About five minutes later, as bursts of engine noise rolled up from the roads on Back Mountain, the rest of tonight's racers finally arrived at the venue.
To fit the theme of the event, each team had dressed up in all kinds of matching couple outfits with their partner.
And compared to Mizuno and Maruzensky's cardboard-and-plastic-spirit getup, their costumes were obviously better-looking—and a lot more unusual too—so before long, everyone's attention was pulled away from Mizuno's side.
"Whew..." Feeling all those eyes finally leave him, Mizuno let out a long breath of relief.
"Wow! Looks like the rest of our contestants are finally arriving one after another!"
The host was delighted too. After working this hard to keep the atmosphere going, he no longer had to keep milking Mizuno and his "girlfriend" for material.
"Ahem." The host cleared his throat, gathered himself, and began introducing the basic information of tonight's contestants one by one in order of arrival.
"Team 6! Tonight's cosplay is Tiga and Camearra from Ultraman, and their ride is a yellow jeep!"
"As everyone knows, Tiga and Camearra are one of the most iconic couples in Ultraman. Sadly, because their ideals were different, they ultimately went their separate ways and never got a happy ending. A real shame."
"But tonight, they'll once again become a loving couple, fighting together for the same goal! Let's cheer them on!"
"Team 3 appears to be Nobita and Shizuka tonight, riding in a bumper car painted like Doraemon!"
"When a kind girl meets a pure-hearted boy, when a childhood goddess meets an idiot with no romantic sense, can childhood sweethearts really end up together?"
"Yes they can, brother! Yes they can!"
"In the future ending of Doraemon, Nobita really does manage to marry Shizuka through his own efforts, and the two of them go on to live the kind of happy life he never would've dared dream of before."
"And tonight, they too are partners fated to support each other for life as they fight hand in hand for victory!"
"Next up, Team 7: Loli Pikachu and Shota Ash! Their ride is an electric scooter!"
"Oh? A theme built around the bond between a Trainer and his Pokémon? Now that's a refreshing idea!"
"Pikachu and Ash may share a pure friendship, but if Pikachu were personified as a beautiful girl, then why can't that become a kind of love too? Let's wish them victory!"
"Next, Team 8 is... a dog and its owner?"
The host visibly froze for half a beat as he looked at the pair made up of a sexy beauty holding a muscular man-dog on an iron leash.
He could still bullshit his way through the Pokémon team from before, but faced with Team 8's SM duo, the host genuinely couldn't think of a single thing to say.
There were people of all ages in the audience. This was an all-ages race—he couldn't exactly start explaining BDSM etiquette to the crowd.
"Th-this is... a very bold costume..." Having no idea how to introduce this "owner and pet" duo, the host could only laugh it off awkwardly and hurry past them before moving on to the next team.
"Team 2 is cosplaying Eren and Mikasa from Attack on Titan, and their ride is the Cart Titan."
"Team 5 is..."
"Oh?"
Right then, the host's eyes suddenly lit up as his gaze locked onto a white AE86 slowly winding its way up the mountain road in the distance.
The man and woman in the car weren't wearing flashy costumes like the other contestants—just matching white shirts with hearts on them—but the aura the two of them gave off was on a completely different level from everyone else.
"It's the 86! The 86 is coming up the mountain!"
"Oh my, next I have to give a grand introduction to Team 1, whose ride is that classic AE86!"
"But honestly, I hardly need to introduce them. I'm sure everyone here has at least heard a little about the handsome young man in the driver's seat!"
"He is the current number one on the rankings, the newly rising genius of the street-racing world, the racer who crushed the last two events in overwhelming fashion and the contestant with the best shot at taking tonight's crown..."
"Jei Chou!"
"Jei! Jei! Jei!"
With the appearance of the classic AE86 in the distance, the atmosphere at the venue surged to an even greater high.
Truth be told, most people in this world admired strength deep down. And with Jei Chou being a genius teenager who had risen to prominence so recently, his formidable racing skills combined with his handsome looks had easily won him a huge crowd of cheering fans.
Even if what people knew about this idol of theirs was probably less than what they knew about the neighbor next door they almost never saw, that still didn't stop them from lifting someone powerful onto a pedestal and shouting his name at the top of their lungs.
"Jei! Jei! Jei!"
Those who knew what was going on understood that a genius young racer had arrived. Those who didn't might have thought some top superstar singer had come here to hold a concert.
"Oh, not bad at all." Jei Chou heard the fans shouting for him from a distance, so he tapped the horn a few times in response.
The sharp blare of the horn sent the crowd's cheers into another wave.
"Haha, Jei Chou is as popular as ever," the host exclaimed.
"Everyone, look! The pretty girl in the passenger seat seems to be Jei Chou's new girlfriend, Miss Uehara Mika. Really, they make a perfect match."
"And on top of that, if Jei Chou wins tonight's race, he'll achieve three consecutive championships. It's enough to make anyone excited~"
"Huh?" Mizuno, who had been quietly planning in the corner how to beat Jei Chou, suddenly felt that something was off.
Wait a second. What did the host just say?
What did he mean, if Jei Chou wins tonight, he'll achieve three consecutive championships?
In other words, if Mizuno wanted to win tonight's race, he'd have to personally end Jei Chou's three-title streak?!
Why did that plot setup sound so familiar?
"I'm the Black Assassin now?!" Mizuno pointed at himself, his face full of disbelief.
He was Rice Shower's beloved big brother—how had he somehow ended up becoming the one who killed a triple crown dream?
Then again, to be fair, dressed all in black like this, Mizuno really did look like some shady villain who would suddenly pop out behind the protagonist with moves like [Dark Dragon Soul-Seizing Hand] and [Zabaniya].
"Scared me half to death—I almost cast a ninja technique!"
"Hiss..." Meanwhile, Jei Chou, who had still been cheerfully greeting the crowd, suddenly felt a chill run down his back and couldn't help shivering.
What was going on? Why did he suddenly have the strange feeling that some black-clad assassin was about to leap out and stab him in the back...?