Ryōnan High School, Basketball Gym.
The sunset painted the huge floor-to-ceiling windows a deep blood red.
The court floor gleamed from countless shoe soles scraping against it, and the air was thick with the raw scent of teenage male hormones.
"Defense! Move your feet!"
"Senior Uozumi, secure the rebound!"
Roars echoed back and forth.
**Taoka Shigeichi** stood on the sidelines with arms crossed, brows tightly furrowed.
He was confident in this year's lineup.
The two-meter-tall giant **Uozumi Jun**, the genius scorer **Sendō Akira**.
This was Ryōnan's golden chance to make a serious run at the nationals.
"Bang!"
The gym door was slammed open with force.
Everyone froze mid-motion.
**Aida Hikoichi** burst in and immediately face-planted onto the floor with a loud thud.
Ignoring the pain, he scrambled on all fours toward **Taoka**.
"Coach! Coach!"
"Big trouble!"
**Hikoichi** was gasping for air, his notebook crumpled in his fist.
"Hikoichi!"
"How many times have I told you—salute when entering the gym!"
"And what's with this commotion?!" **Taoka**'s forehead veins bulged.
"No, Coach—it's urgent!"
"It's Shohoku! I went to scout Shohoku!"
Panic still lingered in **Hikoichi**'s eyes.
"Shohoku?"
"That Akagi one-man show? What's worth scouting there?"
"Aside from Akagi, the only mildly interesting name is that Rukawa Kaede from Tomioka Middle School," **Taoka** snorted disdainfully.
"No! It's not Rukawa Kaede!"
**Hikoichi** frantically flipped open his notebook and jabbed at the messy handwriting.
"It's a first-year international student named **Lin Bei**!"
"He… he instantly demolished Rukawa Kaede in a one-on-one!"
The words landed.
A brief, stunned silence fell over the entire gym.
Then laughter erupted.
"Hey, Hikoichi, did you fall asleep and start dreaming during your scout?"
"Instantly beat Rukawa Kaede? The MVP?"
"A player that strong would've been poached ages ago—like Sendō was. No way he's at Shohoku."
**Koshino** and **Uekusa** were doubled over laughing.
Even the mountain-like **Uozumi Jun** let out a low, skeptical grunt: "Hmph. Nonsense."
"It's true!"
"I saw it with my own eyes!"
"That speed… like a ghost!"
"Rukawa Kaede didn't even have time to react—the ball was already in!" **Hikoichi** flushed red, neck veins popping in desperation.
"And that **Lin Bei** even said…"
"Said what?" Though **Taoka** didn't believe a word, he asked anyway.
"He said… he was too tired to keep playing. He only won because he wanted to leave early."
"Hah?"
**Taoka** blinked, stunned.
What kind of ridiculous excuse was that?
Even more absurd than when Sendō claimed he chose Ryōnan because it was "close to home"!
"Alright, Hikoichi," **Taoka** waved him off impatiently.
"I think you were so intimidated by Rukawa Kaede's reputation that you hallucinated."
"What kind of monster could possibly come out of a mediocre public school like Shohoku?"
"More importantly…" **Taoka** spun around, glaring at the team. "Where the hell is that slacker Sendō again?!"
The whole squad went dead quiet.
Everyone exchanged glances; no one dared speak.
At that exact moment, the side door in the corner creaked open just a sliver.
A hedgehog-haired boy poked half his body in, casually holding a fishing rod.
"Ah… everyone's here."
"Today's sunset looks perfect for fishing…"
**Sendō** finished with his signature innocent, harmless smile.
"Sendō! Akira!"
**Taoka Shigeichi**'s roar nearly blew the roof off.
"Coach, I just went to the beach to contemplate life's tactics," **Sendō** shrank his neck and scratched his head with a sheepish grin.
He slowly changed into his shoes and strolled onto the court.
As he passed **Hikoichi**, **Sendō** paused and glanced at the open notebook.
A crude stick-figure sketch with huge scrawled words: "Unbelievable!!" and "**Lin Bei**" in giant letters.
"Instantly beat Rukawa Kaede…"
**Sendō** narrowed his eyes, a playful curve tugging at his lips.
"Won just so he could leave early…"
"That personality… sounds pretty compatible with me."
He patted **Hikoichi** on the shoulder. "Next time, take me to see this **Lin Bei** guy."
**Hikoichi** was so moved he nearly burst into tears: "Senior Sendō! Finally someone believes me!"
…
The next day, **Shohoku High School**.
First-year classroom.
The room buzzed with the sound of textbooks and lectures.
Up front, the math teacher was passionately explaining quadratic functions, spit flying.
By the window in the very last row sat the "King of Slacking."
**Lin Bei** had propped his textbook up as a shield and was fast asleep.
Sunlight spilled across his face; his eyelashes cast soft shadows.
For someone whose life goal was maximum fishing, class time was prime naptime.
"**Lin Bei**!"
A piece of chalk arced through the air like a guided missile.
"Pop!"
It struck **Lin Bei** square on the forehead.
**Lin Bei** jolted awake, reflexively wiping drool from the corner of his mouth.
"Present!"
The whole class burst into laughter.
The math teacher adjusted his glasses, cold light flashing off the lenses. "Come up and solve this problem."
**Lin Bei** shuffled to the blackboard half-asleep.
He stared at the arcane symbols, yawned deeply.
[System prompt: Host facing academic crisis detected]
[Consume 10 fishing points to redeem "Top Student Possession Card (1 minute)"?]
"Exchange."
**Lin Bei** thought silently.
He couldn't afford to get detention and lose club time.
(Mostly, he just wanted to slack off more efficiently.)
This was a necessary investment.
Scribble scribble.
Chalk flew across the board.
Thirty seconds later, **Lin Bei** tossed the chalk aside, clapped the dust off his hands, and headed back to his seat.
Three completely different solution methods remained on the board—the last one even using university-level calculus.
The classroom fell deathly silent.
The math teacher's mouth hung open; his glasses had slid halfway down his nose.
As **Lin Bei** passed the podium, he politely asked:
"Teacher, may I go back to sleep now?"
"I didn't finish my dream yet."
…
Lunch break, rooftop.
**Lin Bei** lounged in the shadow of the water tank, sipping strawberry milk through a straw.
"Master!"
A thunderous shout shattered the peace.
The iron door was kicked open, and **Sakuragi Hanamichi** charged in like a red gorilla.
In each hand he held an enormous fried bread roll.
"This is your tribute!"
"Can you teach me the secret of that Instant Movement today?"
**Sakuragi** offered the bread with a flattering grin.
**Lin Bei** glanced at it.
Deluxe version—double meat filling.
The kid could be taught.
He lazily tore open the package and took a bite.
"Hanamichi."
"Here!" **Sakuragi** snapped to attention.
"If you want to master Instant Movement, you must first learn stillness."
**Lin Bei** pointed at himself. "Look at me. Am I quiet?"
"Yes… very lazy," **Sakuragi** answered honestly.
"Wrong!"
"In ancient Chinese philosophy, it's called 'still as a virgin, move like a startled rabbit.'"
"Your inner… chakra—no, your basketball soul—is way too restless."
"Starting today, you begin 『meditation training』."
"Just hold one posture without moving and visualize yourself as an unmoving stone in your mind."
"If you can last a full hour, I'll teach you the next step." **Lin Bei** bullshitted with utmost seriousness.
"Really?!" **Sakuragi**'s eyes sparkled.
"More real than real pearls."