VR had yet to become widespread, but across the world, the number of uma musume who owned the equipment had already reached the tens of thousands. Right now, there were several hundred of them on the track alone.
Most were European uma musume.
After being knocked around from every direction, Fujiwara Chiya finally crossed the finish line.
His legs gave out.
He collapsed face-first onto the ground.
Pain…
So much pain…
Maybe because they knew no one could actually get injured in the VR world, these uma musume ran like absolute maniacs. Some of them clearly hadn't come here to race at all. They were here to test their techniques.
Blocking lines, body-checking, pressure positioning, gatekeeping tactics, every dirty little race skill under the sun came flying out.
And Fujiwara Chiya dealt with them one by one, using the force-redirection and brute-force techniques Yaeno Muteki had taught him.
The problem was, the moment he used those two abilities, the uma musume didn't stop attacking him.
If anything, they looked like they had finally found a worthy opponent.
They swarmed him.
Chiya got trapped in the pack like a piece of mochi being pounded from every side, squeezed and battered by the bodies around him. It wasn't until the final sprint phase that he finally broke free, aching from head to toe.
Even if I don't get injured, it still hurts!
By then, he had no strength left to sprint.
He finished in fourth place.
Fujiwara Chiya had finally figured it out.
The so-called world stage was basically a testing ground for uma musume to experiment with their skills. They came here to find weaknesses, patch holes, and learn how to handle every possible situation.
Chiya also discovered one of his own problems.
When dealing with diagonal impacts, brute force wasn't very effective. He still couldn't smoothly switch between brute force and redirection, what people would call changing forms mid-move.
"You look awful, Trainer," Treve said as she came over to him. "I watched you get swallowed by a whole crowd of uma musume."
Fujiwara Chiya let out a dry laugh.
The winner of the race was, unsurprisingly, Treve.
Back at the Arc, Treve clearly hadn't shown her full strength. The race just now was, in terms of competitiveness, even more intense than the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, yet Treve had still woven through the other uma musume with effortless agility.
It was like she could predict their movements.
She dodged quickly, accurately, and without hesitation.
Even attacks from outside her field of vision didn't catch her off guard.
How does she even do that?
Fujiwara Chiya seriously suspected Treve had some kind of clairvoyance turned on. Why could she still notice things even when he blocked her sight?
"Can you stand?" Treve asked, holding out her hand.
Fujiwara Chiya took it.
"You've gotten way stronger, Trainer. You managed to make it into the top four against this group. They're all world-class uma musume, you know? They're famous on our side. Every single one of them has at least one GⅠ victory."
"Really?"
When Fujiwara Chiya first came to Europe, he couldn't even break into the top five against ordinary competitors.
Now, he could already trade blows with world-class uma musume.
He had absolutely reached the first tier of uma musume ability.
"That was awesome!"
Suddenly, a large arm wrapped around Fujiwara Chiya's neck.
A dark-skinned uma musume with a powerful, broad-shouldered build strode up beside him. She was a full head taller than him.
"That's the first time I've met an uma musume who can run like that," she said in English. "Where are you from?"
"Japan."
"Japan? So they've got someone that tough over there besides Snow Dancer, huh? I'm Michelle My Baby. What's your name?"
"Fujiwara Chiya."
"Fujiwara Chiya… That name sounds familiar."
She pinched her chin and thought for a moment.
"Ah! Isn't Fujiwara Chiya that trainer who raced in the Paris opening ceremony?!"
She remembered.
"So that was you. The famous trainer. Which means… you're a man?"
"Yeah… could you not tell?"
"Kinda hard to. With skin that smooth and a build like that, who'd think you were a trainer? Still, you're a lot stronger than people said. One of the girls who raced you back then was my classmate. She told me about you."
"Oh…"
What a small world.
Michelle My Baby.
Fujiwara Chiya suddenly remembered.
Wasn't this girl the American giant who had come to the Japan Cup two years ago?
Thirty-two starts, nine wins, one GⅠ victory.
Wait.
Did I seriously outrun that giant just now?
"How'd you do it?" Michelle My Baby asked. "One second your body was soft as cotton, the next it was hard as stone. It felt different every time. Oh, and I didn't hurt you, did I?"
She casually squeezed Chiya's shoulder.
Fujiwara Chiya had always thought he wasn't exactly short, but standing in front of her, he felt like a child.
One meter ninety?
No, she was almost two meters tall.
Fujiwara Chiya actually had to look up at her.
"That's my technique."
"Interesting! If you've got time, let's train together. You seem like you enjoy crashing into people too, right? Same here. I love knocking people aside. Oh, right. Since we've got the chance, let's add each other as friends. Then we can set up training sessions."
Her hand swiped through the air, and a UI window popped up in front of Fujiwara Chiya.
[Michelle My Baby has sent you a friend request. Accept? Yes / No]
Fujiwara Chiya tapped [Yes].
Having a world-class uma musume as a sparring partner sounded pretty good. Against someone like her, Chiya could use his brute force without holding back.
"See you next time, Trainer."
She patted Fujiwara Chiya on the shoulder.
Then her body turned into a flash of white light and vanished.
On the friend list, Michelle My Baby's icon went dark.
"Trainer Chiya really can get along with anyone," Treve said, coming up beside him.
"Actually, one year ago, I was just a no-name little trainer. But someone changed me."
"Who? Don't tell me it's Trainer's sweetheart!" Treve's gossip radar immediately lit up.
"Sweetheart… Yeah, I guess she is."
"Then are you planning to marry her?"
"Marriage?"
"Mhm. Trainer is already at the age to get married, right?"
Fujiwara Chiya coughed a few times.
"No, I haven't thought that far yet."
"If Trainer Chiya ever decides to get married, you have to invite me, okay?" Treve said with a bright grin.
Then her ears suddenly perked up.
"My trainer is calling me. I'm heading off first, Trainer Chiya. Oh, right, let's add each other too. Then we can train together sometime."
After sending Fujiwara Chiya a friend request, Treve logged off.
"Guinea Pig-kun, it's time to come back. You've stayed over there too long. If you wait any longer, the memory synchronization will be too much to handle."
"Got it."
Fujiwara Chiya opened the menu and pressed [Log Out].
White light flashed.
A sharp pain tore through Fujiwara Chiya's brain.
He bent forward in agony. The memories from Shirayuki's side, from returning from the training grounds to watching his race, came flooding in all at once.
It was the same for Shirayuki.
Chiya's conversations with Treve and Michelle My Baby poured into her mind in a rush.
Before long, their memories finished synchronizing.
Their consciousness became one again.
Holding her forehead, Shirayuki straightened up.
Then she began thinking again about her conversation with Treve.
"Marriage…"
My marriage with Chiya?