Even With Cheats, You Still Have to Work Hard

Just as Aota was about to change tactics.

And continue using Haruko's photo to tempt Sakuragi.

A strange sound came from the distance.

"Huff... huff..."

It was the sound of bicycle wheels turning, accompanied by steady breathing.

A bicycle was wobbling toward the school gates.

It was not moving fast, but its path was bizarre, weaving in an S-shape.

The rider wore a black school uniform and carried a shoulder bag.

His black bangs covered his eyes, and his head bobbed up and down.

Kaede Rukawa.

He was asleep.

Asleep while riding a bicycle.

It was a godlike skill that defied both common sense and traffic laws.

Yet on Kaede Rukawa, it somehow seemed perfectly natural.

"Is that... Kaede Rukawa?"

Yohei's mouth fell open in surprise.

"Watch out!"

The bicycle was about to crash into a utility pole by the road.

Kaede Rukawa seemed to have some kind of radar sense. He slightly turned the handlebars and avoided it perfectly.

Then he charged straight toward Tatsuhiko Aota, who was standing in the middle of the road in a daze.

"Hm?"

Aota abruptly turned his head.

Bang!

A loud crash rang out.

The bicycle's front wheel slammed solidly into Aota's rock-hard backside.

Carried by inertia, Kaede Rukawa flew off the bicycle.

But he did not panic. He did not even open his eyes.

He adjusted his posture in midair and, like a cat, steadily... landed sitting on Aota's broad back.

"Huff..."

Kaede Rukawa shifted into a more comfortable position and continued sleeping.

Tatsuhiko Aota: "..."

Hanamichi Sakuragi: "..."

The Sakuragi Army: "..."

The entire place fell silent.

The veins on Aota's forehead bulged, wriggling like earthworms.

"W-What is this thing?!"

"It's that annoying fox!" Sakuragi shouted, pointing at Kaede Rukawa.

Just then.

A low engine roar shattered the awkward silence.

A black sports car slowly pulled up at the school gates.

Its body was glossy black, reflecting the gleam of money beneath the sunlight.

The window slowly rolled down.

Revealing a sleepy face wearing headphones.

Lin Bei.

He had a half-finished bag of milk in his mouth, his dead-fish eyes half-open as he watched the farce before him.

He watched Kaede Rukawa lying across Aota's back. Even after crashing, he had not woken up and remained lost in his dreams.

Lin Bei's eyes revealed intense envy.

It could even be called jealousy.

"Tsk."

Lin Bei took a sip of milk and sighed sincerely.

"What an enviable talent..."

"I want the ability to fall asleep anytime, anywhere too."

"Not even waking up after a crash..."

"Is this the highest realm of slacking off?"

Lin Bei sighed and parked the car with extreme reluctance.

He pushed open the door and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

Looking at the chaotic crowd in front of him.

Sakuragi was hopping mad as he cursed at Kaede Rukawa.

Aota was roaring that he would throw the person on his back off.

Kaede Rukawa was still sleeping soundly.

Yohei and the others were watching the show from the side.

Lin Bei yawned, tugged on his headphone wire, and shut out the noise outside.

"A new day, another day full of trouble."

"System, is there any Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu skill available for exchange?"

"Classes are so exhausting..."

Lin Bei grumbled internally as he circled around the crowd.

Trying to slip into the school without attracting anyone's attention.

However.

"Ah! Master!"

Sakuragi's built-in loudspeaker of a voice instantly locked onto Lin Bei.

"Master! Your car is so cool!!"

Lin Bei stumbled.

Feeling countless gazes turn toward him, he helplessly covered his face.

"I knew it..."

"In this basketball team, trying to be invisible..."

"Is harder than winning the national championship."

The farce was forcibly interrupted by the ringing of the class bell.

Though Tatsuhiko Aota was unwilling.

He could only roar, "The judo club's doors will always be open for you!"

Then he left, dragging his swollen backside that Kaede Rukawa's bicycle had crashed into.

