The moment she crossed the finish line, the explosive power that had been forcibly sustaining her body abruptly dissipated.
Myriad Dreams couldn't even manage a few steps to slow down.
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed forward, landing heavily on the track that still held the warmth of the sun.
"Hah... hah..."
With her cheek pressed against the coarse soil, her chest heaved violently.
Her mouth hung open as she breathed greedily and desperately, like a fish out of water.
The scent of rust filled her throat, her vision flickered with darkness, and the cheers from the stands became distant and blurred.
This wasn't just physical exhaustion, pushing her Zone to its limit twice in a row— especially the final instance of turning the illusion upon herself— had drained her mental energy to an immense degree.
A sense of fatigue originating from the depths of her soul swept through her entire body.
In all her time running, this was the first time she felt such a complete, hollowed-out limit.
Not far away, after crossing the line, Silver Charm stumbled for a few steps before finally collapsing powerlessly to her knees.
There was no roar of anger, no questioning shout.
First came an ultimate silence, as if all sound had been vacuumed away.
Then, an uncontrollable, broken sob leaked from her throat, and her shoulders began to tremble uncontrollably.
Soon after, those suppressed emotions acted like a burst dam, turning into a wailing cry.
"Ugh... Ahhhhh—!"
That crying contained too many things.
It held the memories of over a decade of mornings and evenings spent pouring sweat, tears, and even blood onto the training grounds.
It held the bone-deep frustration and humiliation following her crushing defeat at the Kentucky Derby.
It held every moment she spent on the back mountain, gritting her teeth with blistered feet, fumbling through the darkness to challenge the limits of her body and will.
It held the blazing hope that ignited when her Zone evolved under Citation's guidance...
She had given everything she could possibly give, surpassed her past self, and stepped into a brand-new realm.
'But why... why could I still not win?!'
That sense of falling short, discovering that after giving her all and even evolving to become stronger, the gap between her and her goal had only shrunk by two lengths, felt like an invisible hand ruthlessly crushing her mental defenses.
It wasn't that she couldn't accept failure, but she couldn't accept the seemingly cruel conclusion that "effort yields no reward."
Myriad Dreams forced herself to prop up her body slightly.
Looking at the silver figure kneeling on the ground, crying her heart out, she opened her mouth only to find she couldn't make a sound.
Any comfort at this moment would be pale and powerless.
"You've worked hard"?
To someone like Silver Charm, who had invested everything and still failed, such words might sound more like an insult.
She silently lowered her head, letting sweat mixed with dust slide down her cheeks.
'That's right... competitive sports are just this cruel.'
The track was a gathering place for countless people like Silver Charm. Some had perhaps sacrificed even more than she had.
Every one of them harbored dreams, burned through their youth, and believed that hard work could create miracles.
But under the final spotlight, only one person could stand.
The others— even if they were slower by only 0.01 seconds, even if they lost by only the length of a nose— could only become the background behind the winner.
They could only be side characters of "someone else's miracle."
This was the most naked and fair law of competitive sports. It does not sympathize with tears, it only recognizes strength proven by results.
Myriad Dreams struggled, using her trembling legs to force herself to stand.
She did not walk toward Silver Charm, what the other girl needed right now was not the pity of her rival.
She simply stood there quietly, looking out at the arena that felt somber due to Silver Charm's grief.
In her heart, there wasn't much ecstasy of victory, instead, she was filled with a deep respect for every competitor, especially for Silver Charm's persistence and sacrifice.
Victory is worth cheering for.
But the failures that follow giving one's absolute all are equally worth remembering.