Chapter 71 – Sports Festival (2)
Taaang! Taaaang! Taaaang!
From then on, the resounding thwacks of the shuttlecock being struck mixed rhythmically with the sharp squeaks—screeech, screeech—of sneakers dragging across the gym floor.
“Comic Creation! Comic Creation!”
“Let’s goooo!”
The roaring cheers pouring in from behind.
The peculiar smell of sweat mingled with the heated air, wrapping around their damp, glistening skin.
Every time they returned the shuttlecock, the weight of it registered sharply at their fingertips.
Everything felt intensely vivid.
Was it because they were hyper-focused on the match?
‘This time, it’s my turn.’
Even as sweat poured down, their breathing stayed steady.
The concentration that should have scattered long ago remained razor-sharp.
‘I’m going in.’
‘Pull back.’
Their eyes met in fleeting instants, moving exactly as promised, exactly as they had trained—exchanging offense and defense in perfect sync.
It felt like they had become one body, their coordination flawless.
How long had they moved in that trance-like state?
Piiiiiiip!
“Comic Creation wins!”
The whistle blew, and victory in the first match went to their side.
“Huuu… We won.”
“I told you.”
When Min-hyuk spoke with a satisfied expression, Yu-ra replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
As they returned to their half of the court—
“Water! Water!”
“Ref! Towel!”
The kids swarmed them dramatically, treating them like royalty.
While Min-hyuk was gulping down water, Dong-gyo smirked and said,
“Good job, Min-hyuk-kun. Just win one more match now, and you… become the hero.”
“…I don’t really want to be a hero.”
When Min-hyuk pouted, Dong-gyo adjusted his glasses and replied,
“Becoming a hero isn’t up to your will. It’s the era… the world that chooses you.”
“And that ‘world’ just happens to be a sports festival?”
“No—pizza.”
Damn, he talks smooth.
Min-hyuk couldn’t help but lift the corner of his mouth in a small smirk.
‘Well… we’ve come this far anyway.’
Might as well aim for the championship once.
Min-hyuk’s gaze drifted toward the court where the Game Department students were currently playing.
Specifically, that duo who had once utterly crushed him and Yu-ra.
“Aaah!”
“Uwaaaah!”
The gorilla couple roared as they smashed the shuttlecock down.
“You’re too fast.”
“What the hell…”
Every time, the Animation Department duo was helplessly overwhelmed.
An overwhelming gap in skill.
Yet even watching this, rather than pure worry…
“I kinda want to face them once.”
“…Hm?”
At Yu-ra’s words, Min-hyuk’s eyes widened.
Because the exact thought that had just crossed his mind had come out of her mouth instead.
“I’m curious how much of our training will actually work against them.”
“Yeah… I’m curious too.”
He could see they were good.
But somehow… right now, it didn’t feel like they would lose.
Min-hyuk lifted the corner of his mouth and calmly steadied his breathing.
In the corner of his mind—
‘Sports, huh… sports. Yeah, this is what sports feels like.’
Crack, craaaack!
He still hadn’t realized that the sensation and experience he was feeling right now were putting cracks in the wall that had been blocking his path forward.
***
A short while later, on the badminton court.
“Huuu… What, you two actually made it up here?”
“With that level of skill, you’ve managed to scrape by so far, huh?”
The gorilla duo stood there glaring confidently.
Min-hyuk and Han Yu-ra didn’t back down an inch, responding boldly.
“You talk too much.”
“Does the Game Department win badminton with their mouths?”
Crackle!
Sparks practically flew between their locked gazes.
“Alright, representatives step forward.”
At the referee teacher’s call, Min-hyuk and the gorilla boy naturally stepped up.
“Rock… paper… scissors!”
Tap!
Min-hyuk threw rock, the gorilla boy threw scissors.
Their side’s win.
“Comic Creation serve.”
“Yes.”
Min-hyuk gripped the shuttlecock and took a deep breath.
‘Just do what we practiced.’
At the very least, he didn’t want to feel like the time they spent training had been wasted.
He focused his mind… exhaled slowly…
Thuuud!
He relaxed his shoulder and sent the serve flying.
But—
Thuuud!
The opponents received it heavily and solidly.
After a couple of exchanges like that—
“Uraaa!”
The gorilla boy spiked it down hard.
‘Coming to the back!’
