Mizuki's diary continued to update. However, her next sentence left everyone stunned.
[Oh man, no way. I finally get some real-horse news, and it's bad news.]
[I'm thinking of those "it's Teiover" memes. One pull and I hit the jackpot of despair.]
[This is really not good, bros!]
[Rice_Shower_Sticker.jpg]
[Sigh. I didn't expect that the person I pulled would actually be Rice Shower. Her real-horse counterpart was so tragic— he died right on the racetrack, and it was even in his final curtain-call race.]
[How horrific was it at the time?]
[It was Rice Shower's last race. After running it, win or lose, he could have lived out his retirement in peace. But Rice Shower was so smart, he probably knew his team wanted him to take one more win. So he ran with everything he had, sprinting with all his might to earn the cheers and glory he had been fighting for his whole life. And then, the accident happened.]
[His legs could no longer withstand that kind of strain. At the moment he desperately accelerated, a loud crack echoed from his left leg. In an instant, Rice Shower fell hard to the ground. He tried to stand up again, but his left leg couldn't handle it— the dislocated white bone had already pierced through the skin and was exposed, making it impossible for him to put any weight on it.]
[He lay on the slope of Kyoto until the very end, his four legs unable to stand, shaking violently from the intense pain.]
[Jockey Matoba, after regaining consciousness from the fall, saw Rice Shower lying there. he screamed, "Rice can't be dead! I have to see him again!" as he tried desperately to crawl back to the track, but he was held back.]
[Rice Shower died right in front of him, becoming his lifelong nightmare. That scene would likely remain a pain that accompanied him for the rest of his life.]
[I also saw in the real-horse info that Rice Shower never made a mistake in his life. He had 25 starts and 6 wins, but during several G1 victories, he was met with boos from the entire crowd.]
[And it was all because he stopped Mihono Bourbon's Triple Crown and Mejiro McQueen's Tenno Sho three-peat.]
[The mainstream media at the time treated Rice Shower like a villain, saying he wasn't a champion, but an "Assassain" who crushed Mihono Bourbon's Triple Crown dream and shattered Mejiro McQueen's three-peat ambition!]
[Reading this truly makes me angry. I just want to ask one thing!]
[Based on what?!]
[Where is the "villain" here?!]
[Rice Shower stood on that track precisely because he overcame harsh training, conquered his inner fears, and surpassed countless hardships.]
[His victory was fair and square. Those boos are medals of honor for his career and a mark of shame for those who shouted them!]
[I can only say the people back then were real pieces of work. They probably lost their money betting on the favorites and took it out on him.]
[I can only say: serves the gamblers right.]
[After reading this, I've turned into a little crybaby like Narita Top Road.]
[Sorry, Road-san. I'm not as cute as you, but let me borrow your name for a bit.]
[Narita_Top_Road_Crying_Emoji.jpg]
[It's a pity I can't use actual emojis, otherwise, adding Narita Top Road's crying face would be perfect. That guy doesn't have many emojis, but they are all top-tier. Cygames chose wisely.]
[Rice Shower, Smart Falcon, Tokai Teio, and Matikane Tannhauser are the pillars of Horse Girl memes.]
[Wait, no. Tokai Teio should be known as the "Digital Diva."]
[I really like that one song by Tokai Teio— "Ballin."]
Writing up to this point, Mizuki sighed. If she could travel back in time, she'd give those gamblers a massive slap across the face.
She could only say that the gamblers back then were truly beneath contempt. She just lacked the body weight, otherwise, she'd have to give them a flying kick worthy of Gold Ship's Trainer.
[Fortunately, things can still be salvaged now. I can guarantee that Rice Shower won't encounter such a thing. Maybe I can even earn some rewards to help her real-horse counterpart.]
[I've said it before: I am irreconcilably opposed to gambling and drugs.]
[Gamblers are insane. There was this guy named Jotaro who staked his own mother's life on a bet. It's a good thing he didn't know he had a distant uncle named Josuke Higashikata, otherwise he'd have staked Josuke's life too.]
[Better to be like me— I don't participate in that stuff at all.]
[Wait... hold on a second. That's not right. Now that I've seen most of Rice Shower's real-horse info and know she ended the streaks of McQueen and Mihono Bourbon, doesn't that mean I HAVE to go bet on it?]
