Chapter 17: The Street Tennis Court

  The next day. The weekend.

  The weather was clear and sunny. Not a cloud in the sky.

  The tennis club was almost empty.

  Most of the members left after running two ps and seeing that none of the regur pyers had shown up. Only one figure stood out—he completed twenty ps and then added ten more.

  It was none other than Ishikawa.

  Even though it was the weekend, the game’s daily tasks were still active. Ishikawa had no intention of missing out on the daily experience points—over 100 points per day.

  That’s right.

  As his level increased, so did the experience rewards from daily tasks.

  Now, each completed task granted him 25 experience points. For Ishikawa, as long as he kept up with his daily check-in training, he could level up in about three days.

  Moreover—

  Maintaining this pace was also improving his physical strength. His speed, power, and endurance were all increasing. Ishikawa was confident that by the end of the month, his basic skills would reach a whole new level!

  Of course, improving his stats wasn’t easy. The higher the base numbers, the harder it became to advance.

  But—

  That was a problem for after the Kanto and even the national tournaments. For now, Ishikawa’s top priority was securing a spot on Hyotei’s regur team!

  "Phew!"

  After completing his 1,000th swing, Ishikawa exhaled, sweat dripping from his body.

  By now, all the Hyotei pyers had left. Checking the time, he saw it was already past ten.

  Ishikawa packed up his tennis gear, changed into a jacket in the locker room, and left Hyotei, stepping into the outside world—the 'wild zone.'

  "So, this is Tokyo?"

  In both his past and present life, this was Ishikawa’s first time in Tokyo. Looking at the streets, which were completely different from those in China, he found everything fresh and exciting.

  Arriving at the station—

  He casually flipped through the city map he had prepared in advance.

  Even though he thought of everything outside Hyotei as the game’s 'wild zone,' he wasn’t naive enough to believe that the people on the streets were actually "wild mobs."

  He had a clear goal for this trip.

  "Since this is a tennis game, the only real 'wild mobs' should be the people pying at the outdoor tennis courts, right?"

  "If I remember correctly, that pce is near Seigaku, Hyotei, and Fudomine."

  Ishikawa marked the locations of the three schools on his map. Then, he chose a spot at their intersection and boarded a bus.

  Ten minutes ter—

  Getting off the bus, he searched around and soon heard the sound of a tennis ball being hit.

  Following the sound—

  "There it is!"

  A moment ter—

  Ishikawa stood at the top of a staircase, looking down at a tennis court within a public park.

  At that moment—

  A doubles match was taking pce on the court.

  Noticing a newcomer, several pyers gnced at him. But when they saw he was alone, many of them smirked.

  However—

  Their attention quickly returned to the match.

  Thud!

  About two minutes ter—

  One of the pyers delivered a powerful smash, securing victory. The referee, a teenage boy, announced loudly, "Game over! Haneda and Marutani win!"

  "Next up: Katani and Nakazaki!"

  With that, two confident 13 or 14 year old boys stepped onto the court.

  The match began.

  Unlike other pces, this court followed a unique rule—each match was a single game. The challenger served first. If they won, they became the 'king of the court.' If they lost, they were repced by the next challenger.

  The game started.

  Katani and Nakazaki unched an aggressive attack, trying to take advantage of their opponents' fatigue.

  But—

  Their opponents held strong.

  After a tough battle, Katani and Nakazaki ended up losing, walking off the court in frustration.

  "They're really strong!"

  "No surprise—it’s Izumi and Fukawa from Gyokurin Middle School."

  "Yeah, they might be the strongest duo at this street tennis court!"

  Gyokurin Middle School?Izumi?Fukawa?

  Hearing those names, Ishikawa looked at the two confident young pyers on the court.

  Indeed—

  Compared to other challengers, these two had great coordination, executing both offense and defense with precision.

  Even after more than ten minutes, they were still standing on the court.

  However—

  Having defeated six pairs in a row, they were beginning to tire. In the seventh match, they finally made a mistake and were defeated.

  Even so, their performance earned them enthusiastic appuse from the spectators.

  At this moment—

  Ishikawa finally spoke up. "Excuse me, may I join your matches?"

  "Of course," said Izumi, who had just stepped off the court. Then, with a sly grin, he added, "But we only py doubles here. If you want to py, you need a partner."

  The others smirked knowingly.

  Clearly—

  None of them pnned to team up with Ishikawa.

  But Ishikawa wasn’t looking for a partner either. Hearing Izumi’s words, he smiled. "That’s fine. I’ll py alone. Since it’s just a one-game match, I don’t need a second person to serve."

  Oh?

  The crowd frowned.

  "This guy is pretty cocky."

  "Taking on doubles by himself? Where does he get this confidence?"

  "I bet he’s never pyed doubles before. He has no idea how naive he sounds."

  The crowd buzzed with discussions.

  But Ishikawa remained unfazed, smiling at Izumi. "You’re not afraid of losing to me, are you?"

  Whoosh!

  The atmosphere shifted instantly.

  Everyone gred at him. As middle schoolers, they were at the age where no one wanted to back down. Hearing Ishikawa’s challenge, they couldn’t stay calm.

  "Let’s do this!"

  Just then—

  One of the new 'kings' of the court smirked and said coldly, "Don’t say we didn’t give you a chance."

  "Hmph!"

  His partner, equally annoyed, sneered. "Since you’re so arrogant, if you lose, don’t ever show your face around this court again!"

  "No problem."

  Seeing them take the bait, Ishikawa nodded with a smile.

  After all, they were just hot-blooded teenagers—an easy target for a little provocation.

  "Wait."

  From the side, Fukawa frowned. "At least tell us your name first."

  "My name?"

  Ishikawa thought for a moment and then grinned. "Just call me X."

  X?

  The crowd’s expressions changed again.

  "This guy is way too full of himself!"

  Izumi and Fukawa exchanged gnces, both seeing the anger in each other’s eyes.

  This unknown newcomer clearly wasn’t taking their court’s rules seriously.

  "Hmph!"

  One of the defending pyers sneered. "Alright, X. Let’s see what makes you so confident!"

  "No problem."

  Ishikawa pulled a tennis ball from his pocket, smirking.

  Then—

  With everyone watching, he tossed the ball into the air, bent his knees, and lowered his center of gravity. As he pushed off the ground, his body leaned forward, and his racket swung down with astonishing speed.

  Boom!

  With an explosive sound, the ball shot forward like a cannonball.

  The pyer standing at the baseline barely caught a glimpse of a golden streak of light fshing before him.

  "W-what?!"

  His face turned pale.

  And before he could even react, he was struck with an even bigger shock—

  His body wouldn’t move.

  "I... can’t... move?"

  Thud, thud, thud...

  The ball bounced off the ground, then hit the back wall before rolling to a stop.

  At that moment—

  The entire street tennis court—

  Fell into complete silence.

  (End of Chapter 17)