Shuta An selected several replies at random and responded to them one by one. The engagent velocity far exceeded his expectations. The platform's activity density was on an entirely different level compared to blogs.
Without further comntary, he forwarded his full chat history with Symboli Rudolf to Oguri Cap.
"I think you should consider registering an account as well," he typed. "As an active Uma Musu in the Dream Trophy Series, maintaining public visibility is strategically important."
Oguri Cap replied with a single "?"
Before he could question it, another ssage followed.
"So Ann never had Twitter before? I thought you just didn't want to know."
"I only registered today after Miss Rudolf approached ," he replied. "I originally agreed out of courtesy, but the engagent trics are significantly higher than blog traffic. It would benefit you."
A voice ssage arrived.
"Ann, check your follower list."
He opened Twitter and imdiately saw a verified account with a carrot burger as its avatar. The na left no ambiguity. Clicking in confird it—Oguri Cap's account.
He followed her at once. From her following list, he quickly located Berno Light's verified account and followed that as well. Operational completeness mattered.
"This is Sadalsuud's official account, right?" Oguri Cap ssaged again. "Ann could also create a personal secondary account to share daily life."
"Understood," he replied.
He had intended to advise her, yet sohow ended up being advised instead. He chose not to ntion Twitter to Silence Suzuka or the others imdiately. After this exchange, he had a suspicion he might already be behind the curve.
That suspicion proved correct.
That evening, when they regrouped, Silence Suzuka brought up his Twitter activity on her own initiative. He explained again that it was the team's official account.
Tokai Teio blinked. "Then shouldn't Trainer follow the team mbers' accounts too?"
He paused.
Fortunately, he had already followed Oguri and Berno earlier. If he had delayed, today would have involved four consecutive losses of face. He promptly followed the accounts of Tokai Teio, Silence Suzuka, and jiro Dober as well.
Instead of putting his phone away, he turned to Suzuka.
"Did you take photos today? Select a few and send them to . I'll process and upload them. It counts as promotion."
"Teio took a lot," Suzuka replied calmly, glancing at Tokai Teio.
Tokai Teio stuck out her tongue. "I took so many because I wanted to choose so for Umastagram."
"Umastagram?" He searched briefly, brows tightening. After reviewing it, he dismissed the idea internally.
"Lower information density than Twitter. Photo-mandatory posts. Not suitable for official updates."
That night, each of the three Uma Musu sent him three selected photos via Line. He blurred out bystanders to protect privacy. No retouching was necessary—the girls required no enhancent. He uploaded the images with a simple caption:
"Had a great ti exploring Hakodate today!"
Afterward, he put his phone down and enjoyed the open-air bath.
He did not check Twitter again until the following morning.
In the Dream World, he chose to remain in Hokkaido for the sumr lull in major races. Taking Tokai Teio's remarks to heart, he thoroughly explored Hakodate in that realm as well.
Upon waking, he frowned faintly.
"What is this…subconscious synchronization?"
He let the thought go and checked Twitter.
The engagent had multiplied overnight. Retweets, replies, and likes climbed rapidly. The positive feedback loop was imdiate and visible—far more stimulating than blog comnts, which often felt obligatory.
"It seems this requires proper managent," he muttered. "Team popularity has asurable leverage."
Still, performance remained paramount. Social dia was auxiliary. He limited himself to one to three posts per day and redirected most of his cognitive bandwidth toward the Hakodate Nisai Stakes.
After three consecutive days of being dragged across Hakodate by Tokai Teio, jiro Dober finally gathered her courage on the fourth morning.
"These past few days, while we've been sightseeing, Trainer has stayed in the hotel working," she said carefully. "Shouldn't we invite him out with us today?"
Tokai Teio covered her mouth dramatically. "Wow…I didn't expect Dober to say that."
"Why?" Dober asked, genuinely confused.
"Because you're nervous around the opposite sex, aren't you? Even with Trainer, it's just less severe. Being alone with him would still be difficult, right?"
Dober's gaze shifted slightly.
"But Suzuka-senpai and Teio would co too," she replied softly. "And…I can't feel at ease knowing Trainer is the only one not enjoying a vacation."
Tokai Teio grinned imdiately.
"Then let's bring him along! Suzuka-senpai definitely won't object."
So, Shuta Trainer—who had originally planned to research Super Dress training conditions today—was dragged out of the hotel by Tokai Teio.
Their first stop was Goryokaku Park. Its predecessor had been a star-shaped fortress built by the Edo Shogunate in the late Edo period, on what is now the outskirts of Hakodate City. Nearly a century ago, it was converted into a public park and opened to visitors free of charge.
A thirty-minute tram ride from the hotel brought the group of four to Goryokaku Park. Tokai Teio, having skimd its Wiki introduction beforehand, remarked, "Co to think of it, we've been staying in the suburbs of Hakodate these past few days, haven't we?"
"That's right." Shuta An's mouth twitched. "It's very close to Hakodate Racecourse and is one of Hokkaido's famous hot spring resorts. Otherwise, why do you think our hotel has 'Yunokawa' in its na? It's located in Yunokawa, one of Hokkaido's three major hot spring towns."
