Chapter 5. My Entrance Exam!! (I)

After dismissing the Jinlin sisters, we headed back to the gym where we found Sukeo and Jun. We told them our first time experience of Hanyo and the encounter of the Jinlin sisters. 

"And you really tried Hanyo," Sukeo was interested in Tenka's experience.

"It was weird yet excited at first, like as if I was touched, tickled, and massaged by my boyfriend, but eventually I felt relaxing at the end."

"Which means you really want a boyfriend now," Jun seemed to understand what Tenka said while trying to hide his chuckles. 

"That's not the case!" It seemed to be that Jun's words really touched Tenka's feelings, "I'm still a high school girl. Stop thinking like that, you Naku!"

After the dinner, we decided to head back to the dormitory and went to bed early. Of course, Tenka was not mad at anyone, as she knew we didn't have any weird intention toward her. That was one of the best things to interact with Tenka, as she never really get mad at anyone as long as you treated her as a good friend.   

"Grimmmmmm, wake up!"

It was the morning alarm again. Since it was the physical exam day, I decided to wear a different outfit -  a white zipped top covering my white sport bra, a pair of pine blue biking shorts, and my blue running shoe I usually wear for training. 

"Good morning, Sara-cha!" Just as I finished putting on my outfit, I saw an energetic Tenka, wearing the outfit that was different from her typical workout outfit. She was wearing a navy blue sport bra with a large neon green Asuna logo and a navy blue running short, paired with her hot pink running shoes - she looked even more like a track and field athlete than me. 

"Good morning, Tenka-cha. You looks pretty sporty today."

"Thank you. Even though I'm not that athletic, I still want to show that I could also be very active," Tenka said, with her sunny smile. "Plus, yours isn't even bad too.

Just as we were talking, we heard some funny conversations between Jun and Sukeo.

"Hey, Sukeo, don't forget to drink your coffee. You don't want to fall asleep again."  

"Okay, okay, okay- "

Not long after our morning encounter, Sukeo also removed his curtain - he was in a black T-shirt with a golden Novak logo and a black running shorts, while wearing a pair of black-golden Tils running shoes. Unlike what he appeared to be, his outfit looked very vibrant and created an energy vibe along with his blonde hair, I thought.

"Good morning, Tenka-cha and Araka-cha."  Sukeo greeted us. 

"Wow, Sukeo actually set the trend here," Tenka looked very excited as she saw Sukeo's outfit. 

"Thank you. That's not much of a big deal though, as I wear it whenever I workout with others."

At the end, Jun finally came out. He was wearing his usual workout outfit - a tea-green running top and a black running shorts, along with a pair of blue running shoes. It was not very fashionable, but was as practical as what I'm wearing.

"Good morning, everyone. I think we're all ready here. Let's head to the main hall for the breakfast."

While on our way to the main hall, we found an energetic Okuri, who was wearing a T-shirt with a golden arrow on it.

"Hey, how you doing, my friends?" Okuri greeted us while he was walking toward the hall. 

"We're pretty good, as we slept very well last night. Plus, I tried Hanyo last night, and feel even more energetic today," I replied. 

"Same for me! I'm pretty sure I can get a nice grade today!" Tenka looked as energetic as usual. 

"Okuri, do you want to have the breakfast with us?" Sukeo suggested. 

"Thanks, but I still think I will stick my group, even though that means I have to deal with the girls. Anyway, hope you guys bring this energy to the exam site. See you."

After we dismissed Okuri, we continued our way to the main hall for the breakfast. For today, the breakfast was more on the nutritious side, as there had been a lot of proteins in the meal. It was clear that there would be a lot of workouts during today's activities.

"Umm, the salted fish fillet rice bun (鹹魚米飯餅) is really good," Tenka commented one , "it's even better than the ones sold at Niangkee Station, as it was not that salty."

"Actually, I think the real one has to be salty," Sukeo commented while chewing the breakfast, "one of my aunts actually works in Niangkee, and she told me about it."

"But at least it's more balanced for our health," Jun commented, "plus, they have accommodate the appetites like us and even places further south, where they eat really sweet food." It was pretty much the case, as in Chuubo, people ate both salty and sweet food, as we have access to both sugarcanes from the south and the local grass salts. 

