Chapter 20: Master-Level Chess, Mental Transformation
Evening.
Ishikawa returned to Hyotei Academy.
Exhausted, he had dinner, took a shower, and then colpsed onto his bed.
Taking advantage of the moment, he began to assess his gains for the day.
"Counting this morning's daily training rewards, I earned a total of 800 experience points today—I can level up again."
With a thought, his character leveled up twice, reaching level 12, though there was still some distance to level 13.
Still, leveling up twice in one day was impressive, especially considering how the experience bar had grown over thirty times rger than at the start.
Yet, it still wasn’t enough.
"Even though official matches only depend on actual strength and not levels, if I can break through to level 15, I'll have even more confidence in the upcoming school selection tournament!"
After all...
While Ishikawa could easily crush lower-tier pyers, in the school selection tournament, he might face Hyotei's top-ranked pyers.
Especially Jirou, Oshitari... maybe even Atobe!
To secure his pce in Hyotei, he needed to be strong enough.
With that in mind, he went to bed early.
The next morning, after completing his basic training with the tennis club, Ishikawa headed back to the street tennis court.
Seeing him arrive, Izumi and Fukawa, who had thought their nightmare was over, groaned internally.
But there was nothing they could do.
Yesterday's matches had thoroughly broken them. They had practically accepted that he was now the ruler of the street court.
Still, they were unwilling to accept it.
Seeing Ishikawa once again in 'sweep mode,' they clenched their teeth and called in reinforcements from the Yamahigashi Middle School tennis team.
They refused to believe that this guy was some kind of machine that would never tire!
However...
The result shocked them all over again.
Ishikawa seemed to have even more stamina than yesterday. His speed, power, and even his tennis skills had all noticeably improved!
"Was he hiding his true strength?"
Izumi stared at the bck-haired boy on the court, toying with his opponents.
"That has to be it. Otherwise..."
Fukawa, mouth slightly open, was equally stunned.
Because if he wasn’t hiding his strength, that meant this 'X' character had improved this much in just a single day?
That would be ridiculous.
Yet...
The truth was even crazier than they could imagine.
At 5 PM, after a day of defending his spot and improving his win rate by nearly 50%, Ishikawa packed up his tennis bag and left.
Izumi and Fukawa, watching his retreating figure, began seriously considering switching training locations.
They had no choice. They were terrified.
And they couldn’t understand—why would someone this strong waste time dominating a pce like this?
"Maybe..."
Izumi suddenly had an idea.
"Should we ask that person for help?"
"You mean... Tachibana An?"
Fukawa looked surprised.
Tachibana An.
She was from Fudomine Middle School, a nearby school, and was quite skilled. In a one-on-one match, neither Izumi nor Fukawa could confidently say they'd beat her.
But she wasn’t their target. Her older brother was.
Back when the two of them had first come to this street court, a group of delinquents tried to harass Tachibana An because of her looks.
Her older brother, a buzz-cut teenager, beat them down without hesitation.
Unwilling to accept defeat, the delinquents challenged him to a tennis match—and got completely demolished. They couldn’t even hold onto their rackets by the end, fleeing in disgrace.
To Izumi and Fukawa, Tachibana Kippei was the strongest pyer they had ever seen.
Even stronger than this mysterious 'X.'
If they could get Kippei to defeat 'X,' this whole street court problem would be solved.
"It’s worth a shot," Izumi said, narrowing his eyes.
If they didn’t want to leave but also refused to be ruled, they had no choice but to seek stronger reinforcements.
With that decision made, they pnned to ask Tachibana An for help the next time they saw her.
-
On the way back to Hyotei, Ishikawa tallied up his experience points for the day.
"2,700 experience points."
"All my tennis techniques—except for smashes—have reached at least level 3."
"This is enough to reach level 15!"
Since more pyers had shown up today, and Ishikawa was fully focused on leveling up—finishing matches in under a minute—he earned nearly three times as much experience as yesterday.
Without hesitation, he leveled up.
[Ding!]
[Pyer Level Up: Current Level 13]
[Pyer Level Up: Current Level 14]
[Pyer Level Up: Current Level 15]
Three consecutive level-ups! This earned him 9 skill points and a precious sub-css point.
After some thought, he allocated the sub-css point to [Chess].
[Ding!]
[Sub-Css: Chess—Current Level 9 (Max Level)
Chess (Sub-Css):
Level 3: +1 Mental Strength
Level 6: +1 Mental Strength
Level 9: +1 Mental Strength]
[Additional Ability 1: Each level increases brain function and cognitive abilities.]
[Additional Ability 2: Enhances the ability to see an opponent’s weaknesses and, with some probability, understand and replicate their special moves (this ability is influenced by both pyers' mental strength).]
[Current Level: Lv.9 (Max Level)]
A buzzing sensation filled Ishikawa’s head.
It felt as if a part of his brain had been activated, like a dark night suddenly illuminated. At the same time, a cool sensation spread through his eyes, refreshing him.
The world around him... seemed clearer than ever.
"Seeing weaknesses and understanding special techniques, huh?"
Reading the system's description, Ishikawa thought of Atobe and Yukimura Seiichi from the original series.
Both were pyers with terrifying insight.
Atobe had his "Hawk Eye," allowing him to exploit any opponent's weaknesses. Yukimura could see through Ryoma Echizen’s copied techniques with just his eyes.
And now...
After surpassing Genichiro Sanada in swordpy, Ishikawa had gained a perception ability rivaling—or even exceeding—Atobe and Yukimura.
Though his overall stats might not yet be at the national level, his true combat strength could already match most national pyers.
After all...
He still had 45 unused skill points.
"Almost there."
Arriving back at Hyotei, Ishikawa gnced toward the tennis club.
"Tomorrow is the first day of the school selection tournament. It's time to develop my own finishing move!"
The Scud Serve was originally created by Chotarou based on his own characteristics. It didn’t suit Ishikawa perfectly.
But now that he was level 15, with his mental transformation, he had found a way to modify it into something uniquely his own.
And beyond that...
With his enhanced mental abilities, he had also begun conceptualizing his own signature move.
If he level up fast enough, he could complete it before the school tournament ended!
(End of Chapter 20)