The time for the Japan Derby arrived.
Demon King Ship arrived at the venue and found that, unexpectedly, none of the runners were avoiding the race this time. It should be known that in her recent races, many runners had chosen to avoid competing. Furthermore, she saw that many runners were looking at her with passion. Seeing this, she couldn't help but smile. Although she didn't think the strength of these runners had risen to a level that would satisfy her, this feeling was quite nice. It was like the humans in the world of that anime: despite the absolute difference in strength between them and the Demon King, the humans of that world never gave up.
Horse girls should be like this too. Even when facing an opponent they have no chance of beating, they shouldn't lose the courage to challenge. Demon King Ship was very satisfied with her opponents in this race.
"One month after the Satsuki Sho, we now open the second race of the Classic Triple Crown, the Japan Derby! Let's take a look at the participants in this race."
As the commentator spoke, information about the runners appeared on the big screen.
This was for the viewers watching on TV; the audience at the venue already knew the participants from their earlier entrance.
A fan in the stands said, "They say to win this race, you don't just need to run fast; you also need luck. The horse girl who wins this race is often called the 'horse girl with strong luck'."
"Luck? Are you saying that with enough luck, a runner in this race could break the Demon King's undefeated record?" Another fan scoffed.
"The fastest runner wins the Satsuki Sho; the luckiest runner wins the Japan Derby; the strongest runner wins the Kikka Sho." Almost every fan who knew about the Classic Triple Crown knew this saying. In fact, there was a reason for it. The Satsuki Sho was the shortest and the first race, so early-maturing, fast runners had an easier time winning. The Japan Derby was 2400m, approaching long-distance, so winning required hard strength plus a bit of luck—but this was only because in the past, no invincible runner had appeared in the same generation. As for the final Kikka Sho, it goes without saying; a long-distance track naturally requires the strongest runner to win.
With the Demon King participating, no one thought luck would be useful.
Unless the Demon King withdrew due to illness—in that case, one could say "strong luck" was truly at work. But since the Demon King had already arrived at the venue, few believed she would lose to so-called luck. Besides, such a powerful Demon King might possess luck far stronger than an ordinary horse girl.
"Although I feel a bit sorry for the other runners, I really can't imagine a scene where the Demon King loses."
"Yeah. That said... luck is hard to predict..."
Some fans also thought about runners who had suffered catastrophic injuries mid-race. The Demon King had been competing at high intensity recently. Even if her physical constitution was strong enough to dominate an era, the body still had limits. Perhaps with a stroke of bad luck, like some runners in the past, she might break a leg mid-race. In that case, losing was possible.
After all, the Japan Derby really was a miraculous race. Looking back, the runners who won it all had, more or less, a bit of strong luck. Of course, this wasn't absolute.
Demon King Ship stood in front of the gate.
Mejiro Ryan walked over and said, "Please take care of me in this race. I will display all the results of my training from this past month."
"Then do your best. Try to challenge me."
Demon King Ship didn't even turn her head.
She could sense Mejiro Ryan's progress through the changes in her aura.
This was normal. In the early stages of learning skills, a drastic increase in strength compared to before was very normal. Bottlenecks would only appear later when attempting advanced skills. Plus, Mejiro Ryan had already stepped into the awakening stage of the "Zone." Training skills while mastering the Zone's power over this month... her Zone awakening might have already reached the second stage.
Through Mejiro McQueen's memories, Demon King Ship knew that skill training was a great help to Zone awakening. For example, the reason she could awaken the Zone as a child was partly due to her naturally strong mental power, and partly because she had mastered many high-level skills. Even the system classified the Zone under "skills," which meant that although the two seemed different, they were essentially the same.
"Okay."
Mejiro Ryan didn't mind Demon King Ship's rudeness. The Demon King's personality was well-known by now. This was actually restrained; the childhood Demon King Ship would have been even worse.
"Number three favorite is this runner, Seiun Sky! Although she suffered a loss in the Satsuki Sho, she has shown amazing strength in recent mock races."
Unlike in the game, reality's popularity (favor) wasn't solely increased through races. Operating personal social media accounts, off-campus activities, and rankings in on-campus mock races could all garner popularity. In short, popularity was just the number of fan followers. Although closely related to the threshold for graded races, there was a lot of "fluff" in it.
For example, Haru Urara, who always lost, actually had very high popularity—high enough that she could participate in almost any grade of race if she wanted. As for why a horse girl who always lost had such high popularity... don't think too hard about it. And then there were internet celebrity horse girls like Curren Chan, whose popularity broke a million before even debuting.
Seiun Sky had performed very eye-catchingly in recent campus mock races, so her popularity had seen a small boost.
"Number two favorite, Mejiro Ryan! A solid performer who took second place in the Satsuki Sho. After a month of hard training, can she challenge her powerful opponent this time?"
"Number one favorite! This runner needs no further introduction. Hailed as the strongest of the generation, the Demon King, Gold Ship! Since taking the crown at the Satsuki Sho, she has participated in two more races this month, winning both by a large margin. Currently, she remains undefeated!"
The big screen gave a full five seconds for a close-up of Demon King Ship's face. The VIP treatment was maxed out.
Even until the countdown began, the main camera was still following Demon King Ship.
"All runners are ready. Gate entry complete..."
"BANG!"
"The race has started! All runners have completed the start! The Demon King seems to have had a slight late start as usual, but the gap seems to have been reduced to a point where it's invisible without careful observation. Speaking of which, the Demon King's late starts have always been a hot topic on the internet. It makes one wonder: is this the Demon King's only weakness? Alright, back to the race! Leading is Seiun Sky! As expected, she's fast! This record is much faster than before. Has she mastered that new running technique released by the Demon King Group? Can she maintain the lead until the end this time?"
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