Following a horrifying event to withness sam and everyone else wanted to move on with the result to forget the incident.
That being said now the only person to report under 30 minutes was Cherry, who had reported at the very last moment, barely saving her team from losing 200 points.
Hops commented,
"Even though Cherry somehow managed to report at the last second, unfortunately Along couldn't. It's such a pity—after all that effort from their team it all crashed because of him, he must be feeling a great guilt of a burden."
Villy added gently,
"We should make sure he doesn't feel too down about it later. He's our friend, after all."
Toshi remained silent, watching Along. He was clearly disappointed—but for some reason it doesn't seem like for the obvious cause. He knew something seemed different.
Hops asked him,
"Why aren't you saying anything?" To toshi.
Just then, Cherry stepped forward, hopping on one leg, her shoe in her hand.
Everyone else covered their mouths.
"What is that smell?!"
Cherry revealed her slip—dog poop—and then showed the shoe she had stepped in.
Sam covered his nose and laughed, trying not to inhale.
"…Is it warm?" he added.
Irritated by the obvious trolling, Cherry slammed the shoe onto Sam's hand.
"Why don't you measure the temperature yourself?"
Disgusted by the unexpected action Sam slowly fleet the stage clearly disgusted to wash of the poop from his hand. It's fresh and warm he said while walking away.
I guess it's 10 points for the red beans, Everyone in the crowd whispered.
That means Along is the only one who wasn't able to present his item every.
Zen tried to comfort Along who was looking clearly disappointed saying don't worry although we lost 200 points there is still one last game if we try hard out team can still make a comeback.
Cheri added saying but from this point we are more than 300 points behind if I'm not mistaken of the score.
Ako calmy added saying although it's true that we still have another match but it will be hard to cover up 300 points from 1 match alone, the players have to get a perfect victory and even after that it's unlikely that it'll cover 300 points for we don't know the total points we can score from the final match.
Meanwhile Arola and villy also concerned for Along wanted to comfort him but that very moment, the unspoken guy finally opened his mouth, Along said that i can hear all you're concern but rest assured it's not what you think that I'm depressed about.
Toshi realising he was correct.
Hops confused asked what can you be more depressed about at this moment other than failing your task?
Along replied who said anything about failing the task? i believe you all are clearly mistaken about something.
Everyone thinking to themself what could we be mistaken of.
Hops asked isn't Along the only one who didn't found his item?
Why don't we look at his slip first and then judge after that said Arola.
Along like a soulless zombie slowly walked towards the center and revealed the slip saying Unicorn (alive).
Everyone feeling sorry for him clearly know that it was practically impossible for him to find one, they knew he couldn't do anything about it.
Arola looking at Along felt sad for him and thought what kind of item Sam even gave it's impossible for anyone.
Sam then entered the conversation after washing his hands and said Well actually Along is the only one who actually reported with his item under 2 minutes.
Hops thinking what do you mean by that don't tell me he actually summoned a unicorn?
Villy then added saying then why was he the one to arrive last.
Toshi realising something—Toshi then answered saying I didn't realise it before but there is no rules saying we can't leave the stage once we report how could I have missed such a trival thing.
Cheri and Zen not knowing what is going on but clearly happy about it.
Toshi said so he actually submit under 2 min when we were not focusing? And then wandered off?
Hops annoyed by the ignorance of everyone to the fact that the item said unicorn asked why are you focusing on when did Along reported but shouldn't you all be thinking how he found a unicorn in the first place?
Cheri also thinking to herself and realised that it means I'm the last one to report? She then asked where is his item and how did he even come up with a unicorn?
Along walked and grabbed something from a box that covered the unicorn and revealed it to the crowd.
The unicorn was emitting so much light that they couldn't see properly but only it's silloute, there indeed was a horn a tail and it was moving. Cheri thinking how did he manage to get a unicorn.
Along then said on sorry i forgot to turn off the flashlight and the light emitting from the unicorn stopped and the unicorn they all were thinking was a dog with icecream cone in it's head.
Everyone furious what nonsense is this i really though he actually managed to discover a unicorn.
Toshi actually smiled for this one finally understanding what was going on he answered saying the rule said if you can't find it, discover it.
Ako also finally understanding it added saying indeed that mean unicorn was impossible so we have to create one ourself.
Sam clapped saying that's correct Along couldn't possibly find a unicorn, no one can but he ended up discovering one by adding a ice cream cone to the dog.
