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[Winter Cup Encounter, The Destined Loser]
Inside the villa.
Ryu lay on the bed, looking at the contents of the challenge letter in his hand.
Only these eight words.
No name, no date.
And written in blood-red ink.
It seems this person harbors considerable resentment towards him.
Ryu gradually fell into thought.
"Looks like you're in trouble."
Karupin, lying beside him, lazily transmitted his voice to Ryu.
Ryu replied.
"Besides some inexplicable declarations, there's no other information here, but this person seems rather unfriendly to me."
Karupin rolled his eyes.
"Isn't it obvious? Did you offend someone to send you a letter written in blood?"
"This is red paint, not blood."
Ryu explained.
"Red paint or real blood, whatever, be careful when you go out in the future."
After Karupin said that…
A face he loathed flashed through Ryu's mind.
The wicked child, Hanamiya Makoto.
If there was any conflict, he and Hanamiya Makoto did indeed have a significant feud.
He had beaten Hanamiya Makoto quite badly back then.
It was understandable that the other party wanted revenge.
This guy was known for his vindictive nature.
Hmph…
Ryu snorted coldly, then tossed the challenge letter aside, saying,
"A guy who doesn't even dare to reveal his name, just a clown."
No matter who the opponent was, Ryu wasn't afraid.
Since the opponent hadn't written his name, that meant the opponent didn't want to, or dared not, let him know who he was.
Looks like he wanted to meet him at the Winter Cup!
"Hmph..."
Ryu snorted coldly.
Who cares who they are.
Apart from the Generation of Miracles, the rest are all easy prey to him.
He can just take care of them when the time comes.
Leaving aside the challenge, Ryu opened his personal panel.
Personal Information Panel.
[Name]: Ryu
[Age]: 16 years old
[Ball Skills]: [Basketball Basics (Max)], [Basic Ball Skills (Max)], [Data Basketball 3.0], [Tightrope Walking (S-rank)], [Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain, Thunder, Yin], [Special Skill Basketball], [Zero Style], [Zero Style Three-Pointer]
[Abilities]: [Eye of the Ice Emperor - Ice World - Ryu Kingdom (Evolvable)], [Ryu Illusion], [Beast's Aura], [Chaotic Dance (S-rank, can grow)], [Selfless Realm] Triple Mystery, [Black Aura], [Ability Resonance]
Looking at his own information on the data sheet,
especially when he saw [Ability Resonance],
his heart couldn't help but ache.
300,000! 300,000!
That's 300,000 Cat Energy he painstakingly saved up!
Just thinking about it makes him feel terrible.
Ryu checked Karupin's stats again.
Karupin's stats.
[Activity Range]: 2680298 meters
Sigh…
Ryu sighed.
Now only a few hundred thousand Cat Energy remain.
...
Time flies.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
Everything seemed to have returned to normal.
On this day,
Ryu was training with his teammates in the school's gymnasium.
The challenge was as if it had never happened.
"Speaking of which, it seems we haven't seen the coach since the match!"
Hearing Ryu's question, Kugawa chimed in.
"Oh! It has been quite a while since we've seen him!"
Kamimono seemed to have thought of something and asked.
"By the way, Ryu, about that challenge..."
Hearing this, Ryu smiled at him and said.
"That's all over now."
Kamimono nodded.
"That's good."
That challenge looked ominous.
Kamimono was genuinely worried that something might have happened to Ryu.
Since Ryu said everything was alright, he was relieved.
Meow…
Karupin, as usual, lazily meowed and found a comfortable spot to lie down.
It always chose a different spot.
Ryu didn't know what this habit was, and was too lazy to bother with the lazy cat.
Ryu scanned the gym, but didn't see Kazama Kouki.
"I've seen a lot of new faces lately!"
Hearing Ryu's question, Kamimono chuckled.
"Because we won the championship, our fame has spread, and quite a few people have submitted applications to join our basketball club these past few days!"
"Oh! I see! It seems our basketball club is finally on the right track."
After saying this, Ryu took off his jacket and prepared to begin today's practice.
Soon.
The rhythmic sound of balls being struck filled the gym.
Time ticked by.