After we had our breakfast, the morning masse started. I took a look around and realized everyone was wearing colourful sportswear. It had the same vibe as a marathon festival. 

"Good morning!!! Hope everyone has a great first day of the exam," it was Kou Janmin, who today was in a very colourful t-shirt, "Today is a very good day, and I have seen you guys wearing very colorful sport gears, which I really like it. However, I'm going to announce a maybe not-so-good news, because for today's physical test, at least for first one, you won't be able to wear what you brought here today. Instead, we're going to give you standardized sport outfits, because for today's activities, you're going to experience different types of terrains, from mountainous region to lakes." So there must be a triathlon related activity today, I thought. 

As he finished his initial address, he invited four models. The left two ones were wearing grey competitive swimsuits, while the other ones were wearing the outfit similar to mine. "As you can see here, there are two types of outfits you're going to wear today. The first one is the competitive swimsuit,which for both boys and girls, they are all grey. Now for those who's not familiar with wearing a competitive swimsuit, we had modified them to make them as comfortable as wearing them as underwear, as for today's first half of the activity, this will be your underwear. Other than that, there will also be a full set of swimming gears; The second one is this urban running outfit, which you can see here, it has a white top and a grey shorts. Since we're going to ride bicycles, we had also added a special layer on the bottom of the shorts to make rides less bumpy. By the way, all of them were designed and made by Novak, under the supervision of SAIR and The Ministry of Defense. The good news is, even if you failed the exam, you can bring it home and even may wear it in the future. There is of course, a charge for that, as the whole set is around 1500 nyu for market price. "

"Ahhh, I had spent so much money on this outfit -" Tenka looked very disappointed. It indeed seemed to be a "not so good news" for Tenka. 

"But it's okay, at least it's made by Novak, which is a very famous Chuubo company. It's better to support local, if you think it this way. Plus, the swimsuit actually looks pretty good on you," Sukeo tried to make Tenka a bit happier, "If I remembered correctly, Novak is also a Sakashi subsidiary, right?"

That's true, as it was practically my mother's business. In fact, it was my mother's idea to change the name from Boksok Atike (北紗 Atiké）to Novak to make it sound more catchy. 

"That's true. To be specific, it's our family who owns it," I whispered to Tenka.

"Ahh, I get it. So if it's designed by Sara-cha's family, then I'm going to wear it," Tenka looked much happier after hearing what I said. 

"So what you are going to do now is to head to the changing room beside the gym. That is the place where you will find the tailor machine, where we will give  and refit your outfit based on the result of the tailor machine. During the measurement, please take off any of your clothes other than your underwear, and keep your arm open in the machine. After you got changed with the new outfit, we will give you more details about the upcoming activities."

As such, we were separated from Jun and Sukeo and headed to the changing room. While we were waiting for the tailor machine, I noticed there was a short-haired girl standing right before me with the face that looks familiar. She looked very down, as held her bra tightly while kept her face down.

"Hey, is that the girl we met in the Hanyo yesterday?" Tenka tried to remind me. 

"I think so." Even though we were speaking with normal volume, it seemed to be she hadn't notice us yet.

"The next one, please," the staff who was operating the machine, told the girl to go forward. However, she kept  let her head down. It didn't take too long for the staff noticing some went wrong. She came forward and asked the girl: "Are you okay? Anything bothered you?"

"Nothing," the short-haired girl replied in a low voice.

"So what's your name?"

"Zen Jinhui." It was the exact name I was looking for.

"No worries. Just step on machine and keep your head up and arms open."

As she stepped into the machine, I could take a careful look at how the machine functioned. There were we two parts of the machine - one was the one the users would stand, in which a scanning machine would scan the shape of the body to get the profile; while the other one was a fitting a machine, in which the swimsuit and the outfit were fitted onto the body model based on the previous scanning result using air pressure and robots.  I didn't realize this kind of machine would exist, as no one had seen it before other than in science fiction novels. 

