Chapter 184: Players lead U17 vs. Xi...
“…Q.P…”
"...Wake up, why are you...dazed...Q·P..."
“…Wake up…Q.P!!”
Suddenly, it hit him in the face. His pupils slightly dilated and the man with a tense face suddenly gasped for breath.
His pupils suddenly constricted, his heart skipped a beat, and his body instinctively retreated in a protective reflex.
“Don’t, don’t come over here——Who——!?”
An exaggerated, almost shrill voice came from the always polite and gentlemanly Q.P.
All of a sudden, everyone around them froze.
After a while, Bismarck approached and asked tentatively: "...Q.P?"
Slowly observing the figure approaching, what is reflected on the retina is not the endless, endless black,
Not the dense, eerie, and strange eyes that covered everything up and down, left and right...
……Eye?
He took another deep breath, his chest rising and falling violently.
Q.P stood up suddenly, and his sharp movements almost startled Bismarck, who was approaching to see what was going on.
"Hey! Q.P! What the hell happened to you? You look so weird after coming back from the court! Cheer up!!"
Bismarck was somewhat dissatisfied, but he suppressed his temper and tried to have a good conversation with him.
After he muttered something, he reluctantly raised his eyes and looked—
Q.P's attention was not on him at all. He looked around as if he was looking for something!
Bismarck: “……?”
"Hey, Q.P.—what's wrong with you—"
"Be quiet, Bismarck."
The third voice that suddenly interrupted did not belong to Bismarck, nor to Q.P., who was being stared at.
But from the other side, wrapped in layers of German team members, hidden in the crowd,
The man who has been silent and silent since he came back,
Jurgen Barisavich Volk!
His pupils paused slightly, taking in the abnormal condition of Q.P, the always impeccable staff officer of the U-17 German team.
Volker didn't speak directly, his expression slightly darkened as he thought.
For a moment, an indescribable silence spread in the U-17 German national team's lounge.
Bismarck undoubtedly could not accept this sudden silence.
"—I say, what on earth happened? Why do both Q.P and you, Walker, look so off?!"
Bismarck tried to express his doubts with all his strength and expression.
"It's just a match against a Japanese team, you two—and,"
As if finally remembering the biggest victim of this warm-up exhibition match, Bismarck grabbed his hair and said angrily,
"And Frankensteiner, why did that guy suddenly lose his grip on the racket?!"
A. Frankensteiner, a rising star in the German tennis world,
He is well-known in the U17 team for his precise ball control and return, and is even called the second Walker.
But, after only experiencing a match that couldn't even be considered a proper battle—
A. Frankensteiner's career path was declared over by the team doctor without any warning.
“…probably YIPS,”
The doctor sent by the organizing committee took off his stethoscope and said with some doubt, "But I also watched the competition."
"Before the darkness, Frankensteiner didn't show any obvious early symptoms of YIPS..."
As soon as the words were spoken, silence took over most of the conversation.
Whether it was the doctor who also watched the game, or the members of the U-17 German team waiting in the waiting area,
Unaware of the darkness that suddenly descended upon Frankensteiner—
No one knows what kind of torture Frankensteiner suffered, which made him lose the grip on his racket that he had maintained for decades.
The only person who can give the answer is Frankensteiner, who is still lying unconscious on the stretcher.
The only ones left were the players who had been sitting there silently since their return.
Jurgen Barisavich Volker.
Bismarck was stopped by a shout and changed direction. "This is too wrong—whether it's Frankensteiner, Q.P., or even you—"
"Walker!"
Bismarck lost control of his emotions and fell into a state of excitement.
"——What on earth happened on the court?!"
"Or, what did you guys see?!!"
“…”
“…”
"dark,"
There was a long silence. Just when Bismarck was almost out of patience and thought that these two guys would not answer,
The voice finally came out from the dead and pale Q.P's mouth.
The thin lips moved up and down, and the sound rolled out from between the lips.
"Deeply..." Q.P finally raised his head, his face as pale as a piece of paper, the blood completely drained from his cheeks.
"Deep...darkness."
“……?”
Bismarck didn't understand and slowly typed a question mark. He tried to look around at his teammates for resonance.
But Q.P. seized his eyes,
A very terrifying expression, almost a borderline between panic and ferociousness,
For a moment, he almost didn't look like a normal person. The consequences of excessive fear,
Only one frame appears before my eyes.
Just happened to be caught by Bismarck, and was seen by him,
Give him a heavy blow,
It was this heavy blow that caused Q.P, like a ghost, whose mind seemed to be floating in mid-air, to speak again.
