The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 177: The Tournament’s Bracket!

Author’s note: Tomorrow, this novel will be recommended on the ’Cheering Reads’ Section!Thank you for all of your supports, I really appreciate it! Also, since it is a recommendation day, tomorrow will be a double-update day as well, so enjoy the four Chapters!

If you want to support this story more, please give it your Golden Ticket and Power Stone! Once again, thank you very much, everyone!

-0-

Soon enough, October had already gotten through its second week, and it was the time that all the football clubs in Hokkaido had been waiting for. Well... At least, the high school one, since there were still quite amateur clubs here and there who just played outside for fun.

Back to the conversation, though, this was the day when the drawing match was about to be held, and right now, all the members of the team were just sitting around inside the room, trying to warm themselves up since they were not in a training session.

From outside, it looked like they were just chilling. However, while they just did nothing inside, it was far from being the relaxing atmosphere that it looked like.If anything, everyone was so tense that all the phones were out already to refresh the tournament’s website.

"Fuck it, I don’t know why I am more nervous about this rather than showing my parents my grade! Goddamnit, this is driving me insane..." Fujinaga rubbed his hands so quickly they turned red, wanting to get a little bit warm while also trying to hide his nervousness.

"Me as well. I swear, if we are picking Sapporo Otani in any round before the semifinal, I would be livid!" Hiroshi cracked a joke, just for the others to throw the closest pillow to them straight at the boy.

"Oh, shut up, Hiroshi!"

"Yeah, don’t jinx it like that! We still have the drawing to be revealed here, don’t bring any bad omen!"

Well, while the others were having fun, Higo himself just stayed quiet on the edge of the room. Kumiko wasn’t there since she had to represent the team for this drawing session, and honestly, Higo was quite lonely today. Based on how big the sigh escaping from his mouth, it looked like Higo was just a random old man who was so tired of his life already.

’Let’s just hope that Kumiko-chan will go back soon.’ He muttered under his breath.

Fortunately, he didn’t need to wait for too long, indeed. Soon enough, the girl arrived back at school, giving salvation to not just Higo but also the restless souls who couldn’t wait for the result of the drawing.

"Oh, you all are waiting for me?" Kumiko arched one of her eyebrows slightly, smiling playfully. "Why? The tournament’s tree will be uploaded to social media later, you know that, right?"

"Oh, come on, Shishida-senpai! Don’t make us wait like that!" Kenji threw a fit, whining like a child.

"Shut up for a moment and let her speak first!" Hori scolded him, slapping the boy on the back before turning back to Kumiko with an apologetic smile. "Continue, Senpai."

Kumiko just snorted amusedly when she saw their antics. Somehow, after the short episode of Hori’s leave, those two grew closer than ever. It was so strange to see the duo of senpai-kouhai who didn’t even have anything in common to hang out together to the point that they became best friend, and yet, no one really questioned it, knowing that they both had their own story here.

"Anyway, the meeting itself is like the usual, far from being straightforward. So much time wasted on formality, but in the end, I finally get the tournament tree. Let me show you." She turned on the projector in the room, connecting it to her laptop. "Ah! Here we go!"

Right after that, 16 boys inside the room leaned forward eagerly, their eyes looking for the team’s name immediately. The tension was palpable here, what with everyone’s eyes scanning through the long list of the school there without finding any result. In the end, though, it was Hiroshi who broke the awkward silence here with a dramatic gasp.

"Our name is at the bottom of the list!" He exclaimed in shock. "Does that mean we are the second-seeded of the tournament?!"

Yeah, this was a common practice in this kind of tournament tree. The first-seeded team would be placed straight at the top, while the second-seeded one would be on the opposite, far at the rock bottom of the list. They both would have to climb slowly, until in the end, an ideal match between the two best teams in the prefecture could happen in the final of the tournament.

Now, all eyes snapped from the screen to Kumiko and back to the screen again, getting overwhelmed by this information. After confirming that Hiroshi was right, they all waited for Kumiko’s explanation, which the girl gave so readily.

"Indeed, after our amazing performance in the last two tournaments, the organizer has decided that we are granted the second-seeded team of the tournament." Her smile was wider than ever. "That means, our revenge against Sapporo Otani will be at the grandest moment of all time! The final! Aren’t you excited?!"

Right after that, hell broke loose instantly inside the room.

"Heck, yeah! This is what I am waiting for!"

"Damn! We are the second seed! They finally appreciate our result!"

The excitement was visible on everyone’s faces, spreading through the entire room. Somehow, the thought of facing Sapporo Otani didn’t scare the shit out of them anymore. No, if anything, they all were eager for that day to come, and the tournament really gave the best stage for them to do that, which was in the final.

"Well, it is good that you are not afraid of Sapporo Otani anymore, but don’t underestimate the other opponent as well, okay?" Kumiko reminded them all.

They didn’t need to be told twice, starting to scan the whole thing more thoroughly.

"So, our most difficult opponent would be Esashi High, right?"

"Yeah, we are probably going to meet them at the semifinal, while Sapporo Otani will face Ritsumeikan at the same time."

"Still... There aren’t a lot of things to analyze here, right? I mean, we don’t have so many strong teams in the prefecture."

"Yeah, I guess you are right. Who is our first opponent, by the way?"

All the eyes shifted back to the bottom of the list once again, just to find out a familiar name getting paired against them.

Hakodate Nishi High – Sapporo Kita High