Chapter 18: Path to Umattalar

A few days after the race ended, I was informed that I’d be receiving something called the URA Award.

Tazuna-san had suddenly knocked on the trainer’s room door and delivered the news.

Honestly, I had no idea what it even was. I just sat there blank-faced for a moment—but since Trainer praised me and hugged me, it was probably something amazing. Apparently, he wasn’t surprised at all because, according to him, being selected had practically been guaranteed from the start.

The award I’d been chosen for was the URA Award’s “Best Junior Uma Musume,” which certainly sounded honorable.

That part was fine—except this honor apparently came with some unnecessary baggage attached. A few days later, I found myself standing in front of the press at some very fancy venue.

Suzuka-san, Air Groove-san, Taiki Shuttle-san, and others were there too, all dressed in their race outfits and stepping onto the stage one after another. Since I’d forgotten to bring my game console and had nothing else to do, I watched their press conferences from the sidelines. Every one of them answered questions with such composure and confidence.

Before I realized it, my turn had arrived.

“Next on stage is Witolum Pedes-san, who stormed onto the scene with an undefeated six-win streak capped by victory in the Asahi Hai.”

I bowed my head slightly, and the crowd responded with applause.

“Well then, let’s get right to it. Tell us about your goals going forward.”

At the host’s words, a microphone was pointed at me.

Oh no. Even though Trainer had lectured me beforehand, my mind went completely blank. This was supposed to be one of those standard, textbook questions—yet I totally forgot what I was meant to say.

Ah, right. Something about running safely without injuries, wasn’t it?

“My goal is to stay completely uninjured until I retire!”

The moment I said it, the venue burst into excitement. Looks like I managed the safe answer.

Then a journalist asked:

“So you mean you intend to run your entire career without ever taking a single loss?”

But I run on turf, so I wouldn’t get covered in dirt anyway—oh, he means “dirt” as in dirt-track racing.

“I don’t really know much about that kind of race, so I can’t say. But I think the way I’m running now suits me best.”

I remembered how awful it felt running on dirt during training—dust and mud everywhere. If possible, I’d much rather be on soft turf I can lie down on.

“Thank you very much.”

The questions continued, and although Trainer stepped in to provide a few clarifications here and there, I mostly managed to answer on my own. Maybe the media actually likes me more than I thought.

I was exhausted, but since Trainer patted my head and told me I’d done well, I decided to forgive him.

Some time later, after that annoying press conference was finally behind us, I was dozing under the kotatsu in the trainer’s room when Trainer suddenly spoke up.

“I wanted to ask—Wii, do you not use SNS?”

“What was SNS again?”

I’d heard the term before, but I never really understood what it referred to.

“You know—Umatter, Umasta, things like that.”

I did use Umatter, but only to check game-release and book-release news. Most of my posts were from a social game I’d been hooked on for a while, since posting once a day on Umatter earned you an in-game item.

I wasn’t doing anything that warranted scolding, but suddenly I wondered what this was about.

“Um… why Umatter?”

When I asked, Trainer pulled out what looked like a weekly magazine. Judging from the cover, it seemed to specialize in Uma Musume gossip.

He opened to a page marked with a sticky note—an article titled “The Real Face of Witolum Pedes.”

Photos of me at the racing grounds were scattered across the layout, including shots of me running in my race outfit. Whoever took them had a good eye, at least.

But the article’s contents were astonishing.

It claimed that Witolum Pedes performs mental-focus rituals before races.

It claimed that Witolum Pedes uses racing games for image training.

It claimed that the finger I held up after the Asahi Hai meant “my first G1 win.”

It claimed that Witolum Pedes’ goal is the Triple Crown.

It claimed that Witolum Pedes’ favorite foods are carrots and lettuce.

It claimed that Witolum Pedes can’t stand it unless she’s showered with cheers during races.

And so on, and so on.

Somehow, it was full of deep-cut trivia about Witolum Pedes—even things I didn’t know.

Of course, some parts were accurate, but it felt like I was the one who needed to study more about myself.

Like hell any of that is true!!! I couldn’t help mentally shouting.

