Some apartment complex.
A slightly balding young man sat before his computer, repeatedly watching the footage of Barbatos in the Tokyo Sports Hai Junior Stakes.
He hadn't originally been a fan of Uma Musume, nor did he usually watch their races.
Normally, at this time, he'd still be streaming his travels across Teyvat, updating his Genshin Impact guides for the Japanese server, or maybe doing some gacha pulls for his viewers.
But ever since he'd seen the video of Barbatos's debut race, and the clip of her Winner's Stage performance, he'd found himself utterly captivated by her.
It was like the Anemo Archon, 'Venti', had stepped right out of the game and into reality—and it perfectly aligned with his own interests.
So, amidst his usual daily routine of streaming Genshin, he'd added watching Barbatos's races. It wasn't just him; his fans loved it too.
He was convinced that no true Genshin fan could resist Barbatos's charm.
The only slight regret was that it wasn't Klee, Diona, Qiqi, or Sayu… but Barbatos…
On the screen, the race footage continued to play.
The young man let out a long, soft sigh. "She really must be injured."
The internet was now flooded with discussions about Barbatos's injury. Even though there was no official statement yet, and Barbatos's trainer at Team Canopus hadn't posted anything on Weibo…
All the big names were already weighing in.
Fans had left messages wishing her well: "Hope Barbatos recovers soon." "Rest well, Barbatos, we'll all be waiting for your return!" and the like.
Mixed in were a few comments like, "Is Barbatos just dodging the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies?" or "Eh-heh~, the Winter Dream Cup? If I don't participate, I never lost."
After a long silence, the balding youth opened Weibo.
His account had about 200,000 followers, making him a top-tier Genshin streamer on the Japanese server. He was famous for saying on stream, "Top-up? Not a chance. Gotta save that money to get married."
Later, that evolved into, "Of course my marriage fund is for rescuing my waifus from the gacha pool."
This had earned him a fair bit of notoriety on the Japanese internet.
"Wishing Barbatos a speedy recovery."
He first posted this most sincere wish as a fan on Weibo. Then, remembering the online trolls, his fingers began clacking furiously across the keyboard again.
"Don't pay any mind to those haters. She's injured—if she tried to run the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies now, she'd definitely lose."
"Just wait 'til next year for the triumphant return and a Triple Crown sweep! That'll shut 'em up good!"
"All us Dandelions will be waiting for you to come back!"
At the end of the post, he specifically tagged the "Canopus Trainer" Weibo account.
'Dandelions' was what they'd started calling themselves. It made sense for fans of the Anemo Archon's stand-in to be dandelions.
Besides, in both the previous Keio Hai and this Tokyo Sports Hai, Barbatos had shown skill far beyond an ordinary Uma Musume. Even someone like him, who'd just started watching, could tell that nobody in the Juvenile Fillies stood a chance against a healthy Barbatos.
And so, the Weibo post was sent.
--+--
Tracen Academy Dormitory.
Barbatos sat on the edge of her bed. She wasn't planning to stream today.
It wasn't that she didn't want to, but the doctor said she needed rest. It was better not to stream while injured, at least for the first day.
While Seiun Sky was in the shower, she opened her system interface.
Although only she could see the system screen, having someone around while she fiddled with it still felt weird.
She needed to buy an item that would let her fully recover before the Hanshin Special Youth Race.
There were many items that fit the bill, some offering near-instant recovery.
But she couldn't afford those. Even if she could, she couldn't use them. Using [Warmog's Armor] right now would be less direct than just using [Heal].
She already had an idea of what to buy, and there were two options.
Both would make it seem like a normal recovery, just a bit faster than everyone else's.
First option: [Health Potion] (150 Gold)
Second option: [Doran's Shield] (450 Gold)
The [Health Potion] was probably the better value—buy once, use repeatedly—but Barbatos wasn't sure how much HP a single potion would restore relative to her injury.
Her system didn't display her own attributes; she couldn't see her HP total.
So, she chose to buy the [Doran's Shield].
[Ding! Confirm purchase: [Doran's Shield]?]
"Yes."
With practiced ease, the Doran's Shield was slotted into her item bar.
--+--
[Doran's Shield]
[Helping Hand: Basic attacks deal +5 bonus physical damage to minions.]
[Restorative: Regenerate 6 Health every 5 hours.]
[Enduring Focus: After taking damage from an enemy champion, large monster, or epic monster, regenerate up to 40 Health over 8 seconds. The regeneration amount increases when you are at low Health.]
--+--
Without knowing her max HP, the consistent 6 Health every 5 hours from [Doran's Shield] was the most reliable.
This should just make her seem like she healed a bit faster than a normal Uma Musume.
If she still wasn't fully recovered by the Hanshin Juvenile FIllies, the shield's final passive, Enduring Focus, was a godsend. After taking damage, it restored up to 40 HP over 8 seconds.
The less HP you had, the more it restored.
Conversely, the more HP you had, the less it healed, never quite reaching the full 40.
In the game, you needed to be attacked to trigger it. But here in reality, maybe she could exploit a bug.
Thinking this, she gave herself a moderately hard punch. She felt a faint, itchy sensation spread through her body, similar to when she used [Heal].
So, she really could restore HP by hitting herself. The bug worked.
"In that case, I don't need to worry about not being fully recovered before the race."
"And no one will be able to tell anything's unusual."
After finishing this, Barbatos pulled out her phone to see what people were saying online and on Weibo after the race.
She wondered if she should have Minamizaka post something to reassure her fans.
Then she saw the well-wishes from a blogger named "A Job? I'm Not Doing That," who had over 200,000 followers.
--+--
Wishing Barbatos a speedy recovery.
Don't pay any mind to those haters. She's injured—if she tried to run the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies now, she'd definitely lose.
Just wait 'til next year for the triumphant return and a Triple Crown sweep! That'll shut 'em up good!
All us Dandelions will be waiting for you to come back!
--+--
After reading the post, Barbatos let out a soft laugh. "Thank you. But I'm not losing the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies."
"Whether it's the Juvenile Fillies or the Triple Tiara victories… I'm taking them all."
--+--
T/N: I assume her fans don't know she's not doing the classics, but the Triple Tiara is considered a variant of the Triple Crown.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, 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.