Chapter 97: The Strongest at Work

Work.

…That word has kind of an unpleasant ring to it.

No—just so there’s no misunderstanding, I do think work itself is a very good thing.

Labor is one of Japan’s three fundamental duties, and it’s an action that creates the value necessary for someone to live a fulfilled life. I genuinely believe that’s something noble.

…Or at least, I think I do.

But coming from a formerly half–shut-in otaku, I can’t help but have a bad image of labor.

Well, sure—there’s probably some bias mixed in there.

If my memories are correct, I died in my previous life while I was still a university student. In other words, when it comes to proper, full-time employment, I never really worked. At most, I had a part-time job at a convenience store—and even that didn’t last six months.

Still, those six months were more than enough to drill the lesson into me.

Work sucks.

There’s too much to memorize, your legs ache, your heart gets worn down, and honestly? I never want to do it again.

…That said.

Part of why that job was so hard was because it was “just something I did to earn money.”

Change the environment, add a different motivation, and of course how you feel about it changes too.

"Trainer, I haven’t had much exposure lately. Is there any kind of work that would reach the fans more easily?"

After reincarnating, I found myself being the one to say things like that.

---

When racehorse girls talk about “work,” they usually don’t mean something tied to their athletic side, but rather their idol side.

We’re students and athletes. At the end of the day, our main jobs are learning and running.

But when you’re a professional athlete with a uniformly cute appearance, idol-like popularity naturally follows. And if you’re a racehorse girl who wins major races—especially G1s—that effect is even stronger.

Because of that, a lot of job offers come to us G1 racehorse girls.

They range from interviews and media requests to talk shows and variety program appearances, to PR tie-ins with various products. Some ask us to model fashion, some want us to sing, others to narrate—and sometimes, I hear, URA itself requests promotional shoots for upcoming races or the Twinkle Series.

Honestly, not many of those requests make it all the way down to me, so I don’t know the details very well.

Apparently, the system works like this: a client first submits a request to Tracen Academy. After the administrative office sorts through them, the request is passed on to the trainer contracted with the relevant racehorse girl.

At that stage, anything unreasonable or completely out of line gets filtered out—but in the case of me and Bourbon-chan, it then has to pass Ayumu-san’s particularly strict screening as well.

When you’re a second-generation, undefeated Triple Crown racehorse girl, the number of offers becomes absurd.

According to Ayumu-san, if we tried to accept all of them, “you’d need about a hundred of you.”

So from among those, Ayumu-san carefully selects only the ones with good conditions, proper treatment, and solid safety measures—and only a tiny fraction of those ever reach my ears.

To be honest, there was a time when I wondered if choosing jobs based on pay or待遇 was really the right thing to do.

But when I told Ayumu-san that, he said, "I understand how you feel. But your time is finite, and it’s an extremely valuable resource. Don’t undersell yourself."

I had this vague image that letting money dictate your actions was somehow crass, but when he added, "The price you’re offered directly reflects your evaluation. There’s no benefit in lowering it," I couldn’t really argue with that.

---

Honestly, it’s something my past self from two years ago never could have imagined—but right now, I’m not hurting for money.

In this world, unlike my previous one, there’s a rule that races themselves don’t generate prize money.

However, merchandise sales and appearance fees for winning lives absolutely do, so racehorse girls can earn a lot—assuming they win, of course.

And since I’ve been winning quite a bit, I receive compensation that feels almost unreal.

The other day, when Ayumu-san showed me my bankbook, the balance had finally crossed into ten digits, and I nearly blacked out. Apparently, even after paying back all my student loans and debts and settling my taxes, the number of digits doesn’t change. What is even happening here?

Even now, it’s savings I could never spend in a lifetime while living comfortably. As long as Japan doesn’t collapse, my future is basically secure.

In that sense, my current life is absolutely easy mode thanks to reincarnation cheats.

Thank you, “anime reincarnation.” You save me every time.

---

That’s exactly why, to be honest, I’m not looking for money from these jobs.

…I mean, even if I accepted a hundred requests, it wouldn’t beat the income from winning a single G1.

If you factor in the thrill I get from running, these jobs are ridiculously inefficient by comparison.

But compensation isn’t everything. There’s a huge advantage they offer that official races don’t.

What I want from work, plain and simple, is to show myself to the fans—to increase my exposure.

For racehorse girls, outside of official races every few months, some public training sessions, and the twice-yearly fan appreciation events, these jobs are one of the few official opportunities we have to appear in front of fans.

