The Competition Was Underway, and Horikita Was Targeted / First Round: Sudo's Class D and Class A, led by Shibata and Kanzaki, were the Red Team's attackers and defenders, respectively

In the subsequent third-year competition, Horikita Manabu unsurprisingly won first place, while Sekishiko was not so impressive, barely managing to secure fourth place, which could be considered a draw.

"You run really fast, President Horikita."

"Because my brother is perfect; no matter what he's asked to do, he'll always be number one."

Horikita Suzune's words left Shuichi Kanda speechless. Even Horikita Manabu himself wouldn't dare call himself perfect, and you're just agreeing on his behalf?

Why don't you just say, "My brother dares to eat shit"?

Isn't there any difference?

After the 100-Meter Race for the entire grade is completed, there will be a ten-minute rest period during which the school will calculate the current total score for the White Team.

It's like Japan's annual Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Battle).

Therefore, before the next competition began, the initial scores for the red and White Team were announced.

The Red Team scored 2210 points, and the White Team scored 1791 points, a difference of 419 points!

The competition has only just begun, and the Red Team has already gained a fairly significant advantage, just as expected.

So how can we possibly lose this round? Unless the entire Red Team goes AFK!

The students in Class D were also very excited upon seeing their scores. Such a large advantage basically secured their victory. As long as they maintained their performance, they were sure to win, right?

As a result, a sense of self-confidence arose in the hearts of the students in Class D.

Looking at the confident students of Class D, Shuichi Kanda sighed inwardly. What a pity; their confidence would probably be completely destroyed in the next move.

Chapter 180 During the match, Horikita was targeted.

After the 100-Meter Race, the second event was the 110-meter hurdles.

Although it is a speed-based event like the 100-Meter Race, the presence of obstacles means that simply being fast is not enough.

Because hitting a railing will add time, adding 0.5 seconds for each railing hit. There are 110 meters in total, with a railing every 10 meters, so if you knock down all of them, you will add 5 seconds to your final time.

Therefore, simply running fast is not enough to win; you must also jump accurately.

Well, none of this has anything to do with Shuichi Kanda. Anyway, he can't run fast or jump very well, and starting from this competition, the school added a new rule.

That means that once the top seven finishers in the group have reached the finish line, to avoid wasting time, the eighth-place finisher doesn't need to reach the finish line and can simply leave the race halfway through.

The track needs to be cleared to prepare for the next race.

Can't take a joke?

Targeting me?

However, the protests were ineffective.

Fortunately, after all of Shuichi Kanda's group reached the finish line, the referee asked them to leave the track.

"Damn it, you look down on me!"

Kanda Shuichi was still somewhat indignant after leaving the arena.

However, some people welcomed this idea, such as the chubby boy from Sotomura in the class. Although he could run, he couldn't jump, so it was great that he didn't have to run the whole course.

Next, the boys from Class D also finished the race one after another, and as expected, Hirata, Miyake, and Sudo all easily won first place.

Other contestants, such as Makita and Nishino, were not fortunate enough to win first place again.

"Sigh, even though I was well-prepared, I still felt disappointed when I didn't get a good ranking when the race actually started."

The person who came was Yukimura, who ranked seventh in both the 100-Meter Race and the 110-meter hurdles, one place higher than Shuichi Kanda.

He then looked at Shuichi Kanda, who had a completely natural expression. "Kanda, don't you feel resentful?"

"You're not satisfied? Why? If it were you, even if you came in last place, you wouldn't have any problems with the exam, right?"

"Although I didn't fail the test, it will undoubtedly lower my grades. Furthermore, this result will also put a burden on the class or the Red Team..."

Yukimura finished speaking, he shook his head, because he had already sacrificed his athletic performance and even wanted to place himself in the bottom ten to avoid expelling those students whose scores were more ambiguous.

However, when I actually do that, I still feel uncomfortable...

After all, he was the kind of person who wanted to climb into Class A no matter what, which is why he didn't hold back in reprimanding Sudo and the others who didn't study. But now the situation is exactly the opposite; he's the one who's useless, which is why he's so unwilling to accept it.

