The Korean players clearly had not expected someone who looked Asian to speak such good English or take such a firm stance. For a moment, they all froze.
The blond ringleader's face darkened. His English did not seem particularly good, but he still managed to yell in English peppered with Korean words:
"Here first? So what! There are more of us! There are only three of you! You should give it up!"
Several of his teammates joined in, trying to intimidate them with their numbers and bluster.
Ryota Kudo sneered and continued in English, "A basketball court isn't about who has more people.
First come, first served. Those are the rules.
If you want to play, you can wait until another court opens up, or... figure something out yourselves."
"Sibal..." The blond muttered a Korean curse. He could see that Ryota Kudo was determined not to give way.
His eyes darted around, and an idea suddenly struck him. That obnoxiously arrogant smile returned to his face:
"Fine! You want to talk rules? Then let's settle this by basketball rules!"
He pointed at the court. "Three on three! Half court! Whoever wins gets the court! The losers apologize immediately and get lost! You game?"
His teammates immediately snickered, as though victory were already theirs.
They clearly believed their teamwork and advantage in numbers-they could rotate players-would let them easily beat these three foreigners who looked like a makeshift team.
Although Sawakita and Morishige could not understand everything, they understood "three on three" and the other side's provocative attitude.
Sawakita immediately looked at Ryota Kudo, a question in his eyes.
Hiroshi Morishige clenched his fists as well.
Ryota Kudo barely hesitated. The corners of his mouth even curled with disdain.
He stepped forward, swept his gaze over the Korean players, and answered