Thinking Yu-ra would handle it, Min-hyuk gave her space—right then.
Thud!
Yu-ra ultimately failed to return the shuttlecock at that terrifying speed.
“…Grrr.”
Her face looked somehow frustrated.
From there, the flow was smooth—for the opponents.
Piiiiip!
“First set, Game Department wins!”
The first set ended almost one-sidedly, with nearly double the score.
It could be called a decent fight, but if they couldn’t turn the momentum, defeat felt practically inevitable.
“They’re too strong, Jung-an seonsaengnim…”
“No way… did those guys skip making games and just play badminton all day…?”
“H-Hang in thereeee!”
Perhaps sensing the impending loss, the energy visibly drained from the Comic Creation kids.
‘This isn’t easy.’
While they switched court sides, Min-hyuk licked his lips and said,
“At this rate, we’re going to lose.”
“…Any alternatives?”
Yu-ra wiped the sweat from her forehead with her gym sleeve and asked back.
“Alternatives, huh…”
Still holding the shuttlecock, Min-hyuk glared at the opponents.
‘They’re clearly way ahead in pure physical stats.’
Technique, power, speed—everything.
Both the girl and the boy were individually several levels above them in skill.
They were probably the type who played badminton regularly outside of school too.
That’s why a head-on fight had to be avoided if they wanted any chance of turning it around.
What Comic Creation had even a slight edge in was—
‘Coordination.’
He had felt it clearly during the few rallies.
—Dodge!
—Ah!
Those two didn’t seem to have much experience playing as a real “team.”
Their steps occasionally tangled.
Their shoulders bumped into each other now and then.
They didn’t move with any planned pattern; it was more like they were just reacting individually.
To seize the thread of victory… they had to exploit that gap.
“Han Yu-ra.”
“Speak.”
“Let’s tear into their coordination as much as possible. Aim for the spot where their paths are most likely to cross—the dead center between them.”
“Got it.”
Yu-ra nodded.
“Serve!”
The match resumed.
Taaang! Taaaang! Taaang! Taaaang!
The rally continued, and Min-hyuk and Yu-ra deliberately, persistently targeted the exact middle zone where the gorilla duo’s paths would most likely collide.
“Ahh!”
“Hey, watch out!”
“No, that’s—”
In an instant, their paths tangled and their shoulders collided.
Thuuud!
Because of the clumsy receive, the shuttlecock floated high.
Min-hyuk’s and Yu-ra’s eyes met.
‘Going in!’
Min-hyuk dashed straight forward, leaped high—
Fwaaaang!
—and smashed it straight down into the far corner of the opposite court.
‘Got it.’
Min-hyuk clenched his fist tightly.
Yu-ra gave a small nod in response.
No words were needed—they understood each other perfectly.
Right now, this strategy was working.
Taaang! Taang!
“Comic Creation point!”
“No, why aren’t you receiving it properly?!”
“You were the one dawdling and got there late!”
“I told you not to float it! How many times do I have to say it?!”
And the longer the rally went on, the clearer the gorilla duo’s weakness became—blaming each other more and more openly.
“Second set, Comic Creation wins!”
In the end, Min-hyuk and Yu-ra took the second set by a fairly comfortable margin.
“Ooooooh! We wonnnn!”
“You did ittttt!”
Cheers erupted from the Comic Creation side.
“Huuu… Just one more set and we’re done.”
Min-hyuk wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked across at the opponents.
Their faces were full of irritation as they argued loudly.
They had probably realized how serious the situation was and were already coming up with countermeasures.
Yu-ra seemed to sense it too, murmuring quietly,
“In the next set, they’ll probably adapt at least somewhat.”
“Okay.”
Which meant the third set wouldn’t be easy.
A strategy built to overcome an absolute gap in skill naturally loses its value the moment the opponent figures it out.
But…
There was no other answer now.
“Still… our coordination is better. Let’s push as aggressively and quickly as possible before they adjust.”
“Huuu…”
Yu-ra nodded.
All that remained was to end the match as fast as possible—before the other side could fully adapt.
‘As fast as possible.’
Taaang! Taang! Taang!
The rally continued.
Breathing grew ragged, sweat flew across the court, and the repeated squeak of sneakers dragging on the floor filled the air.
Piiiiip!
“Comic Creation score!”
