After stepping onto the track, Lu Chen turned to look at Mance instead of sprinting forward directly. In a polite manner, he asked, "Sir, what's the best record in the history of this college?"
Mance took a look at Lu Chen. He knew that Lu Chen was Schneider's new student whose profile had been stored and classified as 'AA'. "The best record is 6.113 seconds."
Lu Chen was the last person, so their chat wouldn't affect the other students. With his interest piqued, Mance gazed at Lu Chen and knew that the latter must have been prepared to break the record for asking this question.
"Was it the Chancellor? I heard that he's a Grade S human as well as the strongest dragon slayer," Lu Chen asked.
"No, the Chancellor didn't take this kind of test before. It was a Grade S student who achieved this result in the past." Upon finishing his words, Mance fell into his thoughts as his gaze was filled with regret.
"Got it. Thanks." After a nod, Lu Chen shifted his attention back to the track and bent over, but he didn't start running immediately. The place fell into silence as all the new students stared fixedly at him.
Lu Chen wasn't getting himself ready. Instead, he was trying to estimate how much force he needed to exert to break the record of 6.113 seconds. If he ran too slowly, he might not be able to complete his mission. If he ran too fast, he might be regarded as a monster and be dissected.
Last night, Finger told him that the entire college was engulfed in the Vice Chancellor's Discipline kotodama, so no one could use their own kotodamas. This 100m sprint was a test to gauge their basic physical strength, so he couldn't overachieve.
After taking a deep breath, he bent down further. As soon as a dove flew past above his head, he charged forward. At that instant, all they could see was his afterimage. The floating dust caused by him only settled down after he reached the other end of the track. 'Lightning fast' was the only phrase these people could think of to describe him.
Beep. Upon hearing the sound from the laptop, the students came to their senses and gazed at Mance, waiting for him to announce the result. "5.981 seconds."
After Mance finished his words, he looked at the returning Lu Chen and finally understood why Schneider had been in a good mood for the past two days. This young man could possibly be a Grade S student that we haven't seen for a long time.
Facing Lu Chen, all the students broke into applause for him. They were the best students, and they respected people who were better than them.
A difference of two seconds in a 100m sprint didn't matter for the average person if the comparison was between 12 seconds and 14 seconds. However, as the time needed to reach the end shortened, the greater the difficulty would be. For the Olympic records, it would take a long time before anyone could break the record by just 0.01 second.
Since Lu Chen was able to achieve a result that was two seconds shorter than Lancelot, it meant that his physical strength was actually at least two times greater than the latter. At that moment, all these Grade A students felt immensely pressured as they had to spend the rest of the four years with this Grade S student.
"You're not just 'slightly' stronger than I am." Chu Zihang stared at Lu Chen, who had returned to the team. Even though he was a taciturn man, he couldn't help but complain upon seeing his result.
Lu Chen put on a smile without uttering a word.
To the others, his smile was confident yet humble. He had accepted his well-deserved honor, but at the same time, he didn't look down upon the others. No wonder he's Grade S. Even his characteristics stand out among us.
"The test is over. For the following days, you can walk around the campus or read up on the essential subjects." Then, Mance told the staff members to pick up the detectors and left the place. Following that, all the students approached Lu Chen and introduced themselves to him.
Lu Chen didn't reject them, for he knew that physical strength wasn't the primary weapon of these mixed race humans. Their power came from their kotodamas, so he wouldn't underestimate them. Furthermore, he felt fortunate that he was reborn into this world and was able to experience college life, so he wouldn't be intentionally unfriendly to others.
Some time later, he told them he needed to leave this place to get changed. It was then the students realized that Lu Chen took part in the test wearing the college uniform.
Although the uniform of Cassell College was noble-looking, and the fabric was fire-and bullet-proof, it wasn't the best outfit when one was to take part in a sprint.
Does that mean that Lu Chen could have run faster if he were in a tracksuit? That was the question all of them had in their minds.
***
"Do you love our uniform that much?" On their way back to the hostel, Chu Zihang stared at Lu Chen's clothes.
"Do you want to ask why I didn't change into a tracksuit?" Having spent some time with Chu Zihang, Lu Chen realized that his new friend was pretty interesting as he wouldn't ask direct questions. Looking at the matter from another angle, Lu Chen could see that Chu Zihang was a hidden busybody, which was in stark contrast to his permanently dispassionate expression.
"It's not what you think. I didn't think it was more eye-catching to take part in a sprint in a college uniform. I'm wearing it because these are the only clothes I have now. After washing it later, I won't step out of the room again until my clothes dry," Lu Chen explained. He only remembered his training robe after he entered the hostel. When he asked Lutecia about it via a phone message, he was told that the robe had been cast into the trash can.
Lu Chen felt upset because he thought that the robe was nice. Now, he didn't have any spare clothes.
"You could have borrowed one from me. My dad has bought many tracksuits for me, but I haven't had the chance to wear them all." There was a sense of sympathy behind Chu Zihang's gaze as though he thought that Lu Chen could have achieved a better result.
Looking back at him, Lu Chen realized that he had misunderstood him. Chu Zihang was indeed a passionate man with a dispassionate facade. He was also envious that Chu Zihang had a father because he didn't have any family members left.
"Thanks, Mr. Chu. Some casual clothes for me to get changed will do. I'll repay you after I earn some money in the future." Lu Chen thanked him. He thought that he should be grateful for his help rather than rejecting him.
"Mr. Chu?" Chu Zihang repeated after him and wondered why Lu Chen was so formal to him again.
"Oh, sorry." Lu Chen realized that he shouldn't call him 'Mr. Chu' as they were now friends.
"It's fine. If you love to address me in such a way, I won't mind it." Chu Zihang thought that he should probably call him 'Mr. Lu' as well. Anyway, it shouldn't affect their friendship.
After Lu Chen returned to his room, he saw that Finger was still asleep because the latter had spent the entire night playing an online game. When Chu Zihang came over with the clothes in his hands and saw that, he knew that it wasn't the right time for a chat, so he put down the clothes and returned to his room.
After a shower in the bathroom, Lu Chen put on the new clothes sent to him by Chu Zihang and felt energetic.
Following that, he and Chu Zihang went to the college canteen for a meal. For the past few days, his student card was used by Finger to order a lot of take-out food. However, on their way to the canteen, Chu Zihang told him that they could get some food for free from the canteen.