Chapter 36: Burning Money

There’s a stat called LUC.

In old-school RPGs, it’s a classic—the stat that represents so-called “luck.”

Honestly, in my experience, among the standard stats it always felt like the most underwhelming one.

The most important stats are STR or INT—the ones that let you defeat enemies smoothly. Without them, you end up taking unnecessary hits or letting enemies act, and there’s a high chance you’ll get worn down and lose.

Next come DEF and VIT—the stats that let you endure attacks until you can beat the opponent down. Once you get into serious min-maxing territory, you don’t have time to waste on unnecessary healing actions, so these numbers end up feeling pretty important too.

After that, you’ve got AGI and DEX, which determine evasion and accuracy. To be honest, dodging isn’t something you can rely on much, but if your attacks don’t hit, you can’t even start the fight. You want at least the bare minimum here.

…And finally, LUC. It affects things like how often you inflict or receive status ailments, critical hit rates, and drop rates. But that’s really all it does. You might raise it when farming, doing challenge runs, or speedruns, but in a normal playthrough it’s rarely a priority.

Of course, the importance of stats varies from person to person, and I’m not saying this is the one and only correct answer.

Depending on the game, you often need to split roles—tanks, healers, and so on.

In those cases, it’s sometimes better for everyone to specialize hard into stats that match their role rather than all dumping points into the same thing…

…No, no, that’s not the point right now.

What matters is that, for me, LUC—luck—was a pretty mediocre stat.

But that was only true in the games I played in my previous life.

In the real world, the most important stat is honestly luck.

So what happens when you have bad luck in real life…?

For example, your relationship with your parents doesn’t work out, your family falls apart, and you end up parting in death without ever being able to put things back the way they should have been.

Well, of course, it’s not just luck—there were big parts where each person lacked the emotional room to support the other. But even taking that into account, I still think I didn’t have the luck to build a good environment.

And on the flip side, what happens when you’re lucky…?

For example, you arrive at Tracen Academy and immediately meet your ideal trainer, dependable and wonderful seniors, and rivals you can feel both respect and friendship toward.

Again, it’s not just luck—but you get the idea.

…When you look at it like this, you can see it clearly.

The Uma Musume known as Hoshino Wilm is… well, her luck is wildly unbalanced.

Sometimes her LUC drops all the way to 1, and other times it shoots up to 99. She’s that kind of extremely swingy Uma Musume.

And so.

Those highs and lows end up crashing straight into everyday life too.

Which is to say—what I really want to say is—

…When she crashes and burns, she crashes and burns spectacularly.

"Ugh…! H-hah… huuuh… ngh…!"

This is wrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong—this is absolutely wrong!

Alone in my hospital room, breathing heavily, I was gripping my smartphone so hard I was almost crushing it… and had to hold myself back, because with Uma Musume strength, I really could have crushed it.

On the other end of my hate-filled glare was the result screen of a social game that had apparently become popular recently… the gacha results.

Ten cards were lined up. Nine of them had silver borders, and only one had a gold border.

In this game, the highest rarity is a rainbow-colored border. Frankly, anything else is a dud.

And to make matters worse, when you do a ten-pull, you’re guaranteed at least one gold. Which means this result was what people call the pity minimum.

In short, it was a complete and utter disaster pull.

That said, I’m no amateur. Even pulling only the minimum guarantee from a mere ten-pull, I can accept it with a “yeah, that happens.” I possess the otaku mentality of someone thoroughly accustomed to social game gachas.

…Well, this is actually my first time playing a social game in this life, so I guess I should say I used to have that mentality.

But. But still.

The highest rarity rate is 3%, and the pickup rate is half of that.

In other words, in terms of expected value, you should hit one in roughly 66 pulls.

And yet…

"Pull count, 600… This is wrong. If the chance of hitting within 60 pulls is one in two, then by now I should have pulled it with a probability of 1023 out of 1024…!"

Wise people have said that the number of pulls is everything.

All those belief systems about “you’ll hit if the conditions are right,” or superstitions about single pulls being better—completely worthless.

There is no royal road in gacha.

