Firefly? Victory!
Therefore, Miyabi Nagumo was quite confident. According to the intelligence he had collected privately and the information submitted by Ryuen Kakeru, the best high jump result in Class 1-B seemed to be only about 1.4 meters. Although this was already considered outstanding among his peers, it was not enough compared to the sports ace of Class 2-A.
[Hirakawa Takuto, the Class 2-A high jump competitor, is in position.]
This second-year sports star seemed to be quite famous in the class. As soon as he appeared, Class 2-A greeted him with enthusiastic cheers and applause. Hirakawa himself smiled and waved, looking confident of victory.
But his smile quickly froze on his face.
[Kitagawa Hotaru, a participant in the high jump event for Class 1-B, is ready.]
A cat walked out from the formation of Class 1-B.
Yes, it's a cat.
It even tilted its head and licked its paws, making the girls present starry-eyed with cuteness.
[Class 1-B requests the referee to adjust the height of the railing to 2.2 meters]
"Meow."
The white figure nimbly flipped over.
The scene was deathly silent.
Chapter Sixty-Nine: Firefly? Wins!
Hirakawa Takuto suddenly knelt down on the scorching hot track, oblivious to the dust and gravel that covered his knees and calves.
When he was eight years old, his father told him about the Olympic spirit of "higher, faster, stronger," and from that day on, he was determined to become a professional athlete.
In the days that followed, whether in success or failure, in tears or sweat, nothing could defeat Hirakawa Takuto again. What defeated him only made him stronger.
Until...
Why is there a cat here?!
He pointed to the white creature that easily leaped over the railing, pounced on the cushion, and rolled around in the air.
"Referee, where's the referee?"
"This is cheating!"
"What kind of farce is this at the Sports Festival? What are the staff doing?"
The students of Class 2-A were also jolted back to their senses by Hirakawa Takuto's roar, and for a moment they shouted at the school staff standing to the side with overwhelming force.
"I'm sorry, Kitagawa Hotaru from Class 1-B has the student status of this school, and her participation procedures were completely compliant, so her results are recognized."
The school staff explained calmly and firmly, and seeing that the students in Class 2-A still seemed dissatisfied, they quickly cut off any room for negotiation:
"Everything regarding this Sports Festival was confirmed by the school before the Sports Festival began."
His point was simple: he was just an employee, and if there were any problems, he should go to the school to report them; arguing with him was pointless.
Just as Hirakawa Takuto was about to say something, Miyabi Nagumo, on the other side, finally recovered and gave Hirakawa Takuto instructions through her earpiece:
"We lost this round, you should concede and conserve your energy."
Although he tried his best to remain calm, Hirakawa Takuto could still detect the suppressed anger in Miyabi Nagumo's voice. After all, being tricked like this during the school's Sports Festival was a blow to Miyabi Nagumo, who was about to take over as Student Council.
Just a month ago, he mocked Kitagawa Ryo for spending Twenty Million Personal Points to get a student status for a cat, but unexpectedly, a month later, Class 2-A was defeated by a cat at the very beginning.
"Yes."
Hirakawa Takuto knew his efforts were now futile, if only he could jump higher than 2.2 meters today...
There's no point in making assumptions about something that's fundamentally impossible.
With Hirakawa Takuto's abandonment, the local broadcasts quickly reported the situation:
[Class 1-B defeated Class 2-A in the high jump and currently leads by one to zero]
[Next, we will move on to the second item: Freestyle Fighting]
[Both Commander please confirm the participating players]
[Confirmation complete]
[Please proceed to your designated areas and take your positions.]
[Ishizaki Daichi, a contestant from Class 1-B, is ready.]
[Class 2-A! Class 2-A contestants, please take your positions in the center of the field immediately!]
Miyabi Nagumo asked into the headset with a somewhat grim expression. Hirakawa Takuto was also sweating profusely with anxiety. He should have handed the headset to Kozukayama Satoru, the contestant for the second event, at this moment, but when he turned around, he found that Kozukayama Satoru, who was selected to participate in this [Freestyle Fighting] event, had disappeared without a trace.
Has anyone seen him?
Hirakawa Takuto eagerly asked his classmates in Class 2-A behind him:
Give him a call!
Miyabi Nagumo quickly gave the instructions.
"I've tried, but I can't get through!"
Hirakawa Takuto responded with a wry smile, but all he heard from the other end of his phone was an electronic voice indicating that no one was answering. They had lost contact with their own students.
