Uma Musume Girl, I'll tell you about my Santa Hat special move too?

Page 20

[What is this?! Oguri Hat is still accelerating! The desire for victory is surging in this racehorse girl's heart!]

[Ryan has started the chase! Ryan has given chase! But there's no way! Oguri-hat's burst of speed surpasses everyone else's!]

[Little Chestnut Hat Leads! Little Chestnut Hat Leads! Little Chestnut Hat Leads! Little Chestnut Hat Leads! Little Chestnut Hat—]

[——Oguri Hat, one on! 】

[Oguri Hat has made a mistake! Oguri Hat has made a mistake! In this retirement battle, Oguri Hat has once again reminded everyone of her nickname, "Monster."]

Her three final accelerations were like miracles on the track, forcefully pulling away from all her opponents in the last 500 meters, defeating them with an absolute advantage of 5 horse lengths, bringing this battle to a perfect close!

Standing beside the Stardust Illusion, Rokuhei Ginjiro was trembling slightly as he covered his face with his hand.

Behind her, 170,000 spectators chanted the victor's name in unison:

"Little! Chestnut! Hat—!"

The shouts erupted at the Zhongshan Racecourse, their momentum seemingly capable of overturning the heavens.

Oguri Hat showed everyone a perfect race; she wasn't just running to win, but also to push her own limits.

On the final track, she mastered all three running styles. In the short 700-meter final race, Oguri Hat repeatedly exceeded the audience's expectations of the intensity of her final stride, bringing this great victory to all her supporters.

And the audience now is responding to her!

Stardust Illusion took a deep breath as he looked at the arena, which had descended into madness.

If the Eastern Sea Emperor, Rudolf's symbol, and the little chestnut hat that she had seen before were all within the realm of power that she could understand, then...

Then the Oguri hat that even the domain couldn't fully describe had already exceeded her comprehension.

This power was unlike anyone else's. Although everyone always called Oguri Hat a "monster," Stardust Illusion felt that only one word could describe her current feelings:

God.

If there are runners who are so powerful that they can be called gods.

That was undoubtedly the phantom of the goat-haired figure before them—Little Chestnut Hat.

"Is that... the domain?"

Stardust Illusion, combining his knowledge from his past life, guessed.

"No, that's not a domain." Old Master Liuping beside him denied the Stardust Illusion's claim with a trembling voice.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime miracle. Oguri has surpassed all other racehorse girls in this competition, reaching a realm beyond the domain—"

His cane had somehow slipped from his hand and fallen to the ground. He gripped the railing tightly with both hands, leaning forward as if trying to get a little closer, a little closer to see the racehorse he was playing:

"It really is true! The [Transcendent Domain] realm really exists, after pushing myself to the brink..."

"Oguri finally succeeded!"

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Retirement [4000 words]

[Initially, we noticed Oguri-hat, the local racehorse girl, through a symbolic recruitment by Emperor Rudolf.]

[The media at that time—including myself—were foolish enough to fail to see the power of this monster, and instead publicized their doubts, subjecting her to unprecedented criticism.]

But even we, so foolish as we are, were won over by her matches.

[Pegasus Championship, Daily Cup, Takamatsu Palace Cup, Daily Crown, Teno Autumn Festival, Neon Cup, Arima Kinen...]

[There are too many classic scenes featuring Oguri Hat to list, and we never imagined that a racehorse girl who symbolizes an entire era would appear before us like this.]

Today is the retirement ceremony for Oguri Hattori. On behalf of myself and TV Tokyo, I would like to apologize for the initial doubts we had about her… And, we would also like to express our highest respect to this now-king of horse racers!

The retirement ceremony for Oguri Hat and Rokuhei Ginjiro began shortly after the winner's stage.

A large group of reporters were already waiting there early on.

Unlike the previous Stardust Illusion incident, which involved local media reporters from around Nagoya, anyone you randomly pick here would be a top-tier reporter or leading lady from a major television station.

They all had only one purpose at that moment: to record the entire scene of the greatest female racehorse of our time announcing her retirement.

After temporarily separating from the two, Stardust Illusion stood silently in a corner where no one noticed, waiting.

Because Rokuhei Ginjiro had already told her that after the interview, he would take her and Oguri Hat out for a delicious barbecue to celebrate their victory in the competition.

After the host finished his speech, the elderly Rokuhei Ginjiro walked onto the stage together with Oguri, who was still wearing his final outfit.

As soon as the two were seated, camera flashes began to go off incessantly, and reporters eagerly started asking questions:

"May I ask, Mr. Oguri and Mr. Rokuhei, what are your thoughts on this victory?"

The first reporter started the interview with a relatively ordinary question.

“All the contestants gave it their all, and Oguri did not disappoint the expectations of every supporter, ultimately delivering a satisfactory result.”

Grandpa Liuping answered calmly and steadily, showing no trace of the proud words he had spoken to Stardust Illusion before the match: "In this match, all the strong contenders will be mere supporting characters to Oguri Hat."