"Yukimura, no one is perfect. There are things you can do that others can't, and things others can do that you can't. That's perfectly normal."

Shuichi Kanda smiled. "If one person can do everything, then what's the point of having anyone else?"

It's precisely because some things can't be done by one person that teams exist, isn't that why?

Most importantly, if someone can do everything and be good at everything, they are likely to be disliked.

Moreover, having imperfections is also part of human charm and its essence.

Although he didn't know Yukimura could understand, Shuichi Kanda still spent some time trying to persuade him, hoping that he could be more tolerant of others and himself.

Although Shuichi Kanda himself might not be able to do it, that doesn't stop him from having others do it.

After the boys' race, it's time for the girls' hurdles race.

The most talked-about student in Class D is undoubtedly Horikita. She was ambushed by Ibuki from Class C during the previous 100-meter race, and it's hard to say whether another accident will occur this time.

Of course, Shuichi Kanda thought all of this was unnecessary worry; he had always believed that Ryuen wouldn't let Horikita off easy.

Horikita, who was also not good at sports, was assigned to the same group Sakura Airi to serve as a sacrificial offering.

Sakura seemed to be a little nervous, so she took several deep breaths in succession.

"Sakura, do your best!"

Shuichi Kanda was startled by Sakura Shuichi's sudden cheer and quickly looked over. After noticing Shuichi Kanda's gaze, she seemed to become nervous.

Um, I hope Alice doesn't faint?

Her best friend Hasebe Haruka, watched as Shuichi Kanda cheered her on and a worried expression appeared on her face.

"Horikita's luck seems a bit off." Hirata immediately remarked upon seeing the pairings above, and quickly explained, "Look at those two girls in lanes three and seven, they're Yajima and Kinoshita from the track and field club, and they're the fastest girls in Class C."

"I see..."

After the competition started, Horikita kept close behind the two, running and jumping, but the two from Class C gave Horikita no chance. Horikita Suzune, who was highly regarded by Class D, finished the competition in third place.

Upon seeing this result, Hirata shifted his gaze to Shuichi Kanda, but it wasn't a direct exchange of glances directed at Horikita's loss.

That's because he sensed a strange unnaturalness in the competition's format.

This is indeed strange, because normally, given how fast Yajima and Kinoshita are, if the goal is to maximize their scores, they should logically be placed in different groups.

Because other classes are doing it this way, and it's quite effective.

No, even Class C did the same thing, at least until this round of matches.

Therefore, it's no coincidence that Yajima and Kinoshita, two ace players, were suddenly placed in Horikita's group this round.

However, nothing is absolute. What if Ryuen was just guessing? So, although Hirata felt something was unusual, he couldn't make up his mind and instead looked at Shuichi Kanda.

Shuichi Kanda nodded, then shook his head, indicating that something was amiss, but he didn't know the details yet and needed to confirm it later.

However, Hirata seemed to think that Shuichi Kanda had already confirmed the situation and then told him not to make a fuss.

The third event after the hurdles race was the Pole Toppling.

Pole knockdown is a classic Japan sport. The competition is divided into two teams, each with a pole erected in their own formation. The teams are further divided into an attacking group and a defensive group, and the team that knocks down the opponent's pole first wins.

This is a simple and crude, but extremely dangerous project.

"You absolutely have to win! With that Kouenji not here, you absolutely have to pull yourself together!" Sudo shouted, encouraging all the boys from Class D and Class A who had gathered in front of him.

"Haha, let me show you the strength of Class A!"

Shibata Hayato, the athletic boy I'd met once at the pool, gave me a thumbs up and flashed a sunny smile.

The Pole Toppling a best-of-three tournament; if a player wins consecutive frames, a third frame is not required.

In the first round, the attacking and defending teams of the Red Team were Class D led by Sudo and Class A led by Kanzaki Shibata, respectively.

Judging from the opponent's formation, the defending side should be the Class B members led by Katsuragi, while the attacking side is the Class C from Ryuen.

