The Chair Was Too Hard, I Want to Go Home

Coach Anzai remained as steady as a mountain.

Light gleamed off his lenses as he chuckled, saying nothing.

"Damn it!"

Hanamichi scratched at his head in frustration.

He turned and saw that the figure beneath the towel at the other end of the bench still had not moved.

"Hey! Master!"

"How can you still be sleeping at a time like this?!"

"We're going to lose!"

Hanamichi rushed over, intending to shake Lin Bei awake.

But before he could touch Lin Bei's shoulder, Ayako and several substitutes pinned him down firmly.

"Hanamichi! Stop messing around!"

"Lin Bei is a substitute. Let him rest!"

"Let me go! I need to ask Master if he has some kind of killer move!"

Hanamichi struggled amid the crowd like a live fish pinned to a chopping board.

Just then, a faint snore came from beneath the towel.

"Snore... snore..."

It was remarkably rhythmic.

Everyone froze for a second.

"That level of composure..." Ayako's mouth twitched.

In the stands.

Yohei watched the scene and shook his head helplessly.

"Hanamichi's about to explode, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

"Even though he's usually an idiot, he hates losing games more than anything." Takamiya Nozomu stuffed a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"But..."

Yohei's gaze fell on the sleeping figure. "Is that Lin Bei guy really planning to sleep through the entire game?"

Just then, the gymnasium doors were pushed open again.

A tall, lean figure walked in against the light.

Spiky hair, a lazy smile, and a sports bag slung in his hand.

"Ah, sorry, I'm late."

Akira Sendoh.

Ryonan's ace had finally arrived.

"Sendoh! Where the hell did you go this time?!" Taoka Moichi's roar echoed through the entire gym.

"Uh... my alarm broke."

Sendoh offered the excuse without the slightest sincerity, changing his shoes as he looked at the scoreboard.

"Oh? Fourteen to zero."

"Looks like everyone's been doing a good job."

He took off his jacket, revealing Ryonan's number 7 jersey, and headed straight for the scorer's table.

"Substitution!"

Sendoh entered the game, replacing Koshino.

With Sendoh's entrance, the atmosphere in the entire gym seemed to change.

That faint but undeniable pressure made Kaede Rukawa's eyes sharpen instantly.

"He's here."

Rukawa stared fixedly at Sendoh.

The game continued.

Shohoku inbounded the ball.

The ball went to Rukawa.

Facing Sendoh, he lowered his center of gravity and dribbled between his legs twice in quick succession, searching for an opening.

Sendoh merely spread his hands lazily, a smile still on his face.

"No need to be so tense."

Rukawa ignored him and suddenly accelerated to the right.

So fast!

Just as Rukawa thought he had shaken him off, a hand darted out like a ghost.

Smack!

The ball was stolen.

There was no fancy move, just pure speed and precision.

"What?!" Rukawa's pupils contracted sharply.

After stealing the ball, Sendoh did not sprint at full speed. He casually dribbled it forward instead.

Rukawa desperately chased him down and blocked his path.

"Don't think you're getting past me!"

Sendoh looked at Rukawa and suddenly flicked his wrist.

His eyes looked left, but the ball went right.

No-look pass!

The basketball seemed to have eyes as it passed through Rukawa's legs and flew accurately into the hands of the undefended Uozumi beneath the basket.

Boom!

Uozumi slammed it home with both hands.

16:0.

"Waaah! Sendoh-senpai is so cool!"

"This is Ryonan's ace!"

Aida Hikoichi was so excited at the sidelines that he waved his arms wildly, nearly sending the pen in his hand flying.

Rukawa stood where he was, his chest heaving violently.

That last play...

He had been completely toyed with.

The gap.

An enormous gap.

"Hahaha! Did you see that?!"

"This is the strength of our Ryonan!" Taoka Moichi waved his folding fan excitedly.

"With Sendoh and Uozumi, we're invincible!"

"We'll beat you by thirty points! No, fifty!"

The more excited Taoka became, the farther he stepped onto the sideline, sticking his butt out high as he pointed into the court and shouted.

Just then.

A red figure silently appeared behind Taoka Moichi.

Hanamichi Sakuragi crouched down, clasped his hands together, and pressed his index and middle fingers side by side.

An evil smile spread across his face.

"Old man, you're too loud."

"Take this!!!"

"Pfft!"

His fingers struck the target with perfect accuracy.

"AAARGH---!!!"

An utterly miserable scream tore through the gymnasium.

