I'm in Teresin, dedicated to playing badly

However, Shinji Kitahara did not pay too much attention to this matter.

After all, he was just a mediocre trainer who had already been laid off, and he didn't really want to get involved in something that sounded troublesome.

Although the day and a half passed peacefully, there were still some unexpected events.

The day after making a deal with Ali Digital, when Ali Souko arrived at the training ground, her eyes were clearly filled with murderous intent.

She moved out of the dormitory because she felt it was too dangerous to share a room with Aili Digital, and afterwards she tried every means to avoid contact with her.

As a result, all her previous efforts were rendered futile by one request from Shinji Kitahara.

While a firm refusal is an option, the problem is that she and Alice Digital actually have a good relationship, but she just can't accept some of the latter's behaviors, which is why she hasn't moved back in yet, and it's not easy for her to firmly reject the other party's kindness.

So, this anger was directed at Shinji Kitahara.

She was prepared to find an opportunity to force-feed Shinji Kitahara two bottles of potent drugs, but she hadn't found a chance recently, so she hadn't been able to act yet. However, she was certain that she would remember this grudge.

Then, time went by.

As the sun set, the second week of training came to a close.

After dinner, we went to the activity room. Because of the increased number of people, the rest and activity time was much more lively than before.

Chatting, gaming, entertainment, gossip, snacks...

The horse girls all had a great time, and even Eclipse seemed to be in a rare good mood.

Even the East Sea Emperor and Airi Soko, who don't usually get along, put aside their prejudices during this rare time of relaxation, at most just messing with each other while playing some games.

But Shinji Kitahara was still playing on his phone, showing no intention of joining in.

Moreover, let alone participate, he hasn't added any female fans on Line except for the Eclipse.

This was simply unbelievable to the others in Tressen, but fortunately, the horse girls in his team gradually got used to his maverick style, and could directly ask Eclipse to help notify them when needed.

However, today, Shinji Kitahara was not able to play on his phone until the end as he usually does.

Because a petite figure sat down next to him, after hesitating for a while, he finally decided to speak.

"Trainer, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Chapter 40: Let's just run around casually

"What's wrong, Your Majesty?"

Shinji Kitahara looked at the Emperor of the East Sea beside him, his heart completely calm.

Perhaps it was because he felt he hadn't won her favor, or perhaps it was because the East Sea Emperor had been behaving too calmly lately, or perhaps it was because since entering Treson, he had found that things here weren't as outrageous as the outside world had described.

In short, now, nearly two weeks after joining the company, he is no longer so afraid of the East Sea Emperor.

Although vigilance remains, at least normal communication is no longer a problem. Their relationship has stabilized at the level of being able to chat for a few minutes, but mostly remaining fair-weather friends with mutual interests. There is no possibility of anything going on in the shadows.

At least that's what he thought.

Therefore, he was not flustered at all when the Emperor of the East Sea suddenly spoke to him.

What the Emperor of the East Sea said next further convinced him of his idea.

"Trainer, I'd like to participate in a basic tournament in two weeks."

The so-called basic tournament is similar to the ranking tournament in competitive games.

Although there are no material rewards for winning, you can accumulate URA competition points. Only after reaching a certain level can you participate in the corresponding competition.

As for URA competition points, they can basically be regarded as a ladder ranking system for Uma Musume Girls, with higher scores placing you higher up.

While a higher score doesn't necessarily mean a better player, it does reflect a player's strength to some extent.

However, URA did not adopt a points system from the beginning. Initially, URA relied on the number of fans as the standard for evaluating overall strength.

However, after someone manipulated the system by boosting fan counts and adding registration cards to allow a group of ordinary, casual players to sweep a G1-level event, thus enabling their own players to win, the URA points system and basic tournament format came into being.

However, after discussions within the URA, the person who did this was banned for life, and later, perhaps due to the overwhelming impact, ultimately chose to commit suicide.

I just don't understand why people who commit suicide never have a perfectly intact body when they die.

However, unlike ranked matches, you don't need to participate in these basic tournaments all the time. As long as your performance is outstanding enough, you can directly participate in official tournaments after a few rounds.