Since last year, I’ve become deeply aware of how grateful I am to them, so meeting their expectations has become incredibly important to me.

It’s not like I’d ever prioritize it over running or racing itself—that would be putting the cart before the horse—but as long as it doesn’t interfere, I want to respond to their expectations as much as I can.

So once the New Year’s and Valentine’s events wrapped up, I decided to put more effort into jobs that would let me appear in front of everyone again.

---

And then, just under a month later—

Once I gave the okay, everything moved forward smoothly…

And I found myself taking on my first job in a while.

Today’s job was officially a request from URA—though in practice, it was participation in a project launched by Nature’s trainer.

And what exactly was that project?

Yet another appearance in a live broadcast—one of many in my life by now.

"Hey everyone watching, hey there~! It’s Nice Nature! How’ve you been~? Thanks for dropping by Nature’s Chat Time again this week~!"

Saying that, Nature—standing just beyond my line of sight—smiled brightly and waved at the camera.

…Oh wow. I always had the impression that Nature got a little shy in situations like this, but she’s not flustered at all right now.

As expected—she’s used to it. She’s been doing this for about a month now, after all.

I glance down at the smartphone in my hand, and the comments are pouring in at a ridiculous speed.

"Hey there—"

"Hey there—"

"My reason to live this week"

"Hey there—"

"Stream every second without overdoing it"

"Hey there—"

Watching her own image on the monitor set up beside the camera while keeping an eye on the comments, Nature lets out a quick, awkward laugh.

"Oh, someone says ‘stream every second without overdoing it.’ Which is it? Streaming actually gets pretty exhausting, you know? Sometimes it leaves me as wiped out as an official race… well, okay, that might be an exaggeration. Haha."

Nature’s Chat Time.

That’s the name of this show—a casual talk stream held every Saturday at 3 p.m.

It started about a month ago, shortly after Nature developed issues with her legs.

For racehorse girls, whose careers are partly built on popularity, being unable to race officially for a long period and losing public attention—being forgotten by the world—can be fatal.

So Nature’s trainer came up with a project to increase her exposure.

Inspired by the radio show Nature appeared on not long ago, and by last year’s PR stream involving Samsung, it became a weekly, two-hour live broadcast.

There’s no strict topic—she just talks about recent events or past races, responds to comments, and chats with viewers.

It’s a simple concept, but thanks to Nature’s popularity and easygoing personality, it’s been a hit.

At first, there were moments when the chat almost got heated with worries about her leg condition, but now it’s settled into a really pleasant atmosphere.

For the record, I’ve been watching every week since the first episode.

It’s basically half radio, so I often listen with earbuds while running. It’s great company for solo training.

In other words, I’m one of this stream’s regular listeners.

…But this time, instead of watching, I was joining in.

"Alright, then—shall we bring them in? This time, we actually have a guest!"

The comment section immediately exploded.

"A guest?"

"This kind of show has guests?"

"Is it Samsung again?"

"Mun-chan!?"

"Turbo, taking a break due to poor health?"

"Who is it? The trainer, maybe?"

Watching that, I hand my phone to my trainer, close my eyes, and take a deep breath.

Honestly, there’s some nervousness about appearing on a live stream where mistakes can’t be undone…

But it’s fine. Wearing a mask is one of my specialties.

Let’s get fired up and go.

"Alright then… hey, Will-san, come on over here."

Called over in that light, casual tone, I reply with a "Coming!" and walk up.

I sit down next to her and give a small bow toward the camera.

"Excuse me for joining you, everyone. I’m a racehorse girl—Hoshino Wilm."

"And with that, everyone—please welcome the Ashen Dragon herself, Will! Clap clap clap~"

I lift my head and look at the monitor beside the camera…

The comment feed is flying upward at an insane speed.

"Wait, seriously!?"

"OHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Dragon, you show up way too unpredictably, seriously!"

"Dragon in casual clothes is ultra-rare—no, beyond ultra-rare! Cool as hell!"

"Sudden appearance by the undefeated Triple Crown winner"

…Yeah, the reaction seems pretty good.

The momentum of the comments scrolling across the side monitor is intense.

Of course, there are probably some confused voices mixed in—but they’re completely drowned out by the overwhelming flood of welcoming messages.

Well, apparently I’m on the lower end of exposure even among G1 racehorse girls. Add the surprise factor, and it makes sense everyone’s shocked.

