The whistle signaling the second half blew.
It was the countdown to an execution.
Maki Shinichi stood at center court, his heartbeat slamming against his ribs hard enough to make his eardrums ache.
His eyes were locked onto the black-clad figure at the other end of the court.
Makino Juro.
Everything around him slowly dimmed.
In Maki's perception, the world had changed.
It felt as though he were standing before a colossal bronze gate leading into the realm of gods.
Beyond that gate was a paradise for monsters—a throne reserved for absolute rulers.
And he…
Was merely a mortal without an invitation.
"Damn it…"
Sweat slid down Maki's dark face and shattered against the hardwood floor.
That helplessness felt like an invisible hand crushing his throat.
If he couldn't force open that door, then the second half would become a one-sided massacre, and Kainan's glory would be reduced to a joke today.
Humiliation.
A humiliation unlike anything he had ever felt exploded through his veins, burning his rationality to ashes.
I'm Maki Shinichi!
I'm the Emperor of Kanagawa!
How could I let myself get ground into the dirt like some broken stray dog?!
"A key…"
"I don't have a key…"
Maki's pupils trembled violently. Blood vessels crawled across the whites of his eyes like cracks in glass—the madness of a gambler pushing all his chips into the center of the table.
"Then I'll smash the damn door open!"
To hell with technique.
To hell with logic.
The calm, rational "Point Guard Maki Shinichi" inside his mind died in that instant.
In its place rose a wounded tyrannosaur.
Within the abyss of his consciousness, he launched a suicidal charge against that tightly sealed gate.
Once. Twice. Three times!
Skull split open. Bones shattered.
"OPEN THE HELL UP FOR ME!!!"
The roar from the depths of his soul shattered the chains binding him.
Perhaps the gods had heard the prayers of a madman.
Or perhaps the rules themselves feared such reckless brutality.
Crack.
A tiny fracture spread across the massive gate.
Reality.
As Maki dribbled the ball up the court, the aura around him abruptly changed.
Kiyota Nobunaga had just opened his mouth to shout something—
But the words froze in his throat like he'd swallowed a dead rat.
He stared in horror at the faint violet glow flickering within his captain's eyes.
It wasn't like the wild instincts of Rukawa Kaede or Sendoh Akira.
No.
This was the ultimate expression of power.
The tyrannical force of an emperor tearing apart the rules themselves.
The crack in the door to Zone.
He had pried it open through sheer willpower alone.
"BOOM!"
The basketball slammed against the floor like thunder.
Maki moved.
His speed hadn't changed—
But the pressure he radiated had multiplied exponentially.
He resembled a heavy tank with its brakes ripped off.
Charging straight toward Makino Juro with enough force to crush everything in its path.
Inside the three-point line, Makino Juro lazily lifted his eyelids.
"Oh?"
Maki's twisted expression reflected within his pupils.
"Interesting."
Makino Juro lowered his center of gravity and reached out with his right hand for the steal.
Within the flowing streams of data in his vision—
Maki's balance was shifting left.
According to the laws of human biomechanics, the steal was guaranteed.
However..
At the very instant Maki bent his knees and was about to lose the ball, violet lightning erupted in his eyes.
"I can see it now!!"
Maki roared.
The muscles in his thighs swelled violently, his shorts tightening as though they might burst apart.
He defied inertia itself.
SCREEECH!
The soles of his shoes screamed against the floorboards. A burnt smell filled the air.
His body snapped back, narrowly avoiding Juro's steal.
Though he staggered—
He held on!
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
Using the recoil, Maki slammed his shoulder into Makino Juro's side and forcefully carved out half a step of space.
The entire arena nearly bulged their eyes out.
"Maki… held him off?!"
"He didn't kneel this time! He survived that monster's crossover!"
On the sidelines, Takato Riki crushed his newly replaced folding fan in excitement, fingernails digging into his palms.
"That's it, Captain!!"
"Use your power to crush all those flashy tricks!"
The moment he broke past Makino Juro, Maki felt as though the air itself had become sweeter.
