Chapter 102: First and Second Updates: Players [Pick Up] Return to the Arena! ...

Shiraishi was quite cool and his aura was fully on display, especially when he raised his racket and pointed it at Kei Yagi who was across the net. His eyes were staring straight at his opponent, emitting a subtle glow.

Field side, Shitenhoji Temple,

Qiansui Qianli, who saw his condition, tapped his forehead with his finger.

Are you getting excited so soon... Shiraishi.

Although he was still confused about what Shiraishi said before he came on the court, Kintaro Toyama still patiently sat across the back of the coach's chair, staring at Yagi Kei's serve on the other side of the net without blinking.

Even while watching it, he was muttering "Amazing...Amazing..."

Ken'ya Oshitari and Hikaru Zaizen tried to prevent him from taking any more risks, so they stayed close to him. But at that moment, watching the perfect serve, Kintaro Toyama's wide, heavy eyes froze at a certain moment.

At first glance it looked like some wild creature.

Kenya Oshitari and Mitsuru Zaizen exchanged a subtle glance, and both rubbed the goose bumps on their arms.

This kid Xiao Jin...

The people on the sidelines had different thoughts, but on the field, everything was focused on the ball that was about to be played.

Yagi Kei has no curiosity about the NPC's thoughts, and he cares even less about what the NPC says.

What are you talking about? Go ahead and pick up the racket and choose A first!

The health bar of the NPC "Shitenhoji Shiraishi Kuranosuke" in the temporary special dungeon isn't a vernier caliper, but compared to the dungeon boss I'd previously defeated, it's more than twice as long.

And if you pull down the status bar, you can also see a title above the head of the temporary special copy BOSS.

Title: "Passionate perfection hidden in silence! The Tennis Bible! !"

[Error rate reduced, mental strength improved, physical strength improved, intuition improved, five-dimensional values ​​slightly improved]

It’s quite an all-around title!

Even the players were jealous. Their evil little hands moved, but they couldn't find a [Pickup] above Shiraishi Kuranosuke's head after swiping for a long time.

Because Yagi Kei once again showed his special move, 'Your butterfly flash hits the wall 365 degrees Thomas does not spin barehanded 100% to catch the knife, the scheming frog touches your belly',

Nagashiro Kito re-understands from a new perspective,

Too fast, still can't see it completely,

However, it was a completely different feeling from standing opposite him and facing this ball.

The ball's trajectory was faint, accompanied by a faint humming sound, like wings rubbing against the air at high speed.

With a slight flap of its wings, it tore through the space, and the ball suddenly appeared after a brief silence in the void.

Mu Shou adjusted his glasses. He also saw Shiraishi Kuranosuke's actions.

He took a big step back, aimed at the left rear, and suddenly turned around, pulling his arm back violently and swinging it heavily in the direction he had determined.

Although from the result it seems that Shiraishi Kuranosuke missed the ball and made a wrong prediction.

But judging from the referee's seat closest to the field, this ball and Shiraishi's prediction were extremely close!

But only in the frame when he decided to swing the racket, like an observed atom, Schrödinger's cat, which existed only in the box, gently moved the ball of yarn under its paw.

Then the yellow ball slightly deviated from its trajectory and headed straight for the opposite predicted landing point. It landed silently and slowly stopped after the rotation dissipated.

Shiraishi Kuranosuke's smile was still lingering on his lips when, the next moment, the black-haired figure on the other side of the net had already tossed the ball again with lightning speed, bent his knees, swung his racket, and jumped—

"Bang!!"

"Oh my...are you so impatient?" Bai Shi said with a smile while quickly closing his eyes and concentrating again.

[Shiraishi Kuranosuke's skills are being used]

【Successful use! 】

['Star Bible: Unfinished Edition' is working...]

With a low humming sound, the butterfly ball appeared again, and just as it broke through the air, it was about to hit the bottom line and stop spinning.

Suddenly, a figure flashed like melted butter, crossed the boundary of the retina, and slowly stood up like a shadow, appearing at the landing point of the butterfly ball!

“…It’s really fast.”

As Seigaku and Hyotei watched the battle, Fuji stroked his chin slightly and said,

Tezuka Kunimitsu pushed up his glasses. Atobe Keigo, who was also standing beside him with his arms folded, had maintained his observation skills to the MAX since the beginning of the game.

His cold eyes never missed a single move of the two men fighting on the field. His pupils turned and stopped, resting on Shiraishi Kuranosuke.

