It's honestly so frustrating.
I've had almost no new subscribers for nearly 30 days, even though I post 3 chapters daily on Patreon, with advanced chapters sometimes reaching up to 50.
On Webnovel, I occasionally publish up to 24 chapters a day.
Still, I'm getting zero subscriptions on Patreon, which is deeply discouraging.
This is especially tough because the current events on Patreon have just reached to showdown against the Generation of Miracles.
[So, one final notice—just so I've done my part: if things continue this way, I will write a rushed ending for this novel and wrap it up.]
So, I hope to reach 20 paid subscribers this week!
Thank you so much <3
patreon.com/ayan41x
--
Whistle…
The referee, drawn by the shouts, blew his whistle.
The game was paused.
The entire stadium erupted in chaos.
The spectators were completely bewildered, having no idea what was happening.
They were enjoying the game, when suddenly someone cried for help?
Everyone was utterly confused.
Spectators from various schools also turned to look at the sound.
On the court, Takahashi Kento lay sprawled on the floor, his face filled with terror and despair.Tears streamed down his face, and clear snot flowed from his nostrils, past his lips, and dangled from his chin.
The wailing was coming from his mouth.
"Help… Help me… I can't see anything, I can't hear anything."
Boom…
Everyone in the stadium turned around and heard what he was saying.
Everyone stared in disbelief.
How could this happen so suddenly while they were playing ball?
Blind?
Deaf?
What's going on?
The referee, hearing Takahashi Kento's shouts, immediately stepped forward to check.
But just then...
Haizaki Shogo, who had been motionless like a statue, suddenly roared like a madman.
"Blind? Can't see? It was you, wasn't it? You did all of this, didn't you..."
He roared, flailing his arms wildly around.
He looked exactly like a helpless blind man.
Seeing him like this, everyone instinctively had the same thought.
"Could it be... he can't see either?"
"Ryu... where are you... come out... did you do this to my eyes?"
Haizaki Shogo turned around, waving his arms wildly, shouting.
This time, everyone's eyes were on Ryu.
Ryu stood right in front of Haizaki Shogo.
But Haizaki Shogo clearly couldn't see Ryu.
The entire arena fell silent.
"What's going on?"
The referee, seeing Takahashi Kento and Haizaki Shogo's expressions, immediately questioned Ryu.
Huh?
Ryu looked at the referee with a bewildered expression, shrugged, and shook his head.
"I don't know anything! You saw it yourself, I was just dribbling normally and then shooting."
Hearing this, the referee was speechless.
In full view of everyone, Ryu had indeed done nothing.
But the desperate look on Takahashi Kento's face and Haizaki Shogo's obvious blindness clearly indicated that something had happened.
The referee frowned, then spoke to the Fukuda Sogo team.
"If they can't play, you should substitute them off the field! Have someone take them to the infirmary."
The rest of the Fukuda team exchanged glances, then rushed forward to help Takahashi Kento and Haizaki Shogo up.
Takahashi Kento felt someone touch him suddenly, and was startled at first, instinctively shrinking back. Then, as if remembering something, he immediately grabbed the arm tightly and cried out.
"Please help me… take me to a doctor, please… help me…"
Seeing him like this, the Fukuda team members all had complicated expressions on their faces.
Was this still the arrogant and domineering Takahashi Kento they knew?
His current humble and cowardly demeanor was a stark contrast to his previous self.
On the other side, Haizaki Shogo was a completely different story.
He suddenly felt as if his body couldn't move, and immediately swung his arms even more forcefully.
Slap…
Slap…
Two crisp sounds.
The two Fukuda Sogo players felt a sharp pain where they had been hit and quickly retreated away from Haizaki Shogo.
Strangely, Haizaki Shogo seemed oblivious, still waving his arms and shouting.
"Ryu… I know you're here… Get out here…"
"You look terrible! Haizaki…"
Just then, a cold voice reached Haizaki Shogo's ears.
Haizaki Shogo immediately recognized it as Ryu's voice.
He faced the direction from which the voice came, panting heavily as he shouted.
"You... what did you do to me... why can't I see? And my body feels so strange, I can't feel anything."
His words drew the attention of everyone present.
However, no one spoke, all silently watching Ryu and Haizaki Shogo.
Ryu didn't speak, but turned and walked towards the basket of Fukuda Sogo.
Hearing the footsteps fading away, Haizaki Shogo immediately shouted.
"Where are you going? Stop right there!"
Shouting, he quickly took a step to chase after them.
However, he moved too quickly and accidentally bumped his other foot.
Thump...
Haizaki Shogo fell flat on his face.
Seeing this,
everyone was stunned.
Seirin's viewing area.
The entire Seirin team was now completely dumbfounded and shocked.