The crushing shackles weighing him down vanished.
The hoop ahead looked unbelievably clear.
He could even see the texture of the net.
Rukawa rotated over to help.
But to the current Maki, Rukawa's movements looked as slow as tai chi.
"Too slow!"
Spin. Blow-by. Takeoff. Dunk!
No unnecessary movements.
Pure violent aesthetics.
"BOOM!!"
The rim groaned.
30:22.
After landing, Maki threw back his head and roared, venting all the frustration he'd accumulated throughout the game.
"It's not over yet!"
The next few minutes became Maki Shinichi's personal highlight reel.
It was as if he had glitched his own body and entered some mysterious state.
Second possession...
He powered through Sakuragi Hanamichi's block attempt in midair and finished through contact.
And one!
Third possession...
He predicted Miyagi Ryota's pass, intercepted it mid-route, and went coast-to-coast.
Facing the recovering Mitsui Hisashi, he backed him down and scored with brute force.
Fourth possession...
One step inside the three-point line.
Ignoring the defense entirely, he rose for a pull-up jumper.
The ball bounced off the front rim—
And dropped in.
Luck?
No.
Momentum.
Nine straight points!
30:29.
The double-digit deficit vanished in an instant, reduced to a single point.
The entire gym exploded.
Kainan's cheering squad pounded drums and screamed themselves hoarse chanting the name of "Emperor Maki."
"So this…"
"Is the world beyond that door?"
Maki stared at his own hands as violet sparks danced within his eyes.
He felt omnipotent.
His body was as light as a feather, yet his power surged like a raging ocean.
Makino Juro?
That seemingly invincible monster from earlier?
Now, in Maki's eyes—
He was nothing special.
"I've already reached your level."
Maki turned toward the emotionless boy in black, a savage grin spreading across his face.
"No…"
"I've surpassed you."
The swelling intoxication of power gave birth to a fatal illusion.
Shohoku ball.
The moment Miyagi crossed half-court, Maki's pressure nearly forced him into a turnover.
Amid the chaos, the ball rolled toward Makino Juro's feet.
Makino Juro bent down and picked it up.
His movements were leisurely, as though the deafening cheers around him had all been muted.
"Makino Juro!"
"Drop the act! I've already seen through your tricks!"
Holding the ball loosely at his side with one hand, Makino Juro tilted his head and looked at the overexcited Maki.
That gaze…
Was like a human watching a monkey that had just learned how to walk upright.
"Seen through me?"
Makino Juro chuckled softly.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it pierced straight into Maki's ears.
"You pried open a crack in the door…"
"And now you think you've seen the entire sky?"
"Cut the crap!"
Maki roared. He was sick of that superior tone.
"The current me will crush you!"
He lunged forward for the steal.
Makino Juro flicked his wrist.
The basketball vanished from its original spot and appeared ghostlike behind his back.
He accelerated.
No flashy dribbling.
Just a simple straight-line burst.
Yet in Maki's eyes, Juro became a blur.
"You're not getting past me!"
With the overwhelming reflexes granted by his pseudo-Zone state, Maki slid sideways to cut him off.
The two collided near the three-point line.
BANG!
Muscle crashed against muscle.
Maki's expression shifted.
He realized that beneath Makino Juro's seemingly lean frame was monstrous strength equal to his own.
The two tangled together as they stormed into the paint.
Near the free-throw line, Makino Juro came to an abrupt stop.
Maki stopped with him instantly, sticking to him like glue.
"It's useless!" Maki roared.
Makino Juro didn't shoot.
Instead, he slammed the ball against the floor—
A split-second split-pass!
The basketball shot between Maki's legs while Makino Juro slipped around him from the side.
"Naive!"
Maki spun and chased after him.
And this time—
He actually kept up!
The two sprinted side by side toward the basket.
Maki thought he had won.
"Take this, Juro!"
While racing at full speed, the violet glow in Maki's eyes intensified to its limit.
"Your era—"
"Will end before it even begins!!"
END OF CHAPTER
The King Of Slacking Off - MrBehringer's Secret
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