Waking up, Zhou Tai'an looked at the new message on his viewer and shook his head helplessly.
"It's the same as yesterday. Just a little bit of Oguri Cap's Affinity. It seems training in the dream only does this much." He realized he couldn't rely on dream rewards to improve Oguri Cap's abilities. "But her Affinity is at 62 now... I wonder what the max value is, and what will change..."
As he thought about it, a "terrible" idea suddenly popped into Zhou Tai'an's head...
He quickly shook his head, clearing the distracting thoughts.
Snapping back to reality, Zhou Tai'an glanced at the clock. It was exactly 5:30 AM.
"Wash up, go out for breakfast, then head to work," he muttered as he rolled out of bed.
While Zhou Tai'an was in the bathroom, Oguri Cap had already changed into her tracksuit and was standing on the Kasamatsu Tracen Academy training track.
"Hah—" She took a deep breath, her eyes shining. "I feel great right now!"
But before Oguri Cap could take a step, she remembered her trainer's instructions from yesterday.
"Trainer said... if I'm going to do morning practice, I should just jog slowly in circles." She bit her lip, resisting the urge to break into a full sprint.
…
By the time Brand New Shine arrived at the training track, Oguri Cap was already covered in sweat.
"Oguri Cap, how long have you been running? Maybe you should rest? We have to meet the trainer this morning," she said after greeting her teammate, her brow furrowed with worry. "You don't have to try this hard for morning practice."
"I feel fine," Oguri Cap waved her hand. "I'm full of energy right now. Even if Trainer asked me to run a few more laps at full speed, it wouldn't be a problem!"
Seeing her friend working so hard, Brand New Shine sighed deeply. "Then I'll join you."
She knew her talent wasn't as good as Oguri Cap's, so she was even more determined not to lose to her teammate in terms of effort.
When Zhou Tai'an, carrying the materials he had organized last night, leisurely arrived at Kasamatsu Tracen Academy, he was not surprised to see Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine jogging side-by-side on the track.
"How long have they been running in circles?" Zhou Tai'an was bewildered. "At this speed, there's no way Brand New Shine and Oguri Cap should be dripping with sweat, right?"
"This is bad. If they keep running like this, my training plan for today is ruined." Realizing this, he quickly jogged over.
"Tai'an-san!" Kitahara, who had just arrived at the academy gate, was about to greet his friend, but all he got in response was a gust of wind as Zhou Tai'an rushed past.
"Holy cow... Tai'an-san's holding out on us. He's running faster than some athletes I've seen," Kitahara muttered to himself, dumbfounded.
In fact, Zhou Tai'an had heard Kitahara's greeting but was already running and couldn't respond in time.
"I'll just greet him back later," he reminded himself.
Arriving at the track, he called out to his two Horse Girls: "Oguri Cap! Brand New Shine! You two can stop now!"
He made a "stop" gesture, his brow locked in a tight frown as he stared at the two Horse Girls who had stopped their jogging and were walking towards him.
"Trainer..." Brand New Shine, who had been smiling, wiped away her sweat. Noticing Zhou Tai'an's grim expression, she obediently lowered her head.
"Tell me, how long have you two been running?" Zhou Tai'an glanced at Oguri Cap, then fixed his gaze on Brand New Shine.
"Just... just over an hour..." Brand New Shine muttered.
Well, what's done is done. Zhou Tai'an couldn't say much more.
He could only sigh and remind them again, "On mornings when I have a training session scheduled for you, please do not waste your stamina reserves. This afternoon, I will give each of you a calendar. From now on, please follow what's written on it."
"So... are we still training this morning?" Brand New Shine glanced at Oguri Cap, who was hesitating to speak, and raised her hand to ask.
"Of course we're training." Zhou Tai'an looked at his watch. "But you two should go get breakfast now. We'll meet at the training track at 9 AM."
The moment she heard "breakfast," Oguri Cap's ears twitched. Brand New Shine took her hand. "Then we're off! See you later, Trainer!"
