"Calm down, calm down," Hakki whispered to herself.
So what if it's Deep Impact? Big deal. She could just take a different path in her racing career. If Deep Impact was going for the classic Triple Crown, then Hakki could just aim for the Triple Tiara. Simple.
Though she tried to comfort herself with this logic, her fingers trembled uncontrollably as she unpacked her suitcase. The reality of the situation was still hard to process.
First, she pulled out a dizzying array of electronics from her suitcase: charging cables, power banks, a game controller, her laptop, and more. She booted up a game on silent and quickly finished her daily quests.
Finally, she left a message in her group chat—"Don't forget the guild battle"—before continuing to unpack.
Just then, the bundle of blankets on the other bed stirred. A pair of ears twitched, and the covers were thrown back.
"Hrmm... oh? My roommate?" Deep Impact's eyes lit up when she saw the pile of gaming equipment on Hakki's bed, and then Hakki herself sitting cross-legged on the floor.
My roommate has an ash-grey coat! And her hair color is so pretty... that purity of ash... Deep Impact suddenly slapped her own cheeks, her expression turning cool and impassive, almost like a robot.
"Ah, yes...! I had some family matters and couldn't report on time. My name is Hakki Byakku. You were the one who made my bed, right...? Thank you so much!" The carefully crafted introduction in her head was completely forgotten. The words tumbling out of Hakki's mouth now were completely unfiltered.
Deep Impact swung her legs out of bed, her ears tilting slightly as her feet found her slippers. "I'm Deep Impact. It's a pleasure to be your roommate."
After that simple introduction, a strange silence fell between them.
Hakki was silent because she was staring in horror at her system panel. The moment Deep Impact opened her eyes and saw her, the affection level had leaped from 10 to 25. To put that in perspective, after living with the Satono sisters for years, their affection was only at 40... and her affection with Kitasan Black was only at 30...
How did Deep Impact's affection jump by 15 just from a single glance?! Is there something wrong with this picture?!
Panic. Hakki's brain wasn't the sharpest, but she wasn't an idiot. An affection increase that fast was definitely a bad sign... It was obvious that the higher the affection, the more trouble was brewing. She needed to find a way to make Deep Impact's affection for her drop... now!
And so, after a few minutes of silence, Hakki Byakku suddenly slammed her hand on her laptop and declared with utmost seriousness, "Actually... I'm not a horse girl who likes to run. My only passions are being a streamer, playing games, and shooting the breeze with my fans."
The loud noise startled the daydreaming Deep Impact. Hearing Hakki's words, her gaze flickered between the laptop and Hakki's determined eyes.
There are no horse girls in this world who don't like to run. There are only those who can't run due to injury or accident, and they say they don't like it to hide their pain.
Hakki Byakku looks a bit frail. Is it because of her health that she's saying such disheartening things...? If that's true, then no matter what results she achieves on the track, she is a horse girl worthy of my respect.
"A streamer? That seems like a good way to build a fanbase," Deep Impact said, her own words surprisingly out of place. For a moment, they were plunged back into a deathly silence.
Two words echoed in Deep Impact's mind: I'm doomed. What will my new roommate think of me? Will she think I'm a cold-blooded horse girl who doesn't understand basic social cues and only thinks about racing...?
Meanwhile, Hakki was secretly overjoyed. So, she doesn't really care about what I do! This is perfect! I was just trying to figure out how to explain wanting to be a streamer, but it looks like we can both just do our own thing.
"Um... well, in that case, I'll try not to disturb you when you're streaming, Hakki-san." After finally managing to squeeze out that sentence, Deep Impact seemed to hastily retreat into the washroom. Hakki let out a sigh of relief, kicked off her shoes, and sat cross-legged on her bed.
Deep Impact's affection level was still holding at 25. For Hakki, this was good news. Her finger tapped on her tablet as she looked at her account with its tens of thousands of followers. Then she thought about what Deep Impact had said about streaming to attract fans...
Anyway, let's put that method on hold for now. I don't even know if I can get on the track yet... The most annoying thing for a new student is finding a trainer.
Hakki Byakku's clever mind immediately thought of her eccentric online fans. They might be full of trash talk, but Hakki knew that deep down, they all admired horse girls.
[iEatLemons: Hey guys, who do you think is the best trainer at Central for a lazy life?]
[Monster: Kitahara. Under Kitahara, you can just eat and sleep. It's very comfortable.]
Hmm? Hakki raised an eyebrow. Kitahara... the name didn't ring much of a bell... wait, Kitahara! Oguri Cap's trainer from her regional days! The one who later passed the exams to train at Central!
At this point in time... Kitahara should have been promoted from assistant trainer, right? Recalling from the manga how Kitahara trained Oguri Cap back in her regional days... Hakki felt this would be a perfect fit for her!
Chotto matte... Hakki's brow furrowed slightly. Her finger hovered over the reply button, but she didn't type a single word. Something about this user named [Monster] felt strange. How would she know that Kitahara would let a horse girl just eat and sleep?
But surely it couldn't be a coincidence that a user in her fan group was the legendary Oguri Cap with her massive fanbase, right?
"No way," Hakki waved a hand, laughing at herself. "Someone like Oguri Cap, who only thinks about food, wouldn't possibly watch streams." After all, a popular horse girl like her wouldn't have time to watch such low-effort content.
[Monster: Also, when is the streamer coming back? Without your gameplay to watch while I eat, I eat two fewer bowls of rice per meal.]
[Monster: Oh, I remember now. Since you've enrolled at Tracen... I'll just come find you in person. You should be easy to find among the new students. Kitahara happens to be looking for a new horse girl.]
[QToInterruptHerStart:Huh??!! Is this a real-life doxxing and solo kill?! I thought you were just pretending, but are you actually a Tracen horse girl?!]
[WeirdoFriendEatsSurstromming:Wait? There are other girls in our group besides the streamer? Holy crap, does that mean a horse girl saw that video of me secretly eating blue cheese??]
Snap. Hakki closed her tablet. Her fans were as weird as ever... but "Monster" had put her on high alert.
To be that direct... it could only be Oguri Cap. And with her level of determination... she would really go through the new students one by one, wouldn't she?!
Honestly, Hakki was scared.
She talked a big game online, but now someone was actually coming to "solo kill" her—a horse girl she had no hope of resisting. The pressure suddenly became very real.
Re-evaluating her own frail body, a result of some congenital malnutrition, Hakki felt her future was...
Utterly bleak. If only I hadn't lent my light to Tiga back when I was a kid, she thought grimly. Then maybe my future wouldn't be so dark that I can't even see the path ahead.
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