Umamusume, But I Have a Danmaku Loan System! [1] & Synopsis

Silver Blizzard is caught in a horrific car accident that leaves both her legs broken—and her debut race is the very next day!

She promised her childhood friend Orfevre that they would reach the summit together within three years. How could she possibly accept this?

On the brink of despair, she awakens the Danmaku Loan System!

[TAKE OUT A LOAN AND CLAIM VICTORY IN YOUR DEBUT RACE!]

[TAKE OUT A LOAN TO BOOST YOUR TRAINING RESULTS!]

[TAKE OUT A LOAN AND STRIKE BACK AT EVERYONE WHO LOOKS DOWN ON YOU!]

As the armchair strategists behind the danmaku enthusiastically take out loans, Silver Blizzard defeats one formidable rival after another!

Gentildonna, winner of the Triple Tiara? Nothing special!

Lord Kanaloa, the pinnacle of sprinting? Coming through!

Just a Way, the world’s top racehorse? Give me a break!

At last, the time comes for Silver Blizzard to repay her loans!

Surrounded by her opponents, Silver Blizzard breaks out in a cold sweat.

“I’m just going for a run. Why are you all acting like I’m about to die?”

In a renowned Tokyo hospital, Silver Blizzard stared at her heavily bandaged legs, her heart heavy with grief.

Her legs were broken.

Not from overuse or some hereditary disease. She had simply been sent flying by a big ass truck barreling at full speed while she was on her way to school.

Silver Blizzard had no idea how to describe her luck.

If she called herself unlucky… she had somehow survived being struck head-on by a speeding truck.

But if she insisted she was lucky… the legs that mattered more than anything to an Umamusume had been completely ruined.

After assessing her injuries, the doctors reached their conclusion.

“Unless a miracle happens, I’m afraid you may never stand on a racetrack again.”

The pink-haired Umamusume with the jellyfish cut immediately broke down at those words.

Silver Blizzard’s debut race was scheduled for tomorrow. Well, that settled it. She would not have to race tomorrow—or ever again.

Sitting on the hospital bed, she breathed in the harsh scent of disinfectant. The lights overhead were bright enough to make her dizzy, and a memory of a snowy night in Hokkaido two years earlier rose to the surface of her mind.

“Three years from now, I’ll make the whole world know my name!”

“Blizzard, let’s meet again at the summit of the Central circuit!”

“Of course, Orfevre!”

She and her childhood friend from Hokkaido had promised that once they reached Central, they would meet again at the very pinnacle of the racetrack.

That childhood friend had debuted in Central a year before her and was now a Triple Crown winner at the height of her glory.

Orfevre had already kept her promise.

What about me?

If a single accident could strip her of the right to stand on the racetrack, then what had been the point of the life she had spent working toward that promise?

Had it all been nothing more than a fragile illusion?

Silver Blizzard refused to accept that!

Even with broken legs, I’ll stand on that racetrack!

I’ll keep our promise!

Whatever the price, I’ll pay it! My life cannot have been meaningless!

The moment Silver Blizzard made that declaration in her heart, a strange voice sounded in her mind.

[HOST’S NEEDS DETECTED. DANMAKU LOAN SYSTEM ACTIVATED!]

Danmaku Loan System???

Silver Blizzard’s lips parted slightly, confusion filling her crystalline rose-pink eyes.

As though sensing her bewilderment, the voice in her head began to explain.

[THE DANMAKU LOAN SYSTEM REQUESTS A CONTRACT WITH THE HOST!]

[ONCE THE CONTRACT HAS BEEN SIGNED, THE LOAN SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE THE HOST WITH ANY NECESSARY LOANS! THE HOST MAY DRAW UPON POWER IN ADVANCE, WITH REPAYMENT DUE AFTER THE HOST’S RACE!]

[THIS SYSTEM SERVES THE DANMAKU. THE HOST MAY VIEW DANMAKU COMMENTS. RECEIVING POSITIVE REVIEWS FROM THE DANMAKU WILL GREATLY INCREASE THE HOST’S CREDIT LIMIT!]

[WARNING! AS THE SYSTEM’S CONTRACTED PARTY, THE HOST MUST NOT COMMUNICATE DIRECTLY WITH THE DANMAKU! IN THE EVENT OF A BREACH, THE SYSTEM WILL AUTOMATICALLY DETACH!]

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO SIGN THE CONTRACT?]

A long string of characters crackled into existence in Silver Blizzard’s mind. The shock of something so fantastical was no less intense than the shock of being hit by the truck.

But amid her astonishment, Silver Blizzard caught one particular phrase used by the so-called Danmaku Loan System.

“Draw upon power in advance…”

“Can I borrow power right now and stand on the racetrack again?”

[OF COURSE! THE SYSTEM WILL BRING THE HOST A MIRACLE, AND THE HOST WILL BRING ENTERTAINMENT TO THE DANMAKU ON THE SYSTEM’S BEHALF! WIN-WIN!]

