Chapter Thirty-Three: Advancement
At present, Rousseau's status bar showed his attributes: Agility 39, Strength 33, each increased by 4 and 5 points respectively since he first joined the provincial team. This was the result of two months of training. Along with that, Rousseau's 100-meter sprint time improved from 12 seconds to 11 seconds.
If he used "Burst," he could push his result below 11 seconds. Without it, Rousseau's time hovered around 11.2 or 11.3 seconds. One "Burst" could shave off about 0.5 seconds. As for two, it wasn't simply double; the effect diminished—a doubled expenditure yielded only half the benefit. After all, the human body has limits.
Now, there was no need to fight for first place—advancing was enough, and there was no Tian Shiwei among his opponents. Rousseau saw no reason to use his skills, preferring to conserve his energy for tomorrow's semifinals.
Coach Lu Jinrong worried that Rousseau might get careless and fail to qualify, but Rousseau's performance was always steady, because he knew exactly what would happen in the upcoming races.
Before the starting gun sounded, Rousseau simulated this 100-meter preliminary in his status bar as usual, then showed a somewhat peculiar expression.
Bang!
The first shot rang out.
Bang!
The second shot followed.
"Lane 4, false start!" the official announced.
The accused was a very young boy, probably only fifteen or sixteen, who looked extremely nervous as he walked back from the track, his expression awkward.
Some false starts are tactical, others are simply mistakes.
They prepared again.
Rousseau assumed a ready-to-burst posture, but was not truly prepared to run, because the status bar's rehearsal showed that there would be more than one false start.
Bang!
The gun sounded.
Bang!
The gun fired again.
"Lane 4, second false start! Disqualified!"
Under the official's instruction, the boy who had false started twice walked off the track, stunned and numb, as if unable to believe this nightmare had come to pass.
It was a matter of experience and mentality. When an athlete stands on this track, trying to replicate the fruits of thousands of hours of hard training, what they can deliver is not always their best form, nor their best performance.
Thus, for any athlete, failure is the inevitable nourishment for success.
Big-game experience is an essential part of growth.
But Rousseau did not seek this kind of nourishment.
His status bar rehearsal had foreseen these two false starts, so he expended neither attention nor energy on them.
The other six athletes in the third group were different, though. They had no way of knowing that lane 4 would certainly false start, so each time they had to exert themselves fully, which depleted their condition.
When the third, official start finally came, everyone lagged half a body behind Rousseau at the blocks.
...
"There it is!" Shen Peng watched the scene, applauding.
"Remarkable," Lu Jinrong praised.
Both had been 100-meter runners themselves and understood how difficult it was to maintain concentration after two false starts within a group. The starting speed of the other six runners was obviously slower than the first attempt, which made it clear.
But Rousseau was entirely unaffected. That was extraordinary, meaning he had completely ignored the disruption and swiftly restored his state. Such poise and mentality were hard to imagine for someone in their first official competition.
With these qualities, Rousseau's future achievements were boundless!
"He's a real talent!" Shen Peng patted Lu Jinrong's shoulder. "Old Lu, you have a sharp eye!"
...
The result of the third group was just as Shen Peng and Lu Jinrong expected: Rousseau was first across the finish line, clocking 11.3 seconds.
The eight preliminary heats concluded at 11:30 a.m.
Of the fifteen Pengcheng provincial team members, four successfully advanced: Tian Shiwei, Rousseau, Wang Peng, and Xu Taiming. Lin Lishuo, who had decent results, was eliminated.
The advancement standard for the prelims was the top two in each group.
The qualifying rate was only 26%, and this was just the first preliminary of the provincial games’ 100-meter race.
The brutality of the 100-meter competition was evident.
...
After the race,
Rousseau went to find coach Lu Jinrong, who was chatting with another middle-aged man with a coach's badge. They seemed quite familiar.
As Rousseau approached, he overheard their conversation.
"Old Lu, I read your provincial newspaper article—two seed athletes in the team, hopeful for gold, very confident, but unfortunately the rest of your team didn't live up to it. Eleven eliminated in the first round, with the best two only clocking 11.3 seconds. Old Lu, confidence doesn't fill your stomach; track and field only respects results. We ought to be more pragmatic in the future," the other coach said.
Who was this...? Wasn't this just provocation...? Rousseau glanced at the man's badge: Yangcheng City Sprint Team, Li Yong, Coach.
Rousseau mused: Oh, the neighboring city's sprint coach. Rivals in the same profession—this must be a classic feud.
"It's the provincial games, just a drill for experience. The team isn't taking it too seriously, just running casually," Lu Jinrong replied with a polite but tight smile. "You keep scouring the papers for news about our Pengcheng team, huh? I hadn't noticed how many of your team made the finals."
"Seven," Li Yong raised a hand. "Three group winners."
"If you go all out now, you might not last to the finals," Lu Jinrong replied with a smile.
"We didn't go all out, just jogged. The competition was too weak," Li Yong chuckled.
If this went on, they'd end up fighting, wouldn't they? Rousseau waited nearby, wondering if they'd come to blows. But they didn't; after a few more jabs, they parted. Rousseau was slightly disappointed—if a fight broke out, he'd have liked to kick Li Yong a few times for stirring up trouble.
Lu Jinrong stood there, clearly uncomfortable, having been mocked by a colleague with no way to retort. Seeing Rousseau, he came over and patted his shoulder. "Run well in the semifinals!"
"Yes, coach. I’ll make sure those Yangcheng athletes can’t even sniff our exhaust," Rousseau replied.
Lu Jinrong laughed softly and patted Rousseau's shoulder again, more gently, as if to say, "It's worth caring for you."
...
After the 100-meter prelims in the morning,
The Pengcheng team did not return home but waited for the afternoon events—the 200-meter and 400-meter prelims.
Rousseau had given up the 200 and 400 meters. If the 4x100 relay weren't scheduled after the 100-meter final—on the fifth day of the provincial games—he would have skipped that as well.
Though the coach wanted Rousseau to experience the atmosphere of the 200 and 400 meters, Rousseau knew his current state well and needed to prepare for tomorrow’s 100-meter semifinal.
All events finished by 5 p.m.
Tian Shiwei and four other teammates advanced to the semifinals of the 200 and 400 meters, matching coach Lu Jinrong's expectations, so today's competitions were considered a success.
When the return bus reached Pengcheng Sports School, the cafeteria had prepared a sumptuous dinner—not a celebration banquet, but far more lavish than usual.
There, Rousseau saw Juno.
Juno had competed in the high jump semifinals today; she should have advanced, right?
Surrounded by coaches and teammates from the high jump team, she seemed to be not just qualifying but celebrating something special.
"What happened?" Tian Shiwei pulled Zheng Ni over to ask.
"Juno broke the record! She broke the provincial games record!" Zheng Ni exclaimed, full of excitement.
A record broken...
Tian Shiwei looked on with envy.
Indeed, for an athlete, nothing is more alluring than having one’s name etched in the history of a place, a nation, or even the world itself. How does one achieve that? By breaking records.
Break the provincial games record, the national games record, the Asian Games record, the Olympic record—break every record at every event.
Tie your name to a glorious number, a glorious height, a glorious weight, and from then on, you are the summit, the limit, the star that all who come after will look up to!
Hearing that Juno had broken the provincial games high jump record in the semifinals, Rousseau felt a deep envy.
At that moment, the status bar began to display words:
"To write your name in the record book of a human competition is the highest honor for an athlete. Are you not envious? If so, take action! If you break any event’s record, you will gain a new skill. Strive to become the star in people's eyes, shining beyond reach."