It's fine, because you are very weak.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing? Making me do all the grunt work—what's that supposed to mean?!"

Kamuro Masumi, following behind Gojo Satoru, finally couldn't hold it in and exploded.

For the past few hours, she'd been trailing after him carrying stuff, while he went around buying everything in sight but refused to hold a single thing himself.

Every time the pile got too big for Masumi to manage, he'd make her haul it to his dorm room, while he stayed put waiting for her, always adding a jab:

"Huh? You're slow—don't you work out?"

16:00

Glancing at the time on his phone, Gojo Satoru smirked slightly, then said, "Relax. Getting angry gives you wrinkles. We're done shopping now—come with me to the Basketball Club. Take out your phone."

"Ha!? What are we doing there? You joining the club?"

As she spoke, she handed her phone over.

"Of course not. We're crashing it."

Taking back her phone, Shinsuke stared at the extra 3 million Private Points displayed on the screen, utterly stunned, and immediately fired off every question she had.

"What's the meaning of this? Where did you get that many Private Points? Are you really a freshman? And why are you always wearing that blindfold?"

Faced with this storm of questions, Gojo Satoru tossed back a few casual replies and headed toward the gym.

"Don't ask so many questions at once, just follow along nicely. Besides, the more mysterious a man is, the more charming he becomes—don't you think, Shinsuke?"

"Who said you could call me that?!!"

'What a pain in the ass.'

Kamuro Masumi pocketed her phone and chased after him.

Bang

The gym door was shoved open violently as Gojo Satoru strode in with a swagger that acknowledged no one. Kamuro Masumi, following behind, felt like burying her face in the ground.

'Does he have no sense of shame at all?!'

Inside, a senior named Fenfen from the Basketball Club looked over, along with some female students who'd come to watch practice.

"Who are they?"

"Never seen them before—probably freshmen."

"No manners at all. Scared me half to death."

Tuning out the irrelevant chatter, the two walked straight toward the basketball team members.

"You two are freshmen, right? Something you need? If you want to apply to join the club, you'll have to wait until tomorrow—that's when all the clubs start recruiting."

A guy in a number 4 jersey, about 186 cm tall, with a resolute expression, walked over.

Though he came off a bit aggressive and was slightly shorter in height, Gojo Satoru didn't seem bothered at all and spoke up, "Apply to join? You've got it wrong. I'm here to crash the place!"

"Huh!?"

"Who the hell are you, kid?"

"A freshman acting this cocky—do your parents know?"

"Everyone move aside—I'll take him one-on-one!"

Unlike the other players, the captain in the number 4 jersey just darkened his expression slightly.

"Got a little talent and you're this arrogant? Basketball isn't as simple as you think. Leave now, and don't interrupt our practice."

"What's the matter? Scared?"

Gojo Satoru taunted directly.

'I'm already here—it'd be a shame if you didn't cough up some coins.'

"But don't worry, I won't waste your time for nothing. If you win, I'll pay you 3 million Private Points. And if I win, you do the same."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the scene started getting hard to control, with everyone buzzing.

"No way?"

"Isn't he a freshman? How does he have 3 million Private Points?"

"Did the whole class pool their points for him?"

Even the basketball team captain couldn't stay calm.

"Are you serious? 3 million is a huge sum even for upperclassmen. Can a freshman like you really afford it?"

"Don't act like you've already won. Let me introduce myself—I'm Gojo Satoru, Class D, first year. I don't have the points, but she does."

He pointed at Kamuro Masumi beside him.

Though she was puzzled why he wouldn't show his own points, she still cooperated and held up her phone.

"My name is Kamuro Masumi, Class 1-A. Like he said, if you win, these three million points are yours."

Looking at the balance displayed on the phone—

3,086,480

The captain quickly accepted. "Alright, on behalf of the basketball club, I accept your challenge. Lay out the rules."

Afraid the fat sheep in hand might slip away.

"Simple. Standard half-court one-on-one. First to five baskets wins. So who's playing? You?"

'Bitten the hook. Even with a pile of points on hand, I can't just say where they came from. I still need to earn income from angles everyone can see, so no one gossips when I spend big later. After all, aside from the people who were there at the shop, only the Student Council President should know about those points. If that got out, the school would be in a tough spot.'

"Of course not. I'm Kawashima, Class 3-A. As captain, I'm a point guard by trade—one-on-one isn't my thing. You'll play our power forward. His name is Yamagami Sawano."

No sooner had he spoken than a black-haired boy, a meter ninety tall, stepped forward. It was the same one who'd been clamoring for a match from the start.