After both Tenka and me grabbed our outfits, we headed to the locker to change into outfits. The swimsuit was somewhat tight, but it felt like it was my another layer of my skin. I also took a look at Tenka who also just changed to her swimsuit, which I found she also fitted perfectly with the swimsuit and even look more like a swimmer, as she was taller than me. 

"Sara-cha, you look amazing in the swimsuit!" Tenka commented, "You really look like a professional athlete."

"Haha, thanks. You looks good in this swimsuit too."

While we were talking, we found the same introvert Jinhui wearing only her swimsuit while holding her outfit tightly. 

"Hello, Jinhui," Tenka approached her first, "it's me, Tenka, the one you met at the Hanyo yesterday."

Jinhui slowly turned her head up and speak to us quietly: "Hello. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Sara, and your sister sent us to take care of you. She worried if you were bullied or something. May I ask what is going on?"

"I don't to want to participate the next exam, because-", Jinhui said in a very low voice.

"Because of what?" Tenka asked.

"Because if I don't well on the next exam, the guy will lock me up and do something bad on me," Jinhui said, while I could see her tear slowly dropped on her chin.

"How could he do it!?" Tenka's anger had slowly arisen, "this is not something that is tolerated in SAIR!"

"Because- because he was thinking I'm a useless doll, and the only purpose is to be as submissive as possible." It was some shocking discovery, I thought.

"What made him thinking you're a 'useless doll'?" I tried to get more information. 

"It was when I was in middle school, there was this guy who made fun of making all the other classmates to be 'submissive' to him. I was his perfect target, as I didn't do well academically and was a bit introvert. One day he threatened me and asked me giving him 'protection fee', while the other day for force me silent for witnessing what he did to my other classmates. As soon as I reached 16 years old, I made my family helped me applied for the SAIR, hoping I could escape from my school as he was also sharing the same high school with me. However, as soon as I arrived, I found all of those don't work. Turned out, his 'bad' records were covered up as his father was a predominate figure of our region, and he even made him passed through all the preliminary screening and join the SAIR exam. Even during the first exam day, when I was unable to solve the puzzle in the escape room activity, he tried to bully me again even though he did nothing in helping the group." That was indeed a typical bully, I thought. 

"Don't worry, since the next activities will be individually activities, you don't have to worry about working with them, even if something happened, we will always come to help you," Tenka said while pacifying her. 

"I know you're not the bad guys, as my sister told me. Thank you," it was the first time I saw Jinhui smiled. 

After we got our clothes changed, we headed back to the main hall. Even though we told Jinhui she could come with us, she refused as she said she already had the strength to face the problem, and it would make her situation even harder if the bully figured out someone tried to help her. 

"Now I'm seeing everyone's getting back, and I'm going to talk a bit more about what's going on right afterwards. As some of you may have already figured that out, the first activity is a triathlon activity, where you are going to bike, run, and swim. We will the start the activity on the top of mountains, where you guys will ride your bike down the hill for 20km to reach the checkpoint. After you park your bike, you will continue your journey on foot, as you will run to the next checkpoint, which you went upward and follow a trail for 3km. After you reached the next checkpoint, you will also reach the reservoir, which is on the halfway between the peak and the bottom where the 1km swimming part will take place. To make sure we addressed all the participants' special needs, we had underwent engineering processes to make the reservoir as close as to a swimming pool. After that, you will use the drying station at the end of the reservoir and then head back to the main complex, where you did your first day written test. I'm going to give you detail about the second part of today's exam after you finished this activity." 

"During the first section, we will use four sets of vehicles to keep track of your movement. If anyone is getting slower than the fourth vehicle, you would very likely to receive a 'fail' grade, for the interval between the fourth and the third, you will get a 'poor', and 'average' grade for the next interval, and so on. While for the running and swimming part, we will use a timer to keep track of your performance. In general, the grade gets higher as you got closer to pass the first vehicle. Here are also some important rules. First, for those who were unable to participate any one of the activities for any reason written on the form, you need to wait for the transfer to the activity you are able to participate. However, you need to wait until the majority of the participants had passed the checkpoint to depart. While during the activity, please wear all gears when necessary. Second, even though this is an individual activity, we still encourage you to work together whenever someone had some challenges during the exam. Third, please play your part fairly and follow the rule. Intentional discrimination and targeted attacks during the exam have never been tolerated. If any accident happened, please reach to an SAIR supervisor as soon as possible. The last but not the least, as a reminder, you're not only be evaluated on how high the grades you got during the exam, but also all you behaviors throughout the exam."

