"All right—looks like everyone's finally here!"
Heh~
There were even a few pleasant surprises among the newcomers.
Things were looking good—very good.
"All first-years, line up over here!"
With high spirits, Aida Riko organized the new recruits.
Among the group of first-year boys, the first topic of small talk, naturally, was—
"Whoa, the manager's kinda cute~"
"She's a second-year, right?"
"Would be even better if she were a bit more… sexy, though."
But that trivial chatter didn't last long.
"Guys… shouldn't we be focusing on something else? Look over there—see that scary-looking first-year? That's Haizaki Shōgo from the Generation of Miracles!"
"Eh?!"
"T-The Generation of Miracles?"
"No way…"
"His expression's terrifying…"
"He doesn't look like a first-year at all!"
Among the freshmen, Furihata Kōki, a huge fan of Teiko's Twin Stars, was the first to recognize Haizaki.
Back in junior high, his height had kept him from joining the basketball team, but now that he'd finally grown to 170 cm, he'd decided to give it a shot.
Part of it was simply his love for basketball
but also, the girl he liked had once told him:
"If you can take first place in something, I'll go out with you."
So he'd thrown himself into basketball, even though he knew deep down that being first was impossible.
At that moment, everyone's gaze shifted toward another boy with flaming red hair.
He stood out just as much as Haizaki
nearly the same height, around 190 cm,
similarly muscular build,
and that same fierce expression.
"Is that guy… one of the Generation of Miracles too?"
Furihata glanced at him cautiously, then shook his head.
"No, he's not."
A voice from behind suddenly joined in.
"That guy's name is Kagami Taiga—a first-year who just came back from America."
"Huh? From the U.S.?"
"That's incredible! Is Seirin's basketball team really that strong? They've got a Miracles-level player and a returnee from America?"
"Well, not exactly…"
The upperclassman chuckled.
"Last year at the Inter-High prelims, we got knocked out in the round-robin finals—couldn't make it to nationals. In the Winter Cup, only one team from Tokyo qualifies… and that team was us."
"Though, to be fair, we ran into Rakuzan in the first round—so we couldn't go any further."
"Ahh, that's too bad…"
"Not really, right? Didn't the manager say Seirin was just founded last year? That means the seniors made it to nationals as first-years!"
"By the way, senpai—who are you?"
The first-years—Furihata, Kawahara, Fukuda, and the rest—turned around to face the tall, easy-smiling upperclassman who had been speaking.
And towering over everyone
the tallest person in the entire gym
"Y-You're… the Iron Heart of the Uncrowned Kings—Kiyoshi Teppei!"
Having studied junior-high basketball closely, Furihata immediately recognized him from the magazines.
"Ah~ you know me, huh?" Kiyoshi laughed, scratching his head. "Nice to meet you all. I'm Seirin's starting center, Kiyoshi Teppei."
"Oh, right—one thing."
"Riko's not our manager, you know~"
"She's our coach."
The newcomers froze, jaws dropping.
Even Kagami and Haizaki blinked in confusion, instinctively glancing at the trembling old man standing nearby.
Riko smiled knowingly.
"This is Mr. Takeda, our club advisor."
"For real?"
"You're kidding, right?"
Before they could recover, Riko dropped another bombshell.
"All right, first things first—take off your training shirts!"
"…"
What's that supposed to mean?!
Haizaki Shōgo, already somewhat familiar with Riko's methods, didn't hesitate—he stripped off his shirt immediately.
To be honest, even he was curious about his current stats.
Seeing him move, the other first-years hesitantly followed.
Riko began walking past each of them, one by one, her sharp eyes flicking across their bodies.
"Your explosiveness is lacking a bit. During lateral-step training, you can probably only keep up for fifty reps. You'll need to improve if you want to play real games."
"You're a flexibility type—slightly above average."
"And you…"
A few minutes later, the shirtless rookies were staring at her in disbelief.
Because—
She was spot-on.
She'd pointed out flaws and strengths that even they hadn't noticed.
"What the hell…?"
"She just looked at us!"
"And nailed everything!"
Standing off to the side, Hyūga Junpei smirked proudly.
"Her dad's a former national-team player. He runs a gym now, and Riko helps him design training plans based on body data. She's been observing physiques and stats for years—so she developed this knack for seeing numbers through muscle definition."
"Every muscle she sees gets instantly converted into precise data in her mind."
Of course—that wasn't the only reason she was Seirin's coach.
Just then, Riko stopped in front of Kagami Taiga.
Her eyes widened as glowing data seemed to flash before her vision—numbers jumping out from every part of his body.
And with each reading, her eyes grew rounder.
She just stood there, frozen.
Kagami, feeling her intense stare, shifted awkwardly.
"Uh… Coach?"
At that moment, Haizaki Shōgo frowned.
"Hey."
"Kitchen Killer—how long are you gonna stare at split-eyebrows over there?"
"What's so interesting about that guy?"
"It's my turn already!"
Even Hyūga Junpei was getting annoyed, seeing Riko nearly drooling.
"Coach! How long are you planning to space out?!"
"Ah! Sorry—next up…"
"Haizaki"
And then—Riko froze again.
"What the—these numbers are insane…"
Kagami's stats were already well beyond expectations.
Back at the street court, Riko had estimated his averages around 4,500.
But now—his readings had jumped to 7,000.
As for Haizaki—the first time she'd seen him at the park, he'd been around 6,000.
After the Inter-High training camp, he'd nearly reached 7,000.
And now, half a year later—
he'd hit almost 9,000!
[Haizaki Shōgo — Physical Power Level 8,950]
It was unreal.
Normally, physical growth slows the higher one climbs—but this…
9,000!
In high school, she'd only ever seen higher numbers once
from Shigure Akihito, during their first encounter after he entered high school.
His average readings had been a staggering 11,000.
Haizaki might not have reached that monstrous level yet
but he was already nearing the strength of Nijimura Shuzo in his first year!
Even if it was just in physical stats
these were the numbers of a true beast.
END OF CHAPTER
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