"See you at 9!" Zhou Tai'an nodded, watching his two Horse Girls leave.
Only when Brand New Shine and Oguri Cap had disappeared from sight did Zhou Tai'an limp over to a corner of the training track.
"Hiss—" He sucked in a breath of cold air as he sat down. "Yep, if I don't run at that speed for a long time, using it all of a sudden will definitely cause a strain."
Zhou Tai'an leaned against the wall, tilted his head back, and looked at the sky, which was painted gold by the morning sun. "If only I were a Horse Girl..."
"Forget it." He blinked hard. "Even if I were a Horse Girl, I'd probably still flee the West Coast. Though it would definitely be a lot harder."
On the way to the cafeteria, Brand New Shine turned to look at Oguri Cap, who was frowning slightly. "Oguri, is something wrong?"
"Yes," Oguri Cap's reply was short.
"What is it?" Brand New Shine's eyes widened, pressing for details. "Oguri~, tell me!"
"I don't know why, but every day when I see Trainer, I feel like he's kinder than the day before," Oguri Cap explained in a low voice, clutching her chest. "It's strange. We've barely even talked."
"Maybe Trainer is just really charming?" Brand New Shine thought for a moment and offered her explanation. "I mean, he's really handsome... The day he walked into the classroom, I heard Northan Ace and the others breathing heavily."
"Is that so?" Oguri Cap, who didn't understand much about these things, tilted her head.
At 9 AM, Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine arrived at the training track on time. Zhou Tai'an was already standing by the side, having arrived a few minutes early.
"Trainer!" the two Horse Girls greeted him in unison.
"Right on time." Zhou Tai'an smiled and waved.
"Well, it's our first training session!" Brand New Shine replied cheerfully.
Oguri Cap also gave a soft "Mm" in agreement.
"Then, before our first training session, I want to ask you both: why did you become Horse Girls?" Zhou Tai'an asked, holding a notebook that recorded the family backgrounds of the two Horse Girls in front of him.
"Because I saw Horse Girls running on TV, and I really wanted to be like them," Brand New Shine answered first.
"What about you, Oguri Cap?" Zhou Tai'an turned his gaze to the other gray-coated Horse Girl. "You have outstanding talent. Did you plan to become a Horse Girl from a young age?"
"No," Oguri Cap denied flatly. "In fact, when I was just born, my knees were so stiff I couldn't even stand up. It was my mom who spent a long time every day massaging them, gradually making my legs more flexible. Back then, I just wanted to run freely like other kids. I never thought about becoming a Horse Girl."
"And now?" This was the first time Zhou Tai'an had heard about Oguri Cap's childhood. He pursed his lips and asked, "What about now?"
Oguri Cap lifted her head slightly, meeting her trainer's gaze without flinching. "I want to use these legs, which were healed by my mom's love, to fight for a better life for her."
"Good." Zhou Tai'an grinned. "Although our goals are not the same, the means to achieve them are."
"What is your goal, Trainer?" Although they had heard his declaration yesterday, Brand New Shine and Oguri Cap still didn't really understand.
"My goal?" Zhou Tai'an paused, then spoke without thinking. "Right now, I want to get an offer letter from Central Tracen Academy."
"Trainer, you want to go to Central?" Brand New Shine was surprised. "But you said you wanted to 'take down Central'..."
"That's right..." Oguri Cap muttered. "But it turns out you already want to join their side?"
"'Central' and the 'local regions' are not in opposition," Zhou Tai'an shrugged. "And the reason I proposed 'taking down Central' is to prove that I have the ability to be a trainer at Central Tracen Academy."
He changed the subject. "If you two had the chance to go to Central, what would you choose?"
Oguri Cap shook her head without hesitation. "I think Kasamatsu is fine. The food in the cafeteria here is very good."
Brand New Shine chimed in with the same opinion. "If Oguri stays in Kasamatsu, then I'll stay here too."
"..."
Zhou Tai'an shook his head wordlessly, deciding not to continue this topic.
"Who knows what choices you'll make in the future? No point in saying anything now," he thought, handing his notebook to Oguri Cap.
