Chapter 51

"Ding!"

This sudden "Ding" gave Tendo a shock. "What are you dinging for, you bastard?"

"Isn't that what you asked for? Ding when the system has activity; this is the correct way to open the system."

Traditional virtues: you need it to ding, but it doesn't; when you don't need it, why are you dinging?

Good thing it wasn't when he was watching a movie...

"What’s wrong?" Tendo Keigen rubbed his forehead.

"Popularity points are sufficient; your next stage of abilities is unlocked."

Abilities unlocked?

So fast?

Tendo Keigen sat up straight.

He remembered that the next stage of ability unlocking required 500,000 popularity points; he didn't expect to reach it so quickly.

He opened the power station suspiciously, and sure enough, some things had happened here.

Perhaps because there weren't many good shows this month, the power station started to fully promote this *Generation of Miracles*.

So far, every creator in the anime section had released at least one video about *Generation of Miracles*.

Such operations successfully brought a large amount of traffic to *Generation of Miracles*.

It could be said that as long as you were a user of the power station, even if you hadn't watched it, you had definitely heard of this show.

The power station even held a popularity poll this week.

Ranked first was the protagonist, Kuroko Tetsuya.

This guy who held the protagonist script, as the plot developed, his misdirection was also nearing completion.

Nowadays, the audience was very much looking forward to his first appearance.

And ranked second, as expected, was Tendo Keigen.

Relying on his characteristics of being the most handsome in the work, sharp-tongued, powerful, and interesting, he became the second most popular character in *Generation of Miracles*, second only to the protagonist Kuroko.

Even Riko, because she would roast Kuroko at every turn, had broken into the top seven of the popularity list, higher than Momoi.

Below it was a character-exclusive tag, "Husband Protector!"

"Why is there a 'Husband Protector' tag under my voting column? Shouldn't it be 'Skincare Protector'?" Riko also leaned over; she could see the system, but she couldn't open it. "What does this mean?"

"Literal meaning."

"Literal meaning? Husband... husband?" Riko froze for a moment, and then her cheeks heated up rapidly. "Who, who, who is protecting you? Are these viewers idiots?!"

"Hey, isn't it just a tag? Why are you so excited?"

"Hey?"

"Are you still eating?"

Tendo Keigen was speechless in his heart.

Ever since seeing her tag, Riko had quickly entered a red-faced state.

At this moment, she was even more like her brain had been burned out, squatting in the corner drawing circles, her mouth muttering, "I am not a husband protector... I am not married yet... I haven't even dated..."

Another one gone crazy.

Tendo Keigen rolled his eyes and ignored her.

Closing the power station, he entered the system interface and opened the newly unlocked ability.

[Monster].

Another skill without a description?

Tendo Keigen had already thought of the next week’s update, with the production team crazily adding background stories for himself.

But what was this monster?

"Hey Riko, are you eating a midnight snack?"

"Are you going out?"

"Yeah, there’s something I want to test."

"Oh, I’m not eating."

Riko responded and went back to drawing circles.

Forget it, let her be autistic; just don't commit suicide.

Tendo Keigen opened the door and walked out, arriving at the usual basketball court.

He stood near the free-throw line, the light casting his shadow.

With a thought, the [Monster] skill was activated.

Then, he saw his shadow start to lengthen rapidly, and a pitch-black humanoid monster composed of black flames rose from his shadow, appearing before him.

It had no eyes, its pupils were all white, its lips were grinning like Whitebeard’s, smiling at him ferociously.

"So it’s this thing."

Tendo Keigen understood what this ability was upon seeing the monster’s prototype.

It was the ability of a character named Itoshi Rin from another work, *Blue Lock*.

Itoshi Rin also relied on this ability in the early stages to always find scoring opportunities.

This wasn't a real monster, but the embodiment of basketball IQ!

It was telling Itoshi Rin at all times whether he should break through head-on or pass, whether to shoot or assist? And where to pass the ball, in which direction to shoot.

"The embodiment of basketball IQ, huh."

"It’s about the same thing as 'Wildness'."

Tendo Keigen was quite satisfied with this ability and greeted the "Monster."

"Nice to meet you, my brain."

It was his brain.

This monster was the manifestation of his basketball IQ.

It was also an indispensable ability to become a ball-dominant core.

The monster didn't respond, still maintaining that posture, until Tendo Keigen turned and left, only then did it merge back into the shadow and disappear from the court with Tendo Keigen.

A BUFF-type ability comparable to "Wildness."

Such a harvest made Tendo feel pleasantly surprised.

Two days later.

The national tournament started again.

At this time, it had been half a month since the national tournament began.

Each group had also decided on the top seed, and the qualifiers entered the most critical round-robin stage.

Shirogane Gōzō had said before the start that upsets occurred frequently every year in the national tournament.

However, this year, at least in the Tokyo area, no upsets had occurred.

The four teams that killed their way into the round-robin were all powerhouses in the Tokyo area.

Teiko Junior High, needless to say, this team was a super dynasty team that would complete an unprecedented three-peat.

There was no possibility of flipping over.

And the other three teams were all teams highlighted by Momoi, all five-star level teams.

Among them was also one of the three kings, the affiliated junior high school, Seihō Junior High.

This was a private school that included four stages: elementary, junior high, high school, and university, providing students with a one-stop service—that was their motto.

Just kidding.

This opponent was the one Shirogane Gōzō valued most.

Similar affiliated institutions all had their own systematic training models.

This systematic approach ensured that their results were extremely stable.

Perhaps not the strongest, but they would definitely not fall to the level of a bottom-feeder; they possessed strong competitiveness, with a high ceiling and a low floor.

And since Seihō High School could become one of the three kings of Tokyo, the basketball level of their junior high division was naturally not bad.

After all, they were all brought up by the same coaching staff.

The current head coach of Seihō Junior High was once an assistant coach under the head coach of the high school division.