The moment everyone had desperately been waiting for finally came. They had pinned Sam down and the trigger was pulled.
After everything—after so many casualties, so many sacrifices, and enough embarrassment to last them several lifetimes—their labour had finally paid off.
Or did it?
BINGO...!
Sam grinned.
Finally.
Jangla fired, aiming directly at his head.
But at the very last moment, Sam leaned forward, deliberately shifting his centre of gravity. His sudden movement caused both him and Tsunami to lose their balance and lean forward.
The water flew past Sam's head by barely an inch.
SPLASH!
It hit Tsunami directly in the face.
"Oh, no!" Jangla exclaimed as she ran toward them, dropping her gun in the process.
Sam's grin widened.
Got you.
Unfortunately, his victory lasted approximately half a second.
He was still underneath Tsunami.
And she was still very much sitting on him.
Okay. Small problem.
Sam looked up at her.
"Are you on your period?" Jangla asked. "Those are some wild mood swings you've got there didn't you say you wanted to be eliminated? Why are you resisting now?"
She paused, looking at Sam.
"Although, I guess it would be pretty boring to simply eliminate you. I think we should torture you a little and break your spirit. After all, there's nothing you can do about it."
Sam, still pinned underneath Tsunami, struggled to breathe.
As Tsunami slowly got up, Sam finally managed to take a proper breath. "I'm not sure about the mood swing," he wheezed, "but I'm pretty sure I got some cramps after she fell on top of me."
Tsunami looked down at him.
"Well, there's only yourself to blame for that. Behave yourself, and you'll leave with only a few broken bones. That's the mercy I'm willing to show you, considering we're classmates."
Sam stared at her.
He looked at Jangla.
Then back at Tsunami.
"Your mercy sounds more ridiculous than Jangla's torture."
"How about you get a taste of both so you can judge which is actually more ridiculous?" Jangla said.
"And how exactly do you plan on giving me this torturexmercy?"
"Isn't it simple? First, I'll bash you up, and then I'll eliminate you using the water gu—"
Jangla suddenly froze.
"Wait..."
She looked around.
"Where is my water gun?!"
Sam's face lit up.
"Oh, you mean these?"
He held up both water guns.
One in each hand.
For a moment, nobody said anything.
Sam slowly raised his eyebrows.
Now we're talking.
"Mind letting me go?" Sam said to Tsunami.
"How did you...?! When did you take my gun?" Jangla asked, completely shocked.
"I'm sure I didn't let go of you the whole time," Tsunami added. "How did you manage to steal her gun from afar?"
Sam's grin grew wider.
"Do you guys really think you have the luxury to question me?"
He raised both guns dramatically.
"I have the guns while both of you don't. I can eliminate you both right here and now while you can't do a thing."
His evil smile returned.
For the first time in several minutes, Sam felt like he was finally back in control.
Yes.
This is it.
The villain has returned.
"I'm not so sure about that," Tsunami said.
Sam's smile froze.
"I don't need a gun to kill you."
She swung her leg like a battle axe.
WHOOSH!
The kick barely missed Sam's head.
His eyes widened.
"HEY!"
Tsunami swung again.
Sam ducked.
"Hey, hey! Don't you realise I'm the one in control?!"
Another kick.
Sam jumped backward.
"Could you PLEASE respect the fact that I currently possess TWO WATER GUNS?!"
Tsunami chased him.
Sam ran.
Jangla simply watched.
Why is nobody taking me seriously?!
"Jangla!" Sam shouted while running away from Tsunami. "Explain to your teammate that I'm supposed to threaten her, not her threatening me!"
Jangla sighed.
"Make sure you feed the bones to the dogs after you're done with him."
Sam's expression dropped.
"Why are you so calm about this?!"
He continued running.
He turned around a corner—
—and immediately came across Liabilities.
Sam stopped.
Liabilities stopped.
They stared at each other.
Sam slowly looked down at Liabilities' feet.
Then at the ground.
Then back at him.
"Didn't I bury you?"
Liabilities cracked his neck.
"I got out."
"Of course you did."
Liabilities immediately raised his water gun and fired.
"WAIT!"
SPLASH!
Sam grabbed a tree branch and swung himself upward, barely avoiding the shot.
The water flew past him—
—and hit Tsunami instead.
SPLASH!
Tsunami's tag was hit.
ELIMINATED.
Sam landed on the other side of the tree.
He stared at Tsunami.
Then at Liabilities.
Then at the gun.
His eyes widened.
"...Did you just eliminate Tsunami?"
Tsunami didn't even have time to react.
She charged straight toward Liabilities.
"Wait—"
BOOM!
She crashed directly into him.
Both of them went down.
Sam slowly looked at the two fallen players.
Then his grin returned.
Oh.
This is beautiful.
He swiftly jumped onto Liabilities, who was trapped underneath Tsunami.
Sam pointed his water gun downward.
He stood there like a final boss who had somehow wandered into the wrong genre.
"I pretty much won the whole game."
He looked around dramatically.
"If I eliminate you, I just have to do one thing and I'll win it all."
Sam pointed toward Tsunami.
