Chapter 17: A 'B' Ranked Talent!
Night time in Shibuya City was exquisite to say the least.
In one aspect, it was the same as New York City. The city that never sleeps.
As Reo walked through the crowded walkways, his gaze was drawn to the colourful buildings that lit up the city.
He was never born in Shibuya City in his previous world nor did he ever visit it so he relished this sight for the first time.
Right now, he was mainly looking for any basketball challenges available in the city.
Though the probability of it existing was high, it also meant that it could not exist altogether.
So, to confirm his suspicions, he chose to ask a worker from a nearby restaurant.
"Huh? Basketball challenges? Hmm....If I'm not mistaken, there should be one in Ebisu tonight"
"They usually host those type of challenges every weekend so it's quite popular in this area. Are you going over there to watch?", one of the middle aged workers asked Reo.
Reo eagerly nodded his head like a little kid and asked, "Yes, oji-san! I have always been interested in basketball whenever I see the players do super moves on television so I want to see the real live players for myself"
After speaking, he thought about something else.
'Why am I acting like Detective Conan here?'
When the man heard Reo's words, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"You sure are something, kid. Wanting to see those players in real life is nearly impossible but I'm sure that you will be able to see some amazing players today"
"If I'm not mistaken, today is the showdown between the Thunder Demon and the Black Shadow. In a sense kid, you are quite lucky to see such a showdown between 2 giants"
'I'm sorry, what?', Reo was confused.
He only wanted to find out about the basketball challenges. How did demons and shadows suddenly come into the picture?
As if sensing Reo's confusion, the man took the liberty to explain it to him.
"As you know, most of the challenges are categorized into age groups and today is the challenge between the high school and university age groups"
"Honestly, I don't hold much expectations for the basketball players in Shibuya City. After all, our standards are too mediocre. However, it seemed like our city finally produced some exceptional players this time around and you probably won't believe it but they are both in high school!"
"Really....If I didn't have work today, I would actually take the chance to see them in action. After all, they are so talented until even those university players can't keep up with them!"
Hearing this, Reo's eyes lit up.
His main purpose was to scout out the competition for the future but he didn't expect to stumble upon a gold mine instead.
He could finally see how the basketball in this world was played. With how famous basketball was in this world, Reo wouldn't be surprised if there were multiple Stephen Curry-level players in this world.
So, after thanking that nice uncle, Reo hurriedly made his way to Ebisu.
When Reo finally reached the designated location, he was shocked.
The venue of the challenge actually turned out to be at an outdoor basketball court.
Not only that, there were scores and scores of people crowding the area but that was not all. There were even spotlights and even a dj station at the side which occasionally played some upbeat music.
Seems like people really took these type of challenges seriously.
'If that's the case, I wonder what the prize money will be like', Reo thought in excitement.
If the organizers were willing to bring all these DJ equipment along, then their prize would surely not be a meager sum.
There would at least be 5000 yen on the line.
Then, just as Reo was thinking about this, the DJ started to talk into his mic.
"Yo, yo, yo, what's up everybody?! Welcome to the weekly Street Ball Rumble in Ebisu! How ya'll feeling tonight?!"
Immedietly, he was met back with the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd.
"Looks like ya'll are doin pretty good tonight! I won't keep ya'll waiting any longer and start by announcing the usual"
"Every round will be an elimination showdown between 2 players to a first of 5 points. 3-pointer and 2-pointer shots are counted while fouls reward a free throw. Remember that this challenge is not for the weak of heart as we watch our contestants battle it out for 10000 yen!"
Reo who was listening intently nearly felt his heart leap out of his chest.
That was 10000 yen! And they were just giving it away as the main prize to those high school and university students!
Would they even be able to spend it all?!
However, none of the people in the crowd seemed concerned about that as they were quite used to this scene.
So, without much waiting, the first 4 contestants soon stepped out onto the court.
Since it was a one on one, each round used only a half court for 2 contestants, allowing them to complete 2 rounds at once.
In no time, the challenge officially started with Reo watching intently.
Soon, time passed on until the 4th round but Reo was honestly beginning to feel bored by then.
It was because that these basketball players were just too mediocre. Sure, they were at least a standard higher than normal basketball players from his old world but they were still classified as a norm.
Even when Reo used his talent scan on them, the best talent that he could find from out of the bunch was just a meager 'C' to which the system couldn't help but harshly criticize.
'Looks like that oji-san really was telling the truth. Our Shibuya City players are really just too bad', Reo couldn't help but think.
It seemed like the crowd also felt the same way as they were soon talking to each other and hardly paid any attention to the game.
However, this all changed the moment the 6th round began.
"Kyah! It's the Thunder Demon! So handsome!"
"He feels just like a wild animal! Oh my, I'm getting chills!"
"Keep your eyes away from my darling, he is only suitable for me!"
The change mostly came from the girls but the guys were also showing their approval by cheering the contestant on.
Reo couldn't help but peer forward to see just who was able to stir up such a commotion.
Soon, a boy with striking yellow hair entered his sights.
He was not that tall, just barely above 5'10" and apparently quite lean. Overall, he didn't really look like someone who was able to even play basketball at all.
However, when Reo did the Talent Scan on him, he was shocked.
[Talent Scan Initiating....]
[Target Acquired!]
Name: Kotaro Izuki
Height: 178 cm
Talent: B (Developing)
Specialty:-
Rare Grade Skill(Speedy Dribble)
Remark: Better open your eyes or the ball might just disappear! Whoosh!
This was the first 'B' grade talent that he had stumbled upon after arriving at this world. Reo couldn't help but look forward to seeing this person play.
Suddenly, the system started commenting as well.
[A 'B' ranked talent. Not bad but it is still far from being a good player. At this level, he could at most become a regular for a well known basketball high school but that is all he would ever amount to]
The system was really ruthless in his remark but Reo didn't pay any attention to it.
His strategy was simple; to deal with the system, he only needed to....ignore it!
Still, he couldn't help but ask the system about what he saw in the Talent Scan.
"System, what was that 'Developing' sign beside his talent rank?"
[That was a sign to show how much of his talent has already been developed. Think of it like this; every person has to run a race in order to exhaust their talent and for example, that fellow in your school, Nishimura has already exhausted his talent]
[Take a 'B' ranked talent for example, he would need to run about 100m before finally exhausting his talent while those at 'E' rank would only need to run about 10m and at an even slower speed]
[The same goes for higher talents. They would not only have a higher running speed to learn faster but also a longer race to run which shows that their talent takes quite some time before showing their full potential!]
Reo took in the system's words but after thinking about it for a while, he became shocked.
Does that mean that this person is not playing at his full potential yet?
He was most likely in high school just by looking at his age so it made sense for his talent to not fully develop until his twenties but looking at the crowd's reaction, Reo could tell that he was far from ordinary.
"Then...What about his specialty? It says here that it is a Rare Grade Skill", Reo asked again.
This time, the system didn't respond straight away but instead chuckled in a mechanical voice.
[Hehehe....Now that is really something]
[Host, you must know that the system's skills are only from exclusively picked form superior type of skills regardless of their grade which makes them quite special. In a sense, this boy is quite special as well]
[Not everyone would have their specialty classified under a ranked type of skill which shows that this boy has an edge over others in the same talent rank. Heck, I might even say that he will be able to win even against an 'A-' ranked talent]
[Watch closely in this game, you brat! You might just be in for a good show this time!]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone