Chapitre 20: Thunder Demon vs Black Shadow
Hey, guys. So I know that I have been taking a lot of breaks lately and I just wanted to inform everyone that I will be changing the update schedule to 6 times a week.
It's just too tiring for me to write so many words in one day and along with my studies, I am already stretching it by quite a lot. However, I still want to continue this book without any inconsistencies and as such, I am only dedicating one day per week for breaks.
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As the match started, Mité looked on leisurely as he handled the ball in his hands.
It was his turn to start and he was gonna give the crowd a good show to watch by defeating his opponent with a landslide victory.
Of course, this wasn't for no reason.
He mainly wanted to do it so that everyone would see that he was better than Kotaro.
As the match continued, Mité continued to handle the ball as he watched his opponent's moves. After waiting for a couple seconds, he finally saw his opportunity to push forward.
However, his opponent stood firmly in his way with no intention of letting him get past him.
Mité however, didn't seem worried as he still continued forward.
Then, all of a sudden, he moved to the right with one foot forward.
His opponent saw this move and immediately moved to the right to block him.
However, Mité suddenly took a step back instead and dribbled past his opponent to the left.
"Woah!!! That's a hesitation dribble right there!"
"That's one of the Black Shadow's core moves!"
"Looks like he's serious early on to use such a move as an opening!"
"That's a good thing! I don't want to watch another Kotaro fluke!"
On the sidelines, Kotaro's face flushed deep red as he glared hatefully at Mité.
This bastard was doing it on purpose!
Mité however, was free from all noises and distractions from the crowd as he jumped and scored with a layup.
Cheers soon followed up as the crowd showed their appreciation towards Mité.
The system also apparently showed it's appreciation for Mité as it started complementing him.
[Good job! Now, that's how you make use of your talent unlike some other disgraceful beings!]
[Did you see that, kid?! Fakes can be used for a lot more stuff other than escaping and shooting! If you watch the game carefully, you would know that the game revolves around fakes!]
[It's just too bad that this kid didn't get a Rare Grade Skill otherwise, he would very well qualify for being a regular in university!]
It was rare for the system to actually say something nice which meant that this system truly appreciated someone like Mité.
Someone with both brains and skills.
Soon, Mité had started scoring consecutively which finally resulted in a 4-0 lead.
Also, while he was careful not to make any mistakes in his dribbling, he made sure to keep the crowd entertained as well.
After all, this was street ball!
A game where one could show off their individual skills unlike the official court.
Mité made sure to show off his ball handling skills and while he could not dribble as fast as Kotaro, he could still make quick work of the ball.
Along with his many dribbling skills coupled with his amazing fakes, it left the crowd speechless and excited at the same time.
Soon, after a few more seconds, Mité finally got the last hoop in which set the score at 5-0.
And just like that, the game ended without a hitch.
As Mité walked back to the outside of the court, he took one glance at Kotaro and started speaking.
"Now that's how you do it. Thought I'd show you what true skill is like. Hur, hur, hur",Mité continued to laugh with his weird laugh while pushing his glasses up.
'I really want to beat him up!', Kotaro thought as he stared at Mité's annoying face.
However, the most he could do was glare hatefully and throw insults at that cocky bastard. If he were to really get into a fistfight here, he would surely get disqualified and even banned from the Street Ball Rumble altogether.
As the two superstars of the show had a verbal confrontation with each other, the challenge still continued on as usual.
Minutes passed on as more players advanced while the rest dropped out. During this time, Kotaro had made sure to fix his previous mistake and started to take his opponents seriously which gave them a nearly zero chance for a comeback.
The same could be said about Mité as his excellent performance was kept consistent throughout the entire challenge.
"Wow, they're really looking good this week! I haven't seen them so hyped like this in a while!", a middle aged man couldn't help but comment.
Reo looked at that man in astonishment.
They looked good this week?! Then, what about Kotaro's first game?!
If that was his good day then he really didn't want to see his bad day.
Then, Reo asked,"Oji-san, do you mean that their performance is not always consistent?".
"Hmm?", the man looked around before noticing that Reo was talking to him.
"Oh, kid....Is this your first time coming to the Street Ball Rumble?"
Reo nodded his head and asked in a childish voice, "Yes, oji-san! Oji-san, you said that their performance is really good this time around. Does that mean that they have bad days as well?".
The man thought that this was a weird question but still proceeded to answer Reo's question.
"Of course, kid. I can tell that you're not an athlete by asking that type of question"
"Every athlete have their ups and down days, you know? Like when an athlete breaks a world record, you can't expect him to have that record speed consistently, right?"
"The same goes for basketball players. Their gameplay can be affected by various things such as environment, mental health and so on. As such, you can't really expect them to have such consistent gameplay all the time"
"Look at Kotaro, he was playing so badly in his first game but now that he's taken the game seriously, he is in one of his best forms this month"
Reo nodded in understanding and thought about his own question.
