Chapter 5: The Painful Course

"That person at the back, hurry up and run, don't dawdle there! Did you not eat?"

The young woman standing at the finish line with her hands on her hips was screaming at the person lagging behind in quite a rude, no, rather wild manner. It's easy to tell who it was (those who don't know, go stand in the corner and reflect), it was Coach Yamaguchi Kumo. She had black hair tied into a ponytail, about 20 years old. Despite her tomboyish appearance (cough...cough...it's not me saying this, it's just what I heard, please don't say it again, it might lead to fatal consequences!), she surprisingly gained popularity among the male teachers. It's definitely the result of being deceived by her appearance, causing such an unscientific phenomenon to occur (I didn't say this either, it's just what I heard, but it's important so I'll say it again). Well, it's not worth dwelling on these inexplicable occurrences too much.

As for the person being screamed at, it's easy to guess. Yes, you're right, it's Ryuto.

This is currently the most exhausting course for Ryuto, the practice of Jujutsu Paper. But the most exhausting part is not that, it is the warm-up exercises at the beginning. Because Jujutsu Paper consumes physical stamina, adequate stamina is needed to master it, and the most effective way to train is long-distance running.

So, for the reasons mentioned above, is Ryuto currently running? No, it's more like a walk, but with some differences.

"I can't... how can... they make us do long-distance running right from the start... it's so against common sense... reality really is... like a crappy game."

Ryuto complained while gasping for breath. However, someone didn't buy it.

"Don't act like you're about to die. Hurry up, or should I kick you from behind?"

Yamaguchi Kumo didn't care about such complaints and continued to shout.

Hey, something weird seems to have just happened.

"I can't... I've reached... my limit... if I keep going like this... I'll die..."

"What? Die?"

Yamaguchi Kumo's reaction seemed terrifying.

"Who are you trying to scare? I've never seen anyone die from running. Stop talking nonsense and keep running, or I won't be polite anymore."

Damn, is this person a devil? So heartless, and even starting to curse. No, actually it started already, is this person really a teacher?

"No... I really can't..."

Before finishing his sentence, with a loud thud, Ryuto collapsed to the ground and didn't move.

"Huh? Playing dead? That's irritating."

Seeing this scene, Yamaguchi Kumo clicked her tongue, impatiently walked towards Ryuto, and then kicked him with her foot. After confirming that Ryuto had fainted, she clicked her tongue even more angrily.

"You can't even run this short distance. Useless."

Although she said so, she couldn't just leave him there. So Yamaguchi Kumo found two students to take care of Ryuto's "corpse" and continued her class as if nothing had happened. Should I say she was calm, or heartless? Is this person really a teacher? Because this is important, the doubt is raised again.

In any case, it seems like there's more than just a small problem with being a teacher. Due to her physical training from a young age, Hiyori, as a transfer student, had no problem with this level of exercise. However, it seems that she can't protect Ryuto from this kind of threat to life.

Next, let's see what happens to Ryuto, who is now in a near-death state.

After an unknown period of time, Ryuto gradually recovered from his unconsciousness. His head still felt sore. Mmm... He slowly opened his eyes and saw a luxuriously decorated ceiling, but it was a completely unfamiliar place for Ryuto. He subconsciously moved his gaze.

"Mmm..."

Then he froze in place, because an unexpected person appeared in his line of sight. This person was staring at him with a smile on their face, but Ryuto felt fear from that smile.

"Ah, finally awake, Tengcheng junior." Arashi Manami, the newly appointed student council president of this high school, sat by the bed, staring at himself.