Chapter 38: Narcissist's Basketball 2
Seiya returned to his bench for the rest but not before squeezing the sweat out of his jersey while also earning some cheers from girls as he showed the sight of his six abs.
He also spotted his girlfriend sitting with Eriri along with Sakura. Seiya gave them a quick wave and a wink before retiring to the bench.
Utaha and Eriri both blushed as he waved his hands towards them especially Utaha.
"Thanks, Shiro." Seiya thanked the best mommy of nasuverse who gave him a towel and a drink.
"No problem… but are you sure about the match?" Shiro scratched his cheek.
However, before Seiya could answer, it was someone sitting beside him interrupted.
"I think Kanie-san will lose for sure."
It was a boy with an average height similar to Seiya and had short, ash-blond hair and black, rectangular-framed glasses. He was also carrying towels and drinks just like Shiro.
"Sorry for the interruption. My name is Shinya Nakamura. I am here to provide you with the break refreshments." Shinya said and then offered Seiya a drink.
However, Seiya already had his favorite drink that Shiro brought for him so he declined.
"I am amazed that basketball club has some decency left to offer drinks to the opponent." Seiya smiled.
"Well apart from me don't like talking to Kise, it is something called sports hospitality even if the opponent is someone like you who just trashed talked about whole basketball group."
"Heh~? Then what makes you certain that I am going to lose?" Seiya ignored the previous remark and asked.
"Anyone can see this. Kise is on lead and you are running out of options." Shinya grinned but to his surprise, Seiya burst into loud laughter earning the attention of all the people around him.
"That's why I said that basketball club is all bunch of losers. Just because I was busy making three-pointers and Kise is on lead, you are assuming that match is in his hands. I bet you are only playing basketball because you want to gain strength and some looks without having any knowledge about tactics. Seriously though you should start a comedy circus of your own!" Seiya laughed and wiped a tear from his eyes.
Shiro was a little confused as to why Seiya was mocking the basketball team so harshly. He was even feeling bad for Shinya Nakamura who came here and offered services but Seiya was making fun of him.
"Hey, t-that's not like it!!" Shinya lost his cool and argued back.
"Haha, keep living with that delusion and halfassed dream. Even if you don't want to play professionals, you can't possibly enter Interhigh or Winter Cup with that mindset. This team is only good at winning preliminaries but that's it."
Seiya said then stood up. "Just keep an eye on my movements and I will show you how professionals think and play."
After saying that, Seiya walked to the court.
"I am sorry but Seiya is just a little… well he is not a bad person as he seems." Shiro came forward and apologized to Shinya.
"You just saw how he talked to me. Yeah, he is not a bad person but a complete jerk, thank you." Shinya said and turned his attention to the match.
Shiro sighed from complete defeat as he didn't know how to defend his friend anymore. He didn't know why he was taking to basketball club that way so, in the end, he also decided to watch the match and pray for Seiya's victory.
Meanwhile, Mafuyu Kirisu was also watching the match.
'Kanie-kun has talent for basketball? I should encourage him to join a basketball career so he won't waste the time of his high school.' Mafuyu thought.
While watching this match, anyone could tell that Seiya had an immense talent for basketball as it was proved from his match where he was giving such a tough time to the ace of the basketball club and one of the members of the generation of miracles.
Though she only observed him for only a week, she had only seen him dozing off in class. Now that he is showing such talent, she had to encourage him to go for professionals.
Meanwhile, on the court, Seiya came forward with the ball and found Kise blocking it.
"So Kise, should I show you proper basketball as a courtesy to your pitiful play?" Seiya smirked as he dribbled the ball in his hands.
"Ouch, that hurts~! Well, I couldn't be any more encouraged now that opponent is giving his all!" Kise said with a sweatdrop.
"I am impressed by the spirit. From now on I am going for singles only so you can copy my moves easily!" Seiya smiled and while dribbling his focus was on Kise's movements.
"Is that so? Well, don't mind if I do!" Kise said and went for the ball.
However, with a cunning smile on his face, Seiya easily sprint the ball through Kise's right arm and spun around Kise's2 left side completely taking Kise's by surprise.
Seiya then dribbled through the basket and jumped for the dunk.
But then he saw Kise also jumping for the block.
"Oh how cute!"
Seiya smirked and passed the ball from his right hand, through his back waist, to his left hand, and dunked the ball into the basket.22
It was a dunk!
Seiya 26-30 Kise
Everyone in the stadium was shocked again as it was Seiya's first time showing this kind of move for a direct dunk.
Truly this guy never disappoints to amaze them.
"C'mon copycat, you have to copy that move!" Seiya shouted while running for the defense.
