Chapter 5:
Can He Become A Professional Athlete In Another World?
As soon as the quarter began, Daniel quickly got a taste of what it meant to be a professional athlete. The possession went to the Halestorm and as soon as the ball got into the hands of their Streamer, the enemy quickly converted it for three points. It all happened too quick for Daniel to process clearly—he was too in awe of their skills to respond the way he should.
“Max, are you okay?” Kody asked him as they got into position to inbound the ball.
“Yeah,” Daniel replied with a wide grin. “Just need to get my head in the game.”
Kody inbounded the ball to Erin. The Streamer brought the ball up court and scanned the positions of every player on the court. He nudged his head and Jack shuffled forward. Daniel realized what he was going for and quickly ran to Jack’s previous position. Meanwhile, Jack set up the perfect screen for Erin, allowing the Streamer to bypass his defender and duck into the key. This quick motion change alerted Jack’s assigned defender and drew him in, allowing for Daniel to remain unguarded for a few seconds. Erin took this moment to execute ‘Wave Flow’, creating a perfect pass to Daniel. By the time Daniel’s assignment caught wind of what was going to happen and did his best to rush over and stop him, Daniel quickly took aim at the basket and shot out ‘Fireblast’. The ball went in the halo and the Stars scored two points.
The entire Stars bench went wild. Even the teammates on the court congratulated Daniel. ‘I did it! I scored!’ he said excitedly to himself. This was the first time Daniel felt like he accomplished something ever since coming to this world. Meanwhile, the other team and a significant portion of the audience were genuinely confused by the commotion.
While the Halestorm prepared to inbound the ball to restart the quarter, Daniel found himself being approached by their rookie Igniter. “You’re Max Power, right?” asked the rookie earnestly. “I’m a huge fan! I’ve been following you ever since you debuted last season!”
“Oh, uh, thanks!” responded Daniel with a humble smile.
“I’ve heard that you recently injured yourself,” continued the rookie. “Is it true that you have amnesia?”
“Huh? W-W-Where did you hear that from?” stuttered Daniel.
“There’s been a rumor going around that you’ve maybe forgotten how to play. I mean, when you woke up after getting that injury to the head, you committed a simple foul that cost the team the win, didn’t you?”
“A-As you can see, I don’t have amnesia! You can tell by that last score I made that I’m still me, can’t you?” asserted Daniel.
“Haha, you’re right,” agreed the rookie simply. “Even if you did, it wouldn’t be fun going against a different you with questionable skills,” he added bluntly with a smile.
‘Is this kid looking for a fight?’ snarled Daniel to himself.
“Amnesia or not, I don’t think you can beat me in this game,” declared the rookie confidently. “You’ve already seen what I can do, right? I practiced my special skill the entire off-season to ensure that I become unbeatable on the court. Don’t you know, ‘Meteor Shot’ is a very special skill that only a handful of Igniters in the history of Halo mastered. Many have tried to add it to their repertoire, but it only ever served as a last-ditch skill instead of a useful ability to exploit. But I’m one of the ones with talent to use this skill to its utmost potential.”
“You really like to talk, don’t you?” said Daniel with an unimpressed tone.
“Hehe, is it really that obvious?” replied the rookie unabashedly with a grin.
“Well, I only have seven words to say to you: We will beat you. Count on it,” Daniel told him confidently.
The Halestorm’s Streamer, now in possession of the ball, passed it right to their Igniter. Daniel reacted accordingly and placed himself right in front of the Igniter’s line of sight. However, the Igniter anticipated this and stepped back. He then jumped up and aimed the ball at the halo and shot out ‘Meteor Shot’. Although Daniel expected this development, he was still stunned to witness the actual magic in person. The shot beautifully fell into the halo with the force of a meteor and the grace of a shooting star.
“I doubt you can stop me, but I’m interested to see you try,” said the Igniter with a smile.
‘I’ll wipe that cocky smile off his Shiba Inu face,’ swore Daniel with a scowl. In less than five seconds after inbounding the ball, Daniel brought the ball to the edge of the arc and shot the ball with a new skill: ‘Flashbang’. He practiced the skill a few times before on the practice court, but this is the first time he actually used it in a game of any sort. Like its name, the magic encased the ball in a shell of light as it left his hand, causing any player within five feet of him to shield their eyes and avoid the ball. The ball expertly landed in the halo and released a thunderous boom that made any defenders near the halo stumble away.
The score was now Stars – 78 and Halestorm – 84.
