"The spirit of sports is friendship first, competition second. I hope everyone will compete with sportsmanship and perform to the best of their abilities."
They heard these words at every opening ceremony, with barely any variation and nothing new.
For these energetic teenage basketball players, it was simply the most boring lullaby in the world.
Before long, subtle changes began to ripple through the teams below.
Someone let out the first yawn, instantly setting off a chain reaction.
Sakuragi Hanamichi had long since grown tired of standing. His eyelids kept drooping, and his head bobbed like a chicken pecking at grain.
At some point, Liu Chuanfeng had already started snoring.
Kiyota Nobunaga was even worse. He propped himself up with a hand on Jin Soichiro's shoulder and kept muttering, "Ugh, why isn't this over yet? I'm starving!"
By comparison, the captains, Maki Shinichi and Fujima Kenji, behaved a little better. But a closer look would reveal the vacant expressions in their eyes. Clearly, they were only listening on autopilot.
Shi Tong stood at the very front of the team and seemed relatively alert. His head was tilted slightly, and he appeared to be listening attentively, but only he knew what was actually going through his mind.
Sento, much like Liu Chuanfeng, had already closed his eyes. A faint smile lingered on his lips, making him look as though he were enjoying a rare midday nap.
After an unknown length of time, the voice on the podium finally began to wind down.
"I wish this year's Autumn National Sports Festival every success. Thank you, everyone!"
As those final words fell, a smattering of applause rose through the venue. To the players below, however, they sounded positively heavenly.
"It's finally over!"
"Ah!"
"Thank goodness!"
"Can we leave now?"
A burst of hushed