School that day was brutal.

Akira was running on maybe one or barely two hours of sleep, and it showed. His eyes felt gritty, his movements were sluggish, and he was pretty sure he looked like death warmed over.

Multiple people commented on his appearance throughout the morning. Some with concern, others with barely disguised amusement at seeing him look so rough.

During Literature class, Aoi leaned over from her seat, looking worried. "You look terrible, Akira-kun. Did you sleep at all?"

"Not much," Akira admitted, rubbing his eyes.

She reached out and touched his arm gently with a genuinely concerned expression. "You should rest. Don't worry, I'll take care of your assignment, okay? Your health is more important."

Her concern was so sweet, so genuine, that for a moment he felt a pang of guilt about all the manipulation, all the games he was playing with these girls' emotions.

But only for a moment.

[AOI AFFINITY +5 → 45]

"I'll be fine," he assured her with a tired smile. "Just need some coffee."

As the morning went on, Akira could feel the Essence Cloak straining. The volatile energy from closing the gate last night was still swirling around him, and the cloak was working extra hard to mask his energy signature.

"Darling, you might want to upgrade that cloak," Ai's voice purred in his mind. "It's barely holding together after last night's power surge."

Akira mentally pulled up the store interface, scanning through options while the teacher droned on about symbolism.

[ESSENCE CLOAK UPGRADE AVAILABLE]

[ESSENCE CLOAK LV2 - Enhanced masking, auto-repair function, reduces detection range by 80%. Cost: 900 PP]

"Buy it," Akira thought.

[PURCHASE CONFIRMED]

[PP: 3265 → 2365]

He felt the change immediately. The constant low-level strain vanished, replaced by a smooth, seamless barrier between his power and the outside world.

—

Lunch period brought a different kind of problem.

Akira was trying to eat something, anything, to get some energy back when Kenji found him. The basketball star looked far too smug, far too confident as he approached with his usual entourage.

"Coach agreed to the tryout. Tomorrow after school. You, me, one-on-one. Winner gets team position and gets to humiliate the loser however they want."

Akira looked up at him, too tired to care about the threat in Kenji's voice. "Fine."

"Fine?" Kenji seemed thrown by the casual response. "That's it? No begging to call it all off, no excuses?"

"I said fine. Tomorrow. After school. Now if you're done, I'm trying to eat."

Kenji's jaw clenched, a vein pulsing in his temple. "You're going to regret this, Creep King. When I'm done with you, even Rina won't want anything to do with you. I'll make sure everyone remembers why you're just a pathetic loser."

"And when me, a total newbie, beats the basketball team captain, everyone is going to remember how much of a joke and knock off you are."

Kenji wanted to say something, but couldn't find the right words, so he stormed off, his crew following behind and throwing dirty looks back at Akira.

Akira went back to his food, already planning how he'd need to prepare. He was exhausted now, but by tomorrow afternoon, he'd be ready.

He had to be.

A few minutes later, Mia slid into the seat across from him. She looked better than this morning, having fixed her hair and makeup, but her eyes were still slightly puffy.

"Do you need help training? I can talk to some of the gym basketball players, get you practice time..."

"Isn't that the same place Kenji uses?" Akira asked. "They'd be loyal to him, wouldn't they?"

"Probably," Mia admitted with a frown. "But I could try…"

"Do you know another spot? Somewhere more... intense?"

She bit her lip, thinking. "There's an underground court I know about. Downtown, in the old district. But it's not newbie friendly, Akira. Those guys play rough, and they don't go easy on anyone."

"That's exactly what I need."

"Are you sure? Some of those players are semi-pro level. They could hurt you."

"I'll be fine. Can you take me there after school?"

Mia studied his face for a long moment, then nodded. "Okay. But if it gets too rough, we're leaving. I'm not watching you get injured before tomorrow."

[MIA AFFINITY +5 → OBSESSIVE DEVOTION MAINTAINED]

—

After school, Akira pulled up his mental interface while walking with Mia toward the train station.

"Ai, is there anything in the store that could help me with tomorrow's game?"

"Oh, several things, darling. But given your current PP situation, I'd recommend the Flow State Meter."

A new window appeared in his vision.

[FLOW STATE METER - SPECIAL ABILITY]

[Description: Gradually fills during physical activity. When full, activate to enter a 'locked-in' state where all physical stats are temporarily enhanced tenfolds. Duration: 10 minutes. Cooldown: 24 hours.]

[Cost: 1000 PP]

Akira whistled mentally. "That's expensive."

"But effective. And you'll need every advantage against Kenji. He's been playing basketball since middle school, darling. You're a complete newbie."

"Buy it."

[PURCHASE CONFIRMED]

[PP: 2865 → 1865]

[FLOW STATE METER: UNLOCKED]

[Current Charge: 0/100]

A small gauge appeared at the edge of his vision, currently empty and pulsing with a faint blue light.

"Okay, let's see what this flow state meter can do."

—

The underground court was exactly what Mia had promised: not newbie friendly.

They descended three flights of concrete stairs into what looked like an abandoned warehouse basement. The court itself was surprisingly well-maintained, with proper lines painted and decent hoops at each end, but the players were intimidating as hell.

Most were in their twenties, built like athletes, moving with the kind of fluid confidence that came from years of serious play.

"You sure about this?" Mia asked, gripping his arm.

"Yeah. Let's do it."

One of the players, a tall guy with a shaved head and sleeve tattoos, noticed them. "Fresh meat?"

"He needs practice," Mia called out. "One-on-one challenge tomorrow."

"Against who?"

"High school player."

The guy laughed. "And you came here? Brave. Or stupid. Probably both. Alright, kid. You can run with us. But we don't hold back down here. You get hurt, that's on you."

"Understood."

They started with a pickup game. Five-on-five, first to twenty-one points.

Akira was immediately overwhelmed.

These guys were fast, aggressive, and skilled in ways he couldn't match. They drove past him like he wasn't there, stripped the ball from his hands with casual ease, and blocked his shots before he could even get them off.

His enhanced physique and stats were helping him to keep up… barely as these were professionals while he was just getting practical for the first time.

But he kept playing.

Every time he got knocked down, he got back up. Every time they scored on him, he tried to learn from it. And slowly, gradually, the Flow State Meter began to fill.

[FLOW STATE METER: 15/100]

By the third game, he was starting to anticipate movements better and read the plays before they happened. His enhanced stats from the system were kicking in, helping him keep up even if he couldn't match their experience.

[FLOW STATE METER: 35/100]

"Kid's got heart," the tattooed guy said during a water break. "No skill, but heart. That counts for something."

By the fifth game, Akira was holding his own. Not dominating, not even close, but he was making plays, getting steals, and hitting shots occasionally.

[FLOW STATE METER: 68/100]

"Yo, he's learning!" one of the other players called out. "Kid's actually learning mid-game!"

The meter climbed higher as they played: 75... 82... 91...

Akira felt it building inside him, this strange pressure like a coiled spring waiting to release. The meter was almost full now, pulsing with increasing intensity.

[FLOW STATE METER: 97/100]

He was about to activate it, just to see what it felt like, when…

[ALERT: DIMENSIONAL ANOMALY DETECTED]

[DISTANCE: 2 BLOCKS NORTHEAST]

[GRADE: GAMMA]

"Seriously? Mid-game?"

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