Chapter 1961: with translation of chapter title

NO. 581: She will once again become the "Monster".

On the racetrack, famous matches have existed in numbers of tens of millions throughout history.

Even without mentioning far away, just speaking of the present, there is that Maruzensuki's 9 battles, 9 wins myth of 54 horse lengths, like Haogejù seizing a fleeting opportunity in the chaotic battle of that horse memorial and breaking out of encirclement, and also like the golden master sweeping everything on that horse racetrack, achieving the feat of dominating the racetrack for a whole year, regarded as an unprecedented terrifying tyrant after Dazhenhan!

Too many to count.

Those who can take a seat on this Dream Cup racetrack have almost all experienced such a famous match.

Moreover, some athletes have more than one such famous match on their résumé, enjoying endless glory and praise thanks to the exceptional advantages of their era.

Yet oddly, the latter often feels more empty than the former.

Because the most shocking miracles are often also the events that leave the participants feeling bored. Precisely because they did not lose themselves in that praise, nor merely rush for fame, they are better able to understand the emptiness of that running—just steadily advancing at their own pace on the grass field, yet to others it appears as crushing everything like a stormy gale.

To the point that taking the lead is seen as a great escape, and chasing behind as letting go, leaving those in the know finding it laughable at first, but eventually they can't even laugh.

Should we say it's pitiful, or boring?

An entire generation, yet no one could keep up with the ruler's pace.

The easier the victory, the more one falls into the emptiness of craving an opponent, yet that emptiness often has nowhere to be filled, merely like a worm eating away, slowly hollowing out the girl's body until the curtain falls.

When one reaches beyond the realm of racing, perhaps they can then blossom into a new pursuit.

And thus they blossom with new vitality.

But it is precisely at this moment!

If such an opportunity arose to let them return to the racetrack, and that racetrack came to them in the form of a gathering of heroes' arena, how would they respond?

—There would be no hesitation.

An unsatisfied desire is precisely an objective void. Even if it could be covered with grass, its edges patched, and disguised as if it weren't there, it would still be torn apart by a sudden gust of wind from the heart, revealing the empty vortex waiting to be filled.

Where does that wind come from?

It comes from a stage.

Suddenly appearing before the eyes, it makes the wind rise while also reviving the lifeless gray domain with color.

Then, without taking much time, they experience a new flavor from both the short and middle distances of the Dream Cup.

—Followed closely by bitterness after joy.

The racetrack, revisited like a dream, brings joy felt in the moment of running, followed by a sense of fulfillment from being surrounded by strong rivals, and in the end of this unprecedented experience, the conclusion is clearly a more unfamiliar yet profound ending—

Defeat.

Dream Cup. Short Distance, Champion: Ludaofu Xiangzheng.

Dream Cup. Middle Distance, Champion: Chengtian Bai Ren

These two brief sentences sum up the complex feelings in the hearts of all losers from both races.

No matter what components make up that complexity, or their proportions, the profound feeling of first tasting defeat is not enough to shatter one's resolve.

First-rate horse girls naturally have a first-rate fighting spirit.

The same competitive drive, like coming from the same thread, is also a basic foundation for the final showdown; the stronger the opponent, the more it helps them reclaim their true selves at the peak.

Without a doubt—although the blessings of the three goddesses can help them regain their peak physical condition, thereby giving recovery and strengthening training a solid premise, yet the return of mindset is another matter that the individuals and those around them must consider.

Especially those athletes who have been retired for many years.

Regaining the running condition of those years—just a short phrase, yet no matter how many laps one runs on the grass, it is hard to achieve that result.

Even some athletes' past running conditions are not worth praising, such as those who, after dominating a lifetime, run ever more casually and lazily, or those who, after repeated setbacks, become ever more confused and ever less able to piece together fragments of victory...

So, they must seek a new state.

This is not so easy to achieve.

Although achieving this is precisely the duty of the competitors, their trainers, if still present, should also provide assistance to continue the years-long partnership of two-in-one, and let it once again shine with that once-moving brilliance.

