After the Gunshot

The day of the Sports Festival.

Before the sun had fully risen, the campus was already packed with people. Students from each class wore tracksuits in their designated colors—Class A in red, Class B in blue, Class C in green, and Class D in yellow—converging on the main stadium like shifting patches of color in the morning light.

The air was thick with excitement and tension. Stirring music played over the loudspeakers, and members of the Student Council, dressed in their uniform attire, maintained order at every entrance. On the podium, Manabu Horikita and other school leaders were already seated.

Class D's area was to the right of the podium. Yosuke Hirata had arrived early and was busy distributing bib numbers and checking equipment. The running shoes of every relay team member had been inspected three times over to ensure there were no issues.

"Listen up, everyone!" Hirata raised his voice. "No matter what happens, stay calm and follow the plan we trained for. Remember, we are a team!"

"Oh—!"

The response was loud, but Ayanokoji could detect the underlying strain. He stood at the edge of the crowd, his Insight (Level 1) fully active as he observed his surroundings.

In the Class C area, Kakeru Ryuen was speaking with Albert, both of them wearing serious expressions. In the Class A area, Arisu Sakayanagi sat in her wheelchair, pushed by Kohei Katsuragi, as she smiled while reviewing a competition manual. In the Class B area, Honami Ichinose was cheering on her team members, but Ayanokoji noticed Tetsuya Hamaguchi's eyes darting around, avoiding eye contact with anyone else.

Everything seemed normal, yet there were undercurrents of trouble.

At seven o'clock sharp, the voice of Manabu Horikita echoed across the stadium through the speakers:

"I hereby declare the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School first-year Sports Festival officially open!"

Thunderous applause erupted.

"The first event, the Team Obstacle Race, will begin in thirty minutes. Will all participating athletes please report to their designated assembly areas."

For the Team Obstacle Race, Class D had entered Yukimura, Class B had Tetsuya Hamaguchi, and both Class A and Class C had one participant each.

"Yukimura, are you ready?" Hirata asked.

"I'm ready!" Yukimura took a deep breath and headed toward the assembly area.

Ayanokoji watched his back, then sent a message to Ichinose: "Keep an eye on Tetsuya Hamaguchi."

Ichinose replied quickly: "Understood. I've already had someone follow him."

The obstacle course was located on the east side of the stadium, featuring eight stages including climbing nets, balance beams, mud pits, and high walls. The four class representatives stood side-by-side at the starting line.

"Ready—go!"

The starting pistol fired, and all four surged forward.

Yukimura had a good start, climbing the first stage—the net—in third place, but he descended quickly and caught up to second. Tetsuya Hamaguchi was in the lead, his movements fluid.

Through the first five stages, Tetsuya Hamaguchi remained in the lead, with Yukimura following closely behind. The participants from Class A and Class C gradually fell behind.

The sixth stage was the "Weighted Carry," where participants had to carry a sandbag for fifty meters. Just as Yukimura bent down to pick up his sandbag—

"Watch out!"

Someone in the stands shouted in alarm.

The Class C participant next to Yukimura "accidentally" slammed his sandbag toward Yukimura's feet. Yukimura jumped away just in time, but his momentum was broken, costing him two seconds.

"That was on purpose!" Sudo roared from the sidelines.

The referee ran over to investigate, ultimately ruling it an "accidental collision" with no foul called.

The race continued. Yukimura had fallen to third, but he gritted his teeth and, during the seventh stage—the "High Wall Climb"—he succeeded on his first attempt, overtaking the Class A participant to return to second place.

The final stage was the "Sprint Rope." Participants had to grab a rope and swing across a three-meter-wide trench.

Tetsuya Hamaguchi arrived first, grabbed the rope, and swung across smoothly. Yukimura arrived second; he grabbed the rope and swung with all his might—

Just as he reached the middle of the trench, the rope suddenly shook violently.

It wasn't a natural movement. Ayanokoji clearly saw that the anchor post at the other end of the rope had been lightly kicked by someone.

It was the Class C participant. He had pretended to lose his footing and "bumped" into the anchor post.

Yukimura lost his balance in mid-air. Although he managed to land on the other side, he fell and scraped his knee.

"Bastard!" Sudo tried to charge forward but was held back firmly by Hirata.

Yukimura climbed up, ignoring the pain, and limped across the finish line. Second place.

Tetsuya Hamaguchi took first, Class C was third, and Class A was fourth.

When Yukimura returned to the Class D area, his knee was bleeding.

