The so-called zone was what happened when a horse girl broke through her limits. Even when speed had already maxed out, breaking through that body limit was the zone.
Surpassing yourself.
Also called a super-focused state.
There were three awakening zones:
Stage 1: The entire body is overflowing with aura
Stage 2: Energy overflows from the eyes, forming flowing light
Stage 3: Energy bursts through the pupils and spills out
Each horse girl's zone was different, with strength rankings from A to S+.
Anyone who could open a zone was at minimum an A-rank horse girl.
Everyone had seen the race where Rice Shower defeated McQueen. That was stage 3's burst eyes, while McQueen, with only stage 2's aura couldn't compare.
Every zone was unique. Rice Shower was the life-sacrifice type, literally burning her life force. McQueen's 3's zone was activated during the Tenno Sho Spring, called the Mejiro family's mission. (Search rice shower beats McQueen on YouTube)
Sacrifice type meant burning your life. This zone consumed life force and wouldn't hit physical limits. In theory, as long as you kept burning, there was no speed limit.
The cost? After burning out, all your stats dropped.
Only horse girls with crazy ideas could awaken the sacrifice type. Because it was a true sacrifice, you could usually only use it once. (In wikipedia after rice shower use it on tenosho spring, she's retired. It's the same for Grass Wonder after winning the race from the special week, she's underperforming for 3 races, and retired, some ppl said she's a Special Week Killer.)
Why am I explaining this? Because 'veteran horse girls' have their own zones, while their unique skills haven't developed yet. So later, it will most likely be pretty intense 'unique-skill' against the horse girl who has entered the 'zone'(Hyper-focused).
Okay, back to the story.
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Even Tojo Hana, who'd experienced leading girl horses in countless races, froze after hearing Symboli Rudolf's words.
If that was true, this person was terrifying.
Friend or foe?
Symboli Rudolf rested her chin on her hand, staring at the ground. "Was that just now... a zone?"
She couldn't say for certain. If it was a zone, it was definitely one she'd never seen before.
Rudolf hadn't seen any signs of King Halo breaking through her limits, so she couldn't say for sure if that was a zone.
Generally, zones require extremely high talent and a strong body to control.
Using one meant injuries were inevitable.
Using a zone wasn't something to celebrate or feel proud about, so she wouldn't teach anyone to develop one. But if someone did develop it, she wouldn't stop them from using it either.
Seeing King Halo act totally fine after finishing made Rudolf suspicious. She didn't know if it counted as a zone.
There was another thing. Horse girls who'd awakened zones could sense zone aura, and if close enough, could see the overflowing energy.
McQueen could actually see the aura spilling from Rice's body. When she stepped into an opponent's zone, she'd get physical warnings.
But just now, Rudolf hadn't noticed any of those signs. Which raised questions.
Before long, Silence Suzuka walked up to Tojo Hana with her head down, voice full of disappointment. "I'm sorry. I couldn't win."
Tojo Hana stayed calm, speaking kindly. "Do you know why you failed?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. I did what you said, but at the end I couldn't use my strength, I..."
"Couldn't use your strength? Why not?"
"I don't know. I just... couldn't." Silence Suzuka kept her head lowered, not daring to meet Tojo Hana's eyes.
Tojo Hana watched Suzuka struggle with her words and thought for a moment. "Then we can't have you race in your debut right away. We'll postpone it. First, adapt to the new running style."
"Does that mean... You won't let me race anymore?" Tears welled up in her eyes as she asked anxiously.
"Calm down. I'm not saying you can't race, just postponing it. Wait until you've adapted to the new running style."
"But I..."
"That's the first task I give to you. I'm leaving." Tojo Hana stood up impatiently, gathered her materials, and left. She wasn't giving up on Silence Suzuka. She just needed to figure out this running style issue. If Suzuka couldn't learn the pace-chaser style, that was a huge problem for winning the races.
Rudolf Symbol lightly patted Suzuka's shoulder twice. "Don't worry. It'll be fine."
She knew Suzuka's situation. Her previous results were clearly from the zone.
Without a great escape-style, she couldn't open the zone. And without the zone, being slower than usual was normal.
Even so, she didn't plan to let Suzuka do a great escape. Tojo Hana's decision matched her own thinking. They'd just both missed one thing.
Suzuka wasn't an ordinary escaper. Her pace-chaser aptitude was only D-rank. Learning another style they were teaching might take forever.
"Th-thank you." Suzuka felt crushed, staring at the ground.
Her mind kept replaying the race. Her strength had felt trapped in quicksand, completely stuck.
Down at the venue, over a dozen trainers had swarmed King Halo. She'd apparently rejected every single one.
Among them was someone wearing a gold badge.
A first-rate trainer.
That trainer had sharp eyes. Unlike the others, she truly saw King Halo's talent.
In that situation, still having enough energy to burst through the pack with that kind of speed? That wasn't something just any horse girl could pull off.
That alone made King Halo worth the investment.
She walked over with a professional tone. "You ran well just now. How about coming with me, King Halo?"
"Can you make me a first-rate horse girl?" King Halo didn't rush to agree, asking back with that haughty attitude.
The gold badge trainer froze, answering vaguely. "Huh? I am a first-rate trainer. I've trained first-rate horse girls before."
