Speedy Dribble

"Yo, yo, yo, let's get this match on the road!"

"On the right, we have a fresh entry level for university while on the left, you've seen him take down giants in this sports and shown us things that we have never seen before!"

"Give it up for....The Thunder Demon, Kotaro Izuki!"

Following the eccentric announcement from the DJ, the crowd soon burst into thunderous cheers.

Apparently, the Thunder Demon was a fan favorite here.

"Uwahhh!!!", Kotaro roared together with the crowd as he tried to hype the energy up.

The crowd soon followed suit as their cheers became even louder.

No one cared if they were arrested for public disturbance.

It was only after a moment of time, did they finally settle down a bit to watch the showdown.

A referee soon came in between the two contestants as he held a basketball in his underarm.

"Let's have a clean game, boys. I don't want to see any fouls if possible", the referee said.

Kotaro didn't look fazed as he just stared at his opponent with a smile on his face.

He had obviously gone through this multiple times but the same couldn't be said for his opponent as his shifty eyes and excessive sweating showed his nervousness.

Of course, the referee didn't care about any of that as he took a coin out of his pocket.

"Heads or tails? Who wants to start first?"

Kotaro gestured to his opponent to start first.

He obviously needed to give some advantage to this rookie.

His opponent was still nervous nonetheless but still called out his side.

Following that, the referee didn't waste any time and proceeded to flip the coin in the air before catching it in between his palms.

When Kotaro's opponent saw the result, he finally looked more relaxed.

He had gotten the better end of the deal!

Soon after, both the contestants got into their starting positions while the referee handed the ball over to Kotaro's opponent before starting the match.

"Ready?! Go!", the referee raised his hand before making a hand cut in the direction of the university student.

Without wasting any time, that student immediately ran forward for a basket.

He knew very well of his own standing and if he wanted to score against Kotaro, he needed to make a surprise attack.

True enough, Kotaro was not expecting it as he fumbled for a moment before catching up to his opponent who had already made his way to the basket.

Kotaro tried to jump and make the block but he was still ultimately too late as his opponent had already jumped ahead of him and scored with a layup.

"Woah!!!",the people immediately cheered.

It was one thing for a superstar to win but for an underdog to win against a superstar, it was more than enough to get their bloods boiling.

Meanwhile, Reo was looking at the first round of the match with an awkward look on his face.

'System, is this what you mean by a good show?', Reo couldn't help but ask in an awkward manner.

[....]

The system was speechless as well. It didn't expect that the person who it had high expectations for to suddenly lose the first basket.

However, it's silence soon disappeared as it began to harshly criticize Kotaro.

[That useless scoundrel! What point is having great talent but not using it?! You think you're some kind of bigshot just because you have a 'B' ranked talent?! Does that mean that you don't have to pay attention?!]

[You even have a skill exclusively selected by me?! To not utilize such a skill properly is just giving me a bad name! If I had a body, I will surely come out and teach you a lesson right now!]

'So, you were just worried about your reputation?', Reo shook his head in a helpless manner.

As expected, this system was too far gone to be saved.

Apparently, the system wasn't the only one that thought so as Kotaro's face turned red in embarrassment.

He was one of the favorites to win this challenge yet he had let a newcomer actually score the first point off of of him.

"That was a fluke! I will get the ball next time!", Kotaro shouted as he pointed to his opponent.

His opponent got so terrified that he started shaking after getting scolded by Kotaro.

After all, this was just his first challenge since he came to Shibuya City.

Still, he didn't make any remarks as they got back to their starting position with him starting the next round again.

Most people thought that Kotaro had just been a bit clumsy in the first round as to allow that one point to go through but soon they were proven wrong.

Apparently, Kotaro's opponent still had the mindset of playing it safe so whenever he got the chance, he would keep the ball out of Kotaro's reach and go for a low dribble.

It seemed that the boy was smart enough to know that scoring directly against Kotaro was just a pipe dream so he went for the long term option instead.

While keeping the ball low and away from Kotaro, he always took the chance to close in the gap whenever necessary which allowed him to score 2 more points from inside the 3-point line.

By now, the crowd was no longer cheering for Kotaro but booing him instead.

"What the f*ck is this?! I came here to watch the Thunder Demon in action but now he's gonna get eliminated in the first round instead!"

"Yes, this show is rigged! I want compensation for this!"

"Still, that guy playing against him is not that bad! To make such smart plays means he had already thought of a strategy for today!"

Numerous complains filled the crowd as they continued watching the so-called showdown.

At the court, Kotaro's face was growing more and more red with embarrassment.

He was the star of the entire challenge series and here he was getting bested by a newbie. If this wasn't embarrassment, he didn't know what was.

