The ball arced up into the air, a perfect rainbow trajectory in James' normal-speed world. He watched it fly, his gaze totally calm and focused, like he was just watching a bird in flight.

  Meanwhile, Salman and Saim continued their slow, agonizing approach, their outstretched hands reaching for where James used to be, now just grabbing at empty space. So close, yet so hiriously far.

  Time, for James, was just ticking along normally.

  But for everyone else around him? Dude, for everyone else, he was operating on a completely different dimension. He was like a cheetah casually strolling through a zoo full of sloths. They were in slow motion, he was in real-time.

  It wasn't even fair. But hey, he wasn't compining.

  The ball kept flying, higher and higher, then started its graceful descent towards the basket.

  Swish.

  Clean. Again.

  Like, butter clean. No rim. No backboard.

  Just pure, sweet net. Boom. His Fourth three-pointer in a row.

  Seriously? It was unbelievable. Impossible. And yet, here it was, undeniably, ridiculously real.

  The scoreboard didn't lie, and neither did everyone's gaping mouths.

  The sound of the net swishing, that crisp thwip, seemed to finally snap the crowd out of their collective "did we just see that?" silence. This time, the eruption of noise was even louder, even more chaotic than before. It wasn't just disbelief anymore; it was straight-up bordering on mass hysteria.

  People were losing their minds.

  "THREE! THREE! THREE! THREE!" the Banani bench exploded, roaring like a pack of hyped-up hyenas. They were jumping up and down, screaming at the top of their lungs, their excitement levels dialed all the way up to fever pitch. You could practically feel the energy radiating off of them.

  Kiyoshi was literally buzzing with energy, like he'd plugged himself into a power outlet. He grabbed Tahera by the arms and spun her around, both of them ughing and yelling total gibberish. "That was insane!" Kiyoshi shouted, completely losing it in his excitement.

  Tahera, still trying to process what she'd just witnessed, was in shock and pure exhiration at the same time. She just nodded, eyes wide as saucers and practically sparkling.

  "I... I have no idea what he's doing, we never saw his speed in a practice match, all we know is that he can shoot three points without missing one," she stammered, "but it's... it's unbelievable! those fast movement and catching style, It's like actual magic! Seriously, is he a wizard or something?"

  Ahsan, still on the court, practically sprinted over to James, his face lit up like a Christmas tree. "James! Dude! What in the actual heck was that?!" he excimed, his voice cracking with excitement. "You just... vanished from them! It was like they were moving in slow motion or something!" He paused, his brow furrowing in confusion, a totally puzzled look spreading across his face. "Wait a minute... were they actually moving in slow motion? Or were you just... like, teleporting fast or something?"