The Best of Times

Chiba City, the capital of Chiba Prefecture.

Located on the northeastern shore of Tokyo Bay, it was an important city in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, one of Japan's three major metropolitan areas, and a major industrial port city in southeastern Honshu.

At that moment, inside the dilapidated dojo beside Chiba First Elementary School, a boy who looked about eleven or twelve, with a head of short, silver-white hair, was vigorously swinging the tennis racket in his hand.

But judging by his sweat-soaked appearance and the way the muscles in his arms and legs twitched, even the "simple" act of swinging a racket didn't seem easy for him.

"998... 999... 1,000..."

"Huff, huff..."

"I'm exhausted. Finally finished all four sets..."

Having completed that day's basic strength training, the boy panted heavily. His wrist could no longer hold on, and his hand went slack. The racket struck the packed-earth floor with a dull thud.

Half an hour later, the boy had finally recovered.

But instead of resting any longer, he struggled to his feet, pulled another, unconventional cross-stringed racket from the tennis bag nearby, and continued practicing.

This time, he worked on his strokes and ball control.

Thwack!

Thwack!

Under the boy's precise hits, the mustard-yellow tennis ball bounced steadily back and forth among more than a dozen white circles drawn on the wall, using only the cross-strings on his racket.

And unlike other players, who hit with only their dominant hand, the boy kept switching between his left and right hands, deliberately training them both.

The rapid sounds of the ball striking the wall continued through the quiet training hall.

Until—

"Thud, thud, thud..."

"Muneyoshi! Muneyoshi! Come out quickly—Uncle's back, and he's looking for you..."

Whoosh!

A hurried patter of footsteps approached, followed by the training hall door swinging open. A boy who looked almost exactly like Muneyoshi rushed inside.

Saeki Muneyoshi stopped swinging his racket and effortlessly caught the ball as it flew back with his other hand. He tucked it into his pocket, turned around, and smiled with narrowed eyes.

"Kojiro, thanks for the effort. I got it."

"Hmph. Muneyoshi, you always sneak off to practice without telling me!"

Seeing Saeki Muneyoshi drenched in sweat, Kojiro knew he must have been practicing for a long time. He immediately felt a wave of pressure.

He'd only taken a quick nap, and he'd already missed another day's training.

"Come on, come on. You were sleeping so soundly, Kojiro, so I didn't want to disturb you!"

"Let's go. Father's home, and we shouldn't keep him waiting."

Kojiro put on an expression that said he was angry, making Saeki Muneyoshi quietly chuckle to himself.

But the other boy was still just a child, and Muneyoshi had little trouble soothing him. Together, they headed out of the dojo.

As they walked, he chatted with Kojiro. Then, with a thought, a simple interface appeared in Muneyoshi's mind.

Seeing the change in the displayed stats, Saeki Muneyoshi was delighted. My strength has finally broken four. That was no easy feat!

Just as the readers might have guessed, Saeki Muneyoshi wasn't from this world, and this wasn't an ordinary world either.

In his previous life, he'd been called Zuo Si, a modern-day office drone in the Great Celestial Empire. He'd gotten used to working himself to the bone on a 996 schedule and then collapsing on his days off. He didn't have many hobbies; his only real interest was watching anime in his free time.

And perhaps because he was getting older, he was rather nostalgic.

He didn't care much for new anime. He preferred old shows, which he rewatched over and over.

Wrapped up in the grind, he'd lost his old appetite for anything new. He was content to revisit old shows and reminisce about the past.

After getting home, he saw that the latest chapter of The New Prince of Tennis, a series he'd followed for years, was out, so he immediately started reading.

It would've been better if he hadn't. The more absurd the new developments became, the less he enjoyed it.

I really want to send Konomi a knife!

Echizen Nanjirō was Spain's head coach?

What kind of nonsense was that?

Remembering how glorious the series had once been, and how far it had fallen, he felt a fire burning inside him. What had once been a clear, passionate story had turned into Xuanhuan.

Thinking about the increasingly ridiculous plot, Zuo Si thought that if he were in the manga's world, the world of tennis would be even more exciting than the manga itself.

He didn't know if Konomi had heard his thoughts and complaints, but after he stayed up all night revisiting the series, Konomi came right through the internet and killed him. (He died from staying up all night!!)

