only monsters

Chapter 1665 No. 282: The fickle protagonist on the field
The moment he howled, he was already a horse's length.

One more step and it would be one and a half horse lengths, and one more kick and it would be two horse lengths!
The shock of being surpassed by someone he had never expected made Maruzenski hesitate longer than other opponents who were under great pressure.

A full second!
What is determined in this second is that not only will one be unable to catch up with the earth-shaking figure, but one will also be surpassed by the person behind.

Great shock, golden master, Chiaki representative, Rudolph symbol, Katsuragi ace, good opera...

It is common sense that the last leg of a fleeing horse will be relatively weak.

Because they are the leaders from the very beginning and their physical energy is consumed faster than runners of other running methods, it is particularly important to hone their endurance.

Although Maruzenski's most famous legend is that she was not a runaway horse but ran away with great momentum in her debut match, she is so famous that... in every race after that, everyone has to carefully consider whether she was "running away" or simply "getting ahead" because of her speed.

But in this race, she did choose to run as a fugitive.

Because she knew very well that she could not reproduce the scene of "turning the lead into a great escape just by relying on speed" in this race, but she also had the qualities to run in the front.

Indeed, she could be content with an ordinary lead, going out to keep pace with the fusion and the ladies at the beginning, and waiting for an explosion at the end.

In comparison, escaping is like a gamble, a gamble that everyone will not focus on the first one, and a gamble that everyone will fight each other.

In this way, she can rely on the escape horse running method to gain some distance advantage. At the end of the race, even if the team is full of strong players who can rush up in one go, she can still fight for a slight advantage at the finish line.

In fact, she did bet on the right premise.

In this extreme arena where every move is a few pages of skill tables, there is indeed no red skill group that focuses on her. She smoothly leads in the early and middle stages, without having to worry about the fierce competition and huge waves behind her.

But in the most crucial final stage, she encountered a terminator that was far beyond her expectations.

White Ren?

At that moment, it was like seeing a small robot win the championship in the long-awaited annual game selection, but the attitude in the next second seemed different.

Narita Shirahito?

That decadent little sister who seemed to have taken advantage of Luna and Qianming's fan filter even when she fell under the training of little Omer, has always been just the vice president of the Central Student Union in the eyes of Namaru Zenski.

And this title is just a bonus. Because everyone knows that this lone wolf vice president lives like a lone wolf and doesn't like to stay in crowded places, and these crowded places also include the student union.

Maruzenski has a wide network of contacts at the same level as Chiaki, and he always comes to the student union to play every time he visits his alma mater. Because of this, he rarely interacts with Narita Shirahito, but he does not force this interaction.

You can't force people who can't play together to get along - precisely because of his extroverted personality and wide sociability, Maruzenski was able to realize this earlier. After the other party clearly showed that he was not welcome to enter that "territory", he simply gave up trying and just maintained a general relationship of nodding acquaintance.

This relationship continued until later, even when it was heard that she and Chiaki and the others had become Omer's horse racing girls, as if they were aiming for the Dream Cup, nothing changed. Maruzenski was not even wary of her. Even the recent reports on the Sirius symbol were turned over, except for Tanashiro Ren.

Of course, Narita Shirahito really had nothing to show for it - she hadn't participated in any competitions in the months since she announced her comeback to participate in the Dream Cup, and even her training seemed to be conducted in secret. Maruzenski knew where Omer would take them to train, but instead of really going there to test the waters, it would be better for her to run around on her own and attend a race to get into shape.

Such arrogance is more or less normal for a horse girl competing in the Dream Cup, so the task of gathering intelligence had to be handed over to the trainer.

But in the process of Omer investigating those players and their trainers, it seems that he achieved counter-detection in disguise... some trainers are as arrogant as the horse girls, and they don't move too much, as if they have already determined that some players are harmless.

No wonder there's a surprise here.

Maruzenski was so surprised that he was speechless. While looking at the increasingly distant figure of Narita Shirahito, he also had an estimate of his speed in his mind.

So fast...

There are many excuses for Uma Musume losing a game, such as poor condition, lack of preparation, injury, poor physical condition, or even the opponent's conspiracy...

But... it is precisely because I don't have the confidence to compete with the last-minute burst that I try to use the escape horse running method to gamble everything. What else can I think about when facing such a run?

The bet won at the beginning, but still lost due to the gap in hard power.

He even made the most wrong mistake - he lost his focus at the moment he was overtaken and simply let the instinct to run control his legs.

As she was overtaken again and again, she was able to come to her senses and look at the sprinting team that was gradually moving away, and then feel the footsteps of the group behind her that easily broke through the wind and made the vibration of the ground even clearer.

The next thing that passed me was...

“Hahahaha~ Today I am…”

Good opera?
The seemingly boastful voice was swallowed up by the wind because it was several numbered tracks away, but the voice rang in her heart.

cannot……

that's it……

Give up!!!
The cry resounding in my heart, even though it is heavy, I will still speed up my pace further, at the moment when the "monster" of the past roars like this.

"Hello, Maruzen."

She suddenly heard such a familiar voice.

The clear voice and untuned intonation always came from far away in the past, but this time, it was so close that it seemed like it was right next to my ear.

“…Qianming?”

In the turbulent air current, among the flying grass debris covered with raindrops from the previous night, she saw another figure that startled her.

And Luna and Ace who are fighting for every inch of space on the track beside her.

"I'll go over first~"

"I haven't given up yet."

"Representative Qianming!!"

Casual, steady, and the passionate shouts that are always there on the field.

During the two years of 607 and 608, there was always such a scene in the most talked-about events, which was particularly memorable for her who was in the audience at that time.

And at this moment, this scene right before her eyes made her squeeze out some strength from her heart again and quicken her footsteps.

It's such a shame... Shame on myself for having won the basics but falling behind in the most crucial run.

But precisely because we are so completely behind and have lost so irrefutably, we should work harder to catch up!
Towards those three people, towards the overlord and tyrant who were approaching them.

And the big shock ahead.

Horse racing tips:

In the Japanese horse racing world, "monster" is a term that is used quite frequently. Horses such as Golden Ship, Narita Shirahito, Oguruma, and Kusagami Tobi have all been called this at one time or another. Strictly speaking, this is a language habit of the Japanese, and they will subconsciously use the word monster when describing something like a "demon."

Before Maruzenski was given the title of Supercar, he was also called "Monster" for a while, so much so that later Kusagami Hi broke the record of the Asahi Cup FS with 1:33.6 and won the race. At the same time, like Maruzen, he was also an imported horse (foreign imported horse) and was called a monster like "Maruzenski come again".