"Shigure Akihito!"
"Seriously? You're spacing out now of all times?!"
In a dazed trance, caught between a dream and reality like Kitagawa Etsuko dreaming of a butterfly, Tomita Hana suddenly heard a voice, both unfamiliar and strangely familiar. The moment the voice landed, he felt someone give his shoulder a shake.
Groggily, Tomita Hana opened his eyes and was met with a face, nervous, slightly irritable.
Odd...
It was a face he knew well, yet also didn't recognize.
And from this angle...
This guy's tall.
"Kurome... Shinji?"
The name surfaced in his mind almost instinctively and slipped out of his mouth before he could process it. In that instant, Tomita Hana, no, Shigure Akihito, realized something.
If this wasn't a dream...
Then he had transmigrated.
And judging by how vivid and real everything felt, the latter seemed far more likely.
"Shigure, focus! This is the entrance trial for Teiko Middle School's elite basketball club!"
"See that old guy over there? Rumor has it he's the coach of Teiko. They say he never shows up for rookie tryouts. But this time he's here in person. If we impress him, we might actually become the first rookies in Teiko history to make the regular team right off the bat!"
Shigure Akihito: "?!"
Hold on a second...
Teiko? As in that Teiko?!
Kuroko no Basket?!
And this is... the entrance trial?
Still a little foggy in the head, Shigure was suddenly overwhelmed by a rush of memories. In the next second, he snapped his head around to examine the other rookies waiting for their turn.
"...They're not here?"
Kurome Shinji followed his gaze, puzzled. "Not who?"
Shigure Akihito: "..."
The Generation of Miracles isn't here.
Just as that thought formed, he finally spotted a familiar figure, someone looking far younger and more awkward than he remembered, being pushed reluctantly into the rookie lineup by Coach Platinum Kanzō.
It was Shūzō Nijimura.
No wonder the Miracles weren't here yet, he was in the class above them.
If that's the case...
Shigure dug into his memory of the manga's flashback arc.
Nijimura, famously the best power forward in middle school, needed no introduction.
And this friend beside him, Kurome Shinji, who already stood at 185 cm as a first-year, was the guy who often appeared alongside Nijimura at the forefront, back before the Miracles rose to dominance.
There was one more, he recalled a gloomy guy with long black hair and bangs that always covered his eyes. Even after the Generation of Miracles started filling the roster, that guy still managed to stay near the top.
Maybe transmigration had improved his brain? Shigure felt like his memory was sharper than ever. Details from the manga that were only lightly touched on now felt vivid and solid in his mind. The previous generation of Teiko's core lineup, barely shown in the original series, was all matching up in his head.
Soon, not far behind him, he spotted the mysterious third guy, though he didn't know his name just yet.
So then...
Counting himself...
Before the Generation of Miracles, these were Teiko's core players.
Shigure Akihito: "..."
Wait a minute!
Why was he counting himself in that lineup?!
Was he adjusting a bit too quickly?
Was it muscle memory from the original host? Or something else?
Just as Shigure was spiraling into confusion, a familiar sound chimed in his mind, every transmigrator's favorite:
A system prompt.
First came surprise and delight, then... he froze.
[Welcome, Player, to Road of Glory. "Slam Dunk Mobile Game System" has been successfully loaded.]
[Beginner Reward (1/2) loading…]
[You have obtained Common Player Card: "Tomokazu Godai"]
[Player Stats Updated…]
Name: Shigure Akihito
Position: Shooting Guard
School: Teiko Middle School (Year 1)
Height: 176 cm
Offensive Stats:
Close Shot: 80
Mid-Range: 105
Three-Point: 105
Dunk: 52
Layup: 60
General Attributes:
Passing/Control: 95
Strength: 50
Resistance: 70
Jump: 62
Speed: 85
Dribble: 75
Defensive Stats:
Rebound: 60
Block: 60
Interference: 80
Steal: 85
Unlocked Dunk Player:
Common Card: "Tomokazu Godai"
Skills:
Crescent Stepback
Stationary Soft Three
Drive & Soft Shot
Full-Speed Burst
Pass Interception
Ultimate Skill: Frozen Moment
Shigure Akihito: "..."
Slam Dunk... mobile game?
Honestly, Shigure had never played it.
Those kinds of games always gave him pay-to-win vibes, and he had zero interest in that sort of thing.
Besides...
This is Kuroko's Basketball we're talking about.
Would anything from the Slam Dunk universe even work in this sci-fi-style basketball world?
And most importantly, this beginner reward character, Tomokazu Godai, who the hell is that?!
Unsettled, Shigure cautiously opened the system interface, it was still barebones at this point, and navigated to the personal stat panel. There, under "Unlocked Skills," he clicked on Godai's skill demo.
And then...
Shigure had to admit, he had judged too quickly.
Slam Dunk the manga, and Slam Dunk Mobile Game? Absolutely not the same beast.
Once wrapped in a game system, even these "classic" basketball players had started to look like something out of a sci-fi anime.
Take his new character, Godai Tomokazu, shooting guard from Tsukubu High.
His first skill, Crescent Stepback? A crossover feint into a stepback so aggressive it could take you from the free-throw line all the way back near the three-point line in a blink!
And the speed, insane. The moment he steps back, it's like he activates a speed boost!
And that's not even counting the ultimate skill mode!
[Ultimate: Frozen Moment , a lightning-fast drive forward, then a sudden freeze-frame and hard stepback that guarantees to break the ankles of anyone within range.]
Yeah... maybe this game system wasn't so bad after all.