The Sports Festival Comes to a Close: Who Will Take the Grand Prize?
After the four of them started running at the same time, Student Council President Horikita Manabu took the lead and gained an advantage. His running form was extremely standard, and although it didn't look particularly special, his speed was quite fast.
"Then there's Senior Nagumo, he's just as fast."
"Classmate Hashiba caught up immediately, and he's even accelerating!!"
After setting off, the black-haired boy did not hesitate at all and directly opened his System Panel.
[Potential Burst has been used!]
[Stamina: 6-8]
In that instant, Hashiba Hikaru's body unleashed an extremely powerful force, as if it had activated an overload mode, propelling the boy forward like a whirlwind.
"These people are monsters! They've already surpassed those who set off earlier?"
"Yes, even though they were the last to set off, they caught up very quickly, it's amazing!"
"Wait, who is that?"
Some people noticed the boy closely following the three. He also overtook the others who had started earlier in a short time, but the audience did not know who he was.
"Ayanokoji!"
Hirata Yosuke's expression changed, and he sprang up from his chair. He then cupped his hands around his mouth, making a megaphone shape, and shouted, "Ayanokoji, do your best!!!"
Upon hearing his voice, the rest of Class C naturally reacted. They were surprised to find that Ayanokoji, who usually had little presence, was running so fast. In their astonishment, they all followed Hirata and cheered him on enthusiastically.
"Go for it, Ayanokoji!!!"
"Damn it, we can't lose to them!"
Upon hearing the cheers from the White Team, an even more deafening cheer erupted from the Red Team's tent. Of course, it was the students from Class A of the First Year shouting, while the tent of Class D next door remained completely silent.
On the field, feeling the cool breeze constantly brushing past his ears, Hashiba Hikaru's expression was quite serious. He had already mobilized his body's running instincts to the extreme, and with his stamina value increased to 8 points, his speed was still climbing.
"They've surpassed him! Classmate Hashiba has surpassed Nagumo- senpai!!!"
"Hateful!"
When Miyabi Nagumo saw the figure flash past him, his expression turned very ugly. His athletic ability was certainly not bad, but now he had fallen behind Horikita Manabu and Hashiba Hikaru.
"Hey, that student seems to be surpassing Nagumo- senpai too, what's going on?"
Just as Miyabi Nagumo's face turned ashen, a vague sense of regret began to creep into his heart. After all, if he ended up in third place, the Second Year students might have something new to talk about.
But at that moment, the blond man caught a glimpse of another figure rapidly approaching him, about a few body lengths away.
"What?"
Miyabi Nagumo was shocked again. He could explain losing to Horikita Manabu or Hashiba Hikaru, but how could this nobody surpass him?!
He gritted his teeth and swung his arms and leg muscles even harder, trying to increase his speed again, but the situation did not improve. Three seconds later, the expressionless first-year student actually passed his position and chased after the two people in front of him.
"Wow! Ayanokoji is amazing!!!"
The students in Class C of the First Year were stunned. They never expected that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's strength was so amazing, and he was now in third place.
"Go for it!!! Classmate Hashiba!!!"
Ahead, Hashiba Hikaru, pushing her Physical Ability to the limit, was almost catching up with Horikita Manabu, who was holding first place. Horikita was sprinting with his head held high and his expression unchanged.
[Keep pushing!!!]
His running training since the start of the school year has not disappointed Hashiba Hikaru; as he pushes himself to his limits, his speed increases.
Meanwhile, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had caught up. Based on the boy's initial guess, this guy's physical limit should be around 8 points, and the explosive power and speed he is showing now confirm it.
[But I won't lose!!!]
Hashiba Hikaru accelerated again, first rushing through the first bend, then closing in on Horikita Manabu, who was in first place. After the straightaway, the three were very close, with Horikita Manabu and Hashiba Hikaru maintaining first place, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was a few body lengths behind.
I will win, otherwise all my previous preparations would have been for nothing.
Just as Hashiba Hikaru pushed his body's functions to near their limit, the section displaying his stamina on his System Panel was trembling wildly, as if it were about to burst out.
"Go! Go! Go! Go!"
Hearing the cheers echoing in his ears, Hashiba Hikaru mustered all his strength and finally managed to brush past Horikita Manabu at the last bend, while Ayanokoji Kiyotaka caught up with Horikita Manabu.
After seeing the boy flash past him, this usually calm and collected man remained composed. While maintaining his speed, he exchanged a glance with Hashiba Hikaru.
"Brush!"
"He crossed the finish line!!!"
"Finally crossed the finish line! Who's in first place? I think I just saw Classmate Hashiba be the first one to touch the finish line!"
"Horikita-senpai is fast too. Who is really number one, him or Classmate Hashiba?"
As Ayanokoji Kiyotaka approached the final bend, he knew the outcome of the race was already decided. He didn't try to win the prize, partly because he was afraid of getting into trouble, but more importantly because he felt he had reached his physical limit.
"So we really lost?"
After stopping, he looked at Hashiba Hikaru, who was standing at the front, panting heavily, while Horikita Manabu next to her was also heaving violently.
The race staff were carefully reviewing the footage captured by the cameras. After all, the time it took for them to cross the finish line was so short that they needed to use footage slowed down dozens of times to determine who was in first place.
"Who is it? This is really keeping us in suspense."
"Yeah, did Horikita-senpai win? Or Classmate Hashiba?"
Hearing the discussion around her, Horikita Suzune looked up at her brother, who was whispering something to Hashiba Hikaru.
The girl naturally watched the entire match. It has to be said that with such strength, it's no wonder that her Classmate Hashiba approves of her.
"Can I do that too?"
