They decided to squeeze in the sports day practice during P.E. class, lunchtime, and breaks.
The first event to practice was the relay race, but since there was no need for running practice, they chose to focus on syncing the Four Heavenly Kings’ baton handoffs just once.
Ban Eun-hyeol, the final runner, stood with his hand roughly shoved into his gym uniform pocket.
Ji Kang-han stood dazed, eyes unfocused as if not looking anywhere in particular.
Eun Bada, textbook-perfect for a relay, was slightly crouched, one arm stretched back, eyes fixed behind.
“Jibin rocket launch!”
And then there was Han Jibin at the starting line, gripping the baton and shouting with strange energy.
Once Yeon Hayeon confirmed everyone was ready, she raised her arm high, then sharply swung it down.
“Whoa, that’s insane.”
“Is that even a human speed…?”
As Han Jibin, who had been slightly crouched in a ready position, blasted forward like a bullet, everyone’s eyes widened in shock and they quickly followed after him.
“Wow…”
Is this really just practice for a local high school’s sports day, or the Olympics?
Running at a pace fast enough to earn a gold medal at the Olympics, Han Jibin quickly handed the baton to Eun Bada.
Their baton handoff was flawless—so smooth it was almost satisfying to watch.
“Kyaah! As expected of Class 2-3’s honorary hero!”
“Cute AND cool? That contrast is insane!”
At first, the others were stunned by the absurd speed and just stared slack-jawed, but now they were screaming at the top of their lungs.
If this was just practice, it was hard to imagine how intense the actual sports day would be.
“Was the relay always this short…?”
“Wow, every time I blink, a different person’s holding the baton.”
Even Eun Bada, who usually wore a gentle smile, hardened his expression for a moment and sprinted at eye-popping speed.
The baton was passed to Ji Kang-han in an instant.
The classmates, who had been worried whether Ji Kang-han—who always looked sleepy and unmotivated—would even run properly, were reassured in 0.01 seconds.
“Dude… so this is a Hunter. That’s insane.”
“They chase monsters at that speed? If I were a monster, I’d be caught already.”
Some students were seriously amazed, wondering if humans could really move that fast, while others had already collapsed on the benches with heart-eyes, clutching their noses.
Seeing a real-life version of the classic trope where characters get nosebleeds from the protagonist’s charm in novels was bizarre—but the Four Heavenly Kings were even more bizarre.
And finally, the last leg.
They were all ranked… no, they were all top-tier rankers, but the most solidly undefeated number one was Ban Eun-hyeol, and his turn was coming up fast.
Gulp—
How fast would he be?
The eyes of the classmates, filled with anticipation, briefly stopped on Ji Kang-han’s hand as he passed the baton to Ban Eun-hyeol.
And then—tap!
The moment Ban Eun-hyeol took the baton, he pushed off the ground and raced toward the finish line so fast his legs were barely visible.
It was over in a split second.
There was a brief silence—
Then—
“WAAAAHHH!”
A deafening cheer erupted, shaking the entire school.
“As expected of Rank 1, Gangnam Focus!”
“Four Heavenly Kings! Four Heavenly Kings!”
“Kang Han-ah, just wave your hand once over here!”
“Ha, I didn’t realize it, but I guess I like guys who run fast.”
…She just likes the Four Heavenly Kings.
Behind the classmates huddled on the bench watching the relay, students were crammed into the open windows of every classroom.
Once news spread that the Four Heavenly Kings were competing in the relay, the other classes’ runners all gave up hope, but everyone else was thrilled just to get to see the Kings run.
They must’ve heard our class was practicing for the relay during P.E., so they were skipping class to come watch like this.
Even the teachers, who were about to scold students for sticking to the windows during class to watch other classes practice, stood there with mouths agape, as if they were about to fall to the ground.
‘They really are cool, though.’
I never thought I’d see Awakened ones competing in a school sports day.
In the original world, it was strictly prohibited for Awakened individuals to participate in sports days or regular athletic competitions.
This was to prevent discouraging ordinary students who had to compete against Awakened ones and to avoid injuries or accidents from excessive competition among the Awakened.
So student Awakened were usually part of the cheer squad instead.
‘Looks like it’s more fun than I expected.’
If the relay was this exciting, the other events would probably be worth watching too.
***
“I’ll tie the string loosely, okay?”
Now it was time to practice the three-legged race.
Dragging my heavy legs forward, Yeon Hayeon—who had apparently been waiting—came up with a string and tied our legs together.