That said, I shouldn’t get carried away.

Unlike the previous live stream, which had three of us building the broadcast together, this time I’m a guest stepping into a space Nature created.

I need to avoid being too pushy while still letting my own color show—gotta play this just right.

As I steel myself, Nature, the host, turns slightly toward me and introduces me to the viewers.

"For anyone who might not know—Will… Hoshino Wilm is a racehorse girl from the same generation as me. She’s my friend, one of the group people call the ‘Samsung trio’… and also, I guess, my rival."

"People who don’t know…?"

"Are there actually Nature fans who don’t know Wilm? Are you that new?"

"Rivals, but they haven’t raced each other directly that often"

"Friends in Samsung but rivals too—love that dynamic"

"Run again soon, Nature"

Oh—she’s more well-known than I expected.

Since this is Nature’s stream, I figured it wouldn’t be strange if plenty of people didn’t know me. But setting that aside, I can’t just let that line slide.

"Come on, Nature…"

"Ah—well, maybe ‘rival’ is a bit much…"

"Not ‘friend’—‘best friend,’ right?"

"That’s what you’re correcting!? …Well, yeah, I do think of you as my best friend."

"That’s one of your weak points, Nature. You’re kind of shy—overcautious, even. You should just say ‘best friend’ from the start."

"B-but what if the other person doesn’t feel the same way—?"

"I get that, but that’s exactly why you need to put it into words."

"Mmgh—stuff like that isn’t hard for you? Viewers, you get it, right?"

"LMAO"

"Nature, seriously…"

"You two really are close"

"Will × Nature… yeah, I can see it"

"Same"

"That’s so relatable"

"I think of Nature as my girlfriend, but I don’t know if Nature feels the same"

As expected, Nature’s really good at this—she smoothly picks up on what I throw out and keeps the conversation going.

This isn’t yuri-baiting or anything, but it is better if people understand that we’re genuinely close.

This stream is Nature’s casual talk show. Even if the comments say, “Are there really people who don’t know Hoshino Wilm?”, realistically, a good portion of viewers probably don’t know much about me.

For them, “close to Nature” is a pretty strong first impression.

Thinking about the atmosphere of future streams too, shaping that image now feels important.

…Of course, this isn’t just for show. I really do think of Nature as my best friend.

And Nature clearly understands all of that—she rides the topic naturally, without disrupting the shared vibe between herself and the audience.

Honestly… it’s so Nature.

She’s always thinking about what will make people happy, what will increase her popularity—and it shows just how deeply she’s internalized all of it.

I need to be careful not to drag her down.

I’ve got some knowledge, and I can roughly tell how I should act—but when it comes to live broadcasts, I’m still basically an amateur. I’ve only done this a handful of times.

I need to be extremely careful not to cause trouble for Nature.

"With that said, today we’ll be having a nice, relaxed two-hour chat with Will~"

"Yay, clap clap."

"You’re surprisingly chill today too, Will. …Oh, right, right. There’s actually something I’ve always wanted to do if I ever invited a guest. Since you’re my very first guest, I want you to do it with me."

"Oh? What would that be?"

"I was thinking we could talk about how we got to know each other—our first impressions, stuff like that. Those kinds of details don’t usually reach the fans, right?"

"Ah, that’s true. Sounds great."

We racehorse girls are students—maybe not normal students, but students nonetheless.

That means forming friendships, drifting apart, all kinds of changes in personal relationships happen constantly.

…but fans mostly only know our athlete side or our idol side.

Because of that, the origins of our relationships are often a mystery to them.

And honestly, there aren’t many opportunities to talk about that sort of thing openly. Maybe during a one-on-one interview for work—that’s about it.

So talking about it in a relaxed setting like this might actually be really good fan service.

…Nature says she “always wanted to do this,” but I’m sure she put a lot of thought into it.

As expected of the strategist of the Star Generation. When it comes to planning moves like this, she’s top-tier.

"I’m curious!"

"You two were close pretty early on, right?"

"Now that you mention it, I’ve never heard this story"

"Thank you for adding another blessed episode"

The comments are overwhelmingly positive about the topic.

Yeah—Nature’s choice of subject is spot-on.

…The problem is how I answer this.

There’s no way I can just say, “I knew Nature in my previous life.”

If I suddenly said something like that, I’d come off as some kind of unhinged conspiracy character—and give Ayumu-san another headache.