"You eliminated the most difficult person in the entire game, so I guess I must thank you for that."
He lifted both guns.
"But unfortunately, my hands are full with water guns, so I guess I can only reward you with elimination."
He smiled.
"Although, I can make sure you're the last one to be eliminated."
Sam placed one foot on Liabilities.
"That'll be my gift to you."
A voice screeched from behind "So you mean you're going to eliminate me before you eliminate him?" Jangla asked.
Sam looked up.
Jangla had climbed into a nearby tree to get a better angle.
"Exactly."
Tsunami, who had regained consciousness, looked toward Jangla.
She thought she's doesn't have a gun so she can't eliminate him but then she saw something.
There was a gun in her hand.
She suddenly understood.
If Jangla had her gun, Sam was in trouble.
Jangla raised her gun.
"NOW!"
Liabilities and Tsunami immediately grabbed Sam from both sides.
"HEY—!"
Sam struggled.
"LET GO OF ME!"
They pinned his arms down.
Jangla aimed.
Sam's eyes widened.
Oh, come on.
SPLASH!
The water hit the tag on Sam's head.
A clean shot right on his head.
Jangla climbed down from the tree with a victorious smile.
"It took nine people and seven eliminations in total to finally defeat you," she said. "But we finally did it."
She looked at Sam.
"How does it feel to taste defeat?"
Sam stared at her.
"Tastes like air."
Jangla blinked.
Tsunami blinked.
Tsunami suddenly looked confused.
"Wait. How did you find your gun? Didn't Sam take it?"
She pointed at Sam.
"He still has both guns."
Jangla looked at the gun in her hand.
"I thought so too. But no. The one I'm holding is mine."
She looked around.
"I found it in the same place as earlier, just a little farther away."
"So what happened earlier?" Tsunami asked.
Jangla frowned.
"That's what I want to know."
Both of them looked at Sam.
Sam smiled.
"₹100 each for revealing the secret."
Jangla's eye twitched.
She raised her gun.
"Wait—"
SPLASH!
She shoved the barrel directly into Sam's nostril and fired.
Sam immediately started choking.
"FINE! FINE! I'll talk!"
He wiped his nose.
"You people have absolutely no patience."
"When you missed earlier and Tsunami fell on top of me, you dropped your gun."
Jangla listened.
"I knew you would drop it because you had accidentally shot someone in the face. Your immediate reaction was obviously going to be dropping the gun and running over to check on them."
Sam smiled proudly.
"So while you were distracted, I used a stone to move your gun farther away."
He demonstrated with his hand.
"I kept hitting it from your line of sight, making you think I'd stolen it."
Jangla's expression slowly changed.
"But then how did you manage to have two guns?"
"Oh, that's simple."
Sam casually held up the second gun.
"I picked up Flower's gun after she was eliminated."
Tsunami immediately smacked him on the head.
BONK!
"Ow!"
"That was for everything you've done."
"That's not a valid rule!"
Tsunami raised her hand again.
Sam immediately shut up.
Jangla helped Liabilities back onto his feet.
The two of them started walking away.
They had won.
Or so they thought.
Then Jangla glanced at the timer.
She stopped.
"Wait."
Liabilities looked over.
"There are still five minutes left."
Jangla's expression changed.
"There are still two players."
She looked at Liabilities.
"White Tigers."
Liabilities
Then she looked at Sam.
"Red Beans."
Sam
Sam slowly smiled.
Jangla's eyes widened.
"Wait... how?"
She turned toward Sam.
"When was I eliminated?!"
Her voice became louder.
"What's going on?! I was never shot! I still have my tag on!"
She grabbed the tag on her chest.
"It's right here!"
Then she pointed at Sam.
"And why isn't Sam eliminated?! I clearly shot him! It was a clean hit!"
Sam, who was still being punched by Tsunami, suddenly started laughing.
"HAHAHAHA—"
He coughed.
"Hold on, hold on!"
He raised a hand.
"At least let me make my evil laugh properly!"
"Speak now," Tsunami threatened.
"Or I'll make your evil smile turn into a little girl's cry."
Sam immediately stopped laughing.
"Fine."
He straightened himself.
His usual evil persona returned.
He looked directly at Jangla.
"What makes you so sure that what you shot was my tag?"
"What do you mean?" Jangla asked, completely confused.
"I mean exactly what I said."
Sam pointed at his head.
"What you shot on top of my head wasn't my tag."
He grinned.
"It was yours."
Jangla stared at him.
"How is that possible? I clearly have my tag right here on my chest!"
"What you have on your chest is mine."
Silence.
Jangla's eyes widened.
"Remember at the beginning of the game when I removed your tag from your forehead and used your forehead to blind everyone?"
"Don't remind me of that," Jangla said bitterly.
Sam laughed.
"I stole your tag. And while everyone was momentarily blinded, I swapped the tags."
He pointed at Jangla's chest.
"I dropped mine on the ground for you to pick up. Since the name is written only on the inside of the tag, and both tags look identical from the outside, I knew you wouldn't realise whose tag you were picking up."
Sam's grin became almost unbearable.
"And just as I expected, you picked up mine, thinking I dropped yours."
