Beep! Beep!
Not long after King Halo left, her phone rang.
Hayato picked up the pink flip phone King Halo had left behind and checked it.
Sure enough, it was a call from King Halo's mother.
Hayato didn't need to think twice to know she was calling to make trouble. Her mom actually wanted King Halo to debut after the Golden Generation had passed. Her thinking was right, except she didn't get the principle that each generation gets stronger than the last.
After Special Week, there'd still be T.M Opera O, Agnes Tachyon, Jungle Pocket, Daiwa Scarlet, Vodka, Tokai Teio, and Mejiro McQueen....
None of them was weaker than the Gray Monster Era.
Knowing what she wanted to say, Hayato didn't answer and just hung up.
Not long after, King Halo Mom called again.
If the phone wasn't King Halo's, he would've blocked the number already.
King Halo had hung up on her multiple times, too. There were already over a dozen missed call notifications.
Hayato hung up again, then saw a text message: "Do you want to die?"
Hayato turned off the phone and handed it to Seiun Sky. Out of sight, out of mind.
"She seems... intense," Seiun Sky observed, looking at the screen.
"Yeah, I have no idea what to do...."
"Next up, appearing from gate 3, wearing number 7, King Halo!"
The response was overwhelming.
The spectators in the stands showed crazy enthusiasm.
When King Halo threw up her jacket, even louder applause and cheers erupted.
This regal entrance move was something she'd practiced over and over until she'd mastered it completely.
"Oh ho ho ho!" Her signature laugh rang out across the track.
"Truly worthy of being a young lady from the King family. Full of presence, unquestionably the top favorite in this race. In the Simulation Match, she'd beaten several Uma Musume who were expected to debut strongly."
"Could she show them another miracle? The answer would be revealed soon."
After the popularity check on the display stage, nine Uma Musume gradually arrived at the racing grounds.
A pretty innocent and lively number 3 Uma Musume kept greeting other racers on the track.
"Hi! Hi! Hi!"
"I won't be giving you first place." King Halo very politely extended one hand.
That Uma Musume looked pleasantly surprised as she took that strong, powerful hand and shook it. "Me neither! This is my first race too! I won't be giving you first place either."
Just then, the announcer's voice rang out.
"The Uma Musume are beginning to enter the starting gates."
"From what we can see, all the Uma Musume look very spirited. We believe this will be an exciting race."
King Halo walked briskly toward the starting gate. From this moment on, her entire presence suddenly transformed.
If you were close enough, you could feel the faint heat radiating from her body, her breathing extraordinarily calm.
Watch closely, everyone. I will definitely reclaim the proof of being first-class from the King family.
Quite a few people were paying attention to King Halo now, not just because of her background, but also because of that day's declaration she'd made in the simulation race.
Even more people were hoping for the birth of another champion horse.
The Triple Crown. It wasn't a joke. No matter who achieved or even approached that realm, it was an extremely high honor.
Even an unknown Uma Musume could receive everyone's cheers for it.
"Do your best, King Halo!" An Uma Musume in the stands shouted tearfully.
Would King Halo be the most legendary Uma Musume name of this generation? The answer would be revealed right now.
CLANG!
"Wonderful!"
"All the Uma Musume successfully completed their starts. Numbers 8 and 9 seemed to fall slightly behind while trying to squeeze into the inside lane."
"In the race, we can see that currently in first place is number 2, Shining Entry. In second place is number 7, Mint Drops. In third is the top favorite, number 4, King Halo."
"King Halo has accelerated! The fight for track position is getting fierce!"
"But King Halo didn't just accelerate! She rapidly surged to the front position, without reducing speed at all, she's kept charging forward."
"You want to compete with me for this position? Not happening." Shining Entry took huge strides forward, also increasing her speed. She didn't plan to give the Uma Musume behind her any chance. As long as she was dominant enough, no one could compete with her for first position.
So when she charged forward, it was a total rampage. This type of mutually damaging running style was hard to call a rule violation.
The standard for violations was whether you obstructed another Uma Musume's path, and she hadn't done that.
Actually, it was King Halo who'd gotten in her way, so this counted as normal competition.
Fighting for track position was exactly like this, especially for the debut race. The racetrack was a battlefield.
To claim first place, speed alone wasn't enough.
"King Halo is in the lead! Shining Entry is starting to accelerate, seemingly trying to reclaim dominance of the front-runner position."
"Will King Halo compete with her this way in a battle of attrition? On a 2000-meter turf course, battling stamina in the early phase will affect the final spurt."
"She's accelerating! Accelerating! King Halo's speed isn't dropping! She's continuing to accelerate, opening up a three-length gap with other uma musume!"
"Huh?!"
Shining Entry, who'd been rapidly left behind, froze for a moment. When she tried to speed up to catch up, she discovered King Halo was getting further and further away.
In no time, the gap had grown to five lengths.
"There it is, a runaway strategy from their trainer! King Halo has opened up a five-length gap with the pack, and she's still accelerating! Good heavens! Is she not considering stamina consumption at all?!"
"Damn," Hayato muttered, watching from the sidelines.
"Trainer, mind your manners!" Seiun Sky said.
While the announcer was still providing commentary, King Halo had already opened up a seven-length gap with the pack.
Feeling the gap was about right, King Halo finally stopped accelerating.
After all, this was 2000 meters. She couldn't guarantee her stamina would definitely hold out for the whole thing if she kept this up.