Debut

At exactly eight in the morning, Miuradai's expeditionary force finally arrived at their destination for the day—Kanagawa Private Takezono High School.

At Takezono High School's gate, the basketball team coach's assistant was already waiting for them.

"Welcome, everyone from Miuradai High School, to Takezono. I'll take you to the gym right away!"

Led by the assistant coach, Miuradai's group got off the bus and headed straight for the gym without stopping.

Takezono High School was a fairly standard elite private school, focused on college admissions. Its campus was beautifully built, and that naturally included its gymnasium.

Although Takezono High School's basketball team could only be considered above average, its gym was outfitted to a very high standard. Just the stands surrounding the court, which could seat several hundred people, were far better than Miuradai's.

It was clearly a day off, yet the gym was packed with noise. Several hundred students had gathered here to cheer for the "heartthrobs" in their minds.

The Takezono High School basketball team had already been training and warming up here for an hour.

"Wow... isn't this a little over the top?"

"No wonder they say Takezono High School has one of the county's most intimidating home courts. Now I've finally seen it for myself."

"And did you notice? The stands are basically full of girls!!"

"They really are! And they're all so pretty! Do you think if I play well later, I might finally stop being single today?"

"Keep dreaming."

Once they entered the gym, quite a few of Miuradai's inexperienced country bumpkins began chatting with looks of surprise and envy.

They were surprised by how lavishly Takezono's gym had been built.

They were envious because Takezono's basketball team was not even that good, yet so many female fans were still screaming for them!

It really was... different people, different fates.

"Welcome to Takezono. I'm Mifune, head coach of Takezono High School's basketball team."

Seeing Miuradai's group arrive, a middle-aged man immediately came over with one of his players.

"I'm Dai Ming, captain of the Takezono basketball team. Please take care of me."

On Miuradai's side, Coach Harada and Murasame Kengo also immediately stepped forward to exchange greetings.

After the coaches and captains briefly introduced themselves, Takezono's assistant coach led Miuradai's group to the locker room first.

Inside the locker room, Coach Harada began handing out the official jerseys.

"Number four, captain, Murasame Kengo!"

"Yes!"

As the team's leading scorer and captain, Murasame Kengo naturally received the number four jersey, the number that symbolized the team's leader.

The remaining numbers were assigned in order according to grade level and seniority.

Wu Yufei received number ten.

When she saw everyone stripping on the spot, Junko blushed and hurriedly ran out of the room.

After all the players had changed into their uniforms, Wu Yufei went to call Junko back, and then they began listening to Coach Harada's final pregame speech.

"Today is Miuradai's first official game of the new semester. Although it's only an insignificant friendly, I refuse to accept defeat! Our goal this year is to beat Kainan, so opponents like Takezono are nothing more than practice targets for us."

Coach Harada's words were arrogant, but everyone felt they were only natural.

"Yufei!"

"Here!"

Hearing the coach call his name, Wu Yufei immediately answered and met his gaze.

"I'm leaving the team's organization to you. I want this game settled completely within twenty minutes. Turn the entire second half into garbage time!"

"No problem!"

Facing Coach Harada's demand, Wu Yufei wore an incomparably confident smile.

But what he was thinking was: We won't need an entire half. Fifteen minutes will be enough!

After Coach Harada finished speaking, Captain Murasame led everyone out of the locker room and back toward the court.

Once again bathed in the piercing cheers of Takezono's female fans, every Miuradai player had already built up enough energy, ready to silence this noisy arena with their performance.

"Warm-up time is ten minutes. The game officially begins in ten minutes!"

The assistant coach acting as referee came over and told Miuradai's players.

Without wasting time, Wu Yufei and the others immediately stepped onto the court and began their pregame warm-ups.

Swish! Swish!! Swish!!!

Wu Yufei's touch was pretty good today. He went three for three from beyond the arc, which was a good sign for someone whose three-point shooting was not especially strong.

Ding-dong—!

While Wu Yufei was still warming up, the system that had been dormant in his mind for so long finally reacted.

Main Quest: Dominate Japan's High School Basketball Scene!

Japan's tiny high school basketball scene is merely an insignificant stop on the host's path toward playing in the NBA. Dominate and rule Japan's high school basketball scene, and make every spectator go wild and cheer for you!

Quest Step 2 in Progress: Although this is only an insignificant friendly, why not use this game as the starting point for Miuradai's rise this year? Objective: Lead the team to its first victory.

Quest Requirements: ① Lead the team to victory by more than 30 points

② Successfully drive hard and finish with a layup/dunk 10 times (Current progress: 0/10)

Quest Completion Reward: 1 freely assignable attribute point.

Quest Failure Penalty: The [Slam Dunk] system will be permanently shut down.

Thirty points? Wu Yufei smiled.

In other words, according to the system's assessment of strength, beating an opponent like Takezono by at least that much was the minimum standard for passing.

Finally, just before warm-up time ended, Wu Yufei and Naito pulled off an alley-oop slam, a greeting of sorts to the girls in the stands who had been making noise nonstop since warm-ups began.

After warming up, both sides returned to their respective benches. Following the captains' final words of encouragement, the five starters took their positions at center court.

