Now, Who's in Favor and Who's Against?

"Is it over? Atobe's the coolest!"

"Hey, kid, don't cry. The Captain's being a little too cruel!"

"That's it! Give him a good beating!"

"Atobe scores, 4–0!"

"Atobe scores, 5–0!"

"Atobe scores, 40–0!"

Just one last point, and Chiba Yun Chuan would lose the match!

Could it really end like this?

It was Chiba Yun Chuan's serve, but he still hadn't served to Atobe. In fact, Atobe hadn't noticed that Chiba Yun Chuan had kept his head down ever since the match began!

Atobe already had victory in the bag, so he was ready to finish Chiba Yun Chuan off with one shot!

"What's wrong, kid? I'm just one point away from beating you!

Accept the defeat I, the great Atobe, bestow upon you!

Serve up. Your defeat is already a certainty today!"

Atobe was feeling very pleased with himself. He spoke arrogantly, waiting for Chiba Yun Chuan to serve so he could deliver the decisive blow.

But after hearing Atobe's words, Chiba Yun Chuan didn't serve right away. Instead, he slowly raised his head and said,

"Is that so? Atobe, take a good look at me. Who am I?"

Hearing Chiba Yun Chuan's words, Atobe smiled and slowly looked toward him.

Chiba Yun Chuan also slowly raised his head, revealing his face.

When Atobe Keigo got a good look, his pupils contracted. To his shock, the Chiba Yun Chuan across from him looked exactly like him!

Was he hallucinating?

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness swept through his head, and his vision began to blur!

The world around him started spinning, too.

"What's going on? Why do you look exactly like me?" Atobe felt his body growing heavier by the moment.

After a brief dizzying spin, his vision began to clear.

Atobe hadn't realized that something was very different from usual!

He'd used some moves that even he didn't know, yet somehow he'd been able to pull them off!

But lost in the joy of victory, he hadn't noticed.

Atobe hadn't been Atobe ever since the match began!

More accurately, Atobe hadn't been playing a match against Chiba Yun Chuan!

"How is this possible? How is this possible? What's wrong with the Captain? How could this happen? The Captain's about to lose!

There's only one point left!" Mukahi Gakuto's trembling voice, thick with disbelief, reached Atobe's ears from the referee's chair.

At that moment, Atobe felt that the scene before him was the real one! The sun beat down fiercely, and the murmurs around him slowly reached his ears.

"The Captain's about to lose 6–0? This guy's way too strong! Is he even human?"

"Who is he? The Captain couldn't fight back at all! This is terrifying. They say the Captain's at the national level!"

"This first-year is unbelievably strong. Is Hyotei about to see a changing of the guard?!"

"Is he really a first-year?"

As he listened to the murmurs around him, Atobe's gaze slowly focused, and his mind cleared!

At once, Atobe looked across at Chiba Yun Chuan, standing with his racket in hand. Chiba Yun Chuan looked relaxed, and wasn't even out of breath.

As for Atobe, when he reached up and touched his forehead, his hand came away drenched in sweat! A wave of exhaustion washed over him, and he felt his strength slipping away!

Using his racket to support himself, Atobe spoke slowly.

"How—how is this possible? I was clearly about to beat you!" Atobe's voice was full of disbelief.

It was the first time since he'd taken up tennis that Atobe had suffered such a baffling defeat!

If not for everyone around him talking about how he was going to lose,

Atobe wouldn't have believed what he was seeing. He'd clearly beaten Chiba Yun Chuan already! How could he be the one who'd lost?

How could he possibly lose to a first-year newcomer?

The proud Atobe couldn't accept it.

"Could it be...? That's terrifying!"

Atobe seemed to have realized something. He looked at Chiba Yun Chuan, unable to believe it.

Chiba Yun Chuan was already preparing to end the match!

"Atobe, watch closely. This is the last point!" After saying that, Chiba Yun Chuan paid no attention to Atobe's reaction,

and instead tossed the tennis ball downward, caught it as it bounced up, then tossed it into the air, jumped, and swung!

Thwack!

The ball connected with the racket, and a wave of air rushed across the court toward Atobe's side. The ball moved so fast that it crossed the net in the blink of an eye.

Atobe focused all his attention, trying desperately to see the ball, but could make out only the faintest blur!

"The ball disappeared? How can it be that fast?"

"What kind of serve is that? That's insane!"

"A serve that powerful is beyond the level of middle schoolers, isn't it?"

"He's so strong! He wasn't even using his full strength before? That's terrifying!"

Everyone around the tennis club who saw Chiba Yun Chuan's serve stared wide-eyed!

They'd seen him hit the ball, but they couldn't see the ball itself.

At that moment, Shishido Ryo, Oshitari Yuushi, Akutagawa Jirou, and even Mukahi Gakuto, seated on the court as referee, couldn't see even the slightest trace of its trajectory!

"How can it be this fast? I can't see it at all."

Shishido Ryo asked gravely, "Did any of you see it?"

"No!"

The other three shook their heads.

As the referee, Mukahi was even more shaken!

He drew a sharp breath, then fixed his eyes on Chiba Yun Chuan!

Just how strong was he?

Even Atobe, with his extraordinary eyesight, could see only a faint blur of Chiba Yun Chuan's serve. There was no way the others around them could see it.

Thwack!

At last, the ball landed to Atobe's left, gouging a dent in the ground before bouncing into the net behind him. It spun for a long time before finally stopping. The court had fallen strangely silent, leaving only Atobe's breathing and the sound of the ball rolling!

The surroundings were utterly quiet. Not a person spoke!

How could Chiba Yun Chuan let this opportunity pass? He immediately said,

"I told you I'd make you all quiet down. Looks like that was easy!

"Next, I'll have you all shouting my name. That shouldn't be too hard either, right?

"This match wasn't even enough of a warm-up. Is this really the strength of Hyotei's Captain? I'm so disappointed! Referee, announce the result!"

As Chiba Yun Chuan spoke, he swept his gaze around the court, looking utterly irritating!

"I don't think anyone has any objections to me becoming the Captain of Hyotei's tennis club now, do they?

"Now then—

"Who's in favor, and who's against?"

Chiba Yun Chuan raised his racket and pointed it at all the regulars and club members around him. He swept it around once before lowering it.

Everyone he met eyes with lowered their heads!

Not one of them dared meet his gaze, even for a second!

"Ding! Show-off Value +10!

"Show-off Value +4!"

Once again, he'd racked up a wave of Show-off Value.

In fact, Chiba Yun Chuan had deliberately let Atobe wake up. Otherwise, Atobe wouldn't have been able to break free of Chiba Yun Chuan's Lost Illusion so easily!