Thunder VS Shadow (Part 1)

Thinking about this, Belial turned back to the game as he mainly focused on Kyotaro's and Mité's matches.

Soon, each round passed at astonishing speed and before everyone knew it, the finals had soon come into play.

As expected, it was a faceoff between the two greatest stars of the challenge.

The Thunder Demon vs The Shadow Mirage

"Oh, it's finally starting!"

"This is what I came here to see! Go Thunder Demon! Go Shadow Mirage!"

"Kyah! They're both so handsome, I don't know which one to cheer for!"

"Cheer for them both, you dummy! That's what I'm doing!

The crowds went wild as the finals were underway.

Spotlights scanned through the crowd before finally resting on two figures in the court.

The DJ finally took this chance to make his introduction.

"Yo, yo! Now, it's time for the match that you've been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen! The match between two giants in this sport which we will only see once every two weeks which represents the pinnacle of greatness in this sport!"

The system [Altair] couldn't help but scoff when it heard that. This exaggeration is crossing his limits.

[Represent the pinnacle of greatness in this sport?! Boy, if you saw what the zenith talents were like, you would most likely pack up and retire from embarrassment!]

Belial couldn't help but agree with [Altair] on this one.

Rare ranked talent were only capable players in high school basketball. After that, it was a brand new world.

From higher ranked onwards, one could be considered reaching the national standard. For the DJ to be saying mere Rare ranks to be the pinnacle of basketball, he was just stretching it by a long shot.

However, the DJ was ignorant of the thoughts of Belial and the system as he continued speaking.

"Two giants facing off against each other. One will rise and one will fall but first they will have to prove themselves and rise!"

"For the finals, we have changed the rules a little bit. Per the organizer's request, instead of playing the usual game until 5 points, we have increased the benchmark to a score of 10!"

Mité and Kyotaro couldn't help but frown slightly.

Playing to 5 points against each other was hard enough but playing up to 10 points was even worse.

Without counting the overtime, they would surely be fatigued after the game and let's not forget that they had school tomorrow as well.

It looks like the organizer was just treating them as tools to increase his popularity at their expense.

Both of them were in good form today so their match would surely be something to behold.

However, their displeasure soon disappeared with the DJ's next words.

"Also, the organizer has also increased the prize amount to a total of 14000 yen!"

Both Mité and Kyotaro's eyes lit up at that.

That was an extra 4000 yen!

While popularity was important for them, what they ultimately came here for was for the money and now, they had a chance to make almost an extra half of their original amount.

Thinking of that, both of them couldn't help but exchange eye contact.

They seemed to saying to each other, 'If you dare touch my money, see if I don't bury you!'.

However, they soon walked onto the court and got into their starting positions.

There was a saying in basketball.

"If you have any issues, then settle it on the court."

This was exactly what they were going to do now. Be it the money or the anger, they would release it all on the court.

Soon, a coin was flipped and the result granted Kyotaro the starting possession.

Without wasting any more time, the referee gave the call to start the match.

"Ready?! Go!"

Hearing the referee's signal, Kyotaro immediately started his signature dribbling technique. Handling the ball with remarkable efficiency, Kyotaro made sure to keep Mité guessing where the ball would end up at.

Mité didn't stay idle either as he did a couple of his fakes to guess the trajectory of the ball to make that steal.

However, Kyotaro was incredibly careful about his ball handling this time. If there was anyone who could capitalize on his mistake the most in this challenge, it was this guy.

Still, after about 15 seconds, Kyotaro could no longer stay idle as he dived to the left.

Mité was there to block it but just before Kyotaro came into contact with Mité, he made a quick spin to the right with the ball in hand and soon dashed past Mité.

Mité quickly recovered from that sudden fake and proceeded to bump into Kyotaro, shoulder to shoulder as he tried to get the ball.

However, Kyotaro was not to be outdone.

While Mité was taller than Kyotaro, Kyotaro was much more bulkier than him.

So, when Mité pushed Kyotaro, Kyotaro met him with a force of his own.

Not expecting the sudden push, Mité couldn't help but stumble backwards.

While Mité tried to regain his footing, Kyotaro had long jumped up as the ball rolled off his fingertips for a layup.

Cheers soon filled the crowd as they witnessed the first point scored.

"Woah! Looks like Kyotaro's in the lead!"

"Who do you think will win?! By their way, what's their current record?!"

"It's 24-26 in Kyotaro's favor. I have a feeling that Kyotaro might win this game as well"

When Belial heard the crowd's words, he nearly fell over.

While Kyotaro was winning over Mité, what the hell was up with that 24 losses?!

Didn't he have a Rare Grade Skill?! How could he lose so badly then?!

The system too had the same thing in mind as it started cursing string after string of profanities. Some of which, Belial had never heard before.

Dealing with the system's tantrum moment, Belial decided to just ignore it. It would calm down on it's own.

Meanwhile, on the court.

"Cheh!", Mité couldn't help but sound his disappointment.

He had been a little too lenient in his planning just now.