At 8:00 PM, after dropping Oguri Cap off at her dorm at Kasamatsu Tracen Academy, Zhou Tai'an returned to his own rented apartment alone.
With a "click," he turned on the bedroom light, revealing a room identical to how it was when he woke up that morning.
"I'm just going to sleep soon anyway. I'll definitely clean up tomorrow," Zhou Tai'an muttered to himself.
After school, he had fulfilled his promise to treat Oguri Cap to dinner, successfully causing the restaurant owner, who was somewhat acquainted with Zhou Tai'an, to turn beet-red. Incidentally, Oguri Cap had also "helped" Zhou Tai'an pull Brand New Shine, who had been skeptical of him at lunch, onto the team. It was just that Brand New Shine's stats weren't very impressive... Zhou Tai'an even doubted if she could win a single race at Kasamatsu.
"But since Oguri Cap wants her on the team, I'll train her properly too," he thought.
…
Although Zhou Tai'an's wallet had taken a massive hit tonight, it wasn't without its rewards.
Zhou Tai'an focused his mind and called up the Basic Stat Viewer interface. Compared to the crude data from this morning, there was a lot more information this time—
"Track Aptitude: Turf A, Dirt B; Distance Aptitude: Short E, Mile A, Medium A, Long B; Skills: None yet; Preferred Strategies: Forward, Closer..."
After understanding Oguri Cap's stats, Zhou Tai'an mentally closed the viewer's interface. He sat down at his desk, ready to start drafting a training plan for Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine based on the information he had.
"The competition level in the Kasamatsu local series is really not great. But because I'm affiliated with Kasamatsu Tracen Academy, I can't take Oguri Cap to Nagoya for her debut. That means Oguri Cap's debut race is destined to be the 800-meter dirt race at Kasamatsu Racecourse."
An 800-meter super-sprint race only existed at the local level. And for Oguri Cap, whose short-distance aptitude was only an E, this was definitely not her preferred battlefield.
"But luckily, this is Kasamatsu. Even if she's not suited for it, she can crush them with her superior talent and ability!" Zhou Tai'an already had a good idea for Oguri Cap's debut.
…
When Zhou Tai'an finished drafting the training plans for the two Horse Girls, he looked up at the clock on the wall.
"Whoa, it's already almost 12 o'clock." He pursed his lips. "Time for bed. Tomorrow is the official start of the semester."
As a trainer, Zhou Tai'an's work would officially begin tomorrow.
After a quick wash, he changed into his pajamas, fell onto the bed, and quickly drifted off to sleep.
When Zhou Tai'an opened his eyes again, he glanced around and felt that his perspective was a bit lower than usual.
"Didn't I already clear the instance? Why am I still having this dream?" He frowned, puzzled.
The concept of "lucid dreaming" was proposed in 1913, and Zhou Tai'an knew a bit about it—after all, ever since resigning from his job in America, he had entered a state of lucid dreaming every night.
Just as Zhou Tai'an was descending into self-doubt, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't zone out, rookie. Today is your first day of work as a jockey. If you zone out even during regular riding practice, the trainers won't let you ride their horses in a race. If you want to make a name for yourself, you'd better do your part-time riding practice properly."
Zhou Tai'an turned around. Before him was a middle-aged man in a tracksuit whom he didn't recognize at all.
"Yes, I know. Thank you, Ando-senpai." But Zhou Tai'an instinctively knew what to call him.
"This is weird." After Ando left, he rubbed his head, receiving a flood of strange memories. His eyes flickered. "This dream is completely different from before."
Before yesterday, when Zhou Tai'an entered his dreams, he would partner with a horse named "Star of the Sea" to challenge different races. Only by placing first in a race could he challenge the next level. The day before he met Oguri Cap, he had successfully won the Arc de Triomphe, ending that series of dream challenges.
But after falling asleep today, he had suddenly returned to Japan. According to the memories he just received, Zhou Tai'an had become a rookie jockey. And according to the feedback in his memory, as long as he finished his training or won races each day, he would receive good things that could help him train Horse Girls in the real world.
"It's a good thing I accumulated some knowledge challenging those levels for the past six months, and got that riding skill from my colleague named Ryan Moore after clearing it," Zhou Tai'an rejoiced inwardly. "Otherwise, it's a question whether I could even learn to ride before being kicked out of here."
Following the guidance of his memories, Zhou Tai'an quickly set off, rushing towards the stable where he was interning. "Can't be late on the first day of work."
The trainer who had accepted him for an internship in this world was named Saginomi Masao. By the time Zhou Tai'an arrived at the stable, this trainer, already in his 50s, was directing his assistants in conducting morning checks on his horses.
"They all look healthy," Zhou Tai'an said casually after greeting Saginomi Masao.
"'Looking' healthy isn't good enough. We aren't horses, so all conclusions must be made after a proper check. Although horses, like people, only have one life, they are much more fragile than us." Saginomi Masao glanced at his new rookie jockey and instructed, "You must never have the lucky-draw mentality of 'it looks fine, so it must be fine.'"
"I understand." Zhou Tai'an dropped his lax attitude and nodded seriously.
"Trainer Saginomi is right. His words have guiding significance in reality, too. I must keep a close watch on Oguri Cap's and Brand New Shine's physical condition and do my best to prevent them from getting injured in training or races. To do that, I'll need to ask the doctor to check on them frequently... The academy probably won't reimburse that expense."
When he snapped back to reality, Saginomi Masao had just finished checking all the horses under his charge.
The trainer turned to Zhou Tai'an. "Today, you'll be responsible for training five horses, including a new horse that just arrived at the stable two days ago."
"Oh?" Zhou Tai'an's interest was piqued. "Which one?"
Saginomi Masao pointed casually at a gray horse. "Nn, that one over there, eating breakfast."