"I'm Yamagami Sawano, Class 3-A. Pleasure to meet you."

Thinking about the three million in club funds this underclassman was about to deliver, he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from lifting as he greeted him with a grin.

"Yeah, pleasure's all mine."

Gojo Satoru kept his smile and replied.

"You go first. Otherwise, you won't get a chance to touch the ball."

On the court, even though he was shorter by a head, Gojo still wore that arrogant expression.

Yamagami Sawano was a bit irritated. "You didn't even change clothes—still in your uniform, didn't even loosen your tie, and that black blindfold of yours obviously blocks your vision! And you tell me to go first? What are you even saying? Are you serious? Don't forget, if you lose, your girlfriend's three million is ours."

"I'm not his girlfriend!"

Outside the court, Kamuro Masumi, who'd been quietly watching, was completely thrown off by that last line.

She'd already been annoyed being bossed around by that guy all day, and now she was being mistaken for his girlfriend—she couldn't help shouting back reflexively.

Yamagami Sawano's eye twitched at the shout. If she wasn't his girlfriend, why was she throwing three million at him to play?

He looked awkwardly at his opponent, only to see Gojo waving his hand with a smile. "Daijobu, daijobu. Because you—are very weak!"

A flush crept up Yamagami Sawano's face, but he didn't bother to reply. Since he'd given the guy a chance and he didn't want it, fine—get ready to lose completely.

Both sides adjusted their stances. At Kawashima's whistle—

Yamagami Sawano dribbled quickly and easily slipped past Gojo's right side.

'What's the big deal? I thought he was supposed to be good. A simple side dribble and I'm through.'

Since it was half-court, Yamagami soon reached under the basket. He leaped up, ready to teach the young underclassman a lesson with a dunk.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Watching the basketball bounce out of bounds, Yamagami Sawano's face was full of disbelief.

'How? He was standing behind me just a second ago. How did he catch up so fast?'

He looked at his right hand, which had just held the ball.

'The feel of it hasn't even faded, and it's already been smacked to the ground. No way.'

The crowd outside the court was also stunned speechless. Even Kamuro Masumi, who knew nothing about basketball, thought it was absurd.

When Yamagami stepped into the free-throw line, Gojo hadn't moved yet. But the moment he jumped, Gojo was already at his side, leaping faster and swatting the ball away cleanly.

Not just Yamagami—most people off the court hadn't even reacted, let alone seen it clearly, before the ball hit the ground with a heavy thud.

Facing the utterly shocked Yamagami Sawano, Gojo just smiled and said, "My turn to attack now, right?"

Seeing the upward curl of Gojo's lips, Yamagami had a bad feeling.

Back to the starting position, but this time the roles were swapped: Gojo on offense, Yamagami on defense.

Staring at the sloppy dribbling in front of him, Yamagami didn't dare make a move. He couldn't afford to be careless this time—the explosive speed his opponent had just shown was beyond anything he'd imagined, and he still hadn't fully snapped out of it.

'Learning your lesson, huh? Doesn't matter.'

Unlike Yamagami's grim expression, Gojo was lazily dribbling in place before tossing out a line. "You were planning to dunk just now, weren't you?"

"What?"

Caught off guard by the sudden question, she started to lift her head toward him but immediately realized—

'Got me!'

She dropped her gaze back to the ball, only to see it pass right between her own legs as Gojo Satoru broke past on the left. Just as she turned to recover, she was stunned to see him leap from outside the free-throw line!

From beyond the free-throw line, he took off with the ball gripped one-handed at a tricky angle. Three meters from the hoop, he could already hurl it into the basket with overwhelming force. The ball's arc from his hand to the net fell like a shooting star.

Meteor Jam!

A signature move of Kagami Taiga from Kuroko no Basuke.

Even Kagami Taiga himself could only pull it off while in the ZONE.

As the ball hit the floor, the crowd outside erupted.

"No way, is this guy a monster?!"

"Am I still asleep? Is that really a freshman who just enrolled?"

"Coach, I want to learn that!"

Kawashima stared at the silver-haired boy on the court, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

Win or lose didn't matter anymore!

Three million Private Points might be a lot, but for a third-year in Class A, he alone had close to four or five million points saved up.

Compared to points he couldn't take with him, that boy was his real target—the national championship!

Their best record so far had only been the top eight, but now it was different. Through that boy's figure, he could see it—the gleaming golden championship trophy!

Kamuro Masumi, on the other hand, looked utterly helpless. She had lost her composure more times today than she could count. Ever since she met him, her heart hadn't known a moment of true calm, always pulled along by whatever he did.