Due to the reallocation of venues, the match between Kanagawa Prefecture and Shizuoka Prefecture was assigned to the No. 2 Basketball Gymnasium.

By now, the interior of the No. 2 Basketball Gymnasium was already packed to capacity.

Around twenty thousand spectator seats were jam-packed, and even the aisles were filled with passionate fans who couldn't get seated tickets and had to squeeze together to watch.

The air was thick with excitement, tension, and anticipation.

When the players from both sides appeared at the entrance of the player tunnel, the entire audience stood up once again, erupting into prolonged applause and cheers.

Led by Captain Mikoshiba, the members of the Shizuoka Prefecture Representative Team walked onto the court with somewhat heavy steps.

The moment Mikoshiba stepped onto the hardwood, his gaze subconsciously drifted toward the half-court of the opposing Kanagawa Representative Team.

When his line of sight locked accurately onto that purple figure—a terrifying 207 centimeters tall, casually chewing potato chips as he walked...

Mikoshiba felt his breath suddenly catch, his heart violently skipping a beat in his chest.

Although he had vaguely heard rumors through various channels before the match that "Zijing Cheng is very likely to start today"...

...when the scene truly unfolded before his eyes without reservation, the complex emotions within Mikoshiba still reached an insurmountable peak.

Pressure.

An unprecedented, terrifying pressure that threatened to completely crush his very soul surged toward him from all directions, leaving him almost unable to breathe.

Mikoshiba's angular face was now fraught with solemnity, bitterness, and an unconcealable trace of pallor.

During the summer Nationals two months ago, he had clashed against Shoyo firsthand and personally experienced the absolute dominance Zijing Cheng displayed in the interior.

That sense of despair—where no matter what tactic you employed or how many players you sent to Double-team, it was all in vain—remained a lingering nightmare haunting his midnight dreams to this day.

And now, not only was that invincible purple Great Demon King in the starting lineup, but standing in the Kanagawa lineup centered around him was a roster of Ace names—Maki Shinichi, Rukawa Kaede, Sendoh Akira, and Kenji Fujima—enough to give any powerhouse in all of Japan a headache.

Faced with such a star-studded lineup, Mikoshiba even found an absurd thought creeping into his mind.

How was this a Round of 16 elimination match? This was practically a one-sided slaughter staged ahead of time!

"Captain..." Sugita Kaito, the starting Center standing beside Mikoshiba, looked even worse than his Captain.

Sugita Kaito's Adam's apple bobbed violently, his voice trembling slightly with a nearly uncontrollable whimper.

"That guy... he seems to have gotten stronger again... Is he even human?"

Sugita Kaito's eyes were fixed on Zijing Cheng, who was absorbed in eating his snacks, while his own legs couldn't help but go a bit weak.

As the premier interior defensive anchor for Shizuoka Prefecture, Sugita Kaito considered himself a tough, dominating bruiser in typical matchups.

Yet back during the Nationals, Zijing Cheng had battered him so badly that he couldn't fight back at all, and the psychological trauma still hadn't faded!

The rest of the Shizuoka Prefecture players fell into a deathly silence as well.

Every face bore a look of utter despair, as if thinking, "I really picked the wrong day to step outside; it feels like walking straight into a den of wolves."

Their hearts were chilled to the bone, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured from head to toe, and most of their fighting spirit had already eroded away before the game even started.

However, as the team's undisputed core and spiritual leader, Mikoshiba took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fear and dread within his heart.

He swept a stern gaze over his teammates and spoke in a deep voice to rally them.

"Keep your heads up, all of you."

"Yes, our opponents are strong—unfairly strong, even. But just because they're better than us, are we supposed to throw our hands up and surrender before the tip-off?"

"Don't forget, we represent Shizuoka Prefecture. We are Josei players who fought tooth and nail all the way into the Round of 16!"

"Even knowing full well that this is an uphill battle we can hardly win, and even if we are destined to lose in the end, we can never abandon the dignity of Shizuoka basketball! If anyone dares to play like a coward out there, don't blame me for making you pay after the game!"

