Tracen Academy.
"Darn it! I've clearly been working so hard to control my appetite, yet my weight won't drop at all. This isn't right!!"
Inside the Spica training gym, a refined and lovely Uma Musume was throwing a tantrum. She stared at the numbers on the scale, her cheeks flushed as she grumbled under her breath.
She was the eldest daughter of the Mejiro family and the ace of Team Spica: Mejiro McQueen.
As a student of Tracen, like all other Umas, her favorite things were running, participating in various races, and enjoying the thrill of competition.
Her teammate— Tracen's famously eccentric "alien" horse, Gold Ship— was an utterly ridiculous existence. She was McQueen's best friend, but also a formidable rival.
McQueen had another rival she admired: Tokai Teio, who also attended Tracen. Every time she thought of Teio's majestic running form, McQueen was filled with longing, viewing her as the ultimate target to surpass.
Surpassing Tokai Teio was something Mejiro McQueen often dreamed about.
Unfortunately, due to her heavy weight, no matter how hard she tried to restrain herself, she seemed to be drifting further down the path of being a "Fat Pony," with no sign of the weight coming off.
"Um, I'm terribly sorry, Trainer-san. Could you help me think of a way to make me... a bit slimmer?"
McQueen blushed slightly, looking up at the young woman beside her.
The youth was Tracen's newest Trainer, named Mizuki. At the same time, she held a secret identity: she was a transmigrator.
To be honest, Mizuki never expected that she would one day end up in the world of Uma Musume.
The scene of her arrival was still vivid in her mind.
A week ago, when the horse girls of Tracen had just started the new semester, Mejiro McQueen was venting her frustrations near a tree hollow in the academy because of a minor injury. Suddenly, a young woman crawled out from that very hollow.
Terrified, McQueen let out a scream and instinctively prepared to deliver a horse kick. Fortunately, Mizuki reacted instantly, ducking her head and saving her pretty face from being victimized by the "Big Mac."
Then, hearing the commotion, Oguri Cap rushed over.
Oguri Cap asked blankly, "What happened, McQueen-san?"
Still shaken, McQueen said, "Oguri-san, a tree hollow monster appeared! No, it might even be a pervert who snuck into Tracen!"
Hearing this from inside the hollow, Mizuki was stunned. She had just transmigrated and was already being labeled a pervert?
Helpless, Mizuki was forced to climb out and explain the situation to McQueen and Oguri Cap. She admitted that she had arrived there by accident, but claimed her goal wasn't to be a creep.
Shortly after, the Chairwoman and Tazuna Hayakawa arrived, followed by a crowd of girls drawn by the noise.
Figures like T.M. Opera O, Narita Top Road, Rice Shower, El Condor Pasa, the energetic Haru Urara, and the big-headed Biwa Hayahide all squeezed in to watch the spectacle.
Naturally, countless Uma Musume were curious about this stranger who crawled out of a tree hollow claiming she wanted to be a Trainer.
It was only then that Mizuki realized that she had crossed into the world of Uma Musume. Luckily, she had played Uma Musume in her previous life and somehow actually had a JRA Trainer's certificate in her hand.
Thinking quickly, Mizuki claimed she was at Tracen to be a Trainer. Not only did she produce the certificate, but she also spoke eloquently about racing— G1, G2, G3 races, debut matches, Triple Crown winners— she dazzled them with her knowledge.
Upon hearing this, Haru Urara's eyes sparkled; she seemed to believe Mizuki completely. Not to mention the simple-minded "Spe-Dumb" (Special Week) and the cute Tokai Teio, who nodded along as they were completely fooled.
Symboli Rudolf, the Student Council President, wasn't as easy to fool as the others. This "Emperor" takes the safety of every Uma seriously, and Mizuki's smooth talking wasn't enough to completely dispel her doubts.
Thankfully, the decision was left with the Chairwoman of Tracen Academy, and after hearing the conviction in Mizuki's tone, she nodded and stated that she'd check the records and would decide whether Mizuki could work at Tracen based on those facts. She was very welcoming, telling her it would only take about half an hour to process.
So, near the tree hollow, Mizuki began chatting with the surrounding horse girls. It was her first time learning about this world directly from them, and she soon found herself enraptured by what they had to say.
In this world, every Uma is blessed by the Three Goddesses. They are born to run, competing and sharpening their skills daily to achieve their dreams.
She had to admit, the real horse girls were even cuter than in the game. Their animal ears and tails were incredibly charming, and the way they looked at their Trainer with friendliness and trust showed they were a group of pure-hearted girls.
However, their personalities varied wildly.
Take T.M. Opera O: confident, cheerful, handsome, and fit. Her classic three-stage laugh left Mizuki in awe. Though, when she started to liken Mizuki's arrival to "angels descending from the Heavens" and "demons crawling from the abyss," Mizuki was genuinely lost.
Then there was the sincere Narita Brian, biting on a twig. She looked indifferent to everyone, yet she actually asked Mizuki if she was injured.
'This girl is so kind, I'm almost moved to tears,' she thought.
As for Tokai Teio, she was a total social butterfly. She proactively greeted Mizuki and explained the meaning behind her name. "Tokai Teio" meant fighting for everything on the track to ascend the throne.
She wanted to be like her idol, Symboli Rudolf, winning the three major races of the Twinkle Series and becoming an undefeated legend. She wanted to see the same scenery Rudolf saw.
Biwa Hayahide was busy with her own concerns, pushing up her glasses. She was very sensitive and seemed to hear someone mentioning her "big head."