It did seem quite weird to ask such a question. From a logical point of view, one should know that not always will a person be in peak condition as there were many factors that could affect them.
Thinking about this, Reo turned back to the game as he mainly focused on Kotaro's and Mité's matches.
Soon, each round passed at astonishing speed and before everyone knew it, the finals had soon come into play.
As expected, it was a faceoff between the two greatest stars of the challenge.
The Thunder Demon vs The Black Shadow
"Oh, it's finally starting!"
"This is what I came here to see! Go Thunder Demon! Go Black Shadow!"
"Kyah! They're both so handsome, I don't know which one to cheer for!"
"Cheer for them both, you dummy! That's what I'm doing!
The crowds went wild as the finals were underway.
Spotlights scanned through the crowd before finally resting on two figures in the court.
The DJ finally took this chance to make his introduction.
"Yo, yo! Now, it's time for the match that you've been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen! The match between two giants in this sport which we will only see once every two weeks which represents the pinnacle of greatness in this sport!
The system couldn't help but scoff when he heard that.
[Represent the pinnacle of greatness in this sport?! Boy, if you saw what the 'SSS' talent were like, you would most likely pack up and retire from embarrassment!]
Reo couldn't help but agree with the system on this one.
'B' ranked talent were only capable players in high school basketball. After that, it was a brand new world.
From 'A' ranked onwards, one could be considered reaching the national standard. For the DJ to be saying mere 'B' ranks to be the pinnacle of basketball, he was just stretching it by a long shot.
However, the DJ was ignorant of the thoughts of Reo and the system as he continued speaking.
"Two giants facing off against each other. One will rise and one will fall but first they will have to prove themselves and rise!"
"For the finals, we have changed the rules a little bit. Per the organizer's request, instead of playing the usual game until 5 points, we have increased the benchmark to a score of 10!"
Mité and Kotaro couldn't help but frown slightly.
Playing to 5 points against each other was hard enough but playing up to 10 points was even worse.
Without counting the overtime, they would surely be fatigued after the game and let's not forget that they had school tomorrow as well.
It looks like the organizer was just treating them as tools to increase his popularity at their expense.
Both of them were in good form today so their match would surely be something to behold.
However, their displeasure soon disappeared with the DJ's next words.
"Also, the organizer has also increased the prize amount to a total of 14000 yen!"
Both Mité and Kotaro's eyes lit up at that.
That was an extra 4000 yen!
While popularity was important for them, what they ultimately came here for was for the money and now, they had a chance to make almost an extra half of their original amount.
Thinking of that, both of them couldn't help but exchange eye contact.
They seemed to saying to each other, 'If you dare touch my money, see if I don't bury you!'.
However, they soon walked onto the court and got into their starting positions.
There was a saying in basketball.
If you have any issues, then settle it on the court.
This was exactly what they were going to do now. Be it the money or the anger, they would release it all on the court.
Soon, a coin was flipped and the result granted Kotaro the starting possession.
Without wasting any more time, the referee gave the call to start the match.
"Ready?! Go!"
Hearing the referee's signal, Kotaro immediately started his signature dribbling technique. Handling the ball with remarkable efficiency, Kotaro made sure to keep Mité guessing where the ball would end up at.
Mité didn't stay idle either as he did a couple of his fakes to guess the trajectory of the ball to make that steal.
However, Kotaro was incredibly careful about his ball handling this time. If there was anyone who could capitalize on his mistake the most in this challenge, it was this guy.
Still, after about 15 seconds, Kotaro could no longer stay idle as he dived to the left.
Mité was there to block it but just before Kotaro came into contact with Mité, he made a quick spin to the right with the ball in hand and soon dashed past Mité.
Mité quickly recovered from that sudden fake and proceeded to bump into Kotaro, shoulder to shoulder as he tried to get the ball.
However, Kotaro was not to be outdone.
While Mité was taller than Kotaro, Kotara was much more bulkier than him.
So, when Mité pushed Kotaro, Kotaro met him with a force of his own.
Not expecting the sudden push, Mité couldn't help but stumble backwards.
While Mité tried to regain his footing, Kotaro had long jumped up as the ball rolled off his fingertips for a layup.
Cheers soon filled the crowd as they witnessed the first point scored.
"Woah! Looks like Kotaro's in the lead!"
"Who do you think will win?! By their way, what's their current record?!"
"It's 24-26 in Kotaro's favor. I have a feeling that Kotaro might win this game as well"
When Reo heard the crowd's words, he nearly fell over.
While Kotaro was winning over Mité, what the hell was up with that 24 losses?!
Didn't he have a Rare Grade Skill?! How could he lose so badly then?!
