Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Sports Festival #6
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We split into teams for balance—Hong Yeonseo and Lee Sea on one side, me and Seong Yurin on the other—and started playing badminton.
It made sense, since Hong Yeonseo was stronger than me, and Seong Yurin was stronger than Lee Sea.
"What? You're pretty good."
"R-Really?"
Surprisingly, Lee Sea was putting up a strong fight.
She looked just as baffled as to why she was swinging the racket so well.
Who would've thought she'd uncover a hidden talent for badminton.
For someone with two left feet to have athletic potential... I guess you never really know someone until you see them in action.
On top of that, it dawned on me that she'd never even played something as common as badminton before.
In the end, thanks to Lee Sea's performance, my pair with Seong Yurin fell behind.
I was too busy blocking Hong Yeonseo's attacks to support much, and my hopes for Seong Yurin to break through Lee Sea weren't panning out.
"Hoo... ha..."
That's when victory started coming into view.
Lee Sea was holding her own in rallies, hitting the shuttlecock decently with her swings, but her stamina was giving out—clearly from her lack of regular exercise.
"Yurin, just keep rallying and send it far from Sea."
"Got it."
After a few more rallies, Hong Yeonseo caught on to our strategy and launched a desperate offensive, but we managed to hold them off somehow.
Her smashes packed so much monstrous power that I half-worried the racket would snap first.
"Hey! That's cheating!"
Hong Yeonseo's frustrated shout echoed across the court.
Eventually, with her stamina drained, Lee Sea struggled to return shots, and the loss of defense forced Hong Yeonseo to come forward and cover, leaving their side vulnerable up front.
That naturally stripped away their attacking power too.
From there, we cruised to an easy win.
"Yes."
"Good job."
After the match, Seong Yurin and I shared a light high-five.
"S-Sorry... heok."
"You okay? Uh, yeah."
As I approached to check on Lee Sea post-game, I had to stop in my tracks.
It was hard to look straight at her sprawled exhausted on the court floor, uniform disheveled.
Ahem. Man, it's hot out today...
"Hey!"
Hong Yeonseo stepped right in front of my line of sight.
...I wasn't even trying to look, okay.
Before long, Lee Soyun had come over with some water for Lee Sea. After a short rest, Lee Sea perked back up.
"I thought my heart was gonna explode..."
"Why'd you go so hard? Take it easy next time."
"...Says the one who should know."
With nothing to say to her jab, I just played it off.
...Well, in the world of competition, you pull out every trick to win.
"You should come out with us on weekends for badminton sometime. Wanna join?"
"Uh, s-sure. I'll think about it..."
Lee Sea broke into a cold sweat at Hong Yeonseo's cheerful invite.
She was screaming "no way" without even saying it.
We quickly tidied up the court, and the bell signaling the end of lunch rang out.
"Same as yesterday?"
"Kinda. Our class is doing relay practice today instead of tug-of-war and jump rope. The ball sports up front are the same."
On our way back to join the class on the field, Lee Sea answered my offhand mutter.
"Got it."
As I nodded to myself, Hong Yeonseo jumped in.
"We'll wrap up dodgeball quick and come watch, so you better do well."
"Yeah. Sure."
May the girls on the other team find mercy against Hong Yeonseo's handball-honed throws.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The class split again, girls heading off and leaving just the drab guys behind.
We swapped to soccer cleats and warmed up.
Thanks to the badminton earlier, my body felt nicely primed and in good shape.
As I rolled my shoulders, the captain approached.
"Hey. Let's do great again today."
He extended his fist while saying it.
This wasn't some teen drama scene...
Oh, right—this is a rom-com world.
"...Yeah. You too."
I bumped his fist back, and he grinned.
...Not a fan of guys grinning at me like that.
Kidding, of course. It was a nice little morale boost.
We scattered to warm up further before gathering at center when time was up.
The PE teacher, whistle around his neck, stood in the middle and addressed both teams.
"Alright. You all know this is the round of 16 today, right? Give it your all."
...Wait, not practice?
I blanked for a sec but got it quick enough.
With so many first-year classes, they couldn't fit everything into two days.
Still, losing today means no soccer at the festival.
A few teammates looked as clueless about the schedule as me, so the captain explained: preliminaries today and tomorrow as single-elimination, semis for four teams on festival day one, finals on day two.
Some classes get byes since there are more than 16 first-year classes, but not us.
Seeing the captain avert his eyes while explaining, I figured we'd drawn the short straw in the lots.
One game a day for four days straight? Even pros don't grind like that.
And with other events too, normal stamina wouldn't cut it.
I regretted signing up for soccer a bit late, but oh well.
I hadn't chosen to join anyway.
At least matches were short halves, no extra time—just one hour flat.
Full time? I'd boycott.
......By the way, when and where are the other prelims?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ......Not that I didn't grumble inwardly a ton.
Our championship journey kicked off with a surprisingly easy win.
The captain dominated alone, slamming in a hat trick in the first half, and the opponents basically gave up by the end of it.
With no will to even play the second half, they surrendered quick, letting us save energy.
I'd probably forfeit too in their shoes—no one wants a 10-0 massacre.
Seeing the captain's blood boiling, he could've bombed their net endlessly.
Speaking of, as I'd guessed, he'd been holding back in practice.
We killed time with futsal until the girls, done with dodgeball, strolled over to the soccer field.
"What? Why are you guys just hanging out?"
Lee Sea, representing the puzzled girls, asked at the un-soccer-like scene.
One nearby guy explained, and they all deflated.
"Wait, doesn't this mean our class is actually stacked?"
"...Maybe."
Lee Soyun and Seong Yurin chatting.
...Like they said, we might be a dark horse.
First-year sports powerhouse: boy's ace and girl's ace in the same class.
Come to think of it, the top two first-years are here too...
Even for the protagonist's class, this feels overly favored.
Not that I mind, being in it.
We headed to the track after passing time.
This school really has everything...
We arrived early, spotting student council and discipline committee seniors bustling with setup.
Snagging prime seats thanks to that, we relaxed while watching other classes fill in.
"C-Class relay runners~ Come line up!"
Jeong Chaeyeon, back from chatting with the PE teacher, called out, so I stood.
Me, Yoon Jiu, Lee Sea, Hong Yeonseo, Seong Yurin, and five others headed to our lanes.
Cheers from our class echoed across the field.
First boy: Yoon Jiu. First girl taking his baton: Lee Sea up front, then the rest in order.
I exchanged glances with Lee Sea and Seong Yurin.
I was the second boy taking from Lee Sea, passing to Seong Yurin as second girl.
For the record, Hong Yeonseo was our secret weapon, anchoring last.
Feeling the warming sun, I eyed Yoon Jiu gripping the baton.
Do your best, man.
I sent the words I couldn't voice with a look.
Of course, no superpowers, so he didn't notice.
Prep done, runners toed the line.
The first legs stretched out, rolling ankles in anticipation.
...Shoutout to the staff sweating to mark extra lanes for all the runners.
Not all classes at once, though—split into two groups, I heard.
Thud thud. The PE teacher approached with the starter pistol.
"Runners, to the line!"
Kids tensed into starting stance.
Bang!
After a split-second silence, the crack of gunpowder rang out, and the first legs bolted forward.