“I can stand on the racetrack again…”

Silver Blizzard lowered her head. Her gaze settled on her legs, wrapped in bandages until they resembled rice dumplings. Her pale hands clenched the bedsheet so tightly that veins stood out across their backs, betraying the turmoil in her heart.

A way out of a hopeless situation?

Heh.

Then I’ll seize it!

Was her career as an Umamusume supposed to end before it had even begun? Was she supposed to abandon her dream over one measly traffic accident?

There was something she had to do. There were still words she had to say to someone!

Giving up now was how losers think!

“Let’s sign the contract, System.”

Silver Blizzard raised her head, determination filling her pink eyes.

[CONTRACT SIGNED SUCCESSFULLY!]

[DANMAKU SYSTEM ACTIVATED!]

[LOAN SYSTEM ACTIVATED!]

A series of fragmented electronic tones rang through Silver Blizzard’s mind, and then an entirely new world opened before her.

[Is the new season of Umamusume starting?! The first comment is mine!!]

[Is this the world of Umamusume? Whoa, who’s this Umamusume with the pink jellyfish hair? She’s so cute! Wife!]

[The protagonist’s name is… Silver Blizzard? Was there a real racehorse with that name?]

[Looking for traces of real racehorses in a fictional anime? You people are hopeless.]

[The anime description says it’s an Umamusume story set in 2011. Isn’t that the beginning of a golden age? I’m looking forward to this.]

[Am I the only one who thinks the pink-haired jellyfish look is kind of hot…?]

Utter chaos.

Those were the only words Silver Blizzard could use to describe the danmaku filling her vision.

It was as though hundreds upon thousands of people were revealing their innermost thoughts directly in front of her, all at once. The bizarre experience sent a shiver through her entire body.

Although they were only lines of text floating before her eyes, their contents made her feel like an actress standing center stage before a vast audience.

Was she thrilled? Uneasy?

Silver Blizzard could not identify exactly what she was feeling, but none of that mattered. The most important thing right now was the loan!

She had signed the contract for the express purpose of borrowing power!

[THE HOST IS SCHEDULED TO PARTICIPATE IN A DEBUT RACE. A LOAN MAY BE TAKEN OUT TO SECURE VICTORY IN THE DEBUT RACE!]

[WARNING: ONCE THIS LOAN IS APPROVED, ALL ASSETS IN THE HOST’S NAME WILL BE REDUCED TO ZERO.]

Silver Blizzard’s lips twitched when she saw the terms.

All her assets for a single debut-race victory?

What a scam!

You predatory System!

But after thinking it over, the price was actually reasonable.

After all, the doctors had already passed judgment on her injuries:

—Unless a miracle happens, I’m afraid you may never stand on a racetrack again.

All she had to do was spend everything she owned, and she would be able to stand on the racetrack again?

This miracle was far cheaper than she had imagined.

Besides, Silver Blizzard did not own much in the first place.

There were plenty of wealthy Umamusume in the world, but she was not one of them. Even if she truly lost all her assets, there simply was not much for her to lose.

I accept the loan.

Silver Blizzard thought with complete confidence, adopting the fearless attitude of someone with nothing left to lose.

[LOAN APPROVED!]

[THE HOST’S INJURIES HAVE BEEN STABILIZED. RUNNING IS NOW POSSIBLE!]

[DEBUT RACE VICTORY FORMULA ESTABLISHED!]

[DURING THE DEBUT RACE, STRAIGHT-LINE SPEED WILL TEMPORARILY INCREASE! CORNERING SPEED WILL TEMPORARILY INCREASE! WHILE ON THE RACETRACK, THE PRESSURE THE HOST EXERTS ON OPPOSING UMAMUSUME WILL TEMPORARILY INCREASE! TRACK APTITUDE WILL TEMPORARILY INCREASE!]

The System notifications continued without end. Silver Blizzard felt a warm current welling up from deep within her body, filling her with powerful energy and dulling much of the pain in her legs.

Was the loan already active? It worked that quickly?

Silver Blizzard looked down at her bandaged legs. With some apprehension, she unwound the bandages and removed the splints holding her bones in place.

A hideous wound stretched across one knee, which should have been pale and smooth. Through it, she could faintly make out the bone beneath the flesh…

“…Can I really run?”

The ghastly wound immediately shattered Silver Blizzard’s composure.

No wonder the doctors had said she might never stand on a racetrack again. Her injuries truly were that severe…

The power provided by the loan had not repaired her legs. The horrific wound was proof enough of that.

The terms of the loan had been to exchange all her assets for the power to win her debut race.

Nowhere in those terms had it ever said that her legs would be healed.

The System had merely stabilized her injuries so they would not worsen. That was all. It truly refused to do a single thing beyond what had been specified.

Playing word games, are you…?