[Holy crap, I'm a genius! This isn't even gambling— I already know the results. This is just a straight-up free win!]
[Kidding aside, when I played Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, I was known as the Queen of F2P. How could I miss this chance?]
[Every Carat I get comes from Uncle Giftbox.]
[As for me, Mizuki... I love 'Uncle Giftbox' the most!]
Mizuki's writing came to an abrupt halt. However, she knew that she might not actually go through with the gambling. After all, she was currently training McQueen and had already given her plenty of experience.
Moreover, knowing that McQueen's future opponent would be Rice Shower, she would definitely be prepared.
'Who knows? Maybe McQueen could win against Rice over here.'
Mizuki was still pondering this. Little did she know, the entire Tracen Academy was completely dumbfounded after reading this log.
In the Tracen Cafeteria.
Rice Shower's hand, holding her food, froze in mid-air. She stared at the log, speechless.
To be honest, Rice had expected to see some shocking information, but she hadn't expected to see something this explosive.
For a moment, she stood rooted to the spot, her eyes fixed on the diary as if she had been turned to stone.
"Rice Shower's real-horse version... she died at Kyoto Racecourse?"
After a long while, Rice finally reacted with immense pain. When she realized the cruel truth and read that agonizing description, her tears could no longer be held back, they gushed out. She gritted her teeth, tears forming continuous lines down her face.
She felt such heavy self-reproach, wondering if she was so unlucky that she had even cursed her real-life counterpart.
'I'm sorry... I'm so sorry.' Rice kept chanting in her heart.
'Rice Shower's name was meant to bring happiness, yet she had brought so much misfortune...'
Around her, many girls were trying to comfort her, everyone anxious and worried. Only Gold Ship was crying her eyes out— damn near more heartbroken than Rice herself.
"Rice! You died so miserably!!"
Gold Ship wailed, hugging Mejiro McQueen's leg, her tears flowing like a waterfall.
For a moment, no one knew what to say. Gold Ship was truly emotional, but could you please look at the occasion? Rice is still standing right here!
The moment Gold Ship started wailing, Rice couldn't hold back either and let out a loud sob. Seeing this, Mayano Top Gun couldn't resist and started crying too.
Sweep Tosho, the little witch who intended to comfort Rice, suddenly lost it as well. In an instant, everyone was in tears.
Tokai Teio held out at first, but when she thought about Rice having a broken leg, she started crying too.
She hadn't experienced a fracture before, but it must be incredibly painful.
McQueen saw Teio crying and was about to break, but she grit her teeth. She was stronger than most, and as a lady of the Mejiro house, she had to comfort everyone.
But McQueen couldn't even move— Gold Ship was clinging to her leg, wiping snot all over her. She was livid!
Fortunately, Mejiro Ramonu arrived. She handled things efficiently and was surprisingly gentle when comforting the younger girls. Finally, after a while, everyone calmed down.
Gold Ship's crying came and went quickly. She declared she would work hard in races to give all her rewards to Rice. Though that wasn't actually possible, the sentiment was felt.
Gold Ship was truly a friend worth having.
As everyone was crying, Rice realized something. She had won a lot of tissues from the lottery before, and they finally came in handy. She pulled them out for everyone to wipe their eyes.
Who said the tissues Rice draws are useless? Stand up and apologize right now!
Rice then began to read the log carefully. Every piece of information made her heart race. her expression shifted rapidly— from surprise to being moved, to almost crying again. However, every time Rice was about to cry, she noticed Gold Ship beat her to it, which left her a bit confused.
Oh, and there was also Winning Ticket, who cried from beginning to end without stopping, like she was on an endless loop.
This was exactly why Mizuki didn't want to join the Mejiro family— Tracen was just full of such unique talents.
As Rice read on and saw that she wasn't liked by the public, she naturally felt a bit hurt. She didn't understand why she was met with boos from the entire crowd.
'Is Rice... a child that nobody wants?'
At first, knowing she had defeated Mihono Bourbon and McQueen made her feel honored, but she hadn't expected to be hated by the audience or seen as a "spoiler." She felt so sad she was nearly becoming depressed.
If it were the her from a few days ago, she might even consider giving up on racing entirely.