"Hey! Can anyone tell me what happened?"
Hyuga Junpei stared blankly at the scene below.
Kagami's mouth was agape.
"What on earth is going on?"
Kuroko's usual poker face was gone.
His eyes were filled with confusion, curiosity, and even more so, horror.
He knew Haizaki Shogo all too well.
But at this moment, Haizaki Shogo looked like a helpless and deranged loser.
Aida Riko also frowned.
As a girl, she felt a strange pang of sympathy for Haizaki Shogo on the sidelines.
Only Alex wore a serious expression, wondering to herself.
'Did he really do that? If so… how did he do it?'
She murmured to herself.
"The Mysterious Boy."
...
On the court.
Ryu approached the basket at Fukuda Sogo, picked up the basketball from the ground, and then turned coldly to look at Haizaki Shogo, who was calling his name.
Thump...thump...thump...
Ryu dribbled the basketball as he walked towards Haizaki Shogo.
Haizaki Shogo heard the sound of the basketball hitting the ground and focused all his attention on the direction from which the sound came.
"Ryu...get out here…"
Thump...thump...thump…
The sound of the basketball hitting the ground grew closer.
Haizaki Shogo could see nothing now, and a growing sense of panic gripped him.
Just then, Ryu's icy words rang out, accompanied by the resounding thud of basketballs hitting the ground.
"I already told you, don't try to cross my line. Since you didn't listen, then I'll let you experience true despair and fear."
With that, Ryu's dribbling speed increased dramatically.
Thump...thump...thump...
The sound of the basketball hitting the ground was like a giant hammer striking everyone's hearts.
Ryu dribbled the ball, moving to Haizaki Shogo's side.
His calm words reached Haizaki Shogo's ears at the same time.
"Just enjoy the despair I'm going to bring you!"
Ryu finished speaking.
Thump...
Another sound of a basketball hitting the ground reached Haizaki Shogo's ears.
Then, the whole world fell silent.
Haizaki Shogo's body stiffened, and then he could hear nothing more.
He felt his ears suddenly go deaf without any warning.
Haizaki Shogo panicked.
While not as badly affected as Takahashi Kento, his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
He couldn't hear, couldn't see, and seemed to feel nothing at all.
This unprecedented despair and fear gripped Haizaki Shogo's heart for the first time.
"Ah…"
Haizaki Shogo suddenly roared.
"What have you done to me? Ryu… give me back my eyes and ears…"
His words completely stunned everyone in the arena.
Could it be… that Ryu was behind all of this?
The Generation of Miracles focused their gazes on Ryu.
Their eyes were filled with shock… horror… disbelief, and above all, curiosity.
They didn't know what method Ryu had used to render Haizaki Shogo like this.
If it were them, could they withstand Ryu's attack?
"I can't be hurt! Stop it, Ryu... Victory, honor, I don't want any of it! Just give me back my eyes and ears..."
Haizaki Shogo screamed hysterically.
However, there was already a hint of pleading in his voice.
Ryu's eyes were cold, showing no intention of letting Haizaki Shogo go.
He continued to dribble the basketball.
Thump...
The sound of the basketball hitting the ground rang out again.
At this moment, plunged into darkness and despair, Haizaki Shogo felt as if a nerve in his brain had suddenly snapped, and then his subconscious perception of the outside world vanished.
In an instant, Haizaki Shogo felt as if he had no body, only his soul drifting in a silent, dark world.
Thump...
Haizaki Shogo sat down heavily on the ground.
Aaaaaaahhhhh...
He cupped his face in his hands, screaming loudly.
However, he had lost all sense of touch, so he couldn't feel his hands touching his face.
His terror deepened.
Finally, he began punching his face with all his might, trying to break free from the nightmare.
But what he didn't know was that
Ryu had sealed away his sense of pain as well.
During this time...
Haizaki Shogo's sight, touch, hearing, pain, and sensation are all rendered useless.
In other words, Haizaki Shogo is now essentially a cripple.
He's a temporary cripple.
Unless he can forcibly activate the flawless limit of the "Selflessness State" like Echizen Ryoma in The Prince of Tennis, breaking through the "Extinction of the Five Senses."
Otherwise, he can only wait for the effects of the "Extinction of the Five Senses" to wear off and he will recover on his own.
Watching Haizaki Shogo on the court, acting like a madman...
Inside the stadium, both the players on the court and the spectators outside, felt a chill run down their spines.
Their gazes towards Ryu were filled with unprecedented apprehension.
In basketball, superior skill can destroy a player's confidence.
They've seen that before.
But to see someone beat an opponent like Haizaki Shogo in basketball—that's a first for them.
If they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, they simply wouldn't have believed it.
