I'm in Teresin, dedicated to playing badly

"Wait, the intruder you mentioned... it's not me, is it?"

"What do you say?"

The eclipse looked at him calmly.

silence.

As the eclipse drew near, Shinji Kitahara's relaxed expression gradually faded, finally settling into seriousness with a sigh.

"So, who am I speaking to now, the Eclipse, or... the three goddesses?"

"Not three goddesses, only one."

The eclipse spoke calmly, then added.

"The other two guys were making such inappropriate comments that I've had Eclipse block them."

Kitahara Shinji: "?"

Is there something wrong with this goddess?

"Then who are you?"

"Just call me Baiye."

Bayezid Türkiye used the eclipse to convey her message.

"Getting back to the point, after all that, I believe you understand why I say that the sport of horse racing may be dying out."

I do not understand......

Although he really wanted to say that, the answer had already appeared in Kitahara Shinji's mind.

"My existence disrupted the original trajectory of the Uma Musume girls' fate, leading to the failure of the resonance, and thus the sport of Uma Musume became unnecessary."

Eclipse shook its head.

"It's not just you; it's the result of multiple factors. If it were just you, it wouldn't hurt to change some of your fate. But the birth of a new god, the participation of the eclipse, and many other factors... ultimately led to this outcome."

In reality, a slight change in fate won't make a difference. After all, horses from other worlds didn't receive the same treatment as horse girls in this world. The very existence of horse girls is a rewriting of fate.

But now, with the accumulation of various factors, the extent of change and the fluctuations in fate have far exceeded the limits of resonance.

"Is there any way to save him?" Shinji Kitahara asked tentatively.

"Yes, but it's no longer necessary."

The Eclipse calmly looked at Shinji Kitahara.

"You did not harm anyone, and the harm to this world is not caused by you or the eclipse, but by the fact that the very existence of this world is problematic."

"It was already on the verge of extinction, or even the last rays of a setting sun, and what is happening now is merely accelerating this final stage. It is not your fault in essence."

But the question is, who is at fault?

The gods only wanted to help humanity, and humanity did not betray the gods. The horse girls deeply loved humanity, and humanity also deeply loved the horse girls. They depended on each other and have come this far, creating countless stories.

Shinji Kitahara did nothing wrong in helping the horse girls; in fact, none of this would have happened if humans hadn't shown them kindness.

Everything begins with goodwill, and everything ends with goodwill.

Shanish's words echoed in Kitahara Shinji's ears, and he finally understood their meaning.

Moreover, although Bayezid Turkey did not say it, Shinji Kitahara was actually very clear that in other worlds, the greatest driving force for human development and progress has never been love and peace.

Divide brings unity, hatred brings love, death brings new life, and vanity and a sense of superiority are the ladder of human progress. The greater the injustice and the greater the gap, the more motivated humans are to climb upwards and engage in involution.

Harsh environments foster resilience, and scarce resources compel development and expansion. In contrast, warm and stable environments can diminish the drive for progress, ultimately making the region with the richest resources and best conditions the most backward in human civilization.

All positive and negative emotions are complementary. Divinity, bestiality, and humanity coexist within the human body. It is all of these that constitute a complete person and human civilization. If any one of them is missing, everything will be completely different.

The Emperor of the East Sea, standing to the side, was completely stunned.

She couldn't follow the conversation at all, and had no idea what a 'horse' was.

She only understood one sentence.

The sport of horse racing may be on its way out.

"Or they might not disappear, but their future development will be very different. After all, if horses fade from the view of human civilization, then female horses will have no one to resonate with. Female horses will no longer be bound by the fate of the creature 'horse,' and then all sorts of strange things might emerge."

"In a sense, the Eclipse, and the horse girls trained by Kitahara, have already transcended the scope of ordinary horse girls, and can be regarded as the beginning of an anomaly."

"But even so, there is still a horse girl in your team who can be barely classified as 'normal'."

As she spoke, she turned her gaze to the Emperor of the East Sea, softening her tone slightly.

"Child, there is no time for grief."

"Run, while you can still run."

"Go and personally pull down the curtain of the times."

Let me explain the reason for the previous hiatus.

RT, didn't you tell me to exercise more after my hospital check-up? So I went out to exercise, and then I tested positive after I came back. I felt so bad for the first two days that I didn't have the energy to send a sick leave notice. After staying in the hospital for a few days, I thought I would just update the status and send it later. So this is how it got to now. I'm really sorry.

Chapter 289: Set up

Go and personally draw down the curtain of this era.

The Eastern Sea Emperor could not understand what Bayezid had said at all, and even until the end of the conversation, she still did not understand the content of their conversation.

What other worlds, what horse girl resonance, what world development...

Those things were too far removed from the Eastern Sea Emperor's life; they were areas she had never considered or ventured into.

And let's not even talk about her. If it were any other horse girl, upon suddenly hearing these things, her first reaction would definitely not be understanding. Instead, she would probably consider whether to send Kitahara Shinji to see a psychologist.

Shinji Kitahara could understand what Bayer Turks were saying. After all, he came from another world and had knowledge in his mind that could correspond to Bayer Turks's words. After a brief moment of thought, he even guessed why Bayer Turks would say these things to him.

"Since it has already happened, there is no need to hide it anymore."

In fact, the three goddesses had already foreseen the current situation the moment they agreed to participate in the Eclipse.