Silver Blizzard’s shapely brows drew together. Clearly dissatisfied, she asked the System a question.

What price would I have to pay to take out a loan that repairs my legs?

[OH, HOST. THAT WILL COST EXTRA.]

[PLEASE OBTAIN ENOUGH POSITIVE REVIEWS FROM THE DANMAKU TO INCREASE YOUR CREDIT LIMIT.]

The System’s meaning was clear. It could repair her legs, but Silver Blizzard needed a sufficiently high credit limit first.

Silver Blizzard was no fool. She quickly worked out what she needed to do next.

Compete in races. Win spectacularly for the danmaku. Entertain them with her victories and raise her credit limit. Then, finally, repair her legs!

I don’t know what price I’ll have to pay to heal them, but I have no intention of spending the rest of my life in a wheelchair.

With that thought, Silver Blizzard climbed out of bed and placed her bare feet on the floor.

The instant she stood, the wound in her knee sent agonizing pain through her. Yet at the same time, Silver Blizzard felt as though she could break into a full-speed sprint at any moment.

Was this contradiction between what she felt and what her body could do an effect of the loan?

Silver Blizzard did not know. But she had a feeling that as long as she could endure the pain, she could run even faster than she had before the accident.

Still, I should probably do something about this wound first.

If she ran onto the track with a bloody, mangled wound on full display, Silver Blizzard suspected the officials would stop her after only a few steps and have her forcibly carried away on a stretcher.

That would not do.

She had gone to all the trouble of borrowing the power she needed to stand on the racetrack. Dropping dead halfway through would be far too anticlimactic.

Silver Blizzard took a fresh roll of bandages from the hospital room and wound it around her legs again and again. Her technique was certainly not professional, but if all she needed was to conceal the wound, the bandages would suffice.

Umamusume wore all kinds of bizarre outfits during races. A few extra layers of bandages around her legs should not be a problem.

As Silver Blizzard wrapped her legs, the danmaku before her showed no sign of stopping.

[That wound is terrifying.]

[No way. Her legs are already like that, and she still plans to enter her debut race?]

[Silver Blizzard is hardcore. She’s really going to race with an injury like that?! If she called me a coward, I wouldn’t have a word to say in my defense!]

[Running with an injury that bad is the kind of thing only anime would dare show. If a real horse got hurt like that, it’d probably end up in the glue factory…]

[Hey, previous commenter! Don’t break the setting!]

Parts of the danmaku’s conversation left Silver Blizzard confused.

Horse?

What was that?

The term sounded vaguely similar to “Umamusume”…

Silver Blizzard vaguely realized that the world the danmaku knew did not seem to match her own, though she still had no idea exactly where the discrepancy lay.

The System would not allow her to communicate with the danmaku either, so Silver Blizzard had no choice but to swallow her questions.

Once her legs were bandaged, Silver Blizzard went through the discharge formalities while the doctors looked on in horror. Although they insisted that she remain for treatment, Silver Blizzard was adamant about leaving.

After being discharged, Silver Blizzard returned to her residence in Tokyo.

Most Umamusume at Central Tracen Academy lived in the school dormitories, but she was an exception.

For various reasons, she was not currently living on campus.

Silver Blizzard’s room was very clean. There was not much inside, but it contained all the basic necessities of daily life. Her training schedule also hung on the wall.

[Whoa, what is this training schedule? Not a single rest day all week?]

[Who knew Blizzard was such a hardcore grinder?]

[Can her body really handle this?]

[There’s no way a normal human could manage such an absurd training load!]

Silver Blizzard felt somewhat embarrassed when the danmaku began criticizing her training schedule.

Her training load might have been just a tiny bit excessive… but was that not because her natural talent was only average?

If someone with average talent did not work hard, was that not the same as willingly letting themselves go to waste?

The geniuses worked themselves to the bone too. Slacking off would only allow them to widen the gap even further!

“Come to think of it, the entry list for tomorrow’s race should be out…”

After a moment’s thought, Silver Blizzard turned on the computer at the back of the room. The entry list appeared before her and the danmaku.

The next second, the number of comments in front of Silver Blizzard exploded like ignited gunpowder.

[That Triple Tiara winner, Gentildonna?!]

[Whoa, whoa, whoa!]

[Why is she on the entry list for this debut race?!]

[Poor little Blizzard’s first race while badly injured is against Gentildonna?!]

[She just got out of Jujutsu High, and now she has to fight Sukuna?!]

[Next episode: Heading South.]

Silver Blizzard froze at the intensity of the danmaku’s reaction.

Gentildonna…

She had never heard that name before.

But judging by the danmaku’s response, she had to be an incredibly formidable Umamusume…

C-could I win?

Unease filled Silver Blizzard.

T/N: OH! she’s not a transmigrator teehee, anyway voting after the first 5 chapters!

This is a fan translation of 赛马娘，但我有弹幕贷款系统！by 整活的猫 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!