Chapter 29: First in the Group of Death? (Bonus Chapter Added~ Please Vote~)

Since it was winter, around the end of the year, everyone needed a thorough warm-up.

Once they were all on the track, Su Shen was in lane three, not the most advantageous one. However, in invitationals like this, the better lanes were naturally reserved for the stronger competitors. For example, Zhang Peimeng and Zhu Huanjun were placed in lanes four and five.

Lane three wasn't bad, though. At the very least, it was much better than lanes one or two.

There wasn't much of a crowd cheering for this kind of race; the spectators were mostly just there to watch, as none of the participants were famous yet. There was no risk of fan hysteria.

"You're running the 200 meters too? Your build isn't suited for it," Zhang Peimeng said. He wasn't being malicious; he just had a very direct personality. Su Shen was already familiar with this and didn't take it to heart. He smiled and replied, "Thanks, I'm just here to gain some experience."

Seeing Su Shen call himself "handsome" again and then act so polite, Zhang Peimeng just gave a stiff nod. He was determined to take first place in the 200-meter event. In this kind of non-elite invitational, he was essentially a "boss-level" character with no real rivals.

Six months ago, he had run a 21.53 in Tianjin. After half a year of training, his personal best was currently 21.37. This time was, indeed, just one step away from the international master level. However, because he had trained too intensely, he had twisted his knee a while back and had to rest for over half a month. That was why Li Qing had brought him here to this invitational to regain his rhythm.

Otherwise, given his level, he shouldn't really have been here.

Invitationals were typically "leveling grounds" for newcomers from sports schools. Someone like him, approaching the master level, should have been competing in higher-tier events. Therefore, Zhang Peimeng didn't place too much importance on this competition. Just as when Su Shen reached the master level and returned to participate in these small-to-medium invitationals, it was simply—a total domination of the field. He would take the championship regardless of how he ran. In such moments, Zhang Peimeng’s bit of genius arrogance was completely understandable.

"On your marks."
"Set."

Everyone adjusted, preparing to start at the sound of the gun.

Bang!

The starting gun fired, and all eight teenagers bolted forward.

Ning Debao watched nervously from the sidelines, but there was nothing she could do now; against a gap in absolute strength, tactics were insignificant. Su Shen’s running style at this moment remained his usual one: "extreme front-end explosion."

This caught the bewildered Zhang Peimeng and Zhu Huanjun off guard, giving them a real shock. After all, nobody really ran the 200 meters like this at the time. Su Shen himself would eventually give up the 200 meters later on because his endurance in the latter half was lacking.

But since the internet wasn't highly developed and none of them were celebrities, everyone’s subconscious reaction was: Why is this kid running so fast? Is he playing the "pig eating the tiger" card?

Facing an information gap, Zhang Peimeng instinctively tried to adjust his stride to accelerate, but this teenager in lane three seemed to be made of something else. Only a few steps in, Zhang Peimeng already felt it: this guy was shockingly fast. He was suddenly about to pull even with him. And once he pulled even, it meant that this guy had already established an advantage.

Because Su Shen was in lane three and he was in lane four, Su Shen started from behind him. With this kind of speed... even if he gave it his all, he might not be able to beat him in the first half.

There was no time to overthink in a sprint. Zhang Peimeng could only accelerate again, but two consecutive adjustments were too much for him right now. Instead, his starting rhythm became... chaotic.

"Damn it, Tian, he's using that move again!" Having suffered this loss before, Zhou Bing immediately understood. If you focus too much on Su Shen at this point, your own rhythm becomes impossible to maintain. It just gets more and more scattered.

Ning Debao had never expected something like this to happen; it was truly... a gift from the heavens. The chain reaction was that Zhu Huanjun, who was watching Zhang Peimeng from lane five, also had his rhythm disrupted. His original plan was to follow Zhang Peimeng, but Zhang Peimeng’s two improvised adjustments to his speed and rhythm dragged him down as well. In the 200 meters, because they weren't at the same starting point, it was theoretically harder to be "rhythm-baited" than in the 100-meter dash. But who could have foreseen Su Shen’s start being so terrifying?

This caused Zhang Peimeng to be jolted out of his relaxed rhythm.

Very good, this half-month hadn't been wasted. A sports school was a sports school; the professional equipment and better nutrition had allowed him to progress much faster than he had at Guzhen Junior High. He wanted a race to test his growth—that was his goal. There was no helping it; Su Shen had always liked to "compete to train" in his previous life. He loved to test himself in races to give himself the motivation not to slack off.

"What’s wrong with Peimeng? How did he get his rhythm disrupted?" Seeing this, Li Qing immediately spotted the problem. He was a veteran coach, a foreign-educated PhD, and a man who had been a coach for the national team since the 80s; his eye for talent was sharp and ruthless.

