The Sports Festival Begins / The Finish Line Is Here

"Fairness, fairness, and more fairness!"

"After all, the reason why the previous Chairman Sakayanagi, stepped down was because everyone felt that he had acted unfairly. Although I personally did not think he had any bias, I even hoped that he could return soon."

After stating his position, Tsukishiro Tsuneaki turned his gaze to Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and thoughtfully moved on to the next topic:

"The Sports Festival is fast approaching. Although we have more than a month to prepare, it's really just a matter of one day to decide the winner. I'm really looking forward to seeing how you two perform at the Sports Festival."

"And after the Sports Festival comes the Cultural Festival. I don't need to go into details about that, since both Ayanokoji and Kitagawa should have participated in the Cultural Festival at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School two years ago."

At this point, Tsukishiro paused again, then spoke in a serious tone:

"This is the second reason I called you two here today."

"I've already spoken with the teachers beforehand about increasing the number of guests allowed at this Cultural Festival. In fact, the reason this is happening is essentially due to the tacit approval of the two factions behind you."

"In other words, whether it's Kitagawa or Ayanokoji, someone wants to take this opportunity to 'visit' you at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School. But you two should have already guessed that."

Seeing that Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained silent and unmoved, Tsukishiro smiled, rubbing his palms together repeatedly, and first turned his gaze towards Ayanokoji Kiyotaka:

"Regarding Ayanokoji, I must remind you that your father is very likely to come to Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School in person."

Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka maintained a perfectly poker face, Kitagawa Ryo, with his remarkable insight, still managed to catch the subtle details of a slight frown and pursed lips on his face.

"As for Kitagawa-kun, I must say, President Tsubaki offered a price I couldn't refuse. It seems he really values his daughter quite a bit, so I'll have to trouble you to put in a lot of effort then."

Unlike his expression when facing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Tsukishiro deliberately winked and made faces when speaking to Kitagawa Ryo, his tone also carrying a slightly mischievous undertone.

"Of course, there is one last important message to pass on to you."

Tsukishiro stood up and pulled a Chess set from a cabinet on the wall of the reception room, placing it in front of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Kitagawa Ryo.

"You two should still remember the selection of personnel before the start of the school year, right? Although I don't know if Kitagawa-kun and Ayanokoji-kun are satisfied with the results back then, the good news is that you two have a second chance."

To be honest, both Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already guessed everything that Tsukishiro had said before, but his current remarks were completely unexpected. The two of them raised their heads and turned their gazes to Tsukishiro, who had taken the black and white kings from the chessboard.

"Unlike the rules last time, this time it's less about selection and more about identification."

Tsukishiro Tsunehira smiled and explained to Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka:

"During next month's Cultural Festival, a number of current third-year junior high school students who will be entering Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School next year will visit the school. Among these students from the South China Sea, there are those who support Kitagawa-kun and those who are ordered to support Ayanokoji-kun."

"Of course, many of them are unrelated individuals who know nothing about either of you, but they all possess various talents."

At this point, Tsukishiro Tsuneaki handed the two kings, one black and one white, to Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and continued explaining:

"What Kitagawa-kun and Ayanokoji-kun need to do is to carefully select and identify the new students who they like or who they like. Our school will then secretly divide these students into two groups based on your lists after they enroll next year."

"For students favored by Ayanokoji-kun, our school will make a special promise to them privately at the beginning of the semester: as long as Kitagawa-kun withdraws from the school, he will receive a reward of Twenty Million Personal Points."

"But Kitagawa-kun's student mission is the opposite; their goal is to get Ayanokoji-kun expelled. If they achieve this, these students can also get 20 million Private Points."

After speaking, Tsukishiro put his hands behind his back and revealed a kind smile:

"Above."

He bowed slightly in the direction of Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka:

"I hope you two can have a fulfilling and fun Sports Festival and Cultural Festival. I personally look forward to your performance."

Chapter 298: Sports Festival Opening

After finishing his explanation, Tsukishiro noticed Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's lukewarm attitude towards him, so he didn't try to keep them any longer and quickly dismissed them from the reception room.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka walked out of the faculty building one after the other, they suddenly heard Ayanokoji, who had been silent the whole way, call out to him:

"Kitagawa, the person that Acting Chairman Tsukishiro mentioned coming to visit you, should be Yuki, the Fourth Generation who was eliminated from the White Room, right?"

"Indeed, but that's none of your business. Besides, Ayanokoji, you should be thinking about how to deal with your father right now, right? Remember to take him away from me on the day of the Cultural Festival, and it's best if he doesn't show up in front of me."

Upon hearing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka mention Yuki, Kitagawa Ryo's gaze softened, but he immediately retorted, as he genuinely didn't want Yuki to face Ayanokoji Atsuomi at this time.

