Back during the Dream Cup race, I'd already had some concerns — last place was bound to stir up some controversy.
I just never imagined the controversy would be this heated.
If it's upset anyone, I apologize sincerely.
In my view, Barbatos has her own story to tell. Sooner or later she was bound to face a few setbacks. But getting back up, she'll surely stand taller next time. She's already plenty strong — even if she ends up last in the Dream Cup now.
But if you think about next year's races — who could really run alongside her? Who could actually pose a threat to Barbatos?
That's why in Volume 1, I deliberately included scenes like El Condor Pasa's extra training and Special Week's imitation tactics — basically trying to give them a bit of a power-up.
Otherwise, it'd probably just be Barbatos entering races and winning on an endless loop.
Hmm, and the previous chapter really wasn't meant to mock anyone at all — please don't misunderstand. This was something I had in mind from the very beginning, right along with her Dream Cup last-place finish.
With Volume 1 wrapped up, the plotline of placing last in the Winter Dream Cup was a tone I'd set from the start.
In regular races, Barbatos is basically unbeatable. One victory after another builds her confidence, but it also leads to some overconfidence — a bit of self-inflation, you could say.
She'd start thinking she could win races, or at least beat one or two rivals.
It's like watching tutorial videos for a game — your brain thinks you've got it, but actually playing is a whole different story.
In reality, if Barbatos's skills weren't limited by stamina, she'd have a real shot at outrunning one or two opponents.
She overestimated herself — but not entirely.
Some friends have said Tamamo Cross came off looking like a clown — able to beat Tamamo but not Amazon or Air Groove.
Tamamo is one of my favorite Uma Musume.
She simply chose not to become a legend — instead picking that Arima Kinen race with Oguri Cap. Otherwise, she'd definitely be among the legends. In her prime, the pressure she brought as the "White Lightning" was something else.
[Mimic] in my setting is about stealing another runner's Zone. Tamamo Cross's Zone is powerful, but it's built around her own stats.
If a Zone can boost an Uma Musume's speed by 20%, then 20% of 1200 is a completely different story from 20% of 400.
The advantage of [Mimic] is that it can be sustained over a long distance, allowing for prolonged acceleration as long as there's no "runner's oyster" effect. So you can't really blame Tamamo for what happened.
That strategy, though, led to her stamina running short in the final stretch.
In previous races, Barbatos had always been relatively at ease — going all out, sure, but never completely draining her stamina. She never realized using skills would cost endurance.
Besides, if you converted Barbatos into stats from the Uma Musume mobile game, the gap might be even bigger.
Weight training boosts speed and stamina — if her speed was around 330 at the start, even with passives now it might only be 600–700. Without lasting power in her active skills, the difference could be even greater than what I wrote.
And reality is different from games, after all.
Well, Volume 1 ends here. Volume 2 will lean more into daily life.
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