As such, we departed for the top of the mountain. It was a longer ride, as we slowly ascended along a curvy mountainous road. The view was beautiful, as it was similar to the places around Jingou (劍高), a hot spring town Jun and me had been to. Later that day, I realized that the SAIR training center is in fact not very far from Jingou. As soon as we arrived at the starting point, we immediately put on our gears and got ready for the ride. 

"Their bikes are pretty good ," Tenka commented as soon as she got on the bike. 

"Tenka, are you able to ride a bike?" I asked. 

"Umm, yes, but not in a competitive way. I just ride them to the school. How about you, Sara-cha?"

"I've done some mountain biking with Jun, but not much either," I said. 

"I think you don't need to worry about it too much though," Sukeo said, "from how I interpret their information, they valued how hard we try and how we helped each other more than how fast we can reach the destination. As long as we tried our best, we all could get a green armband."

"Get ready! Three, two, one!"

As soon as the signal turned green, everyone in the line started rushing forward. The path had the exact same quality as the way we got up the mountain, with sharp curves and terrains all along the road. It didn't take very long for Jun to get his lead in our group and the whole participants in general, as his tall and skim body fitted perfectly for biking. He should start a biking team in our school, I thought. 

Meanwhile, Sukeo and me were taking a middle place in the 'good' rank. as both of us seemed to have some experience with biking, but not too strong. There were many participants in this rank, as most of us at least were athletic enough to have some experience with biking. 

Of course, it was a uphill battle for Tenka, as she was the least athletic among us. However, even though being on the last place in our group, she had tried very hard and still managed to overtake some participants, landing her a front place in the 'average' rank. 

As the activity continued, the gap between different ranks seemed to be increased. While initially Sukeo and me were in the middle of the 'good' rank, the ones who were behind me were slowly losing their speed as there were some uphills on our way down. It was the time when Okuri, who were initially in the back of the 'good' rank, went forward.

"Hello, nice to see you again," Okuri greeted us as he slowly approached us. 

"He-hello," I replied while exhaling. It became slightly challenging to maintain my place. 

 "Sukeo-sa, Where is Jun?" Okuri asked.

"I don't know, but he - he must be at least among the 'great' rank," Sukeo replied while exhaling. 

"He's a such good biker," Okuri replied, "he should start a biking team instead of working on robots." While he was talking, it seemed to be that he was not very tired. 

"Okay, you can overpass me if you got the energy," I signaled him to overpass us. 

"I think I will stick with you guys for now, as I want to preserve some energy for the later activities," Okuri said. 

"Goooooooo! Make a way, you little bike!" As we were talking, we saw a very focused Tenka approached us and joined our team. Every part of her body looked very intense, as it seems to be her metabolism had been awaken. 

"Tenka, you seemed to do a good job today," Sukeo appreciated  Tenka's effort. 

"Hah hah- " Tenka exhaled heavy while trying to close the gap, "I'm - I'm doing it - the bath - the bath really works."

"Tenka, you need to save some energy for the later activities," I reminded her, "even for this one, we haven't reached the halfway mark.

"Don't worry, I - I will make it."

While four of us were making our way forward, we found a group of biker that was arguing with each other.

"Is that the best what you can do!?" A young man who had strong muscles was talking in a very loud voice.

"Please - please just leave me along - you can do it, you should go forward - " The girl, who was with short hair, replied with all her strength. It seemed to be she was almost exhausted. 

"Hey, stop! You should stop bulling her," another young man, who was wearing glasses, tried to stop the muscled man. 

"She had been like this all the time!" The muscled man used his bike to make a move toward the right that almost made the girl lost control on her bike. 

"Hey, that's enough!" The other girl tried to set the things right as well. 

"See." The muscled guy made his partner take a look at the girl - the girl who just got pushed seemed to sped up for a bit. However, she still kept her face down and there was no joy on her face. 

