Sorry, there was a mistake earlier, I accidentally hit send instead of delete on my draft haha.
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Congratulations! Your dedicated Uma Musume King Halo has won her debut race.
Reward: 12 attribute points.
Mission: Proof of First-Class. First victory achieved. Reward: 1 Random Skill Scroll, can unlock a random skill.
King Halo's affection +10. Now at Level 2. Personal profile has been updated and is available for viewing.
King Halo
Good at: Design and fashion-related matters
Not good at: Crowds, heat, and other things unrelated to being first-class
Increase affection to unlock more information.
Hayato allocated all 12 attribute points to power, the same as before. This brought his power stat to 120 already at the average level for Uma Musume.
As for the Random Skill Scroll, he opened it immediately.
Even though he didn't know what use this skill would be to him personally, he'd never considered giving it to another Uma Musume. System rewards naturally couldn't be transferred to others.
However, as long as Hayato mastered this skill, it meant he'd understand the development method. That wasn't bad at all.
Random Skill Scroll opened successfully.
Skill acquired: Nakayama Racecourse - Normal Low Grade/Green
'Uh... a green passive skill. System, did you actually ask me to join a race to give this skill?!'
Hayato clicked to view the skill description.
Rarity: Normal Low Grade
Condition: Universal
Icon Color: Green
Skill Description: Become slightly proficient at Nakayama Racecourse
Trigger Condition: Nakayama Racecourse races
Skill Type: Passive Stamina
Skill Points: 129
So passive skills couldn't be developed normally. Nothing he could do about that.
Just as he was thinking this, a strange sensation appeared in his mind. It felt as if he'd already competed countless times at Nakayama Racecourse.
"Is this... the Arima Kinen?"
Hayato seemed to see the Arima Kinen racecourse in his vision, vivid and clear.
Did this mean passive skills needed to be acquired during actual races? That possibility seemed very likely.
After the post-race formalities and a surprisingly smooth winning stage performance, thanks to their karaoke practice with the New Heisei Three, they finally made it back to the club room.
As expected, King Halo's race had attracted serious media attention, with the runaway strategy still being discussed by tons of people.
The topic generating the most buzz was that Seiun Sky and King Halo shared the same trainer.
Quite a few interested parties were studying this runaway strategy, but most ended up as Shining Entry, one mistake in execution led to the danger of total speed loss.
Who would exhaust all their stamina right from the start? That was just foolish.
"Hehehe, Trainer, I won! How do you think I ran?" King Halo was still riding the high of her victory, immediately pressing Hayato for praise with her tail wagging behind her like a rattle drum.
"Very good, very good. Being able to use a runaway strategy to open up such a large gap is definitely not something an ordinary Uma Musume could pull off."
Hayato's actual estimate had been that King Halo would win by a margin of one or two lengths. Opening up seven lengths had already exceeded expectations.
Moreover, if Mint Drops hadn't suddenly emerged halfway through, opening up more than ten lengths wouldn't have been a problem.
The Uma Musume behind King Halo probably couldn't stay calm enough and developed anxious emotions. By the end, they'd exhausted their stamina too.
"Really, really? Hehehe..." King Halo had been acting smug like this for quite a while now.
And that question she'd just asked was actually the eighth time she'd asked it.
"Trainer, that's enough." Seiun Sky couldn't help but complain. "If you keep praising her, she's gonna fly away. I can't stand it anymore."
"Seiun, you're not jealous, are you?" King Halo patted her hair lightly with a smug face, then followed up with her signature "oh ho ho ho" laugh.
"Jealous of you? Halo-chan, I opened up a gap of twelve lengths. You only managed seven..." Seiun Sky reminded her with a mocking smile.
"That's... because... I..." King Halo couldn't find words to refute her for a moment.
Beep! Beep!
The phone rang again.
She picked it up and answered.
"Mm."
"Yes."
"Right, I debuted."
"I will race seriously. I'm not joking. Challenging the Triple Crown this year is not a joke."
"I know everything you're saying. Please don't worry, Mother. I won't fight unprepared battles. I've prepared very well, so there's no need to worry."
"Then I'll defeat them. They're strong, but I can become even stronger. The King Halo family has no reason to back down because of that."
"Yes, please rest assured, Mother. Until I lose a race, please believe in me. I have the ability to win every battle."
"Yes, thank you. Goodbye, Mother."
After ending the call, King Halo let out a light breath, looked up at Hayato, and said with complete seriousness, "Trainer, it's getting late. We should train, shouldn't we?"
"What a dramatic change." Seiun Sky remarked with genuine admiration. "As expected of King Halo's mother."
Without that phone call, who knew how long they would've dawdled around?
"King Halo, before we start another new menu training, let me say a few things first."
"Please speak, Trainer. Also..." Her cheeks turned slightly pink. "You can call me Halo if you want. Consider it a privilege I'm granting you."
After saying this, she let out an "mm-hmm" sound and her tail slammed onto the ground once, then went still.
"Ha... King."
"Halo" felt too intimate. Hayato couldn't quite bring himself to say it. "The thing is, I can tell you very clearly that the trio you met a few days ago will be your strongest opponents on the path to the Triple Crown."
King Halo's expression shifted, becoming more focused.
"I can show you their data." Due to insufficient wisdom stats, Hayato couldn't see their skill information yet, but he still remembered their running styles and distance aptitudes.
After writing their information on the display board, Seiun Sky even copied it down like she was taking notes. This information was extremely valuable to her.
Opponents were also friends. Precisely because of that, giving your all was showing respect to your friends.
Only true friends would regard you as a worthy rival.
King Halo took this relationship very seriously. The stronger the opponent, the harder she needed to work.
"There are still two months until the Satsuki Sho. By then, you'll be facing all three of them." Hayato's expression was serious. "With your current abilities, you don't have any chance of winning."
The room went quiet.
King Halo's tail stopped wagging entirely.