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Chapter 316 303: Vorpal vs Wildcats (15) The Weapon

VORPAL 51 – WILDCATS 45

4:00 left, 3rd Quarter

Evan adjusted his headband, sweat rolling down the side of his face like a reminder: This is the moment where games crack open… or collapse.

"Stay sharp!" he barked, voice slicing through the gym noise.

Across from him, Miho stepped forward calm, unreadable, deadly. His teammates, still in full True Sync, moved with him as if they were joints of the same living creature.

The Wildcats weren't five players anymore.

They were one entity.

A storm.

A machine.

A beast with five limbs.

Louie bounced on his toes, cracking his neck left and right. "Alright, alright… round three. Let's see what the big cats got."

But even he felt it.

A pressure.

A pulse.

Miho's presence was like gravity thickening the air, and every player on the court sensed the shift.

THE WILDCATS' RESET

The Wildcats ran no signal.

No gesture.

No shout.

They simply shifted, all at once.

Jun Seo drifted to the right wing, eyes narrowing like a hawk preparing to strike.

Armi slid behind Brandon, using the center's size as both a shield and a threat.

Davis dropped lower, coiled, ready to cut like a razor.

Kenji drifted into the short corner, calm, patient, hands ready for the quick-release jumper.

And Miho

Miho walked the ball down with the grace of a warlord unchallenged.

Vorpal tightened in response.

Josh stepped forward first, right arm extended. "I got ball. If he drives left, I force him into Brandon."

Brandon nodded. "Let him come. I'm a wall."

Coonie rotated to the weak side, whispering his mantra: "Chaos, chaos, chaos…"

Jeremy watched the formation unfold, brain calculating. "Louie, watch the off-ball flare.

Jun's gonna try to lose you on the inside line."

Louie tilted his chin. "He can try."

Evan exhaled. "One stop. Let's get one."

Miho didn't accelerate.

He glided.

A mild crossover silent, clean.

Josh didn't fall for it, staying square. But Miho wasn't attacking him.

He was positioning him.

Two more dribbles.

Miho's eyes flicked just a flick to the left.

Jun Seo sliced inward at the same moment.

Louie reacted instantly.

"NOPE!"

He shattered the passing lane with a burst, cutting off Jun, body slashed low like a sprinter on dust.

But that was exactly what Miho wanted.

Because as Louie lunged, Jun Seo didn't take the pass.

Jun curled around Brandon's blind side, using the center's frame like a cloak.

"Brandon, shift!" Evan yelled.

But Miho wasn't passing to Jun either.

Tap.

A single, light dribble.

Step.

And Miho slid right into the seam Louie had vacated.

Josh spun

but it was a half-second late.

Evan lunged

but Miho had already split the gap.

Brandon roared, stepping up

but Miho didn't need height.

He needed timing.

Float.

The ball lifted off his fingers with unnatural calm.

The shot arced high.

Too high.

Too soft.

Too patient.

"Damn it." Josh whispered.

The ball dropped through.

VORPAL 51 – WILDCATS 47.

The gym erupted.

LOUIE'S ANSWER

Louie grabbed the inbound like it insulted him personally.

"Oh hell no. You're not showing me up like that twice."

He burst up the court, faster than any previous possession shoulders low, feet cutting sharp angles into the hardwood.

Josh jogged beside him, panting. "Louie… slow… down…."

"NOPE."

Coonie sprinted ahead to set a screen, whispering, "Double-sneak on your left."

Louie winked.

Then switched hands behind his back

WHILE JUMPING.

Coonie ghosted in front, tripping Davis' line of sight. Armi tried to switch

Too late.

Louie leaned, slid, twisted his hips like a street dancer catching a beat only he could hear.

He sabotaged his own momentum, cutting from full sprint to sudden crawl, using the deceleration to snap Armi off balance.

Then

SNAP.

He exploded forward again for a mid-lane floater.

But Miho appeared

from behind.

From the side.

