The First Victory

On the track, Zhang Guan's feet were placed on the starting blocks, feeling somewhat nervous.

"On your marks, get set!" The starter raised the starting gun, and including Zhang Guan, all the athletes assumed their starting positions.

It must be said that two months of starting training had been very effective for Zhang Guan. At least in terms of starting posture and direction of force, Zhang Guan had caught up with other professional athletes.

Finally, the gunshot rang out, and the eight athletes on the track dashed out of the starting line. At this moment, Zhang Guan also activated the "sprint" skill.

However, in the moment of starting, Zhang Guan fell behind, placing last. The professional athletes generally had reaction times within 0.2 seconds, while Zhang Guan's reaction time was about 0.1 second slower than others. After all, it had only been two months of training, and Zhang Guan's reaction time hadn't fully reached the level of a professional athlete.

Watching from afar, Coach Yu frowned. As a coach of the national team, he naturally understood the significant relationship between an athlete's reaction time and their state during the start. However, every professional athlete had undergone extensive training, and their muscles and bodies had long memorized the starting movements, even forming a conditioned reflex. For excellent professional athletes, even if their state was slightly off during the start, solely relying on the body's memory and conditioned reflex, their reaction time couldn't be slower than 0.2 seconds.

In professional men's 100-meter races, the only explanation for an athlete's reaction time being slower than 0.2 seconds was that their mind was not focused during the start. Lack of focus during the competition was a taboo in any sports competition, especially in the 100-meter sprint. Therefore, Coach Yu glanced at Coach Chen, only to find a faint smile on his face, a very content expression.

Coach Yu didn't know that Zhang Guan's original reaction time was even worse. Being able to improve his reaction time to within 0.3 seconds in just two months had already satisfied Coach Chen greatly.

"What's wrong with Old Chen? His disciple dares to be distracted during the start, yet he's still so happy!" Coach Yu felt somewhat puzzled, then turned his gaze back to the track, only to find that Zhang Guan had already caught up with the leader.

"What's going on? How did he catch up? His speed is so fast! This kind of speed is only possessed by the top domestic athletes," Coach Yu widened his eyes. As the highest-level coach in the country, he was extremely sensitive to the speed of athletes. Therefore, in just a moment, Coach Yu made an accurate judgment.

...

The next few groups of athletes preparing to compete were also watching from the sidelines.

"What's he doing, starting off so aggressively? You don't need to push so hard in the heats!" one athlete remarked.

"It's normal. After all, it's the first group, and we don't have an advantage in strength. It's better to grab one of the top two spots and advance to the semifinals," another person replied.

"But this kid's speed is really fast. This kind of speed doesn't seem like that of a newcomer, but why have I never seen him before?"

"I haven't seen him either..."

"Wait, isn't this speed a bit too much?"

In the midst of the discussion, Zhang Guan had already approached the finish line. Even though he had lost the "sprint" skill over a certain distance, Zhang Guan undoubtedly crossed the finish line first, and the time in his mind stopped precisely at 10.38 seconds as he crossed the finish line.

Then, Zhang Guan looked at the split screen at the finish line, which displayed his final time as exactly 10.38 seconds.

Two months ago, Zhang Guan's hand-timed result of 10.3 seconds, if electronically timed, would have been approximately 10.54 seconds. Now, the electronic timing of 10.38 seconds was 0.16 seconds faster than two months ago, mostly due to the improvement in starting time.

"So this is all there is to national-level competitions." Zhang Guan breathed a sigh of relief, and the tension vanished without a trace.

...

"10.38 seconds!" Coach Yu exclaimed.

If this result had been placed ten years later, perhaps it wouldn't have been so remarkable, but at the time, it was a remarkable achievement. Last year, only three people in the country had run under 10.40 seconds, so Zhang Guan's time of 10.38 seconds would have ranked within the top four domestically last year.

Under the selection and rating system for athletes in the country, as the coach of the national team, Coach Yu was well aware of the level of the athletes from various provinces. However, Zhang Guan was clearly an exception. Coach Yu tried to recall the information about those outstanding first-level athletes, but he couldn't find anything similar.

Coach Yu looked at Coach Chen, who was very satisfied, and said, "Old Chen, where did you find this talent?"

Coach Chen extended two fingers and replied, "Two months ago, during the national second-level athlete test, I discovered a treasure."

"The test for second-level athletes?" Coach Yu widened his eyes in surprise. To him, the level of national second-level athletes was as childish as playing house. Then, Coach Yu remembered what Coach Chen had said about "two months" ago.

"Participated in the test for second-level athletes two months ago? Is he a newcomer?" Coach Yu immediately seized the crux of the problem.

"Yes! He is seventeen years old this year, in his second year of high school. He started training for the short sprint only a few years ago, and he has only been training under me for two months." Coach Chen nodded, then asked with a turn of phrase, "Can you believe it?"

"More than just not believing it, it's downright shocking." Coach Yu paused for a moment, then continued, "Old Chen, give me his information later! The national team needs some new blood."

...

On the track, as Zhang Guan finished the race, the novice mission was also completed.

The system's prompt popped up again: Mission completed, reward received: 1 skill point.

Then, the system's voice sounded: "Skill points can not only be used to learn skills, but also to upgrade skills. Next, you can try to upgrade your skills."

In the center of the system interface appeared the icon for the sprint skill, prompting Zhang Guan to upgrade the sprint skill. Zhang Guan immediately upgraded the sprint skill.

"Upgrade successful, sprint skill upgraded to expert level, skill effect enhanced: significant increase in straight-line running speed, duration extended to 20 seconds."

In the system, the originally green skill icon had now turned blue. The effect of "increase in straight-line running speed" had changed to "significant increase," and the duration had increased from 10 seconds to 20 seconds, doubling the original duration.

"It's gone from 10 seconds to 20 seconds, which means the sprint effect can cover the entire process of the 100-meter race. So, even in the final stretch, I can enjoy the skill bonus." Zhang Guan thought to himself.

A new task prompt suddenly popped up:

"Now that you have an expert-level skill and have made great progress, the path to the peak of life has opened up. Accept the challenge!"

Novice Mission: Break a national record.

Zhang Guan's heart stirred with excitement at the new challenge ahead.