In the late afternoon, the training court became the stage for a peculiar event.
On one side stood the school's best basketball player, while on the other were a shy young man and another guy who had struggling even with the sport's basic fundamentals.
— H-Hey, why are we playing basketball against him!? — Enzo questioned, still uncertain about what was happening.
— You know... One thing led to another, and here we are. — Lucas explained.
— Explain it properly!
— Just follow the plan, and we might have a chance.
While the two argued, Renato approached.
— So, this is your partner, huh?
Renato, observing Enzo more closely, noticed something peculiar and was momentarily surprised.
— This is...
— So, what do you think? The first one to score wins. — Lucas interrupted, breaking Renato's thoughts.
— I'm okay with that, but wouldn't it end too quickly?
— This will be that legendary leap of faith. — Lucas said with a slight smile. — And we won't have another chance if he realizes. — he thought.
While they chatted in the center of the court, the surroundings were buzzing.
Despite not intending to make a big spectacle, a lot of attention was focused on the match, especially because some girls wanted to see the game.
— What are these two doing? Do you know, Verô?
— I have no idea.
— I can't understand either of them.
— You two came too. — said Alexandre, just arriving. — This Lucas is always surprising me.
— Who do you think will win? — Lara asked, joining the group.
— Isn't it obvious? Renato is way above the two. — opined one of the girls accompanying Lara.
— But aren't you curious about the reason for the match? — Veronica inquired.
— Who knows? Maybe some rivalry? Ah, it looks like it's starting... — Alexandre replied, directing his attention to the court.
Seeing a student approach with the ball in the center of the court, everyone realized that Lucas would take the initial jump, while Enzo would remain on the sidelines.
— Seems like there are a lot of people here, even if it's just a practice match. — Renato commented, looking around.
— I didn't expect this either... — Lucas murmured. — I just wanted to boost the protagonist's confidence a bit, but how can there be so many people here!? — he thought, trying to control his mood.
— Well, let it be a good match.
— Likewise.
Thus, the ball was thrown into the air.
It was impossible to touch it before Renato, so Lucas initiated the first part of the plan.
— Since you're so tall, why not stay even taller? — Lucas thought with a smile as a rune penetrated Renato's body as they jumped.
When Renato's hand was about to touch the ball, the barrier repelled it, making it fall to the side.
As he landed from the jump, with a clear expression of doubt, Lucas retrieved the rune and headed for the ball.
Seeing this, Renato reacted again, positioning himself in front of Lucas to try to steal the ball.
— Take this leap of faith! — exclaimed Lucas, jumping with the ball, ready to shoot.
Witnessing this, Renato jumped with the certainty that Lucas was throwing the ball. However, when it was about to be thrown, the ball fell to the ground as if it hadn't been thrown.
— Fooled by the backpack... Hehe... — Lucas thought, finding it amusing.
Watching Renato's moment of confusion, Lucas rebounded the ball to Enzo, who remained standing, just waiting.
Seeing the ball approach the boy, Renato ran towards him but finally realized his initial discomfort.
He couldn't hear anything from Enzo. The sounds Renato always used to anticipate the opponent's movements didn't work with Enzo. Moreover, Lucas could deceive his ability to the point of making him doubt his own hearing.
All this mental confusion affected his judgment, leaving him lost about what to do.
Meanwhile, Enzo grabbed the ball and tried to shoot it into the basket, hitting only the rim.
— Damn, it was close. — Lucas said, sighing. — Well, it looks like that's it.
Seeing that Renato had recovered the ball, even though still confused, Lucas knew it was their defeat.
— It was interesting confusing him.
Lucas tried to block Renato's attack, but it was useless, and he ended up suffering a basket.
— Well, it looks like it's our loss. — Lucas said, without remorse.
— I-If I had made it... — Enzo muttered, frustrated.
— If you want to be good at something, you should start practicing.
— You're right...
Observing the small change in Enzo, Lucas realized that, at least, he had helped the boy find some motivation.