It's not that they can't continue the current state of this world. If they wanted to, even if the 'resonance' failed, with their current power, they could forcibly continue the status quo of this world.

Horse girls can still be horse girls, and humans can still live happily, but the price is that the rules of this world will become more rigid, making it difficult to make any further progress.

At that time, will this world truly be a world, or will it be a cage called the world?

The three goddesses neither knew nor intended to know.

As for the solar eclipse, it was the product of another of their plans.

According to their calculations, if everything goes smoothly and the eclipse becomes a god, it can make certain changes and additions to the existing rules, giving them more room to maneuver.

While there's no way to cure the root cause, it's possible to extend the world's lifespan by a few decades, or even hundreds or thousands of years if we're lucky.

But the moment they agreed to participate in the Eclipse, they had already abandoned the plan.

Perhaps it was because of the feelings accumulated over many years of communication, perhaps it was because they realized that this was just a temporary fix, or perhaps they were worried that if the eclipse really went wrong, the person who went mad might cause even greater damage to the world.

In short, the moment the three goddesses agreed to participate in the Eclipse, they had already abandoned the plan.

Or, to put it more simply...

Set it.

The reason why the three goddesses had kept various things from Shinji Kitahara was not because they didn't want to communicate with him. On the contrary, if possible, the three goddesses actually wanted to talk to him more, and even better, physically criticize his blockhead.

But they cannot, because Shinji Kitahara holds all the cards in his hand. This gives him the power to influence the future of the world, but it also means he will bear all the responsibility.

He will make a choice, but the problem is that before the choice is made, and even for some time afterward, no one will know what the right future of the world should be.

In this situation, telling him the truth would be meaningless and would only add unnecessary pressure. It would be better to keep it a secret and let everything develop normally until he makes a choice naturally in the end.

However, what the three goddesses did not expect was that before Shinji Kitahara made his choice, they and Eclipse made their own choice first, voluntarily abandoning their original plan, which led to their current frankness.

but......

"Why do we have to say this in front of the emperor?"

Shinji Kitahara glanced at the still-dazed emperor and lowered his voice.

"She's still a child."

If this had been said in front of the chairman or Rudolf, Kitahara Shinji could understand, but the emperor was still a child, completely unrelated to these matters, and had just suffered a mental shock. No matter how you look at it, it was inappropriate to say these things in front of her.

"That's what I think too, and I was planning to tell you this in a private time."

To Shinji Kitahara's surprise, Bayezid Turkey agreed with his point of view and then spoke.

"But she insisted on saying these things in front of the Emperor of the East Sea during the solar eclipse."

"...Required by a solar eclipse?"

"Yes, it's me."

The eclipse in front of Shinji Kitahara nodded, acknowledging this.

"As for the reason... are you planning to stay here overnight?"

Is there any connection between these two sentences?

Faced with the eclipse's incomprehensible remarks, Kitahara Shinji didn't dwell on it much. He glanced at the East Sea Emperor, who was still looking bewildered, and sighed.

“There might have been a chance to leave before, but now that you've said that, there's definitely no way we can leave.”

The eclipse nodded.

"Alright, I'll stay too."

Shinji Kitahara didn't know what Eclipse was planning, but since she had said so, he didn't intend to object—in fact, it wouldn't have made any difference if he objected, since he couldn't go against Eclipse's wishes anyway.

So, after a brief exchange, Shinji Kitahara sat down on a chair to the side, intending to spend the night there, while Eclipse slept with the Emperor of the East Sea.

Then, in the increasingly quiet atmosphere, the night deepened.

Bonus Chapter: A Few Things About Treson

(This side story takes place at the beginning of the second year of school.)

Saturday, morning.

Shinji Kitahara was browsing the latest issue of Uma Musume Research Institute's report on his computer when his phone suddenly started ringing.

what's the situation?

He picked up his phone in confusion, opened it, and found that he had been added to a group chat.

After quickly reviewing the chat history, Shinji Kitahara also confirmed the nature of the group.

A classic example of trainers running away.

No, saying they ran away isn't quite right, because the vast majority of trainers couldn't abandon their roles and run away. Instead, they discussed and researched ways to protect themselves, hoping to get through the three years they spent together safely.

As for why the group chat was set up at this particular time...

There's an old saying: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Although Treson is most famous for its wooden trainers, the female horses, while not as severely affected, often lack a clear understanding of their own feelings because they are so pampered.

In the first year after they start dating, except in a few special cases, the probability of the relationship between the horse girl and the trainer deteriorating is actually very small.

One reason is that the two haven't spent that much time together, and their emotional connection hasn't developed enough.

On the other hand, it's also because during this period, due to the habit of long-term companionship, even if the feelings change and become slightly sweeter, the two people who have been immersed in the honey pot for a long time are unlikely to realize it.

Then, the annual leave came.

Unlike other holidays, which theoretically seem longer, the problem is that there are so many students at Treson campus that hardly anyone leaves campus during those holidays.

Because of their free time, the workload is even more severe than usual, and various training venues are often packed.

However, during the Lunar New Year holiday, which is a big holiday, trainers and female horses are usually busy all year round and will go back to their own homes to be with their families. This is the only time that separates the female horses from their trainers.

And so, the qualitative change began.

The long-standing companionship suddenly disappears, and the inseparable partner vanishes abruptly.

Although they can contact each other by phone, the adult trainers are often busy with social engagements during the Chinese New Year, making it difficult to reply to messages promptly. And even if they do chat, they can't talk for very long.