Horizon 14 – Zenith 18 | Second Quarter
The crowd hummed like static. The arena felt tight—compressed by tension and anticipation.
We gathered at the bench. Sweat clung to our necks, but Coach Tsugawa's voice cut through the haze like a whip.
"Dirga," he said, eyes locking on mine, "you said you wanted to test that pass, right? One-touch. Creative. Whatever it takes."
I nodded.
"Then now's the time."
"Coach, I'll do it. No matter what."
He glanced over at Kaito. "You'll get in and move to shooting guard. Support Dirga. If anything goes sideways, you back him up."
"Got it," Kaito replied.
I pulled in a deep breath.
This was it.
[Quest Alert!]
Objective: Perform ten misdirection/creative/one-touch passes in this quarter.
Progress: 0/10
Reward: Unlock Skill: Creative Pass (Rare) + Playmaking +1
I smiled.
Let's dance.
…
We stepped onto the court.
The ball was in our hands.
Horizon's possession.
Taiga inbounds to me. Isaiah Dumont crouched low, coiled like a spring. His eyes were locked on me—watching my dribble, my hips, my shoulders.
But I didn't dribble.
Instead—tap.
I redirected the pass mid-stride to Kaito streaking down the sideline.
The pass whipped by Isaiah's left, off his blind angle.
"WHOA! That's a one-touch bullet from Dirgantara Renji!" the commentator exclaimed.
Kaito caught it on rhythm, curled around the arc, and swung it to Rei.
Catch. Shoot. Net.
Horizon 17 – Zenith 18
[Progress: 1/10]
Isaiah's head whipped back toward me.
Okay. One down.
Zenith answered with a post-up from Leonard Okonkwo. He spun past Aizawa with a quick drop-step and dunked hard over Taiga.
A roar erupted.
Horizon 17 – Zenith 20
Next play.
I took the inbound again. Isaiah came hard, hands everywhere. He wanted to rattle me.
So I passed—without looking.
A wraparound behind my back, off the bounce.
Straight to Aizawa cutting down the middle.
"WHOA! ANOTHER misdirection pass!"
Aizawa powered in, finished through contact.
And-one.
[Progress: 2/10]
The free throw missed, but the message was sent.
We weren't afraid.
Isaiah stormed back. He ran a tight pick-and-roll, forcing our switch. Rikuya closed out—but Isaiah pulled up midrange and drained it with mechanical ease.
Horizon 19 – Zenith 22
I jogged up again, pretending to look left. Isaiah followed my eyes.
But my fingers flicked the ball right, off a one-touch skip to Hiroki on the wing. Hiroki caught it, hesitated, then made the extra to Rei.
Pump fake. Step in. Pull-up.
Buckets.
[Progress: 3/10]
Horizon 21 – Zenith 22
We were back.
We weren't beating them with strength. We weren't breaking through their defensive wall.
We were ghosting past it.
Zenith slowed the pace.
Ryoga Tanikawa took a handoff, curled hard off a down screen, and nailed a three over Rei.
Horizon 21 – Zenith 25
Back to us.
"DIRGA!" Taiga shouted.
I passed mid-stride—off the bounce, one-touch again. No dribble. No hesitation.
Taiga caught it just as the defense shifted, slipped under Hajime Sudo, and laid it in off glass.
[Progress: 4/10]
Horizon 23 – Zenith 25
The crowd was starting to feel it.
"You seeing this?" the commentator said. "Dirga's not even holding the ball more than a second. It's like… jazz out there. Controlled chaos."
Isaiah snarled. He didn't like this.
On defense, I picked up Isaiah, full-court. We knew he was physical, but I wasn't afraid anymore.
He crossed, tried to get by me—but I slowed him down. Kaito rotated. Trap. Forced pass.
Intercepted by Aizawa.
Fast break. He dished to me.
I could've shot.
But I tapped it behind me instead—no-look—straight into Rei's hands.
Three.
Bang.
Horizon 26 – Zenith 25
[Progress: 5/10]
The gym shook. Our side exploded.
We took the lead.
Timeout Zenith.
Their coach slammed her clipboard.
"Clamp him! I want eyes on Dirga at ALL TIMES!"
Isaiah stood in the huddle, fuming.
But his eyes—sharp, focused—never left mine.
Out of timeout, Zenith adjusted. Full denial on me. They didn't want me touching the ball.
So we countered.
Hiroki brought it up.
He passed to Taiga. Then Rei. Then back to me off a stagger screen.
Touch pass—zip—to Kaito in the corner. Kaito starting to take a heavy breath but I see his eyes like telling me to believe in him
Catch. Splash.
[Progress: 6/10]
Horizon 29 – Zenith 27
Zenith struck back. Emir Al-Fayad got position deep and powered through Rikuya.
Foul. And-one.
Horizon 29 – Zenith 30
3 minutes left in the half.
Now came the trap.
They sent a double on me the moment I crossed half court.
But I was ready.
I didn't fight the pressure—I used it.
I spun into the double and tapped the ball forward with my left foot, like a pass in soccer. Kaito snatched it in stride, drew the help, and dumped it to Taiga for the finish.
Horizon 31 – Zenith 30
[Progress: 7/10]
The arena was shaking now.
"You can feel the shift!" the commentator roared. "Zenith's structure is cracking!"
Isaiah tried to respond with a pull-up three. Miss.
Rikuya rebounded and kicked it out.
I caught it in motion, but instead of pushing forward, I flicked it backward—another one-touch—right to Rei trailing behind.
Three.
Horizon 34 – Zenith 30
[Progress: 8/10]
We were flying now.
Zenith called another timeout.
Their faces were red—tired, rattled.
We came back to the bench, panting.
Coach Tsugawa gave me a nod.
"Keep going," he said. "You're rewriting the tempo of this game."
Out of timeout, Zenith focused more on off-ball movement. Leonard Okonkwo found a crack, spun baseline, and dunked it with a roar.
Horizon 34 – Zenith 32
But I wasn't done.
Next play—I ran up the left side. Isaiah came.
I gave a hard jab, then flicked the ball across court—one-touch, laser-angled—into Hiroki's hands.
He drove baseline, got cut off, but looped it back to me.
I didn't hold it.
Touch-pass over the top.
Rei—corner three.
Boom.
Horizon 37 – Zenith 32
[Progress: 9/10]
Final possession of the half.
We had 14 seconds.
Coach called a timeout to draw the play.
"Dirga," he said, "you've got one more in you?"
I nodded, grinning.
We came out, set in motion.
I got the ball at the top.
10… 9…
I held it.
8… 7…
Isaiah bit.
I moved—spun—then tapped the ball behind me to Aizawa, who handed it back without pausing.
5… 4…
I skipped it across the arc to Hiroki.
3… 2…
One bounce. Pass to Rei.
Catch. Shoot.
[Progress: 10/10]
[Skill Unlocked: Creative Pass (Rare)]
[+1 to Playmaking]
[Dirga's total Playmaking upgraded to A]
Swish.
Horizon 40 – Zenith 32
End of second quarter.
And the gym was on fire.