— You two surprised me a lot in this match... I almost thought I would lose. — Renato said with a broad smile. — I never imagined that a match like this could help me so much.
— Even so, we lost, so there's not much to do.
— Don't say that! — Renato said, putting his arm around Lucas and Enzo. — With some training, you two will become very good players.
— R-Really!? — Enzo asked, starting to consider the idea of practicing basketball.
— Come on, let's start training... But first, there's something bothering me.
Moving away from the two, Renato looked at Lucas and asked.
— How did you do that?
— That?
— You know what I'm talking about.
— Well... ever heard of magic tricks? I just tricked your perception a bit.
— So, that's it...
While it seemed like he was pondering about it, Renato smiled even more.
— It looks like I'm not as good as I thought... I should train against situations like this.
— Good luck.
Seeing that the situation went better than expected, Lucas decided to follow his training routine but realized that the audience was still around.
— I thought this match would last a bit longer, but it ended so quickly... — Alexandre said, approaching.
— No one invited you to watch, right? — Lucas retorted, wanting to get away.
Moreover, Lucas realized that the heroine was nearby, and it would be bad if she heard his thoughts.
— Lucas, can you show me another magic trick? I want to know how it works. — Renato asked, curious.
— Magic trick? You know magic!? — exclaimed Alexandre, certainly wanting to watch too.
— Haaa... Pass me a coin.
Without asking more questions, Renato handed a coin to Lucas, who, by running his finger in front of it, made it disappear, storing it in his backpack.
— There you go. — he said, showing his hands.
— There you go!? Where did the coin go!?
— It vanished... — replied with a slight smile.
— I want to see a trick too!
Observing around, Lucas saw that some girls approached, but none of them was the heroine. It seemed that she was talking to the protagonist along with her lying friend.
The person who asked for the trick was the one who was bothering him after classes.
— What do you want? Disappear like this coin?
— Can you do that!?
— With your size, it should be possible. — said Lucas, passing his hand over the girl's head as if measuring her.
— ...Why is it always about my size!?
— What are you saying to Lara when you look like a zombie? — said one of the girls near her.
— Let's go, we don't need to come to him to see magic. — said another girl.
They seemed to want to take Lara away from the court, without caring about the person's opinion, but that didn't matter much to Lucas, as he had nothing to do with her.
— I didn't know you two were friends. — said Alexandre, after observing their interaction.
— If you say so... But am I not like this with everyone?
— I think you have a point.
— ...By the way, where's my coin? — Renato asked, wanting his coin back.
— On the head of that flea over there. — Lucas replied, pointing to Lara, who was leaving.
— Eh? When did you put it there? Hey, Lara, wait a moment!
Seeing Renato run to the girls, Lucas turned to Alexandre for a moment before leaving.
— Wait, don't you want to talk a bit?
— With you? Why would I do that?
— Come on, why don't we talk about our friendship?
— The nonexistent one? We have nothing to talk about.
— You two get along very well, don't you?
Looking at the person who approached, Lucas saw Verônica alone, without the heroine around.
— She didn't come with me, so you don't need to run away.
— I see... But do you want something from me?
— Well, we have some business to discuss...
— About what are you talking?
While they chatted, Lara returned at some point. It seemed that she was curious about the magic after having a coin on her head without realizing.
— We're talking about how to get rid of fleas.
— Hmm... Eh? Wait, you're not talking about me, are you?
— If the hood fits you…
— Easy, the topic we have to discuss is about food,
Hearing this, Lucas turned his attention back to the girl with a slight smile on his face.
— So, how many do you want?
— Your smile makes me uncomfortable... — Lara said, seeing how Lucas put on a fake smile.
— ...Didn't you want to see a magic trick? Then bring the basketball, and I'll show you one.
Having said that, Lara went to get the basketball and returned quickly. It was surprising that the other girls weren't helping, but it seemed to be because Verônica was around.
Meanwhile, the other two who were with Lucas also waited, curious about the magic.