"... Yeah?"

Seemingly somewhat surprised that Kitagawa Ryo's dislike for Ayanokoji Atsuomi would be so obvious, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka himself lowered his eyes, head bowed, seemingly lost in thought.

Since the other person didn't speak, Kitagawa Ryo also didn't intend to say anything more. The two of them walked back to the dormitory building, and only after they entered the elevator and were back in the small, enclosed space where they were alone, did Ayanokoji Kiyotaka speak again:

"Perhaps we will have the opportunity to cooperate again in the future."

"Perhaps."

Faced with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's somewhat nonsensical statement, Kitagawa Ryo simply uttered two words before stepping out of the elevator.

His room was on the fourth floor, and taking the elevator would only take a short while.

However, in the last moment before the elevator doors slowly closed, Kitagawa Ryo still turned his head slightly, as if sensing something.

In the last crack of the elevator doors opening and closing, he saw Ayanokoji Kiyotaka standing silently alone in this small, silvery-white space.

In another second, the elevator doors closed completely.

And so, in the end, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's figure, along with his last glance, completely disappeared from Kitagawa Ryo's sight.

The last days always seem to pass exceptionally quickly; three or four days flew by in the blink of an eye.

Amidst mutual scheming and secret plotting, the most unique Sports Festival in the history of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School finally kicked off amidst the anticipation, tension, and excitement of the many students.

As we officially entered the first ten days of October, the weather finally cooled down a bit. The occasional Matoba of a few yellowing leaves fluttering in the wind while walking down the street seemed to be a reminder to the students that the hot summer had completely passed and the chapter was over.

The day of the Sports Festival was also a sunny day. In fact, to ensure the smooth running of the Sports Festival, the school does not hold the Sports Festival on the same day every year, but chooses the day with the most suitable temperature and weather within a week.

In keeping with the sunny weather, most students were in good spirits. Before the opening ceremony began, students from each class, who had already changed into their sports shirts and sneakers, were chatting and laughing on the field, doing warm-up exercises, or discussing things related to the quiz.

"Ah, to be honest, when Hirata from Class D and Shibata from Class A got into trouble one after the other, I was terrified for a while. I was so worried that our school would turn into a high school of hot blood. After all, it's really scary to see people hurting each other directly or indirectly."

"Indeed, thankfully, no similar incidents of targeting athletes have occurred since Hirata and Shibata, and both of them have almost fully recovered, so it's As You Like It."

Sakayanagi Arisu stood quietly in the corner, listening to the girls in her class chatting. Next to her, Amasawa Ichika was idly playing with her fingers and hair. If it weren't for the requirement that boys and girls enter in separate groups, she probably would have already gone to chat with Kitagawa Ryo by now.

In fact, unlike most of the apparent disappearance of gun violence and the quieting down of evil forces, this alliance, composed of students from Class 1-C and some students from the second and third years, never intended to stop after taking action against Hirata Yosuke and Shibata Sō. They simply prevented all subsequent actions from happening in secret.

Ryuen Kakeru was mainly in charge of Class 1-C, while she and Sakayanagi Arisu were dealing with the second and third-year students.

Just like what Katsuragi Kohei suddenly realized after training that day, these people did indeed set their next target on the girls' group of Class 1-B in Cavalry Battle. After all, the benefit of taking down one person is equivalent to taking down an entire group, and if Class B loses a group, the strength of the White Team composed of Classes B and C will also decline significantly. There is simply no reason not to take action.

However, the result was that they were beaten up by Sakayanagi Arisu and Amasawa Ichika, who had prepared in advance. This even left a terrifying legend among the third-year First Year: "There is a muscular, strong, twin-tailed guy among the first-year students." This directly made Class 3-B, who originally wanted to interfere in the affairs of the First Year, shrink back. From then on, they focused on dealing with Class 3-A, following Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's instructions.

And just like that, the mixed alliance of the three grades was instantly split in two. The second-year students were only going through the motions to appease Nagumo, and seeing that there was no profit to be made, they also became much more restrained, which led to the current situation where nothing happened.

"Speaking of which, Arisu you investigated exactly which projects and players Honami and Hui have invested their five million in?"

After admiring her neatly trimmed nails in the direct sunlight, Amasawa Ichika casually asked a question.

"We've suspected a few, but haven't caught them yet. It seems they both used multiple accounts to place small bets in batches."

Sakayanagi Arisu simply shook her head upon hearing this, but Amasawa Ichika responded with a rather amused smile, clearly not quite believing the other party's current explanation.

"Alright, I'm going to warm up too. Even if it's just to earn some pocket money, I need to win as many games as possible."

After saying that, Amasawa Ichika also left Sakayanagi Arisu's side.