“But no matter how fast Yeon Hayeon is, Dana’s not Awakened, right? Won’t she slow them down?”
“The key is matching pace, but I don’t think they’ll sync well.”
“How did those two end up together?”
I could hear their worried murmurs all too clearly, but I couldn’t argue—because I agreed.
I was a bit curious how Yeon Hayeon planned to coordinate with me.
To mimic the original Dan-ah’s athletic ability, I’d have to fall at least once.
My physical abilities weren’t the worst, but I was slightly below average, so their concern was understandable.
And it wasn’t like I had a partner with similar athletic skills—this was the number one ranked Awakened I was paired with.
The atmosphere that had been buzzing with excitement and anticipation during the relay practice now shifted subtly to one of curiosity and concern.
“I’ll lift you as soon as we start running! So just move your legs to match mine.”
“Huh?”
Just before the start, Yeon Hayeon whispered like a machine gun.
I was about to ask what she meant by “lift me,” but—
“Ready, go!”
Eunbada raised and dropped her hand to signal the start.
“Whoa… What the—?”
“Can she run like that?”
The moment we shot forward, I could hear the stunned reactions of my classmates jumping to their feet.
I, too, was stunned—but for a very different reason—and was desperately trying to keep my legs moving.
Was it even possible for a non-Awakened person to match Yeon Hayeon’s speed?
Before I could finish the thought, my body was already flung forward unprepared, with my upper body leaning backward.
What kept me from falling was Yeon Hayeon’s arm, firmly supporting me.
Literally lifting me slightly off the ground, she sprinted forward at insane speed.
Trying to match her pace midair was beyond my control.
The leg tied to hers moved back and forth on its own, and just like when your right foot goes forward and your left hand follows, my opposite leg also swung in sync while in the air.
It had been an instinctive movement.
From a distance, it must have looked like I was keeping pace with Yeon Ha-yeon.
“She matched that speed?!”
Startled by the shouting voice, I came to my senses.
But by the time I tried to loosen the strength in my legs, I had already crossed the finish line.
“The finish line… how many seconds did it take?”
“No way, is that even possible?”
My classmates’ eyes, which I thought couldn’t get any wider after watching the relay, now looked like they were about to pop out.
‘Ah… I’m screwed.’
***
That day, the entire school was buzzing about Yeon Ha-yeon, me, and the Four Heavenly Kings.
How could I possibly keep up with that insane speed?
Some said my legs were moving so fast they couldn’t even see them.
Everyone had expected Yeon Ha-yeon to be fast, but no one had anticipated my speed, so their shock was understandable.
‘Still…
Do they have to talk about it all day?’
Class time was the only moment I could breathe, but even that was ruined by the endless notes passed by the classmates sitting nearby.
‘How do I even explain that it was just an instinctive move?’
When they bombarded me with questions about how I did it, I scrambled to come up with an excuse.
“I was so desperate to survive… You know how people can display superhuman strength in crisis situations, haha.”
It was an absurd lie delivered with the most awkward expression, but surprisingly, it worked.
“Well, I saw it on that ‘Escape Crisis Number One’ show. People can unleash hidden strength in emergencies.”
‘They bought that?!’
The real problem was that it wasn’t just my classmates—students from all over the school who saw our three-legged race came up and asked the same thing, again and again.
After repeating the same answer multiple times, I was so exhausted I nearly lay flat on my desk during class.
‘I didn’t even get this tired from clearing dungeons…?’
As I walked, reflecting on how intense everyone was, my steps came to a halt in a dim alley near school where sunlight didn’t reach.
‘Right, the homeroom teacher took the day off today.’
In the original story, the day the substitute teacher handled closing the homeroom due to the regular teacher’s day off, something happened after school.
Yeon Ha-yeon, walking alone past an alley, got suddenly grabbed and dragged in by some thugs trying to threaten her.
But of course, that didn’t work.
Yeon Ha-yeon beat them up thoroughly, and Ban Eun-hyeol happened to witness it.
This incident became the start of the main characters getting involved with each other, making it a very important scene.
‘No matter how rough today was, I can’t miss this big event.’
Everyone already knew Yeon Ha-yeon could fight, but there are always characters in web novels who lack perception, right?
If the thugs were that kind, they might not realize who she was.
That was the part I was counting on.
Even if it was hard living in this world of a novel, I couldn’t give up seeing an iconic scene from a story I’d loved with my own eyes.
Although the world had already changed enough that the chance of the event happening