After seeing Speed Symboli out, Eternal Meteor trudged back to the dining table as if heavy weights were tied to her ankles.
She sank into the chair again, leaned far back, let gravity pull her neck up, and stared blankly at the crystal chandelier overhead—red eyes unfocused.
Only after the hour hand on the clock crept forward by one step did she finally let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
"So you're… what, depressed again?"
"Get lost."
A smug voice popped up in her head out of nowhere. Eternal Meteor didn't want to admit it—she kept sounding annoyed—but her chest did ease a little.
These past two days, without X taking potshots at her, she'd actually felt… strangely uncomfortable.
"You're just spacing out and sighing like you got rejected after confessing to Rudolf."
"You're the one who got rejected!"
Her voice jumped up as she snapped back—then she slumped again into that listless tone.
"I just suddenly feel like I'm contradicting myself."
Eternal Meteor stood up slowly, rubbed her cheeks hard with her small hands, and began clearing the plates from the table, carrying them into the kitchen.
"I'm not supposed to fall in love, but after hearing Speed Symboli say that, I still couldn't help thinking about it. It's kind of funny."
"I can't really give advice," X said after a few seconds of silence, the teasing gone for once. "Just do what you want to do."
But the seriousness lasted exactly one sentence.
"Still… you should think about how you're going to run the next race."
X's tone already sounded like it was suppressing laughter. It was genuinely curious what kind of nonsense Eternal Meteor planned to use to convince Rudolf.
"I have a plan."
Eternal Meteor shook her head, forcing herself to reset, tossing the extra thoughts out of her mind. That deep, inscrutable smile returned.
X immediately felt uneasy.
Whenever she smiled like that, nothing good ever followed.
Still… at least that night, Eternal Meteor had a good dream.
A dream where she could keep living.
"President. I'm going to run the Yayoi Sho."
Sitting beside Rudolf as she worked, Eternal Meteor suddenly dropped a heavyweight declaration out of nowhere.
"Wait—this is your plan???"
X was forced to acknowledge again: Eternal Meteor's brain operated on a completely different logic tree.
Where was all the "testing the waters" she used with other people? Why was she suddenly this blunt?
X had watched Eternal Meteor spend ages making excuses just to sit nearby and watch Rudolf work, thinking she was gearing up for some roundabout approach.
Instead she stared at the screen in silence for ages, "built up momentum," and then said that.
Did she want to run the race or not?!
As usual, Eternal Meteor ignored X entirely and watched Rudolf, who had stopped typing and seemed to be thinking.
"No."
Minutes later, the heavy silence in the room was broken by Rudolf's voice—so firm it sounded like it wouldn't allow a single question.
Rudolf turned her chair to face Eternal Meteor directly, locking eyes as if she wanted Eternal Meteor to look away—so Rudolf could claim the upper hand before the lecture even began.
But unfortunately, the "discipline students with eye contact" move had exactly zero effect on Eternal Meteor.
Those eyes—like stars trapped inside—didn't flinch. They held Rudolf's gaze with stubborn insistence, so clearly determined it bordered on frightening.
In the end, Rudolf was the one who closed her eyes first. She exhaled, opened them again—
—and Eternal Meteor was still staring, unblinking, as if she could burn a hole through Rudolf's patience.
Rudolf's head started to ache.
"Meteor… you remember what happened after you ran last time, don't you?"
Eternal Meteor nodded.
"And you understand the competition at the Yayoi Sho will be even fiercer?"
Another nod. Still not a word.
Rudolf's headache got worse.
So she hadn't taken any of what Rudolf and Maruzensky said to heart at all.
"If you go now," Rudolf said heavily, "the injuries you take after that race will be enough to make you regret it. And you'll make everyone who cares about you suffer."
This wasn't Rudolf exaggerating.
As the traditional lead-up race to the Satsuki Sho, the Yayoi Sho could easily produce some horse girl with true "Zone" talent out of nowhere.
For Eternal Meteor, racing at all was already a brutal burden on her body. Add in that abnormal obsession with victory—how she insisted on opening a huge gap even when she activated her Zone—and it became dangerous.
Her previous races were basically one-sided stomps, yet she still got badly hurt.
If this time she met an opponent who could actually push her—
Rudolf didn't even want to imagine how far Eternal Meteor would force her body for the sake of victory, or what the end result would look like.
So she had to stop it.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 132)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter140)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter95)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter165)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 145
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 135
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 95
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 155
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 125
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 105
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 62
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 80
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 80
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 62
Uma Musume: I Want All 65
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
Summoning an Evil God, but the 41
Supernatural Multiverse 45
My Harem Is Indescribable 35
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 46
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 26
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 36
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