The Last Challenge
Jaehyuk's absurd play had covered a full 45 yards.
It wasn't the routine touchdown he'd been serving up like breakfast, but the impact was even greater this time — the shock still hadn't worn off.
And yet, as always.
Mateo Rodriguez went straight into his preparation, his poker face firmly in place.
With his trademark expressionless look, he called the play.
"Gamma twenty-one twenty blue bubble set!"
Tatadadak.
The players scrambled into motion.
The moment they froze —
"Hut! Hike!"
The ball moved.
So what would they bring this time?
Another monster run from Jaehyuk?
Or would they exploit the gap with a pass?
As everyone watched with tense faces, Jaehyuk burst forward.
Pababak!
Mateo handed off the ball, and Jaehyuk cradled it into his arms. The tension exploded — here came another run.
"It's a fake!!"
His shout was swallowed by the roar of the crowd.
Fortunately, a few people did catch Hopkins's cry.
A run fake!
Then it's a passing play!
Hopkins, the one who'd yelled fake, moved to track his assigned receiver.
But somehow.
His instincts were blaring an alarm.
What is this?
This isn't the answer?
Ah — are they throwing to another receiver? Quinton?
As he chased the receiver, Hopkins's gaze flicked briefly toward Mateo.
Most of the first and second defensive lines had already been fooled by the run fake and were chasing Jaehyuk.
"Agh!!"
And then, at that moment.
Mateo started to move.
It wasn't the motion of a man about to pass.
Suddenly, Mateo was charging through the line of scrimmage — straight through the gap Jaehyuk had torn open.
"QB run!! Stop him!!"
Hopkins bellowed, abandoning his receiver and sprinting forward at once.
Mateo was actually going to run it himself!
But too much time had already bled away, and the middle of the field was wide open. Hopkins and the cornerbacks were mostly pinned deep downfield.
In other words, no one stood between Mateo and the end zone.
The first and second defensive units belatedly snapped out of it and gave chase, but they were a beat too late.
Running the ball himself, Mateo sliced off 15 yards before sliding down.
They were in the Red Zone.
Scoring territory, reached in barely two plays.
"Nice play."
"Good one, Mateo."
"Let's keep this going!"
They couldn't just hand over the points like this.
The score stood at 14:10.
A touchdown would make it 21:10 — far too wide a gap.
"Whew."
Wiping the sweat trickling down his chin, Hopkins looked around.
Everyone still seemed to have gas left in the tank.
Twenty yards to go.
If it had come to this, all they could do was press hard.
The play began.
Derby threw everything they had at stopping Wichita North.
"Push them back!!"
"Pressure! Pressure!"
"Stop that ball! Yes!"
Twice, Derby turned Wichita North away.
But by now, they were all beginning to sense it.
Jaehyuk was going to run soon.
"Whew, whew."
Gulp.
Was it this time?
Or the final offensive series?
Two chances remained.
But most of them knew.
There was a high chance this play would be Jaehyuk's running game.
"Hut! Hike!"
We have to stop him!
We have to stop him!
We absolutely must stop him!
Paang!!
Jaehyuk took off.
Toward the sideline — then cut straight upfield.
"It's a pass!"
A short throw headed Jaehyuk's way.
The instant that pass connected, there'd be no stopping him.
And Mateo already had the ball ready to fly.
His shoulder whipped through.
Whirring—!
A pass fired downward, from high to low.
It pierced between the defenders and struck its target at blistering speed.
Tup!
Beeeep!
"Touchdown!"
It wasn't Jaehyuk.
The ball had flown to a completely unexpected receiver.
Derby, having surrendered the points almost pathetically, stared at their opponents in stunned disbelief.
Mateo pulled off his helmet, his face expressionless.
Seeing that, Derby's players understood for certain.
It wasn't just Jaehyuk this team should fear.
**
The game moved quickly.
With the touchdown, the score stood at 21:10.
Derby attacked with everything they had.
But they came up short on the touchdown and settled for a field goal.
21:13.
Still a gap that a single touchdown couldn't close.
And now Wichita North's offense was rolling again.
Bboom!
Koom!
And the difference in power was unmistakable.
The Mateo–Jaehyuk combo carried an insane firepower that simply could not be stopped.
At last —
"Touchdown!"
Another touchdown conceded.
