Chapitre 34: Grinding

At night I lay in bed and called out my system. the usual blue screen appeared in front of my face. I immediately went to the store and spent 1500 general points to buy the converted daily missions level 5 badge.

[Daily missions level 5:

1.Run 10 km Reward: 10 general points

2.Make 500 free throws Reward: 10 general points

3.Make 500 layups Reward: 10 general points

4.Make 400 three-pointers Reward: 10 general points

5.Dribble the ball for 2 hours Reward: 10 general points]

Shit. Maybe it might not have been such a good idea to have upgraded daily missions to level 5 now. Training would be able to complete it but this means that I'm going to have to do a similar level of training on my off days.

Well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. If I don't die or get injured, I'm gonna be strong. Strong enough to face the generation of miracles by myself.

_Next Day__

Coach:" Our first preliminary match is starting next week, I'm sure everybody listened to the briefing I gave the other day and know which schools we are going to be playing against."

"YES SIR!" We chanted.

Coach:" In our first match we are going to be going against Chiben middle school. The players we need to watch out for is Shoichi Imayoshi their point guard, Kōsuke Wakamatsu their center, Mitsuhiro Hayakawa their power forward, Kiyoshi Miyaji their small forward and Makoto Hanamiya their shooting guard."

Woah. Satsuki said to watch out for their role players but I did not expect their entire starting team to be such good ones. Shoichi Imayoshi was the third year captain of Too High school. He was the real creepy glasses guy. If I remember correctly, he loved to do stuff that people feared.

Kosuke Wakamatsu also went to Too and was their center, he was the quiet and mature guy if I remember correctly. Although he wasn't the best center, he sometimes gave Kiyoshi trouble.

Mitsuhiro Hayakawa played the power forward position in Kaijo. He was the loud and autistic guy in the anime who only focused on catching rebounds. Something like Dennis Rodman.

I can barely remember who Kiyoshi Miyakji was, but he was a player at Shutoku. He barely had any screen time so that's all I know about him.

Oh and Makoto Hanamiya was not considered an uncrowned king yet huh. I remember he only really started gaining fame after Shoichi Imayoshi graduated and he took control of the team. But before that, the team was not his, it was Shoichi's.

Coach:" I know our team feels especially strong this year due to the addition of talent but I want everybody to be ready for next week. Overconfidence could destroy us and I for sure do not want to get kicked out in the first round.

We lost to our rivals Teiko last year, so this year it is time for our revenge. I have heard rumors that 4 positions in the starting 5 are taken up by first years, so we may be able to crush them this year."

Hah, that was what all the other teams thought as well. I remember in the anime that there were many teams that laughed at them for starting 4 first years but after their multiple victories, only Teiko was laughing.

Coach:" Today is going to be the first day of our annual training camp, I want everybody to give it their 110%. If you do not collapse at night, you did not try hard enough during the day. Our club manages have worked very hard to prepare the logistics for everyone, breakfast, lunch and dinner would be cooked by them so you can devote all your attention to basketball.

In this camp, you would shed your blood sweat and tears. It might be painful, you might want to give up. But I assure you, when you hold the trophy, it will all be worth it. Is that clear?"

"YESSIR!" We chanted.

Leggoo. One whole week of pure basketball. I could use this time to practice all the new moves I want to try. Whenever I upgrade my system, I think what it does is increase my efficiency on certain kinds of shots. Lets just say I upgrade my shooting, what is does is make me more efficient when I shoot.

However, it does not give me any shooting moves. I have to work on those on my own, practice them and integrate it into my arsenal. Having a system is not a definite victory, I still have to work towards that victory even though I still hold an advantage over the others.

We started the training camp of strong. In the morning we did drills, a lot of drills. Half court drills, full court drills, many different varieties of it. At first, you go all out, trying to outdo everybody around you. Then, as you start to get tired you begin to slow down. But this is where you can tell the difference between those who were going to be great and those who will forever remain average.

The greats pushed through, going as strong as they started despite their obvious fatigue. The average, well they slowed down to a level of play unacceptable in a real game.

As for me, I obviously wanted to be great. I made it my goal to keep up with Kotaro and Kiyoshi for all the drills, trying to best them in everything.

"Ahhhhhh. Finally we get to eat. I think I'm gonna eat a horse. I'm so goddamn tired." Kotaro said.

"Dude, the training just started, its only the morning right now. This afternoon we got weights then we get to do practice matches." Yukio said.

"Oh then what is in the evening?" I asked.

Haru:" Oh yeah you guys don't know yet since you just joined the team. Evenings is our free time but that's just bullshit. Everybody spends that time working on their game and practicing their personal skills."

Man, this is sounding like I'm living a dream. Living my life in the world of anime.

_____

Power stones or yall trash

Idk whether Japan does it through preliminaries and nationals or season and playoffs in other countries. But it was preliminaries and nationals in the anime so I'm just gonna go with that.