33 Runaway Skill

Hey guys! I know that some of you guys might be a bit upset from me not updating much recently and I'm truly sorry for that.

I have been having a serious case of writer's block recently to write the story to make it more enjoyable for y'all and as of late, I kind of want to take as many breaks as possible since I am going to be contracted soon.

As such, I wish to take multiple short breaks before continuously writing for 4 months daily. Still, as an apology for making y'all wait so long, here is an extra long chapter for y'all.

Enjoy:)

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Bang!

As the ball bounced off the rim, many people held their breaths in the gym and at the livestream.

Reo had not missed a single shot by far and that was causing may of them to speculate how far he could go without missing a shot.

This was also a test for them to see how good his mental fortitude was.

Shots were easy to miss once fatigue came in but Reo had completed more than 50 matches without missing a single shot and with this unsteady shot, many people could tell that Reo was starting to get tired.

However, it seemed like luck was still on Reo's side.

Bang! Bang!

The ball proceeded to bounce off the rim for another two more times before it slowly rolled into the hoop, granting Reo a point.

Seeing that the shot went in, Reo let out a sigh of relief.

That was too close. He was merely inches away from losing an Epic Grade Skill.

Still, this served as a wakeup call for him as he became even more focused. He was going through each match with quite a fast pace recently and now, it seemed that he had to tone down a bit as to maintain the accuracy of his shots.

With that, he began to adapt a much more slower pace to allow more thinking before he made his decision to shoot.

While this was a pure strategical move on his part, the students and the viewers didn't seem to see it like that.

"Look, he's becoming slower! This shows that he is becoming tired! Just a little more and we can take him down!"

"No matter what, we can't let him reach a 100 students!", Enkai announced to all the students.

The reply he got were deafening cheers from the rest of the students who supported him without hesitation.

In the livestream, people were having the same discussion as them.

[So close! That was so scary! I thought he was going to miss that shot for sure!]

[I know, right?! I nearly lost my fingernails by biting them too much!]

[It looks like he's finally getting tired. That last shot was quite unsteady but still....this kid really is a monster for scoring over 200 shots accurately in such a short span of time!]

[I'm going to find out which school he is from right now! I have to recruit him to our middle school no matter the cost!]

Discussions were rampart but as far as everyone was concerned, Reo had successfully established himself as a genius in Shibuya City.

A rare and talented genius at that.

Besides, people were wanting to know how good his stamina was.

Young kids were considered much livelier than adults so they should have more stamina when playing against each other. As such, besides seeing how far Reo could get without missing a shot, they also wished to see his end point in terms of stamina.

So far, they could deduce that his stamina was above average but whether it was excellent or phenomenal, only time could tell.

As such, they began to watch the match in a much closer manner.

Time continued to pass as if it was an irrelevant matter and pretty soon, it was Reo's 86th match.

While waiting for the next challenger to come up, Reo was happily making fun of the system.

'You see. I told you that I could do it'

'Are you regretting being so arrogant now?'

'Hahahaha! Let this be a lesson to not pretend being an almighty system when you can't suffer losses'

The system was really regretting that it didn't have any hands at the moment otherwise he would fight it out with this little bastard until one of them drops!

Being arrogant?! Can't suffer losses?!

Wasn't this brat speaking about himself?! Why did he suddenly put all those bad attitudes on it instead?!

Still, the system was quite nervous after seeing Reo reach the 86th match without missing a shot.

The problem was that this brat was a bit too smart at times.

When he noticed that his shooting accuracy had decreased due to his depleting stamina, he instantly lowered his pace to give him more time to think and more time to adjust his shooting.

At this moment, the system wished that it's host could have been a little dumber. Then ,whenever Reo learned something new, he would revere the system for being all knowing and all mighty!

Sadly, he ended up with a slightly smarter host with below average situational awareness.

Sigh....If only it got Ben from 'The Pickup Artist System' instead.

If so, he would shape his brain to respect and revere it for teaching him so many new things.

Unfortunately, he got stuck with this nincompoop instead.

Then, as the system focused it's attention on the court, it was surprised after looking at Reo's next challenger.

Because it was....a girl!

"....",Reo.

[....]

Both the system and Reo were speechless.

A girl was actually challenging him?

He wasn't sexist or anything but in basketball, genders were separated for good reason.

The heavy body contact might be enough for a male to withstand it but for a female, it could cause serious injuries.

Reo wasn't sure about the gender separations in this world but he was sure that it was the same as his previous world.

Both genders would be separated into different categories whenever they played the game.

But if that was so....what was she doing here?!

When the girl saw Reo's strange look, she had a brief idea about what was going through Reo's mind.

Gritting her teeth, she immediately started scolding Reo.

"What are you thinking about, you idiot?! Are you thinking that I'm not good enough to play against you just because I'm a girl?!"