He raised his eyebrows slightly, "...Oh?"

Everyone at Shitenhoji Temple was more familiar with this, especially Ken Oshitani, who was known as the speed star of Osaka, who couldn't help but grab the bag on his shoulder.

"This is……"

['Star Bible - Unfinished Edition': Adjust the values ​​of speed, strength, stamina, technique, and mental strength, and extremely strengthen one ability by weakening other abilities.

TIPS: The total value will not change. 】

Shiraishi Kuranosuke! Weakened his strength, stamina, technique, and mental strength—and yet he forcibly pushed his speed to the peak!

Only in this way could he finally catch up with the ball that Yagi Kei had sent out—

Stretch your arms with confidence, swing your racket—dunk…

“—Bang!! Snap!!”

...Huh?

Both hands were wrapped in bandages, which slightly isolated the impact and prevented serious damage.

Only the racket in my hand was hit out of control.

No, something is wrong.

The ball had clearly already hit the ground and was only spinning on its own, so how could it still have such a strong impact and rotational force!?

Shiraishi had clearly captured the landing point of the butterfly ball and swung his racket at the perfect time.

However, as soon as the racket string touched the spinning tennis ball, the entire ball reacted sharply, its resistance increased, and it even rushed towards the racket like an explosion. It was like a landmine that was calm on the surface but was actually getting stronger!

The five fingers he stretched out fell into nothing, and Shiraishi Kuranosuke turned his head to look at the racket that flew to the side. He caught a glimpse of something in his peripheral vision and his gaze suddenly stopped.

Wait, that's...

I didn't notice it when I was on the court before, but now I see that the baseline on this side of the court... is full of black marks and pits caused by the deep rotation of the ball!

This seemingly light butterfly kick... is just a superficial illusion!

No, it's not an illusion. Bai Shi's heart suddenly jumped.

They had underestimated Yagi Kei from the very beginning...!

Although he had repeatedly deepened his awareness that his strength was definitely extraordinary, when it came to the actual battle, he still found out that his preparations were too little, too little, and simply not enough!

They only think that the 'butterfly ball' can only be won quickly, and that as long as they catch up, they will have a chance to hit back.

It was wrong to assume this from the very beginning.

No one has ever said that Yagi Kei's 'butterfly ball' is only difficult to match in terms of speed.

The reason why everyone thinks so widely is that it is impossible to capture the most basic speed.

I completely forgot that Yagi Kei, who can release the "Butterfly Ball", can also release the explosive ball with super-powerful wave ball!

arrogant,

Too arrogant.

Bai Shi stared at the series of black marks on the baseline. After a while, he picked up the dropped racket and re-hooked the strings twice.

His expression was normal, but the members of Shitenhoji who knew him were a little confused.

Shiraishi...what happened?

The players watched as the temporary special copy BOSS finally returned and continued to raise their bids.

Two balls cut off a small part of the health bar. Although it was just a scratch, the victory was due to the persistence of water dripping through stone. This is the strength of the player!

The players were having a lot of fun playing the ball, but Shiraishi Kuranosuke on the other side of the net was not so happy.

After realizing that he had underestimated Yagi Kei's strength even after making many mental preparations, even heavier pressure fell on Shiraishi Kuranosuke's shoulders.

Although there was still a smile on the corner of his lips, he seemed to be chasing the ball and swinging the racket with ease.

But judging from the results, Shiraishi Kuranosuke didn't score a single goal!

“40:0!”

On the referee's chair, Nagashiro Kide blew the whistle. The continuous "butterfly ball" showed no sign of being caught or cracked after repeated appearances.

Shiraishi Kuranosuke seemed to have temporarily increased his speed through some means, and barely made it to the landing point of the ball, but he was completely unable to do anything else.

The second ball's racket flew out of my hand, and the third ball's irregular trajectory,

This undoubtedly proves how tricky Yagi Kei's serve is.

Not only Kide Nagashiro, but almost everyone inside and outside the court saw someone successfully catch up with Yagi Kei's serve for the first time.

In the previous few games, even in friendly matches and daily training, most of the time we could only watch this goal being scored, let alone catching up with its frequency.

But now, Shiraishi Kuranosuke has shown everyone that there is a deeper unknown realm beyond speed.

"...That kid," Atobe Keigo's voice was low and smooth. Oshitari Yuushi adjusted his glasses.