The score gap blew open in a single stroke.
28:13.
The game was winding toward its close as the fourth quarter began.
The final fifteen minutes.
The spectators had already judged the outcome settled.
But Derby High School refused to give up until the very end.
Coach Steve, too, wrung his brain dry calling play after desperate play.
Until the very end!!
For the seniors, this game was the last of their careers.
Many of them would set football aside afterward and devote themselves to their studies.
Only the truly exceptional could make it to college — and beyond that, the NFL — so most had already made their peace with reality.
And that was exactly why.
Steve, as their head coach, wanted to crown that ending with a championship.
The most brilliant chapter of their high school lives.
He wanted them to seize, without fail, the dazzling sparkle to close the book with.
"Touchdown!"
35:20.
Derby had scored again, but the opponent answered right back with a running touchdown from Jaehyuk, as if to say, watch this.
Drip. Drip.
At some point, Steve realized he was crying.
Last year's defeat had never stirred anything like this. Why now?
The emotion had surged up out of nowhere.
Ah…
And then he understood.
What made this game shine so brightly wasn't just the fact that they'd made it to the state championship.
It was that they'd faced an opponent worthy of the stage.
Redline21.
The Asian running back who had carved his name into high school football history.
After this game, no one would see him in the high school ranks again.
He had always loomed like a great wall before them.
And it was precisely because of that that this game — Derby against him — could shine so brightly.
"…Evan."
Through his headset, Steve called for Derby's quarterback.
— Yes, Coach.
"This drive will probably be our last."
— …
No answer came.
But on the field, Evan could be seen giving a small nod.
"On this drive, can you get the ball to Hopkins every play?"
— Got it.
"S-sorry."
— Don't be. Honestly, I've been thinking about it too. I figure it's about time someone took a shot at beating Redline head-on, right? Haha.
A head-to-head showdown between Redline and Hopkins.
The odds were poor. They might even get picked off.
But still.
Wouldn't it be a shame to end it any other way!
"I'm counting on you, Evan. I believe in your arm."
— I may not be a monster like Mateo, but I'm Derby's starting quarterback. You have no idea how hard it was to claw my way to this seat.
The play was about to begin.
One second before the headset mic cut out —
— I'll show you the pride of Derby, plain as day.
Click.
The line went dead.
The play was about to start.
"REDDLLIIIINE!!"
Instead of the play call, Evan shouted "Redline."
Both teams froze at his sudden outburst.
"Y-trip spider left left, six jet!"
The play call followed.
Then the cadence, and the snap.
Tup.
Derby's players, having deciphered the play, scrambled into motion. Soon, opportunity flashed before Evan's eyes.
Whirring!!
The ball arced precisely toward Hopkins's route.
Hopkins cut hard, breaking toward the ball.
But —
Tung!
Redline swatted it away.
"It's fine, it's fine."
He'd expected as much.
Refusing to give up, Evan drove on to the next play.
This time he signaled Hopkins to run a different route — and with that, Hopkins and the rest of Derby understood.
He really does intend to keep throwing to Hopkins!
And the reason behind that choice — the intent behind it — anyone could guess.
The final boss. The monster who'd shattered their championship dreams. The greatest high school running back in history.
No — soon to be the greatest running back in all of college football.
Redline21.
They wanted to beat him. Even just once.
"Set! Hut!"
Second down.
Hopkins ran again, and Evan fired the ball toward him.
"Hup!"
Ting!
But the pass sailed just barely out of reach.
And by now, Wichita North had started to catch on too.
Don't tell us…
They're really planning to throw to Hopkins every single play?
"Set! Hut!"
The third of their four downs.
Evan refused to quit, relentlessly targeting Hopkins. At last, a short pass flew.
Tup!
"Yes!"
He caught it.
It was the short throw that made it work.
Jaehyuk was closing in, sure — but Evan had gotten the ball out just before he arrived.
After picking up about five yards, Hopkins sprinted and barely managed to convert the first down.
With four fresh downs in hand.
Evan once again threw to Hopkins and Hopkins alone.
By now Wichita North's players were perfectly capable of shutting Hopkins down.
But they didn't.
Because everyone respected Redline.
They could sympathize with Derby's desperate wish to beat him.
Tung!
Ppeok!
Whook!
