With an overwhelming dominance that left the second-place Uma Musume more than ten lengths behind her...
The venue, and the Japanese audience watching the live broadcast, regardless of their previous thoughts, erupted into a roaring tide of cheers at this moment, as if they were about to witness the rise of another legendary Uma Musume!
At the finish line, Barbatos glanced around, hearing an explosion of various sounds.
There were gasps of surprise, murmurs of admiration, cheers, applause, and shouts.
The entire Hanshin Racecourse seemed to transform into her kingdom at that moment, letting her bask alone in the cheers and applause.
The grass beneath her feet, bathed in sunlight, swayed in the gentle breeze, as if singing praises to her, the victor.
Looking back at the other Uma Musume who had just crossed the finish line, she found herself, for the first time, forming her own unique interpretation of Tracen Academy's motto.
No matter what kind of race it is, victory, applause, and glory belong solely to the winning Uma Musume! Eclipse First, The Rest Nowhere!
She took a deep breath and turned to walk towards the backstage.
As the winner, what came next was the Winner's Stage. How could she, as Special Week's classmate, be completely unprepared for the Winner's Stage?
In her previous life, as a seasoned otaku, her skills weren't limited to just playing League of Legends. She was also proficient in some dances popular among otaku.
With her current Uma Musume physique, executing them would showcase even greater flexibility and grace.
However, the current situation seemed different from what she had initially imagined.
Before, she imagined herself as a debut-winning Uma Musume going on stage to dance. The reality was she was a debut-winning Uma Musume with 330,000 fan supporters going on stage to dance.
For a moment, she wondered if dancing to ["Gokuraku Jodo"](a famous Japanese dance song) would be slightly inappropriate?
As for other dances... the ["Chairman Dance"](a meme dance) didn't involve a desk, and that style might be even less suitable. Her mindset having shifted slightly, Barbatos suddenly had a new idea.
As for playing the lyre or something on the Winner's Stage... she genuinely didn't know how to play the lyre.
Initially, she had actually considered performing the only Chinese-style ["Horse Riding Dance"](Gangnam Style) she knew, but this world didn't have four-legged horses, so that particular dance didn't exist either.
--+--
Backstage.
The top three Uma Musume gathered together.
Unlike the others, they still had the Winner's Stage to participate in.
Barbatos was seriously explaining to the staff the music track that needed to be played for their upcoming Winner's Stage performance, and the dance they would perform.
As the victor who had won by over ten lengths, she had the right to choose the dance and the music, even opting for a solo performance if she wished.
Whether the second and third-place Uma Musume would learn this dance depended on the crash course she was about to give them backstage.
Thanks to the Uma Musume body's flexibility and observational skills, they could basically learn the dance roughly in just a short while. Even if they didn't master it completely, their superhuman reflexes would allow them to follow along on stage.
'Really, why is there a Winner's Stage after running a race? Shouldn't an Uma Musume's job be just running?'
"Alright, I'll demonstrate the dance once first. Watch closely."
Now changed into her stage outfit, Barbatos performed the dance she had decided on, humming the tune they would sing later.
This left the other two Uma Musume momentarily lost in thought. Why did this dance look so... weird?
But gradually, they started to catch Barbatos's rhythm. When the three of them danced together, it was as if a strange magic took hold.
--+--
On the Winner's Stage, the spotlight shone down.
Barbatos stood in the center position, facing the audience. The other two Uma Musume were positioned differently; one standing looking backwards, the other sitting on the floor facing away from the audience.
Directly in front of the trio, on the floor at the edge of the Winner's Stage, sat a CD player.
This opening setup left the entire audience somewhat bewildered, unable to immediately grasp why this Winner's Stage was so different. Was it some new type of performance? But why the CD player?
However, being in Japan, some people quickly made the connection and couldn't help but break into ecstatic grins.
Who would have thought an Uma Musume would perform this? It was like a "dream crossover"! "A feast for two fandoms"!
As the spotlight settled.
Barbatos took a CD and placed it into the CD player, pressing the play button. The moment the melody started, a realization dawned on all the viewers: something big was about to happen!
On the live stream's bullet chat, both Chinese and Japanese viewers suddenly began spamming the same characters: [ゴゴゴ].
After starting the CD player, Barbatos took a few steps back, returning to her position in the formation.
"Vocal percussion on a whole 'nother level~"
"Coming through my mind!"
Barbatos began showcasing dance moves never before seen on a Winner's Stage. Yet, the two Uma Musume behind her remained motionless!
"Vocal percussion on a whole 'nother level~"
"Coming through my mind!"
"Ah~ we're Golden Wind!"
At this point, the Uma Musume who had been standing facing backwards turned her head to look at Barbatos, seemingly noticing something amiss, and joined the dance.
As the number of dancers increased to two, some audience members unfamiliar with this dance started feeling the infectious energy.
Then, they saw the third Uma Musume also notice the 'problem' and join the dance!
At that moment, the trio dancing together fully unleashed the true, bizarrely addictive magic of this dance.
People were even starting to pull out their phones to record videos, even though a replay of the Winner's Stage would surely be available online later.
Those who recognized the dance's origin, and those who didn't—both groups found themselves greatly... mentally impacted. The atmosphere at the venue instantly skyrocketed to its peak.
Seiun Sky watched with great relish, while Minamizaka could only facepalm in resignation. 'I should have forced Barbatos to learn a proper Winner's Stage routine.'
Not only would "Legend from Debut" trend online, but this Winner's Stage performance was probably going to trend too.
That's what the trainer Minamizaka thought, but watching the dance also reminded him of running under the setting sun in his youth—back when he used to watch this dance daily.
In the Student Council room at Tracen Academy, the "Emperor," Symboli Rudolf, watched the live broadcast with a deep frown.
'Should I have a talk with Barbatos in the Student Council room after she returns from Osaka?' Performing poorly on the Winner's Stage brings disgrace to the academy. Performing well is one thing, but Barbatos's performance was a bit too... flamboyant.
"Really now..."
"Special Week, Barbatos... they're all like this, one after another."
"I hope El Condor Pasa doesn't come up with any such bizarre ideas."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.