Distance: 2000M.
Weather: Light Rain.
Track Condition: Slightly Yielding (soft enough to feel your foot sinking in slightly).
Track Direction: Left-handed.
Garden Gale was competing in the most orthodox 2000M race.
The same distance as the Japanese Derby—a classic distance for every Umamusume. Since she'd learned Tokai Teio's running style, she naturally absorbed some of Teio's aptitudes as her own, and Tokai Teio was mostly a medium distance Umamusume!
...
When the gates were opened, Garden Gale successfully entered, assuming her starting position. Her gate was Number 7.
An outer position… Pretty unlucky. Her target, Narita Top Road, was clearly luckier, starting in one of the innermost gate Number 2. Obviously, she could seize the early advantage, running ahead on clean ground before others churned it into a muddy track.
An already challenging situation just got tougher.
Focus.
Concentrate.
Even as distant murmurs from the spectator stands reached her ears, Garden Gale, who was now entirely fixed on the track, had already filtered out all those voices. Good or bad, none of them mattered. Now, her eyes saw only the race, only victory. The moment she stepped onto the grass, she became someone else entirely—no longer socially anxious, no longer tense.
Since I've stepped onto this track…
I'll give it everything I've got.
Narita Top Road felt the same.
She withdrew her gaze, took one final glance at her greatest opponent, Garden Gale, and then returned her eyes to the front.
Feeling Garden Gale's seriousness, Narita Top Road also sharpened her own resolve.
The starting countdown rang out, devoid of long-winded introductions. It was just a minor debut race with hardly any attention, yet the countdown echoed with a nerve-tightening urgency, pressing the nine Umamusume competing to realize only one would claim victory, earning the qualification to truly begin their career.
When the countdown reached zero...
The gates slammed open!
Garden Gale didn't hesitate, didn't waste this moment—she was fully prepared… In an instant, she exploded forward, calves tensed, toes digging into the ground, instantly coordinating her whole body into perfect motion! This was what she learned from tirelessly drilled perfect starts.
With this she achieved a pretty good start! Fluidly surging forward!
Even from gate number seven… she managed to seize a decent position.
Avoiding the muddy patches churned up by others.
Symboli Rudolf raised her eyebrows, shaking off her initial casual attitude, her attention now fully drawn—not to Narita Top Road, despite her slightly better start, but to the mysterious, entirely black-clad Umamusume named Garden Gale.
"Go, go, GG-san!" Tokai Teio clenched her fists quietly, cheering on her good friend.
Likewise, cheering for Garden Gale was… Curren Chan, sitting among the audience.
Three pairs of eyes stared intently at the track.
However Rudolf immediately sensed something wrong. Her gaze stayed locked on Garden Gale, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper. An inexplicable familiarity radiated from the girl. Symboli Rudolf, with her unparalleled intuition for running, couldn't possibly ignore such a sensation.
This was…
How could this be possible???
Confusion filled her heart as she stared intensely, unwaveringly.
...
All nine Umamusume immediately hugged the inside rail to save stamina. Garden Gale initially held a decent mid-to-front position, but as she slowed slightly on the first bend, the others quickly surrounded her. Suddenly she found herself boxed in, unable to clearly see the path ahead.
…This was the worst-case scenario.
Boxed in the middle, it sounded nice to say she was shielded from wind resistance, but to be blunt, she was trapped.
This might have been acceptable for other Umamusume—saving energy was a good thing—but Garden Gale needed an opportunity to break free. She hadn't learned strategies for situations like this, nor when exactly to seize that opportunity.
Also it was just unpleasant…
Just being stuck in the pack like this.
She also had a hunch… If she remained trapped, even if there was a chance to break out in the final stretch, victory would be extremely difficult.
I absolutely can't underestimate Narita Top Road's final spurt.
She had to seize the initiative herself… Even if it meant no more cover from the wind, she had to break free from this pack—rush to the outermost edge, where miracles happened. She had to become a front-runner. Even if that meant going where others didn't like, consuming extra stamina, falling behind, or even risking disqualification for dangerous overtaking—she had to get out there.
Her gaze locked onto a blonde figure running at the very front.
That was Narita Top Road.
Gate Number 2 plus a perfect start had allowed her to immediately take the lead.
If Narita Top Road doesn't need someone to clear the way…
Then neither do I. There's no reason I should be weaker than her.
But before she could maneuver to the outer edge—she suddenly noticed Narita Top Road accelerating!
She was no longer playing around!
The second bend hasn't even arrived yet and still so early in the race yet Narita Top Road at the very front abruptly increased her pace, immediately opening up a gap! Though not huge, it briefly startled the other front runners, who chose not to match her acceleration, continuing at their current pace.
Perhaps she was trying to escape.
However... no matter how fast she tried to escape… she'd surely tire later. Making it simple to catch up to her in the final stretch.
That's what everyone thought.
After all, Narita Top Road wasn't even an escape-type Umamusume. As the top favorite, everyone had studied her extensively—typically a conventional late surger, sometimes front-runner. Accelerating now was probably just mind games. She wouldn't fully escape—just pull ahead slightly, still reachable later.
Almost everyone assumed as much.
Only Garden Gale, trapped in the pack, felt increasingly frantic.
She had to start chasing Narita Top Road now…
If Top Road continued comfortably controlling the rhythm, how could she possibly lose? Allowing her opponent total control of the pace… that was far too comfortable. Garden Gale had to disrupt her rhythm.
But first she had to focus on breaking free from the pack! At the next bend, she had to find a way—absolutely had to—to push outwards and escape!
…I'm so weak.
Encountering a situation she wasn't experienced with, she instantly fell into a disadvantage… No, calm down, even if the distance widens, I can recover. Absolutely, so don't panic.
Garden Gale watched anxiously as Narita Top Road gradually drew further ahead.
...
Narita Top Road herself wasn't thinking that much.
She didn't consider whether she was a late surger, pace chaser, or front runner; nothing about tactics occupied her mind. She ran with absolute clarity, feeling only the rhythm of her lungs.
She just thought… she could speed up, so she did. She'd just run this way for the entire 2000M, her body signaling that she was in perfect condition, reassuring her she wouldn't suffer from speeding up.
Narita Top Road was someone who simply followed her intuition.
---
T/N: HI PEOPLE!! JUST GONNA REMIND PEOPLE THAT BONUS CHAPTERS ARE DISTRIBUTED AT THE END OF THE WEEK!!!! SO DO NOT WORRY YOU WILL GET YOUR BONUS CHAPS!! ITS JUST BETTER FOR ME TO DO IT AT THE END SO I CAN GET ALL OF IT DONE IN ONE GO!!!
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl
Okay, real talk: I am extremely hungry for money, so I'm raising membership prices soon.
BUT.
If you're already subscribed before the change, your current price stays the same as long as you remain subscribed.
So for example:
Person A is already subscribed at $7/month
Price later goes up to $14/month
Person A still pays $7/month if they stay subscribed
Meanwhile:
Person B was not subscribed before the change
After the price becomes $14/month
Person B has to pay $14/month
So yes, prices are going up, but existing members get to keep their current rate if they stay in.
Which means:
If you want the cheaper price, join before the change. Otherwise, if you subscribe later, you'll be paying the new higher amount.
Price changes happen on Monday 16th, North America time.
dont worry one more day of ads