Chapter 42: Chapter 42: I’m Exceptionally Gifted

Zhang Song’s eyelid twitched. He realized Yuan Qiang’s attitude was clearly suspicious... A moment later, a belated sense of dread washed over him, and his heart leaped into his throat.

’No way. It can’t be... Is there really a problem?’

Previously, Zhang Song had been so excited that he’d overlooked many things and hadn’t put Chu Bamboo through any rigorous testing.

"It’s nothing!" Guo Jun and Zhang Song knew each other—they were former colleagues, after all. He clearly sensed Zhang Song’s anxiety and tried to console him. "Even if he took some banned substances, being able to get a time like that... still shows he has incredible potential!"

Chu Bamboo didn’t object.

A moment later.

「The school’s sports center.」

"...Nine point six-one. What does that even mean?"

Yuan Qiang stared at the numbers on his stopwatch, completely dumbfounded.

He rubbed his eyes and took another careful look, confirming the number was still there. He then looked into the distance at Chu Bamboo, who was dressed in ordinary clothes and shoes, lazily stretching his back. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to speak. "Uh... Guo... Coach Guo, what did you get?"

"I... I also got nine point six-one!" Guo Jun’s voice trembled. If they both had the same time, there was clearly no mistake!

"I told you, Chu Bamboo’s talent is... huh?!" The relaxed expression on Zhang Song’s face instantly froze. He instinctively dug a finger in his ear, unable to believe the number he’d just heard. He shrieked, "Wait, what did you say the time was?!?!"

’That number... How dare they even say it!’

But even if they dared to say it, he didn’t dare to believe it.

’The world record is 9.58 seconds, and you’re telling me that Chu Bamboo—wearing plain clothes and regular shoes, running with terrible form...’

’...ran a time that was almost on par with Bolt’s record?!?’

’The Divine Continent’s record is 9.83! This time completely blows the national record out of the water!’

"Uh, Principal Li..." Yuan Qiang was babbling. "Was your school’s track... did you cut corners on it? I mean, during construction, was there maybe an error in the design specifications for the length?"

Li Quanyuan: "..."

’What kind of nonsense is that?’

"He must be doping... But even if he is, judging by this, he could at least break the national record clean!" Guo Jun’s legs were trembling, his mind racing. He then shot an angry glare at Zhang Song.

’Idiot! A talent with this kind of speed... why didn’t you report it to the provincial sports bureau first? Or just go straight to the national sports bureau...’

’We only found out because the national bureau came asking us!’

’Traitor! You damned traitor.’

Guo Jun had been calm before because he simply hadn’t believed it. But now...

Zhang Song’s mouth twitched. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand what Guo Jun meant. The problem was, he never even had a chance to try and claim the credit for himself, especially with the principal watching over his shoulder like a hawk... ’What could I have possibly done?’

"Are we done?" Chu Bamboo asked, jogging back.

"O-Of course!" Yuan Qiang’s attitude had done a complete 180. His face was wreathed in smiles. His earlier suspicions about doping were no longer important. After all, a time like this was considered fast even for someone on performance enhancers. ’A championship is practically guaranteed!’

He looked Chu Bamboo up and down, growing more and more pleased with what he saw.

"Wait a minute." Yuan Qiang suddenly sensed something was off. He eyed Chu Bamboo cautiously. "How... how are you not tired at all?"

Chu Bamboo: "?"

Guo Jun, a beat behind: "!!!"

Zhang Song, who had just caught on: "..."

Everyone else on site: "!?!"

"Don’t tell me you weren’t even going all out!" Yuan Qiang exclaimed, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Chu Bamboo groaned inwardly. ’Coach Yuan Qiang is right...’

’The reason I didn’t go all out was mainly because I saw what happened in the future—that I’d be dissected after revealing my full power. I learned my lesson from that.’

’But now it seems that maybe, just maybe... the time I got without even trying that hard is just as unimaginable.’

"How did you train to get this fast?!" Yuan Qiang’s mind went blank. He instinctively grabbed Chu Bamboo’s hand, the veins on the back of his own hand bulging. He gripped with extreme force, as if afraid Chu Bamboo would escape, or perhaps afraid that everything before him was just an illusion.

"Maybe I’m just naturally gifted!" Chu Bamboo laughed it off and asked nonchalantly, "So, what was my time, exactly...?"

When he heard the time, Chu Bamboo’s heart sank. ’Okay... No wonder they’re acting like this! Dammit, I still pushed too hard...’

’Wait a minute,’ Chu Bamboo thought, a realization dawning on him. ’It’s obvious. The ’me’ that Nuwa No. 17 recorded in the Dream World was the version of me that never re-entered it, the one who continued living only in the Real World...’

’In other words, the Chu Bamboo who set that ultimate record is the current me, without any further enhancement. Which means, theoretically, I should be able to achieve that record right now...’

’If I underwent professional training, optimizing my form, movements, clothing, and shoes for running—I should be able to run a time approaching a flat eight seconds!’ 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

’This is bad,’ Chu Bamboo thought, genuinely alarmed. ’I originally thought my counterpart in the Dream World’s timeline was just asking for trouble, but now...’

’Okay, okay, there’s still time to fix this! Things have gotten a little complicated, but it’s not a fatal mistake yet.’

"Um, actually, I was in unbelievably good form for that run! So I might have been... a little bit faster than usual? I can’t normally run that fast!" Chu Bamboo said, trying to patch things up.

"..." Yuan Qiang looked at the sweat-free Chu Bamboo, at a loss for words.

"Well! Since things are like this," Chu Bamboo felt his excuse was a bit weak. He quickly made a decision. Glancing at his phone, he saw it was almost dinnertime and said bluntly, "I have something urgent to do tonight! Why don’t we call it a day?"

"Wait... What could possibly be more urgent than this!" Yuan Qiang grew frantic, his tone pleading. "Right now, immediately, come back with us to Yanjing! We’ll put you through the most advanced, scientific special training. At the next Olympics, you’ll definitely be the brightest star! Don’t worry about school. The principal is right here; we can have him write you an official leave slip on the spot."

"That’s not necessary." Chu Bamboo reached over with his other hand and gently pried Yuan Qiang’s fingers off his hand. No matter how hard Yuan Qiang tried to hold on, it was no use.

"You guys can set whatever goal you want, then come test me periodically... say, every six months or a year! If I meet your standards, just let me keep studying. I actually quite like school. Besides, all I need to do is break the Olympic record and become the champion, right?"

’As if I have that much free time to go all the way to Yanjing for that hassle. I’m even afraid that if I train too hard and run too fast, I’ll be sent straight to a dissection table...’

’Besides, instead of thinking about getting faster through training, I’d be better off thinking about how to get exposed to some nuclear radiation in the Real World and evolve again. Isn’t that a more reliable method than grueling practice?’

’At that point, even breaking five seconds might not be impossible...’