But to achieve this, relying solely on the definition of "first-rate horse girl" is not enough.

After all, this is a feat that is rarely seen throughout the history of horse racing.

Only the opening of the Dream Cup and an extremely rare opportunity can provide the precondition for retired athletes to return to the racetrack and pursue the peak.

Then whether it can succeed is another matter.

Once achieved, it will often become a brand-new legend.

Of course, the stereotypical impression of the Dream Cup often treats legend as a qualification for entry, but according to the records of deeds...

Dream Cup participants are all legendary horse girls, yet it is not very likely that Dream Cup participants are legendary horse girls.

Winners are rarely questioned, while losers are always found to have flaws pointed out.

There is no more pitiable existence than a horse girl who is pushed onto the stage by enthusiastic fans before the race, then after the race is condemned by those same fans.

Yet such a pitiable existence appears in as many as half of the seasons in the 42 Dream Cups held so far.

This shows that pure popularity selection cannot fully guarantee that athletes are all-around flawless, truly worthy strong contenders.

However, regardless, the Dream Cup, as a special celebration jointly promoted by the three goddesses and the associations to give back to horse racing fans, certainly has its participation criteria based on popularity.

Thus the few months between each race also become precious, yet individual athletes may still find themselves in a situation of insufficient preparation.

But this is also unavoidable.

Even so, such athletes still have a final chance.

On the track, finding one's proper rhythm and composing one's own victory score, all under that ever-fresh sense of decline and pressure, no matter how many times experienced—

"Still accelerating! Dazhenhan's pace, like flying between clouds, has never ceased, yet Maruzen Sukī, straining to maintain its run, now reveals a miraculous renewed acceleration!"

Amidst a clamor, the faintly present scarlet hue that barely made its presence felt upon entering the track is now bursting forth with unprecedented brilliant radiance.

"The vanguard is about to enter the final lap, while Hakugeki faces attacks from both sides! At the same time! The middle-track pursuit group formed by Narita Hakujin, Ludaofu Xiangzheng, and Sirius Xiangzheng is also crashing forward at astonishing speed!"

"Moreover, Qianming, representing the outsider lane that continuously overtakes, and Fusion, though Fusion already risks losing speed."

【ShadowBreak/Trample the Shadow!】

"Because she is too close to Narita Hakujin, as everyone knows, Narita Hakujin's innate skill possesses a certain hindering component, especially when she is within the shadow she has trampled."

But the Ludaofu Xiangzheng and the Golden Master, who were only a horse's length away from her, showed no sign of being disturbed by this ability! And so they arrived at the final stage——

【Gray Critical Point】

【Longing Monster/Hungry and Thirsty Monster】

【Hungry Wolf Fang/Hungry Wolf Fang】——Narita Hakujin

【You, behold the emperor's divine might! /You all, behold the emperor's divine might!】

【Composure】

【Emperor's Gaze】

【68】【At a Touch of the Armor Sleeve/As Easy as Turning the Palm】——Ludaofu Xiangzheng

【Touch the armored sleeve/as easy as turning over one's hand】——Ludaofu Xiangzheng

【Running Is Light, Hunting Is Stars/Gallop in Light, Hunt Among Stars】

【BeattheStars/Chief of Stars】

【Nostalgia's Traumerei/Dreamy Fantasia of Memory】——Sirius Symbol

【Lyric, at the End of the Journey/Lyrical Poem at the Journey's End】

【Bouncing Earth/Quaking Earth】

【Come on, come on, take your positions! /Ladies and gentlemen, the show begins!】

【Soaring Footsteps/Soaring Pace】——Qianming Representative

【Dawn's Imperial Banner 'Gecheng Glory Master'! /Dawn's Imperial Banner 'Gecheng Glory Master'】

【Bearing the Dawn Light/Clad in Dawn Light】

……

"Here it comes! The unique final-stage skill spam on the racetrack of the Year of the Horse!"

"Please, all viewers, lock onto the display of the positions of the riders you support."

There are somewhat redundant remarks, stemming from the obvious operations of experienced old viewers, as well as the overly chaotic joint pursuit scene on the racetrack right now.