"What are the other two?" Though born and raised in Japan, Tokai Teio didn't actually know—since childhood, she had preferred playing by the sea to soaking in hot springs. In places like Yunokawa, which combine 'hot springs plus seaside,' she would always choose the ocean.
"Noboribetsu and Jozankei," Shuta An replied. "When Oguri was recuperating, I took her to the forr for a while and happened to et Miss Tamamo Cross's family. Jozankei is near Sapporo. If anyone on the team signs up for a race there, we can consider visiting."
"So that ans not until at least next sumr," jiro Dober thought. Shuta An had already finalized the team's race schedule for the year; it was impossible for him to return to Hokkaido for just one person.
At the center of Goryokaku Park stood the reconstructed Hakodate Magistrate's Office. The restoration had employed nurous traditional techniques, aiming to "restore the old as it was."
However, Shuta An, who had little interest in architecture, simply followed behind the Uma Musu, making sure Tokai Teio didn't dash off on her own.
After a brief tour, they headed to Goryokaku Tower at the edge of the park. Despite its corner location, the area was bustling. The first floor housed a souvenir shop, the second a restaurant and dessert shop, the third an observation deck, and the fourth a bronze statue of Hijikata Toshizo.
Uninterested in the Shinsengumi, Shuta An let the Uma Musu explore the historical corridor and the statue upstairs. Carrying a bag of souvenirs, he settled onto a sofa on the observation deck to rest.
As he idly scrolled through his phone, he noticed tourists in one corner of the deck dispersing. Looking up, he saw a familiar figure standing beside a photographer, the cara trained on a petite, gray-haired Uma Musu.
Coincidentally, he had seen her just the night before while browsing umastagram; the official recomndations had shown him her selfie taken on a bus. While "cute" was often a polite complint for ordinary girls, he felt the word suited her perfectly.
Are they filming sothing and asking tourists to clear space? he wondered. They convinced everyone awfully fast—impressive.
As he watched, the Uma Musu standing beside the photographer casually scanned her surroundings and noticed him. She raised a brow, turned, and walked over.
eting her gaze, Shuta An recognized her at once—it was Kurofune, whom he had coincidentally encountered in Hokkaido, Paris, and Tokyo.
"This is truly—" He shook his head with a smile. "A little too coincidental."
"Indeed," Kurofune replied as she approached. "I didn't expect to et you here, Shuta Trainer."
"It looks like you're traveling in Hokkaido with a friend?" His gaze shifted past her shoulder to the Uma Musu in the corner—Curren Chan forrly known to him as Kirin through Kurofune accents.
"Sothing like that. Kirin needed to shoot so photos and short videos in Hokkaido. My academy is on sumr break, and I had nothing better to do, so she dragged along to look around." Kurofune spread her hands lightly.
"You're studying at Central Tracen Academy?" Shuta An blinked at her phrasing.
"Yes. I've heard quite a lot about you there." She covered her mouth with a soft chuckle. "I never expected to have crossed paths with the Academy's recognized strongest Trainer even before enrolling."
"Fate works in curious ways," he said, smoothly guiding the conversation onward. "Have you chosen a team yet?"
"I'm not in a hurry." She tilted her head. "I'm still in the elentary division; my debut is so ti away. Most teams prefer recruits whose full-fledged training is about to begin or has already started. Team funds are limited, and soone like would be a long-term burden."
She wasn't wrong—for most teams. But Sadalsuud was different. With high team points, ample academy funding, substantial prize winnings, and his own savings, it was the wealthiest team at Central.
With that in mind, Shuta An opened his attribute viewer. Even the most basic data would suffice.
Ignoring irrelevant details like height and weight, his eyes went straight to her track adaptability.
"Turf A, Dirt S—?"
It wasn't the first ti he had seen an Uma Musu equally suited to both surfaces. Even Oguri Cap, who had claid major victories on turf and dirt, didn't possess A-rank dirt adaptability. And Kurofune's S-rank dirt compatibility required no additional training. He would never forget Oguri Cap's explosive improvent once her Mile aptitude reached A . The thought of an innate S in dirt was—tempting.
Her distance aptitude showed Mile A, Middle Distance B, and both Long and Short Distance at G. The Middle Distance B likely reflected limitations at 2400 ters; she was probably closer to B at 2000.
Over ti, he had learned not to rely entirely on the viewer—Silence Suzuka's Middle Distance rating had been A as well, yet her performance at 2400 ters told another story. As for running styles, her lowest was C-rank Pace-Chaser, while Front Runner and Sashi (Late and End Closer) were both A.
The decision ford in an instant.
"Miss Kurofune," he said, "if you're interested, once the holiday ends—or rather, when I return to the Academy in October—co to for a test. If all goes well, my team would be more than happy to welco you."
Before she could respond, Curren Chan finished her shoot and trotted over. "Kurofune-oneesan!"
She had been about to complain about Kurofune slipping away mid-shoot, but the mont her gaze t Shuta An's, she froze.
"Eh?"
The sparkle in her eyes vanished instantly.
(Puzzle solved. Kirin was Curren Chan. But I won't change the na before this as it was supposed as misdirection)
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