— Here, now what kind of magic are you going to do? — Lara asked, curious.
— Well... this one!
Lucas threw the ball with all his strength at the girl without thinking twice. No one could react in time when they saw this, except the girl who tried to protect herself with her arms.
But contrary to what she expected, Lara didn't feel the ball hitting her, but she saw it reflected outward as if she had been hit.
— Lara, are you okay!?
— Lucas, what are you doing!?
Seeing what happened, Verônica was worried about Lara, while Alexandre questioned Lucas angrily. Some people were running towards them.
— I-I'm fine! What kind of magic was that!? How didn't that ball hit me!?
— Eh? It didn't hit?
Seeing the girl's questions and realizing that she hadn't been hit, the two looked curiously at Lucas.
— I could swear the ball hit her...
— Just how did he do that...
With their questioning, Lucas gave only a slight smile and approached Lara to retrieve his rune. However, something strange began to happen.
— Hey, where did the ball go?
— It fell on the other side of the wall! On the other side... On the other side?
— On the other side? What's there again... There's nothing there, but the ball didn't fall there?
For some reason, confused conversations began to occur, and even Alexandre and Verônica seemed uncertain.
It seemed that the characters there wanted to fetch the ball, but something was forcing their minds to think of something different.
— What is this? Just what is happening? System!
[Error detected, temporary freeze activated]
Hearing this, Lucas saw the world freeze before his eyes. Nothing seemed to move...
— W-What happened!? Why is everyone frozen!?
Except for a certain girl he forgot to remove the rune from.
— What is all this... — Lucas murmured, also not knowing.
[Trying to restore functions...]
[…0.004%... Insufficient]
[Forced shutdown... Abnormal individual detected]
Hearing this phrase, Lucas knew he had done something very wrong.
— I need to remove this from her! — he thought, summoning the shield back, but it was already too late.
[Expelling owner and abnormality]
When Lucas regained consciousness, he felt water running down his entire body, which seemed to have no traces of clothing, and in front of him was a girl with a puzzled expression that, after a few seconds, began to turn all red and fled in desperation.
At the same time, Lucas heard Domingos enter and went to the bathroom door to tell him to wait a moment.
— Finally, a bath with soap... — thought the young man, trying not to think about the fact that a girl had seen his naked body a few seconds ago.
And so, Lucas's adventure in the world of Sussurros Ocultos came to an end...
At least, for now
[…???…]
Inside a cave, next to a translucent lake, were two figures: one sitting on a rock, while the other floated around.
— Hahaha... AHAHAHA! Coff! Coff!
The one sitting began to cough violently, to the point that blood came out of his throat and fell to the ground. His voice was hoarse, and it seemed even painful to speak.
— Hey, you should stop laughing like that... — said the one floating. — You're just a lint.
— B-But... For him to have broken... the system like this... Haha! Coff!
— Seriously... How much time do you still have?
— I-I don't know... But I'll stay here.
— Hm... Goodbye, it was nice knowing you.
— ... It was nice knowing you too.
Thus, the figure that was floating left, leaving the one seated alone, staring at the crystal-clear waters.
[To be continued...]
??? — ...Hey!
S — What's up?
??? — That person flying at the end... Was that you, right? Why did you go meet him!?
S — He's barely hanging on, so I wanted to bid my farewell.
??? — Seriously... Just leave him there and don't change the story.
S — Alright... By the way, this flaw in the world was unexpected.
??? — ...Certainly, but at least it was better than saying the protagonist started dating out of nowhere.
S — But still... What happened to this world?
[Entered freezing mode until the system can restore it.]
S — And that was kind of the end of the first arc... Lucas still has no power.
??? — Well, the first arc was just to show how unexpected things can happen at any moment in this story.
S — And do we have any idea for the second?
??? — Do you think the author plans something? Of course, we don't.
S — As I feared... When will be my next appearance...
??? — Didn't you appear at the end?
S — But that wasn't in the main story!
??? — ...