Who is Kobe Bryant?

In the school gym, countless students crowded the court as they cheered for the contestants.

Well....actually one contestant.

"Go Nishimura! Kick that fool's ass!"

"Yes Nishimura! Show no mercy!"

"I only came here to see a 5-nil score so don't disappoint me!"

'This....Isn't this too much!', Reo complained as he looked at the countless students wishing him misfortune.

Even if he was well-mannered, he really didn't like it if this sort of thing was a daily occurrence. In fact, no one would.

Mikasa was also amongst the crowd and surprisingly, she didn't run away this time.

Instead, she looked worried.

Although she had to admit that Reo was good, judging by the current frown on his face, she could tell that he did not enjoy this environment one bit.

Although this was all due to the previous Reo, it was still frustrating for the current Reo to deal with such nonsense. For him, this environment was nothing short of toxic.

It was only a matter of time before he finally blew and that very thing happened a few moments later.

"SHUT IT!", with a loud shout, Reo released all his pent up frustration as his voice echoed throughout the gym.

Immediately, everyone stiffened as their voices were caught in their throats.

'Is this guy possessed by an Oni?', they all thought as they were still in shock at Reo's sudden scream.

Enraged, Reo pointed to all the students crowded around him as he yelled out.

"You fakes think you're so good, huh?! If you think that you're some kind of bigshot, then come! I'll take you all down at once!"

The crowd was stunned for a moment before they erupted in rage.

"Hah?! Take all of us down?!"

"You can't even beat Nishimura in a one on one match and yet, you want to beat us all?! Are you dreaming?!"

"He must be upset from getting beat up previously which would explain why he is so snappy today! Just look at that bruise!"

Reo was angry. He didn't know why but he just was.

Maybe it had to do with the similarities of his previous world.

Countless times he had been mocked and made fun of just because he couldn't do anything properly with his week body but now that he had a proper body, he was still being scorned by the crowd.

Although, he would usually hide his anger deep inside him, he somehow couldn't tolerate it today.

Of course, it might also be because of Mibuchi.

After getting hit with an elbow to the face for no reason, Reo was upset and after pondering for a while, he realized a gruesome truth.

No matter how good you are or how kind you are, there will always be haters who just shit on you every single day.

Of course, Reo admitted that he deserved this due to the previous Reo's actions but even after changing himself, these people still didn't care about how he changed. Instead, they dwelled on the ugly past instead.

This was the ugly side of human nature which he had saw when he was ignored as he died in his first world. The part when his life had been ruined by an asshole with greater connections.

There was only one way to get any respect from these idiots and that was to take it from them savagely by giving them a beating that they will never forget.

Even if it is associated with fear, Reo didn't care anymore. If being nice doesn't get any respect, then he will make them fear him instead.

The best way to do that? Pretend to be arrogant and there would be countless people running to give you a beating! And after that?! Beat them back!

So, putting on a lazy appearance, Reo picked his ear as he asked in a bored voice.

"Is there anyone coming? Honestly, it's too boring to even challenge you guys"

That did the trick as everyone's eyes reddened as they began to sign themselves up.

"I'm in! Where do I sign up?!"

"Stop pushing! I'm first! I'm going to teach this cocky fella a lesson that he will never forget!"

"Shut up, I'm going first! Remember that I'm a year older than you!"

"That's right! Respect you senpai, you fools!"

Students were scuffling each other just to get a piece of Reo but as for Reo, he was chatting with the system instead.

'System, based on this number of people that I just challenged....Does that mean that my rewards would be greater as well?'

[....]

The system was speechless because that was indeed the case!

When the system told that Reo had no chance of getting a new skill today morning, it was mainly due to the fact that there was only one challenger and that his talent was too low at that.

But now with this number of people, there was at least a 30% chance for Reo to get a new skill and since all the Common Grade Skills had been acquired, there were only those Rare Grade Skills or higher left.

Just thinking about this, the system felt furious at Reo for messing up the entire plot.

Wasn't there supposed to be a harsh struggle before the protagonist achieved victory?! So what the hell was this?!

This idiot was simply skipping all those steps to become an overpowered MC in an instant!