In particular, as a student of the Treson headquarters, the East Sea Emperor had a high base score, and he also ranked first in his debut battle.

As long as she wins a single basic match, she can participate in the highest level G3 tournaments. These official tournaments not only offer rich material rewards upon victory, but also accumulate far more URA points than basic matches.

Speaking of which, we should naturally mention the race ratings for Uma Musume (Horse Girl), from lowest to highest as follows:

New race, one-win race, two-win race, three-win race, open race, prize race.

The open tournaments are divided into two types: Pre-OP (open preliminary tournaments, which are open tournaments exclusively for first-year horse girls) and OP (open tournaments). The prize tournaments are divided into three types: G3, G2, and G1, with G3 being the lowest and G1 being the highest.

Tournaments below the Open level do not require URA points to participate in.

For most female horse riders, to participate in high-level races, they need to start from the new horse races after their debut. Only after winning three races can they qualify for the basic races.

Simply put, you can only play ranked and positional matches after you reach level 30 in matchmaking.

After they are placed in the rankings, they can qualify for competitions at the Open level or above based on their ranking results, thus truly reaching the threshold of becoming professional racehorse girls.

But this only applies to regular female racehorses.

As the highest-ranking horse girl academy in Japan, the Treson Headquarters gathers the most elite horse girls in Japan and has close ties with URA, so it naturally enjoys certain privileges in this regard.

Any horse girl who can enter the Teresen headquarters will have a much higher base score than local horse girls of the same period.

Furthermore, if the debut battle is a debut battle composed of students from the Treson headquarters, then as long as they enter the top five and then participate in a basic match (without needing to win), they can skip the unnecessary accumulation and directly participate in the preliminary open tournament.

For players like Donghai Diwang, who ranked first in their debut match, if they also achieve first place in the basic placement matches, they can directly qualify for the Grand Prize Tournament. Although it's only G3, the lowest level of the Grand Prize Tournament, it's still quite good.

The problem is that the East Sea Emperors want more than just a big-reward match, and more than just Game 3.

She wanted more.

Three undefeated titles.

The term "triple crown" refers to winning the three G1-level tournaments: the Satsuki Sho, the JP Derby, and the Kikuka Sho.

The undefeated three-time champion, on the other hand, must be in first place in every match until he achieves consecutive Chrysanthemum Award titles, and no mistakes are allowed.

As a trainer, Shinji Kitahara was certainly familiar with these basics.

He could roughly guess that the reason why the East Sea Emperor was in such a hurry to participate in the basic tournament was probably because he wanted to accumulate points early, climb up the ranks in the early stages, qualify for the G1 level tournament, and then have more time to prepare for the undefeated three championships.

He was a little confused as to why she brought this up, because according to their agreement, she was responsible for making the schedule herself and didn't need to consult him at all.

But the next second, the words of the Emperor of the East Sea dispelled his doubts.

"Trainer, can you come watch my match?"

The Emperor of the East Sea looked somewhat nervous as he said this.

Shinji Kitahara immediately understood.

Oh, I got it.

She was worried that because of their agreement, he might not even attend her competition, which could easily arouse suspicion and increase the possibility of their relationship being exposed.

Although some people in the team had noticed something was off about his relationship with the Emperor of the East Sea, no one brought it up.

The outside world believed that he and the Emperor of the East Sea had a normal relationship and were unaware of the transactions between them.

Even Rudolf's side is unaware of this matter, and if it is exposed, it could trigger various situations.

With that in mind, Shinji Kitahara readily nodded.

"Of course, I am still your trainer in name only. As long as there is nothing special, I will attend all your matches from now on. I can also handle the press conferences for you. You can just focus on preparing for the matches."

After all, isn't that what double the commission is for?

Upon hearing this answer, the East Sea Emperor's eyes lit up, and the tail on his back swayed involuntarily.

Because the two were sitting very close, the tip of the East Sea Emperor's tail just brushed against Kitahara Shinji. After being touched, he recoiled as if he had been electrocuted, and his ears twitched.

"Well, Trainer-san, I..."

"Oh, right, there's something I wanted to tell you too."

Kitahara Shinji suddenly remembered something and turned to look at the Emperor of the East Sea.

