Chapter 66: Get Set, Go! (5)

Run and Gun.

In the field of shooting, a highly recognized sport in Kivotos, it is particularly expensive and often causes more injuries than other shooting events,

but it is the most similar to actual combat among the shooting sports currently active in Kivotos, and it was a sport with high popularity due to that.

However, along with the disadvantages mentioned above, it takes a considerable amount of time to set up and replace the stadium compared to the short game time,

so the absolute value of the number of games held was insufficient, but is it Millennium after all?

This Millennium Festival was hosted by Millennium, so Millennium’s unique robotics shone, and the stadium where the next game will be held after one game is over was prepared again within minutes, and even if this was done,

the insufficient rotation was achieved by operating four stadiums at the same time, making it possible to stand proudly as an official event of the Millennium Festival.

“Actually, when I heard that this event would be adopted as an official event, I thought, ‘Is the Seminar finally crazy?'”

“Haha, certainly, this was something we hadn’t seen for a long time because it was held once before, but it took a long time to set up the stadium, not to mention the cost?”

“This event is surprisingly fun? When I was in middle school, I sometimes participated in competitions…it’s a memory.”

One of the secrets to Run and Gun’s ability to maintain its popularity despite its small number of executions in Kivotos is its simple and exciting rules.

The simple rules of Run and Gun are as follows.

Shoot the targets placed between the installed structures while running.

You must never stop running.

Destroying or jumping over structures is free, but if running stops due to that action, you are disqualified.

If 3 minutes have passed since the start of the game or both players have reached the finish point, the game ends.

The winner is determined by combining a total of three evaluations: the arrival time of both players, the number of targets hit, and finally, how close to the center of the target.

In this way, the person who arrives earlier gets 1 point, the person who hits more targets gets 1 point, and the person with higher accuracy gets 1 point, so the person who gets 2 points out of a total of 3 points wins.

There are one or two rules to prevent cheating, such as giving up the target and running, or deliberately giving up the running record and concentrating on shooting,

but normally, if the game was played between similar people, such a situation rarely occurs.

Anyway, as explained earlier, the rule that ‘it’s okay to destroy structures’ is included in the event, so it can be said that it’s the optimal rule for Mika-senpai.

Mika-senpai can just break the wall and keep charging without stopping, and she’s the kind of person who can easily perform close-range shooting in the meantime.

While my head was filled with thoughts about the Run and Gun event, I started to hear the familiar voices of students from Chronos School from the large speakers installed in the stadium.

The Millennium Festival is a so-called sports festival, an event with a tight schedule that packs many events into one day, so the progress of the game was fast.

In the first place, the game itself is a short-tempo game that lasts about 3 minutes, so it was a natural course.

As a result, the turn of Mika-senpai, who was placed relatively later in the game, was also approaching quickly.

The familiar voices of the Chronos News Agency students were heard from the huge screens and speakers installed in the stadium.

It’s a broadcast of students who have been commentating and announcing the start of the games all along.

“One, two…three!!”

-Bang!-

When the Chronos students announced the start of the game, an executive committee student who was standing between Mika-senpai and Mikamo Neru with a small signal flare in his hand started counting…

and at the timing of the count, the signal flare was fired, leaving a red flash in the sky.

As soon as the signal flare announcing the start of the game was fired, Mika-senpai’s body was shot forward, leaving an afterimage.

It was so sudden that other ordinary spectators couldn’t understand the situation for a moment.

Some parts of the stadium were obscured by the sand dust caused by the shock wave.

-Bang! , Ratatatata!-

“Ahaha☆ Is it Millennium after all? It’s harder than I thought!”

Mika-senpai started to run towards the finish line, directly destroying all the obstacles and walls prepared for the straight line to the finish point with her body,

and quickly hitting all the targets on the path by swinging the separately provided MP5 with the trigger pulled.

Literally a tank, there was nothing that could stop Mika-senpai, at least in this stadium, so she didn’t even think about defeat.

Of course, there were variables.

Surprisingly, the game itself went quite evenly.

Both I and Mika-senpai knew from the first time we met that the opponent had some martial arts skills and that the level of that martial arts was never to be taken lightly.

In the early part of the game, Mika-senpai maintained a fast speed and ran straight towards the finish line, hitting all the targets on the path, so the audience was also expecting Mika-senpai’s overwhelming victory…

“Haang? Are you breaking the wall? How strong are you….well, good! Anyway, it’s not in my nature to be quiet, so let’s play!!”

The behavior pattern of Mikamo Neru, who was maintaining a moderate pace in the second stadium, which had the exact same structure, shape, and location of the targets, changed.

-Tap! Click! Clatter!-

Yes…she, who had been running at a moderate speed, jumping over or avoiding obstacles, now jumps over the wall and runs on top of the structure.

If there is a wall that protrudes a little high, she twists her body, steps on the side, and jumps again.

I don’t know how she can achieve the precision to be able to deal with all the targets far away with a single shot while performing such acrobatic movements, but she is actually doing it now.

It was neck and neck, Mika-senpai, who destroys everything in a straight line, was closer to the finish line,

but Mikamo Neru was also sweeping the inside of the stadium with her feet and dealing with the targets installed on the outskirts.