Where were the plot twists and the divine judgement?! This was just bullshit!

As a dedicated reader of countless novels, the system couldn't help but criticize Reo for ruining it's story.

If people were to one day write a story about it, won't they just be dissatisfied when they saw an overpowered MC right off the bat?!

'Sigh....My creator should have made my host Sung Jin-Woo instead', the system grumbled internally.

Still, it answered Reo's question nonetheless.

[Yes, you brat! While you are very clever to exploit the reward system in such a way, let me tell you this!]

[Their overall talent is still too low! As for acquiring a new skill, you can pretty much forget about it!]

[However, since you are challenging this many people, your EXP gain will surely be high! As such, I recommend that you use your Rare Grade Skills the most!]

[While it is terribly difficult to upgrade your Rare Grade Skills, you will still gain a massive EXP gap just from this challenge alone!]

Reo's eyes sparkled when he heard this.

Higher grade skills were way harder to level up and as their levels progressed, it became even more strenuous to do so.

As such, the conditions for gaining a massive amount of EXP for those skills would surely be even more troublesome.

Unless they were in certain situations like for example....challenging the whole school to a basketball showdown.

It was at this moment that Reo appreciated his new Rare Grade Skill. That passive increase in stamina would surely help him a lot.

So, with the system's confirmation, Reo turned back to Nishimura.

"You're the first one on the list right? Come, let me send you crying back to mama"

Nishimura felt his face flush red in anger when he heard Reo's taunt.

'First on the list? I'll be the first to end you!', Nishimura savagely countered in his mind.

"You better remember your words after I destroy you on the court!", Nishimura shouted out.

Then, he took out a basketball from which he managed to borrow from the school's sports room as he stood in the middle of the court, waiting for Reo.

As Reo walked onto the court ,he realized that they needed a referee. Otherwise, these dirty bastards might even throw an elbow at him.

However, seeing that there was no proper adult around, he could only turn to Mikasa.

"Mikasa, can you be the referee?".

Mikasa who was staring at Reo all this time, nodded blankly as she walked to the court. Of course, she couldn't fully comprehend the situation since this was all progressing too fast for her.

Also, wasn't this dumdum injured yesterday? Why was he challenging the whole school now?

She was honestly getting worried about his recklessness. Wasn't he worried that he might get hunted down one day?

Still, she didn't say much as she stood in between the two boys with the basketball that was passed over from Nishimura.

She had at least the basic knowledge of basketball rules so she was minimally qualified to referee the match.

Nishimura looked at Reo one last time as he mocked, "I thought that you would have learnt your lesson after getting cornered in the classroom but it seems that I must beat some sense into you myself!"

Reo didn't back down either as he too mocked Nishimura.

"So what?! You think you can beat me?! Just you wait! I will do you like how Kobe Bryant did the Raptors back in 2006!", Reo said this in a voice full of vigor.

This was the best example that he could use from one of his favorite stars back in his old world, Kobe Bryant. He was going to use Kobe Bryant's example to make a fool out of all these fools.

However, the rest of the crowd didn't share his enthusiasm as they tilted their heads to the side as question marks began appearing above their heads.

Finally, Nishimura finally spoke their thoughts as he asked in a confused voice.

"Who's Kobe Bryant?"

"....",Reo.

There was nothing that he could say to that or more specifically, there were no words appropriate for him to say.

At this moment, Reo was happy that he was in another world.

If they were in his previous world, be it Gods or Buddhas....no one would be able to save these kids from getting hunted down and being given a severe beating by those hardcore fans.

By then, Reo could guarantee that they would even dream of the name, Kobe Bryant.

But for now, he would add this insult to his long list of grievances and pay them all back today.

Looking at Mikasa, he signaled with his eyes for her to start the match.

This was not like Ebisu's Street Ball Rumble where everything was done professionally so instead of the usual coin flip, they went for the standard tip off instead to determine the ball's possession.

So, without wasting anymore time, Mikasa threw the ball into the air to start the tip off.

"Ready?! Tip off!", Mikasa shouted signaling the start of the game.

As Reo watched the ball spinning in the air, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty for what he was about to do.

Today, he was gonna pull a 'Saiba Jōichirō' on them!