From everywhere.

Louie adjusted midair, contorting like a parkour runner vaulting over a rail.

"NOT TODAY!"

The shot spun off his fingers

and kissed the glass perfectly.

VORPAL 53 – WILDCATS 47.

Louie landed with a scream.

"STREET PRODIGY, BABY!"

Josh slapped his back. "Alright! I see you!"

Jeremy shouted from behind, "DON'T GET COCKY!"

But Louie was already grinning.

"Too late!"

Miho didn't argue.

He didn't bark.

He didn't correct.

He just lifted a single hand.

The Wildcats adjusted instantly.

Davis tightened his cut routes.

Armi changed his screen angle without needing to be told.

Jun Seo altered his foot speed.

Kenji shifted the tempo of his off-ball relocations.

The gym felt colder.

"Evan," Brandon muttered, "they're faster."

The gym didn't just feel colder.

It felt pressurized.

Like the entire court had been placed inside an invisible chamber, and Miho's raised hand had tightened the seal.

Evan felt it first, a strange heaviness in the air, like moving through water.

Jeremy felt it next, the rhythm of the Wildcats' motion syncing like gears clicking into place.

Brandon felt it last, the slight quiver in the hardwood, the vibration of players stepping with perfect identical timing.

Louie, however, just blinked.

"…Okay, that's not normal."

Josh elbowed him.

"We KNOW it's not normal! They're in Super Robot Mode—"

"TRUE. SYNC." Jeremy corrected.

"And it's going up another level."

Miho brought the ball up, but he didn't look at the rim.

He didn't look at his teammates either.

He didn't need to.

They had already aligned with him.

Davis drifted left.

Armi curled around the high post.

Jun Seo slid behind the baseline.

Kenji glided up to the wing.

Not fast.

Not flashy.

Just… perfectly timed.

Every step measured.

Every angle precise.

Every heartbeat synced with Miho's dribble.

One bounce.

The sound echoed like a pulse.

Thump.

Evan swallowed. "He's setting tempo."

Thump.

Coonie's hands twitched. "This is their real rhythm…"

Thump.

Louie whispered, "This is bad."

Josh inhaled. "We hold. We hold all the way."

Brandon lowered his stance.

Jeremy spread his arms wide.

Coonie slid one foot back, reading floor spacing.

Louie bounced lightly on his toes, still wearing that stupid grin even as sweat dripped from his jaw.

Vorpal's defensive stand formed tight, centered, ready.

Miho placed his left foot forward.

And everything exploded.

Davis slashed instantly, faster than he'd shown all game.

A single cut

not wide, not loud

but sharp, slicing between Jeremy and Josh with almost surgical timing.

At the exact same moment:

Armi sealed Brandon with a shoulder turn so clean it looked choreographed.

Kenji curled behind the three-point line, already prepared for a catch.

Jun Seo ghosted the baseline, a shadow slipping behind bodies.

All of them moved in absolute silence.

No breathing noises.

No calls.

No footsteps even.

The entire crowd felt the shift.

A hush swept the gym like wind being sucked out of a room.

"Holy…" someone whispered from the bleachers. "They're moving like one guy."

Miho didn't break stride.

He angled his dribble.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Every bounce fell exactly between his teammates' movements, like the dribble itself was instructing them:

Cut.

Seal.

Rotate.

Shift.

Evan's heart thumped with every bounce.

He had no choice

he stepped up.

He pressed Miho at the top.

"NOT THIS TIME!"

Miho didn't even blink.

Instead

he stepped sideways, not around Evan,

but into the exact blind spot Evan hated defending.

Evan's eyes widened.

"How"

Miho's foot planted.

The court snapped.

A whip-pass fired to Kenji at the wing, so fast the ball hissed.

Josh flew out to contest

but Kenji didn't shoot.

He tipped it.

Without looking.

Behind his back.

To Jun Seo, who appeared like a ghost rising from the baseline.

