After carefully studying the system, Ken Kaneki had gained a general understanding of what it could do.
Simply put, there was no newbie gift package.
Aside from a personal stat panel, the system had only two functions: adding points and drawing prizes.
Adding points was easy to understand.
Completing the missions issued by the system earned him varying amounts of attribute points.
As for the prize draws, the system explained that whenever Ken Kaneki first crossed paths with a protagonist of a particular rank in the world's timeline and caused them to experience intense emotional turmoil, or whenever he altered the main storyline, he would receive a chance to draw a prize of the corresponding rank.
For example, after evaluating his recent hospital stay, the system had determined that Ken Kaneki had crossed paths with the S-rank protagonist Daiki Aomine and the A-rank protagonist Satsuki Momoi.
As a result, he had received one S-rank draw and one A-rank draw.
"Not bad. There's no newbie gift package, but at least I got two draws. Better than nothing."
Ken Kaneki pursed his lips, still a little dissatisfied, and opened the draw page.
The page showed five prize wheels, ranked from highest to lowest: "S, A, B, C, D."
The B, C, and D wheels were gray, clearly unavailable.
A "1" appeared in the upper-right corner of both the S-rank and A-rank wheel icons, indicating that he had one chance to draw from each.
"Seriously? Why does this cheat system look so much like a cheap mobile game?"
Looking at the crude interface before him, Ken Kaneki couldn't hold back his urge to complain.
"With a clunky system like this, what good stuff could I possibly get? Don't tell me I'll end up with something like 'One slash for 999 damage' or 'If you're a brother, come and fight me'..."
As much as he disliked it, the famous strategist and renowned cultural figure Li Datuan had once said, "If it can draw out pus, it's a good salve. Having something is better than having nothing."
Following the principle of "Since I'm already here, I might as well leave with something," Ken Kaneki first opened the A-rank prize wheel.
The A-rank wheel was packed with more than a dozen prizes.
It included all sorts of familiar skills from sports anime he'd watched in his previous life, such as Two-Sword Style, Swallow Return Flash, and Zero-Style Drop Shot.
"They're all pretty good skills."
Looking at the dazzling array of prizes before him, Ken Kaneki smacked his lips and sighed.
"Too bad that with the body I have now, no skill can make up for my lack of talent..."
"Whatever, I'll draw. I'll take what I get. At worst, I can become a streetball legend or something."
With those conflicted thoughts, Ken Kaneki clicked the draw button.
"Ding~"
As soon as he pressed the button, the prize wheel began to spin with a rattling whir.
After an indeterminate amount of time, the wheel slowly came to a stop, and the pointer landed on "Basketball Bible."
"Congratulations, host. You have drawn the technical skill: Basketball Bible."
As the system notification sounded, information about the skill appeared before Ken Kaneki.
Skill: Basketball Bible Skill Type: Technique Skill Trait: Perfect Skill Rank: A+ Skill Effect: Upon obtaining this skill, the host will gain perfect fundamental basketball techniques, including dribbling, shooting, post play, rebounding, shot blocking, and stealing.
"Not bad."
Thinking of how he'd practiced hard in his previous life without making much progress, Ken Kaneki felt a little relieved.
"At least with this skill, I won't have to spend time learning basketball from scratch. Even if I can't play professionally in the future, becoming an internet-famous streetball legend wouldn't be bad."
With his A-rank draw used up, the A-rank wheel turned gray, just like the B-, C-, and D-rank wheels.
Seeing this, Ken Kaneki turned his attention to the S-rank wheel.
The S-rank wheel looked no different from the A-rank one.
The only difference was that it had fewer prizes.
Aside from "Better luck next time," it had only seven options: God's Chosen Body, Zone, the First Man, Air Jordan, Copy Transformation, Unconscious Knowledge, and Flow.
"They all look pretty good..."
"I know what God's Chosen Body and Air Jordan are, but what is the First Man?"
Looking at the image of a blond, blue-eyed man among the prizes, Ken Kaneki fell into thought.
"I wonder what I'll draw this time. With my current physical talent, Zone and Flow wouldn't add much for me. My body couldn't handle a burst-type skill like Unconscious Knowledge, either. Copy Transformation is a pretty good prize, but with my current body, I wouldn't be able to use it even if I learned it..."
Thinking about how his mediocre body would keep him from making use of the prizes, Ken Kaneki ruefully scratched his head and irritably pressed the draw button.
"Ahhh! My body! My body! It has to be a body! This time, I have to draw a body!"
Ken Kaneki stared nervously at the screen before him, feeling as if his heart were about to leap out of his throat.
As the wheel slowly came to a stop, the pointer stubbornly moved past God's Chosen Body and landed on Zone.
At last, it stopped on the First Man.
"Congratulations, host. You have drawn the body-template talent: the First Man. The current template has been bound. All future body-template prizes will be withdrawn."
The system's voice sounded again.
"Ahhh! My God's Chosen Body and Air Jordan!"
"I want to see what this so-called First Man even is. Don't tell me it matched me with an ape-man?"
"If that's the case, I'd rather die—die outside, or jump off the hospital building..."
Wailing, Ken Kaneki opened the prize description.
The dazzling gold light nearly blinded him.
Talent: The First Man Talent Type: Body Talent Trait: Demigod, Divine Void Vision Talent Rank: SSS+ Talent Effect: Adam, the First Man, was the first human God created in His own image and His most perfect copy. His demigod body had potential that surpassed the limits of humanity. Under Divine Void Vision, no human skill could escape his notice. His perfect physique could copy and strengthen any skill he had seen, and his exceptional intelligence let him calculate his opponent's every possible move in advance.
After carefully reading the prize description, Ken Kaneki rubbed his dry eyes and said gratefully, "This draw was ridiculously good... Heh, now I get it."
After Ken Kaneki claimed his reward, the system brought up his updated physical stats.
Host: Ken Kaneki Age: 13 Height: 180 cm / 200 cm Weight: 85 kg Wingspan: 200 cm / 220 cm Talent: The First Man (Teenage) Strength: 85 / 110 Speed: 85 / 110 Jumping: 85 / 110 Coordination: 85 / 110 Agility: 85 / 110 Stamina: 85 / 110 Flexibility: 85 / 110 Skill: Basketball Bible Evaluation: S-rank (You are among the 100 best basketball players in the world in your age group.)
"Among the 100 best..."
Looking at the system's evaluation, a confident smile flickered across Ken Kaneki's lips.
"If I'm only among the 100 best, then I'd be doing this demigod body a disservice."
Before you continue