Light.
A track bathed in radiance. Cheers echoing from every direction. Gleaming Uma Musume racing across the course. All of it filled her heart with longing.
McQueen with seven-colored light shining beneath her feet. The Overlord wreathed in violent crimson. The Emperor pointing toward the sky like the sun itself—
Scene after scene, like tales of heroes.
At the end of countless dazzling images.
A small, pitch-black figure looked up at her.
"Who are you?"
"..."
The figure didn't answer.
Like an emotionless doll, it simply watched her in silence.
The dark blue flames in those eyes scattered along with the blue rose petals drifting around them.
The memory inheritance ended there.
She awoke from that radiant dream.
"She's awake."
A familiar voice sounded in her ear.
The instant she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Tokai Teio's handsome face.
"..."
Tokai Teio looked at their new companion, whose entire body had tensed up, and found it rather curious.
This new companion seemed to have an unexpectedly interesting personality.
"Hmph. The runner of blue roses. The pitch-black assassin..." Gold Ship's cold voice came from nearby. "Didn't expect the newly unlocked character to be you."
The small figure—the black-haired Uma Musume—looked up.
Gold Ship stood with arms crossed, leaning against the wall. Beside her, Mejiro McQueen sat in a chair, propping up one cheek with her right hand.
The scene looked like some mafia boss flanked by her two lieutenants.
"H-Hello... I'm... I'm Rice Shower..."
Hearing that timid voice, all three wore strange expressions, wondering if the System had somehow delivered the original version.
Tokai Teio asked, "Um, Rice Shower, you should have inherited our memories, right?"
"Y-Yes!"
Rice Shower nodded firmly.
"You senpais were so cool—just like real heroes!"
In that moment, Rice Shower's eyes seemed to sparkle, and her stuttering disappeared.
McQueen lowered her gaze.
She said nothing.
This Rice Shower, who seemed no different from her original counterpart—had the System made some kind of mistake?
Gold Ship and Tokai Teio also stared curiously at Rice Shower.
They couldn't imagine how combining their three personalities could produce a Rice Shower with this kind of temperament.
Shouldn't they have gotten a more confident, more domineering newcomer?
"Rice Shower, would you like to enter Training Mode immediately, or would you prefer to see the outside world first?"
"Second-rate, what nonsense are you spouting? Do we even need to ask her? Obviously we follow procedure—Training Mode first, then Story Mode!"
Gold Ship roughly cut off Tokai Teio. Teio completely ignored Gold Ship and turned to ask McQueen's opinion.
"McQueen, is that alright?"
McQueen nodded.
There was indeed no rush at the moment. The System's next tournament wouldn't start for a while.
Besides, she didn't plan to enter the team competition next time, so there was no urgency to unlock the next new character.
"Tch!"
Seeing McQueen nod, Gold Ship clicked her tongue in irritation and turned away.
Teio asked Rice Shower, "McQueen agreed too. What would you like to do?"
"I... I want to go to Training Mode first. Th-Thank you for your kindness, Teio-senpai!"
Rice Shower's voice was timid, but her eyes were remarkably determined—not the eyes of a weak-willed Uma Musume.
The three exchanged thoughtful glances.
Teio smiled. "No need to be so nervous. There's no need for senpai-kouhai formalities between us. Just call me by my name, and I'll do the same, Rice Shower."
It had to be said—in her sun mode, Tokai Teio possessed remarkable charisma.
Rice Shower nodded earnestly.
"I understand."
McQueen rose from her seat and said to Rice Shower, "Since you've made your decision, let's begin."
Though Rice Shower seemed somewhat afraid of McQueen and Gold Ship, she still got up from the bed and approached them. Under the three's watchful gazes, she used the System to enter Training Mode.
Only then, in front of the monitor, did the three begin seriously discussing Rice Shower's situation.
McQueen asked, "What do you two think?"
"Hmph. I don't know why she woke up with that personality, but my instincts are never wrong. That one is my kind."
Gold Ship let out a cold laugh.
Even before Rice Shower had awakened, the three present had sensed the aura of ZONE emanating from her.
That aura was remarkably similar to Gold Ship's Overlord's Domain.
This was precisely why they'd been so surprised by Rice Shower's behavior upon waking.
Because someone who could awaken that kind of ZONE shouldn't have that kind of personality.
"But Rice Shower didn't seem to be putting on an act."
