Chapter 305
The heat of
Not only male idols, but also female idols showed their competitive spirit and did their best.
They presented various things to see to the fans with their passionate appearances in each event, and before we knew it, they had finished all the early events of the Olympics and were ready to move on to the full-fledged ball games.
"Yubin, fighting!"
"You practiced a lot! Can you do it?"
"No, I'll try."
The first ball game that the Seleste members will participate in is badminton.
Heo Yubin was receiving cheers from the members before competing in the first round of the men's singles.
While warming up for the upcoming basketball preliminary round, I personally put a hairband on Heo Yoobin's head and strengthened his will.
"Yubin."
"Yes, hyung-nim!"
"No matter what happens, being eliminated in the first round is something that is not in our dictionary."
"I-I will win no matter what!"
"If you get eliminated in the first round, I will confiscate all the pudding you have stored in the refrigerator, so know that."
"That's too much, hyung!"
At my playful pressure, Heo Yu-bin showed his displeasure and pretended to hit my arm.
Fortunately, he looked less nervous than I thought.
'He practiced a lot, so I guess he has some chance.'
Heo Yu-bin is the weakest athlete in Seleste, to the point where it hurts to say it twice.
However, he did his best while preparing for the
One thing I realized most after returning to the real world is that sweat never betrays us.
As if living up to my expectations, Heo Yu-bin shook off his nervousness and showed off his skills without any reserves.
"The winner of the 3rd singles preliminary round is Seleste Heo Yu-bin!"
Heo Yu-bin, who passed the first round with a score of 21 to 17, threw away his racket and ran to where we were cheering.
And like a koala, he jumped up at Chae Eun-gyu, who was at the front.
"I won aaaaaaa!"
"Oh my, oh my, you're so cool, my baby! Oh my!"
"Hey, Yu-bin, when did you learn how to do a drop shot? You're so cool!"
"You worked hard, Yu-bin hyung."
"I got the pudding!"
The pudding I held hostage unexpectedly had a great effect.
I high-fived Heo Yu-bin and patted his head.
"That was a great match, Yu-bin."
"Since it's come to this, let's go and win!"
"Don't push yourself too hard; take it easy."
"I'll really win a gold medal too, hyung!"
Heo Yu-bin, who was caught up in the joy of winning the preliminary round, declared to me that he would win the championship while he was at it.
I just felt that Heo Yu-bin's stamina was starting to decline at the 19-point mark, which was the deciding point of the match.
I'm not sure if Heo Yu-bin will be able to return to normal condition after a short break.
The second round began about 20 minutes later.
As expected, Heo Yu-bin, who was burning with passion from the beginning and failed to control his pace as I had worried, unfortunately lost the match as he lost all his stamina towards the end.
"Heuheuuheuuh........ I'm sorry......."
"What are you sorry for? You did well enough, Yu-bin."
"You did really well even getting through the first round. Straighten your shoulders, bro!"
"But I still wanted to win...."
"It's okay, hyung."
Ji Yoon-chul patted Heo Yu-bin's shoulder, who was still exhausted.
"Me and Karis hyung will win your share as well."
Ji Yoon-chul, who used to show confidence more often than before, was on a different level today.
Was it because he thought that he could definitely win if he was with me?
After a while, the team competition for the ball games that this
For the sake of fairness, basketball and futsal are operated by selecting members of each team on the spot.
This was because if the teams were organized in advance, the amount of practice between the teams could differ.
While one team may have 5 days of free time due to their schedule, another team may only have 3 days.
Instead, players in the same group are unconditionally assigned to one team.
"...Who do you want to play with, hyung?"
"Can I be honest with you?"
"Yes."
I answered Ji Yoon-chul's question while tying my shoelaces.
"It doesn't matter who comes. Even if it's just you and me, we can definitely win."
".......You thought the same as me, hyung."
Still, I thought it would be good if friends with some basic skills came.
Fortunately, the idols who joined Team C with me and Ji Yoon-chul through the group assignments were pretty good at basketball.
"Nice to meet you, senior."
"Nice to meet you, junior!"
"We've all been praying. Please, please let me go to a team with Karis."
"You're so good at running, really, wow...... My mouth was wide open."
The three members of Titan, a second-tier idol group that debuted two years before Seleste, grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously.
They seemed genuinely fascinated after watching my performance on the live broadcast earlier.
I waved my hand humbly and gestured to Ji Yoon-chul.
"No. My younger brother will be more active than me in basketball, so you can look forward to it."
"Come to think of it, aren't you the tallest? Excuse me, but your age is...?"
"...... I'm 18 this year."
"18?"
As soon as they heard Ji Yoon-chul's age, the Titan trio knelt in frustration.
"Your growth plate hasn't closed yet. Life seems so merciless."
"Yoon-chul, can you give me 5cm? My dream was to be 180cm tall."
"...I want to give it to you, but it's impossible."
"Yoon-chul, give it to me first, not to hyung! To me!"
The Titan members were very sociable.
Even though we had never met before because our careers had never overlapped, they started talking to the youngest member, Ji Yoon-chul, in an instant.
