Melina encountered Cattalio right in the First Playthrough, which meant that at least one of them—Melina or the cat—would be eliminated before advancing.
This was the cruelty of the preliminary system.
It was also one of the winner-take-all spirits pursued by the Horse Girls. This ruthless racing format dictated that aside from a single victor, everyone else was a complete failure, and this was only the preliminaries. Melina had previously considered why the powerhouses among the Horse Girls generally racked up terrifying records compared to ordinary Horse Girls; now it seemed this was a game rule of "the strong get stronger."
Chapter 174