"Then, let me tell you this! I will be the one to beat you today as revenge for you dousing me with toilet water last year!"

"....",Reo.

"....",all the students and viewers.

[....]

Even the system was speechless at this.

It was one thing to douse a boy with toilet water but a girl? It was just barbaric.

After all, a girl needed to uphold her image in the public and there was no doubt that it was thoroughly shattered when Reo soaked her in poo water.

However, it was not really Reo's fault.

He swore that if he could turn back time, he would have surely tied the old Reo's feet and hanged him upside down to soak in the lake continuously like how the Yakuza did back in the days.

Even he felt like this was too much for the old Reo to do.

The Chinese had a saying.

'One could be killed but never humiliated'

Apparently, the same goes for women as well. He could already feel the murderous aura coming from that girl just by standing a few feet apart.

In the livestream, people began chatting it up once again.

[Dousing a girl with toilet water?! Little brother, you have my genuine respect from now on!]

[What respect?! To douse such a young girl with toilet water while he is still in elementary school, I fear of what he will become once he grows up!]

[Hahaha! Looks like this lad has become a public menace!]

[Honestly, if people don't remember him for taking down over 80 challengers, then they will definitely remember him for bullying a girl by pouring toilet water on her!]

[Lol!]

If Reo could see all those comments about him, he would surely go into seclusion for the next hundred years.

It was bad enough for only the students to know about it but now.....everyone in Shibuya City did!

Was he destined to be looked at as an antagonist by everyone in this lifetime and get celebrated once he was defeated by a protagonist?

It seemed like he was really destined to go down that path after all.

Speechlessly, Reo could only look blankly at the girl.

"Sorry but I don't really remember you. If I really did that, then I'm really sorry"

What else could he say? Act arrogant and boast about it?

There was no doubt of him getting run down by all these people if he dared to do so.

Humiliating a girl was bad enough but to boast about it? It could be the same as courting death.

As such, he could only apologize.

However, when the girl heard it, she wasn't pleased to hear the apology and instead cursed loudly at Reo.

"Now, you're saying that only because you're scared of me beating you! Well, you have every right to be because I will make you lose this round no matter what!"

Reo was once again speechless.

Where did this girl get her confidence from? Couldn't she see that he had beaten 86 people in a row?

But looking at this girl's eyes, Reo could tell that she was determined to take him down no matter what. As such, he could only give her a gentle reminder.

"Fine, I won't stop you from challenging me but I will also warn you that I will not hold back"

The girl just looked at him in disdain when he said that.

"I don't need you to hold back! I will take you down when you are in the very peak of your skills!"

Seeing this girl being blinded by rage, Reo could only shake his head. He tried to warn her.

At the same time, a thought popped into his mind.

'If you wanted to beat me when I was in the peak of my skills ,you should have challenged me right after I defeated Nishimura. Aren't you just making yourself look bad by saying that now?'

Still, he kept his thoughts to himself as he got into his starting position and pretty soon, the tip off started.

With no surprised, Reo got the ball in his possession and without much thought, he used his free hand to push away his opponent while dribbling down the court.

When suddenly....

"Kyah!",a loud feminine shout sounded from beside him.

Startled, he jumped backwards in shock with the ball in hand.

There he saw the girl wrapping her arms around herself tightly as she glared hatefully at Reo.

'What did I do now?', Reo wondered as he got a hateful look from the girl.

Mikasa came over and also gave Reo a look of disapproval.

"Reo-kun, you touched her chest. She's a girl, you can't do that"

"....",Reo was speechless.

He touched her chest?!

He had been doing the same thing for so many matches that it had already become a secondary instinct by this point. He didn't need to think much as he went through the motion.

However, there was one major difference between this opponent and the rest.

She was a girl!

As a guy, he couldn't just touch a girl in such a sensitive place. Thankfully however, he was still young and this could be counted as a minor accident.

If he was older....

Well, let's not think about that right now. Sexual harassment is not something a 10 year old should worry about.

Mikasa then walked over to him and spoke.

"That's a warning for the first time but next time, it will be a foul"

Reo frowned. He felt that it was unnecessary.

In basketball accidents were bound to happen such as stray elbows and landing on an opponents so accidently touching someone's chest was also something common.

However, knowing that his opponent was a girl, Reo instinctively told his body not to touch her at all. That way, it was easier to avoid any unnecessary conflicts.

"But she's flat as a board. Anyone would mistake her for a guy", Reo couldn't help but mumble in dissatisfaction.

"....",Mikasa.

"....",all the students and viewers.

[....]

The system was speechless. This fool was just asking for trouble.

He had just broken one of the world's sacred law. If it wasn't for his young age, this would have surely created a war within the school.

As the system looked at Reo's opponent, it saw her gritting her teeth with cheeks red in embarrassment.

