章 203: Regional Qualifiers Result

The silence felt heavy, wrapping around each of them as Aiko's eyes scanned the rankings. The team held their breath, locked in that strange moment suspended between hope and dread. Sota found himself leaning forward, his heart hammering in his chest, every beat echoing with the weight of months of hard work, sweat, and resilience.

Aiko's eyes went wide, her lips parting in silent disbelief as she stared at the screen. Slowly, almost as if she were afraid to believe it herself, she lifted her gaze to meet theirs, her voice trembling with excitement.

"Guys… we're… we're not just in the top eight," she stammered, her voice barely a whisper at first, "We're… we're in the top two!"

A stunned silence followed, every teammate frozen in place as though they hadn't quite heard her right. The air seemed to pulse, thick with shock, and then it hit—first as a slow, quiet realization, and then as a rising wave of joy that broke through all at once.