No one starts out seated on the throne.
Garden Gale thought so.
You, me—even the Emperor—none of us did. It's just that the vacancy of the throne is finally coming to an end… From this day forward, I will stand at the very top!!
...
Do you not have your own dialogue bubble.jpg?
Still.
That really was how Garden Gale felt right now—like she was hypnotizing herself. Filling her chest with confidence and resolve, convincing herself that this burning certainty could shatter every shackle, that she could become the strongest Umamusume of all, stronger even than the Emperor, sweeping aside every obstacle in sight and taking the throne at the summit.
Usually, it's other people who self-hypnotize.
Right before some indescribable plot twist.
But when it came to Garden Gale… she was hypnotizing herself.
That was just how socially anxious people worked~
Before trying to change for real, you flip your personality switch to "arrogant," numb yourself first, and worry about the rest later.
Still—
She wasn't just posturing. She was actually about to do something concrete.
Like right now.
"Umastagram… that's the name, right?"
She muttered to herself as the glow of her phone reflected in her eyes, the app's interface filling the screen—currently sitting on the registration page.
Right.
No mistake.
She didn't rush to sign up.
Instead, she searched for her dear roommate's account—Curren Chan's.
—Ope, there it is.
"O-one… ten, hundred, thousand… fifty thousand?!"
Garden Gale yelped, staring at the number in disbelief. "Didn't she say it was thirty thousand yesterday? It jumped that fast?! Is it because she transferred to Central Tracen and her popularity exploded?"
Under Curren Chan's posts, she often interacted warmly with her fans. The atmosphere was bright and positive, everyone rooting for her to achieve even greater results—because she deserved them.
Then Garden Gale searched for the Emperor.
A top-tier Umamusume of the nation. A legend.
Over a million followers.
…That's insane.
And then—herself.
Garden Gale thought about it. Forget fifty thousand—she didn't even have an account. Never had. The original owner of this body wasn't the type to use social media anyway… quiet, withdrawn, kind of clueless.
But.
The final destination of all socially anxious people is the internet.
What Garden Gale meant by "changing" was this—
Becoming an online menace.
Maybe if she changed online first, reality would follow a little.
What an Idiot~
Let's register an account!
With that thought, her execution speed skyrocketed. She tapped straight into the sign-up page and filled everything out… until she hit the real-name profile section and froze.
Hmm.
Should she really put her real info here?
No, no.
Her real life was way too boring. Even if she wrote it all down, who would follow her? Especially the "experience" section—what was she supposed to write? Trained until 4 a.m.? Just won my debut race, please follow?
She thought of Curren Chan's fun daily posts.
Cafés. Outfits. Photoshoots.
She thought of the Emperor's commanding presence on the G1 stage.
...
Garden Gale fell silent.
So what exactly was interesting about her life?
Forget it.
Then—
She lowered her head and looked at the keyboard on her screen.
She thought for a moment—
And started typing.
"Experience: Traveled to Iceland, visited countryside estates in Ireland. Hobbies include downhill skateboarding—yeah, kind of weird for an Umamusume—but I also ski sometimes. Probably because I just really love boards. SUPER COOOOOL. Favorite artist: Juice WRLD. Amateur composer. Amateur artist. Some knowledge of fashion and clothing history. Will run my debut race later this year—please stay tuned!"
She murmured as she typed.
The words kept appearing.
Not a single one of them was true.
Her hobbies, her travels, her favorite artist—even the debut timing—none of it. She'd stitched together everything that sounded cool, impressive, and popular. A proud, powerful, free-spirited Umamusume took shape on the screen.
She whistled softly.
Feeling just a little guilty.
Then pressed confirm.
Just like that, she sent her profile off.
Step one in fixing social anxiety: become a keyboard warrior. Hit hard online. Once she got used to swinging online, maybe real life would change too. And when the time came, she'd use that absurdly broken Selas System to climb to the peak—sit upon the Throne of Kings.
Not anonymity.
A throne.
[…Profile under review.]
That was all that appeared after submission.
Garden Gale lay on her bed, rolled over like a salted fish, then suddenly felt curious and tapped the search bar.
[Admire Vega]
A moment later—
Up popped the account belonging to the Umamusume named Admire Vega.
Does everyone just have an account?
Garden Gale couldn't help wondering as she tapped into it out of curiosity.
[Certified Professional Umamusume]: Admire Vega
[Achievements]:
Consecutive Graded Wins
-Kyoto Junior Stakes – 1st
-Erica Sho – 1st
-Debut Race – Victory
[Followers]: 21,139
?
Garden Gale slowly typed out a question mark in her mind.
Graded races...
That meant G1, G2, G3. All of them counted as graded stakes, leagues above OP and Pre-OP. The gap wasn't even worth explaining.
Garden Gale was stunned.
An Umamusume who'd won two graded races… coming to run an OP race?
What, are you here to farm newbies?!
Her brain short-circuited.
That's ridiculous!!!
Two graded wins—she could absolutely contend for the Classic Triple Crown!
No, no.
Garden Gale!
You can't psych yourself out like this. Didn't you say you were going to change?
She ground her teeth, slapped her cheeks lightly to wake herself up, then forced herself to calm down. If she wanted to change, she had to face it head-on.
She scrolled down the profile.
…Not many posts.
Admire Vega only posted after race victories or during official promotions.
Nothing else.
But...
When Garden Gale saw the selfies attached to those posts, she went quiet.
She dug into her fresh memories from earlier that night and compared them, piece by piece.
Even the purple eyes matched.
So the Umamusume who'd kicked the vending machine for her earlier…
"Wait—so that was Admire Vega?!"
Garden Gale yelped aloud.
---
T/N: GASP ADMIRE VEGA WITH THE STOCKINGSSSSSSSSSSSS