WiseTL

Weren’t You Only Using Me As A Stand-in? [116]

It had rained that morning, so Kitahara Takeru skipped his usual run. After messaging Yotsuba to cancel, he rolled over and went back to sleep.

He didn’t get up until after seven.

Grabbing a bottle of Evian from the fridge, Takeru glanced out the window.

The rain had cleared up. The sun was back, and with it, a blast of lingering summer heat despite the season. Puddles still dotted the ground outside.

He filled the kettle and headed to the bathroom to brush hi...

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [80]

“Got it! I'll do my best to remember!”

With spirited determination, Kitasan quickly pulled out her little notebook and carrot pen, scribbling notes furiously. Once done, she set them aside carefully.

Seeing she'd finished, Yasui nodded approvingly, adjusting the gym equipment for her next exercise.

The first exercise on their list was the cable chest fly.

The exercise involved sitting on the machine’s bench, feet and knees apart, firmly planted on the floor for s...

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [79]

Kitasan Black’s ears visibly drooped even lower at Yasui’s comment, but she quickly pulled herself back together.

“All right! If my form didn’t meet your expectations, Trainer, I’ll just keep running until it does—”

Before she could finish speaking, she’d already turned toward the track again.

Yasui hurriedly called out, stopping her.

“Don’t rush, Kitasan-san—and there's no need to feel down about it.”

“Didn’t I just say it’s perfect...

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [78]

“No problem at all! I've been looking forward to this day for ages!”

Kitasan Black thumped her chest confidently, enthusiasm shining in her eyes.

“No matter how hard the training gets, I'll follow your instructions and stick with it until the very end! That's the promise I made to you right from the start, Trainer!”

“Good, very spirited.”

Faced with such an energetic Uma Musume, Yasui Makoto felt invigorated as well. He pointed toward the track with a gentl...

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [77]

The next day, as Kitasan Black walked towards the academy's sports grounds, Yasui Makoto’s words from the previous night still lingered softly in her mind.

When she'd heard those words, she'd felt as though her trainer had suddenly changed.

Exactly what had changed, she couldn’t quite say clearly, but it felt as if he'd grown closer, somehow more vivid and distinct.

From their first meeting until now, Kitasan was always aware of Yasui Makoto’s age.

Due to their h...

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [76]

"It's not entirely unlearnable."

Under the curious gazes of the gathered Uma Musume, Yasui Makoto carefully weighed his words before speaking in a measured voice, "For most Uma Musume, that particular Satsuki Sho run by Gold Ship-san indeed offers little reference value."

"That Satsuki Sho was held on a slightly heavy track. Due to accumulated water and the effects of the ten preceding races, the course conditions were extremely poor, demanding exceptional strength, physical prowe...

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [75]

With this training method in mind, Yasui Makoto naturally planned to ask Daiwa Scarlet and the others for help.

Regular paired-running sessions typically lasted anywhere from one hour to several hours.

Practice races, however, required much less time.

Though the intensity of these practice races was slightly lower than official competitions, the duration was similar, usually lasting only a few minutes. With proper rest afterward, this method allowed for far greater schedulin...

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [74]

Breaking from the gate, competing for positions, managing cruising pace, timing accelerations…

Reviewing the entire strategy, Yasui Makoto found no obvious flaws. In fact, it had been the absolute best Kitasan Black could manage at this stage.

Yet despite all that, Unyielding True Steel had nearly overtaken her at the finish line.

Inexperience had certainly played a role.

With more real-race experience, Yasui might have developed more efficient training routines or c...

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [73]

Kitajima Saburou quietly nodded to himself.

As a top-tier professional in the music industry, he'd seen countless ambitious newcomers, including many genuinely talented prodigies.

While one song alone might not fully reflect Yasui Makoto’s potential, the sheer quality of Uchiage Hanabi was more than enough to demonstrate the young man's remarkable talent.

Typically, people with such gifts easily succumbed to arrogance or short-sighted greed.

Yet the young man before ...

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [72]

Standing in place, Daiwa Scarlet shook her head helplessly, watching her two friends dash away. She turned to Kitasan Black apologetically.

“Kita-chan, those two... Your grandfather and family won’t get angry, will they?”

“Eh? Oh, no, no!”

Kitasan Black hurriedly waved her hands. “Actually, my grandfather always told me to make lots of friends and invite them over to play.”

“Like Crown-chan, Dia-chan, and Kobayashi-chan—they used to come over all the ...

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [71]

“Ohhhh—Kitasan Black! Kitasan Black!”

Under dazzling lights, soaring music, and electrifying cheers, the black-haired girl at the center of the stage, dressed in a striking performance outfit, launched into her song and dance routine.

“Wow! Kita-chan is shining so brightly!”

Waving the glow sticks she'd prepared in advance, Special Week jumped excitedly in place.

“It's true! No matter how many times I've seen it, the Winner’s Stage is always so thrilling!...

Honkai: Star Rail — New Rider Powers Every Week [115]

The rain had not stopped.

But this wasn’t ordinary rain—it was a storm flowing in reverse, rising continuously from the ground toward the sky.

The rainwater gathered thickly into a dense curtain in the heavens, steadily pressing downward.

Initially just a thin veil, it had now thickened immensely as more rain accumulated. Had the artificial sun not still provided its feeble glow, one might mistake the planet for the belly of some vast cosmic beast.

Even amidst this...

Honkai: Star Rail — New Rider Powers Every Week [114]

Golden brilliance erupted from within the planet, surging upward into the sky.

Even from space, one could see the dazzling glow illuminating the planet’s surface.

The golden radiance condensed into tangible threads, weaving slowly around Titania’s still figure.

Yet Titania herself remained expressionless.

She neither appeared surprised nor fearful of the power engulfing her.

The sudden eruption of energy from the planet’s depths generated an overwhelming pr...

Honkai: Star Rail — New Rider Powers Every Week [113]

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting amber rays across the desolate wasteland.

Vroom… Vroom…

Across the arid plains echoed the hum of an old-fashioned motorcycle engine, kicking up clouds of crimson dust behind its speeding wheels.

But anyone glancing at the riders would be startled—for atop the bike were two young girls, one especially notorious throughout the galaxy.

She was none other than Silver Wolf, a Stellaron Hunter, with a bounty of fifty-o...

Honkai: Star Rail — New Rider Powers Every Week [112]

Drip, drip…

A rhythmic sound echoed gently, like the ticking passage of time.

But within this vast digital realm, it was merely the monotonous hum of data cycling endlessly.

In an infinite ocean of data streams, a single thread of dark crimson drifted apart from all arrays, solitary and unintegrated.

This fragment was the residual void left behind when Serus had been devoured by the digital toxin.

The galaxy had a term for such residual void fragments�...

Honkai: Star Rail — New Rider Powers Every Week [111]

Asdana System.

Among the countless star systems in the galaxy, this one held particular renown—thanks to Penacony the illustrious "Planet of Festivities", home to the galaxy's grandest celebrations.

Naturally, a planet of such stature drew covetous eyes from every faction in the galaxy.

Yet, despite countless desires, none had dared truly intervene in Penacony's affairs.

For the family managing this planet—the influential Harmony Family—commanded formidable respe...

Honkai: Star Rail — New Rider Powers Every Week [110]

From the moment it was created, loneliness became its eternal companion.

An instinct buried deep within its genes urged it to seek companions, yet none could match its strength.

Its companions could not help it multiply.

They were weak, even needing external armor to possess any meaningful combat capability.

And their numbers were constantly dwindling.

Why? Why?

It pondered endlessly, until someone f...