Chapter 207: Gods Crossing the Sea

The western sports field of Advanced Nurturing High was boiling with noise and clamor.

The high school students, having already completed registration, sat upon the ground in their class formations, all wearing their unified athletic uniforms. Some repeatedly stretched their ligaments. Others chatted and joked in hushed whispers, yet their gazes, from time to time, drifted toward the large electronic screen beside the speaker's platform.

On it—less than three minutes until the official start—the vivid red digits pulsed and beat like an electronic heart.

At the very center of the sports field, Ryuen Kakeru clenched his fist with deathly intensity. Every muscle in his body was wound taut. He stood at the front row of Class C, his sinister, venomous gaze intermittently sweeping across the crowd. This competition—he was determined to win!

At the intersection of the second and third years, Horikita Manabu gazed at the large electronic screen with a calm, composed expression. Beside him was Nagumo Miyabi, who had refused his childhood friend's invitation to team up. His usual frivolous, flippant grin was nowhere to be seen. This time—he would stop at nothing to defeat Horikita Manabu!

Beside the speaker's platform, Mashima Tomonari, having changed into his athletic clothes, lowered his head. His face was dark and stormy. He had already lost count of how many times he'd been called "a useless thing" by his colleagues today.

Within the Class A crowd, Fuyuji Mikage was having the flesh of his waist viciously pinched by Kamuro Masumi. "If your hand wanders and touches anything it shouldn't again—I'll kick you straight into the artificial lake!"

Fuyuji grimaced and bared his teeth in pain, begging for mercy. "I get i—"

Before the words could leave his mouth, they were swallowed by the broadcast—

"Three! Two! One!"

The muscles of over two hundred competitors instantly coiled and tensed like bowstrings drawn to their absolute limit.

"Zero!"

The digits on the large electronic screen shattered with a resounding crash. Every single student's phone simultaneously buzzed with a sharp, piercing vibration!

"UOOOOH—!"

"CHARGE—!"

"The five million—here I cooooome—!"

In that very instant, the Advanced Nurturing High sports field seemed to have been struck by a detonating, seething bomb.

The student formations—who had been holding their breath and focusing their minds just moments before—were as though shoved violently by an invisible, colossal hand. With an explosive, thunderous roar, they burst apart!

Over a hundred figures—like floodwaters breaching a dam—surged forth with deafening, earth-shaking war cries, madly stampeding toward the exits in every direction.

Just then, a burst of signature, demonic, unrestrained laughter suddenly rang out from above the crowd's heads.

"Hmph hahaha!"

There—Koenji Rokusuke had actually planted a foot upon the back of some first-year Class C student, using it as a springboard to launch himself into the air. Both arms seized hold of a tree branch. With a single, great, looping swing, he vaulted onto the trunk of a zelkova tree, five or six meters high. Turning his head back, he glanced at the crowd below, now utterly stupefied and thunderstruck.

"How could one as beautiful as I possibly travel together with the common, mediocre masses? The optimal route—is naturally defined by me!"

As he spoke, he raised a hand with utter disregard for all around him and tossed his flowing locks. After a few fluid, seamless maneuvers, he effortlessly, like a nimble ape, vaulted over the chain-link fence of the sports field and landed steadily upon the lawn outside.

"Hm-hmm~ Goodbye! All you lovely ladies~"

With a casual wave of his hand, Advanced Nurturing High's renowned gorilla bolted wildly toward the small path leading to Keyaki Mall. His speed was so great it left a streak of golden afterimages trailing behind him.

After several seconds of vacuum-like silence, the crowd erupted into renewed, seething fervor.

Ryuen Kakeru crushed the leaf in his hand with a single, savage clench. The veins on his forehead bulged and throbbed. After a long, stunned pause, he erupted in furious, raging curses.

"Is this fucking guy even human?!"

"I think I'd better just drop out. Five million or whatever—just thinking about it is enough." A murmur drifted out from somewhere within the crowd.

"Don't give up! That person might just be you—no, wait! It might be me!"

"Then why couldn't it be me?!"

While the crowd was still dazed and stupefied, a silver silhouette burst forth from the throng. At an incomparable, unrivaled speed, it instantly pulled a vast distance away from the pack. Long, silver, silken hair billowed and danced through the air.

"What a truly formidable fellow. Then I shall take my leave as well. Ja ne~ Kouhai~ See you in a bit."

Kiryuin Fuka revealed a wild, unrestrained grin. Casting a single, parting glance back at Fuyuji over her shoulder, she accelerated once more and vanished around the bend at the far end of the school path.

Careless!