Tokai Teio was certain that had been Rice Shower's genuine state.
Unless Rice Shower possessed godlike acting skills, there was no way she could have fooled Teio's eyes.
"I never said I suspected her current state was fake. But let's wait until she comes out of Training Mode to see the specifics."
Just then, they noticed the System screen displaying Rice Shower's progress in Training Mode.
Debut race: Victory. GII Spring Stakes: Victory. Open competition G1 Satsuki Sho: Second place—
"...Actually, let me take back what I said."
After seeing Rice Shower's record, Gold Ship's expression grew uncomfortable. How could such a failure possibly be her kind?!
After inheriting all three of their powers, she couldn't even beat the bots in Training Mode?
McQueen and Teio also frowned, finding the result baffling.
Even if Rice Shower's base physical abilities and talent were weak, with their inherited powers, she shouldn't have lost any races in the first three years of Training Mode. Why had she lost?
...
Meanwhile, inside the System's Training Mode, Rice Shower gasped for breath after crossing the finish line in second place.
Rice Shower... can't I be like Teio and the others?
Though she'd inherited their memories, Rice Shower couldn't quickly master the three's skills the way Teio could.
If those three were geniuses, then in terms of talent, Rice Shower lagged far behind them.
At least when it came to comprehending skills, she couldn't compare to those three at all. She felt like studying was too difficult—a problem none of the previous three had encountered.
Even Gold Ship, that somewhat unhinged Overlord, only lacked the willingness to learn, not the ability. But Rice Shower simply couldn't absorb the material.
Even with those three's memories to assist her, Rice Shower had only managed to become slightly stronger than an ordinary Uma Musume.
This wasn't particularly strange. After all, the player who served as their origin was just an ordinary human, not some genius.
The reason the previous three hadn't encountered this problem was because they came with their original counterparts' talents built in—meaning they were born with extraordinary gifts.
But Rice Shower's original self wasn't some genius at learning, which was why she'd run into this barrier between ordinary people and geniuses.
Without the previous three's memories, Rice Shower might not have felt so affected. But precisely because she possessed those memories, she now experienced unprecedented pain.
She had witnessed such dazzling brilliance. Not long ago, she'd believed she too could possess that brilliance.
But now, having entered Training Mode, having actually begun training and racing, she'd discovered she was someone the light didn't favor—she couldn't become a "hero."
This realization was agonizing.
"Then let me have the body."
"...Who are you?"
A "Rice Shower" with cold, emotionless eyes stood before her.
This was the figure she'd seen at the end of the memory inheritance. She'd thought it was a hallucination, but the other truly existed.
"You should understand. I am Rice Shower."
That's what the cold "self" said.
Thinking of McQueen and the others' personalities, Rice Shower couldn't refute her other "self's" words.
Indeed.
If she had to say who was more like the true form, this "self" before her was more fitting.
"Then I... what exactly am I..."
"You find racing painful, don't you? Then leave it to me."
Without answering Rice Shower's question, the domineering Rice Shower forcibly seized control of the body.
Instantly, a black aura engulfed the entire area.
The System bots nearby—despite being nothing but data that should have no emotions—began to tremble.
After that, Rice Shower could only watch events unfold from within her consciousness.
Unlike herself, the "self" outside was incredibly strong.
No talent for learning?
Irrelevant.
She would simply devour the losers' power and make it her own.
As race after race concluded, "Rice Shower's" stats and skills grew increasingly abundant.
All of this was due to her ZONE—one called Fusion. A domain that could forcibly transform opponents' power into her own.
And because it wasn't consumption or plunder but fusion, the absorbed power didn't disappear when races ended.
The improvements from Fusion were comprehensive: racing experience, skills, even attributes—all could be enhanced.
Even Rice Shower herself was terrified of that "self's" power.
In that "self's" races, Rice Shower saw no light whatsoever. Only pitch darkness.
"It's over."
Before the finish line of Training Mode's final tournament, the pitch-black figure spoke to Rice Shower.
Rice Shower looked up.
The first thing she saw was a System Uma Musume who had lost the ability to move after "she" had plundered everything from her.
Having regained control of her body, Rice Shower stared at the corpse-like System Uma Musume, her face filled with terror.
"As long as you leave it to me, there is no opponent who cannot be defeated. Even those three are the same."
The pitch-black figure whispered from behind Rice Shower: "So if you don't want to race, just let me come out to compete."
