Just as the group was laughing and chatting, an announcement for the 400m Preliminary for boys rang out over the broadcast.
The name Kanzaki Sou from Class (5) was clearly listed.
“Wow! Kanzaki-kun’s race is about to start!”
Yui Hori, who had just been chatting with Yuzuki Yasuda and Mio Sato, instantly became excited.
“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s cheer for Kanzaki-kun!”
As she spoke, Yui Hori, not caring whether Xiao Chun Miura wanted to go or not—as if she had already decided to bring her along—wrapped her arm under Xiao Chun Miura’s armpit, pulled her up from the chair, and even gave her a push.
Then, the three girls squeezed around Xiao Chun Miura, crowding towards the edge of the Track.
When they finally reached the Starting Line of the Track, the area was already packed to the brim.
The screams of girls rose and fell, almost drowning out the broadcast.
“I can’t see anything like this.”
Yui Hori frowned.
At the outer edge of the wall-like crowd, Yui Hori and the others could see nothing but the backs of other female high school students and hear nothing but the shouting in their ears.
“Kanzaki-kun—go for it—!”
“Kanzaki-san!!”
“Ah~–! The way he wears his headband! So cool!”
“Yeah, yeah! It’s my first time seeing it too!”
“He’s amazing…!”
Similar words flooded towards the Track from all directions, endless.
At the same time, more and more enthusiastic girls gathered.
“This is no good~ This is no good~ Let’s not squeeze in any further—”
Being pushed around by the students crowding from behind, the shortest among them, Yuzuki Yasuda, cried out in distress.
“Damn it… Even though we rushed here as soon as we heard the broadcast,…”
Yui Hori grumbled indignantly.
“…Yui, if you hadn’t insisted that the Starting Line was on the other side, we really would have been the first ones here.”
Mio Sato, eyes half-closed, held her forehead.
“Let’s just get out first. It’s way too crowded here…”
As more students pressed in from all sides, Xiao Chun Miura glanced around.
If they didn’t move now,
they’d soon be surrounded and unable to leave even if they wanted to.
“Yuzuki can barely stand, and we can’t see anything from here anyway.”
“Umumum~!– Just wait!”
Yui Hori stared resentfully at the wall of people, bit her lip, and turned to squeeze her way out.
No, what are you even waiting for?
Xiao Chun Miura silently grumbled, helping Mio Sato protect Yuzuki Yasuda as they escaped with Yui Hori from the growing crowd of girls.
“Puhaha… Puhaha…There are way too many! What, is Kanzaki Sou an alien or something? Why is everyone so desperate to see him…”
Squatting on the grass, gasping for breath, Yui Hori hadn’t even caught her breath before she started shouting at the crowd behind them.
“Weren’t we also planning to watch him?”
Mio Sato said.
“That was for Xiao Chun!”
Yui Hori complained.
“If it wasn’t for Xiao Chun, there’s no way we’d go watch Kanzaki-kun’s race.”
“Eh~ I kind of wanted to see it though.”
Yuzuki Yasuda replied.
“After all, unlike Yui, I don’t have a guy I like.”
At those words, Yui Hori and Mio Sato immediately turned to look.
“W-what… I just wanted to have a look, that’s all.”
…
“Yuzuki, don’t you have someone you like too?”
“…—That’s not it, it doesn’t count.”
Yuzuki Yasuda averted her gaze, dodging Mio Sato’s question.
“!? What?! Could it be Yuzuki also—?”
“Eh, Yui, you didn’t know?”
“I didn’t know! What, what, tell me quick!”
“It’s the one we talked about before, you know, Yuzuki she……”
The girls’ attention instantly shifted from their earlier disappointment to romantic gossip about their friend.
But the only one not joining in was Xiao Chun Miura, whose eyes involuntarily drifted to the crowd they had just escaped.
She was thinking about Kanzaki Sou.
Being squeezed in the crowd with Yui Hori and the others, surrounded by an overwhelming wave of enthusiasm, Xiao Chun Miura felt not only the press of bodies but also a strange sense of discord that was hard to ignore.
Kanzaki Sou’s popularity was way too high.
It didn’t feel ‘this’ exaggerated in the game.
She had already thought it was odd when Yui Hori explained it to her before.
While playing the game, the Main Character was indeed charming—but not to this extent.
“Kanzaki Sou” was supposed to be well-liked among friends but not a superstar in other settings.
When Yui Hori said that the number of people who admired Kanzaki Sou could form a Football Team, Xiao Chun Miura thought it was just a slight exaggeration.
But—
Looking at the crowd before her, Xiao Chun Miura truly realized that the number of Kanzaki Sou’s admirers Yui Hori mentioned was a severely understated estimate.
This cheering crowd—this was more than just a Football Team.
They could probably form a World Cup Group Stage.
This level of popularity was far more overwhelming than the Main Character treatment she felt in the game.
In real life, it would be an utterly impossible scale.
Was this extraordinary popularity also a correction by the game?
“Oh~?”
As she was thinking, Yui Hori’s voice sounded from behind.
“So Xiao Chun really does want to watch, huh.”
Xiao Chun Miura turned around and saw the three girls, at some point, had all stopped talking and were looking at her.
“Eh? No, I’m not—”
“Hey, Xiao Chun, if we can’t see from here, why don’t we find a spot along the Track with fewer people?”
Yuzuki Yasuda suggested.
“Oh! Great idea, let’s do it!”
Yui Hori nodded in agreement and immediately put it into action.
She led the group along the Track, moving through the bustling crowd.
“By the way, Yuzuki, you really just want to see for yourself, right?”
“Eh~ No, it’s for Xiao Chun. That’s what you said, Yui.”
“That’s not… It’s not like we absolutely have to watch—”
Being swept along, Xiao Chun Miura gave only a token struggle.
Seeing that the two had no intention of letting go, she simply accepted being taken by Yui Hori and Yuzuki Yasuda.
Even when Mio Sato glanced over with a ‘Should I help?’ l
Look, Xiao Chun Miura could only shake her head helplessly.
After going back and forth like this, she actually did want to see a little.
At a spot by the Track where the crowd was slightly thinner, the group watched the figure on the Starting Line from a distance.
The boy had just finished checking his running shoes, and now he was crouched down in a starting stance.
Even from so far away, because he wore glasses, Xiao Chun Miura could still make out his expression.
It was a look of pure focus—at the moment the starting pistol fired, his body moved as well.
Although only a split second, from her perspective, it seemed Kanzaki Sou started just a bit faster than the others.
It wasn’t an illusion.
Before long, Kanzaki Sou was leading the others with a clear advantage.
Then, with almost no suspense, he was the first to cross the Finish Line with an overwhelming lead.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaa–!”
The crowd erupted in cheers even louder than before.
Standing where Kanzaki Sou had already raced past, Xiao Chun Miura felt as though the wind he stirred still hadn’t faded.
The intense atmosphere all around was because of the figure at the Finish Line, who slowed to a stop, breathing slightly.
Too dazzling.
Once again, Xiao Chun Miura could only marvel from the bottom of her heart.