"Tch, this guy!" Kise gritted his teeth with a tick mark on his forehead. Though he was aware of Seiya's light mock, it started to piss him off.
If they were in a professional match then he would have been discredited for spouting such foul words but they were on one-on-one and there were no such rules mentioned.
Kise naturally dribbled through the next side where Seiya was waiting with seriousness on his face.
Weird.
At first, it seems like Seiya was planning something crafty but now his expression was telling Kise that Seiya is now uneasy. Just what the hell is going on in that guy's head?
Seiya then came forward but Kise easily copied Seiya's move so he naturally passed the ball through Seiya's right side while he rolled around his left side.
However, just he was near Seiya, his eyes met a grin on Seiya's face that sent a chill down to his spine.
'What is he thinking?' Kise thought but then he focused all his attention on the game.
He ran towards the basket and jumped for the dunk but then he found Seiya going for the block. Kise smirked and went for Seiya's move that he just copied.
He and passed the ball from his right hand, through his back waist, to his left hand and then went for the dunk however the ball was not there.
Dum*
Kise widened his eyes as he heard the ball bouncing on the court and then turned around and saw Seiya's hand around his waist where the ball was supposed to pass.
The ball rolled out of the court but Kise's brain was only focused on what just happened… how did that happen?
It was then he saw the signature grin on Seiya's face.
"Do you think I wouldn't know how to counter my own move?" Seiya said and then threw the ball on Kise's arms. "Give your best copycat."
Kise glared at Seiya with nothing but sheer anger.
'This asshole is taking me lightly!' Kise thought and pumped his legs towards his basket.
And so the game went on.
On other hand, Shinya and Shiro were also carefully analyzing the game.
"Tch, your friend sure has talent but no respect for the game," Shinya commented.
Seiya was all smiles and grins in the game. Even though he was scoring with some amazing moves that you only got to see in professional games, he was clearly playing for fun without taking Kise or the game seriously. He sometimes also missed the goal or passed the ball to Kise for fun!
"Oh… I only got to know him for a week but he never talk so rudely… well, I can't deny that but he is just someone hard to approach unless someone got his interest." Shiro said.
"Whatever, he is on the losing side so I guess it is only a matter of time before his pride hits the ground," Shinya said.
Because of Seiya's attitude, Kise was now taking the lead and the gap keeps increasing.
"Really? I don't think so." It was Shiro's reply that confused Shinya.
"Why is that?" Shinya asked.
"You should take a look at your teammate first." Shiro smiled wryly and pointed at Kise.
Shinya widened his eyes when he saw the state Kise was in.
Meanwhile, on the court, Seiya suddenly raised his arm to use the 2 minutes break just 5 minutes before the match.
"Seiya wants break! 2 minutes break granted!" Yukio announced.
Seiya 35-46 Kise
Kise was in a good lead and also had the advantage over a little 5 minutes left. However, he was not happy with how the game was being played out by Seiya's end.
"Bastard!... I thought you had a little bit of decency left?!... Are you… playing for fun?!" Kise glared at Seiya while breathing heavily. If one had to compare the state of two players then Seiya was clearly in better shape than Kise. The blond-haired boy was heavily drenched in sweat and if look closely, he couldn't even stand properly.
"Oh my, Mr. Cool Blondie is agitated~. Well, I am kind of disappointed since the Blondie is still playing for revenge rather than using his head." Seiya chuckled with a grin then added before leaving the court, "If you can't play for yourself then play for your teammates who trusted you with this game."
'What… the…' Kise was confused as he saw Seiya leaving but then his vision started to get blurry.
He then walked towards his bench but suddenly his legs gave in.
"Kise!" It was his captain Yukio who caught him while his team members surrounded him with worry.
They then laid Kise on the bench for the rest. He just used too much energy in this game. The reason was his ability to copy moves and execute them. However, Seiya's move sets were just too much for him to handle. Ordinary players usually have one or two techniques that they use in a match but that guy was just a cluster pack of so many techniques that even professionals don't use.
"Kise, if you are not fine then give up. Your safety comes first." It was his coach.
"Yeah, Kise. If can't even play then it is better to give up."
"That's right, you are still our ace and we should focus on qualifying for Interhigh."
His teammates also started to insist.
'Humph, give up? They only care for me since I am the ace of the team. Without me, they have no hope for the Interhigh.' Kise smiled while looking at their hopeless faces. Just so save Kise for the Interhigh, they want him to shatter his pride and admit defeat?!
It was then Kise felt a chill on his cheek and saw his captain Yukio holding a drink.
"The decision is yours but if you want to make it to the end then make sure to kick that guy's ass! You have our back!" Yukio smiled and after tossing the drink can on Kise's face, he left.
