Stamina Depleted

When Wang Chao got serious, he was downright terrifying. Across the entire match, all eleven points, there was not a single mistake to be seen, nor any fluctuation in his form.

He was like an iron wall that Zhou Bo could not break through, no matter what method he used.

He was also like a sharp blade. With the slightest thrust, he pierced through Zhou Bo's defenses.

The coach could not help growing curious. If Wang Chao in this kind of form faced Wu Li, who would win?

He pondered it for a long, long time, but in the end still felt that Wu Li would win.

Wang Chao's attacks were precise in placement, but they were not particularly powerful, and their speed was limited as well. The coach believed that attacks of this level would not be enough to break through Wu Li.

The second game began.

There was no surprise whatsoever. It still ended within five minutes, still 11:0.

The only difference was that Zhou Bo had received just five serves this time, because he had served first in this game.

Before he could receive a sixth serve, the game was over.

"Th-that's terrifying..." Zhou Bo's face went pale.

He had dreams, which was why he wanted to see Wang Chao's true strength. But now, he suddenly regretted it.

He was afraid he would lose the confidence to keep playing.

He vaguely remembered that when he had first joined the team half a year ago, he had spent half a month as Wu Li's practice partner. Every day had been a daze, worse than death. He could not win more than a few points all day. That despair from back then seemed somewhat similar to how he felt now.

He looked up at the coach. "Coach, I..."

A trace of pity flashed through the coach's eyes. Rarely, he became gentle and proactively said, "If you really can't win, you can concede."

Wang Chao was stunned.

For Wang Chao, this internal round-robin among Jiangcheng City's main squad was not all that different from the round-robin among the substitutes.

Although his opponents were clearly a tier stronger, one had to remember that his own strength and stamina had improved even more.

After nearly two weeks of self-torturing training, Wang Chao's stamina was now enough to support him through an entire day's matches, even allowing him to trade rallies with his opponents during games.

As long as he did not overdo it.

Thus, by the end of the morning, Wang Chao had completed nine matches and won every one of them, all by clean 4:0 scores.

The only two goose eggs had both been given to Zhou Bo.

Against everyone else, Wang Chao played relatively relaxed and was not as meticulous. So he always lost two or three points in each game, more or less. Sometimes it was due to a miscalculation, sometimes due to his form, and sometimes because he handled the ball rather casually.

In short, unless his opponent specifically requested it, he did not want to calculate everything too seriously. It was genuinely exhausting.

His opponents included bottom-ranked players like Li Shaoqin, as well as middle-tier players like Xiao Ping and Xiao Jian. Yet he had not faced any of the six players universally acknowledged as the strongest on the team.

When lunch arrived, he met Jiang Shan in the cafeteria. After comparing notes, they discovered something suspicious.

"I played seven matches, won five and lost two. It practically exhausted me! The main squad really is much stronger than the substitutes!"

Jiang Shan lamented, "Everyone I faced this morning was ranked near the bottom in the last round-robin, and it was still this hard. My afternoon opponents are only going to get stronger and stronger. What am I supposed to do?"

Wang Chao frowned. "They were all low-ranked?"

Jiang Shan nodded, then also sensed something was off. "Bro, don't tell me you had the same lineup?"

Wang Chao nodded.

The two stared at each other, both faintly catching a glimpse of Comrade Luo's particular brand of wicked amusement.

Could it be that the head coach wanted these two newcomers to play through a gauntlet this time, starting easy and clearing one stage after another?

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye, and the afternoon matches continued.

Just as Wang Chao had expected, his opponents kept getting stronger. Moreover, he could clearly feel that starting with his third afternoon opponent, the quality of play took a qualitative leap.

By rough calculation, there were three people left whom he had not played yet. That meant this person should have ranked fourth in the previous round-robin.

"Wang Chao, I watched two of your matches this morning. You really are strong!" the man said seriously. "But I still believe that I will be the one who wins today!"

Wang Chao's previously languid mood immediately tightened.

In his view, the core meaning of those words was actually the same as what Zhou Bo had said that morning.

They both wanted him to play seriously.

Thus, the scorekeeping coach witnessed another slaughter.

