Bzzzzt.
Time remained completely frozen as blood-red text burned directly into Jaxon’s retinas, pulsing against the suspended dust motes of the gymnasium.
[Cosmic Bet Issued by ’Asmodeus of the Deep Desires’!]
[Rule: Convert this deep 3-Point Shot with your eyes completely closed!]
[Reward: +30,000 Cosmic Tokens & System Stamina Surge.]
[Failure Penalty: Extreme Overheat & Forced R-18 Physical Punishment.]
Jaxon mentally smirked at the ominous red window hovering in his line of sight, his pulse steady and calm.
Asmodeus.
In his original rough notebook entries for The Golden Court, Jaxon had briefly sketched out this specific entity as a chaotic cosmic force meant to drive the high-stakes romance plots much later in the professional league arcs.
You want a show for the stream? Jaxon thought, completely detached and overflowing with a dark, silent confidence. I hold Kira’s flawless tactical court vision. I don’t even need my eyes open to know the exact geometric location of the rim.
Jaxon squeezed his eyes shut mid-air, letting the visual world plunge into total darkness.
Relying purely on the synchronized muscle memory newly woven into his limbs, he snapped his wrist forward with mechanical precision.
Swoosh.
Swish!
The ball snapped cleanly through the nylon net without so much as grazing the metal rim, the sound ringing out like a sudden gunshot through the silent court.
Bzzzzt.
[Cosmic Bet Successful!]
[You have converted the deep 3-Point Shot behind the arc!]
[Half-Court Scrimmage Score Updated: 2 Points to 0! (First to 11 wins)]
[System Reward: +30,000 Cosmic Tokens Added to Wallet!]
[Stream Audience is exploding with hype and throwing donations!]
[Current System Wallet Balance: $21,095,000.00]
"No way..." a varsity player gasped from the bench, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the edge of the wood. "He just hit a blind three-pointer cleanly from behind the line?!"
Garrison pushed his massive frame off the lacquered floor, his bloody nose twitching in an absolute, pale disbelief as he watched the ball bounce away.
Jaxon’s feet finally touched the hardwood floor. But as soon as his sneakers made solid contact with the lacquered surface, a violent, burning sensation ripped straight through the center of his chest.
Thump-thump!
His heart hammered against his ribs like a runaway freight train, the pressure suffocating.
Sucking in 15% of Roxie’s raw track speed and 15% of Kira’s tactical point guard reflexes all at once was simply too much volume for his unconditioned frame to handle. His nineteen-year-old, previously out-of-shape body was violently overheating under the massive data transfer. His nerves felt like sizzling high-voltage wires, and his vision instantly started turning black at the extreme edges. New chapters come out on novelping . com first.
Buzz!
The shot clock chimed sharply across the arena, signaling the immediate possession change.
Jaxon tried to take a single, controlled step forward to transition on defense, but his legs turned to pure liquid beneath him. His eyes rolled back slightly as heavy dark spots consumed his sight completely, the gym lights blurring into gray streaks.
Stumble!
Jaxon’s knees gave out entirely, his heavy frame tilting backward into empty space with zero resistance.
"Jax!"
A sharp, panicking female voice cut through his rapidly fading hearing, echoing off the concrete walls.
Before Jaxon could violently hit the hardwood floor, a pair of slender, highly toned arms caught him from behind in a frantic rush.
Thud.
Jaxon collapsed directly into Roxie Sterling’s desperate embrace.
His overheating, sweat-slicked frame slammed right against her voluptuous, hourglass curves. Her skin-tight, matte-black athletic bodysuit strained tightly against his dead weight as she stumbled back half a step to stabilize them, her full hips and heavy chest catching his entire upper body.
"Hey! Stay with me! Don’t you dare close your eyes!" Roxie cried out, her breath hitching sharply as she pulled him tightly against her torso to keep him upright.
Her short silver undercut brushed directly against his damp cheek, her exotic violet eyes wide with a frantic, unscripted worry as she held him. Her body felt exceptionally soft, warm, and hyper-curvy under his heavy weight, the vacuum-sealed fabric of her sports gear contouring tightly against him.
On the other side of the court baseline, Kira Thorne sprinted forward with explosive strides, her sub-zero "Ice Queen" mask completely shattered as she rushed toward the pair in pure shock.
Jaxon couldn’t move a single muscle. His consciousness slipped away entirely into total darkness, his cheek buried right into the soft, straining fabric of Roxie’s bodysuit as the remaining gym noise faded into an absolute, deep silence.