That familiar ceiling. Dream Weaver gazed up at the slightly yellowed ceiling of her own room, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Lying in bed, she lingered on the warmth of the moments she'd just shared with her friends, thinking to herself:
'System… you old thing.'
'You're actually pretty kind, aren't you?'
She had expected to fade away like last time—a brief, luminous farewell as her spirit dissolved into light. But instead, the system had let her wake up right here in her own body.
Dream Weaver couldn't be sure what future awaited her now that she'd left the scripted world behind, but something told her that a system this gentle wouldn't let everyone fall back into sorrow.
'Thank you, system.'
Exhausted, she slowly closed her eyes. That soft whisper was her last before sleep, and as always, the system's mechanical silence offered nothing in return.
In the cramped Tokyo apartment, the only sounds were the whirring of the fan and the gentle rhythm of the girl's breathing. Faded yellow light fell across Dream Weaver's face, tracing a soft shadow along the curve of her smile.
Sleep has always been the easiest way to travel through time. It felt like she'd only just closed her eyes when her phone began to ring on the bedside table.
Ring-a-ling—
Grumbling at the interrupted dream, she stirred irritably—but then it hit her. She wasn't in the Kasamatsu dorms at Tracen Academy anymore. This was home.
Her phone, of course, didn't care about her complaints.
After rolling over a couple times in protest, she finally sprang out of bed, patted her cheeks twice, and tried to hypnotize herself into feeling awake.
This time, she'd learned her lesson. Before entering the script world, she'd not only set multiple alarms but also stocked up on instant bread and toast.
Once dressed and washed up, she grabbed her bag and strode confidently out the door.
And yes—this time, she remembered to put the bread inside her backpack.
Holding it in her hand was just asking for trouble. The memory of that back alley bread massacre still sent a shiver down her spine.
"Oh, Little Dream, you're up early today!"
Her landlady was already sweeping the courtyard out front. She looked up as the door opened and smiled when she saw it was Dream Weaver.
As the earliest riser in the building, the old woman had a pretty good sense of Dream Weaver's usual schedule. She hadn't expected to see her this soon.
"You could've slept a bit longer, dear—you're still growing, after all."
"Just try not to go rushing out in a panic like you did the other day, okay?"
The landlady chuckled, leaning on her broom.
Dream Weaver didn't answer. She just stuck out her tongue playfully and dashed off, backpack bouncing behind her.
This time, she reached the train station with ease. Sitting on a bench on the platform, she pulled the bag of bread from her backpack while she waited.
Her cheeks puffed out as she chewed, thinking:
'System, open the shop menu.'
Time to review the rewards.
She swallowed a piece of bread and turned her attention to the lower right corner where her SP points were displayed.
The Main Scenario Reward was 10,000 SP. Both stage missions gave 5,000 SP each. And on top of that, she got an additional 7,000 SP for her A+ rating. All together—27,000 SP!
Adding what she had left from before, the total SP shown on the shop screen was—
"42,999 SP!"
She couldn't help but gasp softly at the number.
She'd expected more rewards this time around, but never this much. Forty-two thousand SP—that was almost half of what she needed for the Gem of Hope.
Still, as she stared at that glaring number, she frowned slightly.
She remembered exactly where that missing 1 SP had gone: after her first scenario, she'd unlocked a special item—a tiny crown accessory that once belonged to T.M. Opera O. These days, Dream Weaver wore it as a hair clip.
She knew it was a steal—1 SP for a special item—but that uneven number just didn't sit right with her.
No use fussing over it now. She sighed. She hadn't even redeemed the new special items from this latest scenario. The number was only going to get weirder. Better get used to it.
With that, she forced her eyes away from the total and focused on the special items. Following past experience, she sorted the shop listing from lowest to highest price, and immediately spotted two items priced at just 1 SP.
Wait…
Two? Dream Weaver stared in surprise. She hadn't expected that—two special items unlocked from one scenario?
She redeemed both right away, switched to her inventory screen, and opened the detailed descriptions.
--+--
[Hexagram Star]
[Description: A star born from expectations, naturally drawn to the most radiant Uma Musume. It represents both hope and pressure. When carried, it may slightly resist the zone abilities of other Uma Musume.]
Note: "The Gold family… what a mess again…" —A certain blonde Uma Musume, watching her younger sister trash the house.]
--+--
This was clearly Orfevre's item. Its effect matched her zone—resisting other Uma Musume's zones. Sure, it came with a lot of qualifiers, but for just 1 SP, how could she complain?
What really caught her off guard was the note.
A faint smirk touched her lips as she pictured Gold Ship's chaotic energy. It was one thing in dusty old Kasamatsu, but in the glittering world of the Gold family? Yeah, that stood out.
Shaking off images of rich family drama, she turned to the next item. Her eyes widened slightly as she read the icon in her inventory.
'No way…'
--+--
[Photo Album]
[Description: A collection of two photos. One captures ten months of youth shared among a group of Uma Musume; the other symbolizes a miraculous future. This is a keepsake only—it offers no stat bonuses.]
Note: "Yeah!" —A certain prank-loving Uma Musume flashing a peace sign from the back of the group.]
--+--
Pretending to pull the item from her backpack, Dream Weaver gently traced the faces in the photos, her smile growing warmer with each one.
"A keepsake is more than enough."
"System, you really are kind, aren't you."
As always, the system's mechanical silence was her only reply.
--+--
T/N: New Uma Musume fic up!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.