Work Smarter, Not Harder

 Upon the race between the tortoise and hare, the estrangement collapsed, with friendship moving on. After school, they homed and played the trending electronic games—Super Mario Bros. The tortoise played the character Luigi, who just got eliminated by a bunch of mushrooms—Goombas. And the hare acted as Mario. With a few instant touches on the console, Mario hopped on Koopa Troopa, a bipedal tortoise, who then squeezed its four limbs into its green shell. Mario stepped on the Koopa again, allowing a glitchy acceleration act on the green shell and bumping all Goombas off the stage. All of a sudden, an advertisement popped up, blocking the sight of the ongoing battle.

"Damn..." cussed the tortoise. "Wait, what? A two-person marathon in the city of Horn Corn on Saturday? It sounds great, right?" "Yeah. Let's sign it up," consented the hare.

On Saturday, they travelled to Horn Corn by train, arriving at Nathan Road, the competition counter, at 7 a.m. sharp on Sunday. Soon after pre-race check-in, amber lighting penetrated and sparkled in midair, facing the hare.

"Well, well, well. Look who we get here! A little bunny! Aren't you the one who claimed yourself as the snappiest runner?" teased the leopards, stretching out their brawny muscles inside their legs simultaneously. The silky fur on the hare's skin turned pointed, as sharp as the swords. The hare gripped its fist behind it, amassing energy for a mighty punch. The tortoise dragged and held the hare's fist, escaping from the tension before any conflict happened.

"Attention! All marathon runners should now proceed to the starting line. 15 minutes left until the starting time," the organiser announced. The starting line was now occupied by the contestants.

"On your marks! Get set! Go!" All competitors stockpiled their energy and released it instantly, striving for the first position. At first, the leopards were leading, outspeeding others for a few kilometres. The hare and the tortoise could easily follow the pace of other runners, ranking second. Nevertheless, with the hefty carapace on the back of the tortoise, gasping gradually as the race went on. Despite the exhaustion, the tortoise withstood it with willpower. The leopards slowed down and reappeared in the tortoise's view and the hare.

The hare scoffed," Oh, look, who is here? Are you exhausted from running so fast in the beginning? This is not a sprint, newbie. You deserved it." One leopard giggled, "We are not you. Being a runner is in my blood, not a jumper or a crawler. We are just coming to tease you. So, just give up! Don't even want to catch my tail, my prey!" The hare encouraged the tortoise, "Don't take their words personally. We are definitely the winners."

At the last kilometre, the hare and tortoise finally discovered the leopards again. Because of the heavy footsteps and the rapid breaths, the leopards detected them. They laughed sarcastically and twisted their heads backwards, pulling faces constantly. The leopards sprinted five times as agilely as a fighter plane F-35, leaving dust suspended in the wind. The imagination of losing hovered in the hare's brain, but the memory of fighting the Goombas arose concurrently.

"Hey, tortoise, put all your limbs inside your shells!" commanded the hare. "Huh? How can I run then?" "Just do it!"

The hare dashed as swiftly as it could. The tortoise transformed into a shell, being stepped on and stood on by the hare. The sliding shell was supercharged, receiving no air resistance or friction, like a maglev train.

For the last 10 metres, the leopards turned around, searching for the hare. The hare and the tortoise were disappeared. The leopards thought, "Where did they go? Never mind, perhaps, they have already given up." A blurry skateboard-like object drifted near them. The finishing belt fell off. "What the!" swore the leopards. Everyone, including the referee, is amazed. The hare and the tortoise bumped into a water table at last.

In the end, the hare and the tortoise defeated the leopards and obtained a shining gold trophy under the sunset, breaking the world record and rewriting history. So, remember, "work smarter, not harder."