Chapter 347: Intercontinental Archery Championship finals part-4

The ground of Wular university's soccer stadium was almost flooded due to heavy rainfall.

Meanwhile, several people, especially the locals and the university students, stood up from their seats and left the stadium one by one with the authorities announcing the third round of the finals will be broadcasted online. 

In no time, more than half of the stadium was emptied. The remaining took out their mobile phones to watch the live stream.

Looking at the situation, Wil wondered why the staff didn't just place the screens under the roof and stream it there. Wouldn't it be better to watch on such a big screen rather than watching on mobile phones or laptops?

But, as the match started, he threw away the useless thoughts and concentrated on his phone.

***

With no audience around, the two high school kids, Hyori and Sakura, entered the gymnasium together.

All of them saw a line was drawn on the floor and ten robots were standing  50 meters away from the line.

Each of these robots has three targets fixed on their bodies, one on the forehead, the second is on the abdomen and the final one is being hidden from their vision as it was placed at their back.

Unlike the usual targets with ten concentric rings, these ones have only four. They were painted in white, blue, yellow, and black.

Hyori and Sakura took their seats as the finalists of the high school division started the final round.

Watching the match from the screen in the commentator box, the two commentators and the guest started their commentary.

With no time limit being set, the match went on for an hour. In the meantime, the rains also became light. However, no one cared about it as the third round is already about to end.

As the girl overpowered the boy in the third category, the three of them couldn't help but cheer for her. Even though she lost the championship, the high school senior from the Ares Academy managed to win the third round.

The audience also applauded for her performance where she managed to hit all the targets in 42 out of 50 arrows, which itself is a worthy feat to remember. After all, she isn't a monster like Hyori and Sakura.

After both of their finals finished, everyone watched a ten-minute dance performance on their mobile screens. Wil and some others felt it was weird as the performance wasn't needed right now.

But, as the performance turned out to be great, no one complained about it and continued to watch the live stream.

A while later;

"Finally, Fujimori Sakura and Lee Hyori came on to the stage." Commentator Wang and Commentator Yamamura screamed together.

A group of male students who stayed behind instead of returning to the dorms cheered loudly for them even though the participants cannot hear them. 

Upon spotting the collective cheering from university students, pro-Archer Junho also actively cheered for Hyori.

"Now, this battle is a lot important for Ms. Lee," Commentator Wang then spoke of the rule that was just added a while ago. "With Fujimori Sakura leading the game by 2-1, Ms. Lee had no choice but to win this round to go for a tie break where both of them will continue to shoot the arrows with the remaining arrows they were left."

"Now, Fujimori Sakura has a big advantage here." Commentator Yamamura reminded everyone of the advantage Sakura had in this match. "Each one will be given only 50 arrows and there are 30 targets. To win the tournament, she doesn't even need to win this round.

As long as she was able to hit the targets without worrying about the score in as few arrows as possible, she would be able to save many arrows for the tie break. On the other hand, lee Hyori cannot afford to save arrows. Her focus should be on getting a high score. Facing such huge pressure, she has a higher probability of missing the targets."

However, in the next moment, Commentator Yamamura's words were stuck on the throat as he fell into a daze.

First, the robots started to move in random directions. After they were separated from each other, the technical official whistled to start the match.

Upon receiving the signal, both of them raised the bow and aimed at one of the robots.

Sakura didn't take much time in targeting a robot and fired the arrow as soon as she spotted a robot facing her direction.

Robot no.6 abdomen's target was successfully pierced by the arrow. It was barely landed in the black ring due to the robot's sudden change of direction just before it was struck by the arrow. 

Meanwhile, Hyori closed her eyes for a few seconds and then, looked at her target, once again.

Instead of the robot, she imagined it to be a troll from the virtual world of War Online. She aimed at its forehead.

*Ting*

A loud sound of the string reverberated in the surroundings as Hyori released the arrow. It cut through the air like a flash and struck the target placed at the head of one of the robots.

Shockingly, not only it was hit in the tiny black ring, which is worth 10 points, but it also hit in the dead center. Even Sakura was surprised to see Hyori's sudden move.

After all, hitting the abdomen target is easier than the one on the forehead. Not to mention, the robot's head was slightly tilted to the side as it walking in the 5 o'clock direction. Still, the arrow struck at the dead center.

Not caring about the earlier success, Hyori withdrew the bow once again while maintaining a serious look on her face.

Instead of looking for other targets, Hyori put her focus on the robot that she hit earlier. She plans to go one after the other.

Soon, she found the opportunity. Robot no.8, which was struck by Hyori, earlier, now, changed its direction.

Hyori found the target on its back. She quickly walked to the side without crossing the line that was painted on the floor and shot the second arrow while tilting her body in the same direction as the target.

Half an hour later;

"Another ten…" Commentator Wang was jumping around like a kid in excitement. "Now, this was the eleventh perfect shot in a row. Lee Hyori was leading the game with 110-103."

"Lee Hyori" "Lee Hyori" "Lee Hyori"

The stadium was filled with cheers from Hyori's supporters. However, Sakura seemed calm on the outside. In fact, she was even smiling as if she was enjoying the feeling of losing.

Looking at her expression, Wil felt like the girl is toying with Hyori.

Something told him that either this girl might be hiding her real skills or she just wanted to take the match to tie break by saving as many arrows as she can so that she can get a clean victory just like Commentator Yamamura mentioned earlier.

Back to the match, Hyori's concentration is at her peak, and she shot all the remaining arrows without missing the black ring.

"And Hyori finished the third round with a perfect score." Commentator Wang was high on clouds as he screamed in delight. "With a score of 300-273, Hyori won the third round and leveled the game with 2-2. Now, the match is going into a tie break where both of these finalists will have 20 each."