novelraw After the bonus points in Chapter 27, Uozumi's rice balls tasted even better.
After the bonus points in Chapter 27, Uozumi's rice balls tasted even better.
On the night the game against Shohoku ended, Sendoh did not go out for ramen with his teammates.
He stayed alone in the stadium, locked the door from the inside, and turned on only half of the lights, making the court half bright and half dark.
Sendoh sat on the free-throw line with his legs outstretched, his hands on the floor behind him, staring up at the ceiling. There was a beam on the ceiling with a faded banner hanging on it: Ryonan High School Sports Champion, Showa 62 (1943), older than him.
The system panel popped up, with bright green text floating in mid-air:
PP Balance: 39
[Current Attributes] Speed A, Jump B+, Reaction B+, Flexibility B+, Strength B, Endurance A-
39 points.
After Shohoku won the game, I gained 30 points, and I had accumulated 9 points from training and matches before.
Sendoh stared at that number for about ten seconds. The Shohoku game made him realize one thing: his speed had reached A-level, which was enough in Kanagawa and wouldn't be a disadvantage against opponents like Rukawa Kaede. However, his jumping ability was still B+, which was enough against big men like Akagi and Uozumi. But in the national tournament, he would face Sawakita Eiji of Sannoh Kogyo. That guy's jumping ability was at least A-level, and B+ would be easily dunked on by him. He also had a reaction time of B+. Maki Shinichi's last crossover was initiated when Sendoh couldn't react in time, and he was beaten cleanly by a fraction of a second.
Sendoh took a deep breath and silently chanted in his mind: Add points, bounce.
[Jump: B+ → A-, PP consumed: 6, PP remaining: 33]
His body didn't react much. Jumping ability isn't as easy to perceive as strength and endurance. He might have to wait until tomorrow to try jumping to know the effect. He silently chanted in his mind: Add some points, improve the reaction.
[Reaction: B+ → A-, PP consumed: 6, PP remaining: 27]
This time, he felt a little bit better. It seemed like his field of vision had widened slightly, and he could see a few centimeters more things out of the corner of his eye than before. Sendoh stood up and spun around in place, looking at the walls on both sides. They were still the same; the field of vision hadn't actually widened, but the feeling of "being able to see a little more" was still there.
There are 27 points left.
Sendoh hesitated for a moment. Was an A- enough for jumping ability? No, it wasn't enough. Sawakita Eiji's jumping ability was at least an A, and he might even reach an A+ when he jumped at full power. An A- wouldn't be at too much of a disadvantage against an A, but it was still a step behind against Sawakita's full-power burst. Sendoh thought for a moment and silently repeated to himself: Add points, jumping ability.
[Jump: A → A, PP consumed: 7, PP remaining: 20]
This time there was a reaction; my calf muscle twitched, a very subtle tremor that came from deep within the muscle fibers, like something twisting inside the muscle.
Sendoh bent his knees, squatted down, and then jumped up suddenly.
He looked up as he landed and saw the bottom edge of the backboard, which was about 2.75 to 2.8 meters high. He is 1.9 meters tall, and his vertical jump reach is about 3.3 to 3.4 meters. Being able to touch the bottom edge of the backboard means that his vertical jump has exceeded 85 centimeters.
Sendoh withdrew his gaze and glanced at his palm, the lines on his palm soaked with sweat.
Adding them together makes it Grade A.
Jumping ability A, speed A, endurance A-, strength B, reaction A-, flexibility B+. This stat line is already top-tier in Kanagawa and among the top tier nationally. But Sendoh knows this is just the beginning. Sawakita Eiji's jumping ability is also A-level, and his speed is also A-level, but that guy's hang time and aerial coordination are unparalleled in the country. At the same jumping height, he can stay in the air for an extra 0.3 seconds, which gives him an extra 0.3 seconds to make a move, adjust the shooting angle, and avoid being blocked.
Sendoh picked up the ball, stood at the free-throw line, dribbled it twice, took a deep breath, and shot.
The ball went into the net swish-swish, and the net rope jerked. His phone vibrated in his bag; Sendoh went over, pulled it out, and saw three messages from Koshino.
Article 1: Where are you? The ramen shop is about to close, aren't you coming?
Second: We ordered a bowl and put it on the table for you. If you don't come soon, the boss will take it away.
