Chapter 36: Obstacle Race, Begin

10 minutes earlier.

“Teacher Han would be perfect!”

A teacher, examining the vest, pointed at Ruah.

“Eek… Are you talking about… me…?”

“Yes! You’re small, so you’d be perfect for the role of the flag!”

“And you have healing skills, so there’s no problem even if something dangerous happens!”

The atmosphere quickly turned coercive. Ruah tried to protest, but she couldn’t collect her thoughts amidst the barrage of suggestions.

“Teacher Han, please help us just this once!”

“We’ll let the infirmary know!”

“It’s the highlight of the competition, wouldn’t the students be disappointed if it doesn’t go as planned?”

“Only Teacher Han can do this!”

“I, I…”

Between the noise from the stands, the urging of her fellow teachers, and the pleading look in the student council member’s eyes, Ruah’s head spun.

“A-Alright…?”

“Great!”

As soon as Ruah agreed, everything happened quickly. Someone put the fluorescent vest on her, she was moved somewhere, she was told not to move—

“—Huh.”

When she came to her senses, Ruah was at the top of the obstacle course, under the gaze of countless spectators.

“Eeeek!”

Her image was even displayed on the giant screen broadcasting the event. As she grasped the situation, Ruah’s stomach reacted first.

“Ugh…”

Nauseous, she barely managed to cover her mouth. She couldn’t make the same mistake as at the entrance ceremony.

‘There are even more people than last time…!’

Ruah crouched on the platform and squeezed her eyes shut. The height and the fact that everyone was looking at her was terrifying and unbearable. She just wanted the competition to end quickly, regardless of who won—

‘—No, I can’t do that.’

She shook her head inwardly.

Ruah had a duty to uncover Park Haengsin’s plot. Since she hadn’t found anything strange so far, he would surely pull something during the obstacle race, the highlight of the competition.

She had to open her eyes and watch.

“Ugh…”

Ruah opened her eyes slightly, still huddled with her knees drawn up. The gazes were still on her, but with her eyes half-closed, everything was blurry, which made it a little more bearable.

‘Okay, I’ll watch from here…!’

Relieved, Ruah let out a small, nervous laugh.

“Himari, Teacher’s expression looks kind of creepy.”

Ruah, shown on the big screen, was squinting and grinning. She was clearly not in her right mind.

“Did she have a sip of alcohol to calm her nerves?”

“That would be a disaster…!”

Himari and Juju simultaneously recalled Ruah’s drunken state. They couldn’t let her make a spectacle of herself in front of the entire school and the outside audience.

“As expected, the best course of action is to retrieve Teacher as quickly as possible.”

“That’s right…!”

—Bang!

Juju struck her gauntlets together energetically. The safety devices made a muffled sound.

<Alright, athletes, get ready!>

At the announcer’s words, all the students lowered their stances, preparing to run. Himari and Juju were among them.

“But I’m the one who will retrieve Teacher, Juju.”

<Countdown! 5! 4! 3!>

Tension filled the stadium and the stands—

<2! 1!>

—Bang!

The starting pistol fired.

“Waaaaah!”

“Run!”

Amidst a roar louder than any before, the students started running. First and third-year students ran side-by-side, special class and beginner class competed; it was a race involving the entire student body.

Himari and Juju, who had started side-by-side, were separated after only a few steps.

“Out of my way!”

Seeing Juju sprinting ahead, Himari calmly slowed down.

‘Taking the lead isn’t important.’

Since it was an obstacle race, those who rushed ahead would only encounter the obstacles first. Himari’s strategy was to maintain a distance from the leaders and react according to the situation.

<As I said! The leaders have reached the first obstacle!>

“Whoa!”

Juju, who had been running in the front, fell spectacularly. The oiled slope was more slippery than imagined.

“Oof!”

“Oh no!”

As the leading students tumbled and rolled down, the students behind them quickly backed away. Himari also stepped aside.

“Uh oh… if this happens…!”

Juju and several other leading students were covered in oil and eliminated from the course.

“Himari! I’m counting on you for Teacher!”

—Nod.

Himari nodded to Juju, who met a glorious end.

<The leading group has fallen en masse! A major upset! Who will be the first to get through!>

“Hmph! This is nothing!”

A third-year student stepped forward. Flames erupted from his hand. It was the [Pyrokinesis] skill.

“If it’s oil, just burn it all!”

“That crazy bastard!”

“He’s lost it!”

Several oil-covered students hurriedly fled and were disqualified for leaving the course. As the student’s flames touched the slope, a huge fire erupted. The flames soared to the height of the third floor of the stadium.

<Oh! This is something even the organizers didn’t anticipate! To actually set the oil on fire! Shouldn’t we stop the race!>

“Stop? No way! Not until I win!”