From 1:0 all the way to 6:0, Wang Chao's opponent displayed an extremely strong fighting spirit. Wang Chao served four times. On the first serve, his opponent tried to play it safe, only for Wang Chao to seize the attack and score.

So on the second serve, his opponent chose to attack first, only to make an error and lose the point.

When Wang Chao served for the third time, his opponent directly sent a long backhand shot to the baseline, trying to create an opening by catching Wang Chao too late to recover. Instead, Wang Chao showed off a Penhold Backhand Loop.

So when Wang Chao served the fourth ball, his opponent simply positioned himself early and forcibly predicted that Wang Chao would serve long to the baseline. This time, he guessed correctly.

He did not hesitate to launch an attack, then entered a rally with Wang Chao and seized tremendous initiative. Unfortunately, after eleven consecutive loops under those circumstances, he finally made an error.

The moment he lost that point, his momentum abruptly collapsed.

This was actually somewhat similar to when Wang Chao had dealt with Li Shaoqin.

Although table tennis was played at a fast, flat pace, the greatest test of one's fundamentals was head-on rallying. And what most easily stirred up emotion and momentum was also head-on rallying.

His opponent had lost the head-on rally, and had done so despite holding every advantage. That kind of blow was fatal.

It made him feel as though Wang Chao were a mountain, impossible to break through no matter how hard he looped, and left him sinking into a helpless despair.

Therefore, after 6:0, the match rapidly spiraled downhill, reaching the finish line of 11:0 in just two minutes.

This was the third clean sweep Wang Chao had handed out that day.

Then came the second game. His opponent put up a feeble, last-ditch struggle, but Wang Chao still dealt him another 11:0.

With that, the man tied Zhou Bo's humiliating record from the morning.

"Do you want to concede?" Wang Chao kindly reminded him. "If you really have no confidence, you can concede."

"How could I?"

The opponent's dejected mood actually seemed to lift after hearing those words. His voice was loud, as if he were trying to encourage himself. "Wang Chao, I can tell! Your stamina is running out. You're definitely just pretending to be calm, aren't you?"

Wang Chao smiled. "You're overthinking it."

"No, I'm not! You deliberately beat me this badly because you want me to concede voluntarily, so you can conserve your stamina, right?"

The man burst into laughter. "Come on, come on, let's battle for another three hundred rounds! Even if I don't win a single point, I'll drag this out until you're completely spent!"

Wang Chao wanted to curse.

This was bad!

He had actually seen through him...

Fine. Since you're so smart, I might have to hit even harder...

Wang Chao ultimately defeated his third afternoon opponent 4:0, then defeated his fourth opponent 4:0 as well, but by then he was nearly done for.

The morning matches had ultimately drained too much of his stamina. The short two-hour break at noon could not restore him to full condition; at most, it merely eased things somewhat.

Besides, the weight of three morning opponents did not equal that of even one afternoon opponent.

So by the time he reached the second-to-last match, Wang Chao faintly sensed something ominous.

He had not even faced the final "Great Demon King," Wu Li, yet his stamina already seemed unable to hold up?

He could only smile bitterly. He had still been schemed against by Old Luo after all.

If he had faced the strong opponents first and the weak ones later, he believed that even with his stamina depleted, he would still have had a chance to win them all.

But... easy first, difficult later?

That route should have benefited Jiang Shan, allowing him to gradually adapt to the pressure of stronger opponents.

But for Wang Chao, it was a dead end.

"What exactly is Old Luo thinking?" Wang Chao was a little confused. "Doesn't he want to see me play Wu Li?"

He put away his thoughts and gave his second-to-last opponent a deep look, making one final effort. "If you don't want to get clean-swept, you can concede directly."

Liu Heng, standing on the other side of the table, laughed loudly. "Wang Chao, who are you trying to fool? You're already at the end of your rope. Do you really think I can't tell? This time, let me be the one to clean-sweep you!"

Helpless, Wang Chao wiped away the sweat streaming endlessly down his face with his sleeve and gritted his teeth. "Come on."

Thanks to "Book Friend 20170218173727105," "Wind Bamboo Rain Bamboo," and "Du San Shui De" for the monthly tickets.