I refuse to be a plagiarist

However, what she didn't expect was that after she finally calmed him down, the student in front of her stared at her intently, with a complex and difficult-to-interpret emotion in his eyes, and asked:

"Teacher Hiratsuka, I remember you said before that it was because of your care that Hasegawa-senpai got to where he is today, right?"

"???" x2

The two sharp gazes made Shizuka Hiratsuka feel a chill down her spine.

As expected, when he looked in the direction he felt, the person looking at him was Hasegawa Hide, who was the subject of discussion, and Yukinoshita Haruno, who was watching not far away.

A hint of embarrassment instantly appeared in his eyes.

Although he did take good care of Hasegawa on a daily basis, it would be an exaggeration to say that he had a close relationship with the growth of this boy.

[Isn’t this just to maintain the dignity of the classroom? ]

[Please...you two must not expose me at this critical moment, okay? ]

He winked at the two of them secretly.

Only when the two of them tacitly turned their eyes away, indicating that they were not going to expose her, did Hiratsuka Shizuka cough twice and once again look at the troublemaker in front of her with the pride and confidence of a teacher:

"That's only natural!"

"Ba...ba, basket..."

"Ha~ what did you say?"

"Basketball......."

His knees went weak and he fell to the ground.

As Hiratsuka Shizuka was stunned with a funny expression, the boy named Kawasaki knelt on the ground and looked at her with a look of regret and pleading:

"Mr. Hiratsuka, please teach me how to play basketball!"

"........"

Chapter 25: Offense and Defense Reversal

The sudden scene of becoming a disciple caught everyone present off guard for a moment.

Especially the remaining four challengers.

At this moment, they looked at this teammate who was kneeling on the ground pursuing his dream. After the initial confusion, a kind of bitterness and hatred towards a traitor gradually arose in their eyes.

——Okay~ you traitor!

I didn't expect that you, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, would betray the revolution without even saying hello!

Facing the angry eyes of his teammates, Kawasaki showed a little shame at first, but when he thought of someone's magical slam dunk that just won the whole game, that trace of guilt was instantly forgotten.

Facing an opponent like Hasegawa-senpai, who might defect on the spot after losing... I don't feel scared at all.

He looked at the head teacher in front of him with burning eyes.

Perhaps because of Hasegawa, the young man's eyes looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka with more enthusiasm and admiration.

——Teacher Hiratsuka must be quite amazing to be able to teach such a strong student like Hasegawa-senpai!

It's no wonder he reacted this way.

As a passionate young man who is good at and loves a field, when he witnesses an incredible realm with his own eyes, he will naturally want to try to climb it.

The burning eyes fully reveal Kawasaki's inner desire.

Faced with his sudden move, Hiratsuka Shizuka, who had been prepared to counsel her at the beginning, was now a little at a loss.

[Hey! Hasegawa, this.......]

"..."

Faced with the pleading look from the funny head teacher, he shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he was powerless.

joke.

Originally, accepting this competition was just a friendly fight, but I also have to work overtime...

[Don’t think about it, you can have anything in your dreams. ]

【ah----! 】

After exchanging glances, he went directly to the remaining challengers, and asked calmly, compared to Hiratsuka Shizuka who was worried about something:

"alright.

Has everyone decided who's next, huh?"

From the meeting to the arrival at school, and then to the end of the two competitions, almost half of the day has passed.

Unlike those who just need to finish their homework, he has other things waiting to be done.

However, after two consecutive defeats, the morale of the five-member challenger team, with one member losing their combat effectiveness and one simply defecting, has obviously dropped to a level that is difficult to recover in a short period of time.

Compared to the information that was only intelligence at the beginning, Hasegawa, who had already demonstrated his strength at this time, seemed to them like an invincible devil, completely shrouding themselves and others in shadow.

The pressure of coming back from 2-0 down to 3-0 is not something that can be overcome easily.

Looking at this senior who showed no sign of depletion of physical strength after two consecutive fierce battles, it goes without saying that the attrition tactics that he and others had previously formulated would obviously no longer be able to successfully produce results.

【What a monster...】xN

Seeing the relaxed look on someone's face with no disorder in his breathing, the young boy and the girl looked at each other, a hint of retreat involuntarily flashing in their eyes.

But surrender is impossible.

A traitor who retreats without a fight...it's shameful enough to have even one.

It is our duty to restore our glory!

With the belief of burning their boats, they decided to fight to the end.

But in this crucial game, who to send out is a very critical issue.

The unstoppable Demon King Hasegawa has killed two of their generals in a row.

In this BO5 match, if the challengers lose the next game, it will mean that the five-member challenger team is completely defeated.

If you win, you will continue to fight; if you lose, you will be infamous for eternity.

It may not be quite appropriate to say that he would be "infamous for eternity", but he was definitely inescapable of being the one who took the most blame in the team.

“…Let me do it!”

