Chapter Twenty-eight: Eleven Seconds

11.1 seconds.

When this number appeared on the electronic scoreboard, several athletes practicing the 200-meter dash paused in surprise.

Someone remarked, “Hey, Shiwei ran 11.1 seconds again.”

Tian Shiwei, who was hopping in place preparing to start, heard this and looked at the scoreboard, nodding, “Yeah, I ran 11.1 seconds again… Wait! That’s not right!”

He hadn’t run yet.

Tian Shiwei realized this and exchanged looks with his teammates.

Their reaction was understandable. 11.1 seconds—or 11.2 seconds—was a number almost exclusively belonging to Tian Shiwei within the Pengcheng Province sprint team. Others had managed similar speeds when the weather and wind conditions were ideal, but by then, Tian Shiwei could run even faster.

Today, the weather was clear and the wind normal. Who could possibly run 11.1 seconds?

Everyone turned their gaze toward the two athletes at the finish line. Was it Xu Taiming? Unlikely. Everyone knew Xu Taiming too well—he was waiting to retire after this National Games. If he could run that fast, he wouldn’t be retiring.

That left the tall, dark-skinned newcomer.

Also improbable, wasn’t it?

...

Lusso stared at the numbers on the electronic board, unsurprised. The status bar had already rehearsed everything.

After ten days of adaptive training and another two-point increase in strength, his body had finally acclimated to the ‘Burst’ rhythm, using the technique in the final 30 meters, resulting in this outcome.

He hadn't chosen the last 30 meters because of Coach Lu Jinrong’s advice. Lu Jinrong had no idea about the existence of ‘skills’—his guidance was merely reference.

Lusso had discovered that if he used ‘Burst’ at the start, he’d gain a rapid launch and leave competitors behind in an instant, but when the effect wore off, his speed would dip below normal.

Apparently, after using ‘Burst,’ his body entered a brief period of fatigue... So, this ‘skill’ wasn’t miraculous. Any improvement gained from using it was mined from Lusso’s own physical potential.

Currently, Lusso’s endurance was ‘68/100.’

It had originally been ‘83/100.’

Just now, using ‘Burst’ had consumed 15 points of endurance.

In other words, as Lusso improved his physical attributes, his compatibility with the ‘Burst’ skill also increased, resulting in less consumption.

Lusso lifted his gaze to the electronic board beneath the blue sky and white clouds, displaying the impressive result of ‘11.1 seconds.’

If the ‘Burst’ skill’s consumption decreased further, could he use it twice in a single 100-meter race?

He’d steadily break into the 11-second mark.

At that moment, the stunned world finally began to turn once more.

Coach Lu Jinrong waved Lusso over. “You accelerated in the last 30 meters?”

“Yes,” Lusso nodded.

“Why not accelerate the whole way?” the coach asked.

“My stamina isn’t enough. I can only maintain it for that long,” Lusso replied.

“Why…” The coach wanted to probe further, perhaps to say this wasn’t scientific.

But the human body was the greatest mystery in science. After a lifetime in sports, the coach understood this more than ever. In sprinting, if you can run it, it’s scientific, it’s correct.

“Run again?” the coach asked Lusso.

Lusso checked his ‘endurance’—it was sufficient—so he nodded.

“Xu Taiming, run with Lusso again!” the coach called.

The next pair of athletes waiting in line were pushed aside, but they didn’t mind. In fact, they were intensely curious—had Lusso just lucked into that 11.1?

Athletes sometimes have days of exceptional form, but 11.1 was truly extraordinary.

Everyone gathered around.

The coach glanced at the crowd but didn’t shoo them away. He wasn’t concerned with that now—his focus was on verifying Lusso’s performance.

Lusso and Xu Taiming returned to the starting line.

Xu Taiming eyed Lusso; Lusso stared at the finish.

“Ready?” the coach asked.

Ready.

Bang!

The starter’s pistol fired.

The second trial of the day.

Ten seconds passed in a flash.

Lusso crossed the finish line several body lengths ahead of Xu Taiming.

Everyone who saw it gasped, then, in perfect unison, looked at the electronic timer. Since it wasn’t an official race, no names were entered—only the times appeared.

‘11 seconds’ and ‘11.6 seconds.’

Both times had shifted by 0.1 compared to the last run—the faster was 0.1 seconds quicker, the slower 0.1 seconds slower.

My God…

Every sprinter present had those words echoing in their hearts. He’d run 11 seconds…

11.5 and 11.0 seconds aren’t just half a second apart—they’re the difference between a second-tier athlete and a first-tier one, between an ordinary provincial competitor and a star, between someone who barely makes the National Games roster and someone who might earn a result and a bit of fame.

“Lusso!” the coach called.

But Lusso was already stretching, his endurance down to ‘53/100.’ Without some recovery, further training would be impossible.

“Can’t run anymore, I’m spent,” Lusso quickly responded to the coach’s call.

The coach was somewhat disappointed, still unable to grasp the technical features of this sudden technique Lusso used—but no matter, there would be time.

“No problem, just tell me: how did you run that?” the coach squatted before Lusso as he stretched.

“Basically, I timed it to accelerate with 30 meters left,” Lusso answered.

“So that’s why you spent the past week training this method and ended up falling?” the coach asked.

“Yes,” Lusso nodded. “I’ve mastered it now.”

“Never heard of anything like this…” the coach marveled.

The conversation between coach and Lusso took place under the scrutiny of the other teams’ athletes. Hearing that Lusso had fallen in the previous week due to adapting to a new running method, Xu Taiming’s expression changed noticeably, though no one paid him any attention.

Everyone circled Lusso, perhaps uncertain what to say, until the coach dispersed them.

Watching Lusso, Xu Taiming grew anxious. The sprint team’s 100 meters had five top athletes now, but only four are needed for the 4x100 relay—or rather, only the four fastest matter. Xu Taiming seemed to be the fifth, the odd man out.

What should he do?

...

It was lunchtime.

Tian Shiwei was still chattering in Lusso’s ear, essentially telling him not to get cocky—he was a big-game competitor, and in official races, he could easily beat Lusso’s current times, so Lusso shouldn’t get too confident.

Tian Shiwei seemed intent on undermining Lusso’s confidence and eliminating a potential rival, but Lusso was well used to ignoring his noise, so the tactic failed completely.

At midday, when they ran into Juno and Zheng Ni, Tian Shiwei couldn’t resist spreading the news of Lusso’s performance—even though it was bad gossip for himself, he made no effort to keep quiet.

“Lusso, you’re impressive!” Juno and Zheng Ni looked at him, both surprised.

Pengcheng Province’s sprint team wasn’t strong nationally. This near first-tier athlete level was already the peak within the team.

Lusso looked at Juno’s radiant smile and couldn’t help but say, “Want to race?”