Uma Musume: From Being Knocked Ten Meters Away

Chapter 375 Rejected by the Domain?
As the sound of the ending being revealed reached his ears, the Northern Black Horse suddenly shuddered, an uncontrollable tremor running from the tips of his ears to the soles of his feet.

Then, exhaustion washed over her like a tide. She lowered her head, raised her hands, and slowly clenched her fists.

"We...we won...? That's...wonderful..."

As I whispered, a sense of joy blossomed in my heart, but at the same time, a faint doubt also began to emerge.

She couldn't help but look back. The finish line sign, which read "Emperor Enjoys Spring," was more than a hundred meters away. Racehorse girls were slowly trotting over, their expressions of disappointment and regret.

Her gaze lingered on her opponents for a moment, then she looked somewhat bewildered at the finish line and slowly raised her hand.

The scenes before crossing the finish line flashed before my eyes like hallucinations, along with the feeling of being on the verge of pushing myself to the limit.

To be more specific, that limit does not mean she cannot continue sprinting or running.

On the contrary, her physical strength already surpasses that of most female racehorses. Even in the 3200-meter G1 race, coupled with a month of special training, if we only consider finishing the race, she feels that she can definitely say that she is more than capable.

The limit she felt was a vague sense of having nowhere to retreat.

If we don't run faster, something terrible, even horrible, is bound to happen.

Indeed, reason told her that this was just a game.

Especially now that the competition is over, looking back on that vague feeling, she can't help but feel that the thought is somewhat inexplicable.

This wasn't the first time she'd experienced that inexplicable feeling; she felt something similar when crossing the finish line at the grass practice race in Dubai.

It was through this experience that she came into contact with the state of the domain.

However, it was precisely because of the comparison with her experience in Dubai that she felt confused.

When she felt it last time, she was absolutely certain that for a moment, all her senses became incredibly clear, and she had more control over her body than ever before.

Later, when she reviewed the situation with Yasui Makoto, she became even more certain that the clarity and sense of control she felt were not an illusion, but rather a result of her truly entering a state of mastery at that moment.

This time was different. Although she felt a similar limit this time, she did not experience clarity or control again afterward.

To give an analogy, it's like being late for a festival. You've already rushed to the entrance, but the festival organizer politely but firmly refuses to let you in.

"So, the distance domain..." she murmured unconsciously as she reached for the finish line:
"Am I still lacking in effort? Or is there some other reason...?"

Just as I was wondering what was going on, quite abruptly, a stirring violin melody rang out from the horse racers' procession behind the finish line.

Almost instinctively, the Northern Black Horse immediately recognized that someone was using powerful longbow techniques to pull the E string.

The E string is the thinnest and highest-pitched string on the violin. Only by using the long bow technique on this string can you produce such a bright and penetrating tone.

The next second, an image of a bright red racehorse girl in a winning outfit adorned with musical note patterns appeared in her mind. She looked towards the direction of the music and muttered to herself, a mixture of amusement and helplessness:

"Seriously, Wanlaizhengming-senpai... just where exactly did you hide the violin in the final server?"
"and……

"Won't she feel tired or uncomfortable carrying a violin during the competition?" Holding a violin that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, with a look of rapture on her face, was the very violin that Beifang Xuanju had envisioned.

Holding the bow from which she had just forcefully pulled the strings, amidst the surprised and bewildered gazes of the racehorse girls, she walked up to the Northern Black Horse, bowed gracefully, and extended one hand with a smile:

“A truly amazing performance.”

"I think I see it very clearly. Even though we had been overtaken, we caught up with extraordinary perseverance."

"A wonderful final note. You truly are the best performer, Northern Genko."

Originally, the racehorse girls around them were all glancing at the performance of Wan Lai Zheng Ming, but now, upon hearing the latter's words, they all looked at the Northern Black Steed with different expressions.

As Wan Laizhengming said, the victory of the Northern Black Horse was indeed quite astonishing.

Looking at all the races, the percentage of cases where a team wins by taking the lead is actually very small. Most race champions use one of these two running methods first.

The longer the distance, the more obvious this becomes, especially in long-distance races like the Emperor's Spring Festival. Very few female racehorses can win by taking the lead.

Ultimately, it's because the fleeing horse doesn't have an advantage in sprinting ability, which is why they use different running styles to increase their chances of winning.

More importantly, once a runaway horse is caught up, it is easy to lose control of the rhythm, which means that if a runaway horse is overtaken in past races, it can almost be considered that it is doomed to lose.

However, in this race, despite being overtaken, especially in the final straight, Northern Black Horse managed to catch up and take first place.

All the female racehorses present were G1-level horses. Regardless of how they viewed their own performance, they couldn't help but feel genuine admiration for the perseverance and tenacity shown by Kita Genko.

So after Wan Laizhengming shook hands with Beifang Xuanju, many female racers applauded Beifang Xuanju with expressions of emotion.

The previously regretful-looking Clever Maze suddenly smiled, patted its cheeks, walked over, and extended its hand as well:

"That's right, it was truly spectacular."

Shaking hands with Beifang Xuanju, she smiled and said, "I thought you had reached your limit and were about to win. I really didn't expect you to be able to catch up."

"But in any case, it was a very exciting match. Let's meet again next time, Northern Black Steed."

With Wanlai Zhengming and Jiling Maze leading the way, other racehorse girls came over with congratulatory expressions, shaking hands with each of the Northern Black Horses, saying words of admiration, or making a promise with Jiling Maze to continue their competition next time.

In this increasingly lively atmosphere, Beibu Xuanju temporarily put aside his confusion and excitedly shook hands with everyone, responding to their concerns. The excitement that had been put aside due to his doubts gradually intensified.

After shaking hands with another racehorse girl and expressing her gratitude, she couldn't help but glance around, finally looking at the stands filled with congratulatory cheers. She then raised her arm high and waved it vigorously.
"Thank you, thank you everyone! I... will definitely continue to work hard and bring you more exciting matches!"

Standing to the side, clapping silently and watching the audience wave back, Kosho Jun-yi sighed without a sound.

She also looked towards the audience, then scanned aimlessly for a while. When she saw two familiar figures, she quickly turned her head away, pressed down on the brim of her hat, and lowered her head.

(End of this chapter)