Zhou Tai'an followed his finger. A very well-behaved gray horse was eating heartily.
Watching its relish, the scene he had witnessed in the cafeteria yesterday afternoon involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
Zhou Tai'an asked in a low voice, "What's this horse's name?"
"Oguri Cap," Saginomi Masao replied with a smile. "This kid had leg problems when she was young, so be careful when you ride her. Don't push the intensity too high."
"!" Hearing Saginomi Masao's answer, Zhou Tai'an was completely dumbfounded.
He never imagined he would meet this world's version of Oguri Cap in his dream.
"Although I don't really want to admit it, that enthusiasm for eating... it's exactly the same," Zhou Tai'an muttered to himself, then went to prepare for today's riding practice.
After waking up, Zhou Tai'an rubbed his head. "I was exercising all night in my dream, but I don't feel tired at all."
Of course, what reassured him the most was the new update on his Basic Stat Viewer—after completing the riding practice, Oguri Cap's Affinity had increased by 1 point.
"Only 1 point... probably won't see much of a change." Zhou Tai'an grumbled as he glanced at the clock. "Time to get ready for work. Today is the first day of the new semester. I need to get the team registration paperwork for Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine done."
As for Fujimasa March, the girl his colleagues were all fawning over, he had zero interest now.
"In this Kasamatsu territory, I only need to focus on the Horse Girls I'm responsible for."
With that thought, Zhou Tai'an rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up.
…
Because he had to prepare the team registration paperwork, Zhou Tai'an arrived at Kasamatsu Tracen Academy earlier than usual today.
Walking into the office, he scanned the empty room, sat down quietly at his desk, and began to study how to handle Oguri Cap's and Brand New Shine's registration.
"It's funny, really. Even though I've had experience training Horse Girls, it wasn't until yesterday that I had Horse Girls who were truly my own responsibility for the first time," Zhou Tai'an mused as he glanced at the application formats of his senior trainers. "I can't let Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine, who trust me, down."
At that thought, he felt the weight on his shoulders grow heavier.
After Zhou Tai'an finished writing the application, filled out the forms, and printed them, he prepared to take these materials to the relevant department to complete the procedures.
Stepping outside, Zhou Tai'an was surprised to find Kitahara standing by the door, as if waiting for someone.
"Couldn't be me, right?" he guessed, and proactively greeted his friend.
"Kitahara-san, morning!"
"Tai'an-san!" Kitahara, hearing Zhou Tai'an's greeting, snapped to attention and, with lightning speed, grabbed Zhou Tai'an's left arm.
"What gives?" Zhou Tai'an pulled his arm out of his friend's grasp. "I'm not interested in men. Don't stand so close."
"I heard you recruited Horse Girls you want to train?" Kitahara took a step back, scratching his head as he asked. "So I wanted to ask about the situation."
"Yesterday, when you were watching the race with me and Shibasaki, you seemed so distracted. I thought you were worried about not finding a suitable Horse Girl. But then I asked around the academy, and I found out you actually recruited someone yesterday!"
"What's her name? To be chosen by you, Tai'an-san, her talent must be pretty good?"
Watching his friend chatter on, Zhou Tai'an sighed helplessly and showed him the documents in his hand. "Kitahara-san, let me go finish the paperwork first. We can talk later today when the new students start their mock races."
"Alright." Kitahara shrugged, clearing the path for Zhou Tai'an. "It's a deal, then. You'll watch the new students with me later and tell me what you see in that Horse Girl of yours."
"It's a deal." Zhou Tai'an wiggled his pinky finger and started walking.
Watching his friend's back, Kitahara felt a sense of relief. "Thank goodness Tai'an-san didn't try to get a head start and approach Fujimasa March. Otherwise, we really wouldn't have stood a chance."
After verifying the information with Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine, Zhou Tai'an's paperwork was processed smoothly.
"Phew—" He let out a long breath. "Now, after the morning's mock races are over, I'll start guiding their training."
At this thought, Zhou Tai'an felt a little nervous. "I haven't been involved in training a Horse Girl for over six months. I hope I don't seem too rusty later."
With this in mind, he headed back to the office to prepare a mental draft for the morning's training.
Every Horse Girl needs different training content at different stages. Sitting at his desk, Zhou Tai'an anticipated the likely situations Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine would face in the morning's mock race and wrote down some "what to do when" tips.
But this stuff wasn't for Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine to memorize.
"Situations in a race change in an instant. Rigidly adhering to a script won't work," he muttered as he stapled the tips into a booklet. "But it's fine as a simple introduction."
From Oguri Cap's behavior yesterday, Zhou Tai'an clearly understood that the Horse Girl he had chosen at first sight had a very shallow understanding of "racing," possibly close to zero.
"I must cultivate her competitive awareness in races." This was a major task he set for himself.
Zhou Tai'an had originally thought about making Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine compete, but after seeing the stat difference between the two, he was afraid Brand New Shine would be so crushed by Oguri Cap that she'd lose the courage to continue as a Horse Girl. He decided to handle it himself.
"Tai'an-san!" Just as Zhou Tai'an was frowning in thought, Kitahara appeared at the office door, calling his name. "The mock race is about to start! Let's go to the training track to watch!"
Zhou Tai'an snapped back to reality and quickly stood up. "Alright, Kitahara-san, let's go."
Just as the two trainers arrived at the side of the training track and found a good spot to sit, Kitahara was about to ask Zhou Tai'an about Oguri Cap, but Zhou Tai'an stood up again.
"What's wrong?" Kitahara looked confused.
"Stop! Don't start the race yet!" Zhou Tai'an shouted loudly to the colleague in charge of the starting gate.
"What's going on?" Almost everyone, from the trainers on the sidelines to the Horse Girls on the track, was bewildered.