With no intention of seizing permanent control, the pitch-black figure left those words and vanished with a gust of wind, leaving only a few blue rose petals behind.
"...No... I'm... I'm sorry..."
Rice Shower trembled as she spoke to the System Uma Musume. This wasn't the first time.
Her current stat panel had almost entirely grown through this method—she was a monster who had climbed over "corpses."
This kind of racing was completely different from what Rice Shower wanted. This kind of racing brought no joy, only sorrow and fear.
This wasn't a hero's story. If this were a storybook, Rice Shower would be cast as the villain.
With a face full of grief and confusion, Rice Shower returned from Training Mode to the System Space.
The three before her fell into prolonged silence as they looked at her stat panel.
Wait.
How did this newcomer, who had lost the Classic Triple Crown, end up with results more impressive than the genius Tokai Teio after completing training?
Setting aside the SS-rank stats across all attributes matching Tokai Teio's panel—what was with those multiple inherent skills?
And those clearly weren't inherent skills that should have been in Rice Shower's skill pool!
Tokai Teio wanted to ask how Rice Shower had accomplished such a thing, but seeing the tear tracks on Rice Shower's face, she couldn't bring herself to ask at this moment.
"Did something happen in there?"
Rice Shower shook her head. She didn't want to tell anyone about this, not even Teio and the others.
But at that moment, McQueen suddenly reached out and grabbed Rice Shower's right hand. Teio and Gold Ship instantly reacted, extending their hands as well.
The sharing completed in an instant. Rice Shower didn't even have a chance to stop it.
Now the other three understood what had happened to Rice Shower.
"..."
After learning what type of ZONE Rice Shower possessed, the three could only respond with silence.
They'd thought Overlord's Domain was already gate-heavy enough. They hadn't expected there to be an even more extreme example.
Rice Shower's domain was the true gate specialist. The gatekeepiest of all gatekeepers!
Fusion had no time limit. Once successfully activated, the effect persisted permanently—a perpetual effect.
Most terrifying of all, power stolen by Fusion never returned. This was a darker domain than even the Overlord's—a true dark horse territory.
And also...
A split personality?
So the Rice Shower they'd seen was the one with a personality similar to the original, because Rice Shower had another personality that had inherited the dark side.
Even cold-hearted individuals like Gold Ship and McQueen found the dark Rice Shower's actions in Training Mode too brutal after witnessing them.
Teio spoke up. "What do we do now?"
This situation was tricky. That dark Rice Shower was definitely an unprecedented danger.
That one wasn't just sick in the head like the Overlord. Perhaps because she was the embodiment of the dark side, that dark Rice Shower seemed genuinely devoid of emotion.
Letting someone like that roam free would be irresponsible to whatever world she entered.
"Rice Shower, do you still want to do Story Mode?"
McQueen didn't answer Teio but instead directly asked Rice Shower's own wishes.
"I..."
Rice Shower couldn't give an answer.
Seeing her like this, Gold Ship couldn't help but snort coldly.
"If you're going to shrink back over something like this, you might as well give up running entirely."
"..."
"Overlord, that's going too far!"
"Second-rate, worry about yourself first. Right now, you're the weakest one here."
"Are you serious, Overlord? You think you can actually beat me?"
Tokai Teio and Gold Ship began arguing off to the side.
McQueen watched the silent Rice Shower.
"Give it a try, Rice Shower. If you're not ready to give up yet."
She remembered the look in Rice Shower's eyes when she'd entered Training Mode. A Rice Shower with eyes like that couldn't possibly be an Uma Musume who would retreat here.
"McQueen..."
Rice Shower looked at McQueen in surprise. She hadn't expected that McQueen would comfort her.
"Even someone like me... can keep running?"
Remembering the corpse-like System Uma Musume, Rice Shower feared such a thing might happen in the real world.
McQueen said, "Do you love running? The answer lies in your own heart."
"Yes!"
Rice Shower nodded firmly.
Though she was afraid, she still didn't want to give up.
"Then go."
While Gold Ship and Tokai Teio were still arguing, McQueen had already finished consoling Rice Shower. Rice Shower reached toward the System and entered Story Mode.
The other two stopped then.
"Is this really okay, McQueen? She might not be able to control her other personality."
"Then when that time comes, we'll help her deal with that trouble."
"Hmph. That dark personality said she could beat us in a race? Then let her try."
...
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