Chaos - Other Dimension?!
An other dimension!
Even at the U-17 training camp, only a handful of people had mastered one. I never expected the system to reward me with one outright!
And just from the name, it sounded impressive. I thought there was one like this in the system shop, worth ten million! Though I think the name was different.
Chiba Yun Chuan looked at the word "Beginner" next to the reward, unsure what it meant.
Whatever. As long as it was an other dimension, that was good enough.
Then again, getting one at all was already great. He probably couldn't afford any of the ones in the system shop anyway.
He'd make do!
Just thinking about an other dimension made Chiba Yun Chuan resolve to reach the National Tournament!
With Hyotei Academy's current strength, reaching the National Tournament would be a real challenge! After all, he was the only one on the team who was certain to win.
Even Atobe had a chance of losing!
If they ran into Rikkai in the first round of the Kanto Tournament, Hyotei's chances of winning with its current lineup would be almost zero!
So Chiba Yun Chuan decided he had to do something about it! His mind began turning over possible plans.
Meanwhile,
at Echizen Nanjirou's home,
on the tennis court in the backyard,
Ryuzaki Sumire sat on the ground with Nanjirou.
Nanjirou was being unusually serious today. He wasn't acting as laid-back as he usually did.
"Nanjirou, time sure flies. I've grown old, and you've stopped playing tennis!" Those were Ryuzaki Sumire's first words to him.
"You nagging old woman. You were this annoying when we were in school, and you're still the same now! If you have something to say, just say it!" Nanjirou sounded impatient.
"You still have no patience, just like when you were young!
"I came here to talk to you about something. Your son, Echizen Ryoma, will start middle school next year. Let him attend Seigaku!" At Ryuzaki Sumire's words, Nanjirou fell silent for a few seconds before replying,
"No. He won't be going to Seigaku."
Ryuzaki Sumire was taken aback by his answer!
"Why not? You know what I'm capable of, Nanjirou. Ryoma would get the best coaching at Seigaku!
"With his talent, he'll become another Seigaku legend, just like you were!
"If he comes to Seigaku and spends a year building his fundamentals, he'll surely become one of the team's key regulars in his second year.
"I never agreed with you sending him to America to compete. This is the crucial time for him to build his fundamentals, not go around playing matches! It won't do him any good!"
Nanjirou looked at Ryuzaki Sumire and slowly pulled a cigarette from his pocket.
Click! He lit it.
Whooo...
He took a deep drag and spoke slowly.
"Build his fundamentals?
"You nagging old woman, don't you think your thinking is too outdated? Ryoma and his older brother, Ryoga, both have incredible talent for tennis.
"Their fundamentals are already stronger than those of kids their age!"
Ryuzaki Sumire furrowed her brow at Nanjirou's words.
"Nanjirou, I hope you'll think this through. First-years really should build a solid foundation. Across the country, only Seigaku puts so much emphasis on first-years' fundamentals!"
"Old woman, you still don't get it.
"How many first-year kids were on last year's National Tournament champions? How many first-years did Hyotei have when they beat Seigaku last year? Haven't you noticed? You're still stuck on the idea that first-years don't need to compete and should only work on their fundamentals? Times are changing!"
Nanjirou knew Ryuzaki Sumire still had an outdated view of first-years. For a coach, that was a serious mistake. He was trying to make her see reason.
But Ryuzaki Sumire wouldn't listen, and her expression darkened!
"Nanjirou, don't you want your own son to join the school you once attended? You're Seigaku's pride! You and I built Seigaku's success together. Don't you feel any attachment to the place?"
Nanjirou took another deep drag from his cigarette, then stubbed it out.
"Old woman, times have changed. You can't keep wasting a first-year's time on so-called fundamentals training. A year of training might make them stronger, but playing tennis is like going to war!
"You only improve through real matches. For beginners, one match can do more than a whole week of training!
"If Seigaku doesn't change, it'll only keep declining. Hoping for good results again would be nothing but a pipe dream!"
"But..." Ryuzaki Sumire seemed to have something to say.
Nanjirou's words stung, but he ignored her and continued,
"You've been coaching Seigaku all this time. Have you really never reflected on yourself?
"Just like Ryoga before him, I won't let my son waste a year of his life!"
Hearing Nanjirou's words, Ryuzaki Sumire couldn't stay any longer.
She got to her feet and stormed off, her face full of anger!
She was upset not only because Nanjirou had refused to let Ryoma join Seigaku, but also because Nanjirou had criticized her. She couldn't accept that!
After all, Nanjirou had gone through the same system himself, and he had achieved so much.
Nanjirou had always been her pride—a source of pride she could never let go of!
Nanjirou made no attempt to stop Ryuzaki Sumire as she left.
Instead, he picked up the cat teaser beside him and slowly dangled it in front of the sleeping Karupin.
"Meowww..."
"Karupin, what are you doing?!"
Chiba Yun Chuan was now analyzing the strengths of the various schools based on the information in his mind.
He was also trying to figure out how to deal with them.
First was last year's National Tournament champion, Rikkai Dai Fuzhong!
Rikkai, who had beaten Oshitari to claim the championship, was certainly no ordinary team!
If things followed the anime's plot, Rikkai would win the championship again this year, securing back-to-back National Tournament titles! And Hyotei would lose to Rikkai this year, too.
Rikkai's strongest players were their singles players. He could handle Yukimura, but with Atobe's current abilities, he had no chance against Sanada. There was also Yanagi Renji, and Hyotei had no one who could take him on! And there was no need to even mention their doubles!
Looking at it that way, defeat was inevitable!
Then there was Oshitari. Even though his overall strength had dropped by more than a level after third-years like Byodoin entered high school, he still had plenty of strong players!
Luckily, there were still several months left. There was time to turn things around!
He checked the system again.
The only thing that had changed was his Show-off Value, and even that hadn't gone up by much. He'd shown off so hard yesterday, yet it had only increased by a little over two hundred. That showed just how hard it was to earn Show-off Value!
By then, Hana had finished training. Chiba Yun Chuan picked up a towel from the rack nearby and walked over to her.
"How are you feeling? Have you recovered?" he asked as he handed her the towel.
Chiba Yun Chuan was completely different around Hana and her family than he was around everyone else. The arrogance he showed at the Hyotei tennis club was nowhere to be seen.
Before you continue