Fail and walk ho?
Most of the people present felt humiliated. However, confident in their own abilities and certain of their success, none of them chose to withdraw.
"Good!"
Seeing this, the staff mber nodded in satisfaction. "The challenge begins now. Who wants to go first?"
"!"
Imdiately, a young man in a light red jacket stepped forward.
"It's Yoshikawa from Eagle City Academy!"
"Eagle City's singles No. 2 last year. He's really strong. He'll definitely score!"
"I heard their captain transferred, so he's the strongest freshman at Eagle City this year!"
The crowd whispered among themselves.
The tall young man in red confidently walked into the pitch-black room.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As the door closed, a series of hitting sounds echoed from inside.
But as ti passed, the sounds gradually weakened.
One minute later, the door opened again.
The red-clad young man erged, drenched in sweat. His confident deanor was gone, and he staggered, nearly collapsing to the ground.
"Yoshikawa Kenjiro from Eagle City Academy, 78 points. Failed."
The staff mber announced.
Yoshikawa's face turned pale.
"H-how is this possible?" he muttered, utterly defeated.
"Tch."
The red-haired guy from Maizaka sneered. "Is this all Eagle City's singles No. 2 can do? Watch , Kano-sama!"
With that, he puffed out his chest and entered the room.
Soon, rapid hitting sounds followed. A minute later, Kano stumbled out, looking no better than Yoshikawa.
"Kano Yota from Maizaka Middle School, 43 points. Failed."
Thud!
Kano collapsed to the ground, his strength completely drained.
"Hmm."
Seeing this, the expressions of the others finally turned serious.
"When faced with the unknown, the brain relies on past experiences to imagine the situation."
Outside the room, an infrared monitor relayed the participants' reactions in real-ti to the U17 coaching staff's office.
At that mont, Kurobe, with his hands clasped on the table, watched the screen with interest. Beside him stood Saito and Takuzo.
The three U17 coaches observed the high schoolers like researchers studying lab mice in a unique environnt.
"Is that kid Shirasawa Riku?" Takuzo's gaze fell on the black-haired boy in the footage. "He doesn't seem particularly special, but for a first-year middle schooler, his height is impressive."
"And the other two are the aces from Rikkai and Shitenhoji, right?" Takuzo's eyes shifted to Mori and Genji. "Based on your assessnt, they're likely to beco the Rookie Kings in this year's fall tournant?"
"That was the initial assumption," Kurobe shook his head slightly. "But the appearance of this middle schooler might change things."
Last night, Kurobe had reviewed footage of Shirasawa's matches. To his surprise, the boy's performance was already on par with the top five players in U17's second string, if not better.
"Barring any surprises, only these three will pass the high schoolers' test," Kurobe said, his eyes filled with curiosity. "I wonder which of them is the strongest!"
"Genji from Shitenhoji Middle School, 249 points. Pass."
In the parking area, Genji walked out of the testing room calmly.
"249 points?"
"The only one to pass so far."
"Is this the level of Shitenhoji, one of the top two schools in the Kansai region?"
The crowd looked at Genji with awe. The gap between top players and the rest was staggering.
"Next is ."
Mori stepped forward. He nodded at Genji and entered the room. Soon, powerful hitting sounds echoed, and the door opened again.
"Mori Suzuhiko from Rikkai Dai Fuzoku, 324 points. Pass!"
Over 300 points?
The crowd was stunned. Mori's score was nearly double that of Yoshikawa's, and even Genji paled in comparison.
"He scored over 320 points in that environnt?" Genji looked at Mori with deep apprehension.
He rembered Mori transferring to Rikkai in his first year. When they t again during the national tournant in his third year, Mori, as Rikkai's singles No. 3, had easily defeated their star player. But Genji never expected the gap between them to be this wide.
"Last one."
The staff mber's gaze turned to Shirasawa.
"Alright."
Shirasawa smiled and walked into the dimly lit room.
After passing through a corridor, he arrived at the testing area. The room was well-lit, with three ball machines positioned left, center, and right. Behind them stood ten target boards.
"The rules are simple," the staff mber's voice ca through. "Within one minute, hit the balls from the machines and strike the targets. The center is 10 points, the second ring is 5, the third is 3, the fourth is 2, and the outermost ring is 1."
Shirasawa glanced at the targets. The center was tiny, about 2% of the total area. The 5-point ring was slightly larger at 10%, while the 2 and 3-point rings were similar in size. The 1-point ring took up over 50% of the target.
However, if that were the case, anyone with decent control should be able to pass easily.
