference: Turf A / Dirt G]
[Distance: Short G / Mile C / Medium A / Long A]
[Running Style: Front A / Pace B / Late D / End E]
[Stats: Spd 289 / Sta 310 / Pow 260 / Guts 196 / Wit 239]
'So, I can only see the detailed stats after they join the team, huh?'
The afternoon sun was still shining brightly over the track as Hayato glanced at the newly updated system window before closing it quietly. He looked sideways at the blue haired Uma, who still seemed as nonchalant as ever, but the slight twitch of her ears betrayed a hint of excitement.
"Well... I suppose I should introduce myself properly?" Hayato began, scratching his cheek lightly. "I'm Hayato Aisawa. I may be a rookie trainer, but I'll do my best. Looking forward to working with you, Seiun."
The blue-haired Uma looked at him languidly, as if bored or tired or something. She let out a soft sigh before speaking in a calm, slow, but friendly tone.
"Mhm... I'm Seiun Sky. Glad to have a trainer take me in. Nice to meet you."
"Okay, let's go sign the documents then, before it gets any later," Hayato said, pointing towards the school building.
The two walked side by side along the brick path of Tracen Academy. Other Uma passed by, their ears swaying in the wind, and the hallway was filled with the sound of chatter, yet the atmosphere felt surprisingly relaxed.
Hayato glanced sideways and saw Seiun walking unhurriedly, her hands behind her back, as calm as if she were strolling in a park rather than having just finished a race.
"You always seem so relaxed, don't you?" he asked with a slight smile.
"Something like that... But I do get tired. Still, it's not like it's going to kill me or anything," Seiun replied lazily.
"Sigh... If you keep saying things like that, I'll have to keep a close eye on you. You'll probably try to sneak off to sleep during training."
Before long, the two arrived at the student council room. The dark wooden door slid open, revealing a neat and orderly office. And of course, the first person seated at the central desk was a girl with an aura of seriousness Symboli Rudolf.
"Come in, Trainer Aisawa," Rudolf said, adjusting her glasses slightly. "And you too, Seiun Sky."
Hayato smiled awkwardly but tried to maintain his composure as he walked in with Seiun. The signing process didn't take long. Rudolf checked everything meticulously, as expected, before handing the folder back to Hayato.
"Everything is in order. You two are now officially a trainer-Uma pair. Do your best and ensure no one looks down on the central district."
"Thank you, President," Hayato bowed.
"Mhm... Thanks..." Seiun bowed her head slightly, just following etiquette.
After leaving the room, the door closed behind them. The two walked along the quiet hallway for a while until the blue-haired Uma tilted her head to look at him.
"So... Trainer, what do you want me to do next?" she asked in a lazy voice, but her eyes seemed to be waiting for his instructions. Hearing this, Hayato pushed his sunglasses up, tapping the frame lightly with his finger, unintentionally striking a cool pose.
"You just finished running. How could I make you train more right after? If an Uma overexerts herself or gets injured during training, it's a big deal. Your recovery is harder than a normal person's."
Seiun blinked slowly, as if her eye movements were trying to say something, but all she managed was, "Is that so..."
"Of course. That's basic knowledge for a trainer," he said, his tone growing more serious. "Take the rest of the day off. Rest and recover. Tomorrow, I'll prepare a new training schedule for you... tailored to your style."
The blue-haired Uma narrowed her eyes slightly, as if assessing him, before giving a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
"...Mhm. Then I'll be in your care, Trainer."
"Alright, get ready. I'll definitely help you shine on the track."
Seiun chuckled softly in her throat, as if pleased with his words. The two continued walking along the afternoon path. The atmosphere between the rookie trainer and the Uma who had just become a pair started simply... but filled with a sense that their story had only just begun.