Chapter 51

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After dinner, I was watching TV in the living room with Mika.

The program title was "Grand Sports Festival by Explorer Comedians." As the title suggests, it was a sports variety show with many explorers participating. Thirty explorers were divided into two teams, red and white, to compete against each other.

"Looks like they even make special programs like this now."

"Yeah, it's surprising how many explorers are in the entertainment industry."

"That's true. Well, many of them probably worked part-time as explorers to make ends meet before they became famous, so it's not surprising that there are explorers in the industry. It's practical and can also be a selling point."

"Hmm, I see."

While talking with Mika, the program started.

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"Here we go! The Grand Sports Festival by Explorer Comedians has begun!"

"It has indeed~"

"Recently, there have been significant record updates by explorers in various sports events, and there are movements to separate participants in each event."

"It's quite a topic. The difference in records between explorers and non-explorers is just too big~"

"Yes. Therefore, to answer the question of how much explorers can actually do, this grand sports festival has been organized with comedians who work part-time as explorers! By the way, this event is being held at a rented stadium."

"Oh, clap clap clap"

The program started with an opening by a lively commentator in a tracksuit and a relaxed commentator, with the vast track of the stadium in the background.

"Let's explain the events right away. There are five events in this sports festival: 100m sprint, 10,000m long-distance run, high jump, long jump, and shot put!"

"Just track and field events~ I thought it would be something like an athletic course from a certain show."

"The purpose of this event is to check the basic abilities of explorers, so we chose events that are as easy to understand as possible."

"I see~"

"Each event has points, and the team with the most total points at the end wins."

"So it's a point-scoring battle!"

"That's right. Now, let's start the 'Grand Sports Festival by Explorer Comedians'!"

Then, a commercial break began.

"Since it's a pure test of basic abilities... I wonder if there are any restrictions on using skills or magic?"

"Hmm, nothing was mentioned about that. So, does it really change things if they use skills or magic?"

"Well, it depends on the type of skill they use."

While talking with Mika, the short commercial ended, and the program resumed.

The explorer comedians, who had finished their warm-up, moved to their respective waiting tents, divided into red and white teams.

"Let's start the first event right away. The first event is the 100m sprint. Please move to the starting line, participants!"

"Here we go~ quick march~"

Urged by the relaxed commentator, the participants wearing red and white bibs ran from the tents at the edge of the field to the starting line.

However...

"That's fast, isn't it?"

The commentator couldn't help but groan.

It was no wonder. The speed at which the participants, who were running at a brisk pace, moved was as fast as that of short-distance track and field athletes.

"This race looks promising..."

"No, if they're this fast just moving, I'm scared of what will happen in the actual race..."

"You might be right."

The participants gathered at the starting line.

"Let's explain the event. In the first and second heats of the preliminary round, three participants from each team will compete."

"Then, the top three from each heat will advance to the final. Points will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in that race."

"Let's start the event soon. Participants in the first race, please enter the course."

Three participants from each team stepped forward, introduced themselves, and entered their lanes. Some stood ready, while others took a crouching start position, but they all exuded a serious atmosphere, clearly aiming for first place.

"Everything seems to be ready. Take your marks. Get set... Go!"

As the starting gun went off, all the participants took off at once.

However, at that moment, the participants' figures disappeared from the camera's frame, which had been zoomed in to capture the start. By the time the screen was switched to a wide shot, the participants were already halfway down the track. It was a close race, but as they approached the 80m mark, the group began to spread out. The leading participant, who was pulling away from the others, raised his hand in victory just before the finish line, but the last participant, who had been at the back, made an unnatural acceleration.

Just 50cm from the finish line, he surged to the front and crossed the line in first place.

"Finish! A huge upset! The winner is Mita from the red team in lane 3!"

"Didn't he just use some strange acceleration?"

"Yes, indeed. And here are the results of that race."

The electronic scoreboard in the stadium displayed the rankings and times.

The time was 5.94 seconds. Converted to speed, it was about 60 km/h. It was a world record-breaking performance.

Incidentally, all the other participants also recorded times in the 6-second range.

"5, 5.94..."

"Haha, that's an incredible time~"

"Wait a minute. Let's see, converting it to speed..."

The MC's puzzled expression was shown on screen, along with a caption displaying the conversion formula at the bottom.

"Did he run as fast as a car?"

"It seems so. The cameraman also said the participants were faster than expected and couldn't keep up with them."

"Haha... huh."

The MC sighed, then moved to interview the first-place participant.

"Hmm. The last one used a skill like evasion or speed enhancement, didn't he?"

"You mean the one who overtook the leader at the end?"

"Yeah. The acceleration was strange, right? If it was a passive skill to enhance physical abilities or a support magic to temporarily boost abilities, they should have been fast from the start. The fact that he used it at the very end suggests it was a skill."

"That's true. But if that's the case, shouldn't he be disqualified? The purpose of the event was to check basic abilities..."

As Mika said, Mita was disqualified for using an active skill.

However, he seemed to be overreacting in disappointment, but it didn't look like he was genuinely upset.

"...He's a comedian, isn't he?"

"Yeah. It seems he chose to use a skill and stand out, rather than finish last without drawing attention."

Mika and I were impressed by Mita's comedic spirit.

His teammates were giving him a rough punishment, but it looked more like playful teasing, acknowledging his good performance.

Despite the disqualification, the race proceeded smoothly, and the final was held.

"Here we go, the final! All participants seem to be ready."

"Since it's a race between the top performers, it's expected to be a close competition. I'm looking forward to it~"

"Indeed. Take your marks. Get set, Go!"

The starting gun went off, and all the participants took off at once. They ran even faster than in the preliminaries, and in a flash, they had crossed the finish line, maintaining a straight line.

