The sports festival was held on the vast field near the Media Division.

People could have made their own way there, but many gathered at headquarters first and left together by bus. Transportation to the field was awkward.

It wasn’t close enough to walk, and they said there wasn’t enough parking space for every participant to drive separately.

So I arrived at headquarters a few minutes before boarding time.

And this was what greeted me.

People standing in front of differently colored charter buses, thrusting their fists into the air.

“Black Mamba! Black Mamba! Black Mamba!”

“Catch the snakes! The snakes! Catch the tasty snakes!”

“What is this?”

So flustered that I couldn’t even bring myself to approach the bus for a moment, I froze.

“This isn’t the tournament venue, is it?”

Igor, who had driven me to headquarters, snickered at the sight in front of us.

“This doesn’t look like only one thing’s getting broken.”

Good thing I sent Kairos separately.

If he had come here, it felt like absolute chaos would have erupted. I had already heard that because of his participation, sports festival tickets had sold out and scalped tickets were circulating in huge numbers.

If he’d shown up here, someone definitely would have gotten injured in the crowd crush.

Unable to bring myself to approach the bus for a moment, I turned back to Igor.

“Thanks for bringing me. But wouldn’t it be better for you to just watch it live?”

“It can’t compare to being there in person.”

Igor answered.

“I’ll find my own way to watch it, so don’t worry. And Commander, don’t get too swept up in the atmosphere and overdo it. Even yesterday, near the end of sword training, you were clutching your chest and sitting down.”

I didn’t want to overdo it and collapse in the middle of a crowd either.

Still, after quietly staying in the cabin and training, I felt like I had a decent grasp of my limits by now. Nothing would happen. And if it really felt impossible, I could just take a hit from the ball at the right time and step out.

Besides, these were Badgers throwing with their hands. Shouldn’t I be able to dodge that?

It had to be easier to avoid than the bombardments upper-rank monsters spat out.

Thinking that, I parted ways with Igor.

“Jonathan!”

As I walked toward the bus, familiar faces came into view.

I called out the name of the senior who was standing there blankly in his usual manner.

“It’s been a while!”

Jonathan whipped his head around.

His dark eyes widened, surprise filling them. For that senior to react that strongly meant he was genuinely shocked.

I should have let him know in advance I was coming today.

I’d heard he had been very worried about me.

“How have you been?”

“Hilde.”

The moment he said my name, the people nearby turned their heads too, following Jonathan’s lead.

All those eyes flying toward me.

Ignoring their murmurs, Jonathan strode over.

“Why are you here—”

“Taleb!”

Someone shouted.

“Long time no see!”

“Oh, so he really is participating in the sports festival. Are you all healed up?”

“He really got back on his feet.”

“More importantly, isn’t he on the Black Mamba team?!”

“What the hell! He’s on the opposing team? Why is that snake bastard over here!”

“Chase him back to the other side! Chase him out!”

“Boo, get lost, viper!”

The reactions came pouring in, red-hot.

The ones loitering around instead of boarding like disobedient package tourists all turned toward me and kicked up a fuss.

“Get back to your own team!”

“Seniors....”

Flustered by the immaturity of the opposing side’s reaction, I muttered,

“This is just a sports festival, isn’t it? You’re being too harsh!”

“What? Why do you look so wronged? Weren’t you here to spy?”

“I think he just came to say hi to Senior Kudo.”

“That is exactly what happened. Doesn’t it obviously look that way? I’m innocent, I tell you.”

“Hey, hey, don’t be fooled! You can’t let words like that fool you!”

“Yeah. Don’t fall for him acting all innocent. That bastard pretends like this and then stabs you in the back at the crucial moment.”

“Then why didn’t he go greet the snake seniors first? This has to be him pretending to come say hi while trying to gather our information.”

“No, Jonathan was just the first one I saw....”

“Hilde. I heard you’re still using a cane, so why are you even here at the sports festival? Don’t tell me you’re actually planning to compete.”

“Hey!”

A booming shout suddenly came from the bus of the other color.

***

“Give us our Kkulde!”

It was Giacomo Ro.

“He’s on our team! Our team!”

“No, we were just in the middle of chasing him out! Hurry up and take him!”

“No way, get lost! Taleb came over here on his own! We didn’t steal him!”

“Taleb! What are you doing over there? Are you color-blind?!”

“Why aren’t you running over here already?!”

“So he really is trying to participate?”

In the middle of the uproar, Jonathan grabbed my arm tightly.

“You still think that’s a good idea after seeing this atmosphere?”

Well...

Trevain had already refused to allow my absence. On top of that, he had even contacted me again two days ago to confirm.

He’d told me to be honest now if I wasn’t confident I could come out and play properly, and I had answered that I was fine, so there was no way I could back out now.

I looked at the crease in Jonathan’s brow, clearly telling me how displeased he was with the situation, and smiled softly.

“I’m barely going to run, so don’t worry.”

“Don’t run at all.”

“I already said I’d participate, so I can’t help it.”

“I’ll have to talk to Ricardo.”

No.

I looked at Jonathan awkwardly.

“Ricardo knows too, sunbae.”

“And he still didn’t stop you?”

“I’ve recovered a fair bit in my own way. And I’m only doing one event.”

“What event?”

Jonathan asked.

I was about to answer without thinking, when I noticed the seniors nearby had all perked up their ears and were blatantly eavesdropping on our conversation.

These people.

“It’s a secret.”

Jonathan stared at me flatly, but I refused to budge.

“I’m only doing one, so please don’t worry too much.”

He was about to ask which match I planned to join, but then he came to his senses.

If he asked that here, I really might get branded a spy.

I should just quietly get on the bus.