The student who had unleashed the flames plunged into the fire with both arms. He clearly possessed a skill that increased fire resistance.

“Here I goooo!”

The student charged forward, stepping on the ground that had become less slippery due to the ashes. Finally reaching the end of the slope, he looked back with a refreshing laugh.

“Heh, am I the first?”

As expected, there couldn’t be anyone else brave enough to break through this huge blaze—

“—Thank you. For clearing the path.”

—Chop!

At that moment, a light blow landed on the back of the fire-starting student’s neck.

“It was a mistake not to notice me following right behind you.”

Himari said, withdrawing her hand. She had followed right behind the student who broke through the flames and made it this far.

<Oh! First-year special class student, Hoshikawa Himari, is in the lead! See, you should always watch your back!>

Applause and cheers rained down from the stands. The image of Himari and the unconscious student appeared on the big screen.

However, Himari wasn’t the only one aiming for the lead.

—Whoosh!

A strong gust of wind from below blew away the flames. It was a wind strong enough to make Himari stagger.

“Alright, let’s go!”

A third-year male student shouted, lowering his shield. Apparently, he had used a skill to create the wind.

<As expected, third-year special class student Lee Hwi-seong has extinguished the flames!>

‘He’s quite strong.’

Himari had never seen him before. As several students who seemed to be his teammates climbed up the path Lee Hwi-seong had opened, a wicked smile spread across his handsome face.

“Alright! Light it up again!”

“Okay!”

His teammate threw another spark, and flames rose up behind them once more. The students who were trying to follow had to retreat as the path was blocked again.

“Hey! You bastards!”

“That’s too much!”

<They cleared the path for themselves and set it on fire again! It’s a strategic move, but… it doesn’t look very good!>

“Screw you!”

Running up the slope, Lee Hwi-seong yelled,

“I’m gonna grab that school nurse and beat the crap out of her!”

‘Teacher…?’

Himari’s heart pounded. It seemed that this team’s goal was Ruah, rather than winning.

<Leading student Hoshikawa Himari! You mustn’t allow them to catch up! You have to push forward!>

Not only Lee Hwi-seong, but also the students who had extinguished the flames below were rushing up. Himari quickly turned her attention to the next obstacle.

What came into view was a cliff. The distance to the opposite cliff was about 20 meters. Logs, affected by levitation skills, floated in the air between them. This was the course, using the logs as stepping stones.

‘This much is…!’

Himari stepped back slightly and jumped towards the nearest log platform.

—Thud.

She stumbled for a moment but landed successfully.

<But just crossing wouldn’t be much fun!>

At the announcer’s words, an ominous rumbling began. A large box suspended from a crane descended from the open sky above the stadium.

<We’ve prepared styrofoam balls as a surprise obstacle!>

—Thump!

Large white balls popped out as the box opened. Their diameter was as large as Himari’s height.

“Ugh!”

The styrofoam balls began to rain down on the ravine where Himari was. One of them hit the log Himari was standing on, shaking it violently.

‘Why are these styrofoam balls so heavy…!’

As the log swayed wildly, Himari had to grab onto it with both hands.

<The obstacles don’t end there! Keep moving forward!>

Himari gritted her teeth and jumped to the next log. The platform was shaking so much that she couldn’t even draw her sword to cut the balls.

There was no point in regretting it now. Himari could only focus on keeping her balance, unable to even think about drawing her sword.

“Alright! I see a chance to turn things around!”

Her heart sank at the sound. Looking back, she saw Lee Hwi-seong and his team approaching. They were easily advancing, blocking the balls with a barrier created by a mage.

“Hey, block them properly! The barrier keeps breaking!”

“Strange. Why are these styrofoam balls so heavy?”

They had reached the log right before Himari’s.

“Hey! You there!”

Lee Hwi-seong raised his voice.

“If you’re not going, move aside! Don’t block the way!”

“Don’t rush me…!”

“Well, I was planning to knock you off anyway.”

Lee Hwi-seong raised his shield. A blue aura gathered around it; he was clearly activating a skill.

‘I can’t withstand that strong wind from before…!’

It was a wind strong enough to extinguish the massive flames. If she was hit by it while standing on this unstable platform, she would definitely fall. Himari placed her right hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist.

‘I can cut it down.’

The [Hoshikawa-ryu Battoujutsu] could cut through anything Himari aimed at. Wind was no exception.

All she had to do was activate the skill, but that was impossible.

“Tsk…”

The problem was that she couldn’t put strength into her lower body due to the unstable footing.

“I have no choice but to try…!”

“You’re not moving?”

Wind gathered around Lee Hwi-seong’s shield. Himari tried to lower her stance as usual, but it was impossible on the still-swaying log.

“Then take this!”

—Whoosh!

As Lee Hwi-seong thrust his shield forward, a powerful gust of wind slammed into Himari.