[Please vote with the power stones; the more you vote, the more chapters will be published. Thank you.]
50 Power Stones = 1 bonus chapters.
100 Power Stones = 3 bonus chapters.
150 Power Stones = 5 bonus chapters.
----
Somewhere in the neon-lit area.
A uniquely styled, antique-looking group of buildings stands beside a mountain lake.
Within these buildings, surrounded by flowers, trees, and shrubs, is a basketball court.
And on the basketball court, two figures stand.
If Ryu were here, he would definitely recognize these two people.
One is the disheveled old man he once saw at the beach playground.
The other is Kazuo Kamimono, whom he defeated not long ago.
The usually resolute-looking Kazuo Kamimono, with his somewhat fierce eyes, appears like a simple-minded, big guy next to the disheveled old man, forcing a smile, looking rather comical.
"Uncle, I'm back."
Glug…glug…glug…
The disheveled old man takes a few gulps of wine, then looks at Kazuo Kamimono.
He first looks Kazuo Kamimono up and down, then speaks.
"Didn't you say you were going to participate in some event and then travel to Hokkaido? Why are you back?"
Hearing this, Kazuo Kamimono was a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say.
"This... well..."
The disheveled old man just looked at him calmly without saying a word.
Feeling a little uneasy under the disheveled old man's gaze, Kazuo Kamimono finally spoke.
"I lost the competition and didn't get the final prize, so..."
Hearing Kazuo Kamimono's words, a hint of surprise flashed in the disheveled old man's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
"Oh? You lost?"
Kazuo Kamimono nodded, blushing slightly.
"Yes, the opponent was very strong, you could say abnormally strong. I did my best."
Hearing Kazuo Kamimono's words, the disheveled old man raised his sake gourd again and gulped down two mouthfuls of sake.
Wiping the spilled sake from the corner of his mouth, the disheveled old man looked at Kazuo Kamimono and said...
"Tell me what happened."
"Yes…"
Then, Kazuo Kamimono recounted the entire match with Ryu in detail to the disheveled old man.
After he finished, a brief silence fell over the room.
The disheveled old man's deep eyes in thought.
After a long while, he finally spoke.
"Do you know his name?"
Kazuo Kamimono quickly replied.
"Yes, his name is Shirogane Ryu."
Hearing this name, the disheveled old man felt as if he had heard it somewhere before.
He frowned slightly, lost in thought, and murmured to himself.
"Shirogane Ryu…"
Soon, a glint flashed in his eyes.
"It's that kid."
"Uncle, you know him?"
Kazuo Kamimono asked with some surprise.
The disheveled old man looked at Kazuo Kamimono meaningfully and said,
"If it were that silver-haired kid, I've seen him a few times. But if it's that kid, you're definitely no match for him."
With that, he raised his gourd and started drinking again.
"Huh?" Kazuo Kamimono was completely dumbfounded.
The old man actually knew that kid.
Could that kid be one of the man's protégés?
If that's the case, losing to him isn't so bad.
He knew the man's abilities better than anyone.
It's understandable that he would train a few prodigies.
The disheveled old man immediately saw what Kazuo Kamimono was thinking.
"That kid's a player on the Teiko Middle School basketball team. I went to watch the league finals."
"Oh, ah…?"
Kazuo Kamimono was surprised.
Teiko?
He knew Teiko Middle School, of course.
All the news and newspapers had been reporting on Teiko's championship victory.
They even had some kind of title.
Kazuo Kamimono suddenly exclaimed.
"So, he's a regular on Teiko's team? One of the 'Generation of Miracles'?"
The disheveled old man habitually reached for his sake gourd, then realized it was light and seemingly empty.
He tucked the gourd into his waistband and said,
"Maybe!"
With that, the disheveled old man turned and left.
Leaving Kazuo Kamimono standing there, dumbfounded, questioning his existence.
"Kamimono…"
Just then, a voice pulled Kazuo Kamimono from his daze.
Looking towards the voice, he saw three people approaching from a distance.
"Kurobu, Hanafune, Kyuukawa, you're here!"
Kazuo Kamimono greeted the three.
These three were his schoolmates, and among his few friends.
"Why are you here alone?"
The speaker was the black-haired boy Kazuo Kamimono called Kurobu.
He had delicate features, with bangs covering his eyes, giving him a somewhat cool appearance.