After bowing and saying I’d see him later at the field, I turned away.

As I walked toward the Black Mamba team bus, Ami’s voice rang out behind me.

“Everyone! Come get your team T-shirts!”

Her clear voice tickled my ears.

“The buses for research staff and general staff are the white ones over in the corner, so don’t get mixed up! Watch your strength control!”

The sounds of people answering obediently after hearing Ami, the sound of them all moving in a rush to collect their shirts.

It really does feel nice seeing everyone again after coming out to headquarters for the first time in a while.

The weather was perfect too.

Breathing in the crisp air, I headed toward our team’s bus in a refreshed mood.

The order of the sports festival events was as follows.

Opening ceremony.

Morning events: tug-of-war, relay race, three-legged race, obstacle relay.

The obstacle relay was a modified version mixed with quizzes.

There were even two versions.

The first obstacle relay was called “Elite Specialist Position!”

The second was called “Let’s All Get Along!”

Neither title sounded remotely normal.

But what kind of obstacles would appear was kept under strict secrecy.

The Black Badger sports festival committee, led by the Personnel Director, had only released the rules for each event.

[Black Badger Sports Festival Rules]

o Obstacle Relay

-No limit on the number of runner substitutions

-However, mid-course substitutions are not allowed, and if the runner is changed, the assigned course must be run again from the beginning

-Strictly no weapon use

-No killing allowed

...What exactly did they mean by banning killing?

Feeling a little faint after reading that final rule, I asked Leeho, and a kind answer came back.

“Sometimes they bring out level-one Creatures.”

“Huh?”

“You know, the ones even civilians can deal with if they just have a simple weapon. Some of them even stay still like plants unless you touch them.”

Ah.

“Like Inkcap Mushrooms?”

Leeho looked at me with pity.

“That’s a level-three Creature.”

“....”

For a moment, I recalled my past of getting thoroughly beaten up by Inkcap Mushrooms before asking again,

“Do rookies usually start by facing level-threes, then?”

“Why do you think levels one and two exist? Normally you face them gradually starting from level one.... Even if level-threes seem like nothing, they’re lethal to anyone without an enhanced body, so patrols still go on emergency alert if one appears.”

“...Is that so?”

“...Yeah.”

Knowing full well that I had gotten violently pummeled by an Inkcap Mushroom on the first day I met Yun, Leeho smoothly changed the subject.

“Anyway, sometimes they mobilize the Creatures raised at headquarters. As you know, Badgers on long medical leave often raise Creatures.”

“Ah, I think I heard that a while ago.”

I answered, feeling the rattling vibration of the bus.

“I’ve never actually seen them, though.”

“They’re not in the main headquarters building.”

“I see. Then where—”

“Memorize the rules for each event properly.”

Trevain, seated in the very back row of the bus, opened his eyes and barked the order at everyone on board.

“If you break the rules and get penalty points from that slick Personnel Director, I’ll kill you.”

“Yes, sir!”

Everyone answered thunderously.

“Understood!”

There are penalty points too?

Since I was only entering dodgeball anyway, I had been skimming the rules, but now I scrolled back to the top and started reading the posted regulations again.

For the three-legged race, pairs cannot be chosen freely. You cannot abandon your partner and cross the finish line first. However, as long as you and your partner cross together “by any means whatsoever,” it counts....

While reading, I found another strange clause.

[Black Badger Sports Festival Rules]

o Tug-of-War

-Use of Green Dream against the opposing team is prohibited

So there are humans who actually used Green Dream too.

Absolute lunatics....

With exhausted eyes, I continued reading through the rules.

The ball sports were packed into the afternoon.

Basketball, volleyball, paired dodgeball.

Once again, the main event was paired dodgeball, and unlike basketball or volleyball, it would be run in a slight tournament format.

But in paired dodgeball, partner selection was apparently completely random.

This won’t be easy either.

The matches were broadcast live.

Apparently it was for those who were too busy with work or too injured to participate.

Those without enhanced bodies could participate as quiz assistants.

Still, most people were spectating from outside the field, and where they were seated, a mini Core was active.

It was there to prevent any possible accidents in advance.

Feels like there’s no way something won’t get broken....

“The most important thing is that there are no injuries.”

The opening ceremony began once we got off the bus and lined up in the designated positions.

Ska Owen came by briefly.

The barren field at the foot of the mountain where the Media Division was located even had a proper stage set up.

The Commander-in-Chief came there without even a secretary.

We had originally been told no passenger cars were allowed onto the field, but when a black vehicle naturally rolled in, Ska appeared.

He climbed the stage without ceremony, took the microphone, and began the opening speech immediately.

“Those of you without enhanced bodies, please be especially careful. The ambulances are on standby, but I would prefer it if the medical staff had absolutely nothing to do.”

He kept the formal greetings about everyone’s hard work on urgent matters short.

“And those in specialist positions, don’t get too excited.”

Ju, Yehyeon, and the other staff stood in front of the stage with their hands clasped behind their backs.

Ju smiling brightly, Yehyeon looking blankly over the # Nоvеlight # Badgers lined up by team.

“It’s good to work hard, but make sure you maintain respect for the opposing team.”

After finishing his stern lecture directed at the enhanced-body holders, Ska fell silent for a moment.

Then he closed his eyes and said nothing.

It looked as if he were barely holding back a sigh that threatened to escape.

As if trying, even for just a moment, to look away from the reality pressing in....

“Then from this moment, the sports festival begins.”

Ska opened his eyes and declared,

“Take it easy.”

WAAAAAAAH!!

A roar shook the entire field.

Bang! B-b-b-boooom!

Fireworks burst from drones flying overhead.

The sports festival had begun.