Changing with each passing day,

Yagi Kei's butterfly ball is evolving all the time.

Even compared to the previous battle against Higa, it was even more...

Yuushi Oshitari couldn't put it into words clearly, and could only maintain his focused attention on the field.

"Shiraishi..."

For some reason, Zaizen Guang's heart was pounding non-stop. He looked at Chitose Chisato, who was still silent with his arms folded, with a pleading look.

Noticing his gaze, Qiansui Qianli did not answer immediately, but only glanced at the figure on the right.

With his eyes wide open, his face full of excitement, and even unable to restrain his eagerness to try, Kintaro Toyama exudes an urgent, eager, and active aura from the inside out.

Qian Sui Qian Li turned his head away from him and looked at Cai Qian Guang again, and just shook his head slightly.

"Trust Shiraishi in all his choices, Zaizen."

“…Yes, yes.”

The atmosphere in Shitenhoji Temple was a little heavy and tense, and Rikkai University on the other side was actually not very relaxed either.

Apart from the not-so-great battle between Yagi Kei and the returning Yukimura, this was the first time they saw someone truly match Yagi Kei's special moves.

Although I didn't fight back, I have already touched it.

This is undoubtedly a heart-wrenching point.

The strength that Yagi Kei showed before them was always difficult to understand, even beyond the normal range of cognition.

Even if Yanagi Renji used his Data Eyes to observe now, he probably wouldn't be able to see the true strength of their young junior.

However, Shiraishi Kuranosuke was like a disruptor who appeared out of nowhere.

Even though they were extremely confident in their junior's sure victory, the people at Rikkai University were more concerned.

Will Yagi Kei, who was touched, have a reaction beyond his cognition?

What if he suddenly activates his ultimate and runs away here?

Are they going to start pre-drills now to organize the safe evacuation of all the contestants from the schools present?

The other members of the school could not empathize with Rikkai University's hesitation, and now their entire attention was focused on the two people fighting on the field.

The player systematically cuts the health bar of the temporary copy BOSS, and clicks the skill,

The 'butterfly ball' is almost done, let's do the 'explosion ball' too!

[Skill: 'Thomas's 365-degree spin, 100% chance of catching a blade with bare hands, the scheming frog touches your belly again, the invincible universe explosion attack' is in use...]

【Successful use! 】

The pop-up window jumped slightly, and the player quickly connected.

Shiraishi gripped the racket with both hands and was about to use his [Skill: Star Bible (Incomplete Version)] again to gain some speed to counter Yagi Kei's special move, Butterfly Ball.

But at the moment when the extra point was about to be awarded, Wudi and Shiraishi's eyes were fixed, and they keenly noticed that Yagi Kei's serving action had changed.

Instead of pinching the yellow ball from the fingertips and turning it slightly downwards, he closed his five fingers and held the entire tennis ball in his palm.

The movements were as smooth as flowing water, throwing the ball, bending the knees, jumping, and swinging the racket.

"boom!!"

Completely different moves, completely opposite voices!

The 'butterfly ball' is so fast that it floats due to friction with the air, and when it reaches your ears, the only sound left is a 'buzzing' sound like the fluttering of butterfly wings.

But this ball exploded with a loud bang at the moment of swinging the racket.

The tennis ball flew out of the racket like a flash of lightning, and the whole ball was faintly emitting some fire and electricity, which intertwined and intensified, constantly rubbing against the air and spinning at high speed.

The speed did not decrease but the power became stronger. It came from the other side of the net. Anyone with a slightly unstable attitude or emotion would most likely be frightened by this fierce ball.

Shiraishi Kuranosuke made a prompt decision and immediately changed the points.

It's definitely not the speed, this shot - just based on intuition, Shiraishi Kuranosuke added a little power!

With a big step, he even switches from a one-handed grip to a two-handed grip.

Shiraishi Kuranosuke lowered his body and placed his center of gravity forward, relying entirely on his waist to generate power, driving his entire body to use the ground beneath his feet.

In just a moment, the ball was in sight.

Familiar opening move——

Shitenhoji, who was watching the fight from the sidelines, paused, especially Ishida Gin, who was standing in the crowd with his hands clasped together in silence. He slowly opened his eyes,

"That's mine..."

The 'wave ball' usually uses a charging ritual. The longer the time, the more powerful the hit.

