The countdown for the Sports Festival Preliminary Grouping had only twenty minutes left.
Class Preparation at the Second Backup Location had just finished checking the first slot when the roster of participants Sudo was responsible for came up one personal confirmation short.
That student stood outside the record board, neither refusing nor signing.
"I want to know exactly what I'll be participating in if I confirm."
Hirata separated the roster from the class application form.
"You can look over the personal responsibility terms first."
"Decide after you've read them."
Gu Heng did not let anyone rush him.
This would leave Class D one available slot short, but someone who had not confirmed could not be written into the official lineup.
Horikita projected the preliminary Sports Festival rules onto the public page.
"Unconfirmed members cannot enter a locked lineup."
"Once it's locked, any temporary replacement requires a new reason to be submitted."
Sudo looked at the empty position, clenched his fist, then loosened it.
"I can fill in for now."
"You've already taken on one responsibility in the Second Backup Location application," Gu Heng said. "If you write yourself into that empty slot as a substitute too, the two sources will get mixed together."
Sudo did not argue right away.
He looked at the hesitant student. "Which event don't you want to participate in?"
"It's not that I don't want to participate," the student replied. "I just won't accept being shoved into sprinting simply because you're short on people."
Sudo flipped the roster to the event section.
The original assignments had been based on performance rankings: the fastest people ran sprints, while those with the worst stamina were assigned to logistics.
For the first time, he did not demand that the other person obey the original arrangement.
"Then let's discuss the