Takezono High School starters:

Center: Oda Ryusei

Power Forward: Uzaki Kenichi

Small Forward: Yuki Ichiro

Shooting Guard: Miura Shota

Point Guard: Dai Ming

Miuradai High School starters:

Center: Naito Tetsuya

Power Forward: Ohno Kazuki

Small Forward: Murasame Kengo

Shooting Guard: Ishiyama Jun

Point Guard: Wu Yufei

Coach Harada's intentions were already obvious. Since this was only a friendly, he would boldly field the newcomers and let them play to their hearts' content.

And now, Wu Yufei finally got a close look at Oda Ryusei, the rival in love who had made Sakuragi Hanamichi achieve the record of fifty heartbreaks.

Well, it had to be said that Oda really was handsome based on looks alone.

He was tall—185 centimeters—with solid muscles and well-defined lines, and his face was also very handsome. Meeting those two standards basically fulfilled ninety percent of teenage girls' ideal boyfriend criteria.

But Takezono's overall strength was indeed no surprise to Wu Yufei. Whether in talent or ability, Oda could only barely be considered second-tier within the county. Yet at Takezono, he could become the team's ace despite being a first-year. That was enough to show just how weak Takezono was as a whole.

At the opening tip, Oda naturally lost to the taller, stronger, and more explosive Naito Tetsuya, giving Miuradai the first possession.

Wu Yufei securely collected the basketball and began organizing the first attack of the game.

Both teams quickly assembled into position in Takezono's half.

For the first possession, Wu Yufei did not choose the fast break he was best at and enjoyed most. He wanted to score this basket steadily.

Only after all his teammates had finished setting up did Wu Yufei dribble into the frontcourt.

Seeing Wu Yufei approach, Dai Ming immediately stepped up to meet him.

Wu Yufei immediately signaled to his teammates, telling them to pull everyone else away. He wanted to take Dai Ming one-on-one!

Dai Ming was Takezono's captain. If Wu Yufei could beat him one-on-one, it would be a huge blow to Takezono's morale, making the rest of the game much easier.

The Takezono players naturally saw what Wu Yufei intended, but they chose to trust their captain. They also spread out, leaving a wide open space for the two men about to face off.

Dai Ming's defensive attitude was aggressive, but his defensive ability was ordinary. Wu Yufei's consecutive crossover dribbles quickly threw off his balance, and Wu Yufei drove straight into Takezono's paint.

With a behind-the-back dribble, he instantly got past the power forward Uzaki, who had come over to help, then Wu Yufei rose as if to attempt a layup.

"Don't even think about it!!"

Oda Ryusei worked around Naito Tetsuya, who had boxed him out, and quickly reached Wu Yufei's side. He leaped high as well, ready to send Wu Yufei's shot flying with a monstrous block.

However, when Oda's large hand swept down, it hit nothing but air.

Wu Yufei completed a double-clutch in midair, cleverly avoiding Oda's block. Then, with a gentle flick of his fingers, the basketball floated toward the hoop right in front of him.

Swish!!

"Nice one!!"

Miuradai's bench immediately erupted in cheers.

This was Wu Yufei's signature one-versus-many move. As both his teammates and opponents in their usual scrimmages, they had already seen it many times.

2:0. Miuradai struck first.

"Don't let it affect you, everyone. It's only one basket. We'll get it back right away!"

Although he had just been put on display by Wu Yufei, Dai Ming, as captain, did not show much disappointment or discouragement. Instead, he reassured his teammates, whose spirits had dipped slightly.

Bringing the ball into the frontcourt, Dai Ming watched every direction and began observing each teammate's position, searching for the best passing target.

"Captain! Pass it to me!!"

Inside, Oda Ryusei braced himself against Naito behind him and held out his hand for the ball.

Giving the ball to Oda, their strongest player, really is the safest option right now.

Dai Ming also knew perfectly well that if Takezono wanted to win today, they had to feed Oda. So without hesitation, he forced his way forward two steps through Wu Yufei's defense before bouncing the ball to Oda.

The moment Oda received the ball, he immediately tried to overpower Naito Tetsuya behind him.

Yet to his shock, no matter how much force he used, he could not move the guy behind him even an inch!

Tch! If I can't back him down, then...

After his post-up failed, Oda immediately changed his approach, planning to make up for his physical disadvantage with technique.

The next moment, Oda planted his right foot as a pivot, spun with the motion, and made a forced shooting motion.

"Hm?!"

Naito reacted exactly as Oda hoped, jumping directly in an attempt to block him.

He had not been playing basketball for very long, and he had played even fewer proper games, so it was only natural that he bit on a fake so easily.

Seeing that Naito Tetsuya had actually been fooled into jumping so easily, a hint of mockery appeared at the corner of Oda's mouth. He quickly spun back, went around Naito from the left, and burst into the paint.

"Got him!!"

After charging beneath the basket, Oda rose smoothly for a layup, his face filled with absolute confidence.

But in the next instant, that confidence turned completely into shock.

Smack!!

Wu Yufei, arriving just in time, sent Oda Ryusei and the ball crashing to the floor with a vicious, face-to-face block, forcibly snuffing out the basket Oda had thought was guaranteed.