Chapter 22 The Tennis Club Gets Taken for Free: The Capitalist's Bloodline Awakens...

The Tennis Fan Club's activity room is located at the foot of the hill behind the school; it's an old library half-hidden by vines.

This spring, after the library was renovated, this space was left vacant.

"Squeak—"

Risa pushed open the mottled wooden door, and years of accumulated dust danced in the sunlight. Four tables and chairs covered with white cloths stood quietly, and yellowed sports magazines were piled in the corner.

"We've struck gold!" Jieyue excitedly lifted the white cloth. "These antique tables and chairs have such a great atmosphere."

The four had clearly defined roles:

Chika wipes the stained glass windows

Asuka organizes the bookshelf piled high with magazines

Risa and Yuzuki visited other clubs to promote resources to a small group of enthusiasts and collect office supplies they no longer needed.

As the last rays of the setting sun faded, the dilapidated library was transformed.

Risa and Yuzuki returned home laden with a cart containing an electric kettle, a gas stove, a low table, and even a small refrigerator.

Asuka pushed up her glasses and silently gave Yuzuki a thumbs-up, saying, "As expected of a capitalist's daughter, her social skills are amazing."

"It wasn't my doing," Yuzuki said with a smile, waving her hand. "These were all negotiated by Risa. By the way, we also got 28 new orders today!"

"Oh ho~" Asuka clapped mechanically, "Risa-san is the best, a business genius."

Chinatsu quietly nudged Yuzuki: "Does Asuka-senpai have a 'reading aloud mode' robot installed...?"

After several people worked together to move the items from the cart into the activity room, they sat around a low table that had just been wiped clean. In the center of the table were the laptop and mini printer that Jieyue had brought from home.

It has been over 48 hours since the pre-order link for the "Little Devil Series" went live. The merchandise includes badges, emoji cards, laser cards, acrylic standees, and crocheted dolls.

With a "sizzling" sound, the first batch of orders from the Tennis fan club slowly came out:

○Product List:

√Devil Badges 500 yen x 863 pieces

√Emoji Card Set 1400 yen x 542 sets

√ Laser Collector's Cards 800 yen x 728 cards

√ Acrylic standee 1000 yen x 717 pieces

√ Crocheted dolls 9800 yen x 32 pieces

"Wait a minute." Chinatsu suddenly pressed a line on the list. "This crocheted doll... priced at 9800 yen?! And there are still 32 orders?!"

“The reference image looks like this…” Risa pulled up her phone’s photo album, and the picture showed a chibi version of Kirihara about 5cm tall, “sticking out his tongue mischievously.”

"Because they are all handmade, each one takes at least 8-15 hours to make. Therefore, the price is higher than others, but it also has greater collectible value."

“But…” Chinatsu tilted her head, “Does anyone among us know how to make this?”

Risa timidly raised her hand: "I've learned a little, but I can't do it this precisely."

Yuzuki smiled helplessly: "I have absolutely no idea how to do it."

"I know a little bit." Asuka pushed up her reflective glasses and silently opened her Instagram account.

The homepage features photos of hundreds of exquisitely crafted dolls:

Life-sized Pikachu

Hatsune Miku who can blink

There are even mechanical dragons with dynamic gear structures.

“This is the level of a professional player…” Risa’s voice trembled with excitement. “According to market prices, a custom doll of this size should be priced…” She tapped the calculator, “19,800 yen.”

When Chika heard the price, she almost spat out her tea: "Is it...so expensive?"

Risa: "But usually only rich people or hardcore gamers would buy it."

Yuzuki rushed over and hugged Asuka: "Asuka, inviting you was definitely the right thing to do. You are our club's hidden ace."

After sorting out the orders, everyone started doing their respective tasks.

Yuzuki was in charge of placing the order with her father's friend and tracking the progress. Asuka was busy crocheting the 32 dolls, while Chinatsu was in charge of answering questions about the second wave of online pre-orders.

And President Risa—

They are secretly planning the theme for the next series.

-

On the tennis club's training court, the setting sun cast long, slender shadows of the boys. Outside the wire fence, beneath the cherry blossom trees, the wind rustled through the empty benches.

After training, Niou Masaharu hooked his arm around Kirihara Akaya's neck from behind and teased, "Puri~ Little seaweed, your Risa-neechan didn't come to pick you up again today?"

Kirihara scratched his seaweed-like head: "Risa-nee has been acting really strange lately. She's been locking herself in her room all day, and yesterday she even asked me about the club president and everyone else..." He suddenly covered his mouth, his eyes widening, "Hey! Didn't you hear anything?"

Yagyu Hiroshi overheard their conversation, and his glasses flashed with reflection.

As Risa's seatmate, he naturally noticed that Risa had been acting strangely lately. After class, he would always mysteriously call over Iwai Yuzuki, who sat in front of him, and the two would whisper and plot in the corner of the corridor. During class, they would doodle in their notebooks, and when they were discovered, they would immediately close their notebooks, their eyes clearly showing that they were feeling guilty.

Yukimura Seiichi remained silent, but turned his gaze to the strategist.

Upon receiving the signal, Liu Lian'er immediately opened his notebook:

“A new club was established at the school last week called ‘Tennis Doujin Research Association’, and the president is none other than Risa Matsuno.”

"In addition, there are three other members: Iwai Yuzuki, who is in the same class as Matsuno and comes from a financial family, is good at mathematical calculations; Nakano Asuka, Niou's childhood friend, is good at crocheting dolls; and Sato Chinatsu, who is in the same class as Kirihara, is good at making sweets."

"By the way, a batch of 'Little Devil Series' merchandise marked 'pre-order' recently appeared online. The chibi version of the character is 87.3% similar to Akaya, including hairstyle, hair color, and micro-expression features. The entire series is now sold out."