One-on-one battles raged between 5-star-caliber talents.
A ferocious duel between Redline and Steele.
Redline won most of the exchanges, but Derby somehow kept grinding out their ten yards.
And at last —
— Evan, we're running out of clock.
Forty seconds left in the game.
Forty yards to the end zone.
The outcome was already decided.
35:20 — even two straight touchdowns couldn't erase a deficit like that.
And yet.
Even so.
Derby's players ached for that touchdown with everything they had.
"Whew."
Every eye turned to Redline and Hopkins.
Even the crowd had stopped caring about the final score, gripping their seats and sweating over how this fierce duel would end.
"Today, I feel like we're watching a game unlike anything I've ever seen in football. It's simply astonishing."
"Snnk — hck. You're right, sniff. Youth this beautiful! It's like my childhood is coming back to me!"
"Wichita North isn't even bothering to shadow Hopkins, but everywhere else they're giving their absolute all. The players hunting the quarterback and locking down the other receivers are smothering everything, thorough as ever."
"And at the same time — the mutual respect both teams are showing each other's captain! This game has flowed beyond winning and losing into pure romance!"
At last, Evan, receiving Steve's instruction, gave a nod.
And he shouted the final play call to everyone.
It was a long pass.
One last desperate duel that would land in the end zone in a single stroke.
"…."
Hopkins's hands and feet were trembling.
But he didn't let it show.
He lifted his gaze to the man standing directly in front of him — Jaehyuk.
A piercing stare.
An aura that made you want to shrink back.
He wasn't big, but he looked enormous.
But right now, he wasn't a running back.
Just like every play before this one, Hopkins had a real chance.
"Set! Hut!"
The instant Evan's cadence rang out, Hopkins was sprinting — almost on pure reflex.
At the same moment, Jaehyuk cut across his path.
Thud!
A brief clash of bodies.
Hopkins juked once, twice, three times, then broke for the end zone.
Tatadadak!
Jaehyuk chased him down with ferocious speed.
Soon, Hopkins's white uniform and Jaehyuk's red line left an uncanny blur of afterimages across the field.
"RUN!!!"
"Hopkins! Beat him just this once!"
"Take down Redline!!"
Before anyone realized it, the crowd's cheering had swelled even louder.
The underdog phenomenon, born of sheer, overwhelming power.
The people roared for Hopkins.
"You're already winning anyway! Let him have one!"
"Hopkins, you've got this! Run! RUN!!"
With every shout, Hopkins seemed to run faster.
Following his prescribed route, he crossed into the end zone, instinctively twisting his body and readying himself for the catch.
Whiiish—!!
The ball spiraling in from far downfield.
And at the hazy edge of his vision — Redline.
I can't lose.
Not this time.
I will—
I'll win!!
Hopkins leapt.
The ball grazed his outstretched hands, almost slipping past —
But then.
"Not happening."
A voice, cutting clear through the roar of the crowd.
Thwak!
Jaehyuk, appearing in an instant, shoved him from behind.
Because of it, the ball Hopkins might have barely snagged with one hand slipped away, caught only at its tip.
"Ghhk!!"
Veins straining in his neck.
Hopkins's bloodshot eyes locked onto the ball, refusing to lose focus.
The ball was still hanging in the air.
His jump landed, and Hopkins flung himself a second time, reaching for the falling ball.
Gwaak!
Got it!
Or so he thought, for one heartbeat.
Gwaduk.
Another hand, gripping the ball's other end.
Hopkins and Jaehyuk seized opposite ends of the ball and locked into a tug-of-war.
No!
I can't let him take it.
The final play, carrying every one of his teammates' prayers.
You — I have to beat you!
I have to!
Paaang!!
"Hrrgh!"
But Jaehyuk — the one who came away with the ball —
No one could beat him.
His Gift flared crimson.
All-Acceleration, triggered the instant he planted his feet to make the catch, lent Jaehyuk a strength beyond belief.
Ter-eok.
The ball tore free from Hopkins's grasp.
Everyone watched the scene in stunned silence.
"Ah… aah…."
In the instant the ball was stripped away.
Hopkins felt a force no human could resist.
That — that was something you simply couldn't stop.
So the true wall had never been himself. It had been that man all along.
Redline…
The player leaving a red blur in his wake.
Ran alone through the entire field.