So then… what’s the best answer?

I need to avoid lying, but also avoid telling too much of the truth.

As I’m thinking that through, Nature beside me says, "Alright, I’ll start," and begins to speak.

"Thinking back, the first time I really got to know Will was around when she was running in the selection races.

You might not know this, Will, but back then there were already rumors going around Tracen—like, ‘A racehorse girl might have appeared who could actually break Teio’s one-horse dominance,’ you know?"

"Eh, really? I had no idea."

"Yeah, figures. You didn’t seem like the type to care about evaluations at all back then."

"So what kind of impression did I give you?"

"…Honestly? I thought, ‘She’s incredible.’ Like, there’s no way I could beat her—some absurdly gifted genius."

"Huh… so that’s how I looked to you."

"That was back when Wilm wasn’t talked about much yet."

"Nature’s her best friend and rival and basically her earliest fan?"

"You’re more of a long-time fan than me."

"‘An amazing kid’ (won her debut by 17 lengths)."

"I mean, Nature is amazing too, though…"

"Yeah, that tracks."

"Well, as I got to know you better, I started thinking, ‘Huh? This girl’s kind of…’"

"Kind of what?"

"Kind of a mess."

"That’s rude."

"LMAO"

"LMAO"

"K I N D O F A M E S S"

"Isn’t Nature the only one who can call the Ashen Dragon a mess?"

…Am I really that much of a mess? I honestly think I handle things pretty competently.

…Well, okay. If we’re talking about self-control when it comes to running, I might have a tiny issue there.

"What about you, Will? When did you learn about me?"

Asked that, I slowly begin explaining what I’d been sorting out in my head.

"Let’s see… for me, it’s less that I ‘learned about you,’ and more…

Nature, do you remember the very first time we raced together? That mock race—just the two of us."

"Of course. The one where my trainer talked to yours, right? That was when we first met, wasn’t it?"

"Yeah, that was it. …Actually, until that moment, I hadn’t really memorized the faces of our classmates at all."

"Eh—no way."

"It’s true. Back then, I didn’t really have the mental space to look outward."

"Are we getting too much valuable lore today?"

"This is getting archived, right? Please archive it."

"I really wanted to see their junior-class mock race…"

"The Ashen Dragon was secretly bad at socializing…?"

"Ah… the family situation."

"That’s heavy."

Ah—crap. I might’ve led them to imagine something too serious.

Gotta steer this back fast.

"So, yeah, I was just running on my own like that—but when I saw Nature, I thought, ‘This is it.’

I felt like Nature would run with me, like she’d become my rival… Looking back now, I think that’s what I sensed."

"E-eh…? Me…?"

"And you did become my rival—and my best friend. So that gut feeling wasn’t wrong.

Honestly, suggesting joint training with you afterward was a really good call on my part."

"Ah… yeah, well… if you liked it, then I guess that’s good…"

"Is this… fate?"

"It really is Will × Nature, huh…"

"Didn’t expect Wilm to be the go-getter type."

"Cute."

"Shy Nature is adorable."

"She spotted Nature’s talent right after her trainer did."

"Oh—someone says I spotted your potential right after your trainer. I’ve got a lot of confidence as an early Nature fan, you know. I’ve been watching since before your debut."

"N-no, Will, that’s enough, really—"

"Oh? Are you blushing, Nature? Cute."

"…Will."

"Uh, Nature? Your face looks kind of scary right now?"

"You know… your birthday the other day—"

"Nature, that’s not fair!?"

"She’s a real longtime fan."

"Rival, best friend, and earliest fan—too precious."

"Cute."

"Flustered Nature is the cutest."

"Hm?"

"Birthday?"

"What happened on her birthday?"

"Tell us."

"Birthday—what happened?!"

…After that, Nature and I kept chatting—looking back on old times, laughing about small mistakes we’d made recently, talking about grades at school, sweets we were into lately, all sorts of things…

Before we knew it, the two hours had flown by.

---

"Alright everyone, thanks again for hanging out with our nice, lazy chat this week~ Come back again next week—Nature would be really happy~!

Okay then, see you later!"

"See you~"

We wave lazily at the camera together.

…Almost immediately, Nature’s trainer—who was behind the camera—carefully checked the screen, then raised both hands and made a big circle.

A clear signal that the stream was over. Seeing that, I finally relaxed my shoulders.

