Chapter 006: The Effort and Sweat Mission: 'Try Not to Airball'
Something was off.
Very off.
As Hoshiumi Mì ran laps in the gym, his body subconsciously followed the person in front, but his mind was stuck on the moment after the practice match, when he shook hands with the opposing players.
Could someone please tell him...
Who was that ace from Seiei Junior High with the short buzz-cut, the one who scored as easily as chopping vegetables before being subbed out?
True, when they shook hands, the guy had looked a little familiar. And when they exchanged names, it turned out that the length of that buzz-cut, if grown out and spiked up proportionally, clicked into place perfectly!
Sendoh Akira!
What the hell?
Where the hell was he?!
Hoshiumi Mì: "..."
So, what he knew now was...
Sendoh Akira was a second-year in junior high, just like him. Extrapolating from this, could there be a second-year Sawakita Eiji, and third-years like Maki and Fujima...?
Sawakita Eiji, a player whose basketball skill was far beyond his peers, the top fighting force in the world of Slam Dunk who had defeated his own father right after entering junior high. If he remembered correctly, wasn't Sawakita also in Tokyo during his junior high days?
Thinking about it carefully, Sawakita's basketball talent was only discovered by the powerhouse of high school basketball, Akita Prefecture's Sannoh Technical High School, just before he entered high school. His specific origins could be inferred from a few clues: he played against Sendoh in junior high, and Ryonan's coach Taoka Moichi had brought Sendoh from Tokyo to Kanagawa.
It might not be entirely accurate, but the probability was high.
The phrase 'his talent was only discovered in high school' suggests that Sawakita's junior high team wasn't nationally famous. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone undiscovered until he was about to enter high school.
As for why they weren't famous, it was probably because his basketball skills had already far surpassed his peers. So much so that when he entered junior high, he got beaten up by his seniors for looking down on their inferior skills. For a similar reason, though many Kuroko's Basketball fans don't pay attention to him, Kagami Taiga made a cameo in Kuroko's Teiko flashback arc. He actually returned to Japan in his third year of junior high, but because he also looked down on his school team's level, he didn't participate in his final year of junior high basketball.
But this world also had Kuroko's Basketball...
Unlike Kagami, an overseas returnee who was completely ignorant of the level of Japanese junior high basketball, Sawakita was a homegrown basketball fanatic. He shouldn't have been as unaware of the significance of the Generation of Miracles as Kagami was.
It's chaotic...
So chaotic.
But regardless...
Due to the era it was created in, Sawakita Eiji, the top player in the world of Slam Dunk, was based on an old-school 90s style. For that reason alone, he would probably have to take a backseat in this world.
One thing was for sure...
Talent was not the primary goal.
In Kuroko's Basketball, it was like a chasm.
The ones with weird hair colors were the strongest.
Just like his own white hair!
Take Himuro Tatsuya, for example. His technique was brilliant and exquisite, his skills already approaching the level of the Generation of Miracles. However, limited by his natural talent, he was stuck at the level of a gifted player, unable to enter the ZONE, forever unable to surpass the limits of a mortal.
Because in this world, it was all about the cheats!
..................................................................................
Returning home that evening, after a simple dinner, Hoshiumi Mì lay on his bed. Only then did he finally calm his mind and carefully examine the 'Effort and Sweat System' in his head.
'Self-introduction?'
'...'
A long silence made Hoshiumi Mì scratch his head in embarrassment.
'System?'
Buzz~!
It seemed only those two words would elicit a response from the system panel. Hoshiumi Mì could only explore the panel on his own.
First of all...
The video-style icon in the middle of the panel, the video package for 'Almost Never Misses', had changed from when he first saw it. The cover had gone from 'text' to an 'image'. The image was of him in his #12 jersey during today's game. At the same time, the three small words 'Pending Playback' in the bottom-right corner had changed to 'Played'.
He clicked to play it.
The content of the package was a highlight reel from today's game. The 'Future Preview' prompt did not appear again. He clenched his fist; the physical changes from the game were gone. He had anticipated this, as the system had prompted him that it was 'during the five-minute duration of the first playback'.
In other words...
That thing was a one-off.
Seeing this, Hoshiumi Mì frowned slightly.
Although the 'Future Preview' was triggered because the system detected his 'confirmed entry into an official match', he was completely unsure of the trigger frequency...
If there was no 'preview' in the next game, wouldn't he return to being ordinary again?
As if it had insight into Hoshiumi Mì's thoughts...
Buzz~!
[Effort and Sweat Mission]
[Try Not to Miss: In the future, through the tempering of effort and sweat, you will become an outstanding three-point shooter. But for now, you are only a master of airballs. Please follow the 'Played' video package and practice diligently to become more outstanding as soon as possible.]
[Make 1000 three-pointers matching the standard in the video]
[Expected Result of Effort and Sweat: 45% average three-point percentage in games]
Hoshiumi Mì: "..."
From 'Almost Never Misses' to 'Try Not to Miss'...
So that's how it is...
So that's what 'Future Preview' was all about.