When he woke up, he found he'd transmigrated—to the world of The Prince of Tennis, where he'd become the cousin of Saeki Kojiro of Rokkaku Middle School.

Though they were cousins, he and Kojiro looked remarkably alike.

From their features, they could have been cast from the same mold. The only real difference was that Muneyoshi was a little fairer than Kojiro.

The sun was strong in Chiba. Children who lived there often went to the beach, and their skin usually tanned a healthy bronze.

Muneyoshi, on the other hand, spent most of his time training in the dojo, so he never got that healthy tan.

The Saeki family was a once-prominent kendo family, now fallen into decline. The dojo had nearly gone to ruin, and the younger members of the family had started looking for other work.

Kojiro's father had become an engineer.

Muneyoshi's father, meanwhile, had been doing exceptionally well at his company for years. And though a dying camel was still bigger than a horse, the family's connections had helped him climb the ranks and join the company's upper management. Their circumstances had improved, too.

But Saeki Muneyoshi didn't care much about any of that.

After all, this was a world of tennis. Tennis was the strongest and most popular sport here.

It was even more dominant than soccer, the most popular sport in his other world.

What's more, the rules of this world tied tennis to supernatural abilities. At the highest levels, the power of the game became astonishing.

Knowing the general plot of The Prince of Tennis, he understood that perfectly well. In Japan and across the world, tennis was now one of the most important sports, and there were countless strong players.

Yet in Japan, aside from that man twenty years ago, tennis had been in decline for years.

But Muneyoshi knew full well that Japan's best era was about to begin.

Among the famous young players of the current era were Byōdōin Hōō, Tanegashima Shūji, Irie Kanata, Ochi Gekko, and Ōmagari Ryūji...

Of course, Muneyoshi also knew of some unlucky players who'd been held back by their weak schools and still hadn't made a name for themselves at the National Tournament.

A few such unlucky players cropped up every twenty years.

Twenty years ago, it had been Echizen Nanjirō.

Seigaku's overall weakness, along with Ryūzaki Sumire's inaction, had kept him frustrated for three whole years. He'd repeatedly been outclassed by Banrō of Yamabuki, and only made a name for himself in high school.

Even so, the emergence of Echizen Nanjirō had brought Japan several years of glory.

It had also allowed Ryūzaki Sumire to keep her job as Seigaku's coach for decades. She'd certainly been blessed with lasting good fortune.

The unlucky player of the current era, of course, was Oni Jūjirō.

Though he came from Okayama Oku Middle School, he hadn't made it to the National Tournament in any of his three years—not even the regional tournament.

That was why, later, when he faced Byōdōin after joining U-17, Byōdōin didn't recognize him.

Of course, it was that very match that first brought Oni Jūjirō into the spotlight. The U-17 coaches then discovered that he was actually stronger than Byōdōin Hōō, who was famous throughout the country.

It was hard not to feel sorry for him.

It also showed just how important it was to attend a good school!

Muneyoshi and Kojiro had already graduated from Chiba First Elementary School in Chiba City. Once the new school year began in April, they would move up to middle school.

As it happened, Rokkaku Middle School in Chiba Prefecture was a pretty strong school.

It regularly competed in the Kanto Tournament and even the National Tournament, though it had never produced any especially formidable players.

But its coach, Old Man, was a prominent figure in the history of Japanese tennis.

He'd also made extraordinary progress in exploring the spiritual realm of the Different Dimension, and even Echizen Nanjirō had received his guidance.

In Japan, there was only one other person with that kind of standing: the old lady in Osaka.

"Kojiro, have you decided which middle school you're going to?"

Although he already knew the answer, Muneyoshi asked anyway.

"Of course I'm going to Rokkaku Middle School. And I'm going to lead it to the top of the National Tournament!"

Kojiro answered without hesitation. Then he looked at Saeki Muneyoshi and pressed his lips together.

"Muneyoshi, let's go together. With our skills, we can do it."

Muneyoshi smiled faintly and was about to agree, but a voice interrupted him.

"Kojiro, I'm sorry, but Muneyoshi probably won't be going to the same middle school as you."

This is a new writer's new book. I'm trying out some different styles, so please support me.