"I wonder how Mr. Rokuhei and Oguri Hat feel about their decision to retire this time?"

Another reporter then inquired about the theme of the interview: the dual retirement ceremony.

"I feel I have no regrets in my professional career, so I have decided to retire and focus my efforts on the upcoming Dream Cup."

Little Chestnut Hat answered the question seriously.

The Dream Cup she spoke of was a unique creation of this world, blessed by the three goddesses.

There, all the participating horse girls can be restored to their peak condition by divine power and given the same level of physical attributes, allowing these authentic contestants from different eras to run and compete again.

To qualify for the competition, one must apply to and be approved by the Central Teresen College, which is why the central college is far more powerful than the local colleges.

"As everyone can see, I am the only one over sixty years old who is still a Central Training Officer. This time, I am retiring because I have trained Oguri to such a satisfactory state. To be honest... I am very gratified."

Grandpa Liuping picked up the conversation and then sighed.

"Some people think that after you retire, Oguri-hashi, the competition will lose much of its color. What do you two think?"

At this point, a reporter raised this somewhat pointed question.

"Of course not. There's never a shortage of exciting runners in Uma Musume. Even if Oguri no longer participates in public races, new strong runners will emerge, just like Rudolph Symbol back then."

To prevent Xiao Limao from saying the wrong thing, Grandpa Liuping took over the topic directly and gave a very appropriate answer.

However, a reporter from the crowd, who was affiliated with the China Racing Horse Association, suddenly spoke up and asked:

"Oguri Hat's race today was impressive, especially her acceleration from 800m to go. That powerful final sprint reminded me of another racehorse girl..."

Could you two please comment on the prodigy, the East Sea Emperor, who debuted at the end of this year and has already achieved a 2-0 record in 2 matches? After all, she also possesses a pair of powerful last kicks.

Rokuhei Ginjiro gave the reporter a meaningful look.

As a seasoned veteran, he could easily see that the reporter had deliberately brought up the East Sea Emperor in an attempt to capitalize on the major news of Oguri Hat and Grandpa Rokuhei's retirement to promote this trump card launched by their Central Racing Association.

However, this played right into the hands of Rokuhei Ginjiro and Oguri Hat.

"Donghai Diwang is indeed a very promising newcomer. Her body is very flexible, which is similar to Oguri. Therefore, she can exert a very strong control over corners and a powerful last kick while running."

Grandpa Liu Ping glanced one last time at the racehorse girl standing in the corner, and then laughed heartily.

Let us two retired guys lend you a hand.

Thinking of this, the old man picked up the microphone and continued:

"However, geniuses are never truly alone. The Emperor of the East Sea has already met his nemesis, and I can guarantee that next year will not be peaceful."

"What does this mean? The archenemy of the Emperor of the East Sea?"

Who is that? Could it be the Mejiro family's rising star in mid-to-long-distance running? Or perhaps the descendant of the magnificent clan and Pegasus?

The JRA (Central Racing Association) reporter quickly followed up with more questions.

Although he didn't get the praise he wanted, the reporter felt that as long as he steered the conversation toward the Emperor of the East Sea, he had achieved his goal of capitalizing on the trending topic. Now he just needed to continue to expand on the topic.

"Hahahaha! The East Sea Emperor's nemesis has already informed everyone, but since you've brought it up..."

I'll tell you then.

Grandpa Liuping once again displayed his signature unrestrained laughter.

But as the old man spoke, Stardust Illusion, who had been standing in the corner thinking it was none of his business and quietly waiting to go out for barbecue to celebrate after the event, was suddenly jolted.

Now that things had come to this, she naturally had a premonition of what the old man was going to say—

"Haha, this is the racehorse girl... Stardust Illusion! Come say hello to everyone!"

The old man, laughing heartily, didn't give Stardust Illusion any more time to react. In front of all the reporters, he pointed directly at it.

As the finger pointed, the crowd spontaneously parted to make way, revealing the brown-haired racehorse girl standing there, dressed in casual shorts and looking rather lost.

The stardust illusion that was pointed at had already gone blank in its mind due to the sudden impact, and its hands and feet were completely stiff.

He could only watch as Grandpa Liu Ping waved to him, and walked over clumsily.

Is this the Stardust Illusion?

Is Stardust Illusion the archenemy of the East Sea Emperor?

[Is it really her? She looks like just a newbie.]

Countless questions popped into the minds of all the reporters, but the most important one was...

"So, Stardust Illusion, who exactly is she?!"

The JRA reporter couldn't help but shout out after searching through countless lists of Central Racehorse Girls in his memory.

The people present looked at each other in bewilderment, equally unsure of who this suddenly appearing racehorse girl was.

At the outermost edge of the crowd, a reporter who looked very young shakily raised his hand and cautiously said:

"I think I know who she is..."

"Who are you?" the JRA reporter asked, frowning.