In the end, the number of attempts is justice, and the only way forward is to eliminate the “possibility of not pulling it” through sheer volume.

But isn’t it wrong that nearly twenty Yukichis have vanished and I still haven’t hit even once?

It’s wrong, right?! Be nicer to me, reality!!

…Around this April, I escaped a life of debt, and now I’m thoroughly wealthy.

I’ve won one Open race, one G2, and four G1s, and before I knew it, my record had climbed to the point where I could be considered among the top competitive Uma Musume.

On top of that, appearances aside, I’m actually pretty diligent when it comes to lives and fan service.

Naturally, that boosts popularity, and when popularity skyrockets, merchandise sells like crazy.

When I look at my bankbook, there’s a number written there that’s honestly kind of insane.

If I lived frugally, it’s probably enough to last me a lifetime.

But did my sense of money immediately skyrocket along with it? Not quite.

Even now, the word “sale” still makes my heart flutter, and discount stickers still catch my eye.

I’ve gotten more used to it, but I still feel a bit of resistance buying things at convenience stores.

At the same time, there’s this vague, unreal feeling of “I have a ton of money.”

…and that ended up loosening my grip on my wallet—or rather, my bankbook.

So what happened as a result?

I started spending money on a social game, only to be immediately hit with crushing guilt like, “What am I doing, spending this much money…?!”—a truly idiotic form of self-destruction.

And once you get this far, you can’t back out. You can’t leave behind a failure where you gave up halfway…!

"Gh… g-ggggh…!"

Taking advantage of the fact that my hospital room was private, I let out a small groan while lying on the bed.

No, it’s not like spending money is a bad thing.

It just means this game provided enough enjoyment and satisfaction to be worth paying for.

It’s a straightforward return for the fun I received, and a statement that I’m looking forward to future development.

…But still, come on.

A total gacha wipeout is different.

Couldn’t you be just a little kinder to your players?

Is my account bugged, maybe?

Or rather—could it please be a bug?

Or maybe there’s some special rule where the pickup just doesn’t drop from my gacha?

I’ve already hit pity three times and reached three limit breaks, yet the number of times I’ve actually pulled the pickup card is zero.

Just one more limit break… just one more, and I can finally bring out this girl’s true performance.

It already costs a stupid 300 yen per pull, and you’re telling me I still need 200 more pulls—s-sixty thousand yen…?

What’s more, out of all 600 pulls so far, the number of highest-rarity cards I’ve gotten is exactly one—and it was an off-banner.

Six hundred pulls. One 3% hit.

The expected value is eighteen. Reality is one.

Faced with that overwhelmingly bleak reality, I felt my heart slipping into darkness.

"Grgh… fate, do you hate me that much…?!"

I hate it… I hate everything in this world…!

I won’t forgive them… the people who come to taunt me on SNS… the ones who brag about pulling it in a single roll…!

And the ones who probably mean no harm, but still send me their gacha results with a “I got it lol” in response to my wipeout report on my Umatter…!

How dare they enjoy victory and joy with so much less effort than me… unforgivable…!

Gacha is an evil civilization… this world doesn’t need it.

I’ll destroy it… I’ll wipe it out…!!

I’ll start with you—this piece-of-crap smartphone in my hand—feel this boiling rage…!

Bzzz—my phone vibrated, and in my raised hand it slipped and bounced clumsily as I fumbled it.

I hurriedly grabbed it again and hit the answer and speaker buttons.

I barely use this phone as a means of contact.

Its main purposes are posting on SNS, playing social games, and watching videos.

I’ve only got about five contacts saved—relatives who helped me before I entered Tracen, a hair salon Nature recommended, that sort of thing—and I’ve turned off all SNS notifications. They’re annoying.

So if my phone vibrates under those conditions, that means—

"Trainer!"

"Yeah, hello, Hoshino Wilm. Is now a good time?"

That’s right—this is a call from my trainer, Ayumu Horino.

Coming through the phone speaker is my trainer’s voice, slightly different from usual, carried over the airwaves.