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't care whether the other person was really warming up or meeting someone; after all, their relationship at this Sports Festival was only a cooperative one.

Although the opening ceremony is still some time away, a number of adult spectators can already be seen gathered around the playground. Most of these people are staff members of convenience stores and shops throughout the school. Since the school is holding Sports Festival today, all the shops will be closed for a day, so they are essentially getting a rare holiday.

In addition, because of the prediction contest, although these staff members could not participate, they still felt that this year's Sports Festival looked much more interesting than in previous years, so most of the staff members chose to come to the venue as spectators to watch today's Sports Festival games.

Among them, Sakayanagi Arisu also discovered her father, who, despite his disguise with a hat and glasses, was still easily recognized by her.

Although Sakayanagi Narimori has been temporarily relieved of his position as Chairman, he still chose to come to the Sports Festival, which was his daughter Sakayanagi Arisu school. Judging from the camera he brought, he was determined to record everything that happened today with photographs.

After giving a brief, raised-hand greeting to her father in the distance, Sakayanagi Arisu turned her gaze to Sakura Airi, who looked quite worried, a few steps away.

It's understandable that she had mixed feelings about this Sports Festival.

After all, on one hand Sakura Airi genuinely wanted to support her best friend Karuizawa Kei's relationship, and on the other hand, she was somewhat anxious about whether Kitagawa Ryo would actually transfer to another class and leave, especially since she had ten million Private Points that could change the situation.

However, when the Sports Festival officially began today, Sakura Airi still chose to keep her original promise to Karuizawa Kei and firmly sealed the ten million Private Points in her account. Neither Sakayanagi Arisu nor Ichinose Honami, who came to find her, could persuade her to use the points.

However, Sakura Airi could actually understand their thoughts, so she did not refuse Sakayanagi Arisu's private request for her to send her a screenshot of her Private Points balance every day to show that she had not used the points for anyone.

Thinking of this, Sakayanagi Arisu smiled again.

Because she never actually expected to borrow that huge amount of Private Points from Sakura Airi, after all, she didn't have the same long-standing friendship with Karuizawa Kei that they had known each other since elementary school.

What she was pursuing from the very beginning was actually that seemingly helpless request she made after being rejected.

That is, the screenshot showing a balance of ten million Private Points.

This alone is enough for Sakayanagi Arisu to do many more things.

For example--

She fooled and deceived the group of students who fell for her tricks, paid to join the group, and naively believed that there were official school officials behind the Sports Festival, and actually placed bets based on some of the predictions she released.

As the opening ceremony bell rang from the loudspeakers around the playground, students from each grade and class entered the venue in lines, led by their respective homeroom teachers. The staff members, who had already been led to their seats in the audience, waved and shouted a few words, creating a lively atmosphere.

The two speakers at the opening ceremony were a faculty and staff representative and a student representative. The former was Tsukishiro, the Acting Chairman the Tsukishiro, but the latter was not Horikita Manabu as many people imagined. Instead, it was another student from Class 3-A named Fujimaki who gave the speech. It is unknown whether this is because Horikita Manabu is about to step down as Student Council President.

As Kitagawa Ryo listened to Fujimaki's speech on the podium, he glanced around the sports field. The school was indeed taking this Sports Festival very seriously; a complete medical team and treatment facilities were ready, indicating that they had made ample preparations and countermeasures for any possible emergencies.

As Fujimaki finished speaking, and with a loud announcement over the school's loudspeaker, the first event of today's Sports Festival, the 100-meter race, began the registration and entry phase for athletes.

After receiving his race bib from school staff and wearing it, Ken Sudō, representing Class 1-B in the first group, quickly reached the starting line, glanced towards the finish line, and remarked:

"The school really went to great lengths; they even installed a camera to record the results."

Kitagawa Ryo, who was not in the first group to compete and was resting on the sidelines, followed Ken Sudō's gaze and saw a camera near the finish line used to record the moment the students crossed the finish line.

"After all, this time there's a prediction contest involved, and each round affects the students' Private Points. To ensure fairness as much as possible, the school should avoid misjudgments or vague conclusions."

"Well, it's okay, I'll make a clear gap between myself and the second-place runner that's obvious enough that we won't even need this to tell us what's going on."

After Kitagawa Ryo gave his explanation, Ken Sudō also stretched out his leg forward, wiggled his ankle, and spoke with considerable confidence.

His classmate Miyake Akito was in the same group as him, seemed more relaxed. After all, with Hirata Yosuke, Ken Sudō, and Shibata Sō in the same group, the rest of them had basically lost any chance of competing for the top three, so they felt no pressure at all.