I felt satisfied with the member composition and first classified the positions.
"Do you have a preferred position? I'm comfortable with power forward or center, and Yoon-chul practiced in the center position."
It's a well-known fact that teamwork improves when you play in a position you're confident in.
However, the answer I got was quite different from what I expected.
"We didn't practice that professionally."
"I just like to focus on shooting, and Jeong-gu is terrible at shooting, so he just passes."
"Have you prepared anything separately?"
Choi Sung-ho, the eldest of the three Titans, asked us.
I decided that there was no need to hide this from my teammates, so I nodded and briefly explained the strategy I had planned with Ji Yoon-chul.
The Titan members nodded their heads with sparkling eyes.
"We'll be wearing man-to-man with our bodies, so do it!"
"Just think of us as tools and use us comfortably. Really, don't feel burdened."
"No matter what, how can we think of our seniors as tools? When we get a chance, we'll definitely pass, so then you-."
"Oh, really, don't trust us! Especially if you give Jeong-gu an open chance, you'll just blow the chance, so don't ever give it to him."
"I have a shooting fright, so don't give it to me. I have a really shitty hand."
Lee Jeong-gu, who was chosen as a person to watch, completely agreed with Choi Sung-ho's words and made a self-deprecating joke.
I still felt bad about using our seniors like tools, but Ji Yoon-chul confidently said, showing off his youngest's spirit.
".....Just give me space, and Karis and I will take the lead in a cool way."
"I am already expecting it. You have to do it really cool, okay?"
After watching the other teams' games twice, it was finally our turn.
I had already won two gold medals and was instantly recognized as a superstar. The audience cheered loudly, as did the idols.
In particular, Owen, who had come to the closest place to watch the basketball court with the members of Jerene, shouted the loudest.
The moment I saw my younger brother's face, my competitive spirit that had been cooling down seemed to be rekindled.
'What am I hesitating for? This is the stage for me. Everything is perfectly prepared. I just have to enjoy the food that has been prepared.'
Before the game started, we shook hands politely with the opposing team.
I could see with my own eyes that they couldn't hide their nervousness when they shook my hand.
Even before the game, they seemed to be already gripped by a slight sense of fear.
I smiled at them.
If the opposing team froze in fear, it would be something for us to be thankful for.
The whistle blew to signal the start of the game, and Ji Yoon-chul, who stepped forward for the jump ball, jumped high into the sky using his slender legs.
The ball he lightly hit fell in front of me.
It was our turn from the first attack.
"Block it! Block Karis!"
"Two of you, move to the side!"
As I dribbled the ball and strode forward, the opposing team hurriedly set up a defensive line.
As promised in advance, the Titan members busily crossed the court and took off defenders one by one.
Ji Yoon-chul dutifully marked the opposing team's center.
All that was left was one player who was reaching out in front of me.
'Let's try it.'
I thought of Heo Sung-min's post-up teachings and turned my body diagonally.
With my right shoulder and arm facing the opposing team's guard, I continued to dribble and advance.
"Where!"
To block my path, the opposing guard started to close in on me.
However, after just one fight, he realized that something was seriously wrong, and I heard the sound of a tire deflating from his throat.
"Keu-huh-?"
How long can you hold out?
I put my center of gravity forward and strongly pressured the opposing player.
I pushed my shoulders and arms inward further to the beat of the dribble and advanced.
Every time I moved forward, the opposing team's idol began to be pushed back more and more.
When I glanced at his face, his eyes were wide open like full moons.
"You're too strong!"
"It would be better for you not to block."
After securing the space perfectly, I pushed my forearm in hard without committing a pushing foul.
The opponent, whose center of gravity had completely collapsed, had no choice but to fall over, flailing his arms.
I leisurely bounced the ball and made a beautiful layup.
The score was 2-0.
"Karis Nice!"
"Nice layup!"
"Thanks for man-marking."
"Leave it to me!"
The opposing team, who had given up the first point, quickly launched a fast break to regain momentum.
However, to me, who was looking at the court with excellent dynamic vision, the opponent's attack path was very easy to read.
'This way.'
Without hesitation, I ran to the left, and in an instant, I landed in front of the player who was about to attempt a two-point shot.
However, the opposing team's player fearlessly tried to force a shot while still being in front of me.
"Huh!"
With a shout, I jumped up smoothly like a water spring.
Arms straight up.
Fingers not to touch the opponent's hand.
I jumped over the opponent's head with incredible jumping power.
And with a movement without any unnecessary details, I lowered my arms down to block the shot.
-Taang!
The basketball hit the court with a tremendous sound.
The ball went out of the line and into the opponent's attack zone, but everyone was frozen as they watched my block shot.
An overwhelming difference that you had never felt before in your life.
An absurd situation where the length of the pass could be read in an instant even if the ball was passed at a fast speed.
A height that blocked the opponent's shot with great ease.
I wiped the sweat from my chin as I looked at the opposing players who had lost their will to fight just one minute after the game started.
'It's just beginning.'
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