"But you've already passed the line! It's the rule that - "

 "Shut up!" The muscled man shouted, "I'm helping her! Stop seeing me as a bully!"

As soon as the muscled man shouted, the group went full silence. Out of sudden, the muscled man seemed to speed up and quickly disappeared after a curve, leaving the rest of the group with the girl. While expecting the girl slowing down, she sped up even more and tried to catch the muscled man. However, that's where the incident happened - the girl seemed to lost the control of her bike before a steep slope, which ended with another sharp curve.  

"No, She's in danger!"  While was right behind her, Okuri noticed the danger as he was the first one who saw the sharp curve. He immediately sped up and try to approach her. 

"Hey! Slow down! There's a sharp curve down the hill!" Okuri shouted out to remind the girl. However, she didn't seem to listen. 

"I have to intervene now," Sukeo also sped up his bike and tried to catch up with Okuri, "Tenka, signaling all the bikers behind us that there is an accident. Araka, follow me." Without any  tried to follow him, leaving Tenka behind. 

Just as the girl almost reached the slope, Sukeo called  Okuri: "Okuri, are you able to locate any grass patches down the hill?"

"There is one on the right, as the one in the front was covered by the guardrail. You better not let her hitting that!"

"I see, thank you," without any hesitation, Sukeo sped up and tried to catch up with the girl. It didn't take him took too long to catch up, as it was in downhill. While I was thinking Sukeo would knock the girl's bike off, Sukeo overpassed her and starting slow down.

"Araka, get to her left," Sukeo instructed me, "knock her bike toward the grass patch on the right in case if the bike doesn't stop."

It was the time when the girl finally rose her chin up, in which she had noticed both us and the curve.  Her face looked scared, and she opened her mouth wide while keeping silent. 

"Get your brake!" Sukeo shouted.

The girl applied her brake steadily. As expected, the bike slowed down a bit while entering the slope. However, it seemed to be it would still hit the guardrail down the slope.

"Ahhh- " the girl finally got her voice, but it was not a good thing.

"Keep yourself rightward!" Sukeo instructed the girl, hoping she would listen. Fortunately, this time, the girl did what Sukeo instructed and leaned her bike rightward. However, the situation had not been resolved as we were getting closer to the curve. 

"Take the hands off the bar and brace yourself!" Sukeo shouted out using his loudest voice, "she will make your bike stop!"

It was just around the curve when the girl tried to make the turn herself. However, the momentum had refrained her from doing it. 

"Araka, knock her bike down!"

As instructed, I leaned my bike the same direction as the girl's bike to give her a sharp turn and tapped her bike using my handle. As expected, the girl slid off the bike and landed onto the grass patch using her legs, while her bike slid froward and hit the guardrail. It didn't take too long for the girl to lost her momentum and lied on the grass patch. 

Both Sukeo and me parked our bike somewhere ahead of the crash site. We walked backward and check the girl - with the protection of the helmet and other gears, the majority of her body was safe; however, there were some injuries on her legs, chin, and arms, and her cloth was partially teared by the ground, revealing her swimsuit. 

"Ahh- ". It seemed to be she was very painful. 

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Umm-aahh," she slowly opened her eyes and looked at me, "I don't feel good, Sara." It didn't take too long for me to figure out that the short-haired girl lied in front of was Jinhui. 

"Jinhui, I'm letting my friend taking care of you," I tried to pacify her. 

"Is the girl okay?" Sukeo approached me. 

"She's conscious, but there are some injuries on her," I explained.

Sukeo took a closer look at the girl and felt relieved: "I see, so she landed the ground on her legs, which at least prevent major injuries on her head."

It didn't take too long for Okuri to arrive. He immediately park his bike beside Jinhui and approach her. He used his hands to pat on her helmet as an effort to pacify her. 

"Is she okay?" Okuri asked, as he looked very concerned.

"She's fine. There is no life threading injuries. Thanks god we got all these protective gears," Sukeo commented. 

"Tenka said she had already notified the medical staff within the second convoy. They will come down soon."

"I see," Sukeo held the girl's head and looked at the girl's face again. 

