After coming down the mountain with Gold Ship, Dream Weaver returned to the training room to grab her backpack before finally leaving Tracen Academy. On her way home, she couldn't stop replaying the events of the day in her mind.
She hadn't noticed it before, but the more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed. The other Uma Musume were one thing—some had excuses like recruiting for their trainers, while others were just eccentric by nature. In any case, Dream Weaver could find reasons to explain why they didn't seem to remember the scripted worlds.
But there was one person who was different.
That was King Halo's mother—also Dream Weaver's mother in the first scripted world—Dancing Brave.
Her emotions had been too intense, completely unlike how one would act toward someone they'd just met. And it wasn't just emotional intensity; she had even used her actual connections and money to support Dream Weaver. Even with the excuse of being her close friend's daughter, it felt far-fetched.
Before this, Dream Weaver had been too focused on entering the next scripted mission to overthink it. But now, prompted by Gold Ship's behavior, she suddenly realized something was off.
There were two possibilities before her now.
First, that the people she'd interacted with felt a sense of closeness toward her in the real world because of their connections in the scripted worlds, which was why they approached her so readily and reacted so strongly.
The second possibility was a bit frightening: that these people actually did remember the scripted worlds, clearly recalling every moment spent with Dream Weaver and every word she'd said.
Including, of course, the endings she'd left them with.
Just thinking about it sent a shiver down her spine. There were so many embarrassing things she'd said only because she knew it was a scripted world, so many actions she'd taken only because she knew she would eventually leave.
If they really did remember everything… the thought alone made her break out in a cold sweat.
And this was without her even daring to consider the worst.
Every main mission she'd undertaken had ended with her collapsing. In the time between the race ending and her return to the scripted world's future, who knew what kind of heavy emotions had festered in their hearts?
That was also why Dream Weaver had chosen to start feeling things out with Gold Ship—because she'd never seen Gold Ship cry in front of her. Compared to the others, even if Gold Ship's thoughts were hard to read, she hadn't shown any overly negative emotions in the scripted world.
Even after Dream Weaver had become vegetative, Gold Ship had still gone on to race in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe according to her own wishes. To Dream Weaver, that was a sign of inner strength.
At the same time, she quietly made a mental list of Uma Musume she should avoid provoking. Besides King Halo and her mother, with whom she had deep scripted world ties, she specifically added Orfevre and T.M. Opera O.
Those who raced in the name of kings all had extremely distinct personalities. It was because of T.M. Opera O's reputation at school that Dream Weaver hadn't found her odd at first.
But if she applied the two possibilities she'd just considered, then compared to the others who still thought like normal people, these two were far more dangerous.
T.M. Opera O was the type to approach her outright even if they'd never met in real life. And Orfevre, who could rival her, was clearly not someone to be taken lightly either.
To keep the situation from spiraling into an abyss beyond her understanding, Dream Weaver decided that, at the very least, she should act like she knew nothing around these Uma Musume.
With that thought, Dream Weaver let out a long sigh. Gazing at the streaks of light flashing past the train window, she gripped the handrail and said to herself:
"Well, let's see what tomorrow brings."
She had thought her biggest challenge was completing the main missions in the scripted worlds and accumulating system points to exchange for the Hope Gem.
But now it seemed that the connections she'd made in those worlds were creating complicated real-world relationships. Untangling this mess might be even harder than winning a race.
And these people she'd become entangled with in the scripted worlds already held significant weight in her heart. She couldn't bear to do anything that would hurt them.
But making everyone happy… that felt like walking a tightrope between two skyscrapers. Dream Weaver had never learned how to do something like that.
"After all, on the track, all I had to worry about was winning."
She sighed and couldn't help muttering under her breath.
Quietly, Dream Weaver made a resolution: whether her friends retained mere fondness or full memories, she couldn't afford to be as reckless as before in the next scripted mission.
'How should I put it…'
'Just become an Uma Musume who only needs to run?'
Anyway, her most important goal was to earn points, right? The people in the scripted worlds had nothing to do with her. Dream Weaver repeated this to herself over and over in her mind.
Just as she was in the middle of this self-hypnosis, the announcement for her station reached her ears.
She stretched her stiff limbs, hoisted her backpack, and started walking toward home.
Dream Weaver had originally thought today would be perfectly uneventful. She never expected to stumble upon something so startling.
When she finally arrived at the small apartment building and noticed that the lights of both the other tenant and the landlady were already off, she tiptoed quietly back to her room.
After switching on the dim, yellowish light, the fatigue of the day hit her all at once. Thanks to all that climbing up and down the hills behind Central Tracen with Gold Ship, she still hadn't eaten dinner. Dream Weaver patted her flat stomach and sighed weakly.
It was already late, and she had class tomorrow, so there was no time to cook properly.
Luckily, she still had a few bags of bread stored at home. Pouring herself a cup of long-cold water, she sat down at the worn-out low table and, with the water's help, forced the bread down in a few hurried bites.
After finishing her meager dinner, she couldn't be bothered to wash up. Deciding to leave that task for tomorrow's self, she flopped down onto the bed with a soft thud.
Within seconds, both mental and physical exhaustion washed over her, pulling her into drowsiness. Her mind grew fuzzy as she stared at the ceiling and mumbled incoherently:
'At least in the real world… I don't want to make everyone sad again…'
With that, she drifted into a deep sleep under the glow of the dim light.
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T/N: Smart and nondense MC about the simulator?! This is a W mc for me
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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.