Tokyo | Tracen Academy Affiliated Hospital | Neurology Consultation Room
Behind the desk sat a woman with short brown hair and long, brown horse ears. Holding a steaming cup of tea in one hand and examining a brain X-ray in the other, she studied it intently.
After a moment, she turned her gaze to the young man seated across from her. Her crimson, slit-pupiled eyes gleamed with evident curiosity.
"Getting hit by an Uma Musume at tens of kilometers per hour and sent flying ten meters, yet only suffering soft-tissue bruising?"
"Hoh-hoh, what an intriguing physique you have..."
"Would you be interested in becoming my guinea pig, Yasui-kun?"
Without hesitation, Yasui Makoto shook his head vigorously.
"I respectfully decline, Doctor Agnes Tachyon."
"Besides the bruising, is there anything else wrong with me?"
Agnes Tachyon set down the X-ray, sipped her tea leisurely, narrowed her eyes, and smiled faintly.
This young man is truly fascinating...
A few months earlier, Tracen Academy had announced the results of the annual Central Trainer Exam.
As always, few had passed, but this year's top scorer had sent ripples throughout the industry.
Yasui Makoto, age eighteen, had just graduated from the Trainer Academy the previous year. Aside from the vocal examination (singing and dancing), he'd earned perfect marks in every other subject.
Even Agnes Tachyon had been astonished by this.
Although she'd retired early, she was still an Uma Musume who had raced professionally. She knew firsthand how difficult the Trainer certification was—especially the Central-level exam. Saying it was one-in-ten-thousand was hardly an exaggeration.
Moreover, trainers who obtained their licenses were generally in their thirties. Even trainers in their twenties were rare, let alone an eighteen-year-old prodigy.
Back then, she'd wanted to take the opportunity to acquire a sample from Yasui Makoto—ideally a brain tissue sample—to further her research.
But between hospital consultations, research, symposiums, and teaching at Tracen Academy, she never found the chance.
To her delight, today he'd willingly walked right into her office.
And the reason was precisely because he'd been sent flying by an Uma Musume at a speed that should've caused significant injuries—at least internal trauma or fractures—but Makoto had emerged with only minor bruising.
Furthermore, according to the Uma Musume who'd brought him in, Makoto had even stood up immediately afterward, seemingly unharmed.
It meant that not only was his intellectual ability astonishingly advanced, his physical condition was extraordinarily resilient too.
Now, what excuse should I find to perform a biopsy on this interesting guinea pig...? Agnes Tachyon thought, sipping tea while pretending to deliberate his condition.
Under the scrutiny of her crimson eyes, Makoto felt a chill run down his spine.
He'd heard rumors about this Uma Musume—that she was intensely passionate about human experimentation. While none of these rumors had ever been confirmed, he found it suspicious how earnestly she was pretending to consider his "condition" when he clearly had none.
He knew exactly how to read an X-ray, not only due to the medical knowledge required for Central-level trainers but also because, in his previous life, he'd been an extreme acrobatics athlete.
Extreme Acrobatics was a new category of extreme sports, combining advanced maneuvers from gymnastics, martial arts, and dance, elevating their difficulty and spectacle significantly. Moves such as forward and backward straight-body twists from gymnastics, flying crucifix holds from combat sports, and Capoeira's double lotus spins were merged into highly challenging and visually impressive performances.
The inherent danger of the sport went without saying. Despite his exceptional talent, an accident during a high-altitude stunt had abruptly ended his previous life, sending him to this peculiar new world.
Upon arrival, he quickly realized something unusual about this world.
Here, horses didn't exist. Instead, there were "Uma Musume"—girls with horse-like ears and tails, blessed by deities known as the Three Goddesses, possessing physical abilities far superior to humans, especially their powerful legs that enabled them to run at an average speed of 60 kilometers per hour.
Their love for running had led to the creation of specialized institutions like Tracen Academy to nurture their talent.
Coincidentally, his parents in this life were both associated with Tracen Academy—his father a local trainer, his mother a retired local-level Uma Musume—making his decision to become an Uma Musume trainer a natural one.
For someone whose greatest passion was challenging human physical limits or witnessing feats at the extreme edge of possibility, the existence of Uma Musume, seemingly human yet significantly more physically gifted, captured Makoto's imagination completely.
He wanted to witness firsthand the limits these extraordinary beings could reach—and perhaps even find a way to surpass his own human boundaries.
With this ambition, combined with the memories and skills from his past life, he'd entered the Trainer Academy immediately after middle school. Graduating early, he earned a spot as a Central-level trainer at Tracen Academy, arriving in Tokyo just months ago.
It was challenging for new trainers to sign agreements with Uma Musume directly; typically, they'd study under senior trainers first. But Makoto was confident he could skip this stage.
As an elite extreme acrobatics performer, his skill set was undoubtedly exceptional, even if calling him the best in the field would be an exaggeration. Additionally, having received extensive training knowledge from his parents, he was confident he could successfully guide outstanding Uma Musume.
Yet no one else seemed to share this confidence, as every Uma Musume he approached had politely declined him in recent months.
Today had been no different. Perhaps still dazed from yet another rejection, he'd impulsively dashed forward to rescue a child about to be hit by a car.
He successfully saved the child—but was sent flying himself.
Not by the vehicle, but by an Uma Musume with short black hair.
Luckily, his previous life's training allowed him to instinctively adjust mid-air, emerging without serious harm.
He'd planned to brush it off and leave, but the clearly shaken Uma Musume had insisted on accompanying him to the hospital for a thorough check-up. Her stubborn determination left him no choice but to comply.
Ironically, he'd been uninjured from the collision, but now found himself in the clutches of the bizarre Uma Musume, Agnes Tachyon, who was clearly fantasizing about dissecting him. Makoto's headache intensified as he desperately considered ways to escape.
At this moment, after a lengthy silence, Agnes Tachyon finally spoke slowly, "As for other issues… it's difficult to say right now."
"If any latent symptoms emerge later, it could be problematic."
"Therefore, my advice is for Yasui-kun to stay hospitalized here for a while under observation."
"Additionally, perhaps an exploratory craniotomy would be beneficial..."
Makoto felt his scalp tingle, immediately confirming that this Uma Musume indeed had designs on cutting him open.
Before he could refuse, the door burst open with a loud bang.
A black-haired Uma Musume rushed in, pulling the door handle and a large chunk of wood clean off in the process. She stared, aghast, at Agnes Tachyon.
"Cr-craniotomy?! Is it really that serious?!"
Seeing Agnes Tachyon's shocked and Makoto's astonished expressions, she glanced guiltily at the broken door handle, then the hole she'd made in the door.
"I-I'm so sorry! I—I was too reckless...!"
She quickly hid the handle behind her back, bowed deeply, and nervously introduced herself.
"H-hello, Doctor Agnes Tachyon!"
"My name is Kitasan Black! I'm a new freshman at Tracen Academy this year! Please look after me!"
"A-anyway... I—I will absolutely take responsibility for everything that happens to Yasui-san!"