King Halo shook her head. She hadn't gotten the answer she wanted. "No. I'm asking if you can make me first-rate, not if you are first-rate."
"For trainers like you, if it doesn't work out this time, you can just train another horse girl and still be first-rate. But I only have one life. I can only bet everything once. I have to become a first-rate horse-girl."
The trainer looked King Halo over again, carefully. "To become first-rate, you need talent, luck, and effort. Do you have them?"
"No. I don't have any of that, I only have effort. If I had all three, do you think I would still be racing simulations?" King Halo's gaze stayed firm. Where her confidence came from when she had nothing, nobody knew.
The trainer shook her head and politely stepped back.
Even she wouldn't dare promise she could make King Halo a first-rate horse-girl.
Nobody like that existed.
In her opinion, King Halo making it to the GII races would be impressive. Maybe a few low-tier GI races at most. The Triple Crown, though?
Sorry, but some people probably only get King Halo a participation trophy at best.
King Halo clearly didn't have GI-level ability but kept insisting on running GI races. No point recruiting someone like that.
Actually, she was just one of many first-rate trainers King Halo had turned down.
When it came to choosing a trainer, King Halo was dead serious. This was a lifetime decision, after all.
In this short time, she'd rejected over a dozen trainers with the weirdest reasons.
"Clothes too tacky. Obviously not first-rate."
"Looks too shabby."
"Not qualified enough."
Stuff like that. If the first impression was bad, she wouldn't give them a second glance.
After hearing all this, the trainers started getting pissed.
"What a joke! You think winning one practice race makes you first-rate?"
"At her level, she can probably run GII or GIII at best."
"Can't even find a trainer but still calls herself first-rate? That's hilarious."
"Does she even know her own level and what races she should be running?"
"With that attitude, even if a first-rate trainer showed up, they probably wouldn't want her. She should be grateful anyone's interested."
The trainers started trash-talking King Halo openly. Since they couldn't sign her, they said everything they'd been thinking.
"Hilarious? Go ahead, laugh. I still won't give up on being first-rate. I said I only want a first-rate trainer, and I'm not changing my mind."
Every sentence stabbed like a needle into her heart. But she forced herself to smile.
"Then let's see how you find this so-called first-rate trainer."
"With that temper, you think all first-rate horse girls act like you?"
The mockery kept coming.
She'd won the practice race. Should've attracted tons of attention. But when the trainers failed to recruit her, they turned nasty instead.
Some trainers just watched the drama unfold. Others whispered among themselves. Some got angry enough to curse out loud.
Couldn't really blame them. King Halo had called them incompetent first.
"Just like this... even if it's mockery, I'll... take it all."
King Halo was barely holding it together.
She tried her usual pose and laugh to keep her emotions in check, but she couldn't force it out.
Why did it turn out like this?
She'd won. So where was the first-rate trainer?
She just wanted to find one first-rate trainer. Why was it so damn hard?
'Say whatever you want. I won't give up. I'll keep calling myself first-rate. If not this race, then the next one. I'll keep going until I find a trainer who can make me first-rate.'
'What do any of you know?'
'How could someone from the King family settle for second-rate? Running GII races? That would disgrace the entire family.'
'No. I can't do that. I won't run GII or GIII races...'
Deep down, she'd been doubting herself this whole time. The thought of giving up had crossed her mind more than once.
Sometimes she'd wonder, what's the point of being first-rate? Wouldn't giving up be easier?
'Maybe Mom's right. I'm really not cut out for racing on the field.'
'No. I refuse to accept that.'
'I'll only be a first-rate horse girl...'
She wanted to run away and find some empty corner to cry where nobody could see. Somewhere, she could let out all these feelings that nobody understood, that nobody even tried to understand.
Her throat tightened. Her chest ached. The mockery around her faded into white noise as her world narrowed to a single, desperate question: How much longer could she keep pretending?
The tears she'd been fighting finally escaped, hot and shameful, blurring the some people faces around her into indistinct shapes. She was about to turn away, to flee before she completely fell apart in front of everyone.
Just as she was about to break, she heard something completely different from all the mockery.
"King Halo."
The voice cut through everything.
"I think I'm the first-rate trainer you're looking for. How about signing with me?"
Time seemed to stop.
Am I hearing things?
Her heart stuttered in her chest, hope and disbelief colliding so violently she felt dizzy.
Who said that?
Things are this bad, and someone still wants me?
Can't they see my personality drives everyone away? Can't they see I'm barely holding myself together?
Can't they see I'm about to break?
With shaking hands, she wiped at her eyes, trying to clear her vision. Through the tears, through the blur of disappointment and exhaustion and desperate, fragile hope, she looked up and saw someone she was familiar with.
That man. The one from before.
Standing there with that same calm expression, like he'd been waiting for this exact moment all along. Like he'd already known how this would end before she did.
That man stood there as he'd seen past the bravado and the demands and the impossible standards to something worth believing in.
It felt as if that man truly understood the weight she carried.
Maybe... I wasn't alone as I had always believed.
Recognition hit her like a wave. That familiar presence she couldn't quite place, but somehow felt... safe.
For the first time since crossing that finish line, King Halo felt like she could breathe.