It sounds like he’s calling while walking; every now and then, I can hear passing cars and what sounds like some kind of announcement cutting in and out.

"I’m fine. Did something happen?"

"No, nothing in particular. I couldn’t come check on you today, so I just wanted to hear your voice and see how you’re doing."

"I see. …Um, I’m fine for another couple of hours."

"I’m not going to talk for two hours. …Yeah, you sound lively as always. That’s a relief."

Hehehe… he’s really being considerate of me.

It really does make me happy—having someone you like care about you like this.

I was a little disappointed that he couldn’t visit today, but I didn’t expect I’d at least get to hear his voice.

Warmth fills my heart, and without thinking, I cradle my phone in both hands.

One of the precious bonds that connects me and my trainer. Mr. Smartphone truly is a god.

It’s only because I barely managed to stop myself from breaking it earlier that I can talk to my trainer like this today.

Yeah—no matter how badly you wipe out, taking it out on objects really is a bad idea!

Everyone, even if you completely bomb your gacha, don’t take your frustration out on things!

Take good care of your belongings! Hatred creates nothing! No violence—love and peace!

"Anything unusual happen?" he asks.

"…………Nothing in particular. Oh—today I’ll be able to watch my master’s race, so I’m looking forward to that."

"Yeah. She’s a runaway Uma Musume like you, so there might be things you can learn. Make sure you watch closely."

"And you, Trainer… um, you’re back at your parents’ place, right?"

"Sorry. I really wanted to stay by your side, but… I should be able to visit you again the day after tomorrow."

From what I hear, he’s gone back to his hometown for the first time in three years.

Tazuna-san had been cornering him with a scary smile about “Please use your paid leave already,” and since he had some business to take care of back home, he decided to take it before my rehab properly begins.

…To be honest, even if it’s only two days, not being able to see him does make me a little lonely.

But my trainer has his own life too.

Trying to bind him down would be… well, not good.

I want him to like me. But the reality is, I’m not even on his radar that way yet.

I’m nowhere near a stage where I can say, “I want you to look only at me.” He doesn’t have those feelings for me.

If I tried to be possessive at a time like this, I’d just end up being disliked—one-sidedly.

And honestly, I don’t want to be a heavy woman.

I like Trainer Ayumu Horino—as a person, and romantically.

But that doesn’t mean I think he’s obligated to accept my feelings and return them in kind.

You see people like that all the time—mentally unstable types who go, “I love you this much, so why don’t you understand?!”—but that’s just selfish, ego-driven love that doesn’t consider the other person at all.

Throw away that naive idea that if you give something, you’re entitled to something in return.

This world isn’t that kind. I know that very well.

If you want to be loved, you have no choice but to become someone the other person wants to love.

What you really need to do is properly appeal your own charm so that the other person comes to want you—while making sure you never become a burden.

Fulfilling your own romantic feelings matters, but that desire holds the same value as the other person’s feelings.

Neither gets priority by default.

What’s important is respecting their feelings while naturally tilting them in your direction.

In other words, winning them over. …No, that sounds a bit bad. Getting them to genuinely like you, I guess.

If you don’t build the relationship properly from the ground up, it’ll never last.

…And that concludes my personal romance philosophy, brought to you by someone who devoured over a hundred romance manga in her previous life.

Well, this applies to more than just romance.

You’re never going to be liked or valued by laying bare your ugly emotions and ego.

Those desires shouldn’t be flaunted—but neither should they be crushed. It’s best to sublimate them in a balanced way.

So… yeah.

…This much should be okay to say.

"I’m lonely, so please come back soon.

…No—please come back soon, okay?"

"…Yeah. I’ll definitely come see you the day after tomorrow."

After that, we talked for about ten more minutes before the call ended.

I hug the phone—now silent—against my chest, almost without thinking.

Ah… I really do love him.

Trainer Horino… Ayumu Horino.

And beyond that—purely as friends—I love Nature, Teio, and Meek-senpai too.

My master, Bourbon-chan, and all my juniors… I think I love them all.

I like the environment I’m in right now.

I love it so much that I want it to last forever.

I know how fortunate this environment is.