Was this all information Trainer had given during interviews? When I asked, he shook his head. According to him, while normal reporters base their articles on interviews, others simply imagine things and write whatever they want.

“These, and these, and this one too. And this article over here as well.”

He showed me more—other magazines, newspapers, and online articles displayed on a tablet.

Reading through them, some greatly exaggerated the truth, while others made it sound like I was doing bizarre, nonexistent training routines. It was chaos.

I hadn’t realized there were this many articles about me. The information age is terrifying.

“So here’s the thing. A lot of these articles are full of nonsense. Right now, the general tone is positive, so it’s not worth the trouble to correct everything. But you never know when the tone will turn negative. If that happens, having Umatter or Umasta might let you communicate with fans directly and clear up misunderstandings.”

“True… If people started spreading rumors that I’m lazy, or about to fail out of school, or other baseless things, that’d be a disaster.”

“…Exactly. Anyway, that’s what SNS is for in times like that. Of course, if something serious actually happens, the URA higher-ups will contact the publishers directly and put a stop to it. So Umatter is just a backup.”

“Understood! Actually, I’ve used Umatter before, so I’ll start right away!!”

…is what I confidently told Trainer—but thinking about it carefully, I had only ever looked at Umatter posts, and as I mentioned earlier, the only posts I’d made were the daily ones required for in-game items.

I knew how the app worked and how to use it, but… what exactly is a Uma Musume supposed to post on Umatter?

While I was groaning and agonizing over it in my dorm room that night, my roommate yelled at me for being loud.

But despite her gruff attitude, she’s surprisingly kind deep down.

Figuring I might as well take advantage of that, I decided to meekly ask her how to run an Umatter account.

“Ask her.”

The reply was blunt, but it seemed she was introducing me to someone who knew how to handle Umatter. She handed me the contact of a Uma Musume she apparently knew, then pulled her blanket over her head and went to sleep.

I really do owe her for a lot. I should offer her some of her favorite meat later to keep her in a good mood.

As I was trying to figure out how to start the conversation, a message suddenly arrived from the other side.

This is about Umatter, right? Since it’s a request from Anego, of course I’ll teach you.

She seemed to be highly respected. Despite her rough personality, my roommate clearly had a certain charisma that drew people in.

I ended up receiving a full hour-long lecture on how to run an Umatter account and what to watch out for.

Hmm, hmm… so for the header image, a photo of me running is recommended…
This shot of me in my race outfit looks good. Lots of energy, nice movement.

For my icon, maybe I’ll use a picture of my plushie. I took a photo of the plushie sitting on my windowsill and made that my icon.

Then to avoid being mistaken for an impersonator, I should add “(本人)” after my name.

WitolumPedes (本人) @VitrumPedes

Looks good.

For the bio, it should be short, with race records and anything I want to highlight.

“I’m Witolum Pedes. I have G1 experience. Three graded-stakes wins. I even became a plushie. Apparently it’s on sale!!”

Perfect!! Maybe I have a talent for SNS after all.

Now for the first greeting post—

“Nice to meet you, I’m Witolum Pedes. I’ve decided to start using Umatter.
I’ll be posting updates about the races I plan to run, so please consider following me.

【Next Race】
My next race will be the Kyodo News Hai (Tokinominoru Kinen). I’ll train properly and do my best, so please cheer for me.”

Something like that. It felt a little stiff, but I just followed the template I received, so it was probably fine.

And apparently the most important part—according to the lecture—is the poll.
A poll asking how I should run in the upcoming Kyodo News Hai, which I should use as reference.

Half the entire lesson had been about this. Supposedly, there was even a Uma Musume who won a graded race thanks to following her poll. Maybe it was some kind of lucky charm.

Of course, Trainer and I would make the final decision together, but taking a poll itself wasn’t… necessarily bad.

◇ Run as an escape!
◇ The classic front-runner.
◇ Sit behind the pack and close from mid-field.
◇ Drop to the far back and launch a huge late charge!

The next morning, Trainer—looking strangely panicked—told me to stop using Umatter immediately.

Something about this being far worse than doing nothing at all. Truly outrageous treatment.

For the record, when I posted on Umatter: “Trainer got mad, so I’m stopping now,”
it only made him even angrier.