Chapter 1: Start! Shining Pretty Girl!
[The protagonist's image is available in the related works section, or you can imagine it yourself.]
Japan, Aichi Prefecture, Toyoake City.
Early morning, on the main road just starting to get busy, a white figure was crouched by the roadside, tearing a piece of bread into strips and feeding it to a small white cat in front of her.
"I finally managed to get here this morning. At least this way, I won't miss the debut race registration because of buying running shoes," Chen Xing murmured to herself, watching the dirty stray cat voraciously tearing into the bread that was originally her own breakfast.
She was actually a transmigrator.
The original Chen Xing was a happy, silly university student who spent her days either attending classes or playing various mobile games. Then one day, she woke up to find herself reborn as an Uma Musume in this world, growing up slowly in an ordinary family.
And today was the day of her official debut race.
"I must earn the prize money," Chen Xing secretly resolved in her heart.
Until now, Chen Xing had practiced racing seriously for less than a month. Although she had gotten some exercise by delivering newspapers through running, it was nothing compared to professional racing.
As a transmigrator, originally male, Chen Xing was actually extremely unwilling to participate in so-called Uma Musume races. In her view, participating meant giving up her male psychological identity and admitting she was a female Uma Musume.
However, her family's financial situation had taken a turn for the worse. Her only relative—her older sister—was now lying in a hospital bed, needing money to continue treatment. She no longer had the luxury to be willful...
Due to the intervention of the Three Goddesses, this world was vastly different from the original one. Surprisingly, none of the knowledge Chen Xing had from her past life could be used to make money. The only method to obtain a large sum of money in a short time was this:
Race prize money.
In this world, in almost all Uma Musume races, placing within the top five earned prize money as a reward. Placing first or second allowed one to accumulate that prize money towards participating in higher-level races—in her memories of the original world, there were even cases where an Uma Musume, without winning a single race, still accumulated enough prize money by consistently placing in the top five.
This meant that if Chen Xing could debut successfully, then even without winning championships, she could earn money by participating in races, at least enough to maintain her sister's treatment costs.
In the eyes of the passersby, this Uma Musume crouched by the roadside was quite eye-catching.
She wore a set of old, worn-out sportswear, even her shoes were tattered, and there was mud on her trouser legs from running. But the girl's slender legs, beautiful face, and even the white-tipped, red-based ears on her head were very pleasing to the eye.
Sportswear
"That's easy to say, but first, I need to change my shoes... I need to at least get top five, preferably top two."
She placed the last piece of bread in front of the kitten, then looked down at the worn-out running shoes on her feet, feeling somewhat helpless.
In front of her was a bustling commercial street; this was the location of the specialty Uma Musume sports store she had found out about in advance.
Uma Musume require special shoes for running, which serve a function equivalent to horseshoes in the original world. These special shoes are said to bear the blessing of the Three Goddesses and are not easily damaged through wear and tear.
"I remember it's called... Teiai Sports Goods Store? I need to pick a good pair of shoes to avoid any mishaps in today's race."
Chen Xing stood up, took a handful of small notes soaked with sweat from her pocket, and struggled to read the slightly smudged writing.
"Are you also an Uma Musume here for the Nakayama debut race today?"
A lively and playful voice suddenly came from behind, interrupting Chen Xing's thoughts. She turned to look and found herself facing an unexpected yet familiar figure... or rather, Uma Musume?
A petite body, slender limbs, two small ears twitching and shaking, a brown-yellow ponytail with a strand of white bangs in the center, and a face full of bright smiles—
"Tokai Teio?!" Chen Xing subconsciously called out the girl's name.
Even after living in this world for several years, she hadn't forgotten her past life's memories, especially the parts related to Uma Musume. The girl before her was a highly popular character in the Uma Musume world, known as the undefeated genius, the indomitable Teio, Tokai Teio!
What did she just say... ['You're also here for the debut race']?
"Oh! Hello there, I'm Tokai Teio! I saw you feeding the kitten and wanted to come over and talk~"
The petite girl hopped cheerfully in place, introducing herself first.
"Oh, ah, hello! I'm..."
Just as Chen Xing was about to answer the girl's question, a loud shout suddenly interrupted her.
"Ah! Robbery! Someone's being robbed!!!"
Following this shrill cry, the previously orderly commercial street instantly fell into chaos.
Before the two could react, they saw a middle-aged man on a motorcycle rush out from within the street, brushing past the two Uma Musume standing there, and speeding away into the distance.
In that brief moment, Chen Xing also saw the man clutching a woman's handbag in his right hand. Immediately after, a woman wearing an apron squeezed out from the crowd, her face full of anxiety as she pointed at the retreating man and shouted:
"That man is a robber! Please, someone help catch him... That's our two weeks' worth of payment!"
