"Go on, scram!" The dreadlocked dojo master waved Mizuno off impatiently, urging him to leave.
"…I see…" Mizuno lowered his head, rubbing his chin in thought.
He'd already visited every wrestling dojo in the city, and every answer had been the same—no such technique existed. None that could ever let a human defeat an Uma Musume.
No leads here. And the odds of finding anything in the rest of Japan weren't looking any better.
Maybe America? Wrestling was more developed there. Maybe someone overseas had actually figured out how to beat an Uma Musume through pure physical skill.
"That might be the only way left…" Mizuno sighed. It was the only plan he could come up with.
As he pondered his next step, the dreadlocked master suddenly glanced around nervously, checking the area before slipping something into Mizuno's hand.
"Huh? What's this?" Mizuno opened his palm to find a folded note, blinking in confusion.
"Another mental hospital?" he muttered, his mouth twitching. After all, the last few addresses he'd gotten from dojo masters had all led to psychiatric wards.
But just as he started unfolding the paper, the dreadlocked master grabbed his wrist to stop him.
"Shh…" The man pressed a finger to his lips, eyes darting warily across the empty street.
"…" Even Mizuno, slow as he was, realized something was up. The man clearly had a secret he couldn't say out loud. Mizuno stayed quiet, waiting.
After double-checking that no one else was nearby, the dreadlocked master finally exhaled, patted Mizuno's shoulder, and leaned in close to whisper:
"Go find my bro. He'll show you what Uma Musume are really capable of…"
Early the next morning.
Following the note's address, Mizuno trekked deep into the mountains far from the city.
The air was crisp and clean, the forest thick and alive. A narrow stream wound between the rocks, murmuring softly as it flowed toward a lake below. Birds called in the distance, and sunlight filtered through the trees in golden ribbons.
After nearly an hour of hiking along the forest path, pushing past branches and leaves, Mizuno finally spotted a building hidden in a clearing. The source of this content ɪs 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝗇𝗲𝘵
It was massive—easily a thousand square meters—but clearly abandoned for years. The gates were rotting, the walls smothered in ivy.
Mizuno's pulse quickened. A place this remote could only belong to some reclusive master!
But as he stepped closer and read the sign above the entrance, his excitement froze to disbelief.
[Master Jin's Gun Shooting Experience Center]
"Pu!" Mizuno almost spat blood.
Wait. Guns? The secret to defeating Uma Musume… was guns?
"Tch… I got scammed…" He clicked his tongue in irritation.
He'd thought the dreadlocked master was hinting at some hidden legend—a martial arts genius in the mountains. Instead, he'd been sent to learn firearms?!
"Alright, I'm done here." Mizuno sighed and turned to leave.
But before he could take a step, a deep, confident voice called out behind him.
"You're that idiot Azang mentioned yesterday—the one running around asking how to beat Uma Musume, right?"
The voice was smooth and resonant, tinged with an American accent.
A tall, broad-shouldered foreigner stood by the door, blond hair, blue eyes, and a bold cleft chin. He leaned casually against the frame, puffing on a cigar and studying Mizuno with a smirk.
"And you are…?" Mizuno asked warily.
"You can call me Kazuma Jin. Or Master Jin, if you prefer." The man flicked his cigar, nodding toward the building behind him. "I run this place."
"Oh, uh—nice to meet you, Master Jin," Mizuno replied quickly. "I'm Hideki Gou."
"Little Gou, huh?" Master Jin pushed off the wall, straightened his jacket, and walked toward him, cigar still in hand.
"You do realize going around asking people how to beat Uma Musume is extremely dangerous, right?" His tone hardened as he stopped a meter away.
"If those Uma Musume hear about a human trying to find their weakness, you think they'll just let you walk away?"
"Uh… yeah, I didn't really think that far…" Mizuno admitted, scratching his head.
Only now, after what the dreadlocked master said, was the danger starting to sink in. It really was like an employee openly asking around for ways to take down the CEO—no one in power would tolerate that.
"Hmph." Jin eyed him up and down, then chuckled.
"But you've done a good job covering yourself—no exposed skin, no face showing. Even after all the noise you caused yesterday, you probably won't attract too much attention."
He clapped Mizuno's shoulder and laughed heartily.
"Cautious and reckless at the same time… not bad!"
"That kind of mindset—cautious recklessness—is what we call calm courage. You might actually have potential."
Then he jerked his thumb toward the building. "Come on. I'll show you what Uma Musume are really capable of."
"Wait, Master Jin…" Mizuno called out. "Before we go, I need to ask—"
He hesitated. "…Is it possible?"
Jin paused, turned back, and grinned through the smoke curling from his cigar.
"Yes," he said, eyes gleaming. "It's possible."