The strategies they aimed for were different, so if it dragged on a little longer, Mika-senpai’s defeat would be certain.

“Ugh…is this okay?”

“Why, are you worried?”

“I was put up as a prize in a bet without knowing anything…? How can I not worry…”

Worries began to creep in.

A match, it hasn’t been long since I saw the person named Neru, no, rather, it’s close to the first time, but judging from the personality of that person I saw for a while,

she probably said it directly, saying that she wanted to fight directly, and even if I’m confident, that person…looks stronger than me.

Literally, I’ll be dragged out in tatters, who would like that situation?

And I have to be dragged to Millennium, so it wasn’t a situation I liked.

“It’ll probably be okay.”

“….Yes?”

While I was drowning in a bathtub full of worries, Ichika-senpai said it would be okay without taking her eyes off the game.

“Hey…this stadium completely exposes the opponent’s strategy…isn’t it a bit too much…? But…yeah! Thanks to that, it’ll be fun on this side too!”

As if responding to Ichika-senpai’s words, Mika-senpai began to accelerate even more.

With a thought of ‘no way’, I turned my eyes towards the number of targets Mika-senpai had destroyed and the current time.

There are 80 targets in each stadium, the number of targets Mika-senpai has currently destroyed is 51, and the current elapsed time is 58 seconds…

with a thought of ‘no way’, I recall the rule to prevent cheating that I had pushed to the corner of my head.

The rule that if the running record and the number of targets hit differ by more than 1.5 times between the two players, the one with the higher number gets extra points,

the rule to keep students who put everything into running or shooting in check, came to mind.

The opponent’s side, which can no longer widen the gap by more than twice in shooting, is still significantly lacking in the distance to the finish point and the number of targets shot compared to Mika-senpai,

but at least the number of targets shot will be caught up quickly, and since she is already far ahead of Mika-senpai in accuracy, she will eventually be defeated.

That’s why Mika-senpai made a gamble.

She accelerated and significantly reduced the frequency of shooting compared to before.

“Do you still have that much power left…!”

As if to accept that gamble, Neru also increased her speed and started to deal with more targets more quickly.

Two strong players, two students, each fully utilizing their physical abilities, give their all for their respective aims.

“Ahaha….sorry….”

“…”

“Heh! See you later at Millennium?”

Yeah…well…I lost.

At the end of the game, Mika-senpai’s record was 1 minute and 12 seconds, and the number of targets she shot was 53.

In the second half of the game, she focused on the running record rather than shooting, so the number of targets she dealt with before and after increasing her speed did not differ significantly.

Yeah…Mikamo Neru, her record was 78, having dealt with almost all the targets, and since her accuracy was already better than Mika-senpai’s, she gave up 2 points in the number of targets dealt with and accuracy…

and the running record…yeah…1 minute and 57 seconds.

So…absurdly, she succeeded in perfectly accepting the strategy Mika-senpai chose with the same strategy.

Certainly, as Mika-senpai thought, she was far ahead in terms of completion time and succeeded in taking 2 points with just running,

but as I explained earlier, Mikamo Neru also succeeded in taking 2 points from senpai by shooting with the rule that openly checks the strategy of putting everything into one side.

In other words, Mika-senpai and she achieved the feat of taking 2 points and 3 points respectively.

Considering that the evaluation of the run-and-gun game itself is that if you can secure 2 points first, you win, it can be said that it is an unusual result if it is unusual.

Anyway…yeah…I lost…so I have to be dragged to Millennium.

“So…what was the condition when you won?”

Since I’m going to be dragged away anyway…I asked Mika-senpai with the thought of listening to what the prize was on the other side of my bet…

“…I can’t say…”

No, I don’t know what was at stake…but for some reason, Mika-senpai absolutely didn’t say it.

I could never know what was at stake…

“Eh? Wai…t…Nagi-chan…?”

“Even Seia-chan…?”

I heard the familiar voices of two people from behind Mika-senpai.

But it wasn’t the usual calm voice, but a cold, downcast voice, like a judge just before pronouncing a guilty verdict.

“I’m sorry, it’s not a situation I can go against…”

“Yuzuki-chan?!”

Yeah…well…Nagisa-senpai and Seia-senpai, who came at some point, heard all the circumstances from Yuzuki-senpai while I was talking with Mika-senpai.

“Ahaha…be well…huh?”

“Sister, you know this is your karma, right?”

There were many choices given to me, who had a good idea of what would happen next, but the choice I made was…to hold Mika-senpai.

Honestly, isn’t this Mika-senpai’s karma?

I can accept her usual pranks, but…this time, Mika-senpai also has to taste the roll cake punishment properly.

“Wait…huh?! Nagi-chan, calm down…uugh?!”

“What a great thing to do!! Putting up someone else, not even yourself, and that too, a person who is very busy and has many people looking for her, as a prize for a bet! Do you have any sense?!”

So Mika-senpai was subjected to the roll cake punishment after a long time.

Nagisa-senpai’s roll cake…was particularly thick that day.