"You guys- you guys can leave me now. You still have your unfinished exam," the girl finally could come up with a whole sentence. 

"No, we'll not leaving you until the staff pick you up," I said.

"But that means you will fail the exam!" Jinhui looked very concerned while bearing her own pain, "I don't want you guys to be dragged by a loser like me- "

"You're not a loser!" Okuri called, "it was the guy who pushed you!"

"That's right. Your sister told me to take care of you whenever it's necessary," I explained, "she had been worried about you all the time."

"You guys, you guys are so nice- " as she was speaking, Jinhui's eyes slowly filled with tears, "I haven't seen anyone who cared me that much other than my family!"

"It's there," just as we were talking, Tenka had led the medical staff to the site, "Sara-cha, everything is okay?"

"It's Jinhui who was injured," I said, "fortunately she was protected by the gears, which prevent her from deadly injuries."

"I see," Tenka said.

"Tenka, thank you!" Jinhui said in a very weak voice. 

After a brief check by the medical staffs, it was confirmed that Jinhui was okay and there was no severe damage to her bones and brain. It didn't very long for her to recover, as the staff used a machine to speed up healing. While I was asking what would they do to our grades due to this incident, the staff told us that there was nothing to worry about, as they planned to give all of us a green armband for the act of heroism. After being taken cared by the staff, Tenka and me decided to stay with her on the transportation vehicle to the next activity, while Sukeo and Okuri continued their trip.

"She's okay to continue the exam, but I think it would be better for you to keep a closer look at her," the medial staff, who was a young woman with darker skin, said. 

"I see," I said, "Tenka-cha, are you good at running?"

"Running? Not really, if it were you asking me-"

"Never mind. I was thinking if both of us were able to keep track on her." 

"So you mean-"

"That's right. It is very likely that she wants to get a good grade for the exam even after this incident. However, it could still be dangerous for her, as sometimes she pushed herself too hard. As such, we need someone who can run along with her while saving her from potential dangers." I suggested. 

"Ahh, I see. So you want to keep an eye on her?"

I nodded: "And it would be better if you can come together as well."

"Umm, I'm not sure if I can do it, but I will try my best. I've done some jogging before, so my legs should be okay," Tenka replied. 

After we arrived at the checkpoint, we got off the vehicle and continued our trip to the reservoir. The trail was very comfortable, as it was fully covered by ancient trees. I took a look at Jinhui who just recovered, and it seemed to be she was still on her best performance. 

"Hey, Jinhui, be careful. You just recovered," I tried to remind her. 

"Don't worry, I'm okay. I know how to handle this," Jinhui replied with her smile. She looked even more positive than the first encounters.

As we continued our way down the trail, we managed to overpass several participants. This indeed made Jinhui a bit happier, as running seemed to be one of her strength. I could tell she was almost on par with my mobility.

"Sara-cha, you two are running too fast-" Tenka exhaled heavily while tried to talk to us.

"Don't worry, I will take care of Jinhui by myself. She seems to be okay. You can take your time. Just don't get lost in the wood." 

After leaving Tenka behind, I ran along with Jinhui. To make sure Jinhui didn't get tripped or injured, I maintained my speed in a slight slower pace instead of demonstrating my full strength. Even by that way, sometimes she managed to overpass me, which made me to use more effort. 

"Sara, you don't have to run with me. I can always catch up with you. I know you can do much better," Jinhui talked to me, "are you also an athlete by any chance?"

"Of course," I replied, "I'm in the track and field team when I'm at school."

"That's cool! Actually, I want to join our school's team too, but I just couldn't keep up with their training intensity. You know, our school was also very strong in track and field sports," Jinhui replied. So she was from Minhaesan High School, I thought, as I had seen my upper year teammates competed with their team. It was indeed a tough battle, even though our school's track and field team were among the best in the nation. 

"Ah, then that explains why you're pretty good at running," I commented and showed my approval of her skill. 

With both of us running together, it didn't take very long for us to catch up with Sukeo and Okuri. 

"Hello, we're back," I greeted them.

"How's your injury, Jinhui?" Sukeo asked.

"It's all good now. The SAIR really has some impressive healing technologies," Jinhui replied. She looked so confident that it was almost like a completely different person. "Thank you for helping me." 

