Unlike Muromachi, whose face was filled with dejection as though he’d lost sight of his dream, Shibukawa remained perfectly calm after winning the match.
His long black bangs covered his eyes, however, making it impossible to see his true expression.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Regardless of how he appeared on the outside, after this match, he had become someone no one at Yamabuki could afford to ignore.
‘This kid’s talent is even greater than I thought.
I wonder how he’ll play against Kentaro tomorrow.’
While everyone else was still reeling from the shock of the match, Banda was already thinking ahead to tomorrow—the most important match in Group D’s selection round.
As things stood, Shibukawa and Minami were the only two players in Group D who remained undefeated.
However, most people still believed Minami, as the vice-captain, had the better chance of winning.
One had long since made a name for himself.
The other had only just begun to stand out.
Naturally, quite a few people were looking forward to seeing the two face off.
‘At my current level, I should rank among the top tier even among Metropolitan Tournament-level players, right?’
After the match, Shibukawa found an empty spot and sat down to rest.
Defeating Muromachi could only be considered a successful minor test.
After all, in the current Yamabuki lineup, Muromachi could only be considered a second-tier player.
His next goal was to defeat Minami.
In the original series, Minami was Yamabuki’s captain.
Although he wasn’t as strong as Sengoku, his stats and experience were still on an entirely different level from Muromachi’s.
‘Tomorrow’s match probably won’t be nearly as easy.’
After a short rest, Shibukawa pulled himself together.
He left the noisy match venue, found a secluded spot, and resumed his training.
This time, however, he practiced hitting against a wall.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Shibukawa adjusted his positioning and stance, repeatedly alternating between forehand and backhand drives.
Before long, he was completely absorbed in his training.
Although his backhand had undergone some improvement, it was still considerably weaker than his forehand.
However, thanks to his Lv.
6 Swing, he quickly got the hang of it, and his experience began rising at a rapid pace.
Before he knew it, afternoon had arrived.
After finishing his training, Shibukawa returned home.
Once he’d eaten his fill, he began his evening training.
His Running skill was just about to reach Lv.
6, and Shibukawa was curious to see what kind of trait Running would give him.
[Completed an Excellent Running Session]
[Running EXP +2]
[Current Running Level: Lv.
6 (1/10,000)]
Stamina +0.1]
Halfway through his night run, Shibukawa’s Running finally reached Lv.
6.
As he felt a warm current flowing through his legs, his gaze shifted to the new notifications on the Proficiency System panel.
[Your Running skill has reached Lv.
6.
Your understanding of Running has deepened further, unlocking Advanced Options.]
[1.
Cardiopulmonary Enhancement — Primarily reduces Stamina consumption]
[2.
Tireless Runner — Primarily increases Stamina recovery]
Two options appeared before Shibukawa.
‘Reducing Stamina consumption is basically like reducing mana costs, while increasing Stamina recovery is like regenerating mana.’
The two traits were simple enough to understand.
But for Shibukawa, the rate at which his physical stamina recovered was still unknown, while his physical conditioning was undeniably improving at a rapid pace.
Under those circumstances, reducing the Stamina consumed by physical activity was clearly better than increasing its recovery rate.
After thinking it over briefly, he chose the first trait.
[Cardiopulmonary Enhancement Lv.
1: Reduces your Stamina consumption by 10%.
Upgrade Requirements: Stamina ≥ 3; total Running distance exceeds 1,000 kilometers.]
‘Stamina has to reach 3?’
Seeing the trait’s upgrade requirements, Shibukawa couldn’t help looking at his own stats panel.
Through the past half month of training, his overall strength had improved considerably once again.
[Name: Shibukawa Shin]
[Age: 13]
[School: Yamabuki Junior High]
[Five Stats: Speed 1.7, Power 1.2, Stamina 2.3, Technique 1.7, Mental 3.1, Total 10]
[Skills: Swing Lv.
6 (8995/10,000), Running Lv.
6 (1/10,000), Push-Ups Lv.
5 (2941/3000), Sit-Ups Lv.
5 (2348/3000)]
[Tennis Techniques: None]
[Ability 1: Rapid Backswing Lv.
1 — Increases Swing speed by 10%]
[Ability 2: Cardiopulmonary Enhancement Lv.
1 — Reduces Stamina consumption by 10%]
Compared to [Rapid Backswing], whose main obstacle to upgrading was his Technique stat, the difficulty in upgrading [Cardiopulmonary Enhancement] lay in the requirement to run a total of 1,000 kilometers.
At his current pace of running 10 kilometers every morning and another 10 every evening, it would take another fifty days to meet that requirement.
There were still seven months before the original storyline began, so he had plenty of time.
Moreover, with the activation of his second trait, Shibukawa could clearly feel that his actual strength had improved considerably once again.
Just like [Rapid Backswing], the effects of [Cardiopulmonary Enhancement] wouldn’t be reflected in his Five Stats.
Sure enough.
After running the remaining five kilometers in one go, Shibukawa carefully assessed his condition.
Before, he would have used up most of his Stamina by this point.
Now, however, he could clearly feel that he still had plenty left.
“Looks like I can increase the intensity of my training again.”
With the Proficiency System panel, his goal was to become the ultimate training maniac.
The original Shibukawa’s body had been frail, however, so he hadn’t dared—and simply couldn’t afford—to push it too hard.
But now his basic physical capabilities had improved, and with the added effect of [Cardiopulmonary Enhancement], Shibukawa finally had everything he needed to begin the second phase of his training.
This way, his physical stats would improve faster, and he would reach the requirements for upgrading the trait to Lv.
2 sooner as well.
When that happened, his strength was bound to undergo a qualitative leap!
…
The next day.
3:00 p.m.
Yamabuki Tennis Club.
The intraschool selection tournament entered its second day, with matches in full swing.
The players’ performances had changed considerably from the day before.
Those who had lost several matches and no longer had any hope of qualifying were demoralized and completely off their game.
Meanwhile, those who had lost only once and still had a chance to qualify were fighting desperately for every opportunity.
That included Muromachi, who had suffered a crushing defeat against Shibukawa the day before.
His first opponent was a third-year club member.
Muromachi launched an all-out offensive from the very start, catching his opponent completely off guard with an extremely aggressive style of play.
After defeating him, Muromachi set his sights on another regular who remained undefeated—vice-captain Kentaro Minami.
Shibukawa, by contrast, also finished his match quickly, but remained calm throughout.
He gave off the impression of being not only strong, but remarkably composed.
In reality, however, Shibukawa had been testing something.
During the match, he served several aces and also scored several points with outright return winners.
But even by the end of the match, he hadn’t reached the twenty required to upgrade the [Rapid Backswing] trait.
That meant that even against cannon fodder, he still couldn’t completely steamroll his opponent.
Of course, Shibukawa could take a shortcut to meet this upgrade requirement.
For example, he could deliberately hold back to prolong the match and increase the number of outright winners he scored.
But he still hadn’t met the other requirement of Technique ≥ 3.
Even so, Shibukawa wasn’t particularly disappointed.
After securing that victory and then defeating another second-year opponent, he didn’t leave.
Instead, he remained outside the court, intending to patiently watch the upcoming match through to the end.
“Next match.”
At that moment, the umpire called out from the high chair: “Kentaro Minami versus Tōji Muromachi.”