"Medical team!" Hirata shouted immediately.

"I'm fine..." Yukimura gritted his teeth. "I'm sorry, I should have taken first..."

"You did well enough," Ayanokoji said calmly. "That was a deliberate attack."

He looked toward the Class C area. That participant was high-fiving Ryuen, a smug smile on his face.

[Ding! Malicious action detected: Physical Interference (Obstacle Race). Logged.]

["Helmsman in the Storm" mission progress: 1/3]

First malicious action, confirmed.

But that wasn't the main point. The obstacle race was just an appetizer; the real main event was the relay race.

At nine-thirty in the morning, the relay race was about to begin.

The ten participants from each class were preparing in the warm-up area beside the track. The ten members of Class D gathered in a circle.

"Final check," Ayanokoji said. "Have the running shoes been inspected?"

"Checked three times," Hirata nodded.

"And the track?"

"Ibuki just went to check the exchange zone again. It's fine," Karuizawa said.

"Good." Ayanokoji looked at everyone. "Remember our order: Hirata first, Horikita second, Hondo third, Sudo fourth, Yamauchi fifth, Ike (reserve) sixth, Karuizawa seventh, Yukimura (injured) eighth, I am ninth, and Ibuki is the anchor."

He paused. "If an accident occurs during the race—someone falls, interference happens, or chaos breaks out—do not panic. Execute the contingency plans we rehearsed."

"Understood!"

The broadcast blared: "Will participants of the Class Competition Relay Race please report to their designated lanes."

Forty people walked toward their respective tracks. Class A in lane one, Class B in lane two, Class C in lane three, and Class D in lane four.

Ayanokoji stood at the ninth leg position, looking toward the starting line in the distance.

The first-leg runners took their marks. Hirata was in the fourth lane; he took a deep breath and settled into his starting stance.

The starter raised the starting pistol.

The entire stadium went silent.

"On your marks—get set—"

The gun fired!

Eight people surged forward at once—wait, eight?

In the Class C lane, the first-leg runner stumbled as he started, half a beat slow. Was it intentional?

Hirata had a steady start, maintaining a position in the middle of the pack. Fifty meters in, Class A led, Class B was second, Class D third, and Class C was last.

At one hundred meters, Hirata caught up to second place.

The exchange zone. Hirata successfully passed the baton to Horikita. Class D was now in second, nipping at the heels of Class A.

Horikita's running form was standard, but her speed wasn't top-tier. Class A gradually widened the gap, and Class B caught up, running neck-and-neck with Class D.

The second leg ended. Class A was first, Class B and Class D exchanged almost simultaneously, and Class C remained in last.

The third leg, Hondo. He was an endurance runner with average speed; Class D dropped to third.

The fourth leg, Sudo. When he took the baton, the stadium erupted in cheers—this was Class D's ace.

Sudo shot out like an arrow. His explosive power was immense; he overtook Class B within fifty meters and pulled even with Class A by the hundred-meter mark.

"Sudo! Sudo! Sudo!"

The cheers from Class D were deafening.

Just as Sudo was about to finish the fourth leg and pass the baton to the fifth runner, Yamauchi—

The accident happened.

It wasn't Sudo, but the adjacent lane.

The fourth-leg runner for Class C, that giant named Albert, suddenly "lost his balance" in the exchange zone, his massive body acting like a wall as he veered into Sudo's lane.

"Watch out!"

Sudo reacted with lightning speed, braking and changing direction to narrowly avoid a direct collision, but his rhythm was shattered and his speed plummeted.

Worse yet, as Albert fell, his hand "inadvertently" reached out and grabbed Sudo's ankle.

"Argh!" Sudo lost his balance and crashed to the ground.

The crowd gasped.

The referee's whistle blew.

Sudo rolled twice on the ground and immediately scrambled up, but his right ankle was clearly sprained, and he was limping.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed forward and handed the baton to Yamauchi.

Class D had now dropped to last place, and Sudo was injured.

"Medical team!" Hirata shouted.

Sudo was helped off the field, his right ankle already swelling up.

"Damn it..." Sudo's face was livid. "That guy did it on purpose!"

"I know," Ayanokoji said calmly. "But the referee didn't call a foul, which means Albert's acting was very convincing."

He looked toward the Class C area. Kakeru Ryuen was clapping with a smile.

[Ding! Malicious action detected: Physical harm (relay race collision). Recorded.]

["Helmsman in the Storm" mission progress: 2/3]

The second malicious action.