I Know Him

On the soccer field.

A handsome, blonde-haired figure stood out, drawing the gaze of almost everyone present.

With a frivolous expression and a disdainful smirk on his lips, he easily dribbled past several people before standing outside the penalty area, not far from the goal, and provocatively staring down the goalkeeper.

The student from Class D, who had already conceded twice, wore a grave expression.

However, before he could react, the soccer ball curved at an uncanny angle and slammed into the net; his desperate dive ended up hitting nothing but air.

3:0!

Cheers erupted from the sidelines.

"Nagumo-senpai is amazing!"

"So cool, I want to marry you!"

"As expected of Nagumo, winning against the underclassmen with such ease."

Listening to the screams from the sidelines, Hirata Yousuke, who had run onto the field, shook his head helplessly.

In the end, he raised his hand: "We concede."

Meanwhile, in the stands further away.

"He should be here for you. Aren't you going to challenge him?" asked the expressionless, handsome boy, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

Bai Ye sighed: "I don't like soccer... Besides, we're never going to make it to the World Cup, so what's the point of playing?"

"?"

"You wouldn't get it even if I explained." Bai Ye shook his head and shifted his gaze to the arrogant boy waving at the audience on the field, "Ayanokoji, do you think you could beat this guy?"

"I'm not sure. If the conditions were in my favor, I would have a high chance of success."

"No, I think you'd only need one punch."

Meeting the puzzled look Ayanokoji cast his way, he said, "Sometimes you underestimate yourself, or perhaps you overestimate others. Of course, that's a good habit; one should never let their guard down at any time. You should treat the enemy before you with your full strength, even if they are just an ant."

"I know."

Ayanokoji naturally brushed Bai Ye's hand off his shoulder.

"How do you think we should deal with this Nagumo?" he asked.

Ayanokoji remained silent for a long time before saying:

"His greatest weakness is his pride. As long as we provoke him, we can make him lose his composure and fall into our trap..."

"As expected of Ayanokoji-kun, then I'll leave this matter to you."

"..."

"Don't look at me like that. I'm very busy; look over there, my girlfriend is already getting impatient."

"She isn't even looking this way. She's reading a book by herself; how is she impatient?"

"You don't understand. Horikita is just that kind of person. Even if she misses me, she wouldn't show it."

Liar.

Ayanokoji knew very well that Bai Ye just wanted to dump the trouble on him.

As for himself, he was just busy flirting with his girlfriend. If a person like that were a boss, his factory would be emptied out by thieves within three days.

But, in other words, a boss who trusts his employees this much can also earn their extreme loyalty.

He currently felt as if he had been entrusted with a heavy responsibility, even developing the illusion that he should give his all for the man.

Just as Bai Ye was about to leave, the blonde-haired handsome guy from earlier, Nagumo Miyabi, walked up to the two of them at some point:

"Are you trying to run away in defeat, Jingu?"

Bai Ye stopped in his tracks and looked at him, bewildered: "Who are you, and do you need something from me?"

What a great actor.

Ayanokoji muttered to himself, stepping back two paces to leave the stage to the two of them.

He secretly turned on the voice recorder in his pocket.

Nagumo's mouth twitched, and he said in an unfriendly tone:

"I am the vice president of the student council. As a member of the student council, you don't even know who I am? Do you have no regard for the duties of the student council?"

"None at all," Bai Ye said frankly. "I was only forced into it by the president. I don't even care about the student council, so why should I care about a self-righteous vice president like you?"

"Big talk. Do you really think you can turn this school upside down?"

"I don't know if I can turn it upside down, but dealing with you would be quite easy."

"In that case, compete with me. Whoever loses will apologize to the other and admit they are inferior."

"Let's do it then." Bai Ye looked at the people slowly gathering around, "First off, I won't compete in those team sports. I can't bring myself to bully underclassmen like that."

He was alluding to how Nagumo had used his extra year of soccer training to crush their class earlier.

The thick-skinned Nagumo Miyabi automatically filtered out that remark: "Then let's race a two-thousand-meter run. It's one of the sports that best reflects true ability."

"Fine."

Bai Ye chuckled inwardly; he couldn't believe they were actually competing over something like this.

Although he had repeatedly ignored the old man's training plans over the years, he had still managed to stick to his long-distance runs every morning.

He wasn't even sure why he kept running; perhaps he was just looking for something meaningful to do with his life.

In reality, he hadn't even known how long he would live back then, and he believed anyone in his desperate situation would have lost all hope for the future.

But the appearance of the system had given him a goal, as well as the hope to keep on living.

If not for that, no matter how diligently he trained, he would never have been able to defeat those gifted athletes.

He knew very well that in this world, hard work alone wasn't enough to achieve one's goals; if Ayanokouji hadn't possessed such monstrous, innate talent, he never would have become the best "specimen" in the White Room.

And his own vendetta couldn't be resolved by simply being a martial arts expert.

But now, his physical strength had been enhanced to twice that of an average adult.

Sometimes 1+1 is greater than 2; being twice as strong as an adult didn't mean he could only fight two adults—his strength had increased exponentially.

Although he wasn't sure of Nagumo's true strength, he hadn't been afraid of competing against him in running before, let alone now.

After the news of the long-distance race between him and Nagumo spread, the students who had been scattered about resting began to gather around.

Among them were the students from Class 1-B.

Ichinose was pulled toward the school track by Shironami Chihiro, where she spotted Kanzaki Ryuji in the distance, who was also there to observe.

This honor student, who usually wore a calm expression, was currently looking troubled.

Ichinose asked curiously, "Is something bothering you, Kanzaki-kun?"

"No..." Kanzaki noticed Ichinose and shook his head. "Are you here to scout the competition, Ichinose?"

"Competition? Who?" Ichinose tilted her head, looking confused.

"Jingu, of course. Since he joined the Student Council, aren't you here to find a way to defeat him?"

"Maybe..." Ichinose gave a sheepish laugh and looked at the two people standing side by side at the starting line. "Who do you think will win, Kanzaki-kun?"

"The Vice President, I suppose."

"Oh..." Ichinose nodded. "Well, I think Jingu-kun will win."

Kanzaki turned to look at her. "Do you know him that well?"

"Not really... why?" Ichinose suddenly had a premonition that Kanzaki was about to say something incredible.

Sure enough.

"Actually, I've known him... since we were very young."

Kanzaki frowned, his expression lost in memory.

"Then... could you tell me about it? What was he like back then..." Ichinose asked tentatively. "If it's something you can't talk about, then never mind."

"It's nothing much," Kanzaki said. "It's just that when I was a kid, I ran into him while I was out playing alone... and I accidentally splashed someone's painting pigments all over him."

"And then?"

"And then he grabbed a dog and chased me around for half the day..."

"..."

Ichinose covered her lips, her shoulders trembling.

She had to hold it in; if she laughed out loud, Kanzaki-kun would surely scold her.

But Shironami Chihiro, standing beside her, burst out laughing.

"Kanzaki-kun, so you have a past like that too..."

"..."

Kanzaki didn't mention that ever since that day, he had worked hard to train his body, all to ensure he would never end up in such an embarrassing situation again.

It was precisely because of that that he possessed such outstanding athletic ability today.

Ichinose finally managed to suppress her laughter and looked toward the two figures in the distance.

"The race has started."