When nearly ten legendary horse girls, with similar speeds but different accelerations, engage in an excessively fierce ranking maneuver that constantly reverses, even the host capable of high-speed divine speech will struggle to decide from which horse girl to begin the lead commentary.

But the final stage is often the shortest part of the process.

In the time ranging from 40 seconds to 20 seconds, there is no room for the slightest hesitation in one's career, so he ultimately still has to say something like: 'Still the vanguard, the vanguard has turned into the radiant gathering point of the final-stage struggle! This should have been the final stage where only a few athletes duel, yet it astonishingly retains a scale of nearly eight competitors!'

Then, on that final racetrack.

The light has reached its extreme.

In that place where all tactics and tricks have been exhausted, one need only, based on the conditions established in the opening and middle stages, charge forward wholeheartedly; they embrace each other's pride and obsession, turning into silhouettes burning with fighting spirit.

Each of them is covered in various radiances produced by innate talent and the Zone/flow state realm.

Some are surrounded by a gaseous aura, some are pitch-black like a shadow, some are rendered with flowing light, some are like dust bathed in flowing, colorful light; they are like truly diverse burning stars, bringing to that completely silent, breath-held racetrack the most dazzling meteor shower.

In the light, countless people pray for their victory.

At extreme speed, the path is illuminated, the way is clear, yet some fall before dawn.

The cruelty of extreme sports lies only when one truly touches a speed's critical point, revealing its most ferocious nature. At that moment, the air resists forward motion like a gel, making the running posture hard to control; when controlling that posture becomes difficult, it is extremely easy to suddenly suffer injury at extreme speed.

Then lose speed.

Watching helplessly as the target drifts farther away, while one's own steps, no matter how swung, cannot close that distance.

Some also act as that receding silhouette, watching the moment when years of obsession are fulfilled at this instant, as if a sudden adrenaline shot, and even while enduring pain all over, they can still raise their speed to the next stage.

That will obviously push the body's burden into the next realm, but the violent soul does not care.

For such horse girls, their souls have already reached the goal from the very beginning, but their bodies, burdened, still follow the violent trail, and only upon reaching the finish line do they reclaim themselves.

Yet on this final-stage racetrack, such horse girls are as common as picking up pebbles, openly displaying the keen eye of a certain demon trainer, who, with just one year of experience, has already locked onto the crux of the entire horse racing system.

Longing and obsession.

Pushing that heavy emotion toward a reasonable direction, the more pathological it is, the clearer it points to where success lies.

After all, at the endpoint where only one person can win, there is no room for others' obsession and dreams.

Gechengwangpai pursues Qianming Representative, Qianming Representative pursues Ludaofu Xiangzheng, Sirius Symbol likewise pursues Ludaofu Xiangzheng, while Ludaofu Xiangzheng seeks only to enjoy giving his all, relishing the fervent passion that is no longer lonely when challenged. At the same time, Maruzen Siji, Golden Master, Noble Lady and others, led by Dazhenhan, likewise wish to battle this side, yet equally regard everyone as opponents, amid also a few threads of fate planted since student days.

Vast desires intertwine thus, yet there is certainly no ending that satisfies all.

Thus, the disparity in violent intensity stemming from the soul also gains the most intuitive manifestation of value.

Thus, the "Monster" is necessary.

No matter how many times it roars and howls, sending out bursts of angry cries from afar, such a monster is precisely the key to selecting an even more extreme existence among this transcendent, extraordinary lineup.

When its transcendent charm truly manifests, any audience will feel that emotion.

That emotion brought by the "Monster".

"Qianming Representative, with a weak advantage of a nose's breadth over Ludaofu Xiangzheng!"

"Finish line——!!!"

?? Chapter tips:

? Corresponds to the title of Chapter 51 of Volume 1.

? tips2:

? Although I really wanted to put a finish-line picture at the end, I indeed haven't received any similar CB images, so I can only wait for an enthusiastic and capable reader friend to provide one in the comments of this chapter.