"And countless, black eyes."
"They are everywhere, everywhere..."
Q.P pulled the corner of his lip, seemingly trying to appear normal, but the movement was so stiff and almost frighteningly human.
"They're all watching, Bismarck."
"That person...was there from the beginning to the end, watching."
“…”
"——A great victory in the first battle!"
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”
"—I never expected, I never expected, to actually win against that champion German team just like that—!"
"——After all, our head coach——is Coach Yagi!!"
U-17 Japan National Team, Hotel, Public Lounge,
After returning from the public exhibition match, everyone's emotions were very high, immersed in the fact that they had won against the German team, which was currently ranked No. 1 in the world.
Even though the opponent didn't have all the strength, even though it was just a public exhibition match,
But——that’s the German team with professional player Jurgen Barisavich Volker!!
The first battle was a great victory. Even the usually serious and solemn Phoenix of Byodoin could not help but feel a little relieved.
Junior high school students and middle school students sat together, chatting in groups of three or four.
As the conversation progressed, the focus of the topic inevitably turned to the presence that could not be ignored in this open warm-up match.
It almost affected the entire course of the game, especially playing a crucial role in the match against Jurgen Barisavich Volker.
"——Head Coach Yagi!!"
"Long live the head coach!!"
“——Guimen!!”
The fanaticism that was already prevalent in the U17 team was fully demonstrated, and the influence on the U17 members' minds was even deeper.
Of course, there is still some reason left,
Pondering over the real U-17 World Championship that would begin the next day—
"...a total of 32 countries and regions participated in this U-17 World Championship, divided into eight groups, each playing four round-robin matches."
"Each round-robin match will feature three singles players and two doubles teams, for a total of seven players..."
"Also, with the new rule added this year, three of the seven people must be junior high school students."
After reading through the competition rules distributed one by one, the emotions of the junior high school and high school students sitting on the sofa sets gradually cooled down.
"It says here... 'Three preliminaries, each player can only play once,'" Shiraishi Kuranosuke pointed out.
Irie Kanata adjusted his glasses and nodded, "Yes, so we need 21 contestants."
“…Are there 21 people…?”
"Well, what about the groups? With 21 people, that's going to be a big problem!"
Irie Kanata adjusted his glasses and turned around. "As for the grouping, according to common sense, it should be decided by the head coach..."
Following the direction of his words, everyone realized the key point and slowly turned their heads.
With his eyes fixed on one spot, he was immersed in fishing with his dead eyes.
"Click",
A tuna as tall as a person jumped out of the water with a "swoosh" and began to tap dance happily on the floor.
“…”
The spectators in the front row who were splashed with water slowly reached out and wiped their faces.
"...Should we leave it to Coach Mifune?"
"Let's wait for the head coach's decision."
"Come to think of it... I haven't seen Coach Mifune and the others..."
Before he finished speaking, a voice suddenly arose.
“—Ah, they’re coming!”
Speak of the devil, the devil appears. Kirihara Akaya pointed and the U-17 coaching staff came in with documents.
No extra greetings, just get straight to the point.
"In Group B,"
Saito didn't keep anyone in suspense and quickly said,
"The opponent for the first battle has come out."
Normally, the players' representatives would draw the lots, but considering the huge backlash caused by the last public warm-up exhibition match,
After the match against Germany, the organizers of the U-17 tournament had to make a temporary change.
Instead, the team coach went to draw lots.
Now, they have returned with the lottery results after receiving a last-minute notice.
Upon hearing this, the U-17 members immediately became stern. They stopped laughing and joking, and looked at the document in Saito's hand with a serious and calm expression.
Black words on white paper, slowly pulled out,
In countless pairs of eyes, the contents are reflected with incredible precision.
U-17 World Cup Group B, Match 1
【JAPAN(23) VS HELLENIC REPUBLIC(10)】
“…”
Looking at each other,
"This name means... our first match player..."
“—It’s Greece, ranked tenth in the world!?!”
[——Ding!]
[New Main Quest: World Youth Tennis Tournament Grand Slam! — Now Open!]
[Mission Details: -- Lead the reassembled All-Japan U17 team into the world arena, challenge and defeat all opponents in the world arena 100%, and become the world's number one!]
[New main quest: I want to become the world's number one tennis player!]
[Mission details: Defeat all opponents.]
【-Click】
On the day of the U-17 World Cup
"——Welcome to the first match of Group B of the U-17 World Cup!"