The black-haired girl let out a barely perceptible sigh. Despite her insistence on continuing the match after injuring her ankle, she still couldn't achieve a good result.
About two minutes later, a staff member came to Hashiba Hikaru and Horikita Manabu. He was a young man who, without any hesitation, took the boy's arm and raised it high.
"The winner of this competition is Classmate Hashiba from Class A of the First Year!"
As soon as he finished speaking, even more enthusiastic applause resounded throughout the venue, and countless people stood up and roared their congratulations.
"Ooooh ooooh!!!"
"Great!!! We won! We won!!!"
"That's fantastic! As expected of Classmate Hashiba!"
Everyone in Class A was overjoyed. After winning first place in the competition, many things had been settled, and now it was time to reap the rewards.
~~~~~
300
Chapter 300: The Sports Festival Concludes, Who Will Take Home the Grand Prize?
After the celebration ended, all the students began to return to their respective tents to assemble.
When Hashiba Hikaru arrived at Class A's camp, he was treated like a hero returning home. He chatted with everyone with a smile, and together they looked forward to the final closing ceremony.
The school arranged to announce the final results of the Sports Festival at the closing ceremony. Everyone had worked hard all day and looked at the largest electronic screen with a mix of nervousness and excitement.
The broadcast started on time, Hashiba Hikaru looked up at the screen, where the numbers were jumping rapidly.
[Now, the results of this year's Sports Festival will be announced...]
The electronic screen displays the total score of the White Team on one side and the total score of the Red Team on the other side. Since there are thirteen different items, it is necessary to calculate and tally the individual scores of all students.
However, during this tense period, the members of the Red Team did not seem too flustered. After the start of the morning's competition, the Red Team maintained its Lead and prevented the White Team from making a comeback until the end of the last match.
Just like the final Relay Race to Hashiba Hikaru from the Red Team, the second place to Horikita Manabu from the Red Team, the third place to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka from the White Team, and the fourth place to Miyabi Nagumo from the Red Team. This basically divided up the most points, so the final numbers wouldn't differ too much.
"Drop!"
The numbers on the electronic screen stopped calculating and displayed the final result.
Red Team Total Score: 11085 points.
White Team Total Score: 8575 points.
The outcome was already predetermined; the Sports Festival ended with the AD Alliance emerging victorious, and cheers immediately erupted from the Red Team's tent after the result was announced.
"Great! We won!!"
"That's great, we don't have to lose points now."
The students in Class A of the First Year seemed very happy. Although they were now far behind Class B in terms of scores, not losing points would naturally be the best outcome.
In addition to displaying the results for the White Team, the electronic screen then shows the class rankings within each grade level, which also involve increases or decreases in Class Evaluation Points.
Upon seeing this answer, naturally some were happy while others were sad.
[Rankings within the first-grade group]
[First Place: Class A of the First Year]
[Second Place: Class D of the First Year]
[Third Place: Class B of the First Year]
[Third Place: Class C of the First Year]
"Ugh... we really did suffer a crushing defeat!"
"Sigh, there's nothing we can do about it. Sudo, and without him, we lost many opportunities to compete for first place."
A pall of gloom hung over the tent of Class C of the First Year; the worst outcome they had initially anticipated had indeed occurred.
In the competition between the Red and White Teams, if the White Team loses, 100 Class Evaluation Points will be deducted.
In the class competition within the grade, the class that comes in last place will have 100 Class Evaluation Points deducted.
In other words, Class C will have 200 points deducted from its Class Evaluation Points, making its already meager Class Evaluation Points even more precarious.
Unlike the atmosphere in Class C, everyone in Class A's tent was already raising their glasses in celebration—of course, they were raising sports drinks.
"Great! This time we can add another 50 points to the Class Evaluation Points!"
"That's great! Anyway, let's have Celebration Party later! We need to celebrate properly."
"That's right!!!"
"I agree, everyone has worked hard."
Some people thought of the bet with Ryuen. In addition to the Class Evaluation Points, they also had two million Private Points that had not been recovered. The contract was already made, so they were not afraid of the other party reneging.
Meanwhile, Hashiba Hikaru observed the rankings of the second and third year students. Although Miyabi Nagumo only managed fourth place in the last match, his Class 2-A still held the top spot in the Second Year with an overwhelming advantage. The same was true for the Class A of the Third Year, led by Horikita Manabu, which had a large gap with the Class 3-B, making it virtually impossible for them to upset the class.
"This result is not surprising at all; both of them have a very strong grasp of the grade level..."
Hashiba Hikaru couldn't help but feel a little emotional. Although Class 1-A had dominated for a semester, he didn't have the same level of control over the entire first year as these two.
"There's still a long way to go. Our main focus should now be on the Student Council."
He touched his hair, thinking about the bet with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and how he would have to meet him again later.
"Look, the Best Performance Award have been announced!"
At this moment, everyone noticed the information that was about to be announced on the electronic screen. The Best Performance Award was a special bonus for the Sports Festival, which would be awarded to the person with the highest score in each of the three grades. There was also Overall Best Performance Award, which would be awarded 100,000 Private Points.
"It must be Classmate Hashiba!"
"I think so too, he's won so many first places."
Just as the students began to guess, several names gradually appeared on the electronic screen.
[Best Performance Award for Each Grade]
[First Grade: Hashiba Hikaru]
[Second Year: Miyabi Nagumo]
[Third grade: Horikita Manabu.]
"It really was a result that wasn't surprising at all."
"It seems the reward is only 10,000 points. I'm more interested in who will win the Grand Prize."
"Could it be...?"
Some people recalled that highly anticipated duel, in which the person who had stopped and waited for a while still won first place.
[Next up is the Overall Best Performance Award.]