For some reason, it felt like this match would be a total pain in the ass for Reo.

Mikasa was the first one to regain her senses as she totally ignored Reo's comment.

If she really followed the rules, she was pretty sure that Reo would have gotten a Technical Foul for his comment but for now, she decided to give him a chance even though her instincts were telling her to knock that idiot out with the basketball in hand.

'This dummy, Reo! He should be more considerate to girls!', Mikasa complained in her head.

She made up her mind that if Reo ever decided to court her, she wouldn't tolerate him at all! Let's see how he likes it then!

As for Reo, he didn't really care about what was going through anyone's mind. Instead, he was focused on the game.

Since he banned himself from pushing his opponent, he had been severely limited in terms of skill.

His aggressive drive was one of the skills he picked up from Mibuchi and he had plenty of other skills to dance with the ball but the problem was that he was too tired!

He couldn't afford to waste anymore energy with pointless dribbling so the best that he could do was make continuous jump shots.

It was taxing for his ankles but it was worth it in the end if he could get that Epic Grade Skill.

So, when the tip off started, Reo didn't waste any time in grabbing the ball.

Then, right after grabbing it, he immediately jumped for a jump shot.

The girl was so startled by Reo's sudden jump shot after seeing him play at a slow pace for the last few rounds. She didn't expect him to pull a jump shot all of a sudden.

As such, she was rooted on the spot as she watched Reo sink the ball in, making the score 1-0.

However, this wasn't the end.

Continuing with the match, Reo landed shot after shot perfectly in the basket without any hesitation.

He didn't want to risk any fouls on this girl in front of him which could eventually end his winning streak.

As such, he didn't hesitate to sink in shot after shot until the score became 4-0.

By now, Reo was sweating like crazy as his sweat drizzled down his chin and landed on the court. This further emphasized on all those calories burned just by playing basketball.

Reo swore that he could qualify to be a model in a basketball fitness video with his current condition.

The look in his eyes, his body condition and the energy that he radiated....it was all perfect for a photoshoot.

Unfortunately for him, it wasn't as lax as he made it out to be. Instead, he was almost on the verge of collapse.

Still, if he could get rid of this troublesome opponent fast, he could go back to his slow and leisurely pace. So, with that, he put in a little extra effort to beat this little girl.

The girl on the other hand, didn't expect such an explosive play from Reo and as such, had let her guard down too much.

'Am I going to lose to this idiot?! No! I don't want to!'

'This dumdum has always been bullying other people with his stupid pranks and now, he can't even face retribution!', the girl thought bitterly.

Then, a sudden idea came to her.

Hasn't this fool not missed a single shot until now? Isn't that something that people took pride in?

Wouldn't taking that achievement away be retribution enough?

As the girl thought about this, she made up her mind to make Reo miss his last shot.

However....she had no idea of what it would cost him.

'Ok! Just one more to go!', Reo thought as he got into position for a jump shot before jumping.

'This is it! Now, I don't have to deal with this troublesome girl anymore!', Reo thought in relief as he was prepared to shoot the ball.

However, right at that moment....he saw something appearing from the corner of his eye.

It was the girl and she seemed to be running at a high speed without any intention of stopping.

Reo's face lost a bit of color as he realized what she was up to.

'You idiot! Go away! Don't disturb me!', he frantically shouted in his mind as the girl rapidly approached him.

Seeing that she was about to bump into him, Reo made up his mind to release the shot early. Even though it wasn't fully accurate, he had the course of the ball planned out.

He would leave the accuracy to the Common Grade Skill.

However, fate was a nasty little bugger.

Just milliseconds before the ball left Reo's fingertips, the girl had jumped and collided with Reo's chest hard!

That sudden impact caused the ball swerve a little off course as it left Reo's hands while Reo landed hard on his butt.

While the ball changed course only a little bit, that little bit impacted the shot in a big way.

As Reo watched the ball, he saw as it made heavy contact with the backboard and bounced off the court.

'Fuck!', Reo cursed inside.

This was not happening! This was not happening!

'That shot shouldn't be counted! That was definitely a foul just now so it's justified', Reo thought frantically.

However, as he was still reeling at the thought of missing the shot, the system notification appeared to further ruin his mood.

[Ding! The host has failed to complete the bet!]

[Punishments have been handed out!]

[Punishment: Defeat 200 challengers without rest!]

[Punishment Progress: 86/200 challengers!]

[Warning! Failure to complete the punishment will result in severe consequences!]

Still, even after seeing the system's notification, Reo was still in denial.

'No! No! No! System! That last shot was not counted!'

'That was a foul! A flagrant foul at that! That shot doesn't count in our bet!'

However, the system didn't care about Reo's complains as it spoke to Reo.

[I told you that it will not be an easy feat! If everyone in the world had such great accuracy, why do you think it's so hard for a game to surpass the 150 mark?!]