But he didn't stop to think: why was Zhang Peimeng disrupted? It was because they hadn't thoroughly researched Su Shen’s characteristics for him. Moreover, Zhang Peimeng had never encountered someone who ran the 200 meters like this. Combined with the information gap, Zhang Peimeng had assumed in that split second that this guy was very strong and was intentionally playing the "pig eating the tiger." Zhang Peimeng didn't want to lose, and in his anxiety, he tripped over his own feet.

As a result, Zhang Peimeng and Zhu Huanjun actually ended up in the last tier after the start. Because their rhythm was disrupted, it took them a long time to stabilize their stride as they accelerated. By this point, Su Shen and his group had already charged ahead.

This infuriated Zhang Peimeng and Zhu Huanjun, who immediately began a fierce pursuit. Zhang Peimeng had raw power, and Zhu Huanjun prided himself on his cornering technique, so both prepared to exert their advantages in the curve to make up for their early disadvantage in one go.

"He's fierce!" Zhou Bing watched as Zhang Peimeng and Zhu Huanjun, true to being the seeded runners, began to overtake several people in the curve. The spectators on the sidelines were getting fired up. But Zhou Bing’s remark of "he's fierce" wasn't for Zhang Peimeng or Zhu Huanjun; it was aimed at Su Shen.

This was the first time he had seen Su Shen use his "Crescent Moon Blade" cornering technique in a race. Although he had heard Ning Debao talk about it, they never went all out in training. Su Shen hadn't tested his limits recently either. And when Zhou Bing had arrived for the test a fortnight ago, Su Shen had already finished and was leaving, so to Zhou Bing... this so-called "Crescent Moon Blade" technique only existed in Ning Debao’s words.

Today, he was seeing it for the first time. Why did Ning Debao always nod and shake her head, smile and frown when talking about Su Shen’s 200 meters? So... this was what she meant.

"If he can solve the problem with the final stretch, he’ll be a super 200-meter runner. It’s a pity, a real pity. Sigh, to have such talent and intuition for cornering, what a waste." These were the words Zhou Bing often heard from Ning Debao. Today, he was truly enlightened.

In the 200 meters, this guy... entering the curve, he didn't slow down at all? Compared to everyone else, it seemed like he was still... accelerating?

Damn.

Don't blame Zhou Bing for his lack of experience; the deeper you are in this industry, the more you understand the "terror" of such details. If Zhou Bing had this ability, he could guarantee that he would smash through the doors of a Class 1 athlete in the 200 meters in no time.

Su Shen’s surge of acceleration in the curve didn't just shock Zhou Bing—even Zhang Peimeng and Zhu Huanjun almost had their eyeballs pop out.

This curve... is he serious? He calls this just "gaining experience" in the 200 meters? Are you sure you aren't the ones gaining experience? You really are playing us! Trying to play the "pig eating the tiger"? It won't be that easy!

Zhang Peimeng turned fierce. His raw power was currently the strongest, but unfortunately, throughout the curve, even after he had overtaken almost everyone, including Zhu Huanjun, who was famous for his cornering technique... he just couldn't catch up to the runner in lane three.

After coming out of the curve, Su Shen immediately applied his advanced knowledge, relaxing himself and using inertia to propel himself forward, buying himself an extremely brief but precious buffer period. For someone struggling with endurance in the final stretch, this was absolutely like a "little blue pill"—highly effective.

"A second acceleration???" Zhou Bing was dumbfounded again, because he clearly saw Su Shen start a new round of acceleration about 9 to 10 meters after exiting the curve. Is he even human?

But after this round, Su Shen had essentially "emptied his arsenal." There were no tricks left for the final straight; he could only rely on his own raw grit.

Zhang Peimeng seemed to sense that the figure in front had slowed down, and his own height was just right for exerting power in the final stretch. Why hesitate? Chase him down!

Su Shen had to hold onto his lead now, or he might be overtaken by the menacing Zhang Peimeng behind him.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

It had turned into a two-man duel. Just like in his previous life for a long time, as long as the two of them were together, it was essentially a one-on-one showdown. Everyone else was just background. In this life, it started playing out this early.

"Go, Tian! Don't let up!" Seeing that Su Shen had a chance to take first place in the "group of death," Zhou Bing got excited, rolled up his sleeves, and started cheering from the sidelines.

The gap was closing. Zhang Peimeng saw hope. But the finish line was already right in front of them. Su Shen didn't seem surprised by Zhang Peimeng catching up at all; one could even say he was fully prepared for it.

Then, let’s see whose leaning technique is better.

In the final split second, both Su Shen and Zhang Peimeng reached the finish line, and at almost the exact same time... they leaned forward.

Who won?

Ning Debao and Li Qing both looked at the electronic big screen at the same time.