Lions and Hyenas

From Akira's Perspective

The monitor displayed a group of students.

"The leading group has already cleared the third basement floor, the Strong Slime Area! Their time is five minutes, an excellent record even among past first-year students! Meanwhile, the fifth-place group is struggling at the end of the second basement floor, battling the continuously spawning monsters!" the announcer clearly described the situation.

I recognized some faces in the first-place group.

Erick and Clara.

They're apparently the runners-up in our grade.

Elize has some reason to see them as adversaries, though I'm not sure why.

The commentator began eloquently, "Oh, look at that, the leading pair, Erick & Clara and the Sharp & Flat pair are letting each other take the lead. Is this a case of lions and hyenas?"

Hearing this, Elize added an explanation, "Erick, with his current personality, would definitely prefer to be the hyena."

"Hyena?"

"Simply put, the lion's role is to knock down the monsters, while the hyena follows without the burden of combat. Naturally, being the hyena saves more energy and strain on the vocal cords than battling as the lion."

"I see?"

"And when the lion is about to exhaust, the hyenas surge ahead to take the lead."

It's a tactical game, but being the hyena offers an advantage, which might make it a bit dirty in terms of sportsmanship.

Then, I was certain.

This was just like cross-country skiing.

Known as the king of skiing, sometimes Japanese competitors fight for medals and gain significant attention, especially during the Olympics when it becomes a popular televised event.

This endurance sport often sees groups of competitors strategically letting others take the lead to save energy. Those facing headwinds expend more energy, so they stay behind the leader to conserve their strength before overtaking them at the end, which is considered a legitimate strategy.

"Erick is obsessed with winning. He would choose to be the hyena if it meant securing a victory," said Elize, and sure enough, they moved into second place.

The leading pair fought desperately against the enemies, depleting their energy.

"We need to decide our strategy too. Should we play the hyenas or take on the lions?"

"I have a plan. If we do as I say, we can't lose," Elize declared.

If it was Elize's plan, it had to be foolproof.

I had complete trust in her strategic insight.

"Students of the Kirin class, please gather at the start line. The race starts in ten minutes!"

"Shall we go?"

Our challenge was about to begin.