[It's because of external factors! Nothing is absolute in a basketball game!]

[A slippery floor, a worn down ball and a sudden block! These are all factors that you have to take into consideration!]

[While you are skilled to score with a 100% accuracy against these shrubs, I can bet that you won't even surpass 3 players when you play against those skilled players! Let this be an eternal lesson to you! Don't overestimate yourself and don't underestimate the court in your entire lifetime!]

[As for the Epic Grade Skill, you can forget it! Good luck with the other 114 challengers, you fool! I will be happily eating popcorn from the sidelines while watching your misery! Goodbye!]

With that, the system promptly deactivated itself as it continued watching Reo from within the void.

Reo was speechless for a moment but soon, that turned into rage.

If it wasn't for that stupid girl, then this wouldn't be happening in the first place! He was so close to getting that Epic Grade Skill but like a stray chicken, it had run away before he had the chance to catch it!

Glaring at the girl, Reo was so furious to the point where he pointed at the girl and shouted.

"You! Do you have any idea what you just cost me?!"

The girl was startled.

While she expected Reo to be frustrated for losing his 100% accuracy, she didn't expect him to directly yell at her.

As such, she couldn't help but back away a few steps in fear.

Trembling, Reo spoke softly but his voice was heard throughout the gym.

"I was planning to end this at a 100 challengers but now...."

Looking at the crowd of students without shying away from eye contact, Reo directly pointed to them and dictated.

"I will take down all you shrubs! Unless you can take me down today, I will not step foot off this court!"

Reo wasn't saying this just to fulfil the punishment requirements. Instead, he was genuinely pissed off this time.

It had originally been a simple challenge where Reo would defeat a 100 of them just to went out his frustrations but now, they actually dared to employ such dirty tactics against him just for their own satisfaction.

How the hell could he not be pissed?!

He was livid and that anger was fueling him to make rash decisions. He didn't care whether he could defeat 200 challengers or not.

Right now, he wanted nothing more than to destroy everything in his path!

The students however, didn't take kindly to his repeated provocations as they began shouting back.

"Bastard, don't think that you can take all of us down just like that!"

"You are barely holding on right now and yet, you want to fight all of us?! Where the hell do you get your confidence from?"

Both sides were about to boil over as they continued their war of words, not caring about the ear-raping of the younger kids present.

Even Enkai was at a loss. He wanted to stop Reo from beating 100 students in a row because that was his goal but now, he increased it to all the students present.

The number of students gathered around was more than 300!

If Reo really wanted to take them all down, it would not be an issue if Reo could beat them. Instead, it was a matter if he could survive.

Taking on 300 challengers was an extremely taxing thing to do regardless of one's age. Still, Enkai wasn't complaining as this was a better chance at beating Reo.

Previously, Reo showed signs of fatigue but was nowhere near his breaking point. Even Enkai was uncertain whether he could beat him at the 100 mark.

Thankfully, Reo screwed himself up by proclaiming to beat all of them without even taking a break. This was the best chance that they would ever get to put that cocky Reo in his place.

Mikasa on the other hand, kept quiet as she watched from the sidelines. She had seen Reo get angry before but nothing like this.

It was like he had been so close to a Pentakill in League of Legends but only to die earlier with a Quadrakill instead.

The feeling was just maddening to be honest.

Reo then suddenly turned to Mikasa.

"Mikasa!"

Mikasa immediately stood in attention like a soldier in front of a general when she heard Reo calling her.

Reo's current condition was scary to say the least and she wanted no part of him yelling at her. As such, she would just obey his instructions so that he wouldn't turn on her as well.

"Continue the match!"

Mikasa was blank for a few moments but soon nodded her head and announced the continuation of the match.

With that, Reo continued the match with the ball in his possession but this time....he didn't hold back.

When the girl tried to use her body to push against Reo, he pushed back!

He didn't care whether he would cause her to fall down or not.

Still, he had the basic conscience to only knock down his opponent and not use excessive strength to cause any injuries.

Soon enough, Reo finished the match with a perfect score of 5-0.

"Eighty-sixth round winner, Reo Fuji!", Mikasa announced.

"Come! Bring the next shrub!", Reo shouted as he held the basketball in his head.

Soon, match after match began passing in succession at such a rapid pace that most people couldn't keep track anymore if not for Mikasa's announcements.

"Ninety-eighth round winner, Reo Fuji!"

"Hundred and seventeenth round winner, Reo Fuji!"

"Hundred and thirty-second round winner, Reo Fuji!"

There was no stop to Reo's victories as he continued bulldozing through his opponents at breakneck speed.

Reo was struggling to keep his balance but his anger fueled him to push forward.

These bastards had cost him an Epic Grade Skill!

If he didn't pay them back in some way, there will be no way to dispel his anger.

Today, he will take down every single one of these shrubs!