"Ouch!" Kise rubbed his forehead but caught the drink. However, he then realized that he was also taking his team as fools. If he is to treat his team like losers then what is the difference between him and Seiya.
It was then he recalled Seiya's last words. 'If you can't play for yourself then play for your teammates who trusted you with this game.'
Is that what Seiya meant? To play for his team?
On the other hand, Seiya was sitting silently with his head covered with a towel. Shinya and Shiro were tensed since Seiya was silent for a minute while taking sips from his drinks. Since his face was covered with a towel, they can't read his face.
However, if they would then they would surely see the happiness on his face as Seiya could be seen smiling while looking at the system screen.
Basketball (Advance) -> (Expert)
Accuracy (Expert) -> (Prodigy)
That's right he was using Exercise all the time.
Since Exercise can only be used to level up one ability at a time, he has to go for one skill so he chose Accuracy to level it up while improving his Basketball skill by playing with calculation.
By this, he leveled up accuracy for the first half of the game while he spent rest to level up his Basketball skill. Leveling up basketball was way easier since he had both intelligence and stamina to encounter the hard training regime in this actual match.
It was all thanks to his Mathematics skill where he could accurately calculate Kise's moves. However, the only downside was immense stamina consumption. He could run a kilometer easily without shedding a sweat but he was damn tired now.
"Give up while you still can."
He then heard a voice that naturally belongs to Shinya Nakamura sitting beside him.
Give up?
Just because Kise was in lead, he should give up?
Why would he when he has such a cheat-like system?
Maybe a normal person or predecessor Seiya but not him.
He immediately injected 50 points in Basketball and 30 points in Accuracy all the way to Master level.
[AN: Just to remind you, here are the skill points required.
Novice to Basic Points= 5
Basic to Advance= 10
Advance to Expert= 15
Expert to Prodigy= 20
Prodigy to Master= 30
Master to Invincible= 50
Total= 130 Points]
Suddenly he felt a sudden rise in his energy and strength in his body along with different kinds of basketball moves, techniques, past or present, everything started to enter his brain.
[Your STA has been raised by 15 due to corresponding skill.]
[Your AGI has been raised by 10 due to corresponding skill.]
So his stats rise too.
Shinya who was so confidant for Kise's victory along with mommy Shiro felt a new around suddenly flaring from Seiya's body.
Not only them but all the people around him felt that the person has just ascended to a higher level of the basketball realm.
Seiya then removed the towel from his head and revealed the face of soon to be a legendary basketball player to the public.
Seiya stood up and looked at Shinya with a smirk, "What makes you think I should give up?"
Shinya could only stare at Seiya with awe. No, he felt like Seiya had become so big that his head was touching the sun. Was Seiya a legend all along? No, this can't be…
Seiya chuckled as we walked into the court.
"Now are you gonna play basketball seriously?" Kise asked Seiya. Though Kise was standing, anyone could tell that his movements were sloppy and lazy.
"Oh, I was not playing the basketball game," Seiya smirked and just as the referee tossed the ball, he easily jumped and took the ball.
"I am not your game either," Seiya smirked looking at Kise's horrified face.
Seiya then raised the ball with one hand around his waist and slammed in on the court creating an explosion-like noise creating pin-drop silence in the stadium.
"I am playing mine, The Seiya Game."
And without anyone's notice, the ball already fell in the basket for the three-pointer.
Seiya 38-46 Kise
[Status]
Name: Seiya Kanie
Age: 16
STR: 34
AGI: 34+10 -> 44
STA: 34+15 -> 49
INT: 100
WIS: 60
CHA: 56
LUC: 60
Innate Ability: Natural Narcissist.
Other Abilities: Exercise, Skill Maker, Appraisal, Inventory, Mystic Eye (left) of Life Perception
Skills: [Mathematics (Invincible) +], [English (Expert) +], [Literature (Master) +], [Science (Advance) +], [Cooking (Advance) +], [Basketball (Master) +], [Mental Resistance (Invincible)], [Teaching (Advance) +], [Management (Expert) +], [Taste Resistance (Expert) +] [Singing (Expert)] +], [Massage (Master) +], [Hand Sign language (Advanced) +], [Acupuncture (Master) +], [Accuracy (Master) +]
System Points: 750]
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Quests:
[Sub-Quest: Slam dunk.
The narcissist was challenged on the basketball court. So let's save your pride and win this game in a thriller.
Objective: Win the match.
Rewards: 120 system pints, +30 CHA, +30 LUC, and ???
Note: The hidden reward and its level will be determined from the ultimate outcome of the game.]
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