"How interesting..."
The Tokai Teio in front of her showed a smile of interest. She adjusted the black glove on her left hand and turned to look at Chen Xing, the message in her eyes clear:
"Chase after him together?"
The fighting spirit revealed in those eyes was so intense that Chen Xing instinctively avoided Teio's direct gaze.
But even while avoiding those eyes, a sudden thrill ran through Chen Xing's heart.
At this moment, the furry white ears on her head stood fully erect. Even before she had time to think about how to pursue, her body had already subconsciously moved.
Bang!
The shift from standing still to full-speed running happened almost instantly.
A bolt of lightning seemed to split the area. Chen Xing instantly transformed into a gust of wind, directly chasing after the robber on the motorcycle!
Tokai Teio, following closely behind, watched this figure sprinting ahead, her eyes filled with surprise. She rarely saw such starting speed even during training. Was this Uma Musume a front-runner?
It seems today's race might be a bit interesting. Thinking this, she gradually began to increase her speed.
Unlike front-runners who excel at accelerating at the start to seize the lead, Tokai Teio's best running styles were Pace and Late. Although slightly inferior in initial acceleration compared to the one before her, when it came to accelerating power... she wouldn't lose to anyone!
If Chen Xing still had her original university student's weak physical condition, she would have probably collapsed already, right?
But now it was different. This Uma Musume body of hers seemed born for running. Every muscle in her body coordinated perfectly to help her stride forward.
Even after instantly bursting forth with speed comparable to a sports car, she didn't feel any signs of overload. Even her breathing was only slightly hurried. Instead, the feeling of breaking through the wind resistance made Chen Xing involuntarily enjoy it...
Wrong!
At this moment, a sudden scorching heat burned on Chen Xing's back. That petite figure was actually gradually closing in on her! The girl's one black and one white hands swung rapidly. Relying on unparalleled leg power, she was bit by bit chewing away at the distance between them!
Under the sun, this Tokai Teio seemed to shine with a fiery red radiance, firmly attracting the gazes of all passersby.
No matter how much Chen Xing accelerated, she couldn't widen the gap by even a fraction. She could only watch helplessly as the distance between them constantly shrank!
*[20 meters...]*
This is...
*[10 meters...]*
The center's...
*[5 meters...]*
Legend...
*[0 meters!]*
This is the center's legend?!
In the time it took for this thought to cross her mind, that petite figure had already swept past Chen Xing from behind and continued to widen the gap between them!
Looking at this retreating back, Chen Xing couldn't help but think: Could it be that even choosing to participate in Uma Musume races was just her being presumptuous...
The speed she originally thought was her only strong point was actually only at this level? How could she earn her sister's medical expenses through racing like this?!
And at this very moment, an untimely voice suddenly rang in Chen Xing's mind:
[Detected host is participating in Uma Musume competition. "Shining! Pretty Derby System" is binding!]
Sportswear
[Binding progress 10%, 25%... 57%... 99%... 100%!]
[Binding successful. Gifted host a Newcomer Gift Pack!]
---
*Preface Explanation:* The timeline of this book's world has 2 main axes, which are:
* The period after the end of Uma Musume Season 1 anime and before the start of Season 2, roughly around the time of the anime's Teio's debut.
* The real-world horse racing schedule after Tokai Teio's debut, i.e., the 1991 Japan horse racing schedule.
The anime timeline is the primary benchmark, the 1991 timeline is the secondary benchmark, combined with many private settings (mainly to allow the horses I want to appear), forming a unique timeline.
Conflicts arising from this schedule and timeline will be blurred as much as possible, but inevitably, some players' honors will be canceled, for example, Narita Brian's triple crown...
PS: Due to the author's lack of experience, some issues appeared in the early stages and are being corrected with effort, including:
1. The protagonist skipping the Winner's Ceremony at the beginning.
(This was mainly because several Uma Musume novels I read had the protagonist skip the ceremony, so I thought it was a Qidian convention and wrote it that way. After readers pointed it out, I realized it was actually disrespectful to the opponents. So, after skipping the ceremony in the first two races, it will be clearly stated that the protagonist participates in the Winner's Ceremony in all subsequent races.)
2. The issue of racers looking back too frequently in early races.
(This was also due to my lack of experience, so I habitually used this method to create interaction between racers, also because such scenes are not uncommon in anime, novels, or manga.
In races with more intense plots, this becomes more prominent, making readers feel they aren't concentrating on the race.
This issue has already been corrected, roughly from when the protagonist starts formally participating in Graded Stakes races. There won't be any more depictions of racers constantly looking back while running.)
That's all for now. If other issues are pointed out, I will also explain the corrections at the end of Chapter 1 to prevent readers from having a poor reading experience. Thank you!
Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
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