6:11 AM.
Garden Gale finally accepted reality.
She laced up her shoes, prepared everything, and headed straight for the training track. Her goal? To replicate Tokai Teio's full daily routine—performing a 100% copy of everything she'd observed earlier. The Selas System had called this "learning," so it likely meant that she should experience and understand Teio's exact routine down to every little detail.
She would polish every movement she'd studied.
Replicate Tokai Teio's running style.
No, wait.
It wasn't exactly replication… Since right now, she actually was Tokai Teio!
It still felt a bit weird. Tokai Teio's flexibility was off-the-charts insane. Even her jumping ability was ridiculously strong—just a slight hop was enough to leap high enough to block a dunk. It was outright absurd.
Everyone said Tokai Teio was a prodigy of flexibility.
However only after personally experiencing it did Garden Gale realize just how incredible that talent truly was.
...
She reached the training track, ate something light, and tried to meditate. Yet, even before beginning the actual training...
However Garden Gale found she couldn't even manage to meditate properly. Her mind simply refused to calm down, thoughts racing uncontrollably. Each time she cleared her mind, another thought popped up, until twenty minutes passed fruitlessly.
Instead of relaxing, she only grew increasingly irritable.
…Forget it.
Stop overthinking... Let's just train.
She warmed up, then got into a starting position.
As her muscles tightened, an intense, urgent sensation surged, followed by positive feedback from her brain. Garden Gale recalled every precise detail she'd learned, adjusted herself accordingly, then finally—launched forward!
She stumbled immediately.
Nearly falling flat on her face—exactly like when she first tried copying Tokai Teio's running style back then.
But something was different this time.
Do you remember when Garden Gale first practiced? She'd face-planted straight into the dirt. Now, using Teio's body, she quickly steadied herself with incredible precision, regaining her balance and shooting forward once more!
How can she describe it?
This wasn't like the kind of "control" found in video games...
This was stability radiating from her core, finely-tuned muscular control.
Garden Gale realized Tokai Teio's control was frighteningly stable, clearly honed by endless repetition.
Gradually, she adjusted to every detail—to Teio's flexibility, body control, running rhythm, and speed. Soon enough, her speed had matched the fastest burst she'd ever achieved in her original body—and Garden Gale had a strong feeling this wasn't even close to Tokai Teio's real limit.
After all, she'd just started running!
With a sense of anticipation she experimentally lowered her center of gravity.
After only a brief moment of instability, Garden Gale suddenly experienced the feeling of flying close to the ground.
How can someone even maintain a center of gravity this low?!
It's so ridiculously smooth!!??
Is this what Tokai Teio feels every time she runs?
Her perspective sank even lower! Such a uniquely different running style compared to all other Umamusume—clearly superior, needing no further words to describe its advantages. It was enough to say that legendary Umamusume were invariably monsters of ultra-low centers of gravity. An extraordinary talent, far surpassing ordinary limits.
This is so cool!
Garden Gale had thoroughly experienced the unbelievable talent of prodigies.
She broke into a delighted smile, becoming utterly absorbed in the run, determinedly memorizing every detail of Teio's running style, committing it to muscle memory.
Next time, she'd try running this low herself.
She got so carried away, she accidentally trained until past 10:00 AM!
This completely messed up her original schedule.
Originally, Tokai Teio would only train until 8 AM, shower, sleep, eat, then study theory afterward.
…At this rate, she wouldn't manage the rest of Teio's tasks at all.
Thinking this, Garden Gale decided to sleep first, then dedicate full concentration to the afternoon session.
With that, she returned to her dorm.
By the time Garden Gale woke up again, it was nearly 2 PM, instantly causing her expression to sour. Hurriedly jumping out of bed, she wolfed down a quick meal, finally arriving at the gym around half-past two.
She gave herself time to digest and rest.
Her real training began at exactly 3:00 PM.
Squats! Leg presses! Hack machine!
Let's go!
She pushed herself hard in the gym's leg-training area, carefully sculpting each movement, mimicking Tokai Teio precisely, feeling every muscle pump and grow stronger. Garden Gale fully immersed herself in the exercises, allowing sweat to pour freely, harshly cutting off any impulse to escape.
Train harder!
After some gym work, she moved back to the training track to specifically focus on calf exercises, completing the specialized routine.
When training finally ended, it was already 5:30 PM.
…No shower, no meal, no rest.
She was clearly too late to squeeze in Teio's scheduled 6 PM endurance training.
Honestly, Garden Gale felt she hadn't wasted time or slacked off. She'd been training non-stop—just without Teio's incredible skill at perfectly managing every minute.
She hadn't split her time as meticulously.
In fact… she was too exhausted to move another muscle.
She barely managed to drag herself back to the dorm. The post-leg-day exhaustion left her legs weak enough that she practically stumbled along, knees occasionally buckling. Eventually reaching her dorm, she showered, collapsed into bed, and prepared to rest. Just as she was about to pick up her phone to browse…
However seeing her reflection in the darkened screen, Garden Gale fell silent.
She slowly put down the phone…lying there quietly. Time passed agonizingly slow, unbearably dull, leaving her unsure of what to do.
She replayed every detail of today's training in her mind, committing them to memory, until eventually resorting to counting stars to pass the time.
Counting stars…
She gradually drifted asleep without realizing.
...
[LEARNING ATTEMPT ONE COMPLETED]
[SCORE]: 48
[FAILING]
Garden Gale awoke abruptly.
Her consciousness had returned to her own body, no longer Tokai Teio's.
She had only one feeling about this simulation:
So tiring.
She was sooooo tired.
Luckily she'd also gained so many things! Tokai Teio's meticulous handling of details perfectly complemented Garden Gale's weaknesses. Plus, Teio's attitude toward training and her ultra-efficient use of time—these were absolutely things she could learn from.
Clearly, some people's success had legitimate reasons.
[REINCARNATION HAS CONCLUDED.]
[NEXT ANCHOR TARGET IS AVAILABLE!]
[SKY-HIGH TEIO STEP.]
[THE HOSE MAY CHOOSE TO EXIT REINCARNATION, OR TRAIN AGAIN.]
Again?
Garden Gale checked it briefly. Basically, it meant training alone in the Reincarnation space, where external time passed extremely slowly—kind of like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber from old web novels, a buffer period after reincarnating.
Did she even need to choose?
Of course, she instantly selected to train again! Initially, she'd worried that this reincarnation merely provided experience without significantly improving her real strength. She'd even considered clinging onto Tokai Teio more closely to absorb additional skills and bonuses. But now, this solved everything!
She could reinforce everything she'd learned!
Her debut race was rapidly approaching!
Narita Top Road doesn't intend to lose... but neither does Garden Gale!
---
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