Taoka Moichi launched straight upward like a rocket, clutching his butt and twitching in midair.

The entire venue fell silent.

Everyone's mouths hung open, their eyes practically popping out of their sockets.

Even Sendoh, who had been running back on defense, froze and nearly slipped.

"Um... is that your new tactic?" Sendoh asked Rukawa with a baffled expression.

Rukawa turned his head away. "I don't know him."

"You bastard! What the hell are you doing?!"

Takenori Akagi roared as he charged over and smashed a fist onto Hanamichi's head.

"Ow, ow, ow! What are you doing, Gorilla?!"

"He was standing there yelling his head off. It was annoying!" Hanamichi clutched his head, looking aggrieved.

By then, the scoreboard had changed to 19:0.

Ryonan had scored again.

Shohoku had yet to score a single point.

Despair began spreading through Shohoku's players.

Kogure wiped the fog from his glasses, his hands trembling.

Yasuda and Shiozaki no longer dared to take the ball.

Even Akagi's eyes dimmed slightly as he looked at the massive point gap.

At that suffocating moment.

In the corner of the bench, the white towel suddenly moved.

A hand reached out and yanked the towel away.

Lin Bei sat upright.

He rolled his neck, producing a series of crisp cracks.

Then he rubbed his lower back, frowning deeply with an irritated expression.

"Tch."

"This damn chair is too hard."

"My back's about to break from sleeping on it."

Lin Bei's voice was not loud, but it was crystal clear in the quiet bench area.

Everyone's eyes turned toward him.

At a time when the score was 0:19 and the team was on the verge of collapse.

The first thing this guy said after waking up was that the chair was too hard?

Lin Bei stood up and gave a huge yawn, squeezing two tears from the corners of his eyes.

He glanced at the scoreboard.

"Whoa, 0:19."

"Looks like everyone's having fun."

As he spoke, Lin Bei slowly took off his hoodie, revealing the number 16 jersey underneath.

He walked over to Coach Anzai and scratched his messy hair.

"Coach."

"I'll go in."

Coach Anzai raised his head, his eyes behind the lenses narrowing into slits.

"Oh? Lin Bei, are you awake now?"

"I'm not awake because I finished sleeping."

Lin Bei pointed at the row of rock-hard benches with a disgusted look on his face.

"I just can't sleep on them."

"If I keep sleeping there, I'm afraid I'll get a herniated disc."

"Finish early, go home early."

"That's the way to stay healthy."

Hearing that reason, Ayako nearly snapped the clipboard in her hands.

What kind of ridiculous reason was that?!

The team was about to lose, and he only wanted to go home early to sleep?!

But Coach Anzai smiled.

"Ho ho ho..."

"Since you can't sleep comfortably, go get some exercise."

"Substitution."

"Lin Bei replaces... Yasuda."

The whistle sounded.

Shohoku made a substitution.

Lin Bei slowly walked to the sideline and high-fived the dejected Yasuda.

"You've worked hard, Yasuda-senpai."

"Leave the rest to me."

Yasuda froze for a moment as he looked into Lin Bei's dead-fish eyes, which still showed no sign of motivation.

For some reason, a strange sense of calm suddenly welled up inside him.

Lin Bei stepped onto the court.

He stood at center court, his gaze sweeping over the aggressive Ryonan players opposite him.

At last, it settled on Sendoh.

Sendoh was looking at him too, curiosity flickering in his eyes.

"Oh? So this is the Lin Bei Hikoichi mentioned?"

Sendoh smiled. "He really does look... sleepy."

Lin Bei sighed.

In his mind, the system prompt sounded.

[Mission triggered: Win the game]

[Reward: All attributes +1]

At the words "all attributes +1," Lin Bei's previously bleary eyes suddenly lit up.

Though it lasted only an instant.

That blade-sharp aura made Sendoh's smile stiffen.

"Everyone."

Lin Bei turned around and looked at Takenori Akagi and Kaede Rukawa, both drenched in sweat.

"Quit looking so miserable."

"I'm in a hurry."

"Let's finish this quickly. I need to get back and watch JoJo."

Takenori Akagi looked at his lazy back. The corner of his mouth twitched, but the gloom in his eyes faded by more than half.

"Don't talk big, bastard."

"If we lose, you're mopping the entire floor when we get back!"

Lin Bei shrugged.

"That won't do."

"Mopping is too tiring."

He turned around to face Ryonan's basket, stretched out his right hand, and lightly curled his index finger.

"Give me the ball."

"I'm going to start... taking control of this game."