"Phew… that was fun, but I’m exhausted…"

Yeah. I was way more focused than usual, so I’m pretty wiped.

Live streaming really does take stamina. Now that I’ve been on the hosting side, I can feel it in my bones—just how hard those official live broadcasts voice actors used to do in my previous life must’ve been.

Also, people who do long streams regularly might be a little unhinged. What kind of stamina do they have? Or is this what a sprinter feels like when watching a stayer…?

As I droop forward from fatigue, Nature beside me calls out.

"Haha, nice work, Will. Having you here made things a lot easier today."

"Really…? Honestly, I felt kind of bad. I think I messed up in a few places."

"Huh? Messed up?"

"My voice wavered a bit, I didn’t fully commit emotionally, and there were moments where things almost got heavy…"

"No, no, no—that’s totally normal! And you covered for it right away, didn’t you? From my perspective, you did way more than well enough!"

"…You think so?"

Honestly… I’m not so sure. I don’t really have much confidence.

I did my best, but I don’t think this job was perfect by any means. There were plenty of things I should reflect on.

Well, the client seems satisfied, so maybe you could call it a success as a job.

"Will, seriously—thanks again for today."

"It’s nothing. If I can help you out, Nature, I’m happy to. Besides, I was thinking I wanted to increase my exposure a bit too, so the timing was perfect."

"I see… yeah, then I guess that’s good."

…Hm?

Now that I look closely, Nature seems like something’s still bothering her.

She’s trying not to show it too much, but maybe the fatigue from the live stream is letting it slip through just a little.

I think about what she might be worrying over…

…And as I replay today’s broadcast in my head, I realize what it is.

"I wasn’t lying."

"Huh?"

"Calling you my best friend, calling you my rival, thinking ‘this is the one.’ …There are things I didn’t say, sure—but none of that was a lie."

Back when I first met her—

At the time, I could only see Nature as just another character from an anime.

But that changed quickly.

Her refusal to give up, her fierce drive to beat me… feeling that heat, I was able to recognize her as a rival who could truly stand against me.

That realization came a little later, after we met…

But even during that very first mock race we ran together, I could already sense the signs of it.

"Your legs—your strength—no one knows it better than I do. Hoshino Wilm knows it best.

…So even if you can’t run right now, I’m looking forward to running with you again, Nature.

As your best friend, as your rival… and as your fan. I’m allowed to look forward to that, right?"

Even carrying a chronic injury in those legs…

Nice Nature will come back. I’m sure of it.

After hearing my rather selfish wish—

Nature looked surprised for a moment, then gave a wry smile.

"I’ve thought this for a while now, but seriously—where do you learn to say things like that, Will?"

"Who knows? I feel like I’ve known how since the day I was born."

"Honestly… this girl…

But, thanks. I really do think of you as my best friend—and my rival too. And…"

Nature stood up from her chair, looking refreshed, as if a weight had been lifted.

Then she flashed a grin and said—

"I’ve been captivated by your running ever since that very first time, Will."

…Ah.

Yeah, hearing something like that said straight to your face is… kind of embarrassing.

---

And with that, my job wrapped up.

Ayumu-san, who’d been quietly watching over us from the corner of the room the whole time, handed me a towel and a sports drink.

All I’d done was sit and talk, but my throat was dry and I’d worked up a nervous sweat, so I was grateful.

…He really is considerate about things like this.

I wonder if Horino drilled it into him—something like, “This is how you treat a racehorse girl after a job.”

"Good work, Will. As always, an impeccable performance today."

"Thank you."

I’m happy to hear that, but I’m so tired I don’t really have the energy to respond properly.

At my mumbled reply, Ayumu-san kneels down and peers into my face.

"…Even for you, I can tell you’re exhausted."

"Ah, sorry. …It’s mental fatigue, so it’s a different kind of strain than physical exhaustion."

"Should we skip training today?"

"No, I’ll do it. Running will clear my head."

"I figured you’d say that."

Seeing me perk up the moment training is mentioned, Ayumu-san grins.

It’s a smile I’ve been seeing more often lately—but still, every time I see it, my heart skips a beat.

…Oh, right. Speaking of my heart skipping a beat.

"Ayumu-san, how was I? Was I cute?"

I meant it casually—just asking whether I came across as cute on camera…

But—

"Mm… y-yeah. Ah. You were cute… I think."

Ayumu-san answered… incredibly awkwardly.

…Huh?

What is this feeling…?