Chapter 212: Friendship, Effort, Victory
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 212: Friendship, Effort, Victory
In the suffocating silence, it was Sasha who moved first.
"Let's go!"
At her urging, we charged toward Class 2-A's cavalry.
Karen's team, however, still hadn't moved.
Have they given up?
The thought crossed my mind for a moment.
It made sense. The gap between Karen's cavalry and ours was insurmountable.
It was a matter of 'height'. I'm 190cm tall and Sasha is around 170cm, so even sitting down, our combined height was at least three meters.
Karen, on the other hand, was barely 150cm. Considering her sitting height, Sasha was at least two heads taller than her.
Just as we reached Class 2-A, Sasha leaned forward and stretched out her right arm to grab Karen's headband, which was in the perfect position.
"Now!"
With Karen's shout, the entire cavalry she was riding on sank down.
"What the—!"
To be precise, they didn't sink.
They temporarily knelt.
I couldn't help but admire Karen's ingenuity.
Sure, being tall is an advantage in a cavalry battle. But if your opponent is much shorter, it can actually become a weakness.
At its tallest, Karen's cavalry was about 250cm.
For the relatively taller Sasha to grab Karen's headband, she naturally had to lean her upper body far forward.
But what if they got even shorter?
Due to a person's center of gravity, an absolute zone is created where you can't lean any further forward.
As it was, Sasha already had her legs wrapped around my neck and her stomach pressed against the back of my head.
In this situation, trying to snatch the headband from a kneeling Karen would inevitably cause our cavalry to collapse.
To think she devised such a brilliant plan in that short amount of time.
Karen, what a terrifying child!
Then, from beneath a stunned Sasha's chest, Karen shouted.
"The reason we knelt… was to gain momentum!"
Breaking free from the absolute zone, Karen's body shot up like a spring.
A startled Sasha tried to pull her torso back, but it was too late.
Flick!
"We won!"
The headband was snatched in an instant.
The gym teacher, who had been watching the situation, blew his whistle.
Peeeeeeeeeeep!
"Class 2-B! Team 3 is eliminated!"
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!
The stands erupted at the completely unexpected turn of events.
The class president, who had been watching from behind, muttered.
"We're screwed…"
I had to agree.
*
Thanks to the elimination of the strong favorite, Class 2-B, and Karen's valiant efforts, Class 2-A took the final victory in the cavalry battle.
"Tojo! That was amazing!"
"That's our Tojo!"
"You're our class hero!"
Watching Tojo, a typical outsider who was always on the fringes of the class, being celebrated by her classmates for the first time, I felt a strange sense of fulfillment.
Sasha, with her hands tucked into her gym uniform jersey, watched the scene for a moment before walking over to Karen, who was being tossed in the air by her classmates.
As Karen's feet finally touched the ground, Sasha extended her right hand.
"Today is my loss, Karen."
Karen made a strange face and said, "Huh? Sasha, you're admitting defeat so easily. Did the sun rise in the west today?"
But despite Karen's cheeky tone, Sasha just shook her head with a gentle smile.
"Unlike you, I don't think it's shameful to lose a match. So feel free to be as proud as you want, Karen."
"…You're a strange one."
Though Karen muttered this, she soon grasped the offered hand and shook it.
A friendship blossoming amidst fierce competition.
It was a scene straight out of a shonen manga.
The students who had watched it all unfold gave the two a round of applause.
As I watched them fondly from a distance, I saw the class president scream, "Aaaah! At this rate, we won't get the prize money!" and quietly made my escape.
Honestly, it wasn't my fault we lost this match.
*
The sports festival had been a breathless rush since the morning.
After conquering all the staples of a sports festival—the five major ball sports of soccer, basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, and baseball, as well as group jump rope, the cavalry battle, ball throwing, the centipede race, and the three-legged race—only the final event remained.
The relay race.
In other words, the final event. A 4v4 showdown between the Red and White teams, composed of the fastest students in the grade.
With the final event of the sports festival just ahead, everyone looked quite tense.
"Kim Yoo-Sung, you have to win this match."
