Uma Musume: From Being Knocked Ten Meters Away

Chapter 32 Preparations before the Game

Two weeks later, on the day before the competition, as expected, the excellent song "Fireworks" brought enough fans to Northern Xuanju.

Not only was it enough, but on the third day after the event account released the song, the number of fans increased by more than 2 because of this song, which immediately exceeded the 4000 required for the conditional competition.

In the following days, the growth continued, reaching the upper limit of 3 in one go, making Northern Xuanju have a total of more than 4 fans.

The black-haired girl was naturally very happy about this level of increase in the number of fans.

If you see her holding her phone and smiling foolishly, mumbling something to herself, there is no doubt that it is because she has seen the increase in fans or comments and praise.

Yasui Zhen didn't feel anything. He knew better than anyone how much popularity that song could bring.

If I have to say something, it's probably a bit of a waste for such a good song to only have 3 fans.

But he only sighed for a moment, and his mind quickly turned to tomorrow's game arrangements.

That evening, in the living room of Yasui Makoto's single room.

Looking at the diagrams and text on the whiteboard next to Yasui Zhen, Kita no Xuanju said thoughtfully:

"...So, this time, we're running a little ahead of our debut competition?"

Yasui Zhen nodded.

"Yes, I've evaluated it. The tactics we used last time won't work this time. We must make corresponding adjustments."

Then, pointing to the handwritten list on the left side of the whiteboard, he explained:

"Barring any withdrawals, your opponent tomorrow will be the one I've listed here.

"Unlike their debut competition, they all participated in the debut competition last year without exception.

“In other words, you are the only freshman in the field who has just run the race this year.

"This means they receive professional guidance from trainers, some of whom are top trainers, earlier in life."

He paused intentionally and glanced at Beifang Xuanju's expression calmly.

The girl bit her lower lip, frowned slightly, and unconsciously clenched her hands on her knees, obviously a little nervous.

Yasui Zhen did not say anything to comfort him.

The competition is not a game.

On the contrary, the contestants in each competition are young and lively girls, and it looks like an idol audition, lively and relaxed.

In fact, at speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour, the competition is as fierce and dangerous as any other kind of competition.

Appropriate tension is more conducive to this highly competitive game.

If the pressure brought by tension can be handled properly, it will allow the horse girl to perform at a better level than in training.

This is also one of the reasons why Yasui Makoto specifically wants to explain tomorrow's game in detail.

With this in mind, he continued:
“Besides that, your opponents have more experience in the game.

“There’s only one person who, like you, has only participated in the debut competition, but he also participated last year.

"On average, your opponents will have played three games, and the most will have played six."

It was obvious that the black-haired girl became more nervous, and Yasui Shinya changed the subject.

Just enough pressure, too much is as bad as too little.

“But don’t worry, their abilities are not higher than yours, but certainly not much lower either, otherwise you wouldn’t be participating in the same tournament.

“And you don’t have to focus on every opponent and you don’t have that energy.

"Just keep an eye on these."

As he spoke, Yasui Shin circled a few names with an erasable marker on the whiteboard.

Just as he put the cap on the pen and before he could explain, he heard the murmur of Northern Black Horse.

"...Satomi Penten-san?"

Glancing at the circled "Satoshi Pentium" on the whiteboard, Yasui Makoto smiled and looked towards Kita no Genju.

"Why? You two know each other? I remember you two weren't in the same class, right?"

"Well, Ben Teng is in another class."

Northern Xuanju nodded and said:
“But when I go out to play with Guang Zuan-chan or go to play with Huangguan-chan, I often see Pentium-chan. Sometimes I also see her when I go to her house.

"As for Ben Teng... I remember he's participated in many competitions and achieved impressive results."

Yasui Shin didn't deny Kita no Genju's words. "In five races, I finished first once, second twice, and third twice.

“The first three times I ran the 1800m in Sapporo, and then the 2000m in Chukyo and Kyoto, my results got better each time.

"Satoshi Pentium is truly outstanding, especially his adaptability."

Then he changed the subject.

“But let’s not rush to look at her yet, let’s look at these two first.

“San Martin, and the fighting flag.

"San Martin is the second most popular contestant in this competition, and she's the only Uma Musume who, like you, has only participated in her debut match."

"No. 2 in popularity... That's amazing."

Beibu Xuanju leaned forward slightly, then scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly.

"I'm only 9th in popularity..."

There was no word of comfort. As if he hadn't heard anything, An Jing pointed at the written data and said:

"The Niigata course was 1600 meters on grass, and the finishing time was 1 minute 36.7, which works out to 17 meters per second.

“These are the statistics of San Martin’s debut match.

"The most crucial thing is the speed of the last kick. The last three waves take 33 seconds, which translates to a speed of 18.18.

"As long as she can perform at her best, she will have no problem challenging OP-level or higher events at this level.

"Similarly, the most popular player, Smash Rez, had a last three wave speed of 1 in the last match, which was also a very good final kick.

"Do you have any ideas, Xiaobei?"

He looked towards the northern black horse.

Although he still looked nervous, there was a hint of thought in Beibu Xuanju's red eyes.

“I remember when we were running side by side, Senior Yamato told me that if you encounter an opponent with a good last leg, you should first work harder to maintain your accumulated high speed, and secondly, you should create more distance in advance.

"So the trainer is saying... I should use this technique to deal with them?"

Unconsciously, Yasui Shin nodded secretly at his horse girl's understanding.

Northern Black Horse is actually not as stupid as she often says.

On the contrary, when it comes to competition, she understands many things very quickly.

For example, when Yamato Akagi asked her for advice on horseback escaping techniques, An Jingzhen originally intended to remind her, but he didn't expect that she would think of asking and remember it herself.

What’s even more gratifying is that she can still react at this moment.

And what she said was exactly what Yasui really wanted to say.

"Yes, that's one of the reasons why I asked you to move up a little in this match."

Makoto Yasui started writing data on the whiteboard again.

“Apart from opponents with excellent finishing, there are two other things to watch out for.

“一个是斗旗，她虽然只有第10人气，但我注意到她以往6场比赛有4场1400米，1场1600米。

"This kind of race is very fast-paced, and I think she will most likely take the lead this time, or maybe she will take the lead accidentally because of her past habits.

"That's another reason for you to move forward."

“As I expected, the pace of this game will be much faster than the last one.

"And one of your weaknesses is that you're slow to accelerate.

"Being too far behind makes it easy to misjudge the situation. If you start a little slowly, you'll have no chance of winning."

Under the calm guidance of An Jingzhen, Kita no Xuanju's thinking became more and more profound.

"I see……

"Then the key for me in this game is to find the speed-up range more accurately than last time. So..."

She looked at Yasui Makoto expectantly.

"Trainer, you should know when I should speed up, right?"

(End of this chapter)