Chapter 8: Thunder Beast Yeyama Kotaro

Gao Wei He Cheng, from the Eastern King among Tokyo's three great kings — Xiude High School.

His ability is outstanding; in his first year of high school he became a starter on the team, possessing the powerful talent Eagle Eye, and is deeply trusted by one of the Miracle Generation, Lu Jian Zhen Tao.

Ying Jing Liang, a top shooter at Tonghuang Academy.

Although he maintains an ultra‑low posture toward everyone, when he shouts "Sorry" while wildly shooting three‑pointers at the opponent's forehead, you can truly feel his strength.

Jin Chuan Zhi Ji, also from the Northern King among Tokyo's three great kings — Zhengbang High School.

He trains using ancient martial arts, excels at seemingly uncoordinated yet low‑cost footwork for defense, and his defense is like a copper wall and iron barrier, unbreakable.

Familiar names flash before Jiecheng Wu's eyes, leaving him dazzled.

"The second selectable character Template, its strength really is considerably higher," Jiecheng Wu muttered.

The people appearing on the panel all come from various high schools in Heilan World, are the core forces of their respective teams, and are top players who have broken through from one intense match after another.

Not only are the five‑dimensional stats on the Template high, their character core skill effects are also very enticing.

However, choosing this second Template affects his future development path, so Jiecheng Wu must be doubly cautious and carefully review every selectable Template.

Thus Jiecheng Wu found a nearby café, ordered a cup of hand‑ground coffee, and sat in a corner by the window.

He casually took a book from the nearby shelf, placed it before him, sipped coffee now and then, and occasionally turned a few pages.

To onlookers, Jiecheng Wu seemed, like those around him, to be reading a book in the café to pass the time.

In reality, his attention was not on the book at all; everything Jiecheng Wu saw were the character Template data displayed on the panel.

Mizuto Rinosuke, Chenglin High School, plays the center position.

Hayakawa Mitsuyo, Haichang High School, plays the center position.

Wakamatsu Kosuke, Tonghuang Academy, plays the center position.

When Jiecheng Wu's mind shifted, the character Templates on the panel instantly switched; he examined them patiently, refusing to miss any information.

He needed to assess the Template's five‑dimensional strength, the core skill's traits, and the compatibility between that character and himself.

Based on these factors he gave a comprehensive score, thereby selecting the optimal Template suited to him.

When his own five‑dimensional stats do not exceed the Template's, he will not hit a bottleneck while training to raise those stats.

Thus, as long as the Template's five‑dimensional stats are high enough, he can quickly boost his basic strength in a short time.

Even without matching skills, he can become a terrifying, shivering numerical monster.

However, core skills can provide benefits beyond the five dimensions.

Like Xiao Jin Jing Shen Er's Wildness.

The moment Wildness is triggered, Jiecheng Wu can greatly increase his focus, and boost his speed and strength by ten to twenty percent.

Therefore, when encountering an excellent core skill, he can slightly lower some five‑dimensional requirements.

Time passed.

Jiecheng Wu quickly reviewed the vast majority, leaving less than a tenth of the Templates still to examine.

He also formed a rough judgment and listed three candidate Templates in his mind.

Hinata Junpei, captain of Chenglin High School, is the team's offensive three‑point sharpshooter.

Five‑dimensional stats: Strength 3; Speed 3; Stamina 3; Spirit 4.5; Technique 3.5; Total 17.

Character core skill:

Blackening (pale silver), passive skill: when the situation turns into a severe headwind, the hidden dark side within emerges, raising focus by 30%.

Unyielding (silver), passive skill: changes with the flow of the match; the more critical the situation, the greater the focus boost, up to 80%.

Unassailable Shot (silver), active skill: by outpacing the opponent's reaction, instantly retreating and drawing an unassailable zone in front for a shot.

Gao Wei He Cheng of Xiude High School.

Five‑dimensional stats: Strength 2.8; Speed 3.5; Stamina 3; Spirit 3.5; Technique 3.5; Total 16.3.

Character core skill:

Eagle Eye (pale gold), passive skill: like a soaring eagle, able to overlook the earth from high above, granting a panoramic perspective.

Dai Qianxun of Luoshan Middle School, the new phantom sixth man, possesses an ultra‑low presence just like Kuroko.

Five‑dimensional stats: Strength 2; Speed 2; Stamina 2; Spirit 3; Technique 3; Total 12.

Character core skill:

Phantom (gold), passive effect, grants a faint presence;

Active effect: controls one's own presence, entering a barely‑there state, becoming an invisible phantom on the court.

These three are, so far, the three Templates Jiecheng Wu deems to have the greatest potential.

Among them, the safest choice is Xiangri Junpei, who has the highest five‑dimensional stats among the three and the most core skills.

One pale‑silver skill, two silver skills; the skill levels aren't low, and two of them are rare spirit‑type skills.

If paired well, they should perform quite effectively.

Although Gao Wei He Cheng's five‑dimensional stats are slightly inferior to Xiangri Junpei's, he only has one skill.

Yet the pale‑gold level Eagle Eye effect makes Jiecheng Wu reluctant to give it up.

Regardless of the sport, controlling a full‑court perspective is an extremely exaggerated ability.

Finally, Dai Qianxun is the most troubling for Jiecheng Wu.

So far, the highest‑level skill Jiecheng Wu has seen is Dai Qianxun's gold‑level Phantom.

One skill that possesses both active and passive effects.

Its dazzling gold rank stands out among the silver‑ranked skills like a crane among chickens.

Moreover, if developed properly, Jiecheng Wu might even have a chance to replicate Zhongdao Xiu Er's "Will Not Null" and "Further Mutual Null" techniques.

One should know those two moves gave Pi Si Mai, the U17 De Guo national team vice‑captain, a hard time.

From this perspective, the future of the Phantom skill looks almost entirely bright.

It's just that Dai Qianxun's five-attribute strength is really too low.

If you choose him, then it means that before fully mastering 【Phantom】, he will lose the panel's support in other aspects, and the speed of five-attribute evolution will greatly decrease.

This is something he is unwilling to accept.

Jiecheng Wu instantly felt very hesitant, so he picked up his cup and took a sip of coffee to calm down a bit.

At that moment, a headshot with yellow hair and protruding fangs suddenly appeared on the panel.

And written above his head was——Ye Shan Xiao Tai Lang!!!

「Pfft! 」

「What?!! 」

「Cough! Cough! 」

The coffee in his mouth suddenly sprayed out, and Jiecheng Wu coughed repeatedly for a long time, drawing the attention of many nearby.

But Jiecheng Wu simply had no energy to care about others' gazes; his eyes were fixed solely on the figure appearing on the panel.

This is

Heilan World, under the generation of miracles, the strongest batch of people, the five uncrowned kings, known as the Thunder Beast, Ye Shan Xiao Tai Lang!!!?

His consciousness twitched slightly, and he quickly opened Ye Shan Xiao Tai Lang's detailed data.

He signed the contract, never expecting it to happen so fast.

(End of chapter)