Liabilities looked at Jangla's tag.
Sam continued.
"And since everyone was solely targeting me and avoiding each other, I knew my tag would be safer with someone else rather than with me."
He raised his finger dramatically.
"Because I was the only targe—"
PSSHH!
Everyone froze.
Liabilities lowered his water gun.
Jangla looked down.
Her tag was soaked.
Sam's mouth hung open.
Liabilities had shot Jangla's tag.
The referee's voice immediately rang out.
"TING! TING! TING!"
"The winner of the final game is—"
A pause.
"THE WHITE TIGERS!"
Sam stared at Liabilities.
Liabilities stared back.
Jangla stared at her tag.
Tsunami stared at Sam.
And Sam...
...just stood there.
His entire evil-mastermind speech had been interrupted by the one thing he never planned for.
Someone actually listening.
Sam slowly sat down, finally letting his guard down after being defeated.
"Well..." he muttered. "I guess it all comes to an end now."
For once, there was no evil grin.
No ridiculous plan.
No speech.
Just Sam sitting there, completely exhausted.
And then—
Drip.
A drop of rain landed on his face.
Another followed.
Then another.
Within seconds, the rain began pouring heavily.
Everyone immediately started running toward shelter.
"RUN!"
"Get in"
People scattered in every direction.
Everyone except Sam.
He simply lay flat on the ground.
The rain poured over him, soaking his clothes and his white hair.
He didn't move.
He just stared into the grey sky.
Slowly, he raised his arm into the sky.
For a brief moment, the noise around him seemed to disappear.
The rain.
The shouting.
The footsteps.
Everything faded.
And in the middle of it all, Sam suddenly imagined someone holding his hands.
Hina.
The image was faint.
Almost like a memory.
Sam's fingers curled slightly.
Like he was trying to feel the warmth of her hands.
Then he opened his eyes.
The image was gone.
Instead, he saw Liabilities and Tsunami standing over him.
Liabilities sighed.
"You're going to get sick."
Tsunami grabbed Sam by the arm.
"Get up."
Sam didn't move.
"Five more minutes."
"No."
"Three?"
"No."
"One?"
"No."
"Thirty seconds?"
Tsunami grabbed him by the collar.
"GET UP."
"Okay, okay!"
Together, Liabilities and Tsunami dragged Sam toward the shelter.
Sam looked back at the rain as they carried him away.
For once, he didn't say anything.
And with that, Sports Week finally came to an end.
Every match.
Every game.
Every event.
Every victory.
Every defeat.
Every ridiculous injury.
Every argument.
Every act of cheating.
And, somehow, every single person had given it their all.
But as always...
There could only be one winner.
After the final game, Liabilities was the only surviving player, earning 100 points for the White Tigers.
The final scoreboard was revealed.
FINAL SCORE
WHITE TIGERS — 425
RED BEANS — 335
The announcement echoed across the field.
"AND THE WINNERS OF THIS YEAR'S ANNUAL SPORTS WEEK ARE..."
Everyone waited.
"THE WHITE TIGERS!!!"
The White Tigers erupted.
Cheers filled the field.
Some jumped.
Some hugged.
Some screamed.
And some were simply too exhausted to do anything except stand there.
The Sports Week had finally come to a close.
The competition.
The drama.
The rivalry.
The chaos.
All of it was over.
Well...
Almost.
There was still one thing left.
The feast.
The rain continued pouring outside while everyone gathered inside the shelter to prepare the food.
There were no more teams.
No White Tigers.
No Red Beans.
Not anymore.
For the first time throughout the entire Sports Week, everyone was simply together.
One group.
One family.
Preparing one giant feast.
Ori, Roslin and Flower were busy inside the camp preparing the food when they suddenly noticed Liabilities and Tsunami returning.
Between them was Sam.
Completely drenched.
His white hair was sticking to his face, his clothes were soaked.
Then all three looked at each other.
Liabilities and Tsunami dragged Sam inside.
Jangla immediately noticed him.
Her expression changed.
"YOU!"
Sam froze.
Jangla marched toward Sam, who was still completely drenched from the rain.
"What were you thinking?!" she scolded.
Sam pointed toward the rain.
"I was enjoying nature."
"You were lying flat in the rain!"
"I was enjoying nature... horizontally."
"You're going to get sick!"
"I survived Sports Week. I can survive a little rain."
Jangla grabbed him by the ear.
"Ow! Ow! Okay! Okay! I surrender!"
Jangla then started scolding him.
Sam simply stood there, listening to her lecture with the most innocent expression he could possibly make.
Ori, Roslin and Flower watched from inside the camp.
They looked at each other.
Then they laughed.
It wasn't just Jangla.
Chingla came walking over.
Oppa followed.
ON NO and Sung came.
Preguy joined them.
Even July Boy eventually wandered over, looking like he'd just woken up.
For a moment, there were no teams.
No White Tigers.
No Red Beans.
No winners or losers.
Just everyone together again.
Ori smiled.
Roslin looked at Flower.
Flower smiled back.
"Let's go," one of them said.
The three of them stepped out of the shelter and joined the others.
And just like that, the story of Sports Week came to an end.