Oguri Cap took the notebook with both hands, opened it to the first page, and froze.
"What's this?" Brand New Shine leaned over to look, equally puzzled. "There are two tables on it, filled with the names of races. Is this a schedule for us?"
"That's right," Zhou Tai'an confirmed her guess. "This is your race plan for the next three months—assuming, of course, you can win."
"That's great," Brand New Shine exclaimed. "Oguri, your third race is already a Graded Race!"
"A Graded Race..." Oguri Cap muttered. "The Hokkaido Yushun Championship is a Graded Race."
"Correct. A G3 Graded Race. The winner's prize is 25 million yen." Zhou Tai'an added. "If you win, you'll get 80% of that, before taxes."
"The remaining 20%, according to URA regulations, belongs to me." Zhou Tai'an was not shy about discussing this.
At this point, he glanced at Brand New Shine, who was already dazed by the "25 million" figure. "Of course, this is based on our team's current situation. It's different for other teams."
"Why?" Oguri Cap asked, a little nervous. For her, who had grown up in the countryside of Hokkaido, 25 million yen—even just 80% of it—was enough to buy her mom so many things she had wanted for a long time.
"Uh, no matter what, the participating Horse Girl's 80% share doesn't change." Zhou Tai'an realized Oguri Cap had misunderstood and quickly explained. "Other teams also have staff responsible for logistics for the Horse Girl. So when the prize money is split, the trainer only gets 15%, and the other 5% goes to the support staff."
"5% of 25 million is 1.25 million!" Brand New Shine immediately calculated the result. "That's so much!"
Getting that much money just for doing logistics, without even having to race... and this was just a local G3. If it were a Central Graded Race, the prize money would be even higher, and so would the cut.
"A debut race win at Kasamatsu gets 850,000 yen. And with my ability, winning a debut or maiden race at Kasamatsu..." Brand New Shine was well aware of her own talent.
Zhou Tai'an noticed the change in Brand New Shine's expression, but he planned to talk to her when they were alone—and also to solve a puzzle from his dream world.
"Alright, the next page is the short-term training plan I've arranged for you two, and also this—" Zhou Tai'an handed a calendar to both Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine. "The calendars I promised this morning. Starting tomorrow, whether you do morning practice or not, just follow this."
"It's probably fine to do morning practice every day, right?" Oguri Cap questioned. "As long as I can control the intensity, it won't affect Trainer's training."
"But I don't think you can control your intensity when you run on your own, Oguri Cap," Zhou Tai'an said with open palms. This was intelligence he had gathered from the dream world.
In the dream world yesterday, when he was riding Oguri Cap for a relaxation exercise, it took all his effort to hold her back and stop her from bolting.
"If the dream and reality are connected..." Zhou Tai'an thought, carefully observing the expression on Oguri Cap's face as he responded to her.
After hearing her trainer's retort, Oguri Cap looked down, embarrassed.
"I knew it. Even though they are completely different, this aspect is connected." Noticing Oguri Cap's reaction, Zhou Tai'an's mind flashed with many things he wanted to investigate in the dream world.
For example, what foods Oguri Cap liked, which part of her was most sensitive, her most suitable racing strategy, and so on.
Did you say one of those sounded strange?
"These are all necessary things to know in order to train Oguri Cap properly," Zhou Tai'an nodded, lost in thought.
"Trainer?" Noticing her trainer had spaced out, Brand New Shine waved a hand in front of his face.
"Ah!" Zhou Tai'an snapped back. "I was just thinking about what training I should have you do today."
"Didn't you write it in the training plan?" Oguri Cap pointed to the notebook. "For this morning, it says I should maintain 60% speed in the front, and Brand New Shine should start one second after me and try to catch up."
"I've changed my mind. We won't do chasing practice today." Zhou Tai'an's lips curled into a smile. "You two, go ask your teacher for leave. After lunch, we'll meet at the school gate."
"Huh?" Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine were completely baffled, not expecting their trainer to have them skip school on the very first day of training.