Seeing the class president's expression, more serious than ever, I nodded.
It was because the class with the highest overall score would receive a large cash prize from the school.
Perhaps because winning the biggest prize would boost our class's prestige, Ayase was even more obsessed with the sports festival results. The saying "might as well have the best" came to mind.
Truthfully, if we never had a chance, she would have given up from the start. But thanks to our class winning the soccer and volleyball tournaments, the first-place prize was now tantalizingly within reach.
"Leave it to me."
I had no intention of losing to anyone else when it came to a physical contest.
Since the Red and White teams were decided by drawing lots, the quality of the final relay members was about even.
They were all known for being fleet-footed, but they looked quite nervous, likely because they were representing their respective classes and grades.
After the final break, everyone headed out to the field.
As it was the last event of the sports festival, the entire student body was gathered in the stands, cheering for the relay participants.
"Kim Yoo-Sung! Do your best!"
"Show them the power of Class 2-B!"
And our classmates were no different.
Even the kids who usually looked at each other like cats and dogs were united in cheering for me today.
This might be the true power of sports.
Slap!
Before the relay officially began, I slapped my own cheeks to focus, closed my eyes, and took slow, deep breaths.
My heart, which had been pounding with tension, gradually calmed, and soon, the surrounding noise faded away.
Having regained my composure, I calmly opened my eyes.
"Alright. Let's do this."
This was the final event of the sports festival.
So I would hold nothing back and crush my opponent with everything I had.
That was my resolve.
*
BANG!
The 400m relay began with the dry crack of a starting pistol.
The first runner from each team, holding a colorful baton, began to sprint powerfully down the track.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The massive field was filled with heat and cheers.
Just as people who normally dislike sports get excited about the Olympics, in this moment, everyone became one.
"Run!"
"Don't lose!"
"You can do it!"
The runners dashed on, carrying the weight of everyone's mixed cheers on their backs.
To contribute to their team's victory, they ran with every last ounce of their strength, even when they were out of breath and their hearts felt like they would burst.
The baton was passed, and the next runner took off, only to pass it to the next runner again.
For that reason, the weight of the baton was by no means light.
Because that's what it meant to carry everyone's expectations.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
"The last leg! Only the final lap remains!"
Yamada's excited voice, commentating into a microphone, reached my ears.
As the White Team's anchor, standing at the starting line alongside the Red Team's fourth runner, I tensed my trapezius muscles at the sound of approaching footsteps.
And then—
"You have to win!"
The Red Team's fourth runner received the white baton and started running first.
Just as his back began to fade from my view, our third runner arrived, looking teary-eyed from a fall he'd taken mid-race. Taking the blue baton from him, I patted his shoulder and said,
"Let's win."
Immediately after, I began to run with all my might.
*
My official 50m dash time at school is 5.38 seconds.
Considering my muscle mass and a body weight close to 100kg, that's incredibly fast. But honestly, compared to a professional track athlete in this manga world, it was still lacking.
However, I had overcome this weakness long ago by learning Hayate, the single-transmission assassination art of the Fuma clan.
The characteristic of the martial art known as Hayate is that it imitates the natural phenomenon of 'wind'.
Naturally, Hayate's only footwork technique, Oikaze (Favorable Wind), also possessed this trait.
In other words—
Unlike my past self who knew nothing, I now had a body that could surpass its physical limits and run faster aerodynamically.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
A sound like a charging bull echoed across the wide field.
Every time I planted my foot, the dirt of the track buckled.
The gap between me and the opposing team's runner gradually closed.
With only about 30 meters left to the finish line, the other runner and I were finally side-by-side.
But that, too, was momentary as I instantly overtook him.
"Uwoooooooooooooooh!!"
I pushed forward, step by step, letting out a roar that came from the depths of my lungs.
And then—
"He won! Kim Yoo-Sung won! He pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory right at the finish line!"
Matsuda's excited voice, announcing the White Team's final victory, echoed throughout the field.
In the future, students who witnessed this race would say—
That the sight of Kim Yoo-Sung chasing the Red Team's anchor was like the Terminator chasing John Connor.