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

After retiring, this horse racing girl devoted herself to a new hobby, and her presence could be seen in racing competitions around the world.

But after hearing about the exchange student simulation competition, she immediately left her sports car at the original location and rushed back.

After all, the three current athletes on Rigil's team are her juniors, and how could she not witness such an important event as the showdown with the French runners?

"This was a request from a prominent family. It's beneficial for everyone to get used to this track in advance, since both the Japanese derby and the Arc de Triomphe in France are this distance," Rudolf commented, giving the Emperor a slight nod.

"However, the fact that there are heavy races will make everyone feel a bit uncomfortable, right? On the other hand, perhaps the French racehorses are more used to it, since their races often include heavy or even super heavy races."

Maru Zenki gently stirred his coffee, casually analyzing the match:

"Mejiro McQueen, Golden Ship, Hishi Amazon, and Narita Shirahito, these four might have it a bit easier. The chasing style will show a strong advantage at this distance, while McQueen and Shirahito are truly good at long distances. What about the French team?"

"I've shown you the list of riders. The riders France is sending out this time are mostly large-sized, like Elite and Gekkei, both of whom are clearly racehorse girls with extraordinary strength and stamina." Rudolf shared the information he knew with Maruzensky.

In fact, they have been researching the French athletes and have indeed obtained some intelligence.

Including the running styles these athletes excel at and their potential, it can be said that almost every runner has the potential to compete in G1-level races.

Especially that blonde, big, racehorse girl named Choi-chi-ko.

She hasn't even officially participated in a G1-level event yet, but she's already considered a strong contender for this year's Arc de Triomphe and the French Triple Crown.

"Hmm, I've heard that France has been promoting this trend in recent years. It seems that winning with body shape is more reliable for them."

Maruzensky turned his gaze to Rudolf, who remained seated as steady as a mountain:

"But are we really not worried? These French contestants are probably not easy to deal with, and then there's that noble family... Even if she doesn't use her domain, she'll still be difficult to handle, right?"

“This is an opportunity.” Rudolf tilted his head.

Indeed, in the emperor's view, this was not an extremely serious crisis.

On the contrary, since there will also be French players in this competition, the noble family will not be able to go all out.

She might even become the catalyst, putting pressure on the competitors without completely overwhelming them.

The racecourse is nearly long, the horse track is difficult to run on, and there are also formidable enemies and the oppressive presence of a tyrannical noble family...

Under such pressure, only racehorse girls with true fighting spirit can break through their limits and reach a higher realm—a realm called [Domain].

"A powerful family, a tyrant... huh? I really want to run with her at the Three Goddesses Cup—"

Maru Zenki looked down at her coffee. Her tone seemed calm, but it revealed a hint of madness and persistence.

Rudolf turned to look at his friend who was saying this.

She knew that although Maruzensky had been retired for a long time, her burning fighting spirit was like the fire of Amaterasu, never extinguished.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen to start a professional racing career, right?

Thinking of this, Rudolf shook his head regretfully and said, "I'm afraid there's no chance. Even the Three Goddesses Cup will be held in the country of the nobles."

"But Oguri Hat will also be participating this time. Have you found teammates to team up with yet?"

"Anyway, we can just pick a few juniors from Rigil's team, right?" Maruzenji waved his hand casually. "Oguri Hat... the runner known as a god, has she really broken through the peak of her field?"

“Ah, that’s the only reason I can think of to explain that match—last year’s Arima Kinen.” Rudolf nodded and said:

"After watching the video, I realized that in that match, Oguri Hat's only opponent from the very beginning was herself, and she did indeed successfully defeat that version of herself, breaking through to a completely new level."

"Breaking the limits... Let's get back to this match." Maru Zenkichi pondered silently for a moment, then suddenly picked up his coffee and downed it in one gulp, before turning his gaze to the match field below the stands:

Do you have any children you're optimistic about?

"...I wouldn't say I'm optimistic, but I am indeed paying attention to one of them: Stardust Illusion. This runner has only been training for two months. Can she really endure this endurance meat grinder?"

In Rudolf's symbolic understanding, the Stardust Illusion, while possessing astonishing potential, also exhibits remarkable training effects.

But... time is a huge chasm, and it may very well stop her before the 2000m mark.

This race already had many factors that were detrimental to endurance, and among these dozen or so runners, Stardust Illusion probably had the worst endurance.

Furthermore, given the girl's evident hunger for victory in several matches, Rudolf was somewhat worried about whether she could persevere.

"Most importantly, she has likely already touched the edge of the field."

"Already touched the domain?" Maru Zensky was somewhat taken aback, but then frowned. "Are you talking about that kid who defeated McQueen and the others a few days ago? Starting to touch the domain so early... I'm afraid it's not a good thing."

Zone.

