The race began.
The blue figure was the first to shoot out. Accompanied by a sound like a warp engine, Twin Turbo reached the very front of the pack in the blink of an eye.
"A perfect start!" the announcer cried with excitement. "Twin Turbo practically flew out of the gate! She instantly opened up a two-length lead, and that gap is still growing!"
"Daaahhhhhh!!"
From the very beginning, Twin Turbo displayed astonishing momentum as she charged forward without hesitation. The Uma Musume around her stared in shock one after another. Even Mejiro McQueen looked as though her jaw had dropped.
Is this girl insane?
Of course not.
This was Twin Turbo's running style.
No tactics. No strategy. Just lower her head and charge straight ahead.
Shirayuki ran near the middle of the front group. Watching Twin Turbo gradually pull away, the corner of her eye twitched rapidly.
She could not copy that running style.
Not only because their specialties were different, and because there was a clear difference in stamina, but also because apart from stamina, Uma Musume had another mysterious factor.
Guts.
Or to put it more simply, mental strength and willpower.
When an Uma Musume's stamina was exhausted, she could still force herself to reach the finish line through sheer will.
There were many examples of this. The most recent one was Rice Shower. On the Central stage, her stamina had been completely worn down, but she had relied on her willpower to forcibly overtake an opponent.
That was the mysterious nature of guts. It was hard to explain with training theory alone.
Twin Turbo was an Uma Musume with extremely strong guts. That did not necessarily mean her willpower was more tenacious than others. Rather, her special nature allowed her to convert the pain of being pushed to her limit into joy, which greatly increased her resistance to pressure.
In other words, even at the moment her stamina ran out, Twin Turbo could still maintain considerable speed.
If Trainer Minamizaka built a full plan around that trait, Twin Turbo would become a masochistic runner who used full-throttle escape as her main style. An opponent capable of dragging the entire race rhythm off course like that was extremely terrifying.
Just like now.
Some runners had already been completely thrown off by Twin Turbo and no longer knew whether they should chase her or maintain their own rhythm.
In the stands, Fujiwara Chiya watched the track. Rice Shower's tail was wrapped around his neck, and his forehead was encircled by her soft, pale arms. Above, his view was blocked by her arms. Below, it was covered by the fur of her tail. Fujiwara Chiya was in a state where his visibility was extremely poor.
Especially since Rice's tail carried a faint milky scent, making Fujiwara Chiya's head feel hazy. He could not help wanting to wrap himself in that tail and go to sleep.
In this difficult environment, Fujiwara Chiya struggled to analyze the race.
Based on what he had observed the other day, if Twin Turbo kept accelerating like this, she would probably exhaust her stamina completely around the thirteen-hundred-meter mark. The remaining three hundred meters would have to be supported by guts. As for what percentage of her speed she could maintain through guts alone, Fujiwara Chiya had no way of knowing.
However, considering Shirayuki's top speed, they could not allow Twin Turbo to open up more than a ten-length lead. In other words, they could not let it become a massive margin. Otherwise, the final phase would become too risky, and catching up would be extremely difficult.
After judging Twin Turbo's situation, Fujiwara Chiya shifted his attention to McQueen and Special Week behind her.
At present, McQueen was two lengths ahead of Shirayuki, running side by side with the other Uma Musume. She had not chosen the inside lane, which saved the most stamina. Instead, she was positioned in the more flexible middle area.
It seemed McQueen was planning to respond flexibly in this race, rather than follow her usual pattern.
For an experienced Uma Musume, this could increase her margin for error. But McQueen, like Shirayuki, only had experience from daily mock races and event races. Her decision-making still had a question mark attached to it.
As for Spe-chan at the back, she was running near the rear of the pack, still using her most familiar Late Surger style.
She stared wide-eyed at Twin Turbo, who had been running wild since the start of the race. Perhaps she had not expected that Twin Turbo, who looked like a child on the outside and acted even more childish on the inside, could run this fast. That made Special Week somewhat restless.
Looks like everyone's been thrown into confusion by Twin Turbo.
That's understandable.
Because I'm confused too.
Fujiwara Shirayuki's gaze remained fixed on Twin Turbo. She was afraid she would misjudge the opponent's stamina, make a wrong estimate, and miss the correct timing to accelerate.
That shouldn't happen, right?
After being taught by Nase Fumino recently, she had gained a lot of new understanding about Uma Musume. She now knew how to judge stamina consumption based on an Uma Musume's movements. The key was to compare how their motion range changed between the start of the race and their acceleration phase.
It sounded simple, but actually judging it in practice was affected by all kinds of factors and was extremely difficult.
Fortunately, she could cooperate with Chiya.
She ran on the track, while Chiya observed from behind. One of them felt stamina consumption directly, while the other recorded changes in motion. Relying on this ability, Shirayuki's experience had grown rapidly. She now had a certain ability to judge how much stamina an opponent was using.
The moment she noticed Twin Turbo's stamina consumption becoming abnormal, she would make her move.
"The race has entered the first corner, and the leader is still Twin Turbo! What incredible speed! She has opened up a full six-length gap from the second-place Uma Musume!"
The spectators were all stunned by Twin Turbo's momentum.
It was extremely rare for an Uma Musume to take such a large lead right at the start of a race, especially among this generation of newly debuted Uma Musume. Twin Turbo was one of a kind.
"Hahahaha!! Teio, are you watching? This is Turbo's true power! Gyaaaahhhhhh!!"
Twin Turbo ran with her blood boiling.
At Tracen Academy, in Trainer Nase Fumino's office, Tokai Teio, Grass Wonder, and the others were sitting on the sofa, watching the broadcast on television.
"She's way too cocky! Shirayuki, what are you doing? Hurry up and pass her already!"
Seeing that blue girl run faster and faster, Tokai Teio anxiously slapped the table.
"Don't rush. Yuki-chan is waiting for her chance."
Unable to stand Teio's noisy behavior, Grass Wonder spoke up.
"That's right. A wrestler has to keep calm!"
El Condor Pasa clenched her fists.
Standing behind the sofa, Nase Fumino narrowed her eyes.
The opponent's running style looked brainless, but in reality, it was not simple at all. If the Uma Musume behind her continued allowing her to accelerate unchecked, the situation would become dangerous.
If it were you, what would you do, Fujiwara Shirayuki?
From the television, the announcer's voice rang out.
"She's still accelerating! Twin Turbo is still accelerating! What kind of full-throttle escape is this!? Seven lengths... eight lengths... nine lengths!"
The announcer stood up.
"Ten lengths! A massive gap has appeared!"
Twin Turbo was now a full ten lengths ahead of second place.
The moment she heard that, Fujiwara Shirayuki finally began to move.