The Halestorm quickly inbounded the ball and Daniel told his team, “Guys, get ready to stop them.” Just as expected, the Halestorm Streamer passed the ball to the rookie Igniter. Daniel turned his head sideways and gestured to Dan behind him with his eyes. When the Igniter reached the arc, Dan stepped up to oppose him. At the same time, Kody slid behind the Igniter and initiated a double team. Kody stretched out his right hand and sent out ‘Gale’ to knock the ball out of the enemy’s hand. The Igniter reacted accordingly and avoided the pressure from the double team by sidestepping to his left where there was still some space for him to inhabit safely. He then quickly pulled up and was about to shoot his ‘Meteor Shot’ when Dan jumped up to oppose him using ‘Thunder Step’.
Before the ball left his hands, the Igniter swiftly altered the course of the ball’s trajectory by bringing it up enough to bypass Dan’s contest. The ball shot up and flew straight for the halo. Suddenly, a giant pillar of earth rose up and blocked the ball just before it started it’s descent. This wonderfully timed defense was courtesy of Jack’s ‘Stone Pillar’ skill.
The crowd went wild over what they saw: the Stars have finally blocked the un-guardable ‘Meteor Shot’ that served as the greatest obstacle between them and victory. The Stars bench howled and cheered, contrasted with the Halestorm bench’s expressions of shock and disbelief. On the court, the Stars members congratulated and praised Daniel for his plan that finally put an end to this nightmare. Their enemies, on the other hand, were beyond stunned by what they had witnessed; but the one most affected by this the most was the Igniter who had his special shot denied for the very first time.
“Like I said: we will beat you,” Daniel emphasized to the rookie Igniter as he passed him by.
Kody inbounded the ball to Erin and the Stars took advantage of their enemies’ stupor to bring the ball downcourt. Daniel received the ball and shot out ‘Fireblast’. The Halestorm rookie Igniter, who was responsible for guarding Daniel, was still too stunned by the recent development to pay attention and the Stars got away with three points. At this point, the Halestorm called for a time-out.
“We finally shook them up good,” said the Stars’ coach.
“Max’s plan is really working,” agreed Kody.
“Max, I apologize for thinking that your plan was too stupid to actually work in the first place,” apologized Lira with a smile.
“That’s what you actually thought?!” exclaimed Daniel in shock.
“Our own offensive is still strong. The only thing to do now is to keep up the pressure on defense. Once we break them down for good, it will be smooth sailing for us till the end of the game,” announced the coach.
“Coach, just leave it to me,” Daniel reassured him.
The time-out ended and the game resumed. It’s the Halestorm’s ball. Daniel, now confident more than ever about winning the game, watched carefully as the opposite team inbound the ball. Once the ball was put into play, he used ‘Ripple Effect’—a water magic spell that allows for the caster to perceive their surroundings and locate objects within it using ripples. He noticed the ripples belonging to the Igniter getting farther from him to his left. At the same, a second ripple was moving through the air in the same direction as the Igniter. The Igniter’s own ripples were slowing down. Using all of this information he just gained, Daniel immediately turned to his teammates and said, “Left court!”
Kody, Dan, and Jack once again combined their skills together and blocked yet another one of the rookie Igniter’s ‘Meteor Shot’. With Daniel’s ‘Ripple Effect’ to observe the field, Kody’s ‘Gale’ to put pressure on the opponent, Dan’s ‘Thunder Step’ to force the opponent to commit a mistake, and Jack’s ‘Stone Pillar’ to form the backbone of the defense, the tide quickly changed in the Stars’ favor.
No matter the distance, position, or angle the rookie Igniter tried to shoot his ‘Meteor Shot’, the Stars were able to contain it. And whenever it was the Stars turn to control the ball, they brilliantly scored each and every halo with consistency. By the time the third quarter was entering its last forty seconds, the Stars were able to raise their score to 96 while keeping the Halestorm at 84.
Daniel noticed automatically the toll that this wake-up call of sorts was having on the Halestorm’s rookie Igniter. The rookie grew more and more anxious with his shots, giving way to bad habits and unreasonable shot selections; and he grew more and more dejected with each missed shot, draining the will to defend out of him. In short, he was now a broken player. Soon, as the final minutes were winding down, the Stars entered triple digits while the Halestorm couldn’t even scratch the surface despite the few halo they scored by their other players. Daniel couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the Igniter being treated as liability on the court. However, this was what needed to be done so that the Stars could win.
The quarter reached the end. The score was now Stars – 106 and Halestorm – 92.
Please sign in to leave a comment.