However, it seemed that luck was on his side as he was finally able to press his fingertips against the ball to steal it from his opponent.

Seeing this, Kotaro couldn't help but sigh in relief.

If he had gotten the ball during the 4th point, there was little to no hope of victory for him whatsoever. But now that he had possession of the ball, there was still a chance for a comeback.

Then, just as the next round was about to start, Kotaro's eyes sharpened intensely like a beast with it's eyes on the prey.

Immediately, one could tell that the air around Kotaro had a different vibe to it altogether.

He was dead serious now.

Then, just as the referee commenced the start of the next round, he immediately dashed forward.

As he dribbled the ball forward, he was soon blocked by the university student in front of him.

However, Kotaro didn't seem the least bit worried. Instead, he had a playful smirk on his face.

Suddenly, the ball in his hand disappeared.

Then, at the next moment, it reappeared in his other hand.

Keeping the ball at mid-thigh height, he began playing around with the ball.

Slow then fast dribbles to behind the legs and then forward.

The ball went through a myriad of places but that wasn't what left the crowd shocked. Instead, it was the speed of his dribbling.

As the ball rebounded off the ground, if one took a closer look, they would notice that the every two dribbles, the ball wouldn't even stay in his palm for even a second.

Seeing this, the unsettled crowd immediately burst into cheers once again.

This was what they came to see! This was the real Thunder Demon!

Reo too was in shock.

Such fast dribbling!

Even in his previous world, this speed of dribbling would at least make one the best player in the district. And this was in America where basketball thrived the greatest!

For such a person to only be a regular in a well known basketball school seemed to be too much of a stretch.

He should at least be able to become the ace of a normal basketball university team but here he was doing street challenges as normal high school student!

It seemed that this world really set the bar high for any of the basketball players.

Then, all of a sudden, the system began to comment from the sidelines.

[Hmph! Finally! See what I mean, kid!]

[This is what a Rare Grade Skill looks like in action! Observe the skill properly and tell me what you see!]

Heeding the system's words, Reo started to observe Kotaro's ball handling skills.

He seemed normal with just his dribbling speed being a bit faster than normal people. There was really nothing abnormal about him.

That was Reo's conclusion.

However, when he saw the movement's of Kotaro's hands, he was shocked once again.

'No, that shouldn't be possible', Reo thought.

Hearing Reo thoughts, the system began to explain.

[So, you've seen it, huh? It's exactly what it looks like!]

[While dribbling, that Kotaro boy only uses his fingertips to dribble and to add the additional speed on the dribble, he does a quick double tap every once in a while!]

'No, that shouldn't be possible! The human fingers can't possibly handle that sort of pressure continuously!', Reo instantly denied it.

His IQ wasn't just for nothing as he had learned many things in his previous world. Biology for example was his strong suit or to be more precise, muscle and bone definition.

Human fingertips weren't meant to take in such high pressure at such a fast pace. In the end, they would ultimately fracture and eventually break after doing such moves for a long period of time.

[Dear Creator, why did you pick such a person to be my host?! His intellect is still severely lacking!]

[Kid, no matter how much you look up to this world, you still manage to underestimate in the end!]

[Basketball has been played for centuries and with the amount of skill growing after every time, do you really think that the physical bodies of people will still be the same as in your previous world?!]

[Also, not all of the system's skills are meant for everyone! Like you said, normal people can't handle such pressure on their fingertips which is why this boy is special! His physical constitution was something that he was inborn with to be able to pull this off for such a long period of time! As long as he has sufficient rest in between, his fingers will have no problems during the long run!]

The system couldn't help but explain.

So, as it turns out not every person can use the system's skills.

They would either have to have some special characteristics about themselves or have some inborn talent for them to be compatible with it.

However, Reo was different.

He was someone with a system. He could quickly grow and adapt, making him perfectly suitable for all the skills present in the system.

With this super secret cheat, it didn't matter if others had the same skills.

If they were to use that skill against him, he would use it back but only better!

Meanwhile, back to the match.

Before everyone knew it, Kotaro had soon scored two successive points, making it a one point difference.

He wasn't called the Thunder Demon for nothing.

Even his comebacks were fast!

Kotaro was celebrating internally. Since he had possession of the ball, the match was pretty much won for him.

As such, he began to get more sloppy with his ball handling as he slowed down significantly.

He thought that there was no way for that university kid to win now. After all, his reaction time was so slow to his dribbles.

However, just as Kotaro slowed down his dribble, his opponent had a sudden burst of speed as he easily stole the ball from Kotaro.

'....',Reo.

[....]

Reo couldn't help but put his head in his hands in disappointment.

At that moment, he seriously wondered if the Talent Scan was flawed!