CHAPTER 19
Added 2025-05-10 14:32:19 +0000 UTCThe chat was electric:
【Donnie’s actually going up against Aomine! I’m so nervous!】
【How long has it even been since the assessments started? Aomine’s already demolished three second-stringers!】
【Guys, don’t jump to conclusions. He’s only a first-year in middle school right now. He’s not a full-fledged Generation of Miracles member yet!】
【But he’s at least as strong as Murasakibara, right? We all saw what a monster Murasakibara was just now.】
【My advice to Donnie: as soon as you get the ball, unleash your ultimate!】
【Forget normal skills! Just hit him with the ‘Lightning Dribble’ straight up!】
Seeing that Aomine Daiki and Ethan Woods seemed to know each other, and to prevent the energetic Aomine from dragging the game on endlessly, the man with the black-framed glasses pondered for a moment and announced:
“First to three points wins!”
“Ethan Woods gets the ball first!”
Then, without giving Aomine a chance to argue for more points, Tweet! The man with the black-framed glasses blew the whistle.
Aomine shrugged and tutted, “Only three points? This old guy is such a buzzkill!”
“Right, Ethan?”
Donnie tapped the basketball, bringing it up from the floor, feeling the seamless connection between his hand and the ball as he spun it on his fingertip.
“No…”
“Three points are more than enough!”
From Murasakibara, from the limited-time Wish character ‘Taiga Kagami,’ he knew that the current Aomine Daiki must also be incredibly strong. But just as he had prepared for, facing this Aomine, with his array of combined card abilities, he felt a certain degree of confidence.
Most importantly, he felt that at this stage of the game, if he actually managed to successfully challenge and defeat Aomine Daiki, it would be outrageous if the system didn’t give him some kind of reward.
In this moment, Donnie was completely immersed in the VR world.
He was ‘Ethan Woods’!
And now, he was going to challenge ‘Aomine Daiki’!
Taking a deep breath, Donnie initiated his dribble.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
He dribbled back a step. Aomine followed, maintaining that one-and-a-half-step distance.
The same safe defensive distance Nobuhiro Hashitani had initially used.
But the pressure from the two was on completely different levels.
Facing Aomine, Donnie didn’t even consider using ‘Quick Shot’ or ‘Unstoppable Shot.’
The Aomine from the CG, besides his array of unbelievable skills, had given Donnie the most direct impression of one thing: ‘speed.’
Even against this younger version of Aomine, he imagined that any shot attempt would inevitably be contested, or even blocked.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Three-finger power!
The volume of his dribble gradually increased!
Each time the basketball hit the court floor, it was like a drumbeat, causing the hearts and breathing of the onlookers to accelerate in unison with his dribble.
The dribbling speed got faster and faster!
And Aomine got more and more excited!
He instinctively felt that something incredible was about to happen!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The deafening sound of the dribble grew more ferocious, like rolling thunder!
The entire indoor gym reverberated with the sound of thunder!
People from the other assessment courts, including new recruits and second-stringers, all turned to look in the direction of the sound.
“Is… is it thundering?”
“But it’s a clear sky outside. What’s going on?”
“It’s! It’s the duel between Ethan Woods and Aomine! That’s the sound of Ethan Woods’ dribble!”
“What?”
“Are you kidding me?”
Everyone followed the sound of thunder and, upon seeing Ethan Woods dribbling, poised to strike, their jaws dropped!
The future Generation of Miracles members were also in the crowd of onlookers.
Midorima Shintaro: “Hmph! From this distance, a three-pointer is all it takes to score!”
Murasakibara Atsushi: “Huh? Little Ethan’s dribble is so noisy~”
Akashi: “…”
Kuroko Tetsuya: “To think dribbling could reach such a level… But all I have is a low presence. Can I really find the talent you spoke of, Ethan-kun…?”
Donnie, unleashing the Lightning Dribble, felt his confidence soar, a smirk involuntarily playing on his lips.
Aomine stared intently at this skill he had never seen before and shouted excitedly:
“Stop with the theatrics!”
“Come on, Ethan!”
“Hurry up and let me…”
Aomine’s words were instantly caught in his throat.
Not just him, but everyone watching also realized it.
Because the sound of thunder in their ears had reached its absolute peak since it began!
“Here it comes!”
BOOM!
An explosive thunderclap erupted!
As the game camera switched to Aomine’s perspective, all the live stream viewers witnessed, from a first-person view, the world as Aomine saw it.
Accompanied by the massive roar!
The figure of ‘Ethan Woods’ before them flashed and then abruptly vanished!
When he reappeared, only a sliver of Ethan Woods’ jersey remained in the periphery of their left vision.
Aomine Daiki’s expression at this moment, captured by the game’s cinematic-level camera, was clearly displayed to the audience.
Thirty percent astonishment.
Thirty percent excitement.
And thirty percent unwillingness to lose!
The Lightning Dribble gave Donnie a one-and-a-half-step lead after blowing past his defender.
But Aomine’s pursuit speed was equally, astonishingly fast!
Midorima Shintaro, in the crowd, couldn’t help but mutter in disbelief the moment Donnie’s Lightning Dribble truly showed its lethality, “So, so fast!”
After realizing what he had subconsciously said, he clamped his mouth shut, only for it to fall open again an instant later due to Aomine’s absolute speed.
Nearby, Murasakibara Atsushi extended his hand with a serious expression, as if measuring his own blocking range, wondering if he could successfully defend against the speed of these two.
On the other side, Akashi silently widened his eyes, watching everything unfold on the court, his focus locked on Donnie’s dribbling fingers.
The chat was going wild:
【So fast! First-year Aomine Daiki is already this quick!】
【He’s not going to get blocked, is he?!】
【Midorima is killing me! LMAO~】
【…】
【I wonder what Aomine’s jumping height is like right now!】
【WTF, I was so tense! Midorima and Murasakibara totally made me laugh~】
On the court.
To prevent being blocked from behind, Donnie still chose not to shoot, opting instead to attack the rim directly.
Both players jumped simultaneously!
Donnie still had that half-step lead!
Both reached forward, one half-cupping the ball towards the basket, the other desperately trying to get a hand on the ball.
He could see Aomine’s blocking arm…
Not enough reach!
Donnie knew this shot was good!
With his Layup/Dunk stat increased from 120 to 130, Donnie attempted a dunk here!
CLANG!
Donnie barely managed to stuff the ball into the hoop!
Although it was just a rim-grazer, Donnie was incredibly excited after landing, an excitement that even surpassed scoring a point on Aomine Daiki.
If he wasn’t afraid of affecting the story synchronization progress, he would have definitely yelled out:
Haha~ I can dunk now, suckers!!
