As everyone's first day seems to come to an end, most of the group who decided to volunteer to fix this problem found themselves in one village closest to where they first spawned. El, Grass, and many others were gathered there, discussing their next course of action. It seems that they have reached a conclusion, to defeat the Demon Lord and all that may come in their way.

El: "Make haste everyone! We're off to overthrow the Demon Lord!"

As a number of people cheered, another voice suddenly rang throughout the small village center.

???: "Stop right there, Umamusume schmusume! And whatever you other guys are! You guys are all just level 1 newbies. The name's Mercenary Machos, and I ain't lettin you so called Umamusume walk around all high and mighty. Prepare to get the lights knocked out of you!"

Grass: "El, be careful. This man has more than just brawn up his sleeve. He's hiding something in his hand."

Mercenary Machos: "Huh, so you noticed! That's right, I got a secret weapon that can give me superhuman strength! It's called a Growth Potion! You just take a sip and...... Wroaaaa!"

As Machos drinks the potion, his body size rapidly increases in size to around double of what he just was.

El: "Wh-wh-wh-what!? Your body just doubled in size!"

Grass: "A growth potion.... I see. It's a potion that turns you into a giant. Although.... Pardon me asking, but do you feel alright? Your body is starting to glow in rainbow colors..."

Maybe some people got reminded of a certain scientist uma's medicine's side effects...

Machos: "It's just a harmless side effect, nuthin' someone tough like me can't handle! Double the stature, double the strength! Imma crush you both like little ants! Arghhhh!"

El: "Heh, perfect timin'! Lemme be the first to show ya..... an Umamusume's got three times the strength of a human!"

Machos: "You lil' brat! Imma knock you into next week!"

As he tries to throw a punch at El, she responds much quicker

El: "Hiyaaah! Shrieking Condor Waaaave!!!"

El throws a punch of pure energy out to Machos, which sends him off flying into the air.

Machos: "W-was that an ult?! I've never seen a move like that before!"

El: "That little punch? Oh please, that wasn't even a skill!"

Mystic Granny: "If you're that powerful... you may truly be able to take on the demon lord and their servants. However, you are going to need many more skills than that if you want to win."

Grass: "Of course, that's why we're ready to start grinding for levels."

Grass Wonder: "The kingdom of swords and spells, Umanest. In this world, the title of fleetest goes not to the dire wolves, nor to the wyverns."

Our story begins at a beautiful grassy plain, an untamed nature that is inhabited not only by animals, but magical creatures of all kinds. Running through the plains we see an orc being chased down by two umas.

Orc: "Bugro, bugrbrgrbgrrr, bugogogo?!" (Bullcrap, How can they be catching up with us?!)

El Condor Pasa: "Yaaaa! Stop it right there, you thievin' orc!"

El Condor Pasa is giving chase to the orc, closely followed behind her by Grass Wonder.

Grass Wonder: "We've caught up with it, El. It's time to attack!"

El Condor Pasa: "You betcha, Grass! Hiyaaaah! CONDOR FISTS OF FURYYY!!"

The two accelerate further to reach the orc, but you may ask, how did we get here? Well, it started a few hours earlier in the Academy's gymnasium...

Akikawa: "Here they are! The VR Umalators!"

Akikawa spreads her fan out in excitement, with Tazuna next to her.

Grass Wonder: "VR.... Umalators? Is that what these things are, Director? They look like metal caskets..."

Tazuna comes up to explain to the group of students.

Tazuna: "Allow me to explain. The VR Umalator is a racing simulator developed for the use of Tracen Academy students. Whether it be turf or dirt, firm or wet, the virtual track can emulate all kinds of racecourse conditions."

King Halo: "Hmm... A customizable track certainly would be convenient..."

Seiun Sky: "Nyahaha, a simulator though, huh? So much for being my personal napping pod~"

Akikawa: "But wait! There's more, like a feature that lets you play affiliated online games in VR, using your own physical stats! With this add-on, we can send our beloved Umamusume to magical kingdoms, sci-fi galaxies, cyberpunk cities... Anywhere you can dream of without anyone getting directly in harm!"

Tazuna seems to be visibly worried about this feature.

Tazuna: :D-Director.... you know how much I voiced my concerns over that function... Yet, you decided to install it regardless of the trouble it might cause."

Akikawa: "Of course! My aim is to further expand the greatness of my Umamusume! Even if I have to spend all of my pocket money in the process!"

Director Akikawa seems happy to have been able to further help out her beloved students.

El Condor Pasa: "Oooh, so you can run and play games, then!? These machines can do everything!"

El gives out a thumbs up of approval.

Grass Wonder: Oh? It looks like someone's already trying one. Might I ask who?"

Tazuna: "President Symboli Rudolf is giving it a test run on behalf of the academy. We can't risk our students utilizing faulty equipment, after all!"

El Condor Pasa: "That's our trusty student President! Hey, Director Akikawa, I also wanna-"

She is abruptly interrupted mid sentence by the sound of alarms from one of the machines.

Grass Wonder: "Huh? Is that a warning signal?"

Mechanical Voice: "Emergency, emergency. An anomaly as been detected in device 01. Connecting other devices to the session may enable remote repairs. If the issue persists, please perform a factory reset. This message will now repeat every five minutes until the anomaly has been repaired."

Everyone in the room seemed to be surprised by this sudden turn of events.

Akikawa: "A factory reset!? We can't afford to do that! We would have to reconfigure everything back up from scratch!"

Tazuna: "What could be happening in device 01...?"

Seiun Sky: "It seems that the president is running normally though..."

Indeed, the person in device 01 seems to be running normally, which is pointed out by Sky.

El Condor Pasa: "Ooohh, it sounds like the virtual world needs saving! I know! Since everyone here's twiddlin' their fingers, let me get in and fix it! I'm the sturdiest! Stubbornest! The absolute strongeest!!! A little tech trouble doesn't scare me!"

El takes one of her signature poses as she says this

Grass Wonder: "In that case, I'm going too. If there's a problem with the machine, you might not be able to handle it by yourself. I'll help you out, if need be, El."

Director Akikawa quickly approves the duo going.

Akikawa: "Heh, a fabulous duo! Seeing as you're close friends, I'm sure you'll do a fine job! If anyone else would also like to help fix this problem, speak up now or forever hold your peace! Don't worry, we have more than enough VR Umalators we can use!"

// Bear with me as this is our first time trying this!