As for who was talking about her head, Mizuki couldn't say. Perhaps having such a large head meant that Hayahide had better hearing than everyone else?
Regardless, the cute Rice Shower that talked to Mizuki afterwards was enough to clear her mind of such thoughts.
As soon as Rice Shower started talking, Mizuki knew that this girl was definitely the one that she wanted to train the most!
However, though Mizuki recognized many of them, there was a serious problem: she was a total "newbie" who had only recently been dragged into the game by a friend! She didn't know much.
The reason was simple: the domestic server for the mobile game Uma Musume had just launched. Mizuki had pre-registered and downloaded it, thinking she would learn the history of the horses while playing. But only a few days after the public beta started, she transmigrated.
So, while she knew some of the girls, she knew absolutely nothing about their futures or their race results. She hadn't even watched the anime. To keep the immersion, she had planned to learn their personalities through the game first before watching the anime for the best experience. And to avoid spoilers, she had only skimmed through the real-life horse histories, wanting to maintain the suspense.
Her friends told her the first and second seasons of the anime were masterpieces. She had been holding back from watching them, and now, she didn't need to— she was living in it.
The only extra data she could rely on was the scattered knowledge of the real-life prototype horses and memes she'd heard from her "Umamusume-obsessed" friends. For example: "Mood-Down" Rice Shower, "Little-Adult" Mayano Topgun, "Crybaby" Narita Top Road, "Left-Handed" Silence Suzuka, and the "Bottom-Road Slapper" T.M. Opera O.
Soon, the half-hour wait passed. After reviewing her files, the Chairwoman announced there would be an exam in a few days. If Mizuki passed, she could join Team Spica as a temporary hire. Since their previous Trainer had resigned, she was the perfect replacement. Before the exam, she could stay in the Trainers' dormitory.
Mizuki used those few days for intense last-minute studying. At first, she thought, 'Study? Study my foot! I'll just rely on my IRL knowledge and breeze through the exam!'
A quick test-quiz from the Emperor shattered all of her confidence.
How to manage a Trainee's diet? How to build a training program to focus on specific muscle groups? How to help an Uma properly adjust to an unfamiliar track? How to manage an Uma's psychological needs?
Questions like this left Mizuki's head spinning. If it weren't for Tokai Teio coming along to distract that terrifying Emperor, she might've been tossed out of Tracen on her first day!
So with tears in her eyes, Mizuki was forced to do something she swore she'd never do after graduating University...
Perhaps it was a "Transmigrator's Perk," but as she studied, a wealth of basic Trainer knowledge actually surfaced in her mind. Combined with several sleepless nights, she successfully passed the exam, entered Tracen, and obtained her official Trainer's License.
To thank this new Trainer for filling the vacancy in Spica, the Chairwoman thoughtfully gave her nearly triple the amount of Carrots, Horseshoes, and food resources on her first day, along with a hefty salary.
At that, Mizuki wished desperately that she could act like the Trainers in those online memes she saw, point at Director Akikawa, and say:
"There's nobody else but you in my heart! Please accept me as your Trainer, I'll make you the happiest Uma in the world!"
But of course, she wasn't able to do that.
After a busy week, Mizuki had sorted out her basic needs. With the knowledge gained from transmigration and her hard work, she was now a legitimate, albeit rookie, Trainer.
She knew, however, that without practical experience, she was just a weakling with nothing but theoretical knowledge.
Back to the present, Mizuki listened to McQueen's concerns about her weight, then sighed and said:
"McQueen, I'm sorry, but regarding your weight, I'm powerless too."
One must understand that the girl Mizuki knew best was Mejiro McQueen. After all, she was a main character in Uma Musume, the dignified "thousand-pound" young lady. As a Large-sized horse with the Mejiro family's elite bloodline, even if she controlled her diet with tears in her eyes and trained every day, her weight would never drop below 500kg.
Compared to the petite Rice Shower or Twin Turbo, McQueen was as "chonky" as they come.
As Mizuki spoke, her expression suddenly froze. A voice echoed in her mind.
[Ding!]
[Host has successfully survived in Tracen Academy for over seven days. Diary System activated!]
[System Rule: If the Host writes a 600-word training diary daily, a random reward will be granted!]
[Rewards consist of various types: Inheritance Factors, Training Support, Massive Funds, various Miraculous Items, and even Infinite Lifespan and "Mystic Authority" equal to the Three Goddesses.]
[By writing more diaries, not only can the Host become stronger, but she can also stimulate the potential of the horse girls, becoming a legendary Trainer with honor and wealth.]
Mizuki was stunned into silence. Her "Golden Finger" had finally arrived?
But what was this "Training Diary"? Who in their right mind writes a diary these days? And there was a word count requirement of at least 600 words daily!
She almost wanted to say "Yada Yada!"
She was just a Trainer; what content could she possibly have to write about?
But wait... writing a diary yields massive rewards, even the authority of the Three Goddesses and immortality?
Holy Shit!
Brother, you should have said so earlier!
"I must say, ever since I was a young girl, I've always loved to write diaries!"
(T/N: Just to clarify, this isn't a true translation of the original fanfic. It's closer to a re-imagining. I've changed things up and added parts that weren't there in the original novel to make my own reading experience better. One of the largest examples is the Main Character.)
(The main character was my least favorite part of the original fanfic. He felt like a lame self-insert that the narrative bent over backwards to justify and hype up, so in my version, I've changed him up a bit.)
(In conclusion, this translation will not be completely accurate to other translators' versions. If you'd like to read the original version, you'll have to find a different translator.)