Fortunately, Rice had changed. After thinking about the real-horse's end, her gaze became firm. She had to work harder because she had inherited the real-horse's will. The races she didn't finish, Rice would complete.
Moreover, she felt Trainer Mizuki's concern for her in the log. She looked around, the girls were surrounding her in circles. Even Symboli Rudolf had come over, gently stroking Rice's head.
'Rice... was not a child nobody wanted. Rice had everyone.'
"Bourbon-san, can you train with me this afternoon?" Rice wiped her eyes and looked up at Mihono Bourbon, a hint of determination in her eyes.
"Signal received. Programming schedule... Program confirmed. Yes."
Mihono Bourbon sat bolt upright. She had been observing Rice's reaction. Seeing that Rice wasn't just sad but had picked herself up, she was very happy and relieved. She had been worried about Rice but didn't know how to comfort people.
Furthermore, in Rice's exposure, Bourbon saw her own real-horse news. To be honest, she was pleasantly surprised. Her streak being ended by Rice meant she had won the first two races of the Triple Crown!
Bourbon quickly shook her head at the thought— no, the real horse is the real horse, and she is herself. She still had to work hard to complete her own dream.
McQueen felt the same. She hadn't expected to be spoiled, but she shook it off. Real horses and Uma Musume are different, though there is a connection, she would run even better.
Meanwhile, some people were confused by the content of Mizuki's log. Some terms were incomprehensible.
Matikane Tannhauser tilted her head. "Um, what does 'emoji' mean? Is it those things used for chatting online?"
Smart Falcon explained energetically: "That's right, Tannhauser-san! Look, Falco makes her own emojis! It's easy— just record a selfie video, crop a part, and add text."
"But Falco is curious... are my emojis popular in the real-horse world too?" Falcon thought for ages but couldn't figure it out. Her CPU was burning up.
However, Smart Falcon's perspective was too small. In the real world, Uma Musume fans didn't just have her emojis, they had been using Falco emojis for meme battles for a long time.
Classic quote: "Without Falcon's emojis, I feel so inferior."
"Hehe, Twin Turbo knows how to make emojis! Tannhauser-san, look, I made this one!"
Twin Turbo, a genius of editing, had actually made one of Tannhauser.
Turbo truly had a gift, she captured the essence of a Tannhauser emoji— a "high Wit" look that constituted a world-class masterpiece. One arm raised, eyes closed, and a large smile on her face.
It was undoubtedly a work of art.
"Speaking of which, Narita Top Road-san probably cries secretly when she loses a race, right? Next time, we can film it and make an emoji," TM Opera O suggested, making Narita Top Road flush bright red.
"I... I don't! I would never cry! Absolutely not!" Top Road puffed out her cheeks, looking adorable.
But internally, Top Road was terrified. What if one day Trainer Mizuki actually produced a "Little Crybaby" emoji of her from somewhere? She'd be utterly mortified.
She swore that if Trainer Mizuki dared to post a sticker of her, she would drag her to the basement with no room for negotiation.
'Hmph. Our friendship is in your hands, Trainer Mizuki!'
Tokai Teio was puzzled: "Why am I called a 'Digital Diva'? And what is this 'Ballin' song?"
Twin Turbo analyzed again: "A Digital Diva is someone who uses a synthesized version of your voice to sing. As for 'Ballin,' I don't know— probably a song from Trainer Mizuki's world."
Symboli Rudolf found this all very novel. People in the real-horse world were talented indeed. To create so many new things, they must be very impressive people.
However, Rudolf didn't know that the people who made those things might be impressive, but they were also characters just as weird as the ones found in Tracen.
Rudolf was very observant and noticed one specific phrase in Mizuki's log.
[...Rice's four legs couldn't stand...]
'Does that mean real horses have four legs?'
She was curious and confused. If she had the chance to meet a real horse, that would be wonderful. She also wondered what the real-horse Symboli Rudolf would think upon meeting her.
"She must be very humorous as well," Rudolf nodded confidently.
As for Mejiro Ramonu, she was speechless after reading Mizuki's words.
"She talks a good game about being irreconcilably opposed to gambling and drugs... but she doesn't mention the 'third' vice (Lust) at all!"
Ramonu also saw the mention of Jotaro Kujo. That guy was too much, staking his own mother's soul— what a good son.
She was amazed, she never expected there to be such characters in the real-horse world.