The day of the Sports Meet arrived quickly. After several days of training, Liang Sheng and Lu Ziqing had gotten pretty smooth with their running.
Lu Ziqing brimmed with confidence, insisting that she and Liang Sheng would become the most dazzling duo on the entire field once they took the stage.
Liang Sheng, eyeing their snail-paced running speed, worried that they might actually be the noobiest rookies on the field instead.
“Liang Sheng, are you feeling confident?” Lu Ziqing sat beside her, radiating self-assurance.
Liang Sheng hummed and hawed for a moment before gazing into the distance. She spotted Ni Sihan on the field, clad in an ultra-short skirt and bouncing around energetically.
Ni Sihan stared at all the handsome guys on the field, her eyes glazing over. No wonder this was a school for the rich—there were so many cute boys. She licked her lips, positively ravenous.
Akino Hoshiko reminded her, “Your mission is to charm the girls here, not drool over the boys’ good looks!”
“Ahem, uh, yeah, got it, Sister Hoshiko.” Ni Sihan obediently pulled her gaze away.
Just you wait until later… Ni Sihan gritted her teeth.
If they’re all into girls, then maybe some cute poses would catch their attention!
Ni Sihan deliberately struck some extra-cute poses to draw the girls’ eyes.
In the end, she only attracted the attention of a few otaku guys.
The girls, meanwhile, had all their focus on Liang Sheng.
Gu Yuqi, as a senior in her final year, sat right behind Liang Sheng and patted her on the head.
“Ow!” Liang Sheng turned around. “Senior Sister Yuqi, you’re sitting behind me~”
That tone of hers—oh man, it turned ambiguous in an instant.
“Liang Sheng!” Lu Ziqing viciously pinched a chunk of flesh on Liang Sheng’s thigh. “What are you doing? Focus! It’s almost our turn!”
Liang Sheng yelped in pain, looking all aggrieved as she clamped her mouth shut.
“Alright, it’s our turn!” Lu Ziqing grabbed Liang Sheng’s arm and stood up. It was her first time in an event like this, and she was so nervous that she couldn’t even coordinate her hands and feet properly while walking.
“Go get ‘em!” Gu Yuqi gave Liang Sheng’s hand a quick squeeze to cheer on her little junior sister.
“Hee hee~ Yeah!” Liang Sheng flashed a grin back at Gu Yuqi.
As she turned, Liang Sheng caught sight of a group of oddly dressed people in the very back row. They were holding phones and filming, with their lenses seemingly trained right on her and Lu Ziqing.
“Huh?” Liang Sheng tugged at Lu Ziqing’s hand and pointed toward the weirdos. “Look over there—there’s a bunch of strange people filming us!”
Young Miss Lu Ziqing followed Liang Sheng’s finger and froze. She immediately covered her face, mortified. Those were her family’s bodyguards.
The bodyguards, realizing they’d been spotted, panicked. They couldn’t advance or retreat. This was an order straight from the old master: “Capture my precious daughter’s heroic first Sports Meet run in all its glory.”
“Whatever, let’s just get to the starting line. Ignore them.” Lu Ziqing kept her face covered, knowing she couldn’t shoo them away, so she hurried off instead.
“Go, Liang Sheng! Go, Class Monitor Lu Ziqing!” Ni Sihan suddenly cheered from the side, bouncing with youthful energy.
Oh god, stop cheering, stop! Liang Sheng slapped her forehead. If she embarrassed herself now and someone remembered her name…
Lu Ziqing, on the other hand…
“Ding~” Favorability increased.
“Lu Ziqing’s Favorability Toward Ni Sihan: 10”
“Ding~” Adoration Value increased.
“Lu Ziqing’s Adoration Value Toward Ni Sihan: 2.5”
Who would’ve thought this haughty young miss actually enjoyed that kind of embarrassing play.
“Alright, athletes to your marks… Get ready…”
Liang Sheng and Lu Ziqing nervously clasped each other’s soft little hands.
“Bang!” The starting gun fired.
“Run!” Liang Sheng shouted. The two athletic dunces panicked once more.
“Whoa!” Liang Sheng tumbled in a flailing heap, sending the stands into gales of laughter.
Lu Ziqing grabbed her arm. Surprisingly, the young miss stayed calm in the clutch.
“Follow my lead—your right foot with my left, go!” Lu Ziqing directed.
This time, they finally started running properly.
“Huff huff.”
It was a four-hundred-meter race, but Lu Ziqing’s delicate young miss constitution gave out around the three-hundred-meter mark. She slowed to a crawl.
That was when Liang Sheng figured out the trick. She matched Lu Ziqing’s pace, slowing down too without breaking their formation.
A glance back showed they were in third-to-last place. Damn, she hadn’t expected two total klutzes like them to be this slow even together.
Maybe it was Liang Sheng’s overly pitiful glare, or maybe it was because they’d slowed enough for others to pass—either way, another team overtook them successfully.
“Come on, pick it up.” Lu Ziqing panted, speeding up once more.
Liang Sheng didn’t say a word but pushed herself as hard as she could. In her mind: As long as we’re not dead last, that wouldn’t be too humiliating.
In the end, as she wished, they weren’t last.
Heh, second-to-last. Liang Sheng felt pretty humiliated too. She hung her head and slunk back to her seat.
Sigh. They said the world only remembered first place, not second. If that was true for the top, then surely it only remembered dead last, not second-to-last. Of course, this was just Liang Sheng consoling herself.
That curse she’d blurted out when she fell earlier had been heard by everyone up front, and they’d laughed their fill.
The bodyguards in the back had quietly slipped away.
Lu Ziqing’s old father shed tears of relief.
“Good, good! My girl’s finally gotten so lively!” Lu Ziqing’s dad wiped the corner of his eye. “Wonderful, just wonderful! Liang Sheng really is a good kid!”
When it was Su Ze’s turn, Ni Sihan’s eyes lit up. Wow, he’s so handsome~
Liang Sheng tilted her head, thinking Su Ze looked a bit different from before.
She squinted and checked his profile.
“Name: Su Ze
Age: 17
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 66 kg
Looks: S-Rank
Hobbies: Flirting with girls
Traits: Scumbag
Special: Beautiful Girl Magnet Physique
Family: Father is a driver; mother is a freelancer”
Damn, his looks had shot up to S-Rank, and he’d even grown two centimeters taller. Super weird!
“Kazuko, look—Su Ze’s gotten even more handsome!” Liang Sheng exclaimed internally.
Akino Kazuko replied, “That’s normal. The Heartthrob Value System has that power; it’s her extra ability. Just like Akino Hoshiko—hers makes the host rich.”
“Oh…” Liang Sheng blinked a couple of times. “What about you, then?”
Akino Kazuko suddenly coughed. “Uh…” She stammered, “Me, uh, cough cough, I’m the exception, you know.”
Liang Sheng: “…” Talk about rotten luck, getting saddled with a system that screws over its host.