I know just how rare and precious it is in a cruel world like this.

That’s why…

"…I really don’t want it to break."

…A little over a week ago.

When Teio asked me, “Why do you call Turbo your master?”, I got so shaken and tense that I couldn’t hide it behind my mask.

I was scared.

I thought that if they found out I had memories of a previous life… they might look at me with those same eyes again.

I know logically that it wouldn’t happen.

Nature and Teio are both incredibly kind. If anything, my trainer would surely accept it.

Even if I understand that in my head, I’m still afraid.

Because if this environment were to collapse now… I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to endure it this time.

"But someday… I hope there’ll come a day when I can tell at least my trainer."

It was a faint hope, with no guarantees at all.

…But knowing that the future might hold hope felt far warmer, and far more comforting, than I’d expected.

---

After finishing my call with my trainer, I tried rolling the gacha again—and ended up getting two hits in the very first ten-pull, which somehow left me feeling conflicted…

After leaving traces of this disastrous pull on SNS, I spent some time calming myself down by watching pet videos on a video site, letting my heart settle as time passed…

The time was just past 3:30 p.m.

It was about when the race Double Jet—my master—would be running in, the Radio NIKKEI Sho.

Lying on my bed, I watched the race broadcast on my smartphone.

G3, the Radio NIKKEI Sho.

Fukushima Racecourse, right-handed, turf 1800 meters. The weather was sunny, and the track condition was announced as good.

I’ve never run at Fukushima Racecourse, so I can’t say for sure, but…

Even if the climbs are gentle, having to clear uphill sections three times might be slightly tough for my master, who’s a full-on runaway-type Uma Musume.

Still, the distance is 1800 meters—within the mile range.

I don’t think it’s a race that demands that much stamina.

My master is a runaway Uma Musume through and through.

Her main strategy will be to build a lead early and somehow hold on to it until the end.

The short distance should generally work in her favor…

"Yeah, she should be fine."

From afar, the camera captures my master’s figure.

As always, she’s heading into the race with a bright, eager smile.

There’s no sign of poor condition in her demeanor.

Even if she’s the fifth favorite, her ability is the real deal.

As long as she doesn’t get overly tense or worked up…

Knock, knock, knock—the door to my hospital room is tapped in a steady rhythm.

Huh, who could that be?

It’s not time for the nurse, and Teio and Nature both said they couldn’t come today.

It’s definitely not my trainer either—he’s supposed to be back at his parents’ place…

What if it’s some weird member of the press? I can’t let anyone contact me without going through my trainer first.

…That said, I can’t exactly leave them waiting outside forever.

Staying a bit on guard, I invite the visitor in.

"Please, come in."

"Excuse me."

The reply is a voice I’ve heard somewhere before.

That cold, clear tone—one I haven’t heard in a while—is…

"Mihono Bourbon-chan."

"Yes. It’s been a while, Hoshino Wilm-senpai."

The one who enters after opening the door is my junior.

A junior-class Uma Musume—Mihono Bourbon-chan.

Mihono Bourbon.

Her long chestnut hair is beautiful. She’s tall and well-endowed—far too mature-looking to be just one year younger than me.

From my perspective, constantly troubled by my childish figure, I honestly envy her in a lot of ways.

She appeared in an anime in my previous life as well—a girl who was always calm and stoic, hard to read emotionally, and expressionless.

…Her hair color and build are different, but at a glance, our overall vibe overlaps quite a bit.

Ah, but there’s one major trait she has that I could never imitate.

I don’t think she talked quite like this in the anime, but in this world, Bourbon-chan speaks in a strangely mechanical way—almost like an android.

It’s an incredibly striking trait, one you never forget once you’ve heard it.

As someone who’s been worrying lately about being too unremarkable, I envy that too. …Though maybe it’s just a case of “the grass always seems greener.”

As for me and Bourbon-chan, we actually talked once not too long ago.

If I remember right, it was just before the Satsuki Sho… so that would make it about two months ago now.

The content of that conversation is… when I think about it now, I’m not entirely sure what to make of it.