Although the ball was heading straight for him, Shiraishi Kuranosuke resolutely increased his strength and pushed forward, completely abandoning everything else and focusing solely on resisting Yagi Kei's lethal shot.

“Empty, empty, empty, empty—!!”

A sharp tearing sound almost came from the racket string ripping and tearing when it touched the ball. Due to the high-speed friction, the friction was so fast that sparks and arcs were faintly heard.

Shiraishi Kuranosuke gritted his teeth and managed a smile, but his facial expression was no longer one that could possibly smile.

This ball... is completely beyond what a normal human can bear!

The tense brain nerves and the racket strings that were like obstacles in the high-speed friction broke together with the "click-click" emergency. Shiraishi Kuranosuke's expression became more and more unpleasant.

But he didn't flinch, still forcing himself forward, clenching his arms and hands, desperately trying to knock the ball back.

“——Ka-ra!”

The last string finally broke, Shiraishi Kuranosuke's wrist felt empty, and the next second he immediately lowered his head.

The yellow tennis ball, which was blocked tightly, roared out of the way, slammed heavily into the ground and bounced back deeply.

There was another dark hole dug into the ground.

It's all Kei Yagi's masterpiece.

Shiraishi Kuranosuke raised his racket and stared at the broken string with a hole in the middle for a long time. He glanced at it with his peripheral vision, and his pupils suddenly widened.

Not only the racket strings, but even the racket frame, are faintly showing cracks. When you touch it lightly with your fingers,

It had actually started to rustle and drop crumbs.

“…”

Across the net, the black-haired boy who had finished serving spun around with his racket, spun the racket around his wrist, and it returned to his hand very obediently.

Nagashiro Kitade was also stunned for a while before he came back to his senses and reported the score directly.

“1:0!”

He slowly raised his glasses with trembling hands.

No, this ball, this ball—it wasn't the same ball he had just hit against him. Whether it was the power, the angle, or the speed, it was clearly more...

Kimute Nagashiro suddenly thought of a possibility and turned his head sharply.

The only figure in sight was Yagi Kei, who was looking up at me with boredom, his racket between his legs and his dead eyes.

This guy's strength... is he being judged by every second, every breath!?

How come his strength has increased again after just one match?!

Kimute Nagashiro had already vaguely sensed a creepy conclusion. Looking at the figure with black hair and black pupils, he suppressed the unwilling resistance in his heart and deepened his understanding.

This kind of guy...this kid, no matter who it is, as long as he faces him,

It's definitely misfortune!

"Serving game, no points at all... Shiraishi," Kenya Oshima said slowly.

Shitenhoji Temple was unusually quiet. Shiraishi raised his hand to signal for a change of racket. He took out a new racket from his bag and tested the string tension with his five fingers.

"Well, everyone, relax—relax—"

Shiraishi Kuranosuke said with a smile on his face, "It's only the racket that's broken. More importantly, the bat isn't broken. Isn't that lucky?"

“…”

“…”

"This joke isn't funny at all."

Shiraishi picked up the racket and swung it, "Hey hey - then I'll try harder next time."

He tilted his head slightly and turned towards Kintaro Toyama, a first-year student at Shitenhoji Temple.

"How's it going, Xiao Jin, did you see anything?"

Toyama Kintaro was extremely excited at the moment, his face flushed, and he was talking almost non-stop, his hands opening and closing incessantly to match his words.

"That's amazing!! Shiraishi, did you see that? Yagi Yagi's level is far higher than the last time we met when he had two, no, three!"

"And—how on earth did he serve that kind of serve! Why were Yagi Yagi's movements so simple? He didn't even need to build up momentum like Gin did, but he could reach that level straight away! As expected of Yagi Yagi—"

Hearing Toyama Kintaro's words, Shiraishi Kuranosuke's mood lifted slightly, but then it slowly sank when he saw the figure standing still on the court.

As expected, Rikkai University is worthy of its name. It can even recruit such a player.

It really makes people envious.

Shiraishi picked up his racket and walked onto the court. "Well, if you like it, you should pay more attention to the next one, Xiao Jin."

“——Yes, yes~”

Of course, they are not much worse here.

"Shiraishi Kuranosuke serves—!"

The serve was changed, Shiraishi picked up a tennis ball, and then looked up at the figure on the other side of the net.

The black-haired figure was still cold and indifferent, with no emotion changing, looking at me with his dead eyes.

If you think that he has let down his guard just because of this, you will definitely underestimate him.