Mikoshiba's resounding roar couldn't completely disperse the fear in his teammates' hearts, but it at least helped them regain a shred of composure.

Sugita Kaito gritted his teeth and nodded heavily. "Captain is right. At worst, we go down fighting with everything we've got. Who's afraid of them?!"

Seeing a spark of fighting spirit rekindled in his teammates, Mikoshiba gave a bitter smile internally.

He knew full well that in the face of an absolute difference in strength, pure passion and pumped-up slogans alone could never create a Miracle.

Having suffered a crushing defeat at the Nationals, he knew better than anyone how feeble conventional basketball tactics were before Zijing Cheng.

Yet the unyielding stubbornness in his bones refused to let him surrender without a fight.

To persevere even when knowing it was impossible.

Even if the outcome was already sealed, he wanted to give everything he had in this high-profile match to wager on that near-zero probability Miracle.

On the other side of the court.

In front of the Kanagawa Representative Team's bench, the atmosphere was relaxed and breezy, with the players even casually chatting and laughing.

"Alright, warm-ups are about done," Moichi Taoka clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention. "Stick to yesterday's tactical plan and get ready to take the court."

With his hands behind his back, Coach Takato Riki calmly surveyed the five starting players about to take the floor, his eyes lingering on Zijing Cheng for half a second before speaking in a low, forceful tone.

"A-Cheng, no need to hold back from the start."

"Let all of Japan see clearly who truly rules the interior on this court."

Zijing Cheng swallowed the last potato chip in his mouth, let out a lazy yawn, and gave an exceedingly perfunctory response through half-drooping, dead-fish eyes.

"Yeah... got it. What a drag."

Accompanied by the arena DJ's rousing announcement and amidst the roaring waves of cheers from the crowd, the ten starters from both sides stepped onto the court, taking their places on either side of the Center circle.

Kanagawa Prefecture Starting Five:

Center: Zijing Cheng (No. 9, 1st Year)

Power Forward: Toru Hanagata (No. 15, 3rd Year)

Small Forward: Rukawa Kaede (No. 11, 1st Year)

Shooting Guard: Soichiro Jin (No. 6, 2nd Year)

Point Guard: Kenji Fujima (No. 5, 3rd Year)

Shizuoka Prefecture Starting Lineup:

Center: Sugita Kaito (No. 5, 3rd Year)

Power Forward: Mikoshiba (No. 4, 3rd Year, Captain)

Small Forward: Morimoto Yuma (No. 6, 3rd Year)

Shooting Guard: Tomoya Yubune (No. 7, 3rd Year)

Point Guard: Kubo Ryohei (No. 8, 2nd Year)

At the very Center of the court, Zijing Cheng sauntered over with heavy, plodding steps.

Standing at 207 centimeters tall, he loomed there like an insurmountable mountain.

Meanwhile, Shizuoka's Center, Sugita Kaito, who was tasked with the tip-off across from him, stood at 193 centimeters himself, yet before Zijing Cheng, he looked like a middle school kid by comparison.

Sugita Kaito swallowed with difficulty, his legs trembling slightly out of his control, even his knees stiffening up.

Looking up at this terrifying monster before him who looked like he hadn't even woken up yet, he wailed frantically in his heart.

What's going on?

Back at the Nationals, he hadn't felt this much pressure!

Did he really get stronger again?

It's only been two months—how is that possible?!

Damn it...

Why hasn't the referee tossed the ball yet? He felt like he was about to suffocate on the spot from this suffocating oppression.

At the sideline, the referee held the orange basketball, glancing around to confirm that both sides were ready.

Tweet...

Accompanied by a crisp, sharp whistle blast,

the referee raised his arm high and tossed the basketball into the air between the two teams.

Autumn National Athletic Meet, Round of 16 elimination match.

Kanagawa Prefecture vs. Shizuoka Prefecture.

The game had officially begun.