Chapter 15: Mastering the Scud Serve

  "Yes!"

  Without hesitation, Ishikawa immediately chose "Yes" in response to the system's prompt.

  Then—

  Chotarou began expining his insights into executing the serve. Thanks to his secondary profession, [Chess], which enhanced his cognitive abilities, Ishikawa comprehended the technique effortlessly.

  Almost simultaneously with Chotarou’s expnation—

  Ishikawa visualized himself standing on the court, performing the serve. Each movement detail appeared before him as if in slow motion, frame by frame.

  "One… Ball… Soul!"

  Bang!

  As the tennis ball hit the ground, Ishikawa snapped back to reality.

  [Ding!]

  [Pyer absorbs Otori Chotarou's serving insights. Basic Serve EXP +50]

  [Basic Serve Level Up! Current Level: LV3 (18/100)]

  [Pyer has unlocked an advanced skill: Scud Serve LV1 (0/40)]

  [Scud Serve LV1: After a high-tossed ball, the body leans forward significantly to execute a serve with the force of a smash.]

  Buzz!

  In an instant—

  Ishikawa felt the knowledge of the serve solidify in his mind. His understanding of serving had reached new heights!

  "Thank you for your guidance, senpai," he said gratefully.

  Chotarou waved his hands, smiling. "I should be the one thanking you! With your method, my serve consistency is sure to improve."

  He truly meant it.

  Ishikawa's mini-game simution provided real-time feedback, allowing for continuous practice scenarios—something that traditional coaching couldn't replicate. Meanwhile, teaching someone the Scud Serve was an entirely different matter.

  Chotarou didn't believe that just expining it once would allow someone to master it so quickly.

  After all, this was his trump card—the very skill that secured his spot as a regur at Hyotei Academy. It wasn’t something easily copied.

  "Alright, I'll leave you to your training, senpai," Ishikawa said.

  With his task completed, he didn't linger and instead moved on to find a new opponent for a match.

  With the Scud Serve now in his arsenal, his strength had taken a step forward. However, he had no intention of challenging Chotarou to show off, nor did he want to py a practice match against the regurs of Hyotei.

  The reasoning was simple—

  Pick the easier targets first.

  Winning matches meant gaining 15 experience points. And since he had yet to reach his full potential, Ishikawa wanted to level up steadily. At least, until the school selection matches began, he had no pns to stand out too much.

  So—

  After circling the training grounds twice, he found a third-year pyer from his training group. The uppercssman was surprised to be challenged but quickly became intrigued and eager to py.

  Clearly—

  He didn’t believe in luck and assumed Ishikawa’s previous victory over Shinohara was just a fluke.

  Confident that a first-year student couldn’t beat him, he gdly accepted the challenge.

  The result? He was utterly stunned after Ishikawa hit four consecutive ace serves right off the bat.

  The match quickly shifted from initial confidence to a chaotic struggle, as he lost his composure completely.

  In the end—

  Ishikawa secured another 6-0 victory without surprise.

  Under the fearful gazes of his opponent and the wary stares of others, he walked off the court with effortless grace.

  "This kid is interesting."

  Among the crowd—

  A brown-haired boy with a mushroom-cut hairstyle watched Ishikawa leave, a faint smile forming on his lips.

  "A first-year… already reaching a near-regional tournament level? Maybe after this summer, he really could become a regur pyer."

  "But that doesn’t matter. If that’s all he’s capable of, he’s no threat to me."

  That mushroom-haired boy—

  Was Wakashi Hiyoshi, captain of Hyotei’s second team and a second-year pyer. His gaze shifted away from Ishikawa and nded on another nearby court.

  There—

  Chotarou was practicing his serves under the guidance of third-year regur Shishido Ryou.

  "Chotarou is too naive."

  Hiyoshi’s eyes barely lingered on Chotarou before locking onto Shishido.

  "The school selection matches start next week. I hope I get to face you… Shishido-senpai!"

  Proud and ambitious, Hiyoshi never considered Chotarou or Shishido as his true competition.

  Of course, he wanted to be a regur. But his goal was to dethrone the third-year pyers and take their spots.

  And—

  His ambitions had never been small. The only issue was that, at his current level, he wasn’t strong enough to achieve them yet.

  "Atobe-captain."

  With that thought, Hiyoshi looked toward the other side of the court, where Atobe Keigo, Hyotei's captain, was supervising Jirou's training.

  "For now, you can keep sitting in that position!"

  -

  After finishing his training match, Ishikawa took a short break before starting his endurance training.

  Last night, he read a book specifically about running techniques, learning footwork and controlled breathing methods. He practiced these techniques while running.

  And sure enough—

  His speed improved by several seconds compared to the previous day. More importantly, he wasn’t as exhausted as before.

  So—

  Pushing himself, he ran five extra ps beyond his usual twenty. Only when his stamina reached its limit did he finally stop, colpsing onto the ground to rest.

  "Huff… huff… huff…"

  The intense training left Ishikawa exhausted.

  But at the same time—

  It filled him with an exhirating sense of satisfaction.

  He clenched his fists, looking up at the setting sun, a confident smile spreading across his face.

  "The feeling of getting stronger is amazing!"

  He loved this process—steadily moving forward, growing stronger step by step. And today, he had accumuted another 6 experience points.

  With the additional points from cleaning the tennis club after practice, his total surpassed 80 points, enough to level up again.

  As for the levels themselves—

  While there didn’t seem to be a direct "level suppression" system, considering he had defeated an LV18 Shinohara while still at LV0, the benefits of leveling up were undeniable.

  Skill points and secondary profession points came with each level, and if he allocated them all now, his strength would increase dramatically.

  However—

  Ishikawa resisted the temptation. Because he knew—a sharp bde must be used at the right moment. He would save those skill points for next week’s school selection matches!

  That’s right—

  He never pnned to follow the standard route of waiting until the end of summer to compete for a regur position. Instead, he would make his move during Hyotei’s upcoming team reshuffle!

  At that time—

  His foundational strength would be even greater. With the help of skill points, he was confident he could compete even against regional-level pyers.

  -

  As the evening approached—

  Ishikawa finished cleaning the training grounds and left.

  After a hearty meal at the cafeteria, he returned to the tennis club. Jogging five ps around the field to digest, he then headed to an empty court.

  Under the dim glow of the court lights, he pulled out his racket and a tennis ball, standing still in deep thought.

  Chotarou's Scud Serve was indeed powerful. In the original storyline, after refining it, he even set a record for the fastest serve in the national tournament.

  "But this serve may not be the best fit for me."

  Ishikawa was fully aware—

  Rather than blindly rejoicing over acquiring an advanced skill, he needed to critically analyze its true value.

  (End of Chapter 15)