In short, I think it was her asking for advice—saying that her bloodline wasn’t suited for middle-to-long distances, but she still wanted to aim for the Classic Triple Crown somehow.

For some reason, in this world, Bourbon-chan is being evaluated as a sprinter.

That same Bourbon-chan who, in my previous life’s anime, went undefeated and claimed two crowns.

Well, to be fair, Uma Musume racing has an aspect often referred to as a “blood sport.”

In most cases, an Uma Musume’s mother’s optimal distance and running style have a huge influence on the child—or rather, they determine the majority of her innate aptitude.

That’s widely known common sense.

And according to that logic, Bourbon-chan’s bloodline is apparently suited for sprinting.

As a result, many trainers and people involved see her as a budding sprinter.

…But blood isn’t absolute.

There’s the gray-haired monster who apparently took the world by storm not long ago, Oguri Cap-san, now part of the Dream Trophy League.

There’s the golden-generation, two-crown Uma Musume who won the Satsuki Sho, the Kikuka Sho, and this year’s Tenno Sho (Spring)—the trickster, Seiun Sky-senpai.

And above all, there’s me—Hoshino Wilm.

There really are Uma Musume who surpassed the limits of their bloodlines through individual talent and the effort they piled up together with their trainers—without relying on pedigree. And they’re not rare, either.

I’m sure Bourbon-chan is one of those Uma Musume.

So when I gave an honest response—“I think you can do it. Your trainer said the same”—she looked surprised, thanked me, and that was the end of it.

Looking back on it now, I don’t really know what she came to terms with, or whether I actually helped solve her worries at all.

…Well, if I’m being honest, whenever junior-class girls bring me their problems, most of what I do is just listen.

At best, I pass things along to their trainers, have them introduce a trainer who suits the girl, or relay some advice.

I don’t exactly feel like a dependable senior… and yet, even after that, people still come to me for advice from time to time. It’s a mystery.

Anyway, two months passed after that.

I’d been busy, so I hadn’t really had time to talk with Bourbon-chan at all, but… I never expected her to come visit me while I was laid up.

"Welcome, Bourbon-chan. Did you come to visit?"

"Yes. Executing Operation: Visit."

…Once again, that way of speaking really leaves an impression.

I’m an Uma Musume without much in the way of standout traits beyond being strong, so honestly, I envy how clearly defined Bourbon-chan’s character is.

Whether you’re appealing to the public or to a trainer, character really matters.

Having weak character is, by itself, pretty much fatal.

On top of that, my body is as unimpressive as you can see… If I were implemented as a gacha character in a mobile game, I doubt anyone would pull for me at all.

Ah—right.

"Sorry, could you wait a bit? A friend of mine has a graded race coming up."

My master’s race is about to start.

I can talk with Bourbon-chan tomorrow too, but Jet Master’s Radio Nikkei Sho is a once-only thing.

I feel bad about it, but I’ll have to prioritize this.

"…I express my apologies. I’m sorry for intruding."

"It’s fine. But could you wait about ten minutes?"

"Affirmative. Mihono Bourbon transitioning to standby mode."

"…It’d feel bad to just make you wait. Let’s watch the race together. Here."

I scoot over to the side to make space for Bourbon-chan and prop my phone up against the bed.

…They’re just loading into the gate. That was close.

"The senior’s friend would be…?"

"Gate four, horse seven—Dab… Twin Turbo-shi… chan."

"Twin Turbo-senpai. Is she strong?"

"Mm… yeah. At least among this field, I think she is."

It might sound a bit mean to put it that way, but it’s true.

The Radio Nikkei Sho my master is running in this time is a G3 race—the lowest tier among graded races.

Naturally, when the tier is lower, there are fewer top-class competitors.

My master took a while to fully come into form, and her raw specs are modest. Even so, within this lineup, she’s apparently among the stronger contenders.

According to her trainer, “If Twin Turbo runs in top condition, there’s a seventy percent chance she wins.”

Judging from the projected race development, Twin Turbo currently has the stamina to push a high pace from start to finish.