"Send someone to look for it!"
Miyabi Nagumo's face was also ashen. There was no way to spend 100,000 points to bring in a temporary substitute for this kind of Miyabi Nagumo event. This was also to prevent a class from using points to replace the temporary substitutes of other classes for all events. If someone is absent from an individual event, it is considered a failure.
However, unexpectedly, the first to be caught in the trap of this rule was none other than Class 2-A themselves.
Are all the guys in Class 2-A bunch of cowards?
"You don't dare to fight me?"
Ishizaki Daichi, one of the contestants from Class 2-A, was slow to appear and mocked them without any politeness.
The remaining students in Class 1-B also burst into laughter at the opportune moment. These delinquents were really good at cursing, and in no time the faces of the students from Class 2-A who stayed behind turned red. They wished they could devour these uncivilized guys.
"Hey, you're not planning to just admit defeat, are you?"
Ishizaki Daichi continued to draw aggro, and although he appeared to be asking for trouble, he was actually a little worried himself.
Kitagawa Ryo never intended to win all seven matches. The second match, [Freestyle Fighting], which was fought by Ishizaki Daichi, was actually a lower-ranking event that was dropped. Ishizaki Daichi's task was only to see if he could interfere with the opponent's competition, and he did not need to fight with all his might.
All we need to do is use them as a bargaining chip to replace a strong student in Class 2-A, so that the plan for Class 1-B can be implemented more effectively.
Therefore, not only Class 2-A, but even Class 1-B themselves were wondering:
Where are they?
Information leaks are always a two-way street. In the past week, Class 2-A has received a steady stream of information from Ryuen Kakeru Sho, from selected projects to possible participant lists, from seeded players in each project to Kitagawa Ryo's possible tactics and strategies.
As a dedicated "traitor," Ryuen Kakeru would even occasionally reveal some rather secretive inside information, such as that Ishizaki Daichi fighter participating in [Freestyle Fighting], would go to a quiet corner of the campus every night after training to practice his physical fitness a little longer.
In this way, Class 2-A will be smoothly led by Ryuen Kakeru, and additional personnel will be sent to probe for intelligence to verify the situation.
Ryuen Kakeru's information was undoubtedly accurate, and Ishizaki Daichi was indeed seen practicing alone there by students from Class 2-A.
If you were to find someone in Class 2-A who was most concerned about Ishizaki Daichi's techniques, stamina, strengths and weaknesses, and the stability of his lower body, it would definitely be the person that Miyabi Nagumo had arranged to be Ishizaki Daichi's opponent.
Using this counterintuitive logic, Ryuen Kakeru easily used Ishizaki Daichi's information as bait to lure out the participants from Class 2-A for this event.
Once the identity is verified, the remaining task is to investigate the other party's movements, eating habits, and daily routine.
As the one assigned by Miyabi Nagumo to fight against Ishizaki Daichi, Kozukayama Satoru is also a standard muscular strongman. Ryuen Kakeru estimated that if they really fought, Ishizaki Daichi probably wouldn't last more than a few minutes. However, compared to his rugged appearance, he buys a fixed bento box for breakfast every morning after his run.
So Ryuen Kakeru scouted the area in advance and bought all the similar bento boxes on the day of the Sports Festival, keeping only one that he had prepared in advance.
Then...
Ryuen Kakeru looked at the man who was fast asleep in front of him, skillfully put him into a burlap sack, and dragged him along the route he had planned beforehand to the nearest public toilet, where he threw him into a stall.
The only surveillance camera on this road had been painted black beforehand, so there would be no evidence to be obtained even if it was investigated later. Before the other party could investigate, Ryuen Kakeru had already turned himself in to the Student Council, and the final punishment was only a cleaning fee of eight thousand points.
After all, this was a plan of action with minimal risk that Ryuen Kakeru had obtained after spending Class Points and testing the school's monitoring rules dozens of times at the beginning of the semester.
For how long was the surveillance camera obstructed? How much was obstructed? Was it intentional or unintentional? Was it done by confession or was it discovered?
Ryuen Kakeru kicked the sack at his feet.
He didn't actually have the ability to solve the problem, but he only needed to deal with the person who raised it.
[The Class 2-A contestant failed to be in place at the designated time; Class 2-A is therefore ruled the loser in this round of [Freestyle Fighting]]
[Class 1-B defeated Class 2-A in the Freestyle Fighting event and currently leads 2-0]
As time went by, Miyabi Nagumo's heart sank to the bottom. Finally, after the countdown ended, Class 2-A suffered another defeat.