The system too had the same thing in mind as it started cursing string after string of profanities. Some of which, Reo had never heard before.
Dealing with the system's tantrum moment, Reo decided to just ignore it. It would calm down on it's own.
Meanwhile, on the court.
"Cheh!",Mité couldn't help but sound his disappointment.
He had been a little too lenient in his planning just now.
This was streetball where the rules are not really enforced as much as in the official court.
If that move had been pulled in an official game, Kotaro would surely have been fouled for charging. However, he was only given a glance by the referee in this game.
Looks like he would have to be more careful from now on.
Following that, both of them entered a series of scoring against each other. Neither of them giving in.
Soon, the score finally added up to 7-8 in Kotaro's favor.
By now, both players were panting hard as Mité finally had possession of the ball.
Both of them were exhausted, both mentally and physically.
They had played against each other so many times until they felt like they knew each other like the back of their hands.
It had been past 15 minutes but their total score was only 15.
They had both been running around, smacking the ball out of each other's hands and scoring over their heads for minutes now.
Also, they had tried almost every one of their tricks against the other and now, it seemed almost worn out to try it again.
If by the chance, their opponent recognized the move they were going to pull, they would just be digging their own graves instead.
However, Mité did have one advantage. His fakes.
Fakes were absolute in any game and as long as you could pull them off perfectly, there will be almost a non-zero chance for error.
So, as Mité started the next round of their duel, he put a lot of effort into creating multiple fakes to confuse Kotaro in that short span of 20 seconds.
Leaving 4 seconds to get past the defender to score the basket was an extremely risky maneuver but it was all that Mité could do right now.
Combining multiple fakes to disguise his real drive trajectory was one of Mité's trump card moves for a one vs one.
This kind of move was nearly useless in team gameplays but perfect for one on one matches albeit the small waste of time.
Still, it worked out in the end as Mité finally went drove past Kotaro and scored with a layup.
Following that, it appeared that Mité's previous score had successfully disrupted Kotaro's state of mind as he easily fell for Mité's first fake in the next round, successfully scoring another point and just another point away from winning.
When the next round started, Kotaro seemed to get quite desperate with bloodshot eyes and started to use excessive force to push Mité out of the 3-point line. There was even a time when he accidently pushed Mité strong enough to make him fall on his back.
In response to this, Mité strongly complained to the referee but the only thing that got him was just the referee giving Kotaro a warning.
Not satisfied with the referee's decision, Mité strongly argued about the referee about this. However, the referee wasn't pleased to see his decision questioned at all.
As such, he immediately declared a foul on Mité.
"Technical foul! Possession to Kotaro!"
Everyone was agape at what happened, even Kotaro.
Mité was usually the most level-headed of the two so it was really surprising for him to commit a technical foul.
"Haih! He is really impatient", someone couldn't help but comment.
"You won't really understand but from what I heard, his family is not in the best situation", someone else countered.
"I can't say it's right to argue with the referee but it sure isn't wrong. I would have done it as well if I were in his place"
Meanwhile, Mité had an incomprehensibly ugly look on his face.
Not only did he not get Kotaro fouled, he had even gotten himself fouled instead.
This was bad, really bad for him.
For him, life wasn't as good as everyone saw at school or on the court.
His home life was in shambles. His father had just recently gotten sick so there was no one earning any money at the moment and there was also his mother who had been bedridden for the past 5 years.
With no income, there was no way for Mité to pay for his father's treatment and mother's medicine. As such, he looked towards the Street Ball Rumble to earn what he could.
His talent was considered good in Shibuya but on a National level, he was still no match for even the regulars of other schools outside Shibuya City so there was no chance of getting any cash prizes at the competitions.
However, while he was not that good on a national level, he was considered as one of the top-tier elites in Shibuya and luckily for him, the Street Ball Rumble was held in Shibuya.
The only major competition he had amongst his peers was Kotaro and as such, he was able to win quite a number of these games.
On an average, he would earn about 10000 yen every 2 weeks and coupled with the family's daily expenses, it was far from enough.
However, it was just until his father was cured. After that, his family's situation would surely improve for the better.
But here's the thing, for the past 2 games, it seemed that Mité was struck with bad luck as he lost 2 consecutive games to Kotaro.
This had severely implicated his earning ability which made him have to work multiple part-time jobs a day just to make up for that lost income.
He didn't want the same thing to happen again! Not when his father was on the verge of being cured!
Looking at Kotaro, Mité tried to play it cool as he tried to provoke Kotaro.
"Do you really think you can get past me. I know your every move, I know how you will move the ball. There is no chance that you will get it past me!"
However, contrary to his expectations, Kotaro showed him a small smile instead and said in a low voice.
"There is still one more thing"
"This is my last bet. Now, we will leave this all to chance!"
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone