<h4>Chapter 616: The Competition Officially Begins!</h4>


    In the meantime, sitting at the podium were Principal Ren and Yang Tianming, who could not help but worry about Gu Mang’s safety as they watched her from afar in trepidation. They were afraid that she might get hurt during thepetition.


    Things were getting more nerve-racking. As soon as the referee blew the whistle, the instructors sprang into action and sprinted forward like arrows flying from their bows. All that could be seen on the track were blurred camouge figures. Students screamed at the top of their lungs from the grandstand, cheering, “Go! Go! Go!”


    Everyone watched in boiling excitement as the instructorspeted toe in first. Round one soon came to an end with the participants neck and neck. Although Chen Liang was not as good as Li Mu, he did his best to run the race and came in fifth.


    The digital electronic equipment used in the reserve base was almost the same as the equipment at Red Scorpion’s main base. Tracking bracelets were used such that the results would automatically be updated on the leaderboard in real time once the participants finished.


    Up next were the instructors of the remaining sses. By the end of the second round, Cheng Liang had dropped to eighth ce. There was still hope of catching up since the instructors’ timings only varied by a few seconds.


    Then, it was the students’ turn. Thepetition between the students was the highlight, which had everyone in suspense. With an arm on his hip, Chen Liang patted the shoulder of a male student who would bepeting next. “Don’t be nervous! Just do your best!” The boy nodded.


    The next round’s participants were all male and the atmosphere was noticeably much tenser than before. At the sound of the referee’s whistle, the male students bolted from the starting block. Gaps between the participants quickly formed and widened as the race progressed. The cheers from the stands became even more raucous.


    Zheng Miao was sweating profusely out of anxiety. Since rankings were based on the total time of each ss, she thought that as long as their ss performed well in the beginning, their ranking would not be too bad even if Gu Mang performed poorlyter on. However, she soon realized that it was not exactly easy to perform well at any point in time, for the other participants were the aces of their respective sses. The thought of Gu Mang’s usual running speed had herpletely panicking. <i>We’re doomed. We might really end up inst ce...</i>


    Rankings were automatically updated as soon as the guys finished running. Coming in first for that round was the popr school heartthrob from the mechatronics team. The mechatronics team was also in first ce in terms of group results, with a difference of twenty-three seconds from the second-cew school, and a whole three minutes from the sixth-ce traditional chinese medicine department. The mechatronics andw students at the viewing tform became greatly motivated.


    During training, Sang Xue and a few other girls from thew school achieved outstanding resultspared to the mechatronics faculty’s average results, so there was a high chance that thew school’s team could surpass the mechatronics team and be crowned the winner. The students from the mechatronics team, however, refused to be outdone as they were eyeing the first ce as well.


    Meanwhile, no one was more flustered than Zheng Miao over on the traditional chinese medicine department’s side of the stands. Everyone roughly knew how skilled the participants from each ss were. Had Tang Xiaoxiao not gotten hurt, their ss would have stood a chance ating in second or third ce. Given the current situation, however, this was impossible. Once Gu Mang’s terrible record was added to their total record, the rankings would probably disy their ss inst ce.


    Soon, it was the girls’ turn. Each time someonepleted the race, the leaderboard instantly refreshed to reveal their timing and ranking. The audience’s hearts were in their mouths as they watched the constantly fluctuating rankings.


    Zheng Miao was the secondst to run while Gu Mang was thest. Once she finished running, she looked at the leaderboard. Their ss had dropped two ces and was currently ranked eighth. Thew school’s team was ahead of them by a full four minutes. Thew school had overtaken the mechatronics department with a two-minute gap between them. On the other hand, the difference in times between the traditional chinese medicine department and thest ce team was five minutes and neen seconds. Given Gu Mang’s usual performance, she would surely finishst, which would result in them dropping tost ce.


    Like Zheng Miao, all the other girls who werepeting with Gu Mang in this round had the same thoughts. With Gu Mang being a burden to the traditional chinese medicine department, even the faculty, at ninth ce, thought that they could advance one rank.


    The students from the traditional chinese medicine department sitting in the stands hung their heads low out of worry. Zheng Miao swallowed her saliva as she turned to Gu Mang, who was about to head to the track. Despite having many things to say to the other girl, she simply said, “Do your best!” <i>So be it. It’s toote to say anything now, anyway.</i>


    Raising an eyebrow, Gu Mang removed her camouge cap and handed it to Zheng Miao before using a red rubber band to tie her hair into a ponytail. Before making her way over to the track, she nced sideways at her roommate, who appeared so nervous she was about to suffocate herself, and shed her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll win thispetition for you.”


    Not wanting to crush Gu Mang’s confidence, Zheng Miao nodded solemnly. “Alright. We’ll wait for you toe back in first ce!”


    The others, meanwhile, were at a loss for words when they heard that. <i>First ce?! We’ll be content as long as we don’te inst ce!</i>


    Gu Mang turned away and walked over to the track while unbuttoning her cuffs and rolling her sleeves up. Her fair forearm glistened under the sunlight.


    Lu Chengzhou changed his sitting posture and put a leg across his knee as he watched his fiancée making her way over to the track with amusement. Feeling bored and sleepy after sitting for several hours, Qin Fang immediately felt energized when he saw Gu Mang. He could not guess how thepetition would end, for Gu Mang was such an enigma.


    The other girls swept a disdainful nce at Gu Mang when she arrived at the track. After the participants got ready, the referee blew the whistle, signaling the start of the final round of the event.