Chapter 124: Arm Wrestling
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 124: Arm Wrestling
I’m not sure how the next three minutes passed.
No matter what I did, the audience applauded with moved expressions, so I just gave up and calmly struck various poses.
The result was a perfect score from the judges' table, a first for the competition.
Carried by the crowd's high praise, I advanced to the main round in first place.
To be honest, I have no idea how things ended up this way.
But if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that people understood the beauty of muscles.
As someone following in the footsteps of countless pioneers, I was genuinely proud of this one achievement.
A total of ten people made it to the main round. Among them were me, Ryuji, the trainer named Yoshida Kenichi I saw earlier, and the woman who had created an embarrassing moment for the history books by messing up spectacularly on stage.
I thought she would have been eliminated for sure, but apparently, people found her clumsiness cute, so she was chosen.
In any case, perhaps because the preliminaries had taken up a significant amount of time, the main round proceeded with all the finalists on stage for a group interview.
During a short ten-minute break, we received a brief explanation backstage.
"The main round will be mostly simple talk, so you don't need to worry too much. We won't be pushing you on stage to put on a one-man show like in the preliminaries."
Many of the contestants had been quite burdened by the talent show portion of the preliminaries, so everyone looked relieved.
It was much better to just follow the MC's lead than to squeeze out nonexistent ideas.
Soon, the short ten-minute break was over, and the finalists all filed onto the stage.
"Alright! It's finally begun! The main round of the Onjuku Beach Swimsuit Contest! The champions who fought their way through fierce competition are now here to battle it out!"
Waaaaaah!
It definitely felt like the crowd had grown a bit now that the preliminaries were over.
Even those who had left out of boredom during the prelims seemed to have returned to watch the main event.
The larger crowd just made me feel even more nervous.
I guess I’m just not cut out for the stage, no matter what.
"Unlike the preliminaries, the main round will feature in-depth interviews with our contestants! You'll get to feel the charm you couldn't see before! And below the stage, we're taking votes in real-time! Audience members, please cast a vote for your favorite contestant!"
While the judges' scores had a huge impact in the preliminaries, the main round seemed to depend entirely on the audience's reaction.
The MC started interviewing the finalists one by one, beginning from the front.
"Who did you come here with?"
"I came with my university friends."
"Oh! Perfect! Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Yes!"
"Aww, then you're disqualified."
"Whaaat?!"
It was mostly just lighthearted banter like that.
Unlike the preliminaries where the contestants had to show something, this part depended on the MC's hosting skills, so everyone watched in a relaxed and cheerful mood.
As soon as one person's interview ended, the next one began, and the process was so natural that it didn't feel suffocating at all.
After interviewing three or four people, it was the turn of the man I’d seen earlier, Yoshida Kenichi.
Unlike my bulky, rugged muscles, he had the more compact, defined type that people generally prefer.
Truthfully, even a body like that isn't something you can build in just a year or two.
He must have been working out consistently for at least five years.
The combination of his handsome face, decent conversational skills, and lean muscles naturally drew cheers from the female audience members.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Yes, I do."
"Ah, I think I can already hear the sounds of disappointment~"
The MC said, then moved on to another question.
"Then, is there any contestant here that you're most conscious of?"
Yoshida then extended his hand and pointed directly at me.
"If I had to name a rival among us, wouldn't it be that gentleman from Korea over there?"
"An unexpected declaration of rivalry!"
The atmosphere in the audience instantly heated up.
The stage MC didn't miss the opportunity and approached me.
"What do you think of his challenge?!"
I was flustered, but I managed to answer in a calm voice.
"Honestly, I consider it an honor."
"Oooooh! He's so humble!"
They were attaching meaning to every little thing I said, and frankly, it was hard to keep up with their energy.
I forced a smile and said thank you.
Eventually, the interviews for the remaining contestants proceeded in order.
After Ryuji, who was right before me, it was finally my turn, the last one up, and all eyes were on me.
