Chapter 177: Passing Master · Pass the Parcel (lv3)!

The gold badges Yukimiya Kazuma currently possessed included 'Passing Master,' 'Monster Immersion · Flying Bird,' and 'Devil's Footwork.'

But as for which one the 'Gold Upgrade Experience Badge' should be used on, Yukimiya Kazuma had already made his decision long before the match against Teikou began.

The latter two were both purely individual offensive types.

Facing Teikou, even if he possessed an offense that even the Generation of Miracles couldn't defend, he still couldn't break through his opponents—because once it devolved into a one-on-one situation, on Bai Shui's side there was only himself, while~ across from him there were five.

One person's stamina—would eventually run out.

Moreover……

A 'Monster Immersion · Flying Bird' came with its own stamina debuff, and a 'Devil's Footwork' required a great deal of close-quarters footwork and shifting—each was a master at draining stamina.

So without a doubt, Yukimiya Kazuma chose the very first badge he had acquired since coming to this world—'Passing Master.'

The 'Passing Master' badge had an extremely ambiguous positioning, with both offense and defense.

The passing ability within it brought Yukimiya Kazuma enhanced vision and spatial awareness, while the ball-handling ability granted him master-level skill and understanding of ball control.

Based on these two points, 'Passing Master' not only gave him excellent passing and ball-handling, but also brought decent steals—the seemingly 'unremarkable' four or five steals per game came about exactly like this.

One badge gave too many things—so much so that after fully grasping the abilities of 'Passing Master,' Yukimiya had once been immensely grateful to the system.

And now.

It was the same.

To close the point gap, he needed not only offense but also defense—and combined with his own situation, it had to be an excellent load-reducing style of play. 'Passing Master' perfectly answered his needs.

The 19-point lead through the first two quarters was by no means a secured situation, but this was already the limit of his full offensive output.

Stamina Already at the bottom, he could recover some during halftime, then in the third quarter, use the team offense scoring brought by 'Passing Master' to further restore his stamina.

Then it would be saving up enough stamina to gamble everything on a do-or-die fourth quarter.

The chance was still slim, but this was the absolute limit of what Yukimiya Kazuma could do.

And this sliver of life Yukimiya wanted to fight for all hinged on one point—whether the in-game upgraded 'Passing Master,' which could only be maintained for a single quarter, would be strong enough to challenge the Generation of Miracles.

"I'm counting on you……"

Just before stepping onto the court, Yukimiya Kazuma's soft murmur made everyone at Bai Shui turn their heads toward him.

Everyone clenched their fists.

"Kazuma……"

"Yukimiya-senpai! Leave it to me!!"

"Yeah!"

"Even if Akashi is a monster, I'll bite down hard on him!"

"Aaaah!!!"

"Let's go!"

Yukimiya Kazuma was briefly stunned by the sudden pats on the chest and cheers ringing in his ears, the whole group roused.

Yukimiya Kazuma: "……"

Hm?

What's up?

Did 'Rookie Ace's Battle Cry' activate? Isn't this badge passive? How did it trigger?

……

The second half of the match began.

The audience had long been unable to wait.

And Yukimiya Kazuma's change also occurred in utter silence.

【Gold Upgrade Experience Badge, selecting target 'Passing Master'……】

【Badge loading……】

【Load complete……】

【Passing Master · Pass the Parcel (lv3): As a third-level Passing Master, your passing and ball-handling abilities have been further enhanced. In the process of passing and controlling, you now truly possess a master-level display of oppressive pressure. So it is said, a drum doesn't sound without being struck, a flower doesn't spread its fragrance without being passed. In this game of pass the parcel, amid the drumbeats of ball control, to whose hands the flower will be passed—the intertwined feelings of anticipation and fear—are all within your control.】

That said, the descriptions of gold badges had always been this strange.

However……

Lv3.

He understood.

The system hadn't disappointed him—the 'Gold Upgrade Experience Badge' had bumped 'Passing Master' up two levels in one go.

Yukimiya Kazuma controlled the ball, feeling the changes in 'Passing Master,' his expression gradually shifting toward the look he wore during 'Monster Immersion.'

Akashi stared at Yukimiya Kazuma—the icy yet slightly arrogant state in the other's expression. He had seen plenty of it in the first half; it was that strange prelude to the special shot.

However, he did not know that Yukimiya's current state was actually the rush brought on by a sudden, massive surge in ability.

And……

The effect of 'master-level display of oppressive pressure' described in the badge.

Though it hadn't fully burst forth yet, Yukimiya Kazuma knew very well that from this moment on, he too would be a man with special effects, just like the Generation of Miracles.

·· 0 begging for flowers 0 ·········

Akashi faced Yukimiya, a cold certainty of victory on his face. "Yukimiya, within my sight, Bai Shui has no life left in it. The defeat is already decided."

"And you still won't give up……"

Boom~

Boom~

Boom~

Akashi hadn't even finished speaking.

The rumbling sound of Yukimiya Kazuma dribbling the ball in front of him abruptly cut off his thoughts.

Akashi's brow furrowed slightly.

Compared to Yukimiya's previous ball-handling, the current situation felt very wrong.

Too loud!

"What's going on? Yukimiya Kazuma's dribbling?"