Prince of Tennis Fraudster

"【Imitation】: Orange item, one of the seven Trickster Fragments. Effect: Increases the similarity to the imitated person by 10%. Equipable in: Talents."

"hiss……"

Upon seeing the description of the fragment, Niou took a deep breath. His previously confused mind instantly cleared.

The system initially mentioned 'seven matches, seven opponents,' and he needed to discern the truth himself. Adding to the 'hidden quest' the system mentioned before, the remaining six fragments of the [Path of the Conman] quest are likely all part of that hidden quest.

These thoughts flashed through his mind. He pulled himself back to the net and shook hands with the sullen-looking Jackal.

A smile appeared on his face, and he said sincerely, "I was lucky to win one game. Let's have another one when we have time!"

"Ah."

Jackal nodded, his initial dejection dissipating somewhat. Although he had lost, he was still a starting player, but he didn't believe he had a chance to beat the person in front of him.

monster!

This is the label Jackal has given to Niou; in just over a week, he has grown to this extent. If it weren't for what happened two years ago, this guy in front of him would probably be qualified to compete with Yukimura and Sanada.

"Pity……"

He sighed inwardly, nodded to the other person, and turned to leave the stadium. Meanwhile, Niou, under the watchful eyes of the spectators, smiled and left the stadium.

Back in the locker room, he packed up the racket that had been with him for two years. Just as he was about to leave the court, a figure blocked his way.

"Kirihara?"

The newcomer was none other than Kirihara. He looked at Niou with a complicated expression, his eyes flashing. After a long while, he said, "Let's pick a time to fight!"

"Well."

The sudden challenge caught Niou somewhat off guard. He also felt a little uneasy; in the original story, Kirihara seemed far more formidable than the jackal. He himself had struggled to defeat even a jackal, so he wasn't confident he could handle Kirihara, who could potentially succumb to demonic possession at any moment.

For a moment, the two people standing in front of the door seemed to be locked in a standoff. The atmosphere became tense.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Deep Sleep

Seeing Niou hesitate, Kirihara raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when he felt a weight on his shoulder.

"Akaya!"

The deep, resonant voice made Kirihara tremble. The displeasure on his face vanished instantly, and he chuckled softly, "Ah, it's the vice-captain..."

What are you doing here?

"It's nothing, I was just chatting with Senior Niou. I'll go pack my things now..."

Kirihara chuckled and slipped into the room, while Sanada looked at Niou and said, "Don't mind him, that's just his personality."

Kirihara's little tricks couldn't escape his eyes at all.

Niou nodded, indicating that he didn't care.

Sanada handed him a pen and paper, saying, "Leave your clothing size."

Niou nodded knowingly, took the document, wrote down his measurements, and handed it to Sanada.

He knew these were the uniforms of the regular players. Although there wasn't much difference between the uniforms of Rikkai's regular players and the regular players, the latter were better made and had better attention to detail. Anyone with a discerning eye could easily tell the difference between the regular players and the non-regular players.

"That's settled then, I'll be going now."

Sanada called out and turned to leave, while Niou also left the school to go home. A while later, when Kirihara peeked out, the two were long gone.

"Damn it..."

He cursed under his breath and left the locker room.

Meanwhile, back home, Niou was assigned by his mother to teach his younger sister numbers. Five-year-old Natsumi didn't know many characters, but she was naturally intelligent and learned quickly. However, the child's mischievous nature caused Niou a lot of trouble.

After finally handing his younger sister over to his mother who had finished cooking, he ate dinner and returned to his room with a sense of relief.

Lying on the bed, Niou carefully examined the first fragment he had obtained.

"Fang? So it means to imitate?"

Upon seeing the installation prompt, Niou placed it in the Talents section. Immediately, he felt his senses were clearer than before. With a thought, he took out Sanada's baseball cap and went to the mirror.

He smoothed his hair, put on his hat, and activated the 'Imitation' character fragment, mimicking Sanada's tone as he said, "Too lax!"

His voice was deep and resonant, carrying an air of authority that he hadn't possessed before when imitating others. It was at least seven or eight parts similar, which startled even Niou himself.

Is this the function of the word 'imitate'?

But looking at the annotations above, Niou frowned again. Being able to imitate the behavior of others is indeed impressive, and can have a surprising effect when necessary, but it doesn't seem to be enough if it's just appearance and tone of voice.

"It can increase the similarity of the imitated person by 10%? System, this 10% doesn't just refer to appearance, right?"

The system's answer made Renwang's lips curl up: "That should be the case, but the specific effects will require the host to try it out personally."

Again, it's a selective answer with a vague concept.

