Chapter 029：Just Running for Fun

After leaving the internet café, Arthur found himself at the school track. He had just added agility points to his stats and wanted to test out the effects. However, the track seemed unusually crowded.

"Why are there so many people here today?" Arthur asked the prettiest girl nearby.

"Don't you know? The Sports Institute is having a sprint competition today. They're selecting athletes!" the girl explained with a friendly smile.

"So that's why. Hey, can I add you on WhatsApp?" Arthur asked.

"Sorry, I have a boyfriend. He's the one in the red jersey on the track," she said, her demeanor turning cold as she pointed proudly to the athlete warming up.

"Nat? It's him?" Arthur narrowed his eyes.

"You know my boyfriend?"

"Of course I know him. We were high school classmates. He was the sprint champion in our school back then."

"He was already that good in high school? I thought he was exaggerating!" The girl's attitude softened upon hearing Arthur praise her boyfriend and learning they were old classmates.

Arthur and Nat were indeed high school classmates.

Their relationship wasn't friendly at all.

They even got into a fight once.

The reason for the fight was because Nat wanted to pursue Honey.

Nat was notorious for being fickle-minded; he once won the school sports sprint championship and gained a lot of attention, changing girlfriends as frequently as he changed clothes.

Arthur couldn't stand Nat's behavior, but he didn't have the authority to control him.

However, when Nat set his sights on Honey, Arthur took issue with it.

In their initial altercation, Arthur lost the fight and ended up being pinned down by Nat, who slapped him across the face.

It became a lifelong humiliation for Arthur.

To this day, he still harbors resentment over it!

Despite his rivalry with Nat, Arthur couldn't deny that Nat had an attractive, athletic build that drew the attention of many girls.

At that moment, a system prompt sounded in Arthur's mind.

"System action initiated!"

Name: Kelly

Age: 19

Height: 169 cm

Weight: 50 kg

Appearance: 8.2

Her opinion of the host: -5

She is now bound as a potential fallback partner. If her opinion of the host exceeds 95 points, the reversal will be successful, and she will become the host's fallback partner. Upon reversal, the host will be rewarded with 10% of her total expenditure as system money. Additional rewards include 22 enhancement points and mastery in dance.

What's this? A fallback relationship? System, are you forcing me to steal Nat's girlfriend? Arthur shook his head. He had always despised players, yet now he was becoming the very thing he hated. Strangely, he felt a bit satisfied about it.

Arthur finally took a closer look at Kelly. Initially, he had only noticed her as the most beautiful girl on the field, but now he saw her true beauty. With a high rating of 8.2, she was even more attractive than Xanthe and Una. At 19, she was likely a freshman.

"Look, the race is starting!"

"Go, Nat!"

"Go, Nat!" Kelly cheered, jumping up and down.

Arthur didn't ask for her WhatsApp again. Forcing the issue would only make him seem like a creep and be counterproductive. While Kelly was cheering and students were pointing, Arthur quietly walked onto the track.

"Nat is a real talent. His best time is 10.12 seconds for the 100 meters. He's already eligible to be a national team substitute, with great potential for growth," one coach said to another.

"Yes, Nat is impressive. He's the most promising one this year," the other coach agreed, blowing the whistle.

The sports students were ready.

"On your marks!"

"Bang!"

As the coach fired the starting gun, more than a dozen athletes surged forward like cheetahs. Their speed was incredible, showing signs of professional training. Nat, in particular, led the pack with the agility and reaction time of a national-level athlete.

"Wait a minute, who is that?" one coach asked, noticing a student in casual clothes suddenly running onto the track. Starting significantly behind the others, he began to close the gap rapidly, overtaking one athlete after another with astonishing speed. He finally finished ahead of Nat by two or three meters, crossing the line first.

"100 meters in 9.63 seconds! Oh my gosh, he broke the 10-second barrier!"

"Holy crap, he started almost a second late. If he went all out, he'd be a world-class athlete!"

"This is a genius!"

"Hey, student! Don't go! Are you interested in joining the national team?" one coach called out, chasing after Arthur.

"No thanks, I was just running for fun. Who knew the sports institute's guys were so weak?" Arthur replied nonchalantly.