Shiraishi has learned from his previous experience, and it is not an exaggeration to say that Yagi Kei's strength is higher than others.

Without any intention of holding back, Shiraishi Kuranosuke raised his racket and said, "Well, let's try this move."

Raise the racket, throw the ball, swing it down——!

Shiraishi suddenly pressed to one side, giving the entire ball a strong lateral rotation force when hitting the ball, making the ball move in a vivid circular motion.

This is exactly the trick of Shiraishi Kuranosuke, who is known as the "Tennis Bible" -

"It appeared—Round Table Smack!"

"——Shiraishi!"

The sound of Shitenhoji suddenly became stronger, accompanied by the yellow tennis ball hitting out from the racket.

After a series of turbulence and changes, the entire sphere gradually became blurred and transformed into 12 clones to describe a circle.

Just like the name "Round Table" given by Shiraishi, this move is so dazzling that it is impossible to catch which one is the real ball!

Many people inside and outside the stadium also saw such a ball for the first time, and were surprised for a moment.

The yellow ball, which appeared as 12 phantoms, was indistinguishable from reality. Suddenly, Kirihara Akaya said, "Could this be the same as the Tachibana from Fudomine?"

Liu quickly understood what he meant and said with narrowed eyes, "Tachibana's 'Rampage Lion' and Shiraishi's 'Round Table Smash' are not of the same type."

"While both appear to be multiple spheres, Tachibana's 'Rampage Lion' uses rapid counterattacks to create multiple strikes, while Shiraishi's 'Round Table Smash' tends to incorporate more lateral rotation, creating visual and perceptual confusion."

Kirihara Akaya listened for a long time and scratched his head, "Then what will Kei do..."

Yukimura Seiichi folded his arms, his eyes looking towards the field. He watched quietly, his thoughts turning lightly and silently.

After all, such a serve,

For Kei Yagi, it probably makes no difference at all.

The player looked at the temporary special dungeon BOSS who suddenly started the skill animation, and waited patiently for him to draw a circle in the air, like twelve tennis balls forming a moon-waning chart.

Then push forward again,

The tennis ball flew straight towards me.

The player waited for a moment, and on the left was Shitenhoji, who was shouting "Round Table Smash!", and on the right was Rikkai University, who was shouting "What should Kei do?"

And the player, WASD moves, A.

Crisp, smooth and silky,

With a "bang", without even a hint of hesitation, Shiraishi Kuranosuke's proud special move 'Round Table Smack' was hit back.

“——!”

Shiraishi Kuranosuke was stunned for just a second before quickly picking up the ball and swung his racket again at the landing point.

For players, nothing fancy is better than a nuclear strike. No matter what skill CG, they are all A!

Although Shiraishi had prepared himself mentally, he still found it difficult to calm down when he faced Yagi Kei, who could break his proud serve with just one touch.

But this is not the point. Shiraishi quickly pulled forward and tried his best to fight with Yagi Kei behind the net.

But the player backhanded a heavy slam -

Bai Shi's arms trembled violently. The impact of the "explosive ball" he had just received had put a strain on his arms.

The ball rushed past the side of the racket and shot out in an arc.

Nagashiro Kito blew the whistle: "15:0!"

Shiraishi's serve was quickly broken in just one encounter with the first ball.

The speed was so fast that even the crowd hadn't reacted yet.

Shitenboji couldn't help but step forward, "Bai Shi, you——"

“Haha—brilliant!”

Instead of being angry, Shiraishi Kuranosuke finally showed a full smile on his face.

What is even more striking is his movements.

From the moment he appeared, people couldn't help but notice his bandaged left arm. Compared to the last time the Rikkai community and Shitenhoji met, there was one more arm wrapped in bandages.

Now - both arms are wrapped in bandages!

Seeing his action, everyone in Shitenhoji was shocked, especially Toyama Kintaro——

"No—Bai Shi, what are you going to do?!"

"Shiraishi—don't unseal the monster!!!"

Shiraishi Kuranosuke said nothing, only laughed: "Haha, absolutely amazing!"

Circles of white bandages fell to the ground, catching people's attention. They couldn't help but focus their attention on them.

The next moment, in front of everyone,

It was a pair of radiant, all-around, 360-degree weapons, armed to the fingertips—

Golden arms!

“…”

“…”

"So rich! Shitenboji Temple..."

at the same time,

A pop-up window appeared in front of the player.

[Pick up], and return to the arena.