Chapter 23: Cannonball, Unstoppable Momentum

  With the start of the selection tournament, the Hyotei Tennis Club reached its liveliest moment.

  All 12 courts were packed with spectators. Naturally, the most popur court was the one where the captain, Atobe, was pying. The crowd was three yers deep, and many who couldn’t squeeze in had no choice but to watch other matches.

  The entire tennis club was filled with cheers, gasps of excitement, and sighs of regret.

  As expected, in the first round, all Hyotei regurs and second team representatives secured their victories without facing each other.

  Ishikawa was no exception.

  In fact, he won his match at a speed that surpassed most of the second-team pyers, including Hiyoshi, and even rivaled some of the regurs.

  His quick and decisive victory shocked everyone.

  No one had expected that a rookie, who was barely noticed before the tournament, would turn out to be so strong!

  "We all underestimated him."

  Outside the court, the Hyotei regurs, led by Oshitari, watched Ishikawa’s 6-0 victory with uneasy expressions.

  Shishido, in particur, had dismissed Ishikawa before. But seeing the rookie win in under eight minutes—faster than even him, who specialized in fast attacks—left him speechless.

  "Tomorrow’s match is going to be interesting," Mukahi said with a sly grin. "Maybe... that rookie hasn’t even shown his full strength yet!"

  The others didn’t take his words seriously and quickly shifted their focus to Hiyoshi’s performance.

  However...

  What Mukahi had said as a joke was actually closer to the truth than anyone realized.

  At that moment, Ishikawa, who had just finished his match and was resting in the break area, had indeed not pyed seriously.

  In fact, he hadn’t even tried.

  It wasn’t that his opponent was weak—on the contrary, his first-round opponent was strong, far superior to Shinohara.

  But Ishikawa’s strength had undergone a drastic transformation since the morning.

  The reason was simple.

  He had spent the 45 Skill Points he had accumuted, enhancing both his mastered techniques and newly developed ones.

  Now, Ishikawa’s pyer stats had changed significantly compared to three days ago:

  [Name: Ishikawa Shin][Age: 12][School: Hyotei Academy, First Year, Middle School Division][Main Profession: Tennis LV15 (27/1400)][Sub-Professions: Kendo LV9, Chess LV9]

  [Attributes:][Speed: 1.5][Power: 2.3][Stamina: 1.6][Technique: 4][Mentality: 4.1][Total: 13.5]

  [Basic Tennis Skills:][Basic Serve: LV6 (11/10,000)][Basic Groundstroke: LV6 (9/10,000)][Basic Topspin: LV6 (3/10,000)][Basic Sidespin: LV6 (1/10,000)][Basic Smash: LV3 (32/100)]

  [Advanced Tennis Skills:][Scud Serve: Revised LV3 (34/200)][Gale Ssh: LV3 (0/200)][Thunderstrike: LV3 (0/200)]

  [Special Abilities: None][Remaining Sub-Profession Points: 0][Remaining Skill Points: 5][Items: None]

  Right before his first match, Ishikawa had used 40 of his saved Skill Points to level up all of his techniques.

  As his skills improved, an influx of knowledge and techniques filled his mind, and his Technique attribute rose from 3.1 to 4.

  This was already higher than most middle school pyers in the U-17 ter stages. At this point in early April, before the regional qualifiers had even begun, he was already at a national level!

  Additionally, his new skills—Gale Ssh and Thunderstrike—were a reflection of Ishikawa integrating Kendo techniques into his tennis.

  Once he mastered them, he immediately used Skill Points to upgrade them. Since advanced skills cost twice as much as basic ones, he expected their effectiveness to be at least twice as powerful!

  To be honest, Ishikawa was looking forward to tomorrow's match against Hiyoshi.

  "Now, beginning match D-7: Ishikawa Shin vs. Nagano Sota!"

  The announcement echoed through the speakers.

  Ishikawa stepped onto the court once again.

  His opponent was a third-year student who had just lost to Hiyoshi in the previous round. Nagano was about 180 cm tall, had a lean build, a buzz cut, and a fierce expression.

  "Hey, brat!"

  Nagano slung his racket over his shoulder and grinned menacingly. "If you forfeit now, you can still walk away in one piece. Otherwise… heh heh!"

  "It’s fine, senpai."

  Ishikawa replied calmly, "I'm in a hurry, so I won't let you suffer for too long on the court."

  "Bastard!"

  Nagano was instantly enraged. He believed that, as a senior, both Hiyoshi and Ishikawa should treat him with the utmost respect.

  But Hiyoshi had outright ignored him and crushed him in just ten minutes, making a fool out of him in front of everyone. Fine, Hiyoshi was the second team captain, so losing to him was understandable.

  But this rookie?

  A first-year who didn't even show him basic respect?!

  Nagano's bottled-up rage exploded. He swore to teach Ishikawa a painful lesson!

  Bang!

  The match began.

  Ishikawa’s serve bsted forward like a cannonball, smming into the court in front of Nagano.

  Nagano froze in pce, completely stunned.

  "Wh-what...?"

  His eyes widened as if he had just seen a ghost.

  "Scud Serve?"

  Outside the court, Shishido and Mukahi were equally shocked.

  "No."

  Oshitari shook his head. "It looks simir to Chotarou's Scud Serve, but the speed and explosiveness aren't quite as strong."

  Even so, Oshitari was caught off guard.

  It was clear that Ishikawa had spent time studying serves, possibly analyzing Chotarou’s technique and incorporating elements of Scud Serve into his own.

  "What a shame."

  Oshitari sighed. "He’s only a first-year. If he were taller, his serve might have been just as powerful as Chotarou's."

  "What?!"

  Hearing Oshitari’s high praise, the surrounding Hyotei tennis members were shocked.

  Even more surprising was Chotarou himself nodding in agreement. "Ishikawa-kun's serve is already very advanced!"

  Boom!

  As if to prove their point, Ishikawa fired another serve. The ball exploded off the court, bouncing at an extreme angle from the inside corner.

  Yet again, Nagano couldn’t even react.

  Moments ter, Ishikawa swept through the match like a storm, crushing Nagano in just eight minutes and securing his second victory of the tournament.

  This was even faster than Hiyoshi’s win.

  Immediately, murmurs spread among the spectators.

  All eyes turned to the upcoming match between Ishikawa and Hiyoshi, which had suddenly become the most anticipated battle of the tournament!

  (End of Chapter 23)