Chapter 51: This is the Power of Games! This is the Speed of a God!
The students in the class were quickly divided into two groups, boys and girls, and paired up for the timed speed test.
Earlier, Hirata Yousuke, Sudo Ken, and others had achieved excellent results. However, the most dazzling performance came from Koenji Rokusuke.
If Katsuragi Keima was the most eccentric existence in the class, then Koenji Rokusuke was his only true competitor for that title. He simply didn't care about the feelings or opinions of his classmates—he didn't even care about Class Points. Even after Chabashira Sae explained the truth about the S-System, Koenji remained indifferent; he didn't listen in class and would leave early if a subject didn't interest him. Hirata Yousuke had tried to reason with him, but it had no effect.
"Oh, my perfect body. It seems the condition of my abs, lats, and psoas major is as excellent as ever. Truly wonderful."
Koenji looked at his own body with an expression of pure intoxication, muttering to himself while the other students did their best to ignore his existence.
On the other side, Horikita Suzune had already finished her test. Her results were quite impressive, temporarily placing her second among the girls and even faster than many of the boys.
"Is Horikita that good at sports?"
"So fast..."
"A girl is faster than the guys..."
Several boys couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. Even if Horikita's prickly personality meant she didn't have a single friend in class, the others had to admit she was almost beyond reproach in both academics and athletics.
"Next group for the boys: Katsuragi Keima and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."
As the teacher called their names, Keima and Ayanokouji arrived at the starting blocks.
'Just what is this guy's level when it comes to sports?'
Horikita was somewhat curious. She lightly wiped the water from the tips of her hair and stood nearby, her eyes fixed intently on Keima. Keima didn't seem to exercise much, so his physical fitness was likely average. When the time came, she might be able to give him a good teasing.
After all, Keima had mocked her mercilessly last night. Although there was truth in what he said, Horikita wasn't about to pass up an opportunity for a small counterattack. At the thought of this, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
Standing across from Horikita, Kushida Kikyo captured her every move.
'That woman, Horikita... she's actually paying quite a lot of attention to Katsuragi?'
Kushida felt a twinge of confusion, but she also noticed that the interaction between the two seemed different than before.
Sakura Airi remained in the corner, watching Keima from afar, saying in a voice almost only she could hear:
"G-Good luck... Katsuragi-kun..."
At this moment, Keima was still playing on his handheld, while Ayanokouji observed him from the corner of his eye:
'Katsuragi's body hasn't undergone much training; that much is certain.'
'That means his swimming speed shouldn't be very fast—it might even be among the last.'
'In that case, I'll maintain a distance just one body length ahead of him. That way, I won't stand out too much.'
Ayanokouji made his decision. As a genius from the White Room, Ayanokouji actually possessed physical stats that eclipsed everyone in the class. He wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible, but since he didn't know the average performance of a normal high school boy, he planned to use Keima as a reference.
"Are you two ready?" the teacher asked, looking at them.
"Yes."
The two responded almost simultaneously. The teacher looked at Keima, who was still fully focused on his game as if he hadn't heard a word.
'This guy... he's going to play games during a test like this?!'
"Student, are you sure you want to keep playing during the test?"
"Is it not allowed?"
"The school doesn't have a rule against it, but the standard for boys is forty seconds. That's a fairly generous number, but if you don't beat the standard, you'll have to do extra practice!" the teacher warned immediately.
Earlier, Hirata Yousuke had clocked in at just over 26 seconds, Sudo Ken at roughly 25 seconds, and Koenji Rokusuke was even under 24 seconds. However, they were the minority; many of the students following them had exceeded 30 seconds.
"Understood," Keima replied nonchalantly.
The teacher bit his lip and sighed. This was the first time he had seen a student like Keima. He pulled out his stopwatch.
"Ready, set, go!"
At the command, Keima and Ayanokouji dove into the water simultaneously.
'I'll keep a similar pace for the first half, then pull ahead in the second half.'
Ayanokouji thought to himself, observing Keima's movements out of the corner of his eye.
The gaze of every student present was instantly drawn to Keima.
Katsuragi Keima... was actually playing a game while swimming!
He was face-down, his lower body performing standard freestyle kicks, while his upper body was arched out of the water, both hands holding the game console!
"What... kind of form is that?"
"He's—he's not using his hands at all..."
"Even though it looks a bit... I don't know how to describe it, he seems really fast!"
Everyone's eyes were full of astonishment. It wasn't just because Keima's movements were bizarre. More importantly... he was extremely fast.
This was entirely thanks to the game in his hands!
Keima focused his attention completely on the game and gave himself a psychological suggestion: The female character in the game is watching me. At this moment, Keima was able to break past his physical limits!
This was the power brought by games!
'Katsuragi is faster than I imagined.'
Ayanokouji, in the adjacent lane, thought to himself. He had intended to hide his strength and stay at the same level as Keima. But he soon realized that his current effort wasn't enough. Ayanokouji would have to reach a level of being "serious" just to keep up with Keima's speed.
This was impossible. Keima shouldn't have this level of physical fitness. Was it an illusion? Or...
Although Ayanokouji didn't want to stand out, being next to Keima, he subconsciously increased his speed as well.
"Oh?"
Koenji Rokusuke, who had intended to leave immediately, stopped in his tracks and knit his brows slightly, watching Keima in the water.
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