Logic told Tendou Kageyoshi that this wasn't reasonable.
Yet somehow, at this moment, it felt incredibly reasonable.
Especially when, after work, he casually picked up a wooden stick and discovered his sword skills were genuinely incredible—he suddenly enjoyed this sense of absurdity.
"If I'm ever broke, I'll just go challenge the Sword Saint and beat him up!"
This system was surprisingly generous!
While Tendou was still fantasizing about his newfound skill, FanGeGe and his viewers had just finished watching the entire first episode, still sitting there dumbfounded.
The comments flooded in:
『This anime's pretty unconventional, isn't it?』
『How exactly?』
『Kuroko looks so ordinary compared to these monsters!』
『You call someone with natural invisibility ordinary?』
FanGeGe noticed the discussion and joined in:
"It's actually not too unconventional. Remember, at the start of Slam Dunk, Sakuragi was a raw newbie who even broke the record for fastest ejection."
"Kuroko's low presence definitely won't stay useless—he'll probably find a way to incorporate it into basketball eventually."
Throughout the entire game, Tendou completely stole the show.
He crushed the opposing team's ace and single-handedly led his teammates to a comeback victory.
Thanks to being on Kuroko's team, Tendou received a massive amount of screen time.
Aomine and the others' debuts were only briefly mentioned from Coach Shirogane's perspective after all games concluded. Even so, their monstrous statistics stunned viewers.
Putting up such ridiculous numbers in just ten minutes was truly overpowered.
At the episode's end, Kuroko was shown walking home alone, recalling images of those prodigies dominating the court, his eyes filled with admiration.
Just before the ED began, Tendou and Akashi's group appeared as gigantic silhouettes towering before Kuroko.
This subtly hinted that Kuroko might eventually find himself opposing Tendou and the others—a small foreshadowing.
Still, viewers didn't analyze too deeply. It was merely the start of a new semester, Kuroko was still a Teiko member, and the explosive plot developments of their second year were still far off.
...
Back at home, Tendou checked his popularity points.
"Let's see how many popularity points I've earned now."
The short-tailed cat swiftly waved its paw, displaying numbers in front of Tendou:
Total Popularity: 56,871!
Over 50,000 popularity points.
Was this a lot, or not enough?
Tendou had no clear idea—after all, this was his first time traveling to another world.
"Probably counts as a lot, right?"
"Considering how much I piggybacked off Kuroko's spotlight, I'd hope so!"
Tendou brushed the numbers away, looking toward the ceiling.
"Let's do some draws."
Popularity points served multiple functions.
Besides unlocking new abilities with accumulated points, he could also gain new perks through lottery draws.
Unlocking the next stage of abilities required 100,000 points, which wasn't too far off now.
Fortunately, unlocking abilities only depended on cumulative points, meaning even if he spent all 50,000 now, his progression wouldn't be impacted.
"How many draws?"
"All-in!"
"Alright, you've got guts!"
The cat instantly thought of a popular online meme from the World Cup:
A player boldly declared, "I'm betting 30 million—Germany to win!"
His friend had replied sarcastically, "Alright, you've got guts."
Then the next scene showed the gambler jumping from a rooftop…
Crazy nonsense!
"Can you be serious for once?" Tendou rolled his eyes at the cat and started his first lottery draw.
The lottery had no tiers—each draw cost 10,000 points. It didn't even have a guaranteed reward, even greedier than Tencent's gachas.
"Draw completed. Rewards: Mid-range shot +1, Three-pointer +1, and one bottle of 'Ox Strength Liquor'..."
He could even get player stats?
Just like in a game, Tendou had an attribute panel covering skills such as layups, mid-range shooting, three-point shooting, ball control, passing, post moves, rebounding, steals, and blocks.
It was incredibly detailed.
Aside from technical skills, there were physical attributes too, such as speed, strength, stamina, mental fortitude, jumping ability—even height and wingspan could be increased through points.
Tendou didn't feel enlightened, as a mere "+1" for mid-range and three-point shooting wasn't particularly impactful.
He casually tossed the bottle of liquor aside.
Then his attention landed on a peculiar card.
Golden Supporting Actor!
He tapped on the description, which read:
"Behind every award-winning actor stands a great supporting actor. Don't you want your own star-sidekick for 18 months?"
A "star-sidekick"? What the heck…
"So basically, I get to pick someone to act alongside me?"
"Exactly. If used correctly, this card can help boost your popularity significantly."
"But I have no idea who to choose."
Tendou imagined famous anime villains like Kira Yagami from Death Note or Aizen from Bleach—Hollywood-level actors who'd certainly make excellent sidekicks.
The short-tailed cat looked at him like he was stupid:
"You're overthinking it. You don't get to choose; it's completely random."
"...Fine."
"Use it now?"
"Yeah, might as well. It's only a year or so anyway."
Without hesitation, Tendou crushed the card.
Suddenly, a golden light filled the living room, so dazzlingly bright that Tendou had to squint even behind his sunglasses.
Then, a girl with her eyes closed gently descended from mid-air.
A girl?
Literally a girl dropping from the sky?
Tendou blinked as he stared at her.
When the girl opened her eyes, she also stared at Tendou, confused.
Then suddenly—
"Gojo!"
She yelled loudly and jumped forward, tightly wrapping herself around Tendou.
Damn it, was this stupid system even serious?
I wanted an actor, not a girlfriend!
What the hell was with this woman, instantly taking control and mounting him?
Tendou quickly pushed her aside, explaining the situation, and only then did the girl understand what had happened.
"So you're not Gojo Satoru?"
"Obviously not."
"Impossible! Stop joking! With that pure scumbag face of yours, there can't possibly be another one in this world."
"I feel personally attacked, and I have evidence!"
Yet, Tendou quickly recognized who this girl was.
From the world of Jujutsu Kaisen—
Riko Amanai, the Star Plasma Vessel.
A girl who truly deserved sympathy.