If there’s any concern, it’s whether she can nail the start dash, seize the lead early, and avoid getting overexcited by focusing too much on what’s happening behind her.

If those points are cleared, the trainer says Twin Turbo has the specs to finish first more often than not.

Of course, if this were a G2 or G1, the baseline pace would be much faster, demanding even more speed.

That would drive stamina requirements way up, making it impossible to maintain such a high pace throughout… but for a G3 at this distance, my master has the ability to run it cleanly.

That’s why I think “strong within this field” is a fair assessment.

…I gave Bourbon-chan a summarized version of all that, making sure to note that it was straight from the trainer.

"Our trainer gets race development predictions right about ninety percent of the time, so I think it’s safe to trust him."

"I see."

As we were talking, the Radio Nikkei Sho began.

From within the pack, my master steadily pushed forward, briefly contesting the lead before cleanly taking first position.

I was worried she might have gone too hard in the early scramble… but she quickly opened up a gap of about three lengths and began to run away with it.

By the final straight, the gap had closed to around one length. Then, after refocusing, my master accelerated again, widening it back out to roughly three lengths—

In the end, the chasing pack couldn’t catch her, and she crossed the finish line just like that.

Twin Turbo claimed her first graded-race victory in brilliant fashion.

…Phew. I was a little tense, but that’s a relief.

"Yeah, there were some minor speed changes, but it was a high pace from start to finish—no openings at all.

She didn’t slow down drastically and closed it out cleanly. That distance might suit Turbo-chan the best."

It was a beautiful wire-to-wire win.

Running fast from start to finish like that—of course no one could catch her. It was like watching a runaway from another dimension.

All in all, it was a great race, one that made the six-month delay feel like nothing.

"So, what did you think, Bourbon-chan?"

"…Creating separation and preventing interference from the pack behind. As you described, I analyzed it as a running style close to that of Hoshino Wilm-senpai."

"Yeah. Both she and I are good at that kind of run."

After all, a full breakaway means you don’t have to deal with pressure from the Uma Musume behind you.

For the old me, who was weak to pressure from the rear, it was about as perfect a running style as you could get.

Like I showed in the Takarazuka Kinen, I can run a normal lead now too… but I’m still most comfortable with a big escape—easy to go solo, easy to pull tricks.

"I hope you can find a running style that suits you too, Bourbon-chan."

"A running style that suits me…"

Bourbon-chan lowered her gaze slightly and fell into thought.

Coming from someone like me—who didn’t even understand her own aptitude until she arrived at Tracen—it might sound rich to say this, but I really do think each Uma Musume has a running style that suits her best.

Some are weak against the pressure radiating from other Uma Musume, while others only reach peak condition precisely because they’re surrounded by it.

Some have a sharp, explosive finishing kick they unleash all at once, while others excel at steadily pressing forward little by little.

Uma Musume are all different. There’s no single “correct answer” for what’s fastest. Each of us has to find our own fastest way of running.

For example—among us, the so-called Star Generation.

Teio runs best when she stalks the pace, holds a good position, then breaks free and accelerates from the third corner.

Nature prefers to close, gradually narrowing the gap from behind before launching a decisive sprint at just the right moment.

As for me, I’m all about the big escape—blast off at the start, conserve my legs through the middle, then blast off again at the end.

I don’t know what kind of running style will suit Bourbon-chan, but until she finds it… she may be forced into some tough races early on.

Apparently, Silence Suzuka-senpai was exactly that type—her results didn’t really shine until she reached the senior class.

The shortest path, of course, is to meet a trainer who can teach you that… but—

"…Oh, right. I heard this from a junior-class girl—Bourbon-chan, is it true you don’t have a contracted trainer yet? If you’d like, I could talk to my trainer and ask him to introduce someone to you."

"Regarding that matter… Hoshino Wilm-senpai, I have a request."

Bourbon-chan lifted her face, straightened her posture, and looked me directly in the eyes as she spoke.

"Hoshino Wilm-senpai, I wish to be contracted by Horino Trainer, who is currently responsible for you. However, his response has not been favorable… If it would be acceptable, I would greatly appreciate your cooperation."