The entire stadium was stunned by the unfolding scene.
"Fluke."
"Luck."
"Fortunate."
These words appeared in everyone's minds, but as they looked back at the court, they felt a certain pressure emanating from number 10 of the opposing team.
At the sideline, Coach Oom, who was initially shocked, quickly regained his composure.
'Was that a fluke by him?' Coach Oom wondered, peering into the court.
The opposing team, symbolized by a grazing deer, while Hin and Ton's team, the symbol was a blue dolphin playfully swimming in the water.
Their team names often matched these symbols.
"Go Deer, Go Deer, Go Deer," the cheering squad, now composing themselves, started chanting once more.
The basketball players on the Deer team regained their focus.
"It was just a fluke," said player number 26, who had made a mistake.
"Right," everyone on the Deer team regained focus, thinking 'It was just a fluke.'
The game resumed, and the cheering squad quieted down to watch intently.
The sound of sneakers squeaking against the court filled the air, along with the Deer team players starting their offensive.
The Deer team passed the ball among themselves in an attempt to distract the Dolphin team.
Until the ball reached number 11, who was responsible for attacking Hin's side.
As the ball passed to number 11, he caught it and fake a shot with a jump, but Hin didn't jump in response.
"See, it was just a fluke," the crowd said when Hin didn't jump to block number 11's shot.
But for number 11, it was a nightmare. The fake shot attempt, unable to actually shoot because he wasn't mentally prepared, shook him internally, haunted by the image of Hin intercepting the ball replaying in his mind.
'Damn it,' thought number 11, relying on sheer luck as he decided to shoot.
Everyone thought number 10 from the Dolphin team was really bad at playing, letting the opponent shoot like that.
But in the eyes of the basketball players and Coach, they didn't think so.
'It wasn't a fluke,' they thought.
The ball, shot by someone not mentally prepared, with a body posture meant for passing ball suddenly changing to make a shot, do you think it would go in?
The answer is, it’s difficult.
The ball hanging in mid-air hit the rim with a loud noise, startling the cheering squad, and athletes on the court leaped to snatch it.
In the moment the ball rebounded, one hand in a blue jersey appeared first before anyone else's. It was Ton.
Ton, leaping at the moment the ball was about to reach the hoop, calculated the direction and angle of the rebound, and jumped in front of it. This was talent.
His body leaping at the perfect angle was perspiration.
He possessed both, making him stand out from others.
Ton, having leaped and caught the ball, brought it back to the ground. A nearby Deer team player moved to block him, while the rest prepared to return to their positions.
A fast attack was nearly impossible since all Dolphin players were back in their own half.
All, in their own half?
Not quite!!! They weren’t all in their own half. In that instant, the ball from Ton’s hands was thrown forward.
The spectators, following the action, saw player number 10, with black hair in the blue uniform of the Dolphin team, standing in front of every player of the Deer team in orange uniforms.
The ball curved before reaching the hands of the Dolphin player.
He caught it and leaped to throw the ball into the hoop.
The Dolphin team scored 2 points.
They were down by 18 points with 4.30 minutes remaining.
And when time ran out, the Deer won over the Dolphins by more than 2 points.
As Hin walked off the court,
In the last 5 minutes, it was clear he and Ton were perfectly synchronized players.
"Hin, you played great today. Ton too. Everyone did really well," Coach Oom, initially furious, now complimented them with a smile.
Ton smiled and glanced at Hin before replying, "Today, this guy was incredible. Quietly kept it all in to unleash today. I always knew you had it in you, Hin.” Ton said, gently shoving Hin.
"I am a god!!" Hin exclaimed.
[You played very smoothly, sir,] Yo, inside his head, complimented.
[Who made their creator put them in such a boastful person?] Hin thought to himself.
It's unknown if it was a coincidence that this scientist from the future was also nicknamed Hin by his family on that world.
"Show-off, ha-ha," Ton, familiar with this attitude, said. Everyone who heard laughed, even Coach Oom, because he believed no one could get past Hin in those final 5 minutes.
The competition ended, and the participants shook hands in gratitude before heading home.
It was Saturday, and by the time the match finished, it was already 2 P.M.
I walked out of the venue with Ton. The athletes left first; others went their separate ways, while I waited for Ton's girlfriend.
"She's over there," Ton noted as a sleek sports car pulled up. A stunningly attractive girl stepped out of the car; she was the school’s star, in the same class as me and Ton.
"Lucky you, buddy," I remarked.
"Yeah, see you at school," Ton replied and got into the car. The girl waved at me, and I waved back. In my memory, it was normal because she knew me as Ton's close friend.
Ton drove off, leaving me alone with memories of home slowly crept into my mind.
"A computer repair shop??" I uttered, thinking of my home, which was a computer repair shop, as I started walking.
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