As for Kaede Rukawa, after waking up, he entered the campus as though nothing had happened, sleeping as he walked.

A day of classes was practically a torture known as "imprisonment" to Lin Bei.

Math class.

Lin Bei propped his chin on one hand, his dead-fish eyes staring at the formulas on the blackboard as though they were an incomprehensible heavenly script.

"Hah..."

He swallowed back a half-finished yawn by force.

Because the teacher at the podium was pushing up his glasses, the lenses gleaming as he stared straight in this direction.

"Since I can't sleep, then..."

With a thought, Lin Bei opened the system panel.

There were twelve attributes on his personal panel.

[Dribbling 69, Passing 70, Steals 66, Basketball IQ 96]

[Mid-Range Shooting 68, Three-Point Shooting 52, Rebounds 66, Blocks 68]

[Strength 65, Speed 77, Stamina 50, Vertical Leap 72]

(For high school students, the maximum was 100 points.)

Other than his 96 points in Basketball IQ.

His remaining attributes were merely passing grades.

His stamina was only 50.

Of course, that was related to how he usually disliked exercising.

These were his attributes after gaining one point from defeating Ryonan.

Although he could switch to the character panels of the Generation of Miracles while playing.

That consumed far too much stamina.

With his current stamina, he probably could not even finish one half.

Against Ryonan, he had only played a little over one half.

And that was after drinking a bottle of stamina potion.

Although they had beaten Ryonan.

Even with his cheats, they had only beaten Ryonan by one point.

"Sigh..."

"Sure enough, even with cheats, my stamina can't keep up."

"This is only Ryonan. If it were Kainan or Sannoh... could we still win?"

So, for the sake of his wonderful future... for the sake of properly slacking off.

Lin Yang decided that he had to work twice as hard.

Finally.

"Ring-ring-ring—!"

The dismissal bell rang like heavenly music.

Lin Bei practically shot out of his seat, grabbed his backpack, and sprinted outside.

He was so fast that he even left an afterimage in the air, his speed nearing 90 points.

"Lin Bei! Cleanup duty—"

Before the class monitor's voice could reach the doorway, Lin Bei had already vanished down the corridor.

At the same time.

Hanamichi Sakuragi came out humming an off-key tune, striding with arrogant swagger.

"Hmm-hmm-hmm~ I'm a genius~"

The lingering thrill of defeating Ryonan yesterday remained, and he felt as though even the wind accompanied his steps now.

He was about to head to the rooftop to ask that lazy master Lin Bei for today's "meal money" (which was really just running errands and mooching off meals).

Just as he turned the stairwell corner.

"Ah! Sakuragi!"

A crisp, melodious voice, like a lark's song, rang out.

Hanamichi Sakuragi's entire body stiffened.

His heart rate instantly shot from eighty beats per minute to one hundred eighty.

That voice...

Could it be...

He mechanically turned his head, and a brilliant yet slightly twisted smile rapidly spread across his face.

"H-Haruko!"

Haruko Akagi stood at the stairwell with several textbooks in her arms, a gentle smile on her face.

The afterglow of the setting sun fell across her, as though outlining her with a golden edge.

An angel.

She was absolutely an angel.

Sakuragi felt like his nosebleed was about to burst forth.

"Perfect, I was just about to find you."

Haruko walked over, her eyes sparkling.

"I watched yesterday's game! Sakuragi, you were amazing!"

"Especially that screen, and that rebound!"

"You looked just like an experienced player who had been playing basketball for years!"

"No wonder you're the secret weapon!"

Haruko did not hold back her praise.

Boom—!

It was as if an enormous firework exploded inside Hanamichi Sakuragi's mind.

His entire body felt light and floaty, as though he were about to ascend to heaven.

Sakuragi planted his hands on his hips, grinning from ear to ear.

"Wahahaha! Not at all, not at all!"

"That was only a tiny fraction of this genius's strength!"

"As long as Haruko is watching, I can jump even higher!"