"That's glad to hear," Sukeo expressed his happiness, "How about Tenka?"

"She said she just couldn't catch with us," I replied, "I just found out that Jinhui is actually a pretty good runner."

"That's the spirit!" Okuri replied with his optimistic vibe, "the thing she really needs is courage. She can be just as impressive as us just with a bit more courage."

"That's true. I think it's a good idea for her to stick with us a bit longer, at least for today's exam." Sukeo suggested. 

"En," I agreed. "Actually, I planned to meet with Jun and discuss a bit more about it with him."

"Are you planning to catch up with him?" Okuri asked, "It's almost impossible, as he had already come a long way for the exam and there was no way for us to see him even before the accident."

"You don't have to worry about it," Sukeo answered, "If I remembered correctly, running was not one of his strength, right?"

"If compared to me, I don't think so," I said.

"That's the point. Here we have a track and field athlete who can compete on the national level, while long distance is one of her specialty. That means she can actually run much faster than any of us, right, Araka?"

I nodded. That was pretty much my point.

"I see. Jinhui, do you want to run with us or run with Ara- oh, Sara?" Okuri asked. 

"Actually, I want to run with Sara, but I think it's also good to make myself relax a bit, since I just recovered from the injury. Since all of you are very nice people, I think it's safer to stick with you in case if I couldn't catch up with Sara," Jinhui had made her decision.

"Yeah. So Araka, tell Jun to wait for us for a bit. It's okay as the next activity also only counted on time rather than intervals," Sukeo suggested.

As such, I made my way ahead and tried to catch up with Jun. The sweat on my face dropped down like light rain, but I could feel my heart beating in a stable way. Along the way, there were many check points along the way with SAIR supervisors. Many of them were water stations, as it was in the midway of the activity. 

"Water?" It was An who was on one of the water station.

"Yes, please," I grabbed the water bottle from her right hand and made myself a quick shower. It felt like a refreshing bath, as it washed out the dryness and dust on my face. 

Not very far from the water station lies the next checkpoint. I passed the line with a final sprint and made myself stretch for a bit after. I took a look at the screen beside the checkpoint:

 "Peni Araka

Rating: Excellent"

"Good job, Araka," I heard someone was talking to me. I turned my head around and realized it was Jun who was standing there. He had already took off his outfit, revealing his grey swimsuit and his fitted upper body. 

"No such thing, I just did what I did."

"I heard there was an accident along the way," Jun seemed to heard about what happened to us , "is that real? Are you guys okay?"

"So it was this girl I met yesterday who lost control on her bike on the hill because she was bullied by her group partner and couldn't concentrate. All of us even including Okuri had done our best to save her, which she is now okay and could continue the exam." I explained the whole situation in brief words.

"That's indeed rough. She was very lucky as all of your were there, especially Sukeo. Sukeo had also saved someone else who lost the control on the bike before, he definitely knows what to do." That explained why Sukeo was able to react this fast.

"So she's currently on the way. Do you think it's okay for her to stick with us for a bit longer? Because we think that she's now familiar with us and she thinks it's safer to stay with us," I got back to the main topic. 

"Sure, if that makes her comfortable."

As we were talking, Sukeo, Okuri, and Jinhui we're all arrived at the same time. As they passed the finish line, the screen all gave them "Great" ratings.

"Hello, the robot man," Okuri made his first greeting while displaying his slim but strong upper body, "it's very hot today, huh."

"Of course," Jun smiled while looking at Jinhui, "so that's the girl Araka had talked about, right?"

"Hello," Jinhui waved her hands to Jun. While her face was still a bit dusty, it couldn't cover her smile: "I'm Jinhui. Are you Jun, Sara's older brother?"

"Yes. Nice to meet you. Also, where is Tenka?"

"She's still on the way," Sukeo said, while also displaying his strong abs, "running seems to be one of her weak area."

"Huh huh huh," after a while, a tired Tenka also reached the finish line. She immediately fell onto the ground like a deflated bloon and lied her face down while breathing heavily "I, I made it- "

"Get your breath," Okuri said, "you've already reached the finish line."

