Chapter 208: The Man Who Doesn't Know Defeat
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 208: The Man Who Doesn't Know Defeat
The shocking preliminary elimination of Class 2-B, who had been picked as the dark horse of the sports festival.
And since I was the main cause of it, I instantly became a traitor of the highest order.
"Sinner Kim Yoo-Sung, raise your head. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
An impromptu class trial was held on the spot.
Led by the judge, Ayase (the class president), I was bound by a jump rope and forced to my knees. With a heavy heart, I kept my head down and answered.
"I have nothing to say..."
I never imagined Rika, who was turning the rope with me, would go flying sideways.
It was entirely my fault for not controlling my strength, but Rika just laughed it off.
I already felt guilty for rejecting her confession, and now with this mistake on top of it, I could barely even look her in the face.
In any case, because we were eliminated in the preliminaries of the group jump rope—an event that should have been a free win—we were now starting with a major handicap compared to the other classes.
Just then, Satoru, who was standing next to Ayase, spoke in the voice of a conniving sycophant.
"My lady, the sinner does not seem to be repenting. Shall we break his legs?"
"What on earth are you talking about?"
The class president shot him a look of disbelief, but Satoru acted as if he was ready to fetch two sticks at a moment's notice.
I kept my mouth shut since I was the one at fault, but on any other day, I would have punished him on the spot.
Knowing this and still acting up, Satoru was one gutsy bastard. I turned to the class president and asked.
"So, what should I do now?"
Ayase scanned the list of sports festival events on a sheet of A4 paper.
"Well, for starters, there's no limit to the number of events one person can participate in, you know?"
Originally, I was only scheduled to participate in three events at this sports festival.
The relay race, the cavalry battle, and dodgeball.
Events like the group jump rope, which the whole class had to do, were unavoidable, but since some events were held simultaneously to fit everything into one day, I couldn't do more.
"...And?"
"If we pack your schedule a bit, Yoo-Sung, I think you could compete in at least five events. What do you think about that?"
In other words, she was telling me to make up for the points we lost because of me with my own two hands.
It was a reasonably logical decision.
This way, the only one who would get screwed by the busy schedule was me.
"So, what's your answer?"
Snap!
As all my classmates watched, I broke free from my bindings and declared.
"What the hell, let's do it."
After all, the one getting screwed isn't me, but the future me.
*
Excluding the group events, there were a total of five events in this year's sports festival.
Soccer, basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, and baseball.
Since most of these ball sports had corresponding school clubs, it was common for students from those clubs to act as the ace for their respective classes.
The one saving grace was that the competition was held by grade level, so no single team would be overwhelmingly stacked with talent.
Of course, that was all under the assumption that someone like 'me' didn't exist.
First Event
'Soccer'
The captain of Class 2-B was Tomoki Shimamura, a current member of the soccer club.
"If we want to win this tournament, you all need to follow my orders. Got it?"
Shimamura said, scanning the faces of the male students chosen from our class.
Eleven in total.
Originally, one of the Bald Trio should have been here, but with the last-minute roster change, I, the mercenary, was taking the field instead.
Excluding me, the other ten seemed to have practiced together, as they smoothly moved to their respective positions.
I, on the other hand, having just joined the team today, had no idea where to stand. I stood there blankly for a moment before asking Shimamura.
"What should I do?"
Shimamura grinned and clapped me on the shoulder.
"You do whatever you want."
"...Whatever I want?"
When I repeated his words in an unintentionally dubious tone, Shimamura nodded and said.
"You know the term 'all-rounder,' right?"
"...I get what you mean."
It sounded grand, but it just meant they had no plan for me.
In that case, I'd give them exactly what they wanted.
Peeeeee!
The whistle of the gym teacher, who was acting as the referee, echoed across the field, and finally, the match between Class 2-B and Class 2-D began.
*
Kim Yoo-Sung.
At Ichijo Academy, one of the most prestigious private high schools in the prefecture, the weight his name carried was immense.
He was known as 'The Strongest Man in the Academy.'
The freshmen who had just entered this year thought the rumors surrounding him were mostly exaggerated, but to the second-years who had breathed the same air as Kim Yoo-Sung since their first year, he was fear itself.
The ominous rumors about him began to circulate around the school during the second semester of his first year.
Kim Yoo-Sung had originally entered the school as the top student of his year, even giving the congratulatory speech as the first-year representative. But for some reason, as the second semester began, he started bulking up at an incredible rate, transforming into someone ordinary people wouldn't even dare to speak to.
If it had just been a change in appearance, the situation might have been better.