Renwang had a vague feeling that the system was still somewhat imperfect. But this was just his intuition; after all, his rapid growth was largely due to the system's assistance.

With a change of heart, he looked at the two cards he had just received, selected [Quick Shot], and entered the virtual space.

3D modeling, unfolds instantly.

In the blink of an eye, the pitch-black space where Niou was located transformed into a standard tennis court. Opposite him, a coach wearing a light-colored T-shirt was appraising him: "Not bad, you've improved quickly!"

"You're going to learn the skill [Volley] today, right?"

Niou nodded and said, "Yes."

This simulated coach was so realistic and human-like that it felt very familiar to Niou. Therefore, he held this simulated coach in high esteem.

The coach nodded and said, "A volley is a type of return shot, and it's an excellent way for net players to deal with their opponents. To master it, you must understand footwork, timing, and the power of the return shot..."

The virtual coach explained the basics in detail, and Niou listened with great interest. He couldn't help it; his foundation was too weak, and everything he heard seemed new and exciting. Moreover, the virtual coach's words were easy to understand, and the short half-hour explanation benefited him immensely.

After the theory is taught, the rest is practical training.

With the virtual coach constantly dropping balls, Niou's familiarity with volleys improved rapidly.

About ten minutes later, he was able to fully grasp the concept.

"Ding!"

"Congratulations, host, on mastering the white skill [Interception]!"

After mastering the skill, he practiced for another hour, but just as he started to feel bored, his practice time ended.

However, after glancing at the actual time, he realized it was only 9:30, so Niou opened the blue topspin serve advanced card again.

"use!"

With a sudden thought, he felt his mind go blank. Then, something obscure and profound came rushing in.

"what's the situation?"

Taken aback, Renou felt dizzy, as if his brain had been squeezed open. However, along with the dizziness, his mind was suddenly filled with a wealth of knowledge that he had previously felt unable to comprehend.

The key points of the serve, the range of the swing, and the timing of the technique.

"Ding!"

"Congratulations, host, your skill has advanced. Current status: External Promotion Serve Lv6 [Blue]".

In an instant, it jumped seven ranks.

Skill levels are as follows: white is level 3, blue is level 6, purple and above are level 9, and only black, which is the other dimension, is level 10.

Feeling that his abilities had improved again, Niou had an urge to try it out, but absorbing knowledge so violently almost overloaded his brain, and drowsiness kept creeping in.

"That's right!"

Renwang, who had been frowning, suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He lay back on the bed, closed his eyes, and activated his special reality skill, [Deep Sleep]. Instantly, an endless starry sky appeared before him, spinning and spinning...

"call!"

When Niou opened his eyes again, he found it was only midnight. That is to say, he had only slept for about three hours. But he felt that his mental energy was very abundant, and he had inexhaustible energy.

"This thing is simply a divine skill."

Energetic Renwang checked his points: 2900. A thought struck him, and he summoned the lottery interface, drawing twice in a row, both times receiving ordinary white basic skills.

He didn't care; he just wanted to build a solid foundation so he could go further in the future.

He opened one of the skill cards and began training again.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: May

Kanagawa, Tatekai Dai.

April, which passes in the blink of an eye, leaves behind traces of decay and withering cherry blossoms in a corner of the campus.

A gentle sea breeze carried the warm, moist air that refreshed everyone's faces. In the afternoon, the team members gathered in small groups, and freshmen, taking advantage of the absence of the regulars, frequently tried to get past the first-year players on the court.

boom!

boom!

Tennis balls flew back and forth, and laughter echoed throughout the court.

"It's so good to be young!"

Wearing a Rikkai starting team uniform and sporting red hair, Marui blew bubble gum and remarked with emotion.

"cut!"

Behind him, Kirihara, with his hands behind his head, curled his lip and said, "Senpai, you're only 14 years old, aren't you?"

"No, no, no!"

Upon hearing this, Marui turned to Kirihara, held up one finger, and shook it. He laughed and said, "I'm already 15 years old!"

That's right, April 20th, which just passed, was Marui's 15th birthday. Seeing Kirihara's twitching lips, Marui stepped forward and expertly ruffled his sparse hair.

"S-Senior...I know I was wrong!"

Kirihara begged for mercy repeatedly, but Marui wouldn't let it go. The two of them wrestled and played around, making the jackal next to them smile wryly.

tread!

In the distance, faint footsteps approached. The jackal instinctively turned around, but froze.

Nioh!

The young man with silver-blue hair and fox-like eyes, carrying a black tennis bag, hands in his pockets, humming an unknown tune, was none other than Niou Masaharu, who had defeated him twenty days ago.