"What?!" The seaweed, who was playing a riddle game with Masaharu Niou, jumped up. "My fan-made merchandise?!"

"The blogger's ID is 【Lisa-chan's Merchandise Workshop】, and the IP is Kanagawa. The account registration time is basically the same as the establishment time of the Tennis Doujinshi Club."

Sanada slammed his fist on the table, his face dark with anger: "Too lax! Using someone else's image without permission is a serious offense..."

Liu Lian'er: "Strictly speaking, their behavior does not constitute an infringement."

Sanada exclaimed in surprise, "But it clearly—"

Renji Yanagi calmly opened his notebook: "According to Article 233 of the Copyright Law and Tokyo precedents related to portrait rights, derivative characters that do not directly use real photographs or highly realistic depictions, and do not cause commercial confusion or reputational damage, are generally unlikely to constitute infringement. This level of chibi-style derivative work is like drawing seaweed heads as marshmallows..."

Kirihara suddenly looked up: "Who drew my cotton candy?!"

“Just an example,” Renji Yanagi continued. “They didn’t use the ‘Rikkai University Tennis Club’ trademark, nor did they write ‘Kirihara Akaya Devilish Limited Edition,’ and even…”

He held up his phone screen, which clearly read: "[This character is purely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental...]"

"...Even this disclaimer has more words than Akaya's Chinese homework."

Marui popped a bubble gum with a "poof": "So we went to defend our rights with great force, but the other side had studied in a bar exam training class, and we ended up getting beaten up?"

Renji Yanagi: "The probability of winning the case is even lower than Akaya's English test score."

Sanada clenched his fists and muttered to himself, "...Genichiro, calm down."

“Phew~ How about we do the opposite and choose Plan B?” Niou suggested.

"What is Plan B?" Kirihara Akaya asked eagerly.

Niou hooked his arm around the seaweed's neck and grinned mischievously: "Let's move on to the physical persuasion phase."

"That's a crime, senpai!" Kirihara Akaya cried out in agony.

Liu Momo recorded in her notebook: [Success rate of training Nioh Masaharu as an outlaw: 100%]

"This won't work, that won't work!" Kirihara frantically ruffled his seaweed-covered hair. "Then we can only watch helplessly as we get...!"

As if realizing something, his pupils dilated in shock: "Wait! That 'Little Devil Series'... could there be a 'Red-Eyed Berserk Version' too?!"

"...You've gotten smarter, Akaya," Renji Yanagi said. "There is indeed a 'Demonized Limited Edition' in this series, and the pre-order volume is three times that of the regular version."

Marui's eyes lit up: "Do you have my 'Genius Limited Edition'? It would be best if it had a bubblegum popping effect and came with my autographed photo."

Jackal: "...Bunta, whose side are you on?"

Renji Yanagi calmly turned the page: "The latest data shows that only Akaya's series is currently available, but there is already a 'suggestion poll for other characters' on Twitter, and Bunta-kun's support rate is ranked third."

"Third?!" Marui's eyes widened. "Then who's first and second?"

Renji Yanagi: "...Minister Yukimura and Vice Minister Sanada."

Sanada's fist hardened: "...They were far too lax!"

"Don't you guys think..." Yukimura emerged from the shadows, "that this Lisa-chan actually has quite a business mind?"

Everyone fell silent.

"Pfft~" Niou laughed, "So we're now being harvested by fujoshi (female fans of male-male romance) through merchandise?"

Liu Sheng pushed up his reflective glasses: "From an economic point of view, this is called 'passive IP monetization'."

"Hey! That's not the point, is it?! The point is—" Akaya tugged at his seaweed-like hair, looking pitifully at his seniors, "My image has been made into merchandise and sold! /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~"

"Moreover, you didn't get a single penny," Liu Sheng added calmly.

"...Ugh, I'm even angrier now!"

Kirihara Akaya paced back and forth in the rest area like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Just as everyone was discussing, Yukimura clapped his hands to quell the commotion: "Everyone, let's call it a day for today's club activities."

Sanada: "Yukimura, what about the surrounding area...?"

“It’s alright.” Yukimura smiled. “Rather than pursuing that, I’m more interested in seeing what other surprises this Lisa-chan can bring.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire tennis club fell into a deathly silence. Kirihara blinked his big eyes, barely daring to breathe.

This familiar sense of oppression reminded everyone of last week's friendly match, when Risa provoked them from the stands, and the beautiful captain went berserk, displaying a chilling aura.

Strangely, Yukimura's mood was unusually good after that night.

Not only did he break with tradition by personally posting to clarify for Risa, explaining that the so-called "date declaration" was just a bet between the two of them, but he also patiently replied to fans' questions in the comments section, even using emojis—his overly gentle tone was a complete surprise to everyone who knew him.

Liu's notebook silently turned a page, adding a few more lines of new discoveries to the "Yukimura Seiichi Observation Record":

• Occasionally lose focus while staring off the field during training √

• Showed unusual interest in the surrounding design √

• I recently started using Line stickers.

• Possibility of romantic relationship?

Sanada's eyelids drooped, his gaze fixed heavily on his best friend's profile. He couldn't help but recall the fleeting glimpse of an intimate photo on Yukimura's phone screen that he had accidentally seen before, which made his brows furrow even more.

Yukimura quickly locked the screen, subtly changing the subject. But Sanada was absolutely certain that the girl in the photo, head to head with Yukimura and smiling brightly, was Matsuno Risa.

When did the two of them become so close?

With the national competition just around the corner, he's still distracted by these personal matters.

Yukimura... you're being far too lax!

-----------------------

Author's Note: Bug Fixes_2025/8/14

Refinement details_2025/9/28