Everyone thinking it's really stupid.
Arola then asked why was he looking really depressed earlier then?
Along finally spoke up about the situation saying as the game started he gave up instantly knowing it's pretty much impossible but then I saw something a ice cream store from a far and realise I need to cool myself off.
so I went to buy 2 icecream for myself and after buying I was passing by the stage and the dog pumped into me and I dropped one ice cream on it's head and the other on the floor which the dog also ate.
Then sam saw it happen and asked is your slip a unicorn? To which I said yes and he instantly approved it. Then the dog ran off and I started chasing it.
Everyone realisng so that's also the moment when Sam saw The dog and Along and it was just dumb luck, just a coincidence.
Toshi then added and that's the reason why he was looking depressed all because of his ice cream was stolen by the dog.
Along responded to toshi saying well I spend all my money earlier and it was the last pit of money I had so of course I'm depressed.
villy then tossed a cola to Along saying cheer up its not icecream but I hope it'll warm you up.
Along caught the cola mid air looking all cool and flashy but when he opened the can it all sprayed on his face.
Everyone laughed.
Then zen realised then that means we didn't get any minu points so do we still have a chance to make a comeback?
Ako replied saying we don't have have to make any comeback for as of now we are still in the leading.
Cheri added saying but didn't they got 2 items under 10 minutes getting an advantage over us?
Sam then intervened saying let the scoring be left to the professionals, he then revealed the total score of both the teams.
Reported under 10 minutes 50 points
Ako(The red beans), Arola(The white tigers) and Toshi(The white tigers) Along (The red beans)
Reported under 20 minutes 20 points
Villy(the white tigers) Hops (the white tigers)
Ako (The red beans)
Reported under 30 minutes 10 points
Cheri(The red beans)
Previous score
The white tigers 185
The red beans 205
The current total score
The white tigers 325
The red beans 335
Hops after looking at the score was disappointed that after all the struggle they are still 10 points behind them.
Hops kept staring at the scoreboard, still trying to process everything.
"…Ten points," he muttered. "We went through all that for ten points."
No one replied.
Around then, the field slowly returned to normal. Students drifted away in small groups, the noise dissolving into background chatter. The JCB engine shut down. The dog with the ice cream cone had disappeared. Even the smell of mud and disaster began to fade.
It was over.
Along stood quietly near the edge of the stage, wiping his hands on his pants, as if trying to get rid of something that wasn't really there anymore.
Zen and Cherry were already walking ahead, arguing about something meaningless. Ako adjusted his glasses and followed.
Along paused for a moment.
He looked back at the scoreboard.
At the chaos.
At the people who would forget this day faster than they should.
Then he turned and walked away.
No light.
No sound.
No farewell.
Just some students leaving the stage like any other group after a match.
Toshi watched them go, a strange feeling tugging at his chest.
"…Huh," he murmured.
"What?" Hops asked.
"Nothing," Toshi replied. "Just… feels like something ended."
Hops frowned. "You're overthinking."
Maybe he was.
Sam was still near the scoreboard, absentmindedly spinning his whistle around his finger, waiting for the noise to fully die.
Along walked past him.
Neither of them stopped.
But for a fraction of a second, Sam glanced sideways.
Along glanced back.
Their eyes met—brief, sharp, familiar.
Sam's smirk twitched, like he'd just recognized something annoying about himself in someone else.
Along gave a tiny nod. Nothing dramatic. Nothing special.
Sam exhaled through his nose, amused, and looked away first.
The whistle stopped spinning.
Along kept walking.
Sam watched him disappear into the crowd, then let the whistle drop against his chest. It made a small sound. Barely anyone noticed.
He turned back to the field.
The chaos had already returned—voices, complaints, laughter, someone yelling about water bottles. The school swallowed the moment like it had swallowed everything else that day.
Sam straightened, the smirk settling back where it belonged.
"Alright!" he shouted suddenly, clapping once. "Everyone clear the field! Next match prep starts now!"
A wave of groans rolled through the crowd as students began to move again.
The scoreboard flickered once.
White Tigers – 325
Red Beans – 335
Ten points.
Jangla glanced at it, then in the direction Along had gone.
"…Yeah," he murmured to himself. "Something definitely ended."
The wind carried the last of the noise away.
And just like that, the field looked normal again.