"A fierce match is about to begin between the world's tenth-ranked Greek team and the twenty-third-ranked Japanese team!"
The extremely noisy tennis stadium was packed with spectators from all over the world who came to watch the game.
Shouts and cheers were directed towards the players entering the center of the field.
The first to enter the field is the Greek team!
The waving Greek flags triggered waves of overwhelming cheers and support.
On the other side,
JAPAN (23) Halftime,
Mifunerudo looked deeply at the seven people in front of him.
The selected [Matsu Team] will face the world's tenth-ranked Greek team in their first match. The team members are as follows:
U-17 World Cup Japan Team No.3 - Kazuya Tokugawa,
U-17 World Cup Japan Team No.6 - Shuji Taneshima,
U-17 World Cup Japan Team NO.10 - Ochi Moonlight,
U-17 World Cup Japan Team NO.14 - Yamato Yudai,
U-17 World Cup Japan Team - Shiraishi Kuranosuke (junior high school student),
U-17 World Cup Japan Team - Kirihara Akaya (second grade),
U-17 World Cup Japan Team - Yagi Kei (first grade),
Looking at the last figure who was more than a head shorter, I couldn't help myself.
Everyone's gaze shifted and paused silently.
"...Hmm, is that okay?..."
Although he did not join the seven-member team, he did not dare to take his eyes off the seven people's backs.
More precisely, they dared not leave the rear of the seven-man team.
He moved away from the mushroom head that was inexplicably shorter and looked a little funny, but he didn't dare to laugh at all.
"It should be fine... Although it was Kei who arranged it himself,"
Yukimura Seiichi thought for a moment, and finally spoke,
"So... maybe Kei has his own plans?"
“…”
"...Head Coach Yagi's plan? That's very interesting."
"JAPAN (23) VS HELLENIC REPUBLIC (10) Match——Players Enter!!"
Players from both teams entered the field together.
The audience was once again filled with cheers.
The voices shouting "Greece" and "Japan" actually competed with each other.
This was beyond the imagination of the students from various schools who came from Tokyo to support.
The first-year students of Seigakuen, Satoshi Horio, Katsuo Kato, and Katsuro Mizuno, were swept away by the sound waves.
I was a little bit overwhelmed by the increasingly loud "JAPAN" sounds everywhere.
"Eh, eh...are we really that strong?"
"——That must be because Prince Ryoma and the seniors from Seigaku are here!"
"Ah, Tomoka, is now the time to say something like that?..."
A conversation between Tomoka Kosakata and Sakuno Ryuzaki took place, but Katsuo Kato noticed something was wrong while listening.
"But, among the teams going out now... there's neither Ryoma nor the seniors from Seigaku..."
“——!!”
“——How is that possible?!”
Kosakata Tomoka and Horio Satoshi both cried out in disbelief, then glanced at the Japanese players on the field.
As expected, there really isn't a single one related to Seigaku—
The neglected former youth student, Yudai Yamato: ...Hello.
Seeing the members of the Japanese team, especially looking further back, two familiar figures and two familiar faces flashed into the field of vision.
All of a sudden - the reaction was extremely intense,
“—They appeared!! They appeared!!”
"—The two guys who fought against Volker and even managed to defeat him have appeared!!"
"He's actually playing against Greece—it looks like he's determined to win this time!!"
The endless booing and the surging waves made it difficult for people like Horio Satoshi, Kosakata Tomoka, and Ryuzaki Sakuno in the audience to adapt.
The violent noise engulfed them, and in an instant, everyone was shouting a strange name... The only familiar syllable was that of the first-year student from Rikkai University!
“…”
"No, what on earth happened..."
The U-17 Greek team also has some emotions about the current situation.
"I had suspected it, but... to think they'd field two of those guys in the first match."
"After all, we are carrying our country on our shoulders...conquering the world."
"Now that I think about it...it makes perfect sense no matter what I do."
"...In short, if something comes, we should make the best of it. If an enemy comes, we will fight him with our troops; if a flood comes, we will block it with earth."
"——This is all we can do for now."
The U-17 Greek national team reached a consensus.
And here - the U-17 Japanese team half,
The seven of them looked at each other, and although they tried their best to control themselves, their eyes still fell on Yagi Kei.
Watching Yagi Kei break away from the team,
Watching Yagi Kei sitting on the coach's chair,
Everyone has gotten used to it.
However, the opposing U-17 Greek team and the spectators on the field did not fully realize this.
"...Why did that black-haired guy from the Japanese team just sit down? Isn't he a competitor?"
