"Senpai, thank you for dinner. Would you like to come back to my place for a bit?" Kazuto asked Ayako politely as they stepped out into the cool evening air.
Ayako's fair cheeks flushed slightly at the unexpected invitation.
She tucked a stray curl behind her ear and nodded shyly. "I often jog near the Mountain in the mornings, but I've never actually been inside the Mountain Villa complex before. I'd love to see it."
"Let's go then," Kazuto said, taking hold of the handlebars of her bicycle to push it for her as they walked up the winding road toward the mountain.
The residential complex wasn't far, it took only a five-minute walk from the sushi restaurant to reach the imposing, guarded iron gates.
Following the mental map inherited from the body's original owner, Kazuto stopped in front of Building 7.
The sprawling property featured a meticulously manicured private garden nearly a thousand square meters in size.
To the left of the garden stood a traditional wooden pavilion and a large, modern, hundred-square-meter private gym.
What pleased Kazuto most was that he could clearly see a polished, half-court basketball floor built inside the glass-walled gym.
To the right of the garden, a massive swimming pool shimmered with crystal-clear water under the ambient landscape lighting.
At the very back of the estate stood a towering, three-story detached mansion, covering an area of over a thousand square meters.
Even though Kazuto had mentally prepared himself through his inherited memories, witnessing the sheer scale of the estate in person still left him deeply shaken.
'So it seems my new family is truly, absurdly wealthy,' he murmured inwardly, gazing at his new home with a heavy sigh, his heart struggling to remain calm.
A house like this would easily cost several hundred million yuan in my previous life.
"Kouhai, your house is enormous!" Ayako exclaimed as they stepped through the front gate and into the garden, her beautiful eyes wide with astonishment.
"I'd heard rumors about how massive the properties up here were, but seeing it in person is even more staggering than the stories suggested."
Walking alongside the awestruck Ayako, Kazuto, filled with his own curiosity, took out his keys and unlocked the heavy mahogany front door.
As the door swung open, a grand foyer and living hall spanning over a hundred square meters stretched before them.
The hall's decor leaned toward a traditional style, furnished with heavy intricately carved mahogany pieces.
The moment Kazuto stepped inside, he felt enveloped by an aura of scholarly refinement, as if his very soul had settled into a state of deep tranquility.
"Your home has such a calm, scholarly atmosphere. It's so comforting," Ayako said, stepping inside. Her face lit up with excitement as she praised the interior design.
While touring the massive first floor, she picked up various intricate clay figurines displayed on a shelf.
"These are adorable! I've seen them in books before. This is the Chinese zodiac, right? And this monkey is Sun Wukong..."
As Ayako eagerly explored the living room, Kazuto set down his backpack and went to the kitchen to pour her a cold drink.
"Thank you!" Ayako accepted the glass and continued her tour.
Kazuto accompanied her, showing her around the main areas of the house, which also helped him familiarize himself with the layout of his new home.
By the time they had finished exploring the ground floor, half an hour had passed.
"Oh, it's getting late. I should head back now," Ayako said, glancing at the grandfather clock in the hall.
As she walked toward the front door, she turned back and pointed a commanding finger at him.
"Kouhai, remember our deal! I'll be waiting for you at the complex entrance tomorrow at six sharp. Don't oversleep!"
"See you tomorrow, Senpai," Kazuto replied with a nod, watching Ayako hop on her bike and ride off down the mountain road.
After seeing her off, Kazuto freshened up in one of the many luxurious bathrooms, set his alarm, and collapsed into his massive incredibly soft bed.
The night passed quickly in a dreamless, exhausted sleep.
...
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The alarm jolted Kazuto awake at 5:45 AM.
With May approaching, the sky outside his window was already bright and clear.
After a quick wash, Kazuto changed into a fresh set of workout clothes and jogged down the mountain to meet Ayako.
When he arrived at the grand entrance of the residential complex, Ayako was already waiting, doing light stretches.
Today, her voluminous curly hair was tied back in a high ponytail, and she wore a blue baseball cap.