But when eyewitness accounts of him fighting 17 delinquents in a back alley spread, everyone came to fear him.
It made sense. Ichijo Academy was a school with an extremely high academic standard.
Unless you were an exceptional student, you couldn't even cross the school's threshold, so most of the delinquent types were naturally filtered out during the admissions process.
Of course, it wasn't that delinquents who were good at studying didn't exist, and there were certainly cases of students who had mastered both fighting and academics.
But even those types would tuck their tails and run like herbivores before a predator when they stood in front of Kim Yoo-Sung.
It was like he was a different 'species' altogether.
How often in their lives would these kids, who belonged to Tokyo's upper class, ever experience such a sense of deprivation?
It was only natural that Kim Yoo-Sung's classmates and upperclassmen came to hold him in awe.
And today.
At the completely unexpected appearance of 'Kim Yoo-Sung,' the students of Class 2-D were in an uproar.
'Hey, hey, are you serious?'
'Wasn't Kim Yoo-Sung not supposed to play in the soccer match?!'
'Dammit! Who was the bastard that spread the rumor that Kim Yoo-Sung wouldn't be playing?!'
Their morale plummeted before the fight even began.
And for good reason. Kim Yoo-Sung's very existence was a disaster.
A literal walking, talking human tank.
A 190cm frame packed with muscle from head to toe.
His physique, which far surpassed the average Japanese high school boy, made him look like a character from a shonen manga had jumped into reality.
But there was no running away now.
The place they stood was a battlefield.
A showdown for the pride of their classes.
No one would welcome a dog that had already admitted defeat before the fight.
"Ugh... I guess we have no choice but to try."
"At this point, it's do or die!"
The students of Class 2-D exchanged glances, steeling their resolve.
The sports festival only happened once a year.
This moment, with these members, would only happen this year.
To give up, paralyzed by fear before even fighting?
A man's pride would not allow it.
Besides, weren't the girls from their class gathered behind them, watching?
Even if they were overwhelmingly defeated, they just had to avoid collapsing in a pathetic way.
Having steeled themselves for battle, the students of Class 2-D roared, fueling their fighting spirit.
"Ooooooh! Let's do this!"
"Who cares about Kim Yoo-Sung! We're strong too if we fight for real!"
"If we win this match, I'm going to confess to Azuki!"
"You crazy bastard! That's a defeat flag!"
One clueless person nearly caused internal strife, but the members of Class 2-D still managed to unite and take the field.
Finally, the gym teacher, Oonuma, who was standing in the center of the field, blew his whistle, and the match began.
Peeeeee!
Class 2-B's captain, Shimamura, quickly took the offensive.
As a current member of the soccer club, his specialty was flashy dribbling.
Shimamura blew past two of 2-D's defenders in an instant and charged up the field.
"Get him!"
At the call of 2-D's captain, three players swarmed Shimamura.
Even for a soccer club member, he couldn't break through the iron wall of defenders, and the ball was narrowly stolen from him.
The counterattack began immediately.
"My ball!"
A long pass was sent toward the direction of the forward's shout.
The 2-D forward, who received the ball with ease, effortlessly dodged the approaching 2-B defenders.
The distance to the enemy goal was now about 5 meters.
'I can do this!'
Well-founded confidence blossomed in his chest.
Thanks to the earlier blitz, Class 2-B's formation had pushed up, leaving their goal wide open.
But it was at that very moment.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
A heavy sound, like the footsteps of a dinosaur, began to approach from close by.
'What the!'
The 2-D forward was horrified.
And for good reason. Kim Yoo-Sung, who had been in the corner of the field just a moment ago, was now right in front of him.
'It's not like he used some kind of teleportation skill, so how did he cross that distance in an instant?'
Swallowing hard, he gritted his teeth.
'I can't lose the ball after coming this far!'
It was true that he couldn't beat Kim Yoo-Sung in a physical contest.
But he had 'technique.'
The proof of two years of hard work as a soccer club member.
'There!'
At first glance, Kim Yoo-Sung seemed like a wall, but being a novice at soccer, the space between his legs was wide open.
All he had to do was send the ball through that gap and slip past him from the side.
Having completed the perfect simulation in his head, he immediately put his plan into action.
But—
'It's not moving?'
His legs wouldn't move, as if they were weighed down by massive iron blocks.
His body couldn't keep up with his thoughts.
By the time he realized this and frantically tried to move, Kim Yoo-Sung had already taken the ball.
'This is impossible.'
The 2-D forward stared blankly at Kim Yoo-Sung's retreating back.
The name of the sensation he had just felt was 'fear.'