Standing next to Miyake Akito, Ishizaki Daichi and Komiya Yogo from Class 1-C seemed to share the same thought, both sporting a grinning expression, highlighting that not being last in the group was considered a success in terms of participation.

But while the runners from Class 1-A, Class B, and Class C of the first year were already preparing at the starting line, Hirata Yosuke from Class 1-D and another student were nowhere to be seen. Then, as if suddenly receiving a message through his earpiece, a nearby referee stood up and shouted loudly through a megaphone:

"Class 1-D XX (a random person, too lazy to make up a name) is unable to participate due to a sudden health issue. According to the Sports Festival rules, Class 1-D has chosen to spend 100,000 Private Points to have substitute player Ayanokoji Kiyotaka take the stage for this group's competition."

"Oh, here it comes."

Not surprised, Kitagawa Ryo stepped onto the court, while Miyake Akito, who had been slacking off, immediately put on a dramatic performance, lying down on the ground and crying out to the referee in feigned pain:

"Teacher, I sprained my ankle! Class 1-B requests a replacement player!"

Chapter 299: The Finish Line Is Here

As one of the most anticipated events of the entire Sports Festival, the unexpected situation in the first group of the First Year boys' 100-meter race naturally attracted everyone's attention.

However, the school seemed to have prepared a complete response plan in advance. Just one minute later, the two substitute athletes Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, were led to the starting position of the track.

Although many students who were far away had no idea what exactly had happened, the appearance of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Kitagawa Ryo was a fact that had definitely happened before their eyes, and the students who had bet that Class 1-B or Class D would win the group competition were overjoyed.

After all, both of them had proven themselves in the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, and were regarded as the No.1 seed players in their respective classes before the start of this Sports Festival. Moreover, the various training match information that had been revealed overtly and covertly in recent days had been intentionally or unintentionally promoting the idea that these two were the athletes standing at the top of the entire First Year and even the whole school. Now that they were competing against each other in the first match, the enthusiasm of the audience naturally soared.

Compared to the students who had bet on Class B or Class D, the students who placed their trust in Shibata Sō felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.

On the surface, the addition of Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka might seem to have simply turned the original three-way competition between Sudo Ken Sudō, Hirata Yosuke, and Shibata Sō into a five-way battle. However, considering that the betting was about which class would ultimately win, Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's substitutions essentially provided an extra layer of insurance for Class B and Class D, making Class 1-B's situation suddenly awkward.

Among these people, several had cold hands and feet and were covered in cold sweat. They subconsciously took out their phones from their pockets, wanting to log back into the group where they had been discussing current affairs and exchanging passionate words for the past two weeks, only to receive a cold message: "This group has been disbanded."

They had finally made up their minds on the day the betting ended to gamble with that mysterious guy who claimed to be the school's special agent, after all, he had said that the odds would definitely change in the last second before the end, and had shown them an account balance of more than ten million Private Points, which was supposedly a special fund allocated by the school.

Because the Sakura Airi incident was covered up, almost no one knew about it except for the Student Council president, vice president, and the parties involved. Therefore, the vast majority of students were completely unaware of the existence of this sum of ten million.

These people were also fooled by greed. After all, in their opinion, the only person who could have such a large number of points at this time was either Nagumo, a second-year student, or someone from the school. But Nagumo had no reason to go to such lengths to deceive them, which led them to step into a trap.

The insider information that Sakayanagi Arisu gave them was to bet on Shibata Sō, and he gave a whole set of reasons, saying that the anonymous post was made to raise Shibata's odds, and that Sudo Hirata would both cause problems on the field, so everyone could just wait to make a fortune.

But looking at the situation on the field now, Shibata Sō himself probably thinks that 'making it into the top three would be a success,' and the students who bet on him are naturally dejected.

However, with their Private Points already deducted, clinging to a last sliver of unrealistic and miraculous hope, they stubbornly turned their attention to the track over there.

Two male runners from each class, a total of eight, are already ready at the starting line. There will be ten groups of runners participating in the 100-meter race, but the most attention will naturally be focused on this first group.

As the referee fired the starting gun, the surrounding spectators held their breath, their eyes following the runners as they sped towards the finish line from right to left.

Unlike the 400-meter and 1000-meter races, the 100-meter race is actually only a dozen seconds long at most. However, many students only blinked and lost focus for a moment. The eight people who were originally neck and neck at the starting line had already formed a clear gap in the middle of the race, which was less than 50 meters away. Ishizaki Daichi and Komiya Yogo from Class 1-C and another student from Class 1-A were directly left at the back.

Although it was a doomed match, the last-place team would be punished, so even though they were at the back, Ishizaki Daichi and the others still had no intention of giving up. They tried their best to move their legs, but even so, they could clearly see the distance between them and the five students in front of them widening.