Article 3: Uozumi said you were alone in the gym. Were you doing extra training again? Is your knee pain gone?
Sendoh typed a few words and sent them, "Coming right away." Then he threw the ball into the basket, turned off the lights, and locked the door.
The ramen shop is on the street behind the school, about a seven or eight-minute walk away. The roadside barbecue stalls are still open, and the smoke drifts under the streetlights in wisps.
When Sendoh opened the door, Koshino waved to him. The noodles in his bowl were clumped together, and the soup had been almost completely absorbed. Uozumi pushed his bowl in front of Sendoh and said, "Eat mine, I just ordered it."
Sendoh didn't stand on ceremony. He sat down, picked up his bowl, and took a sip of the soup. It was salty with a hint of seafood flavor. The noodles were chewy but not too soft or too hard. Koshino leaned closer and whispered, "What did you practice extra tonight?"
"Shoot."
"You're lying. When I called back to the gym, I heard the sound of a ball bouncing inside. You don't dribble the ball all the time when you shoot. Were you practicing dribbling? Or practicing some new move? Rukawa Kaede was also practicing late at the Shohoku gym after his game with you today. My friend saw him. Did you two plan this? The game didn't end well today, so you secretly practiced tonight to decide the winner next time?"
Sendoh swallowed the noodles in his mouth, looked at Koshino, and asked, "Where did you get so much information?"
"I have an informant."
"Who is the informant?"
Even if I told you, you wouldn't know him.
Uekusa whispered from the side, "His informant is Ryota Miyagi from Shohoku. The two of them bumped into each other at the convenience store last time, chatted for a bit, and then exchanged contact information."
Yueye glared at Uekusa, "Can you stop telling everyone everything?" Uekusa pushed up her glasses, "He's not an outsider." "Whether he's an outsider or not is my business, don't judge for me." Sendoh ignored the two of them, finished the last bite of noodles, and drank the soup clean.
Uozumi looked at him. "How's your knee?"
"alright."
"You're lying. I saw you three days ago and you couldn't even go down the stairs."
"That was three days ago, today is today."
Uozumi stared at Sendoh's knee for about two seconds, then didn't ask any more questions.
The soup in the bowl had cooled down, and a thin film of oil had formed on the surface. Yueye started talking about other things, about the draw for the national competition, about Sawakita Eiji of Sannoh Industrial, and about Morishige Hiroshi of Meihou Industrial.
Sendoh didn't listen much. He put down his bowl, leaned back in his chair, and looked at the streetlights outside the window.
Sendoh's phone vibrated again. He picked it up and saw a message from Rukawa: "That last crossover you did today, your third step was faster than mine. What did you practice?"
Sendoh typed a few words, "Didn't practice anything."
Rukawa, "You're lying."
"If you don't believe me, that's fine too."
Rukawa: "Next time I'll be faster than you."
Sendoh placed his phone face down on the table. Koshino peeked over, wanting to see Sendoh flip his phone over and place it face down again. "Who sent this? Was it that reporter? Aida what? She invited you out for an interview? Did you go?"
Sendoh stood up, took a 1000 yen bill from his pocket, and placed it on the table. "Pay for noodles. I'm going back now."
The runner behind shouted, "Your knees can't handle running! Slow down!"
Sendoh didn't turn around, pushed open the door and went out. His calves were still swollen. Even after his bounce increased from A- to A, the trembling feeling deep in his muscles hadn't completely disappeared. With each step, he could feel the muscles in his calves twitching slightly.
Downstairs in the dormitory building, Yu's Toyota pickup truck was still parked in the same spot, with a few new scratches on its body, probably from being scratched by boxes when delivering goods.
Sendoh pushed open the door and went in. One of the lights in the corridor was broken. When he went up the stairs, his right knee bent, and he felt an indescribable soreness, as if something inside was reminding him that he was not fully recovered and should not push himself too hard.
Sendoh pushed open the door to his room, lay down on the bed, and took one last look at the system panel.
PP balance 20, Jump A, Speed A, Reaction A-, Endurance A-, Strength B, Flexibility B+. There are two weeks left until the National Competition. In these two weeks, he needs to improve his reaction from A- to A, his flexibility from B+ to A-, and his strength to B+.
Is there enough time? He doesn't know, but Sendoh is no longer prepared to wait.