Chapter 1514: NO．130：Still too many bitter days

NO．130：Still too many bitter days

Returning to the battlefield, regaining the cheers, and besides that, also gaining a gaze that was either resentful or envious……

Everything was that familiar, yet also that distant, so distant that even after returning to the lounge and then to the preparation area, she still felt somewhat dazed.

From the not‑tightly closed door crack came the shouts from the stage, mixed with the movements of 'SiriusSymboli', which made the other athletes here keep turning their heads, and deepened her own sense of dazedness, almost as if she were in another world.

After many years, she sat here again feeling all of this, recalling the past, especially that ability that had flared up again——the innate skill that every horse girl is born with, unique, yet can be further comprehended on top of the original foundation.

That skill can be named by the horse girl herself, or it can be the default set by the Three Goddesses.

Hers, however, can only form the prerequisite amid the cheers of the multitude, and only then can the source‑energy technique operate—its name is one that once made it hard for her to face directly.

セイリオス/Sirius

Translated into Dongyan language, it is Tianlangxing; however, unlike a literal translation, the URA Dongyan Association often pursues a faithful, elegant, and comprehensible rendering, so its official registration name in the Dongyan Local Association is: Tianjiao.

In the Dongyan context, this is indeed the highest praise, but precisely for that reason, when the Sirius Symbol embarked on its downhill path, this skill name shattered together with her former dream, turning into shards that pierced her heart.

Every time you recall the past, it is this that makes you hurt more.

But the more you refuse to let go, the deeper those shards will pierce you, eventually becoming a bone‑aching pain and poison that completely destroys everything you have.

Of course, usually you wouldn't even need that final step before you'd be shouting that you've lost everything.

Those who cling to their dreams often fail to see anything beyond the dream; Sirius does not regard the days she lost her dream as anything good, yet she must admit that because her dream was merely lost, not shattered, she did not neglect what she originally possessed.

Billiards, dog training, spell‑fighting—there are many other fields worth focusing on, and she thus puts on an air of having moved on and being carefree, yet she stubbornly never replied to the association's email asking whether to reserve a retirement ceremony.

After countless feigning of not seeing, feigning focus on other things, even the concern of her childhood friend went unanswered; in the end, her refusal to give up resulted in something that everyone could see.

She finally got the chance.

Though she claimed before others that she was waiting for an opportunity, in the quiet of night she could not help questioning whether she should continue such a decaying persistence, and eventually she waited for the white dwarf she needed.

Although a suitable star region was also a major factor, it was precisely because of the white dwarf's analytical guidance that she noticed the winning chance among the current cohort of contestants.

Exquisite design, accurate prediction, successful execution……

Sirius Symbol sat before the fully automated vanity table, surrounded by countless cosmetics, her eyes unfocused, filled with random thoughts.

Thinking of the past, thinking of the present, thinking of the meeting with the trainer and that old lady, and even more thinking about the impolite blond junior who asked her whether she knew any rumors of horse girls being threatened.

Only when the backstage staff came running to remind her did this tangled thought process finally end.

Accepting the present, which felt like a return to the past yet was absolutely distinct from it, Sirius Symbol followed the other athletes out in single file, but also unconsciously glanced back at the dimly lit athlete passageway darkened by the lights being turned off.

He wasn't there.

But…

That's also a good thing.

After all, I hadn't even figured out what to say……

But since he's not here, he must be down on the stage, right?

Hmph, listen well to my song—this is likewise a long‑overdue return!

The dim stage, the restless music—showing the idol aspect of a horse girl—famous horse girls usually have one or two, even more, personal songs.

And even duet songs.

Sirius Symbol is clearly not yet in the realm of duet songs, but if speaking of a personal song, it is obviously the kind that could be commissioned from a famous composer without sparing expense, yet her song happens to bear a name completely opposite to the card that best suits her.

《GALACTICPLAYER》

Galactic Contender—compared to the one who forever clings to the past, forever clings to the dark road base El, this is Sirius Symbol's original desire.

But when the prelude began, she stood on the still‑dim stage, gazing at the audience seats swept by the spotlights warming up the atmosphere, and that glance—immediately stalled her heartfelt enthusiasm.

For just that instant, under the light there appeared three figures that were unusually familiar yet should never have stood together, and that scene was faithfully reproduced in the countless airborne images captured by the circling drone cameras.

Ah this……

If it weren't for the sufficiently obvious warning from the personal, concealed teleprompter before her, she would almost have missed the correct cue to sing her character song.

Are you seeing things?

No way!!

What just happened!!

But evidently, even if she caught the timing, steadied her tone, and sang the opening low, enticing cadence, it wouldn't stop the tangle of thoughts in her mind.

——

"How moving—perhaps Sirius also has the talent for dual focus."

"Indeed, that lass must have seen us, and I rarely get to see her look so surprised that her pupils contract."

"You two, did you drag me here just to kill time?"

One sentence each, corresponding respectively to Aomo Lindun, Speed Symbol, and Moon Charge Symbol (Alternate Universe version).

These three people who left Sirius Symbol's mind in a tangle just stood there, blatantly, in the vast rear of the exaggerated crowd; if not for the interior of the Canaan Racecourse stage being spacious enough, the dome high enough, and the lighting crew's room to maneuver also excellent, the spotlights would hardly be able to reach.

But this is exactly the worth that the venue of the ancient horse Triple Crown should have, so without all those 'if nots', it can 'take care of' nearly all the audience in a temporary concert while not neglecting the care of the horse girls on stage.

In this era, everyone must have several skills of multitasking, or else they are easily optimized by multitasking‑working intelligent AI.

Even a lighting technician, a job that in some sense tests adaptability, when the stage must hold nearly a million people and requires countless projection systems to merely pull off the program—then one must be a transcendent ascendant, a cybernetic super‑human, or an intelligent AI to be up to the task.

Yet this Moon Charge Symbol from another world seems quite unfamiliar with that.

Her gaze toward the stage often looks up at the lighting, and she never fails to notice the giant screens scattered and floating around.

Many people seeing this kind of stage performance for the first time react like that—for example, Bi Ze and Xiao Lu.

They also brought the colored stones Aomo gave them; whether they like the shape or cherish the sentiment, they indeed let the demon here have a few more viewpoints.

"Is it that you've never had such leisure, or that you simply lack the conditions?" he asked.

"Why should I tell you?" Moon Charge Symbol frowned at him.

Even less friendly than the previous one.

But it also doesn't matter; this reaction also gave him a lead.