The next day.
8:00 AM.
Ishikawa arrived at his first-year classroom as usual and began cramming his cultural studies. Thanks to the brain-boosting effect of his secondary profession, *Go Master*, he was able to learn at an accelerated pace. In just one morning, he had already covered a third of the material for the subjects he had taken.
3:00 PM.
Club activity ti.
Ishikawa slung his tennis gear over his shoulder and headed to the tennis club. After changing into his training clothes in the locker room, he left under the envious gazes of the freshn and the watchful eyes of the upperclassn.
"I have a feeling," soone muttered as they watched Ishikawa's retreating figure, "that guy might make it to the regulars before this sumr."
"Huh? Regulars? Don't joke around!" soone else imdiately retorted, shaking their head. "He's got talent, sure, but if he wants to be a regular, he'll have to make it to the second team first."
"Exactly," another chid in. "Even the captain of the second team, Hiyoshi, isn't a regular yet. This guy's gonna have to wait at least two more years!"
"Two years? Once Shōhara gets his status back next week, that kid's in for a rough ti. Right, Shōhara? Huh?" Soone glanced toward Shōhara in the corner, but the latter ignored them, finished changing, and left with the other first-years.
"Tch."
"Is he scared now?"
"Is he really planning to stick with those first-years? How pathetic!"
The chatter continued, but none of it affected Ishikawa. For him, compared to the national tournant in the prologue and the future U-17 high schoolers, who were all boss-level players, Iceberg Academy was just the beginner zone. He had to make every second count, using this ti to continuously strengthen his skills.
Arriving at the training grounds, Ishikawa joined the second and third-year players for the daily warm-up routine, thanks to his identity swap with Shōhara. The basic warm-up was a 10-lap run, totaling 4 kiloters. There was a minimum speed requirent, and anyone who failed to et it would be assigned to the ball-picking group. Those who refused to comply would be unceremoniously kicked out of the tennis club by the coach.
As a result, no one dared to slack off, even during warm-ups. Everyone completed the run within the allotted ti, with the regulars finishing first, followed by the second-team players. Ishikawa's performance was average—his speed and stamina were decent, but he didn't want to stand out every day. As long as he kept up with the pack, he was fine.
As it turned out, not all the second and third-year players outperford Ishikawa in terms of stamina and speed. Out of over a hundred runners, he placed 67th—a middling result.
"So that's Ishikawa Shin?" asked a boy with fluffy orange hair from the regulars' group, looking over curiously.
Jirō Akutagawa, a third-year regular at Iceberg Tennis Club, watched Ishikawa stretching after the run and smiled. "Not bad for a guy who took down a third-year senior. He didn't fall behind."
"He's alright," Shishido, a boy with long brown hair, said dismissively. "No matter how talented a first-year is, they're rarely ready for the big stage. Without match experience, they're prone to cracking under pressure."
"True," Jirō nodded, then yawned. His eyes fluttered open and closed as he glanced around, not seeing the coach or Atobe. He was about to sneak off for a nap when a cold voice called out behind him.
"Jirō! Don't even think about running off. You're playing a match with !"
"A-Atobe!" Jirō turned to see Atobe standing behind him, his expression stern. Jirō's face fell, and he was about to explain when Atobe's gaze grew even colder.
"Fine, fine," Jirō reluctantly agreed.
Atobe sighed. He felt bad seeing Jirō so dejected, but there was no other choice. Aside from himself, Jirō and Kabaji were the only strong singles players in Iceberg. Gakuto had to pair with Ōshitari to maintain the doubles strength. Shishido was decent in singles, but he was a tier below Jirō. And while Chōtarō had a strong serve, his first-serve success rate was too low, and he sotis double-faulted, making him unreliable in singles.
If Iceberg wanted to improve their overall strength, Atobe had no choice but to focus on unlocking Jirō's potential.
"If we can bring out Jirō's full potential, Iceberg might stand a chance against Rikkai Dai," Atobe thought, clenching his fist at the thought of the two-ti national champions. For him, this year was the last chance—not only to stop Rikkai from achieving a three-peat but also to fulfill his own dream of leading Iceberg to the national title.
Atobe would do whatever it took to strengthen Iceberg's lineup.
As he turned to leave, his eyes happened to fall on Ishikawa, who was practicing his swings alone in a corner. The boy had talent, determination, and a strong work ethic.
"Too bad you were born two years too late," Atobe muttered to himself. He admired Ishikawa, but he wasn't about to pin his hopes of defeating Rikkai on a first-year. It was neither practical nor in line with his personality.
For Atobe, Ishikawa was simply a potential successor to Chōtarō, soone who could help Iceberg maintain their national tournant streak in the coming years. Beyond that, he didn't have high expectations.
"Let's go, Chōtarō," Shishido called out after Atobe and Jirō left. "Play a match with . You need to work on your fundantals."
"Alright," Chōtarō nodded reluctantly. He wasn't entirely comfortable playing against Shishido, whose pace was too fast for him. But knowing this was a weakness he needed to address, he agreed.
As one of only two second-year regulars, and with Kabaji unlikely to beco captain, Chōtarō knew many in the team had high hopes for him. No matter what the future held, he had to live up to those expectations and confront his shortcomings head-on.
"997!"
"998!"
"999!"
"1000!"
*Ding!*
**[Daily Task Completed: 1,000 Basic Swings. Reward: 16 Points.]**
"Sixteen?" Ishikawa was montarily stunned. Then it hit him: "So, as my level increases and the experience required to level up grows, the rewards from daily tasks also increase."
This made perfect sense to him and aligned with his understanding of ga chanics. It also eased his concerns about future experience requirents outpacing the rewards from daily tasks.
"With the swing task done, it's ti to find soone for a practice match," Ishikawa thought, scanning the court for a suitable opponent. His goal was simple: find soone who wasn't too tough to beat. After all, completing tasks and defeating opponents both ca with rewards.
Just then, Ishikawa's eyes widened as he noticed soone standing in the distance—a tall figure with grayish-white hair, wearing Iceberg's regular jacket. It was none other than Chōtarō Ōtori, the second-year regular.
And above his head was a bright green exclamation mark.
"Does that an... there's a quest available?"
(End of Chapter)
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