[New World Selected.]
[Initiating Transfer…]
[Transfer Complete.]
[Residual Energy Detected…]
[Excess energy has been converted into "Involution Points." Host, please check your account.]
[Analyzing Rules of the New World…]
[Resetting Attribute Panel…]
[Reset Complete.]
[Preparing to Fuse with a New Body…]
[Fusion Complete.]
[Special Skill Detected. Materializing…]
[Materialization in Progress…]
============
A flood of notifications exploded in Akashi Asuka's brain like a barrage of sonic bombs, each one slamming into his consciousness as if trying to blow his mind apart.
Only after a long while did the cascade of messages begin to subside, allowing Akashi to finally calm himself and begin organizing the new information in his head.
He opened his eyes and looked around.
Soon enough, Akashi realized he was in a familiar kind of locker room, the kind commonly found in multipurpose gymnasiums. Rows of shared lockers lined the walls, with a few long benches scattered in the middle.
The air was thick with the scent of sweat.
Aside from Akashi, there were about seven or eight other boys in the room, all of them well-built. They sat silently on the benches with their heads hung low, their expressions bleak, as if they'd just been through a major trauma. Their eyes were filled with disbelief and fear.
Not a single sound could be heard in the room, it was so silent, it felt eerie.
"Damn… this looks bad."
Akashi clicked his tongue as he glanced around the room.
Even though he hadn't accessed the memories of this new body yet, he could already piece together most of the situation just by looking at everyone's faces.
He'd seen that kind of expression way too many times.
Although, usually from the opposing team's bench.
It had been a long time since he'd seen this view from this perspective.
Without hesitation, he began searching his mind for the memories of this body.
Soon, scenes from the original owner's life began to surface in his mind like a movie reel…
[Name: Akashi Asuka.]
"Huh, no change in the name. Convenient, I don't have to come up with a new alias this time."
[3rd Year Junior High Student. Height: 197cm…]
"Whoa! That tall?! Are junior high school students these days just built differently or what? No wonder something felt off when I first arrived, this body's height is insane!"
Initially, Akashi had assumed this body was quite frail, at least from his perspective, the limbs looked so thin they were practically sticks.
But after comparing his arms and legs to the other boys nearby, he realized with a jolt, it wasn't that his body was weak. It was just... long.
This was not what he expected, but the following memory explained everything:
[Basketball Club… National Junior High Tournament, Quarterfinals… Position: Center…]
"So it's basketball this time? Looks like I'm back to my roots. I haven't played in a while, though. Hope I'm not too rusty."
[Opponent too strong… massive score gap… Center dominated… Lost confidence… contemplating giving up…]
As he continued reviewing the memories, Akashi's eyes suddenly widened in disbelief.
"Dominated in the paint? Are you kidding me?"
This wasn't like the time he first arrived in the world of Haikyuu!!, where he had only a vague understanding of volleyball. This time, he knew basketball, and he knew it well.
A 197 cm center in Junior High?
Even if you didn't know how to play, just standing in the paint and putting your hands up would drastically reduce the opponents' scoring efficiency.
And yet, according to these memories, he got steamrolled in a one-on-one under the basket?
[Opponent… "Generation of Miracles."]
Oh.
Well, that explains everything.
Of course this wasn't just some normal basketball world, this was Kuroko's Basketball.
"No wonder… it all makes sense now."
Akashi had watched Kuroko no Basket in his previous life. His first impression? "Even if you dropped Kobe into this world, he'd probably be riding the bench."
Now that he knew what world he had landed in, everything that felt "unrealistic" suddenly seemed completely plausible.
"Wait, does that mean I'm about to face those monsters in a match?!"
His face stiffened.
It was halftime now. In five minutes, his team would be taking the court again for the second half against Teiko Junior High.
According to the memories, Teiko had already doubled their score by the end of the first half.
"Seriously? What's the point of even playing at this stage?!"
Even someone like Akashi Asuka, who had battled through three years of fierce national volleyball tournaments in his previous world, couldn't help but curse a little internally.
It wasn't just a "challenging" situation anymore, this was straight-up hopeless. If Teiko Junior High was anything like how they were portrayed in the anime, then stepping on that court now would just be asking to get steamrolled.
"No wonder the original owner wanted to give up basketball. Facing monsters like them, who wouldn't crack under the pressure?"
Akashi glanced around again. Most of his teammates were completely deflated, mentally defeated before the second half had even begun.
All but one.
A bald-headed boy sat upright, eyes still burning with determination.
From the memories, Akashi recalled his name, Tsugawa Tomoki.
"Huh. Why is it always the bald guys who are the most fired up? I swear, this guy looks familiar… Wasn't he in the original series?"
The image of Tsugawa seemed vaguely familiar, but after spending three years in the volleyball world, Akashi's memory of this series was a bit hazy.
"Eh, it doesn't matter right now. What matters is winning this match, or at least not getting humiliated."
"Alright, system. Time to show me some cheat codes."