Her crisp white athletic outfit added to her lively appearance, giving her an energetic and youthful vibe.
Though the outfit was loose-fitting for running, it still perfectly accentuated her well-proportioned, athletic figure.
"Right on time. Good job," Ayako praised him with a bright smile, noticing his punctuality.
Kazuto stretched his arms. "Senpai, lead the way. I'll follow your pace."
"Alright! Try to keep up!" Ayako nodded decisively and started jogging at a brisk pace, with Kazuto falling into step closely beside her.
Running alongside Ayako, chatting lightly about the upcoming basketball season, made the time fly by.
To his surprise, Kazuto felt almost no fatigue at all.
As the cool morning breeze washed over him, Kazuto couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
'No wonder so many guys in my past life liked running with pretty girls. This really is a great feeling.'
'It totally distracts from the physical exertion.'
About half an hour later, Kazuto and Ayako looped back and returned to the entrance of the Mountain Villa complex.
At that moment, a tall young man with unkempt shoulder-length hair emerged from the gates, immediately capturing their attention.
He had a bandage on his chin and a sullen, aggressive posture.
Ayako's beautiful eyes widened in shock at the sight of him.
"Mitsui-senpai?!" she exclaimed under her breath. "He actually lives here? That's unexpected."
"Mitsui?"
Hearing Ayako's surprised murmur, Kazuto's interest piqued.
He focused his gaze and began to silently scrutinize the long-haired youth.
[Character Information: Hisashi Mitsui]
Height: 184 cm
Weight: 70 kg
Strength: 74
Speed: 78
Stamina: 68
Vertical Jump: 81
'Looks like he's really let himself go during his two-year absence from the court,' Kazuto thought, observing Mitsui's relatively mediocre current stats.
His stamina, in particular, was appallingly low for a former MVP.
Kazuto felt a brief pang of regret for the fallen star but quickly dismissed it.
Whether Mitsui would eventually cause trouble in the gym and rejoin the team wasn't his immediate concern.
He would deal with that timeline event when it happened.
As Mitsui slowly walked away down the street, hands stuffed deep in his pockets, Ayako turned back to Kazuto.
"Kouhai," she said, shaking off her surprise, "it's getting late. We should head back to our houses and get ready for school."
"Yeah. See you in class." Kazuto nodded.
The two parted ways, agreeing to meet at a designated intersection later so they could walk to Shohoku High School together.
...
Shohoku High School, Basketball Gym
As the day's classes finally ended, the entire basketball team gathered in the gym for afternoon practice.
"Ten laps around the court to warm up! Let's go!" Akagi announced, blowing his whistle and leading the team in their daily physical conditioning drills.
[Ding! Random Mission Triggered: Complete 10 laps around the court. Reward: +1 Stamina Attribute Point.]
As Kazuto fell into line and began jogging alongside Akagi, the system notification flashed pleasantly in his mind.
'Just as I predicted,' Kazuto thought, feeling a surge of excitement.
'Random, minor missions have a chance of triggering during basic, repetitive training drills.'
This realization drastically heightened Kazuto's anticipation for the rest of the grueling training session.
To his slight disappointment, only one more random mission triggered during the remaining layup lines and passing drills, rewarding him with a +1 Speed Attribute Point.
However, Kazuto quickly reasoned that if missions triggered every single time he did a drill, they wouldn't be "random" at all, and the system would be too broken.
Without hesitation, Kazuto mentally used both 1-point Attribute Cards, adding 1 point each directly to his base Speed and Stamina attributes.
'If I can trigger random missions daily and grind out these minor Attribute Points, my base stats will improve significantly by the time the practice match against Ryonan arrives,' Kazuto thought.
This realization sparked a massive sense of anticipation and a strong, genuine desire to train hard.
'I also still have the main Dribbling Stage 3 mission pending. It requires 10,000 total dribbles. I should focus on completing that today.'
With this goal in mind, when Akagi divided the players, Kazuto moved to the sidelines and began his relentless, repetitive dribbling drills.
While Kazuto pounded the rock into the hardwood, Akagi divided the remaining players into two teams for a simple half-court scrimmage.
