Listen Up! My Name is Keigo Atobe!

Hyotei Academy Auditorium.

This was the auditorium that the Atobe Group had renovated during spring break. In addition to the auditorium, some classrooms, the cafeteria, and tennis equipment had also undergone a degree of renovation.

Even though those things had already been replaced two or three years ago...

Deep pockets were perfectly embodied at this moment.

Inside the auditorium, this year's freshmen were all neatly seated, awaiting the school principal's speech.

"Is that Keigo Atobe?!"

Kamikawa looked at a young man wearing the Hyotei Academy uniform. His purple-gray hair was parted in the middle, fanning out to both sides, with the ends slightly curled. Despite his youthful appearance, he carried an air of arrogance as he strode towards the podium and grabbed the microphone in the center of the stage. (The manga depicted him with blonde hair; the anime version is the primary reference.)

Everyone in the audience turned their gaze to him. Even the second and third-year students watched the young man on stage, whose demeanor and actions exuded aristocratic elegance.

"Listen up, my name is Keigo Atobe. From today onwards, I am the King of this Hyotei Academy."

"Hyotei Academy is a school with first-class teachers and first-class facilities. How you utilize and create your experience here is up to each individual. Seize your fulfilling school life with your own hands and enjoy every day at Hyotei Academy with peace of mind."

Such arrogant words, if spoken by any other freshman representative, would have been met with immediate reprimand.

But Atobe was not interrupted. The school leaders sitting in the front row glanced at each other. No matter how displeased they looked, they did not speak up to cut Atobe's speech short.

They knew better than anyone the importance of Atobe to Hyotei Academy. As long as he didn't do anything outrageous, they would let him have his way with such trivial matters.

After all, a significant reason why Hyotei Academy received that investment this year was because the young master of the Atobe family wanted to attend Hyotei Academy.

With the financial power of the Atobe Group, any school would instantly be transformed into a true elite institution. Never doubt the financial capabilities of the Atobe family.

"Keigo Atobe, what a charismatic individual."

Kamikawa turned his head to look at Tezuka beside him and asked, "What do you think, Tezuka?"

"Mm."

Tezuka was taken aback. Clearly, he wasn't the type to seek the spotlight.

However, he didn't dislike such people either.

In other words, with someone like this around, his days at Hyotei would be more comfortable, wouldn't they?

The opening ceremony soon concluded.

Kamikawa was almost falling asleep listening to the subsequent, predictable topics.

The next part of the day was free time for the freshmen, and also the time for upperclassmen to hand out flyers and promote their clubs.

For any junior high school, clubs were an indispensable part. Japan placed great importance on them, and the variety of clubs left Kamikawa dazzled.

There were photography clubs, anime clubs, badminton clubs, volleyball clubs, table tennis clubs, and so on. Kamikawa even spotted a table tennis club and took Tezuka to the table tennis room.

The facilities here were quite complete, with a total of five basic tables. Besides that, the upperclassmen who weren't out handing out flyers were also actively preparing.

"You..."

Tezuka looked at Kamikawa with some surprise. "Since when did you like table tennis?"

"Table tennis is also known as ping pong. I occasionally watch it."

Kamikawa shrugged. He had been interested in table tennis in his previous life, but his lack of ball sense meant his talent for racket sports wasn't high.

Even after trying his best for five years, he wasn't as good as the kid next door who learned in a month.

"We should also go and report to the tennis club."

Tezuka, apart from tennis, had little interest in other clubs.

Of course, he would linger for a couple of seconds in history-related clubs. Tezuka was rather mature and enjoyed reading books like world history. In his free time, besides tennis, the only things that could occupy him were countless books.

Occasionally, his grandfather would call him out to go fishing, which was one of Tezuka's few hobbies.

This year, due to Gekko Ochi's performance last year, the Hyotei tennis club was exceptionally lively, as it was one of the few tennis powerhouses that had advanced to the National Tournament.

During the two years Gekko Ochi served as captain, he led Hyotei to the National Tournament consecutively, reaching the quarterfinals one year and the semifinals the next. Last year, solely on Gekko Ochi's strength, they advanced to the semifinals of the National Tournament.

Other sports clubs at Hyotei, such as the soccer club, basketball club, track and field club, and volleyball club, had also achieved good results, but they were slightly inferior compared to the tennis club.

"Hyotei has so many people signing up for the tennis club!"

Kamikawa did a preliminary scan and estimated about one to two hundred people. Considering that only about a thousand students were admitted this year, this accounted for one-tenth or even one-fifth of the student body.

Some clubs couldn't even attract a fraction of the students that the tennis club did.

"Yeah."

Tezuka nodded, also surprised by the number of applicants.

Even when he was at Seigaku Daiichi Elementary School, he had never seen so many tennis enthusiasts. The renowned clubs in Seigaku didn't have this many applicants each year.

If Tezuka were to go to Seigaku, the number of applicants for the Seigaku tennis club wouldn't be higher than what he saw now.

"With this scale, perhaps only Rikkai Dai Fuzhong in Kanagawa Prefecture, Shishiraku Junior High in Kyushu, and Makino Fuji Academy in Kansai can compare."

Rikkai Dai, Shishiraku Junior High, and Makino Fuji were all tennis powerhouses that reached the semifinals of the National Tournament last year.

This year, they would naturally attract more tennis enthusiasts.

Even the beginners would join the tennis club out of admiration.

This is the so-called "strong player effect."

"That's..."

Tezuka suddenly saw something.

Kamikawa followed Tezuka's gaze and looked over as well.

He saw a group of second and third-year students in Hyotei's official tennis team uniforms walking over slowly, the corners of their mouths slightly upturned, exuding an air of arrogance.

"Those are the seniors who reached the top four in the National Tournament last year!"

"They're so strong~ Just looking at their aura, they feel terrifyingly powerful~"

"Yeah, yeah, especially the one in the middle. Could he be Ochi-senpai, who led Hyotei Academy to the top four in the National Tournament last year?"

"...Idiot, Ochi-senpai moved up to high school this year. That senior probably isn't him..."

"..."

The first-year students queuing outside the tennis club to register were whispering amongst themselves.

They had joined the tennis club with dreams of dominating the nation.

"Ochi-senpai~ I will definitely inherit your legacy and lead Hyotei to the nationals once more."

The boy at the front was named Mitsuya Genko.

A "Vice-Captain" tag was clearly displayed on his chest. He was the vice-captain of Hyotei Academy's tennis club last year. Since Gekko Ochi had moved up, he was supposed to become the "Captain," but he hadn't changed his tag yet.

Rather than saying he hadn't changed it, it was more accurate to say he had never received recognition from Gekko Ochi, nor from the tennis club's coach, which was why he was still wearing the "Vice-Captain" tag.

And his black hair had been dyed gray to follow the former captain, even sporting a touch of red at the tips in a rather imitative fashion.