"When I went out last weekend, I was thinking about the competition you're going to be participating in soon, so I booked a spot for you in a final outfit at a store. If you have time during your holiday this week, you can come with me to check it out, collect some physical data, and tell me your preferences and stuff."

The final battle suit is one of the basic duties of a trainer. After all, you can't expect kids who spend all day in school to spend time planning such things. Besides, it's not related to training, so it's normal for him to order the final battle suit for the East Sea Emperor—at least it seems normal to him.

Victory server?

The Emperor of the East Sea paused for a moment, then subconsciously said, "Um, about the guild leader... no, it's okay, I'm free."

She originally wanted to mention the final outfit, but the guild leader had already said he would find someone to make it for her, and that the person was a designer from the family, whose skill level was on a completely different level from those outside, so there was no need for him to bother anymore.

But for some reason, she suddenly changed her mind halfway through her sentence, and the tail behind her swayed gently.

If it's a matter of deciding the outcome, having an extra set as a backup would be good.

And even if the effect isn't good, she can just wear it in those lower-level competitions. She can't just turn down her trainer's good intentions... right?

Ignoring the strange feeling in his heart, the Emperor of the East Sea abruptly changed the subject.

"Trainer, is Miss Eclipse also planning to start competing this year? What's her competition schedule?"

Shinji Kitahara's answer to this question was straightforward.

"I do not know."

This is the truth.

Although the East Sea Emperor felt she was already quite willful, compared to the solar eclipse, her willfulness was simply insignificant.

Because at least the East Sea Emperor would train regularly, but the Eclipse just stood there forever, and it ate so much every day.

Let alone participating in the competition, Shinji Kitahara felt that it was already quite unusual that she hadn't turned into a fat horse.

Moreover, Eclipse didn't seem to care much about such things. Shinji Kitahara once asked her what her plans were for the competition, and after thinking about it, Eclipse gave an answer that perfectly matched his perception of her.

"Just run around however you like, whatever is convenient for you."

So you don't consider things like location, distance, time, or direction at all?

This isn't Teresa, and these tournaments aren't the kind you used to participate in where you could participate anonymously without even needing competitive points.

Moreover, if you want to participate in the next competition, apart from the initial basic competition, the minimum level will be OP level, and the opponents will be incomparable. Are you really not worried at all?

Shinji Kitahara thought to himself, but he didn't express any objection.

After all, he knew Eclipse's temperament well, although if he made a request, Eclipse would probably follow his arrangements.

But firstly, he didn't want to force her to do something she didn't like, and secondly, he didn't think that Eclipse, who was even more arrogant than him, could win the competition. After thinking about it, he decided to let her go, as long as she was happy.

Just as he was talking to the Emperor of the East Sea about the solar eclipse, Alice Digital, who was taking pictures of the horse girls in the activity room from a corner, twitched its ears and slowly crept up to Kitahara Shinji's side, perking up its ears.

"...What are you doing?"

Shinji Kitahara looked at Alice Digital, who had suddenly approached him, with a puzzled expression.

Alice Digital blinked, her tone slightly excited.

"Um, I've been following Eclipse since she enrolled, and I spent some time trying to find information about her and her story, but I couldn't find anything for a long time. I only heard that you, Trainer Kitahara, grew up with her. May I ask about your story...?"

After a pause, she added.

"I swear in the name of the three goddesses, I will never tell anyone!"

Chapter 41: You have absolutely no possessiveness!

"My story with the solar eclipse?"

When this topic came up, not only Ali Digital, but all the other female fans immediately stopped what they were doing and their ears perked up.

Seeing their reactions, Shinji Kitahara had a look of bewilderment.

"What's there to be curious about? Besides, didn't we already tell you about solar eclipses?"

Indeed, in the Line group chat where only Uma Musume members were present, Eclipse had told them about her relationship with Shinji Kitahara, and she never hid her relationship with Shinji Kitahara when asked about it.

The problem is that she says very little, and her descriptions are extremely vague, sometimes even meaningless.

After all, Eclipse wasn't a talkative person to begin with. Although she took the lead in creating a Line group, she was the one who spoke the least. She spent most of her time watching the screen and rarely spoke unless she was called upon.