Seven in the morning.
Shibukawa arrived at Yamabuki’s tennis club.
It was summer vacation, so he didn’t have to waste time on other schoolwork.
Besides, in his previous life, he’d been academically capable enough to get into a prestigious university.
Middle school coursework posed absolutely no challenge to him.
On top of that, he was starting from a very low level.
Forget comparing himself to the players from the top-tier schools in the original series—even against a third-rate player like Muromachi, he wouldn’t stand a chance.
Fortunately, he had the Proficiency System.
As long as he invested enough time and effort, he could continuously gain training experience and rapidly improve his strength.
However—
Shibukawa had still underestimated how much he’d trained yesterday.
Right now, both his legs and his right wrist were afflicted by an indescribable soreness and tightness.
He knew perfectly well that this was a normal reaction after a body that hadn’t exercised for a long time was suddenly subjected to high-intensity training.
Therefore, what he needed today was adaptive training.
He couldn’t put too much strain on his body, but at the same time, he still needed to make sure he completed his basic daily training.
Shibukawa also understood very clearly that what he needed most right now wasn’t to work on his tennis skills, but to strengthen his body as quickly as possible.
And that required consistent, persistent training.
Fortunately, with the Proficiency System’s panel, the repetitive training that ordinary people would find dull and tedious was, in his eyes, as entertaining as grinding monsters and leveling up in a game.
Looking around, Shibukawa found an empty corner and began warming up.
Next came a light jog to get his body moving.
Once he finished, he moved on to push-ups, crunches, and other exercises meant to build his physique.
Just as expected.
Once he’d done enough repetitions, both push-ups and crunches were activated as visible Skills.
Encouraged by this, Shibukawa threw himself into his training with even greater enthusiasm.
…
Meanwhile.
On Kyushu, west of Japan’s main island.
In Kumamoto City, the region’s largest tennis park was absolutely packed with people.
There was only one reason.
This year’s National Junior High School Tennis Tournament was being held here.
At this very moment, the top twenty-four teams in all of Japan had gathered in one place.
Even many teams that hadn’t qualified for the tournament had come together to watch.
Among them was Yamabuki, which had been eliminated before reaching the semifinals of the Kanto Tournament and had consequently missed out on Nationals.
“Rikkai is clearly stronger this year.”
In the spectator stands, a broad-built, brown-haired boy spoke in a grave voice.
Captain of the Yamabuki tennis club.
At fourteen years old, he was a fairly well-known player within the Kanto region.
But on the national stage, he wasn’t anything remarkable.
“Yeah.”
Hearing Uesugi’s words, everyone nodded.
For Yamabuki, every one of the twenty-four teams before them was an opponent that had to be taken seriously.
But only Rikkai University-Affiliated Middle School—the team in the middle of returning the banner emblazoned with the word “Champions” to the tournament officials—could truly be considered a dominant powerhouse.
In the eyes of third-years like Uesugi, the only team they could remember that had been comparable was the one led two years ago by that demon-god-like man.
The difference was that—
That team had been nothing more than a brief flash of brilliance.
By the following summer, it had already fallen from its throne, replaced by the super-elite team standing before them now, hailing from Kanagawa in the Kanto region.
Moreover—
Rikkai’s lineup this year was almost unchanged from last year’s.
In particular, its key players still occupied the absolute core positions on the team.
What was even more terrifying was that these players had gotten stronger!
Sure enough.
Once the opening ceremony of the National Tournament concluded, Rikkai’s first match after their bye showed everyone exactly what absolute dominance looked like.
Takajo Academy from Fukuoka Prefecture was utterly crushed, with a neat 5–0 plastered across the scoreboard.
Even more frighteningly, Rikkai’s captain, Seiichi Yukimura—the player known as the Child of God—hadn’t even taken the court.
“Th-This is the pressure you feel from the strongest team in the nation?”
The Yamabuki players stared in stunned disbelief.
Even their captain, Uesugi, who was the best among them at handling pressure, was shaken beyond words.
They were both teams from Kanto.
Yet the gap between them had already grown wide enough to inspire despair.
Forget Uesugi himself—even Sengoku, who had once participated in the National Junior Selection Camp and was known as Lucky Sengoku, couldn’t compare to the monsters before them.
“Speaking of which, where’s Sengoku?”
Remembering something, Uesugi frowned.
Beside him, a boy with center-parted hair and a spiral-pattern sticker on his face gave a wry smile.
“Unless something unexpected happened, he’s probably off looking for a chance to hit on some girls.”
“That guy…
sigh.”
Uesugi sighed helplessly.
Sengoku clearly possessed astonishing talent for tennis, yet he barely put his mind to his daily training.
He spent all day chasing after girls and never got discouraged no matter how many times his attempts to hit on them failed.
‘If that kid spent even half as much time practicing as he does hitting on girls, he’d probably be a top player on the same level as Atobe and Tezuka.’
Uesugi couldn’t help lamenting inwardly.
But there was nothing he could do about it. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
After all, Sengoku wasn’t entirely to blame.
Yamabuki’s overall strength simply wasn’t enough to carry the team into the National Tournament.
Ultimately, their singles lineup was just too thin.
The only two players they could really count on were Uesugi and Sengoku.
Even Uesugi himself had switched from doubles to singles.
Under circumstances like these, if he were in Sengoku’s shoes, he probably wouldn’t be able to get motivated either.
‘As for this year’s newcomers…
if I remember correctly, Muromachi has been performing fairly well.’
Muromachi’s information surfaced in Uesugi’s mind.
He quietly made a decision.
Before he left the tennis club, he would do everything he could to uncover promising newcomers and strengthen Yamabuki’s singles lineup.
…
In the blink of an eye.
The first day of the National Tournament came to an end.
Rikkai, Makinofuji, Shishigaku, Shitenhoji, along with Rokkaku and Hyotei from the Kanto region, were among the schools that advanced to the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile.
Tokyo.
Yamabuki Tennis Club.
In a corner of the courts, Shibukawa, drenched in sweat, gritted his teeth and forced himself to complete one standard Swing.
[Completed one Basic Swing]
[Swing EXP +1]
[Current Swing Level: Lv4 (0/1000)]
In an instant.
The warm current brought about by the skill’s level-up flowed through Shibukawa’s right hand, greatly easing the soreness in his arm.
Just when he thought it was over—
The Proficiency System panel, which had begun to fade before his eyes, suddenly became clear again.
[Through persistent training, your control over your arm has improved.
Technique +0.1]
Immediately afterward.
Shibukawa felt a strange sensation welling up from within his right hand, where the warmth had only just faded.
Instinctively, he flexed his fingers and discovered that his wrist and fingers seemed to have become more nimble.
‘Could it be that every time a skill on the Proficiency System panel gains one level, I receive a direct increase to one of my five stats?’
At the thought—
Shibukawa’s excitement immediately surged.