Chapter 89

After 1800 meters, the time increased significantly.

They drew up the update flowchart—there was a need to improve the current speed.

Splitting the fierce wind, tearing the earth.

Although the city's temperature control system struggled to function, the midday sun remained scorching.

But even so, a chestnut-red figure remained on the grass.

Unlike the pairs of riders far off, competing teams, unlike the Saichang rehearsal outside the track where they vied to get ahead, the chestnut-red figure blurred in a sudden surge of speed; those powerful, heavy footsteps had no one ahead—she was merely chasing the shadow she had once passed, stirring up a new gale on the track.

After 2100 meters, the time matched that of the previous round.

Stamina was ample; skill: g001st. f∞ difficult to trigger.

Pause.

The horse girl, her forehead drenched in sweat, stopped her steps, undergoing a brief 'data update'.

Having not found an official trainer, nor having time to familiarize herself with the newly contracted acting trainer, Mr. Lindun had the formal duty of signing the contract today; it was inferred he had no spare time to pay attention here, so the girl decided to keep her own pace.

She was known throughout the academy as a horse girl famed for extreme self-discipline and harsh training, unafraid of hardship, and she maintained her condition through a consistent 'daily trial run'.

Today's condition was also stable; although there were some initial discrepancies, recalling the contract midway instead triggered an extraordinary performance.

Confirmed as a mood‑induced boost, the result was approved for recording.

Meipubofang stood in place, her mind racing with thoughts closer to mechanical calculation than human reasoning.

Moreover, once she started thinking, she remained utterly still—her expression unshaken even if someone poked her face or a heavenly downpour fell.

Even if she told others it was due to a lack of communication in childhood, it would hardly be convincing.

She was too mechanical; the previous trainer had evaluated her that way.

They said she was even more mechanical than the Meipubofang they remembered.

Meipubofang wasn't sure whether it was an insult or praise, but seeing the other's dissatisfied expression, she likely had disappointed them.

She inevitably felt a bit down, but the worst disappointment was probably that injured training session.

Meipubofang, stared at with utter disappointment, directly felt the dead silence within her heart.

Her goal was to meet her parents' expectations and also fulfill her own dreamed aspiration; the cyber horse girl strove toward the Triple Crown alongside the trainer who had invited her.

The Satsuki Sho and the Jidong Derby left only the Kikuka Sho crown to complete the classic Triple Crown; before that, with insufficient fan numbers, Meipubofang still needed to enter a short‑distance race to earn priority entry.

Otherwise, she could only seek qualification via the lottery based on cumulative career prize money and fan count—a process that inevitably involves luck, since it is a 'draw'.

For short‑distance training, Meipubofang had ample confidence, but the trainer did not share it.

He only wanted to train her for results in long‑distance races, not to waste time on the already under‑valued 'short‑distance' events.

The 'draw' wasn't so bad either—just run a middle‑long race to pile up prize money and fans, then maybe take a variety show appearance and you'd be all set, as the former trainer used to say.

But the chestnut‑red‑haired horse girl knew full well that he simply didn't trust her ability.

He was a senior trainer with several horse girls under him; he invited her only because she was called Meipubofang, or even just because she looked enough like a Meipubofang.

He seemed to be seeking another shadow in himself, though he never said so outright; yet the clumsy cyber horse girl's uniquely ironic intuition was exceptionally keen.

The 'intuition' furthest from a 'mechanical feel' had already become the distance between trainer and horse girl, further causing her heart to close off little by little.

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Then it was in May of that year, amidst the mire of that day.

That ever‑tightening, ever‑thinning 'distance' line, stretched ever longer, finally snapped.

Without changing their positions, it simply drifted away like a broken‑string kite.

He was reassigned to a local post by the angry chairman, while she, comforted by her roommate and rival, returned to her original life.

The life she had when she first arrived at Central Tressen.

There was still a chance, still time to start over.

The goddess had already issued her oracle; the Dream Cup, which normally occurs only once every hundred years, was now entering its preparation phase—this year's horse girls were extraordinarily fortunate to get a chance to witness the most legendary Saichang, yet they would also face extraordinary hardship, confronting a competitive pressure far purer than in any previous edition.

——The chairman's words once spoken awakened Meipubofang's fighting spirit, which had vanished after contract termination, and gave her an unparalleled sense of urgency.

Then came the encounter with the acting trainer——

Her train of thought stopped there; she heard a crisp 'crackle' nearby, prompting her to instinctively reach back and touch her tail.

Even a poke to the face couldn't sway her, nor could a rainstorm wake her—she was like a real‑robot horse girl, sensitive only to thunder because, as a child, she had believed the joke told to horse girls that lightning would steal their tails.

'If thunder strikes, the tail will be stolen.'

In this school, to this day she is probably the only horse girl who still takes that saying to heart.

She even grew nervous enough to react to the mere sound of an electric current.

Only after she did that did she notice the acting trainer ahead, seemingly having stepped over the guardrail.

A person stood before her, one hand holding a bottle of mineral water, the other still poised in the finger‑snap gesture.

And the air beside that hand still lingered with the fleeting electric serpent.

"Sorry, I scared you." said the acting trainer Aomo Lindun, who reluctantly withdrew his finger‑snap hand.

Never expecting to have just thought of him and then see him appear before her the next second, Meipubofang instantly fell into obvious stagnation, like a machine that had lost power, her whole being momentarily 'unresponsive'.

"Because calling you and tapping your shoulder didn't wake you, and standing on the track is also rather dangerous——" Aomo said, quick‑eyed and quick‑handed, he grabbed Meipubofang from the side and pulled her over, just in time to avoid a white lightning bolt racing alongside her companion.

——That was precisely why he resorted to this tactic: even if it meant startling her, he had to wake her up.

He waved at the small‑sized horse girl who could recognize him and was slowing down, giving an 'OK' sign to indicate she needn't worry; Aomo then saw her regain speed and dash away.

She seemed to mumble an apology, but her rivalry with the horse girl beside her continued, so she did not stop.

The fighting spirit is forever the main theme of these horse girls, regardless of age or size; Aomo doesn't dislike it, but if it caused him to collide with the horse girl under his care, that would be another matter.

Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened; he turned his head to look at Meipubofang, whose expression was slightly stiff—rather than being surprised that he could suddenly discern a third expression on her face, it was clearly better to first let go of her hand.

He even went back over the fence, calling for her to come over as well.

"This way is safer." he said.

Then I saw the opponent leap high.

Light gathered from all around his body onto his iron boots, forming a reverse jet that let him fall faster.

Thus he stepped firmly onto the ground.

……

At that moment, the acting trainer nearby, feeling the wind brush his face, clearly sensed the tremor of the ground.

Thus he was momentarily speechless.