Currently trailing 0-2, they are practically on the brink of elimination.
[The third event will follow: Women's 2000m Steeplechase]
[Both Commander please confirm the participating players]
"Qi, it's your turn to enter the stage."
Miyabi Nagumo finally changed his previous strategy. After two consecutive defeats, he realized Ryuen Kakeru's betrayal, which forced him to make a temporary change of tactics.
Because they were trailing 0-2 again, in the end, Miyabi Nagumo chose to believe in her childhood friend Asahina Nazuna, whom she had known since elementary school.
"Ya, leave it to me."
Wearing sportswear, Asahina Nazuna stretched her body as she answered. Although she did have some dislikes for Miyabi Nagumo and sometimes thought she should give him a good beating, they were childhood friends after all. Faced with Miyabi Nagumo's indirect plea for help, Asahina Nazuna naturally wouldn't throw a tantrum and responded quite decisively.
[Confirmation complete]
[Please proceed to your designated areas and take your positions.]
[Ibuki Mio, a contestant from Class 1-B, is ready.]
[Class 2-A contestant Asahina Nazuna is ready]
"Oh, I didn't expect your class to pick this troublesome project."
Although she had just appeared confident in front of Miyabi Nagumo, Asahina Nazuna was still inevitably shocked when she actually walked into the prepared Matoba.
The entire 2,000-meter course is filled with various obstacles. There seems to be a cardboard box placed at the 1,000-meter mark, which is probably the "borrowed item race" section described in the rules. When you reach that point, you need to draw a slip of paper from the box, then retrieve the item specified on the slip from outside the course, and carry the item to run another 500 meters. It's more of an entertainment event.
At the 1800-meter mark, a loaf of bread is suspended. This is the "bread-grabbing race" section in the rules. Runners who reach this section need to jump up and grab the bread with their mouths before they can continue running.
When Asahina Nazuna first noticed this program on the list published by the school, she prayed she wouldn't be involved, but...
"What? You're scared now?"
Wearing light sportswear, Ibuki Mio looked quite refreshing and dashing. As the girl with the strongest physical abilities in Class 1-B, she was not a discarded pawn like Ishizaki Daichi, but rather someone who pursued victory.
"We're sure to win this time."
After a brief moment of surprise, Asahina Nazuna quickly regained her composure and responded with unwavering confidence.
The verbal contest between the two did not last long, as the referee soon came over.
Each team took their starting positions, and as the students from both classes held their breath in anticipation, the referee fired the starting gun.
Miyabi Nagumo stared intently at the situation on the big screen. If they lost this match, even if Class 2-A won all four remaining matches, it would only be a Pyrrhic victory. After all, it would be too humiliating for a prestigious Class 2-A to fight First Year to the very last game.
Therefore, we must win this game.
As Asahina Nazuna's childhood friend, Miyabi Nagumo was naturally aware of her physical abilities. Moreover, as a second-year student, he had the advantage of having developed for an extra year. Unlike the inexplicable events of the first two rounds, he was absolutely confident that he could win a real contest of physical prowess!
Sure enough, in the first kilometer, Asahina Nazuna easily outmaneuvered Ibuki Mio by about ten meters.
The cheers and shouts of encouragement from Class 2-A echoed across the playground, and even Miyabi Nagumo couldn't help but smile.
The opponent only won the first two rounds by using tricks; in a real match...
In the scene, Asahina Nazuna's figure suddenly stopped. She had run to the 1,000-meter "borrowing race" section and was starting to draw slips of paper from a box placed there.
However, after drawing three cards in a row, it seemed a bit difficult, so I could only keep drawing new ones.
What are they doing?
Miyabi Nagumo asked into her earpiece.
"I can't help it, Ya. I drew [my favorite girl in class], [my least favorite boy in class], and [my most admired student in class]."
Asahina Nazuna responded quickly, her tone tinged with distress and helplessness:
"Leaving aside how these people were selected, I simply cannot carry a classmate on my back for 500 meters."
"There should be other small items in the box. Let me check again."
During this time, Ibuki Mio quickly closed the distance between the two. As Asahina Nazuna pulled out the fifth slip of paper with a bitter face, Ibuki Mio also took the first slip of paper and rushed out of the field, running into her class's formation. It seems that she has decided on the item for the [borrowing race].