Bizarre…powerful…dangerous…terrifying…
This was everyone's assessment of Ryu.
The referee finally stepped forward.
He looked at Haizaki Shogo, who was now acting like a mad dog, then at Ryu.
Gulp…
The referee couldn't help but swallow.
Faced with the situation, he was momentarily at a loss.
Should he call a foul on Ryu?
He hadn't done anything wrong!
"Excuse me, what's going on?"
All eyes turned to Ryu.
They all wanted to know what was happening.
Ryu scanned the crowd, finally fixing his gaze on the referee.
"Ah...don't worry, sir, they're all fine. This is only temporary; they'll recover soon."
The referee frowned, then said sternly.
"You've violated the tournament rules, and you've affected the course of the match..."
Before he could finish, Ryu interrupted him.
"Sir...did I violate the tournament rules in any way? How did I affect the course of the match? I was just playing normally."
Huh?
The referee was speechless for a moment.
He looked at Ryu, then at Haizaki Shogo slumped on the ground.
The referee was truly unsure how to rule, and finally went to the main stage to discuss the matter with the tournament officials.
Too spectator area.
Momoi's beautiful eyes were wide open, filled with curiosity and inquiry.
"How did Ryu do that? Why did Haizaki become like that? It's terrifying."
Aomine's brows were furrowed, his eyes filled with seriousness.
This is too bizarre, absolutely too bizarre.
What on earth did Ryu do?
Even someone like Haizaki Shogo has turned into this.
Put yourself in his shoes.
If you were in his shoes right now, you'd probably want to die!
...
Kaijo spectator area.
Kise's eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets.
"Was that really Haizaki? This is the first time I've seen Haizaki like this. What on earth did Ryucchi do?"
...
Shutoku spectator area.
Takao was now covered in sweat, his eyes filled with terror.
"Is this guy really a monster? He... how did he do that?"
Midorima's eyes, behind his glasses, were fixed on Ryu in the audience.
His hand, clutching today's lucky charm, began to tremble slightly.
He was now absolutely certain.
Ryu must have developed some new technique.
He had witnessed something similar when Ryu fought against Kirisaki Daiichi.
A technique capable of blinding or even deafening someone.
Just thinking about it was horrifying.
'What kind of technique is this?'
Midorima wondered.
...
Yosen Spectator Area.
Murasakibara's snacks had fallen to the ground sometime during the match.
His eyes trembled slightly, his face filled with horror.
"Ah... Atsushi, do you know what this is?"
Himuro Tatsuya's voice trembled slightly.
Murasakibara shook his head slightly.
"I don't know, this is the first time I've seen such a move. To be honest, I'm shocked. I can feel how terrifying this move is."
...
Rakuzan spectator area.
Reo Mibuchi, Kotaro Hayama, and Eikichi Nebuya were completely dumbfounded.
Their mouths were agape, unable to utter a single word for a long time.
Akashi's previously composed expression had completely vanished.
Only an extremely solemn and uncertain look remained in his eyes.
He stood up and then spoke to the group from Rakuzan.
"Let's go!"
Hearing this, Reo Mibuchi snapped out of her shock and asked.
"Leave now?"
Akashi nodded.
"Fukuda Sogo has no chance left; watching any longer is a waste of time."
...
Off the field.
The referee seemed to have received instructions from the organizers.
Whistle...
With a whistle, the referee's words echoed throughout the stadium.
"Number 95 in yellow made a valid attack; the goal stands. Fukuda Sogo has possession. Please bring on your substitutes as soon as possible."
Boom...
Upon hearing this, a murmur of uproar erupted from the audience.
That was the referee's ruling.
This means that Ryu was not at fault.
The match continued.
However, the outcome was exactly as Akashi had predicted.
Fukuda Sogo directly announced their forfeit, abandoning the remaining matches.
This result was not unexpected.
Given what had just happened, the outcome of continuing the match was predictable.
A match that was destined to be lost was better left conceded.
Ultimately, Toho Kotei Gakuen won the match 56-28.
With this victory, Toho Kotei Gakuen successfully advanced to the national top 8.
--
It's honestly so frustrating.
I've had almost no new subscribers for nearly 30 days, even though I post 3 chapters daily on Patreon, with advanced chapters sometimes reaching up to 50.
On Webnovel, I occasionally publish up to 24 chapters a day.
Still, I'm getting zero subscriptions on Patreon, which is deeply discouraging.
This is especially tough because the current events on Patreon have just reached to showdown against the Generation of Miracles.
[So, one final notice—just so I've done my part: if things continue this way, I will write a rushed ending for this novel and wrap it up.]
So, I hope to reach 20 paid subscribers this week!
Thank you so much <3
patreon.com/ayan41x