It was probably because I had advanced with the highest score from the judges in the preliminaries.
"Alright~ It's time for this competition's dark horse, Kim Yoo-Sung! The first question I have to ask! Do you have a girlfriend?"
It was a question I had somewhat expected, so I answered without much difficulty.
"Not yet."
"Does 'not yet' mean you'll have one soon?!"
"Maybe, maybe not."
Faced with a question that was awkward no matter how I thought about it, I gave a noncommittal answer.
The MC, saying he was too scared to press further, moved on to the next question.
"You advanced to the main round with the highest score from the judges! Is there any contestant here that you're keeping an eye on?"
I realized his question was meant to solidify the rivalry that had just been created.
Normally, I would have named Yoshida, the man who had just called me his rival, but after a moment of thought, I spoke.
"I think the most threatening contestant is Sakamoto Ryuji, right here next to me."
The MC looked surprised and asked.
"Whoa! I was sure you'd say Mr. Yoshida! Why did you suddenly pick Sakamoto?"
"Because we're classmates."
"Aha! The classmate bombshell! This is a huge blow to Mr. Yoshida's pride!"
I don't know if he actually thought that, but this MC was surprisingly eager to stir up conflict.
Then again, I suppose that’s the fun of these kinds of events.
As the audience watched with interest, the MC deliberately took the microphone over to Yoshida.
"Mr. Yoshida, that was Kim Yoo-Sung's opinion, whom you personally named as your rival. What are your thoughts on that?"
"It's a little sad that I don't even seem to be on his radar."
"Yes! He says he's sad! What should we do about Mr. Yoshida's lost and lonely sorrow!"
At this point, I had no idea what the MC was even trying to say.
Anyway, with my interview, everyone had been questioned, and it seemed the real-time audience voting was more or less finished.
With only the final results announcement remaining, a stage staff member came up and whispered something to the MC.
The MC, who had been nodding, caught my eye and, with a mischievous grin, spoke into the microphone.
"They're currently tallying the votes! So, while we wait, let's have the finalists play a little mini-game!"
A mini-game?
The finalists began to murmur at this unexpected turn of events.
But the MC nonchalantly announced the game.
"The game is an arm-wrestling tournament! As the MC, I'll award the winner a regional gift certificate worth ten thousand yen!"
Arm wrestling, at a time like this? Was he openly trying to make us fight?
I was dumbfounded, and some contestants, seeing how unfair the game was, already started declaring they'd forfeit.
"Of course, since the event is arm wrestling, we'll be dividing it by gender! The numbers work out perfectly!"
As he said, there were six female and four male finalists.
While the men would start right from the semi-finals, the women's side would be a brutal free-for-all.
But well, on the men's side, three out of the four were musclemen, so you could say it was fair in its own way.
Soon, a hastily prepared-looking table was brought onto the stage. As everyone cheered for the contestant they were rooting for, I lightly loosened my wrists.
Luckily, my first opponent was just a regular guy, so it didn't look like I'd even need to use much strength.
"Let's have a good match."
"Ye-yes, you too."
My opponent wasn't short by any means, but standing in front of me, he seemed relatively small.
"You look older than me, so please speak comfortably."
"Ah, okay."
…It seemed that wasn't going to work.
I decided to just take it easy.
"Ready, set, go!"
Thud!
The first round was over the moment it began.
Honestly, since the result was expected before we even started, no one was surprised.
The surprising event happened not with me, but in the match between Ryuji and Mr. Yoshida.
While most people predicted the muscular Yoshida would win, Ryuji had soundly defeated him using only his own strength.
Seeing him get so utterly crushed despite his superior physique, I couldn't help but make the logical deduction that Mr. Yoshida's muscles were all for show.
Ryuji, who had won as easily as I had, met my gaze and proudly made a V-sign with his fingers.
Well, it looked like the arm-wrestling final was going to be an internal affair for Ichijo Academy.