"We've already run plenty of diagnostics with Dream Weaver, so don't you worry. Everything is going to be just fine."
Noticing the slight tremor in Hishi Miracle's frame as she lay in the virtual diving pod, Sugar Lights offered a gentle, reassuring word before carefully fitting the simulation helmet over her head.
Hishi Miracle couldn't help but swallow hard.
She'd volunteered for this on a total whim, and while she knew Dream Weaver and the others wouldn't have rolled this out without rigorous testing, the nerves were still eating at her.
But the die was cast; there was no backing out now. With the low, mechanical hum of the machine powering up, the world before her eyes dissolved rapidly into total darkness.
A few seconds later, light bled back into her vision. Instead of the familiar activity room ceiling, she found herself standing in a vast, sterile void.
Just as a sense of directionless panic began to set in, a translucent blue interface flickered into existence.
--+--
[Virtual Dive Gear — Uma Musume Status Board]
--+--
Character: Hishi Miracle
Speed: E [Trainee Level]
Stamina: E+ [Debut Level]
Power: E [Trainee Level]
Guts: E+ [Debut Level]
Wit: E [Trainee Level]
--+--
Aptitude: Turf [A] / Dirt [G]
Zone: None
Skills: None
--+--
The inspiration for this display was obvious. Dream Weaver had essentially handed Sugar Lights the "source code" from her own Uma Musume training system as a blueprint.
However, unlike Dream Weaver's real-time system, these attributes were manually recorded from physical exams before being entered into the device, meaning there was always a bit of a lag between reality and the data.
Hishi Miracle didn't care about the technicalities, though. She just stared at her status board in a daze.
After a long silence, she let out a heavy, trailing sigh.
"Figures," she muttered to herself.
She didn't fully grasp the exact metrics of the scaling, but those plain-as-day suffixes told her everything she needed to know about her current standing.
Maybe she'd spent too much time slacking off, or maybe her talent simply had its limits.
In a period where her peers were already signing up for their debut races, she still had three core stats that failed to meet the bare minimum debut standard after a full month of training.
Compared to her rapidly improving teammates, Hishi Miracle's board looked downright pitiful.
"Liberty Island must have hit the debut benchmarks by now, surely..."
An unfamiliar sense of urgency pricked at her heart. That spark of frustration she'd felt earlier wasn't a fluke; in this moment, the urge to move forward—to actually run—surged through her again.
She brushed the panel aside and, following the instructions Sugar Lights had given her, spoke the command.
"Start Mock Race."
[Mock Race confirmed.]
As the words left her lips, a voice that sounded exactly like Dream Weaver's echoed through the white void.
Apparently, being short-staffed meant Sugar Lights had simply dragged Dream Weaver in to provide the system's voice acting.
The familiar voice gave Hishi Miracle a momentary start, but her attention was quickly snatched away by the new menu blooming in front of her.
[Please select your opponent.]
At the top of the new section sat the words "Mock Race," but the only available name under the opponent column was Dream Weaver.
According to Sugar Lights, they planned to add more data profiles later so Hishi Miracle and Liberty Island could simulate a wider variety of racing environments.
Without hesitation, she tapped on Dream Weaver's name. But instead of the race starting, yet another menu appeared.
[Trainee Level, Debut Level, G3 Level…]
Hishi Miracle read the difficulty settings aloud. She paused, finding it odd that the list jumped straight from G3 to G1, skipping the G2 tier entirely.
But what truly caught her eye was the rank sitting even higher than the pinnacle of G1 glory.
Its name was—
[The Real Dream Weaver]
According to the original plan, Hishi Miracle was supposed to select the "Trainee" version of Dream Weaver.
For her, that would have been a fair, neck-and-neck fight.
Yet, for some reason, an uncontrollable urge to try that final difficulty setting washed over her.
Dream Weaver was the strongest Uma Musume ever produced by Central Tracen. Her name had been thundering across the globe for years.
Despite carrying the "Curse of the Arc," she was still hailed as one of the top three racers of the century.
The reason was simple: she had claimed more G1 titles than anyone in history.
An Uma Musume's professional career is fleeting, and the window to grab G1 trophies is narrow.
Even legendary figures like "The Emperor," Symboli Rudolf, had only managed seven G1 victories before moving on to the Dream Cup—a record that had stood unbroken for years.
Until Dream Weaver arrived.
After clinching the Triple Crown, she shattered the "Seven-Crown Curse" with ease, sweeping every middle and long-distance G1 race in Japan.
When she took her talents to the world stage, her dominance remained absolute. Save for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, she had never known defeat.
She achieved the unthinkable: Dream Weaver became the first Uma Musume in the history of Central Tracen to reach double-digit G1 victories.
And the first digit wasn't a "one."
That was why people pinned their hopes on her year after year at the Arc; everywhere else, her performance was nothing short of terrifying.
If not for that years-long struggle with the Arc's curse, she would be the undisputed number one in the world.
The thought of standing on the same track as that Dream Weaver made Hishi Miracle's heart race.
She wasn't thinking about logic or strategy. Like any other girl who had grown up on the legends of the greats, she just wanted to witness the myth for herself.
"It's just a virtual world anyway..." she whispered. "What's the worst that could happen?"
Muttering to herself, her hand moved as if possessed, tapping the highest difficulty setting.
[Difficulty confirmed.]
"Here I come."
As those final words rang in her ear, Hishi Miracle felt a momentary blur, almost forgetting she was in a machine.
Then, a strobe-like flickering—like a dying television screen—reminded her of the simulation. Between the flashes of black and white, a streak of blood-red seared itself into her retinas.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the white void transformed into a photorealistic racecourse. And there, clad in her iconic gold-and-red racing silks, was the woman herself.
For the first time, she had stepped out from behind the screen and stood directly before Hishi Miracle.
One look was all it took to make Hishi Miracle's heart skip a beat.
She knew it was a simulation. She knew it was just data. But the sheer, suffocating pressure radiating from the figure before her was so overwhelming that she instinctively stumbled back several paces.
Regret began to gnaw at her. She had never imagined that the Dream Weaver she joked around with daily could look so terrifying on the track.
She looked like a war god carved from carnage; a single glance from her was enough to send a bone-chilling dread through Hishi Miracle's soul.
What Hishi Miracle didn't realize was that this wasn't even the legend's full power—at least not in terms of presence.
Even the most perfect virtual dive couldn't fully replicate the crushing weight of the real thing.
If it could, Hishi Miracle wouldn't have just been stumbling back; she would have been paralyzed.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 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.