Piiip! Piiip!
“Game Department score!”
Points alternated back and forth.
At the start of the set it looked like Comic Creation might pull ahead slightly, but the opposing duo adapted quickly and closed the gap.
The tension grew razor-tight.
“Fighting! Fighting!”
“Strongest Game!”
“Comic’s gonna winnnn!”
Whoever won this match would take the overall sports festival championship.
With every point scored, the reactions from each department’s students swung wildly between heaven and hell.
Yet strangely, on the faces of the actual players—Han Yu-ra and Kang Min-hyuk—
A subtle smile began to appear.
‘Our coordination is getting even better too.’
‘This is fun.’
Perhaps because they were so deeply immersed.
Even without much verbal communication, Min-hyuk and Yu-ra were reading each other’s intentions, steadily optimizing their movements.
That efficiency, in turn, fed into their attempts to predict the opponents’ actions… and exploit every tiny opening with relentless persistence.
After all, badminton was a game won by the first to reach 21 points.
How much time had passed like that?
“Match point!”
20–19.
Game Department reached match point first.
One more point lost here, and it was over.
Thump! Thump!
His heart pounded, a nauseating tension rising in his chest.
But Min-hyuk didn’t dislike this feeling at all.
‘This is going to be fun.’
The AniGo competition.
The moment he first submitted Brave King.
The moment he learned he’d be facing off against Yang Jae-han.
It was the same pleasant, electric tension as back then.
And in moments like this, Kang Min-hyuk almost always…
Became incredibly strong.
“Time to end thissss!”
Taaaang!
The gorilla’s serve came flying in.
Min-hyuk leaped slightly forward and snapped his wrist to return it.
There was no particular intention behind it, no deep calculation—his body simply moved on its own.
Just a feeling…
‘If I hit it like this, it’ll work.’
A purely animalistic, instinctive sense.
Whooooosh!
The shuttlecock flew across to the opposite court.
“Ahh!”
Thud!
It landed precariously—just inside the line.
“Comic Creation, match point!”
Since they were playing without deuce, this was it… the final point.
One more point would decide everything.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
They wiped the sweat from their foreheads and calmly prepared for the last rally.
“Uwaaaa!”
Taaang! Taaaang! Taaaang!
The rally began with the gorilla boy’s serve.
Now, only sound remained.
‘Please win.’
‘Min-hyuk-kun!’
‘The dinner budget is on the lineeee!’
On Min-hyuk’s side, to make up for their physical disadvantage, his body reacted first—trying to predict the opponents’ movements even a fraction of a second earlier.
He persistently searched for openings, stubbornly targeting their weak coordination.
Then—
“Ahh!”
Was she tired? Or was it just a mistake?
The ball Yu-ra returned floated too high.
The corner of the opposing girl’s mouth curled up.
‘Got it.’
The certainty of victory.
With a wicked grin, she leaped high into the air.
Baaaang!
She slammed down with all her strength.
An attack so fast and powerful it seemed impossible to return.
A look of shock crossed Yu-ra’s face.
“Ahh!”
A collective groan rose from the Comic Creation kids.
But right then—
‘Good.’
At the exact spot where the smash was about to land, Kang Min-hyuk was already standing.
As if he had predicted it would fall exactly there.
No… not “as if.”
He had predicted it correctly.
And then…
Baaaaang!
Min-hyuk smashed the shuttlecock with everything he had—straight to the far diagonal corner of the opposite court.
Shwooooong!
The shuttlecock wobbled violently, twisting and turning like it had a life of its own.
“Grrr!”
The moment the girl swung to return it—
Whoooong!
Her racket sliced through empty air.
Thud!
The shuttlecock dropped gently inside the court line.
Piiiiiiiiip!
“Comic Creation wins!”
With the whistle, the referee extended his arm toward the Comic Creation side.
“Haaah… haaah… We did it.”
“……”
Min-hyuk clenched his fist.
Han Yu-ra stared at him wide-eyed, as if she couldn’t believe it.
She clearly hadn’t expected victory at all.
And then…
“We wonnnnnn!”
“Long liveeeeee!”
The roar of cheers exploded from behind as the Comic Creation kids surged forward.
“Let’s goooo!”
“Carry them! Carry them!”
Urrrr!
Everyone rushed toward the court in a stampede.
**************
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