Louie reacted late.

"OH…WAIT, NO…NO…"

Jun Seo floated up,

released,

a soft floater sailing high.

Swish.

VORPAL 53 – WILDCATS 49.

The crowd roared.

But Vorpal didn't break.

Not yet.

2:24 LEFT — VORPAL BALL

Evan inbounded quick, not letting Wildcats set a full trap.

"MOVE, MOVE, DON'T LET THEM SET THE WALL!" he shouted.

Josh caught it mid-stride and pushed.

But the Wildcats…

didn't run.

They slid.

Perfectly spaced.

Perfectly angled.

Cutting off passing lanes with eerie anticipation.

Josh tried to swing to Louie

but Davis intercepted the angle two steps early.

He tried to pass to Brandon

but Armi shifted exactly four inches to block the window.

He tried to drive

but Kenji sagged off Coonie at the exact millisecond needed to deny the lane.

Josh clicked his tongue.

"OH COME ON! STOP GHOST-READING MY BRAIN!"

Miho watched quietly from mid-court.

He didn't move.

He didn't need to.

They were all moving for him.

Louie sprinted to shake free.

Coonie curled around Brandon.

Jeremy flashed for a quick handoff.

Josh chose Jeremy, the safest.

But even that wasn't safe.

The moment the ball touched Jeremy's fingers

Jun Seo's hand appeared.

Like teleportation.

TAP.

Ball up.

Wildcats possession.

Jun Seo caught it mid-air, landed, and immediately fired it to Kenji.

Kenji didn't dribble.

Didn't hesitate.

He threw a bullet pass cross-court to Davis.

Davis caught, jump-stopped

and launched a mid-range pull-up.

Jeremy screamed, "HAND UP, HAND UP!!"

Too late.

Swish.

VORPAL 53 – WILDCATS 51.

The arena shook.

Louie grabbed the inbound.

"OKAY, OKAY, WE'RE STILL UP," he babbled.

"We're good. We're great. We're AMAZIN"

Coonie smacked his shoulder.

"Louie. Focus."

Louie blinked.

Then smirked.

"Right… prodigy time."

He spun, sped up-court

and Miho moved to meet him.

Not run.

Not accelerate.

Just glide.

Louie dribbled behind his back.

Miho mirrored it.

Louie spun the other way.

Miho was already there.

Louie tried a streetball fake

Miho didn't bite for even half a millisecond.

Louie hissed.

"…this guy's reading me like subtitles."

He dropped the ball low, tried a breaker dribble

Miho stole it.

Clean.

Effortless.

Louie froze.

"Ah."

Miho didn't counterattack instantly.

He simply walked the ball up the court while the Wildcats re-formed around him like gravity pulling planets into orbit.

Brandon clapped sharply.

"LOCK IN! WE'RE NOT LOSING MOMENTUM!"

But momentum had already shifted.

In the stands, even the Wildcats' bench players leaned forward.

Jun Seo received the ball.

Davis cut.

Kenji screened.

Armi sealed.

Miho paced.

Then

The ball swung.

Kenji to Jun Seo.

Jun Seo to Davis.

Davis to Armi inside.

Armi kicked out instantly.

The ball never stopped.

The ball never touched the floor.

Final pass:

Davis → Miho at the top.

Miho rose.

Evan's hand came up desperately.

The ball left Miho's fingertips in complete silence.

Like the entire world had paused to watch it.

Swish.

VORPAL 53 – WILDCATS 54.

Wildcats lead.

For the first time in the third quarter.

The gym erupted.

Louie staggered back, stunned.

Josh clenched his jaw.

Jeremy cursed under his breath.

Brandon's fists tightened in front of his chest.

Coonie's eyes narrowed.

Evan looked at Miho, who simply exhaled.

No celebration.

No smile.

Just calm domination.

Coonie muttered, voice hardening:

"…They're not a team anymore."

Brandon nodded slowly.

"They're a weapon."

To be continue