"Sara-cha, what- what is - what is my rating?"

I took a look at the screen. "It said 'good'."

"Phew- I told you, I only used up 10% of my power."

"But it's just above 'average' rating," Sukeo said while putting hand on his face, "as being below everyone in the group, even including Okuri and Jinhui."

"Haaah- " Tenka seemed to be disappointed about the "truth" of her rating. 

"That's okay, Tenka, you've already tried your best," Jinhui pat Tenka face to make her feel better, "And I'm very grateful for bringing me the positive energy I really need."

"Really!?" After hearing what Jinhui said, Tenka suddenly regained the energy she always had. Her eyes were also filled with brightness again. All of us laughed, as in a happy way. It was glad to see Jinhui also gained back her confidence and happiness Jinlin mentioned. 

After the gathering, we took off our outfit and went to the shower with our swimsuit. It was a true relief in the middle of the summer, as the water carried the dust and sweat away. 

After putting the caps, we signaled the staff that we were ready for the exam. It was only Sukeo who decided to wear a pair of goggles, as he said his eyes were not fitted for swimming with bare eyes. 

For our group, it seemed to be that Jun and me were the best swimmers in the group, even though we were not in the swimming club. Jun and me were the first one to depart. Even though it was said the environment should be similar to swimming in a swimming pool, the lake still seemed to be a different place, as it was harder to see the bottom while the resistance was a bit stronger. With this challenges, we still managed to get a "great" rating. As for the next pair, Sukeo and Tenka were not on the strong side, as for both of them, they said they only swam in swimming pools. Even given this, they still managed to secure a "good" rating. 

"My eyes really hurt when get them in the water," Sukeo said, "it could be my only major weakness."

"Well, for me, I don't really swim very often," Tenka said, "but at least I look good in this swimsuit. Thank you, Sara-cha."

When the last pair came, surprisingly, both Okuri and Jinhui were very comfortable in swimming in the reservoir. In fact, they got an 'excellent' rating at the end.

"It's not much of a thing for me as someone who rarely used goggles and swim only in lakes ," Okuri said, "you guys should try swimming in the lakes. It's a cool experience."

"Well for me, I'm used to swim in the sea, as Ninju is just right beside the North Sea. If you guys get the chance, you should visit our beach, as they were not as crowded as the ones in the west," Jinhui said. 

"Sara-cha and Tenka-cha, thank you for helping me taking care of Jinhui" just as we finished the first main activity, someone I was familiar with just came in. It was Jinlin, who was also wearing an SAIR swimsuit, which was basically the same swimsuit we wore. It was interesting to see her wearing it, as her big breast made the swimsuit looked even tighter and 

"Ajasa (Sis)!" Jinhui looked very excited when she saw her sister, as she hugged her and put her face right on Jinlin's breast. 

"Ah, I think you three are Sara-cha and Tenka-cha's partner, right?"

"Yes, I'm Jun, Sara's older brother, and this is Sukeo. We are in the same group," Jun introduced the rest of us to Jinlin, "Ans this is Okuri. Even though we were not in the same group, we still hangout with him very often."

"I see. I'm Jinlin and I'm a full time SAIR agent of SAIR North. I'm also a second year university student. Nice to meet you." 

"This woman indeed has big beautiful breasts," Okuri whispered to Jun, while putting his hand below his chin, "it is rare to see a woman with this big breast while looking just like a high school girl."

"Hey, watch your language," Sukeo tried to remind him.

"It's okay. People always make fun of me having big breasts," Jinlin laughed, as she was not being intimidated by a single bit, "In fact, it's actually the reason why I can always secure a good prize in the breast competitions. It's a real competition, and in our region, woman with big breasts and young faces are actually seen as they were gifted by the local goddess, who's also described as a woman with beautiful big breasts."

"Huh, that's indeed some cultural differences," Jun commented.

While I asked Jinlin how to make sure Jinhui didn't get bullied again, Jinlin suggested Jinhui having lunch with her instead of having lunch with the rest of the group, which sounded like a good idea. After we dismissed Jinhui and Jinlin, we got ourselves changed and headed back to the main hall, where we began preparing for the next activity.