After an unknown amount of time,
the gym doors opened again.
Kazama Kouki walked in, carrying a gourd of sake.
Ryu and the others stopped what they were doing.
The coach rarely supervised their training.
Since he was here now, he must have something to announce.
"Assemble…"
Sure enough.
Kazama Kouki's voice, echoed through the gym.
The gym fell silent instantly.
After Ryu and the others lined up.
Glug…glug…glug…
Kazama Kouki gulped down several large mouthfuls of sake in front of everyone.
Seeing him like this, Ryu and the others weren't surprised at all.
The other new players in the basketball team were completely bewildered.
What's going on?
The coach hasn't even started his speech yet, and he's already drinking.
Seriously, isn't this work time?
Is it really okay for him to drink so openly?
Is this coach even a real one?
Their questions were destined to remain unanswered.
Kazama Kouki continued.
"You should all know a bit about the basketball team now. We'll be seeing many new faces in the future."
As he spoke, he picked up his gourd and started chugging.
Glug...glug...glug...
Seeing this, Ryu and Kamimono were speechless.
They wanted to smash the gourd in Kazama Kouki's hand every time they saw it.
Ryu's fingers opened and closed, barely able to contain himself.
The now-satisfied Kazama Kouki continued.
"The basketball club matters will be handled by Kamimono. Everything will remain the same. You can arrange the players' training schedule yourself."
"Yes..."
Kamimono replied.
There was no other way.
Kamimono had no choice but to agree.
What could he do when his coach was a hands-off manager!
Kazama Kouki then spoke again.
"Alright, that's enough about the trivial matters. Let's talk about the upcoming training plan!"
Hearing this, the corners of the players' mouths twitched.
Listen to this! Is this even human language?!
What do you mean by trivial matters?
So, all of us are dispensable?
Some of the new players had strong opinions about this.
Kazama Kouki completely ignored their resentful looks.
"There's a basketball tournament being held in a shopping mall in Tokyo in three days."
He looked at Ryu, Kamimono, and the others.
"Kamimono, Kugawa, Kuroki Ryuichi, Hanafuji Souji, Ryu, the five of you go and sign up. This is the training schedule for you. Remember, if you don't get first place, each person's training will be increased tenfold."
The room fell silent.
The newly joined basketball team members, unaware of the situation, were dumbfounded, their mouths agape, their eyes practically bulging out.
What the heck?
Is the coach joking?
This is the training schedule for official team members?
This feels a little different from what I imagined.
...
Ryu and Kamimono, however, remained nonchalant.
"Yes..."
Kamimono responded.
Kamimono was already used to this.
As for Ryu...
He had no objections whatsoever.
He frequently participated in outdoor activities, sparring with all sorts of people.
Firstly, it allowed him to accumulate Cat Energy.
Secondly, it honed and strengthened his various skills.
Even with a cheat code, one still needs to work hard.
Otherwise, even the most powerful cheat code is useless.
Ryu understood this principle from the first day he arrived in this world.
'This is a good opportunity to absorb some Cat Energy.'
Ryu thought to himself.
He had already felt a slight threat during the previous finals.
Honestly,
If he hadn't awakened the [Ryu Kingdom] that day, the outcome might have been uncertain!
Therefore, to avoid being surpassed by the "Generation of Miracles" in the Winter Cup, he had to improve himself.
Before the Winter Cup began,
he had to had on the [Extinction of the Five Senses].
If possible, it would be best to had on the [Asura God Path] as well.
In that case, the Winter Cup championship would be a sure thing.
'The Winter Cup, how exciting! I wonder how much stronger you guys will be by then.'
The images of Akashi Seijuro, Aomine Daiki, Midorima Shintaro, Murasakibara Atsushi, and Kise Ryota flashed through Ryu's mind.
Of course, there was also Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya.
Ryu was particularly concerned about these two.
If nothing unexpected happened, these two rascals would fully awaken at the Winter Cup.
How far they would awaken was anyone's guess.
Oh, and there's this arrogant, secretive guy too.
A smile, the meaning of which is hard to decipher, appeared on Ryu's face.
'Winter Cup, just you wait!'
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