The entire field of students jolted awake as if from a dream and continued surging forward in a dark, chaotic, clamorous mass. Right at the exit of the sports field, the width abruptly constricted.

"Oof!"

"Who the hell stepped on me!"

"Get out of my way! That five million belongs to the great Lord Yamauchi! I won the Tokyo City cross-country championship back in elementary school, y'know!"

"Ryuen-aniki!" A startled cry rang out from within the Class C crowd.

There—Ryuen, amidst the chaos, had extended a leg with the utmost, most covert stealth and precisely, viciously hooked it around the ankle of Hashimoto Masayoshi, who had been attempting to squeeze past from the side!

"Aiya—!"

Hashimoto—struck by this utterly unprovoked, unforeseeable calamity—completely lost his center of gravity. He tumbled and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop, only to be swallowed and submerged by the surging, raging tide of the crowd. All he could manage was a single, stifled, aggrieved roar of fury.

"Ryuen—I'll fucking bury your—!"

"I told you already, Hashimoto... you'd regret this."

Ryuen spat on the ground. His face wearing a savage, vengeful sneer, he swiftly merged into the stampeding torrent of the crowd under the deliberate, feigned cover of his few underlings.

He, Ryuen Kakeru, never let a grudge last overnight—unless he truly, absolutely could not find the opportunity!

Three minutes later, the crowd within the sports field had already gradually thinned and grown sparse. Only a small handful of students still lingered and loitered within the field.

"Ah~ Hashimoto-san~"

Fuyuji, still standing in place without having moved, gazed into the distance at Hashimoto—face bruised and swollen—crawling and scrabbling his way out from the throng. He let out a helpless sigh.

"I know you want that five million too. But how could you forget about your old flame?"

Fuyuji shook his head and strolled leisurely, unhurriedly out of the sports field. He plunged straight into the thicket of shrubs at the perimeter.

After a series of rustling, riffling sounds—amidst the violent, shaking bushes—

The very next second, a purely handcrafted, lovingly manufactured—by the immortal sage Fuyuji himself—electric skateboard was dragged out from within the shrubs by Fuyuji.

"Honestly." Fuyuji's mouth split open, revealing the grin of a scheme successfully executed. "They announced the rules so many days ago. Did you think I'd come with absolutely no preparations whatsoever? What era do you think this is—still using traditional running?"

Regrettably—perhaps due to safety concerns—there was nowhere in the entire school to purchase any kind of rapid personal transportation device.

However, Advanced Nurturing High did not prohibit students from riding skateboards. This point—he had already consulted Mashima Tomonari on in advance.

Thus, combining the two—Fuyuji had incarnated as a handcrafting immortal sage, buying the materials himself and cobbling together a machine with his own two hands.

Top speed: 21 km/h. One hour of charging for a range of 10 kilometers. Lightweight and portable. No complex operation required. Ready to use right out of the gate. Solving the "last kilometer" problem!

With a sharp snap, he flipped the switch. The high-frequency, whirring hum of the spinning wheels echoed clearly through the forest.

Placing the skateboard on the ground, Fuyuji planted his left foot sideways, precisely aligned with the four bolts of the front truck. His right foot drove into the ground with swift, explosive force—two, three pushes. The moment the skateboard surged forward under its own momentum, his right leg recoiled like a spring, his foot landing with pinpoint accuracy on the tail of the board.

Front foot controlling direction. Back foot pressing the tail to maintain momentum. The sound of the wind rushed past his ears. His entire being had already smoothly, silkily traversed a distance of several trees.

"Bye-bye~" Fuyuji turned his head back and bid farewell to the girls.

At the edge of the tent, Shiraishi Asuka and Yamamura Miki stood quietly upon the lawn, raising their small hands. "Do your best~ Remember to come back for dinner tonight~"

"Going a little slower won't kill you. Be careful not to fall." Kamuro rolled her eyes.

"Please remember to bring it back later for me to play with." Morishita Ai's large eyes sparkled and glittered.

"Alright."

Gliding onto the tiled path, the wheels spun at high speed, producing a clattering, rattling clamor.

Fuyuji transformed into a blur of afterimages, whooshing right past the throng of students still locked in their desperate, frantic sprint.

"What the hell! What is that thing?!"

"An e-electric skateboard? And who the hell is this bastard?!"

"Referee! Referee?! This is cheating! This is an act of cheating! I want to file a complaint against him!"

"Um... the referee already ran off."

...

Amidst a chorus of startled, shocked exclamations, Fuyuji—student of the electronic faction—vanished at the far end of the school path, leaving behind a crowd of traditional-faction students utterly disheveled and stupefied in the wind.

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50 [Power Stones] = Bonus Chapter!