This ultimate ability, which can only be awakened when a racehorse girl is fully engaged in running and touches the peak, is essentially the complete overexertion of the racehorse girl's body.

Unleash the potential of what's to come, and even the entire future, in this run.

Let alone these newly debuted runners, even runners with two or three years of running experience have seen examples of people who completely lost their racing careers by rashly entering this field.

"You want to stop her?"

At this point, Maruzensky turned his head with a serious expression and looked in Rudolf's direction, wanting to confirm her thoughts.

"..."

Rudolph did not answer immediately; she remained silent and lowered her head slightly.

The image of that person performing a full-fledged dogeza (a form of prostration) before him flashed into his mind.

Hikari Toyama, and her first racehorse girl—Ennis Fuujin.

These two gained support through their bond, only to be met with such an ending...

This female racehorse unleashed an unprecedented level of performance in the derby, burning herself out completely and taking the lead all the way to victory, almost completely ruining herself in the process.

Was it really worth it? Would it have been better not to agree to Toyama Hikari's request in the first place?

She had asked herself the same question.

Thinking of this, the emperor shook his head helplessly.

She turned her gaze back to the arena before slowly opening her mouth to answer, her voice low and deep, as if coming from afar:

"How can you stop her? If the racehorse girl herself wants to run, then no one has the right to stop her."

Stardust illusion.

In this competition, will you emerge from your chrysalis and become a butterfly, or will you burn yourself out completely?

Chapter Seventy-One: I...I...I look at McQueen with my eyes wide open!!!

"Inhale...exhale..."

Outside the players' lounge, McQueen closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to calm himself.

In the previous competition, she lost to Stardust Illusion, and this training match not only gave McQueen a chance for revenge, but also added 8 French racehorse girls to compete on the same stage.

To be honest, if it were McQueen from a few days ago, he would probably be feeling anxious and uncertain again.

But things are different now. After that encounter with the Stardust Illusion, McQueen realized for the first time that running doesn't need so many reasons; you can just run for victory.

In her room, the girl solemnly declared to herself that she would win the competition in exchange for McQueen's motivation.

However, McQueen knew that just seeing those racehorse girls had already cheered him up.

At this moment, she fully understood what she should be thinking about: victory.

It doesn't matter who the opponent is...

I am the rising star of the Mejiro family, the star of the grasslands, I...I am the long-distance overlord!

Now that we've chosen a medium-to-long-distance course of 2400m, there's no reason to lose anymore; we must win this time!

Thinking of this, McQueen clenched his right fist at his chest to encourage himself.

"McQueen, you're really serious."

Beside her, the golden ship wearing the sealed earpiece was still playing with her beloved Rubik's Cube.

“You’ve been too complacent, Golden Ship.” McQueen opened her eyes upon hearing this, and looking at her companion’s nonchalant expression, she sighed: “In this competition, only by giving it your all can you step onto the winner’s stage. You should know that too, right?”

"..." It seemed that McQueen's words touched the horse-riding girl with the spiky hair. Golden Boat stopped twisting her mimicking hand, slowly raised her head, and her eyes also showed determination:

"McQueen, I have a question for you."

Goldship's brow furrowed, and his tone was more serious than ever before. This solemn atmosphere made McQueen tense as well.

She unconsciously swallowed, running her hands through her long, light purple hair, and asked in a slightly flustered tone, "W-what's wrong? Are you finally going to get serious?"

"No, what I meant was... I forgot to ask Special Zhou and the others to sell fried noodles!" Golden Boat leaped up, shouting regretfully.

"Damn it, with so many people watching this time, if we could sell something, we could make a fortune!"

"I'm looking forward to you getting serious. I'm really losing my mind," McQueen said, covering his face as he watched the Golden Ship start clowning around again.

ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ

"?!"

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the entire corridor changed.

McQueen immediately felt a thorn in his side.

The heavy feeling coming from behind was like Mount Tai pressing down on her, making it hard for McQueen to breathe.

What happened?!

She quickly shook off the feeling and looked back, trying to find the source of this astonishing sense of oppression.

However, at the same time, the suffocating feeling, like a python coiling around him, drew even closer to McQueen's body.

Even though he was still standing in the same spot, and all that was in front of him was a corridor leading to the lounge, McQueen felt as if the entire space in front of him was distorted.

Suddenly, a tall mountain rose from the ground before her eyes, and the surroundings had transformed into a scene under the cover of night.

A full moon rose from behind the mountains, hanging high in the night sky, illuminating the source of this suffocating feeling: several enormous silhouettes.

Standing at the foot of the mountain, McQueen felt incredibly small. Even when she looked up, she couldn't make out who was standing on the summit...

"Hey, McQueen!" The voice of the Golden Ship suddenly called out, pulling McQueen back from this illusory realm.

She looked again and realized it was the French exchange student team members.

Leading the way was Wangzu, the captain of this exchange student team.