"Finish! 1st place is the white team! 2nd and 3rd places are from the red team!"

"They're fast. It seems they were holding back in the preliminaries..."

"Indeed. Here are the results."

The electronic scoreboard displayed the final results.

1st place: 5.46 seconds. 2nd place: 5.49 seconds. 3rd place: 5.55 seconds.

"Another incredible record has been set!"

"...Is this really a human running time? I just checked online, and it seems they are as fast as the fastest dogs, greyhounds."

The excited commentary and the slightly stunned commentary were shown on screen as the program switched to a commercial. In this case, the commentator's reaction might be the correct one.

I tilted my head and searched the internet for "greyhound" since it was mentioned. A dog racing video appeared. Mika and I watched the video together, and it indeed looked like a dog version of the earlier race. As the commentator said, they were as fast as the fastest dogs.

But we can't really say anything about that.

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After the 100m sprint, the sports festival continued with the high jump, long jump, and shot put, producing a series of astonishing records.

In the high jump, the average was 10.3 meters, with a best of 12.5 meters, leading to the use of pole vault equipment due to the lack of height in the high jump equipment.

In the long jump, the average was 20 meters, with a best of 23 meters, and the sand pit was too short, so a triple jump takeoff point was used.

Concerns arose that the shot put area might not be large enough, so it was thrown from the edge of the track... but the results were an average of 83 meters and a best of 88 meters, just within the field limits.

"Up to this point, we've seen a series of surprising results, and now it's the final event, the 10,000m long-distance run!"

"Given the astonishing records so far, I expect another incredible record in this 10,000m run~"

"Probably. In this 10,000m run, all 12 participants will start together and run 25 laps around the 400m track."

"By the way, the current world record is 26 minutes and 17 seconds. I'm looking forward to seeing what records will be set."

"Indeed. Ah, it seems they're ready."

At the starting line of the track, the participants wearing red and white bibs were eagerly waiting for the start.

"Let's start the final event, the 10,000m long-distance run. Take your marks. Get set... Go!"

As the starting gun went off, the participants took off with a start like Formula One cars. A fierce battle for the inside lane began at the first corner. The three white team members won the first corner, spread out horizontally to block the inside lane, and held the lead. The red team tried to break through the three-person block and take the lead, but the white team's block was solid and hard to penetrate. The red team had no choice but to wait for an opportunity, sticking closely to the lead and applying pressure.

The participants continued to lap the track, but when they had completed two-thirds of the laps, the red team made their move. The three red team members swerved wide to the outside and aimed for the lead. This move caused the white team's three-person block to waver. Seizing the opportunity, the three red team members, who had been waiting in the inside lane, surged forward and broke through the gap. They quickly moved to the front.

The red team's leading participant then began the final sprint to decide the race. The white team, caught off guard, also started their final sprint, and the race intensified. After a series of intense battles, the race finally came to a conclusion.

The white and red teams fought until just 1 meter from the finish line, but the white team won by a nose.

"Finish! 1st place is Miyazono from the white team! Unfortunately, 2nd place is Ohtani from the red team! And 3rd place is Nonaka from the red team!"

"The race was intense until the very end."

"Yes. Oh, here are the race times."

The electronic scoreboard displayed the rankings and times.

1st place: 9 minutes and 37.54 seconds. 2nd place: 9 minutes and 37.56 seconds. 3rd place: 9 minutes and 38.32 seconds.

The time difference between the first and last place finishers was only 5 seconds.

"That was an incredible race."

"Yes, it felt like watching a horse race."

"Indeed. Now, the 'Grand Sports Festival by Explorer Comedians' has concluded all events. Next is the closing ceremony and results announcement."

The program switched to a commercial break.

"Wow, that was amazing. Big brother, can all explorers do that?"

"Hmm? Well, it depends on the level, but it's not impossible."

"What about you?"

"I can do it if I say I can."

Judging from the level of the comedians on TV, they were probably around level 20 to 30. I, as well as Yusei and Hime, could easily achieve that level of performance.

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In the center of the field, the red and white team participants gathered.

"Thank you all for your hard work. Let's start the closing ceremony. All events have concluded, and the points have been tallied. Please look at the electronic scoreboard."

The participants' gazes focused on the electronic scoreboard.

"Let's announce the results. Here they are."

The electronic scoreboard displayed the points for each team.

Red team: 14 points. White team: 16 points.

The red team participants sighed, while the white team participants celebrated.

"Red team, 14 points! White team, 16 points! Therefore, the winner of this event is the white team!"

Upon hearing the MC's announcement, the white team participants started cheering and lifting each other up.

The red team participants, though reluctantly, clapped for the white team.

"Thank you all. This concludes the 'Grand Sports Festival by Explorer Comedians'!"

"Thank you all for your hard work today!"

With the MC's closing remarks, the end credits began to roll, and the program ended.

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"Ah, it's over."

"Yeah. It was a bit of a novelty, but it was quite entertaining."

"True. But with these results, as the MC said at the beginning, will they start separating participants in sports events based on whether they have explorer experience or not?"

"Yeah. Even with skill differences, the basic physical abilities of explorers are just too different, so it wouldn't be a fair competition..."

Well, except for superhuman individuals like Zousan.

It would be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome the basic physical ability gap between explorers and non-explorers with just average skills.

"Well, it's up to the organizers of the sports events whether they actually separate participants or not. There's no point in worrying too much about it."

"That's true, but..."

But ultimately, they will probably be separated.

I thought about this as I watched the next TV program with Mika.

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This is an incredible sports show.

In a Japanese variety show, such a concept might actually appear.