For a while, the gym was filled with the squeak of sneakers and the rhythmic bouncing of basketballs as everyone focused on their assigned tasks.
Over two hours passed in a blur.
[Ding! Main Quest 'Dribbling' - Stage 3 completed. Accumulated 10,000 dribbles.]
[Achievement 'Fluid Movement' unlocked. Reward: 3-Point Free Attribute Card.]
[Ding! Main Quest 'Shooting' - Stage 1 activated. Complete 1,000 made shots to earn a Skill Upgrade Card.]
[Ding! Achievement 'Fluid Movement' unlocked. Would you like to replace the active achievement 'Practice Makes Perfect'?]
The cascade of System notifications finally arrived, just as Kazuto's arms were beginning to feel like lead.
The System is truly intelligent.
As soon as the dribbling task tree ended, the shooting task tree automatically appeared.
Hearing the System's voice in his mind, Kazuto smiled faintly.
'Replace 'Practice Makes Perfect'.'
Having already understood that these achievements were direct upgrades, Kazuto made his decision without hesitation.
After swapping the active buffs, he checked his new, permanent passive attribute:
[Fluid Movement (Passive Buff)] Grants +30% Dribbling Speed, +30% Running Speed, and +30% Ball Control Fluidity.
'It's been enhanced again, but 30% seems to be the absolute limit for this buff tree,' Kazuto noted.
Seeing no new dribbling tasks populate, Kazuto realized that 'Fluid Movement' was indeed the final, ultimate reward for the basic dribbling questline.
Although the questline was over, Kazuto was incredibly satisfied.
A permanent 30% multiplier to his base speed and ball control was already a terrifyingly powerful advantage on the court.
Any higher, and his movements would completely defy human common sense, potentially leading to unwanted attention.
'I also have that 3-point Free Attribute Card. Let's see where I should allocate it.'
As he mentally activated the 3-point card, Kazuto's status panel expanded before his eyes.
The interface now looked slightly different from usual.
Behind each of the physical attributes—Strength, Speed, Stamina, and Vertical Jump—was a glowing plus sign (+).
'This is just like allocating stat points in an RPG,' Kazuto thought, understanding the mechanic immediately.
He began considering which attribute desperately needed the enhancement.
'With Akagi, Sakuragi, and Rukawa dominating the paint and rebounding, I don't need to focus on brute-force inside play.'
'Increasing my Strength by a mere 3 points would be a drop in the bucket and largely pointless for my playstyle.'
'For Stamina, I have the 'Perfect Posture' buff halving my drain, plus the morning run mission with Ayako slowly building it up, so I don't need to worry about prioritizing that right now.'
'My Speed is already heavily boosted by the 30% multiplier from 'Fluid Movement.' That leaves Vertical Jump.'
After careful analysis, Kazuto decided that increasing his raw explosiveness would yield the best results for his drives and perimeter defense.
He tapped the plus sign next to his Vertical Jump three times.
As he confirmed the point distribution, he felt a sudden, subtle tightening and release of tension in his calves and thighs.
[Character Information: Kiriyama Kazuto]
Height: 177 cm
Weight: 63 kg
Strength: 61
Speed: 70
Stamina: 60
Vertical Leap: 71 (+3)
Active Buff: Eye of Deception
Passive Buffs: Precognition, Perfect Posture, Fluid Movement
Basketball Skills: C-Turn Dribble, V-Drag Dribble, Standard Jump Shot, Switch-Hand Layup, One-Handed Dunk
'Finally, no more failing grades in my base stats,' Kazuto muttered, a highly satisfied smile spreading across his sweaty face as he examined the panel.
Though each numerical improvement was small, with the system's multipliers and his daily grind, he would soon undergo a complete physical transformation.
"Gather around!"
Akagi's booming voice echoed across the court, interrupting Kazuto's stat review.
After everyone hurriedly assembled in a line, Akagi blew his whistle and assigned the daily cleaning duties, instructing the freshmen to grab the wide brooms and begin sweeping and mopping the massive basketball court.