"Joint first?!"
Everyone present was shocked by the result.
In the original world, horse racing was not supposed to allow two champions.
Because two winners did not just raise questions about comparative strength between racers, but also about the honor each one carried throughout her career.
And, most importantly, if a race had two champions, the organizers would not be able to rake in piles of betting money from gamblers. A truly dreadful outcome!
But fortunately, this was a world filled with love.
The main purpose of racing here was to let horse girls run joyfully for their dreams. Things like money and prestige were secondary.
And besides, this was only a debut race. Its importance was nowhere near that of a graded stakes event. Having two champions was no big deal.
So after talking it over for a while, the crowd readily accepted the result.
Haru Urara and Happy Meek, co-champions of the debut race!
"Haru Urara, you were amazing!"
"Happy Meek! Happy Meek!"
"From today on, I'm Haru Urara's and Happy Meek's dog!"
The audience cheered wildly for the two winners.
"Mmm…" Urara pushed herself up from the ground and stared blankly at the crowd cheering for her from the sidelines. A strange feeling welled up in her chest.
This was the first time Urara had ever come in first.
And it was also the first time she had ever seen so many people cheering for her.
Overwhelming joy slammed into her heart, making her little face flush bright red.
"Yeah~!" Urara threw both hands into the air and waved back at the audience.
"Urara got first place~!" she shouted proudly, her face glowing with happiness.
"Urara…" At the edge of the crowd, King Halo's eyes shimmered with tears, her heart full of relief and pride.
"Urara! Urara! Urara!" the crowd roared.
The entire venue was steeped in excitement and joy.
At that moment, Luck spoke up.
"Hope energy has appeared! Beginning collection!"
"Hope energy?"
Only then did Tang Han notice it.
A faint golden mist seemed to be slowly appearing all across the stadium. If you were not paying close attention, you would miss it completely.
It was made of tiny golden particles drifting from every spectator in the stands, gathering together and floating toward Tang Han under Luck's guidance, before being absorbed into his body.
It felt warm.
Comfortable, even.
"So this is hope energy…"
Tang Han closed his eyes and relaxed, letting the golden particles flow into him.
After all of it had been absorbed, Tang Han clenched his fist and tried to get a sense of his current power.
But instead of feeling like some hot-blooded manga protagonist suddenly overflowing with strength, his body felt exactly the same as before.
Still all G-rank stats.
"Hm?" Tang Han frowned, thoroughly confused.
What was this?
Shouldn't absorbing this energy have improved his physical abilities? Was he not supposed to turn into some kind of Horse Boy and join the races himself?
Why was his body still the same weak old body, one that a horse girl could abduct without effort?
Tang Han: Luck, can't hope energy be used to improve my physique?
Luck: It can. I just didn't use it that way.
Tang Han: Was that on purpose, or by accident?
Luck: On purpose.
Tang Han: ?
Luck: Sorry, boss. The amount of hope energy we've gathered so far is still too small. We need to save enough to deal with Misfortune three months from now, so I can't afford to spend it on you yet.
Luck: Besides, even if I did use it on you, it would only improve your resistance to taking hits. It wouldn't increase your strength or running speed.
Luck: You'd just last longer while getting jumped.
Tang Han: !
Last longer while getting jumped?
That was horrifying.
"Still want to trade energy for more toughness, boss?"
"No, no, absolutely not!" Tang Han refused immediately.
That kind of stat increase was completely pointless!
Unless Gold Ship decided to celebrate a victory by drop-kicking him, there was no way Tang Han was going to waste precious energy on his durability.
Better to save all the hope energy and use it when the time came to fight Misfortune in three months.
Still, one question had always bothered him.
"Can hope really defeat misfortune?"
While Tang Han stood there daydreaming about how Luck would use hope against Misfortune in the future, Aoi Kiryuin walked over to him.
"Trainer Tang." She waved a hand in front of him to get his attention.
"Trainer Kiryuin. Need something?"
"Our bet…" Aoi said, blinking at him meaningfully.
"The bet?"
Tang Han thought back.
She meant the wager they had made earlier over whether Urara or Happy Meek would win.
If Happy Meek won, Tang Han had to treat her to dinner.
If Urara won, she would become his girlfriend.
And now that Urara and Meek had tied for first, by that logic Aoi would not only become his girlfriend, but they would also have to go out for dinner afterward.
A couples' date, basically.
Ha.
What kind of brain-dead harem rom-com logic was that? Surely nobody actually thought it was that easy to get a girlfriend.
Tang Han was not stupid. He knew Aoi was joking. There was no way he would take it seriously.
"Everyone else probably knows it's a joke too… right?"
Tang Han glanced around and found that everyone's expressions had turned strange.
Aside from Gold Ship, who looked like she was enjoying the show, the other members of Team Tuck were all staring at him with odd looks.
"If Trainer Tang Han gets a girlfriend, will he stop making honey drinks for everyone…" McQueen murmured, one hand drifting to her waist.
"If Trainer Tang Han gets a girlfriend, will he abandon Urara…" King Halo's eyes sharpened dangerously.
And Rice Shower and Tokai Teio looked especially unhappy, both puffing out their cheeks.
"Big brother…"
"Trainer…"
The two girls clutched at Tang Han's arms and looked up at him with wide, anxious eyes, waiting for his answer.
Tang Han: ?
What kind of looks were those?
Did they seriously think he was about to become Aoi Kiryuin's boyfriend?
He had never agreed to that bet in the first place!
Just as Tang Han was about to explain that it had all been a joke, Luck suddenly had a brilliant idea.
Luck: Boss, I just had a bold thought.
Tang Han: What thought?
Luck: When one of your assigned horse girls gets first place, that generates hope energy.
Luck: But if you make Aoi Kiryuin your person, then her horse girl would also count as yours.
Luck: And right now, both Urara and Meek got first place…
Luck: Which means if you become Aoi Kiryuin's boyfriend right now, then the hope energy we collect this time doubles!
Luck: Then we'd even have extra energy left over to improve your physique. Want to think about 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 147)
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 (Chapter185)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter215)
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 185
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/1
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 206
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 190
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/23
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 106
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 125
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 90
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 80
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 86
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 65
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 59
Checking In in Demon Slayer 59
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 73
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 45
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 36
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 40
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 60
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 43
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 30
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 31
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