How he could see the road was a mystery.
The other two were named Hanafune and Kyuukawa.
Hanafune was a brown-haired boy with a refined air, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, but always maintaining a poker face.
Kyuukawa had curly black hair and a knitted headband with the number "nine" printed on it.
Kazuo Kamimono chatted with the three, mentioning his match against Ryu.
Ten minutes later.
"What? Really? You lost?"
"You're kidding! Just how strong was he?"
"Teiko? The 'Generation of Miracles'? Are they really that strong?"
...
On the other side.
This is a vast island in northern Japan, known to the Japanese as Hokkaido.
The not-too-scorching sun bathed the earth, accompanied by a cool breeze that swept through every corner of Hokkaido.
A human and a cat walked along the streets of Hokkaido.
Ryu had been here for a week.
Since his match against Kazuo Kamimono.
The next day, Ryu participated in a 3v3 match, achieving an incredible ten-game winning streak in 1v3 battles, successfully earning another sightseeing ticket.
As for the 5v5 sightseeing ticket, Ryu gave it to Ogiwara Shigehiro and the others.
Therefore, he only received two sightseeing tickets in total.
He'd used one now.
He gazed at the unique features and scenery of Hokkaido.
Everyone says Hokkaido is most beautiful in winter.
But in Ryu's opinion, Hokkaido in summer also had its own charm.
With the sightseeing tickets, he comfortably enjoyed the free service at all times.
Aside from needing to pay for personal necessities upfront, there was absolutely no money to worry about.
In short, it was "awesome."
However, Ryu wasn't just here for eating, drinking, and having fun.
Karupin's senses were constantly monitoring everything within their range.
Persistence paid off.
When they reached a food street,
Karupin finally reacted.
"Got it, in that direction, still quite a distance from here!"
Following Karupin's indication, Ryu could only see rows of tall buildings.
Sighing, Ryu hailed a taxi, and the two of them, one human and one cat, set off in that direction.
Time passed slowly as they traveled.
Half an hour flew by.
Ryu's brow furrowed deeper, and he grew increasingly impatient.
"Karupin, are we still not there?"
Karupin replied.
"No, it's still a bit far, but it's getting closer."
Ryu sighed helplessly and could only continue waiting silently.
The driver had asked countless times along the way, but Ryu only told him to keep going, leaving the driver completely confused.
Ryu was getting drowsy, and as his eyelids drooped, Karupin's voice finally echoed in his mind.
"We're here, it's right here, nearby."
When Ryu opened his eyes, it was already getting dark outside.
"Driver, stop the car..."
The driver stopped the car and looked back at Ryu, somewhat puzzled.
"Young man, what's wrong?"
Ryu replied.
"I've arrived at my destination, I'll get off here."
"Huh? Here? Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
The driver's gaze towards Ryu became strange.
"No mistake, this is the place."
Ryu paid the fare and got out of the taxi with Karupin.
He looked around.
All around were stretches of lush green grassland, neatly arranged, almost as if man-made.
And within those green patches, there were also neat rows of white things.
"Where am I?"
A big question mark appeared above Ryu's head.
Just as he was lost in thought,
the taxi suddenly started moving, disappearing into the distance on the horizon.
"Damn it, is that driver crazy?! Why is he driving so fast? In such a hurry to be reborn?!"
Cough cough cough cough…
Ryu coughed up a mouthful of ash, muttering unhappily.
Karupin ignored him, looking in one direction and saying,
"Over there."
Ryu looked towards the patches.
They were quite far away, and he couldn't see them very clearly.
It would probably be dark by the time they got there.
But this was the wilderness, so they could only walk.
Reluctantly, Ryu led Karupin in that direction.
As darkness gradually fell,
Ryu's brow furrowed slightly.
He sensed something was amiss.
This place was incredibly strange.
It was deserted and eerily quiet.
Most importantly, if no one lived here, why was it so neatly constructed?
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.
Ryu's pupils contracted, as if a thunderbolt had struck the top of his head.
He spoke, his voice trembling slightly.
"Holy crap, could this be a cemetery?"
------------------------
Could you subscribe on patreon? I want to reach 20 subscribers this month.
+ I publish 3 chapters daily on Patreon, in addition to the other advanced chapters, which are 30+ chapters.
That's about 90 chapters a month.
patreon.com/ayan41x