Back on the race track, someone had already reached the 200-meter mark, pulling far ahead of the others.
Clearly, they had used teleportation.
At the very start of the race, three people used teleportation in quick succession.
In lane 5, the barefoot man in a suit had just reached around 90 meters, while the man in blue in lane 6 was slightly ahead, at about 92 meters.
The bald man in lane 2 suddenly burst forward at an astonishing speed, as if he had stolen Reimu’s offering box and was being hunted down.
At the 140-meter mark, he caught up with the men in lanes 5 and 6.
With just a glance, he decided not to waste time fighting and instead kept sprinting forward.
Near the 700-meter mark, he was almost upon the three frontrunners.
His speed was terrifying — to catch up after being 150 meters behind without even using teleportation made him seem nearly invincible.
No wonder everyone regarded him as the number-one threat.
Although this was supposed to be a 1000-meter race, because of teleportation, one only needed to run 900 meters.
For sinAmaterasu, that meant just 900 meters to victory.
The three ahead clearly knew this too, but aside from running desperately, there was nothing else they could do…
No — they had one other option.
“Hey… No. 8… No. 4… we… don’t have teleportation anymore. Unless we kill him… we’re definitely going to lose.”
No. 7, panting, began to persuade the two who were closely following behind.
What he said made perfect sense.
It was probably the best available solution.
“I’ll count one, two, three… and then… we’ll go together, kill… him.”
No. 7 slowed slightly and turned to look at the approaching bald man.
“One… two… three…”
Just as he finished speaking, No. 7 suddenly accelerated again, continuing to run forward.
Meanwhile, No. 4 and No. 8 turned to charge toward sinAmaterasu.
By the time they realized they’d been tricked, it was too late — they were already face-to-face.
Before No. 4 could even raise a hand, sinAmaterasu struck him in the face with an elbow, knocking him out on the spot.
No. 8 stopped just in time, raising his hands in surrender.
But in a game of life and death, surrender is meaningless.
As sinAmaterasu passed him, No. 8 lunged in an attempted sneak attack.
However, sinAmaterasu had been ready — despite seemingly running past, he suddenly spun back and swept his right leg backward, kicking No. 8 squarely in the head, taking him down as well.
So far, he had personally knocked out contestants No. 1, 3, 4, and 8 — with No. 3 suffering the worst fate.
Only No. 7 remained ahead.
Though contestants No. 5 and 6 were still behind, they posed no threat.
Everyone had already used teleportation.
Whoever reached 900 meters first would win.
Yes — the victory was all but secured! 720 meters vs. 650 meters — how could he possibly lose?
A 70-meter lead — even running with his eyes closed, he should still win, right?
How could he lose?
He accelerated again, rapidly closing the gap with No. 7. His strong physique gave him a huge advantage over the others, and he wore running shoes, unlike the barefoot ones — naturally, his speed couldn’t be matched.
He remembered carefully optimizing his body during character creation — every muscle was deliberately sculpted, with all useless fat removed.
This body was built for combat!
He felt he had limitless strength — even running another 1000 meters wouldn’t be a problem.
No. 7 clearly realized he was about to be caught and began running in zigzags. sinAmaterasu now faced a decision: should he chase or keep running straight for the finish line?
Rationality won over impulse.
He ignored the evasive No. 7 and continued forward.
Victory was the only goal.
A smirk formed at the corner of his lips — it felt like triumph was already in his hands.
Stop! Let’s insert the script that sinAmaterasu had already written in his mind:
According to the script, he made the right choice. No. 7 was just trying to buy time, but he didn’t fall for it.
He chose correctly — head straight for the finish line.
Frustrated, No. 7 gave chase desperately, even stumbling and limping in the process, left crawling on the ground, staring in despair at the dashing, cool bald guy nearing the finish line step by step.
At the 900-meter mark, he activated his one and only teleportation.
He won! He won! In his ears echoed imaginary applause — the thunderous cheers praising his record-breaking performance.
Okay, stop right there — because he’s not the director.
Just as he decided not to chase No. 7 and ran straight for the finish, he suddenly noticed everything in front of him rising — it was as if he was falling.
A heavy blow struck the back of his head.
He lost control, tumbling several times across the ground.
His body, including his face, was scraped and bloodied.
He lay there, motionless.
The man in the blue jacket shook his aching right hand and passed by him — now he was in first place.
Spending 1,000 points to create a new body hadn’t been in vain.
He was the QQ group member known as LeftHandForFriendship.
A few days ago, during a mission world, he had accidentally exposed his identity, and Wind of Remembrance leaked it in the group chat like a joke.
After being named for this match — even though there was a newbie — he had no choice but to counter sinAmaterasu by building a new character: this blue-jacketed male avatar.
This so-called 1000-meter race was never really about running — it was about who could be the last one standing with a smile.
This was destined to be a match of mutual combat, not a race to the finish line.
Advancing toward the finish was merely a means to force others into attacking.
Whoever used teleportation would essentially be giving up a chance for a surprise attack, just like what happened earlier.
Special Mechanism 1 — First Note: Teleportation distance includes and can be less than 100 meters.
That’s exactly what it’s meant for — sneak attacks.
Since teleportation can cover up to 100 meters (or less), anyone within 100 meters can be suddenly ambushed.
As long as sinAmaterasu was within 100 meters, he could be attacked at any moment via teleportation — and a full-force strike while at high speed could cripple or even kill.
So, the real battlefield wasn’t at the 900-meter mark — it was in that moment when everyone let their guard down.
When sinAmaterasu finally seemed to realize that his goal should be reaching the finish line, LeftHandForFriendship was forced to act.
If that guy used teleportation at that moment, there’d likely never be another chance to catch him.
He had been holding back until now because of Contestant No. 5 — the barefoot man in a suit.
That man had incredible patience and was also holding onto his teleportation ability without using it.
He, too, seemed to have realized this was a critical moment for a surprise attack.
Just a moment ago, both of them had considered teleporting — but the suited man had the greater self-control.
Now, he’s the only one still holding teleportation.
LeftHandForFriendship had to constantly keep an eye on those behind him.
Even No. 7 now understood the strategic value of teleportation.
Neither of them dared to run too fast; their gazes were fixed on the suited man in lane 5, not daring to look away.
And the suited man’s right hand remained resting on his left hand’s teleportation button — as if ready to teleport at any moment.