Opening up a ten-length lead right from the start was unprecedented. More importantly, she'd built that massive gap over Shining Atrium, who was already running flat out.
"That was Silence Suzuka's running style. Wild, almost absurd, like a provocation to every other Uma Musume on the field, as if she were saying, Catch me if you can!"
Shining Atrium made a snap decision and surged after her, but no matter how hard she pushed, the gap simply wouldn't close.
Gradually, she found that her strength to maintain top speed had also reached its limit. Not only did her speed fail to increase, but it actually started dropping.
After exhausting her stamina, Silence Suzuka's speed was also visibly decreasing.
Slowly falling behind the pack, Shining Atrium muttered to herself, "Just watch. You'll definitely end up the same way I did."
Swallowed up by the Uma Musume pack, Shining Atrium felt utterly ridiculous. At the start, she'd kept thinking her opponent's speed couldn't possibly exceed her own.
But things didn't go as wished.
Because of Silence Suzuka's runaway, chaos erupted among the Uma Musume behind. Those who couldn't see hope even doubted whether they could finish the race.
Yeah, ten lengths. Even if the opponent didn't have the stamina to accelerate in the late phase, it would still be very hard to catch up.
They did think exactly that. With this distance, even accelerating later wouldn't be enough to surpass Silence Suzuka.
So now, their rhythm started falling apart. The uma musume quickly split into three groups.
"And at the very front, the first group, Silence Suzuka! She's absolutely dominating, a full ten lengths ahead of the second pack!"
"Now, the second group, including Shining Atrium, is trying desperately to close the gap. But it looks like they're forced to ease off just a bit, saving their energy for that final push toward the finish line!"
As the second group, they naturally hoped the gap with Silence Suzuka would shrink as much as possible, because they still wanted to win.
They were all pretty annoyed at Shining Atrium right now.
Why provoke that monster? Wouldn't it have been better to run slowly and save energy for the finish?
Shining Atrium's stamina completely drained, she immediately became a target in the second group. She had no choice but to fall back, barely able to hold her position.
"And here comes the third group, folks! They've already dropped more than ten lengths behind the second pack. At this point, they're essentially out of the running! Forget about catching up to Silence Suzuka in front, they can't even make a move on the chasing group! It's absolute chaos back there!"
Though they knew that nine out of ten uma musume failed their debut races, they hadn't expected to be among them.
Opening up a ten-length gap right from the start wasn't that crazy behavior?
If someone could win by being crazy, then being a little crazy didn't seem so bad. But after laughing, their expressions turned to sad faces.
Debut race, first attempt blown.
Silence Suzuka, far out in front, didn't know why the Uma Musume behind her were crying over defeat. Right now, she was alone at the very front, her steps light and swift.
As she ran, the scenery rushed past her in a blur. She couldn't hear a single sound from behind, as if she were the only one on the track.
As the race entered the mid-phase, something shifted in Silence Suzuka's rhythm.
Rosy Outlook skill activated.
Her breathing changed. Like her lungs found a rhythm they'd been looking for all along. Blue light flickered across her body, faint enough that nobody watching would catch it, but she felt it wash through her. Every tight muscle unwound. Every jangled nerve settled into this comfortable hum.
Oh. This feels good.
The crowd was watching. Thousands of eyes on her. But they wouldn't see exhaustion or strain. Just the smile she couldn't quite suppress.
First place is mine.
Her exclusive blue skill didn't work like normal recovery. Hayato had spent weeks figuring this out, practically killed himself testing it over and over until he cracked it. The trick was simple but weird, as long as she didn't look tired, her body believed she wasn't. Breathing control and relaxation, convincing herself everything was fine even when it shouldn't be.
It's the mechanic of the Rosy Outlook recovery skill. Right now, cruising with a ten-length lead, everything was fine.
Silence Suzuka stopped paying attention to the pack behind her. They were still there, she knew that, but they didn't press on her anymore. The noise of the race blurred into something distant, as it belonged to another place entirely.
What stayed with her was simple and steady, the way her breathing lined up with her steps, the way each stride landed without effort. She wasn't pushing or holding back. She was just running, and it felt easy to stay right here.
There was a quiet comfort in that, in letting the motion carry her forward without thinking about anything else.
"We're approaching the final corner, folks, so let's check those standings!"
"Silence Suzuka is dominating in first place, and I gotta say, her power in this race is absolutely off the charts!"
The announcer's voice practically vibrated with excitement.
"Second place is Masked Eye, still holding on by a length. Is she trying to close the gap like Shining Atrium before? And in third—"
Up in the premium seats, Maruzensky grabbed Rudolf's arm.
"Rudolf. You seeing that?"
This running style, it felt familiar somehow. Not exactly like her own races, but close enough that something tightened in her chest. A runaway horse actually maintaining dominance the whole way through, never faltering, this was what racing should be.
Suzuka used to train under the Rigil Team. Tojo Hana wouldn't let her run like this, though. Too risky, too weird, and too unconventional. So she switched trainers and found someone who'd actually let her be herself.
Kind of tragic when you think about it.
Then again, maybe the fact that trainers like Hayato existed at all meant things were changing. That thought made her smile a bit.
"Notice anything?" Rudolf asked, calm as ever.
"Hm?" Marzensky looked back at the track, really looked at Suzuka this time.
"Ah!"