Shirasawa narrowed his eyes. "Since this is a U17 test, it can't be that simple."
"Test begins!"
As the staff mber announced, the lights in the room went out, plunging it into complete darkness. In such conditions, even hitting the ball would be impressive, let alone the target.
In the coaches' room, Kurobe, Saito, and Takuzo focused on Shirasawa. They were eager to see how many points he would score.
"In the dark, humans revert to instinct and feel fear. In the first few seconds, most people will dodge. Only after reacting will they counter. So, hitting the ball imdiately is already a pass," Kurobe thought to himself.
This test was improvised to gauge Shirasawa's strength and see how he compared to the top high school freshn.
To Kurobe's disappointnt, aside from Mori and Genji, none of the other high schoolers reacted quickly enough.
Of course, the test was harsh. It required not only vision, hearing, and control but also quick reflexes and ntal resilience.
In Kurobe's eyes, this middle schooler, whom Saito had praised so highly, should at least be on par with Shitenhoji's Genji.
"Hmm?"
Takuzo suddenly exclaid, "This kid closed his eyes?"
"Interesting," Kurobe chuckled.
At the very least, this middle schooler's ntal resilience wasn't bad.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The three ball machines activated simultaneously, firing balls at over 150 km/h toward Shirasawa.
At the sa ti, the three coaches focused on Shirasawa, eager to see his performance.
Would he pass? How many points would he score? Could he surpass Rikkai's Mori?
Swish!
Shirasawa moved.
With his eyes closed, he relied on his hearing to pinpoint the balls' trajectories. He raised his racket and swung swiftly.
Bang!
A crisp hitting sound echoed, and a silver flash seed to light up the dark room.
Boom!
Under the stunned gazes of the coaches, the first target on the left shattered.
Boom! Boom!
The second and third targets followed suit.
"Such power..." Takuzo's eyes widened in shock. He had never seen such a fierce newcor.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The ball machines fired again, and Shirasawa swung his racket once more.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Outside the testing room, thunderous explosions echoed shortly after Shirasawa entered.
"What's going on in there?"
The crowd was puzzled.
"Is... sothing wrong?" Genji's eyes showed concern.
The ball machines' speed increased over ti. If soone couldn't react quickly, they might get hit. A ball traveling at over 150 km/h could cause serious injury.
Boom! Boom!
But just as everyone grew worried, the explosions suddenly stopped.
"Uh..."
The staff mber was also confused. As he prepared to open the door, it swung open on its own, and Shirasawa walked out calmly.
"What... just happened?"
The high schoolers exchanged bewildered looks.
The staff mber was equally clueless, but before he could ask Shirasawa, a voice ca through his earpiece.
"Understood."
He nodded and announced, "Shirasawa Riku from Hyotei Academy has passed the test."
Passed?
The high schoolers were stunned.
So protested, but the staff mber ignored them.
"The test is over. The three who passed will enter the U17 training camp. The rest of you are allowed to take the bus ho," he said coldly.
"Damn it!"
"What kind of joke is this?"
"The so-called best training camp in the country is a farce!"
"Whatever, at least we don't have to walk back."
The group grumbled but, thinking about the alternative, quickly boarded the bus.
"Only three made it?" Mori sighed. The U17 test was stricter than he had imagined.
As for Genji, he couldn't help but stare at Shirasawa, wondering how the boy had passed the test in less than 10 seconds.
"Let's go, you two."
Shirasawa looked up at the cara and smiled. "This place seems pretty strict. If we don't leave now, we might really have to walk back."
With that, he headed toward the gate.
In the coaches' room, Kurobe, Saito, and Takuzo looked uneasy.
"So... that's how it ended?" Takuzo shook his head. "I have a feeling that kid knew we were watching him."
"He's very sharp," Kurobe agreed. "But the more talented they are, the more they need to be tempered. At the very least, these three need to learn the rules of this camp."
"You an..." Saito glanced at him. "Have them participate in the ranking matches?"
"Yes," Kurobe nodded. "Ordinary matches won't be enough for them."
"True," Takuzo agreed. "In that case, let's have them face the second string from Court 5 and above."
"Alright, it's settled."
Kurobe finalized the decision.
But deep down, he had considered pitting these three newcors against three others in a match, especially with the first string away in Southeast Asia.
After all, a sharp sword needs to be tempered.
The potential of these three, especially the middle schooler from Hyotei, had exceeded Kurobe's expectations.
"Shirasawa Riku," Kurobe narrowed his eyes. "I hope you won't disappoint ."
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