Even the first-year students of Seigaku who had come all the way to support were quite confused. Horio Satoshi even spoke directly,
"Hey! Even if he's always calling the shots at Rikkai University—this is the U-17 World Championship! Is there no one to keep that brat in check?!"
Katsuo Kato and Katsuro Mizuno looked at each other and tacitly suppressed their complaints.
"Hori... no matter how much you call others brats, you're not that big of a person yourself."
Even after the players and coaches entered the field, the U-17 Japanese team remained unchanged.
It was only later that I realized that Yagi Kei's actions had undoubtedly revealed the truth of the matter.
"That little guy—is he actually the head coach of the Japanese team?!"
"How is it possible—a mere junior high school kid…"
"——But, it was this middle school student who defeated Walker!!"
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an instant of silence.
The news of Kei Yagi's single-handed victory over the U-17 champion German team has spread throughout the world, and all U-17 teams have increased their attention on him.
The record of that public exhibition match was played dozens of times in just one night.
Including this time's opponent, the Greek team.
"...Lord Zeus,"
"Let's do as we agreed, Your Highness Hercules."
"……yes."
U-17 World Cup Group Stage, Group B, Match 1, D2 Doubles 2,
The doubles players sent by the Greek team are——
Taranta Hercules and Papadopoulos Evangelos,
The two middle school students who blinked and looked like Greek sculptures full of beauty and art, but they didn't look like humans.
"... Then on our side,"
"Let's stick to the original plan..."
“…”
“…This is the only way.”
They looked at each other and became more certain of their belief.
Especially - there is pressure from the chicken-breaking cat!
Whether it is a former high school student member of the U-17 training camp base, a member of the U-17 overseas expedition team in the previous version, or a member who followed the team from junior high school to the U-17 World Championship,
“—For victory!”
"—for victory,"
"—For Kei!"
“…”
I forgot, there's also a stupid cat fan sneaking in here.
Taneshima Shuji looked at Ochi Moonlight who was about to play with a racket in hand with a complicated look. Of course, it was not because of his worry about Ochi Moonlight's ability,
As everyone had gone through the devilish special training at the U-17 training camp and the life-and-death training in the underground mines, they had long been aware of each other's strengths.
But I still can't help but worry...
"Promise me, Ochi, if that junior high school kid gets mad mid-game, you must control yourself and remember that he's your teammate, okay?"
Tanejima Shuji spoke very frankly,
Yuezhi Yueguang looked at him silently.
Then he tilted his head, his eyes, hidden by his side bangs, fixed on Kirihara Akari...
"Ahahahaha, it's finally my turn to take the stage—sooner or later, the whole world will know the charm of our Guimen!!"
"——Everyone should surrender to Kei, hahahahaha!!!"
“…”
“…”
Shuji Tanejima said nothing, but silently reached out and patted Yueguang Ochi's shoulder, which contained thousands of words.
Before the game officially begins, both coaches will give their words of encouragement.
Kirihara Akaya and Ochi Gekko stood forward with their rackets in hand. One of them stared straight at Jibaimao, while the other's gaze was erratic, with half of his face hidden by his side bangs, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Kirihara Akaya said happily, "Don't worry, Kei—I will definitely bring you victory!"
He became even happier after he said that, and even turned to look at Ochi Moonlight expectantly.
Kirihara Akaya: Watch!
Yagi Kei: Stare...
Yuezhi Moonlight:......
I feel inexplicably stressed.
“…We will win.”
——God knows, this is the most human-like words this psycho killer can say.
The player said nothing, but slowly took out the super eleventh generation comprehensive concentrated essence standard upgraded version anniversary celebration special customized Gui Juice from his backpack!
——You can go to NPC without worry, even if you die, the players will bring you back to life!
The Greek team members who were still explaining the tactics just looked up.
With a "crash", the Japanese team on the opposite side rushed directly onto the court without any hesitation or hesitation.
It was as if - if I slowed down a step, I would die on the spot!
The stadium - the stadium is what they want most now!
Come on, do it!!
Taranta Hercules and Papadopoulos Evangelos exchanged a glance, then looked at the backbone of the Greek team.
Zeus Iliopoulos,
Possessing a beauty almost comparable to that of the sun god Apollo, it is golden and shining.
In just the moment of looking into each other's eyes, I was attracted by his eyes, and endless knowledge came to me.
Just sitting there, he was the focus of the crowd and the focal point of the light.
"Come up, Your Highness Hercules, Your Highness Evangelos,"
"Bring victory back to Greece."
Zeus said so with a smile.
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