Looking at the two girls beside him, at this critical moment, the e-sports player in the team took a deep breath, adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, stood up without hesitation, and spoke in a deep voice.

A white light flashed on the mirror of the glasses.

As the last man in the team, at this critical moment, he bravely took the risk of defeat on his shoulders.

The initial confidence is now almost gone after the successive blows.

Although he has not yet reached the point of a direct collapse, compared to the arrogance at the beginning when he thought he could easily crush his opponents, he has undoubtedly restrained himself a lot at this moment, and he also feels a little more uneasy about failure.

The senior in front of him was so powerful that just standing there made him feel the urge to retreat.

But looking at the two hesitant girls beside him, he finally took the initiative to speak up and took up the responsibility.

"Don't worry, I am confident in my skills.

Although Senior Hasegawa is indeed very powerful, from the information we have investigated before, he also has some things he is not good at, right? "

Facing the worried looks from the two girls, the boy with glasses patted their shoulders comfortingly, then took a step forward and greeted them.

The wind rustles and the water becomes cold, and the strong man will never return once he is gone.

From the young man who took the initiative to walk towards him, Hasegawa Hide seemed to see an aura of courage to face death.

【What's up.......】

[Boy, you are good. You are quite courageous. ]

Putting himself in the other person's shoes, he could understand to some extent the pressure the other person was under at the moment.

It is precisely because of this that, in the face of external obstacles, this decision to persist becomes even more valuable.

But even so, it cannot change the fact that the two are now rivals.

Looking at the guy in front of him who stopped and bravely stood in front of the two female teammates to take the blame at the critical moment, Hasegawa smiled slightly, with a hint of amusement on his face:

"It's not easy to be a hero sometimes.

Although our competition has not yet begun, but... you should also know what it means to do this, right?"

"..."

From an unprepared challenger at the beginning to the "big devil" who is now at ease and has everything under his control.

It was just a seemingly ordinary question, but the boy, who had finally calmed down, couldn't help but think of the strange looks and pointing fingers he would face from his classmates on Monday if he failed.

"Gu~du!"

He swallowed nervously.

Looking up at the senior in front of him who still had a faint smile on his face, he felt a huge amount of pressure at this moment.

Chapter 26: Which side are you on?

[Hasegawa... this guy is really a terrifying psychological tactic. ]

Looking at someone who was giving actual psychological hints to his opponent, Yukinoshita, who was watching from a distance, blinked, with a strange flash in her eyes.

Last school year, she and Hasegawa were in the same class and would occasionally "play games" with each other.

But at that time, when the young man gained the advantage, at best he was just teasing himself or making a few jokes.

In other words, it is the so-called "friendly exchange, just enough time".

But things are different now.

Hasegawa Hide's use of psychological tactics to unknowingly restrain the juniors on the opposite side made her see today the side of this guy who seemed careless on weekdays, who was obsessed with winning deep in his heart.

Facing this guy who provoked him, for some unknown reason, this guy had obviously become completely serious.

[How pitiful....]

With a look full of pity, he glanced at the challenger who was standing opposite someone and whose breathing had become normal.

While chatting with Shirogane and Ishigami just now, Yukinoshita Haruno had already learned that the rival who had once lost to her in the game hall had been quietly doing targeted training in the past few days.

and........

"Ishigami, do you think Hasegawa has a chance of winning?"

Looking at the two people who were already facing each other in a "momentum contest", Shirogane Miyuki turned his head and whispered to the "game master" beside him under the peeping eyes of Yukinoshita.

Because he had to take care of other things, he had not paid much attention to his friend's special training since he left Ishigami's house that day.

Therefore, he actually had no idea about the results of the special training between the two.

[Hasegawa seems to be very confident, but I don’t know if he is doing it on purpose...]

"Don't worry, President."

In response to Shirogane Miyuki's question, Ishigami Yu raised his head slightly, and gently lifted his hair that covered most of his face with his palm, which made Yukinoshita Haruno's eyelids twitch next to him.

There was a confidence in his tone that was far greater than that displayed by someone on the field.

Although they had some troubles in the beginning, after nearly half a day of familiarization, the progress of their special training can be said to have made great progress.

"...Senior Hasegawa has an outstanding talent for games. No matter what type of game it is, he can quickly master the core gameplay and start advanced training."

When it comes to this, even Ishigami Yu couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

He had learned from Baiyin Yuxing that this senior had been running between his part-time job and school every day before, and playing games was an extremely luxurious thing for him.

However, even such a player with almost no basic skills, when he came into contact with the game, seemed to be helped by a mysterious force. He quickly grasped the key points and turned the mainstream powerful skills into his own.

“Hasegawa-senpai gives me the feeling that he is rediscovering the forgotten memories and experiences about video games bit by bit.

If you hadn't confirmed it again and again, I would never have believed that Senior was a complete layman."

He stuck out his tongue exaggeratedly.

Because of taking a leave of absence from school, during the more than half a year that he spent at home, Ishigami Yu gradually expanded his interest in video games.