The next weeks have been fairly interesting, if I must say so. I can walk now, for starters, which is a huge plus. I still can't do exercise, and the system has given me a good deal of daily quests related to reading books on strategy for races, which, for some reason, makes Aoi feel awkward and Flashy angry for some reason. I think both of them think I'm done for after this incident.
A couple of days after what happened to me, the police captured the girls and asked me some questions to take my declaration. Of course, I, as the pious person I am, exaggerated everything so they get punished for more time. And then, Flashy somehow won a G1 on and attracted all the attention to herself, but I'm not one to complain, she is amazing, most umas don't win a single G1 race on their entire life, damn, most umas don't get to run on a G1 on her entire life, and she comes on her rookie year and ties with a titan like Gentildonna.
I still remember that night, in an interview, Orfevre laughed her ass off for her rival since she couldn't win against Flashy, and she declared she would show her how to win like a tutorial on the Japanese Derby.
"She is so confident," I thought while watching her. She was made of champion stuff.
Days started to come and pass one after another. My day-to-day consisted of watching anime, reading, going alongside Gold Ship to watch other girls train and joke about it, I learned how to solve the Rubik's Cube, and for some reason, many umas were scared, saying things like 'now there are two of them'. And as the time passed by, I learned about more games, like playing trivia and board games. I feel like I'm becoming the ultimate otaku.
Of course, there were days when Tannhauser came to visit and I presented her to other girls, like Teio and Goldshi, who were with me at the moment; she, for some reason, seemed to fit and blend very well with the rest of the girls, soon making friends of her own and she wasn't a student here at the moment, lucky girl will have a huge advantage when she finally joins.
"What are we doing today!?" Today was one of those days.
"Today I have to do some research," I answered my lovely junior as we got inside my club room.
"I thought about training was all on track" Mambo commented as she sat with me on the couch while I searched for some material.
"Haaa, you wish, there is more than just going ahead running in full power," I answered while searching for my assignment. "There is strategy and methodology... also when you are running, you will be forced to take decisions on the spot, you gotta be clever... unless you are like Flashy, and just charge ahead like a brute"
The club was equipped with all kinds of data for investigating and researching past races. I won't increase my wit stat any further, whatever I do, but doing the quest assigned by the system still gives me other stats, and on the other side, I feel like I'm slightly getting smarter and learning how to think out of the box. After some moments of searching, I found what I was looking for.
"Hey, let's finish this quickly, and then we can see the actual race. You want to watch it, right, Tannhauser?"
"Yes!"
Today's assignment was watching TM Opera O race at the Japan Cup; it was such an impressive race. TM Opera O won that race and solidified her legend. She won everything that year, and even after being boxed in, she pushed forward, hurting herself, slamming against the contentions, and she charged at full speed, taking first place; she even got struck by a flying stone.
'Damn she is such an aura farmer' I thought, looking at her after winning.
But the important lesson here was how everything played out. On that race, she wasn't just against some of Japan's finest umas, but also against several foreigners. For some reason, for foreigners, coming to Japan and taking the prize money on the Japan Cup was like coming here and stealing from a little kid, but that year played somewhat differently, since Stay Gold took the lead and set an unusually slow pace.
'Damn... Goldshi family is full of trolls," I thought as I watched it unfold.
"Uuuhh... It's so slow it's unsettling," Mambo said beside me.
"It seems it was one of the slowest first 1000 meters in history, or so I hear."
"Why did she do that?" Mambo looked at me, trying to understand. Common sense says that if you take the lead, you try to make the biggest margin before you burn up and pray others don't catch you.
"Mmmm, maybe Stay Gold wasn't thinking about winning herself?" I say earning a surprised glance from my junior, "I mean, she did that, and that took off guard all those foreigners, who weren't used to her antics... and this is a major international race, so... if she can make them feel uncomfortable, then it's a victory for the country? That or she was just being annoying..."
"I... I see..."
TM Opera O then was sixth for most of the race, heavily boxed by other umas, who wanted anyone else than her to win, so she didn't achieve that historic level, but when a chance presented, she took it, she trashed over and forced her way out, surpassing Narita Top Road, Misho Doto and Fantastic Light who where fighting for the first place on the last spurt. For a moment, the one most impacted was Tannhauser; she had raced in school, but those races were nothing like a massive G1, and at school, it was just about being fast.
"That's why it's important to be fast, but you also have to be durable, strong, lucky... and smart." I felt like a granny explaining it to her, "It's not just about rushing." I closed my eyes and thought, 'Damn, I'm becoming a sage after studying so much'
The image of the victory of TM Opera O raising her fist triumphantly with all her rivals vanquished and unable to attain revenge was engraved in my mind too; she was amazing. I poked my junior side, and that made her laugh.
(Side Quest Completed. +5 Wits +5 Speed)
(0 points have been gained on Wits)
(The limit of Wits has been attained; you can't earn more points)
"Let's go"
"Yes! Meek-san!" She answered happily.
It's about time we head to the cafeteria to witness the second jewel of this year's triple crown.