Moreover, Class C seems to be particularly troublesome, not only because of the trio of Ishizaki, Komiya, and Kondo who fought with Sudo before, but also because of Yamada Albert, who is of mixed black and Japan descent.

Finally, there's Ryuen, a venomous snake whose fangs could be revealed at any moment; they're clearly a very troublesome faction.

In Class B, there's a steady guy like Katsuragi, and another guy with a very unfriendly expression. I think I've seen him before; his name is Hayato Kito.

However, besides these two, there are quite a few others like Masayoshi Hashimoto, but they are all relatively ordinary types.

However, the Pole Toppling is a contest of strength, and coincidentally, there aren't many people with that kind of strength in Class D.

In the Pole Toppling, very few people can actually unleash their full potential because the area around the pole is only so big, and there are nearly forty people from both classes combined.

Therefore, it would be a pipe dream to mobilize all the resources of everyone, so Shuichi Kanda had no intention of entering the inner circle at all.

With so many people around, if Ryuen takes the opportunity to do something underhanded, Shuichi Kanda won't be able to handle it.

After all, while intentional injury is prohibited during this competition, reasonable collisions are within the rules.

Shuichi Kanda had absolutely no desire to gamble on Ryuen's character.

No, it should be said that he trusted Ryuen's character too much, which is why he wouldn't risk his life. Once is enough; it would never happen a second time!

"Hey, don't worry. Even if I'm all alone, I'll definitely defeat my opponent."

Sudo wore a very confident expression.

"You're trying to knock down the pole, not the person..."

Someone nearby reminded him of this.

"I can't guarantee that, because I'm very anxious about the Kouenji incident!"

Just as Class D was still trying to settle down, the starting signal for the match rang out.

Then, Sudo shouted and rushed towards the opposing flagpole, and the eager students followed suit, charging into Class C's camp.

Of course, besides these proactive students, there were also passive students who disliked competition and fell behind.

"Oh no, let's go! Ayanokoji! I don't want to get killed by Sudo for slacking off!"

Ike, who was lagging behind, called out and Ayanokoji quickly rushed forward.

As for Shuichi Kanda, he followed slowly behind, even circling around to the edge of the field to observe the match.

Just as Shuichi Kanda predicted, although attacking teams are prohibited from clashing with each other, with so many players, anything could happen.

Looking at the chaotic Matoba, Shuichi Kanda felt fortunate that he had run away beforehand.

Chapter 181 Ryuen Seeks Revenge

Katsuragi truly lived up to his reputation as a man deeply versed in the art of defense. Under his command, the entire Class B cooperated effectively, and the Class D was completely unable to break through the opponent's defensive barrier for a time.

While it's true that prolonged defense inevitably leads to defeat, in short-term battles, the defending side definitely holds the advantage, especially in battles where only a strong offensive is possible.

On Class D's side, Sudo was basically the only strong attacker. Although he used his tall stature and great strength to pull down the students stuck to the pole one after another.

However, the only ones who can be of use later are Miyake Hirata. Although Ayanokoji showed a grip strength of 60KG, he was currently having a great time slacking off.

However, Sudo's moment of glory was quickly thwarted.

Several students from Class B pounced on Sudo, then piled on top of him like a human pyramid, pinning Sudo to the ground.

"Damn it! How many people are rushing over here?!"

With three or four male students holding him down, Sudo was powerless to use his strength.

The other people were also quickly stopped by the students, and the situation reached a stalemate.

On the other side, under Ryuen's command, the mixed-race Yamada Albert led the charge, relentlessly attacking Class A's formation.

Unfortunately, Class A didn't have a strong enough person to stop Yamada Albert. His nearly two-meter height and the muscles that made his gym clothes bulge made him look like he wasn't even a high school student.

Compared to Yamada Albert, they were like chicks, easily tossed aside one by one.

Even Shibata Hayato, who runs very fast, was of no use, and the other students guarding the pole were all thrown down one by one.

Moreover, there are many people in the Ryuen class who are good at fighting. Although the rules do not allow fighting, in the dusty Matoba, it is impossible for anyone to notice if they use dirty tricks.