I'm in NetKing, and I have a tennis mini-game

Chapter 420: First Match, Japan vs. Greece

That afternoon.

The warm-up matches for all 32 teams have ended.

Players from various countries quickly began training for the group stage which will begin tomorrow.

The Japanese team is no exception.

After the three teams finished selecting their members, Ishikawa, Byodoin, and Oni took their respective members to the hotel's special training room and began training.

Especially Ishikawa.

The three Kurobe members noticed that the other party seemed to have a complete training plan in his hand.

Byodoin Temple and the demons are no less impressive.

These three people are very ambitious, but at the same time, they are not the kind of frivolous and reckless people. Their ambitions are completely based on their strong strength.

What made the three Kurobe people feel more at ease was that each of the three team leaders was an extremely mature and independent-minded person, and they did not need to worry about anything at all.

That night.

The three teams left from different rooms.

Mitsuya, who was in charge of recording the data, clearly felt that although these people looked tired, their eyes were full of sharpness.

I can tell.

These selected players are also full of enthusiasm for the World Cup which starts tomorrow.

The next day.

Around eight o'clock in the morning.

As all participating teams gathered, they headed to the competition venue under the leadership of their respective head coaches.

East District Court No. 9.

Compared to the No. 1 court in the central area yesterday, the scale here is obviously smaller. The open-air court, and the steps of the surrounding stands, are divided by chairs of different colors.

Although it was an open-air environment, it was very clean. Except for the underside of the chairs, which had not very obvious traces of rain washing, there was no difference between other places and indoor venues.

Boom!
At this time.

The iron gate at the entrance opened.

Then, a group of teenagers wearing blue and white jackets, led by a boy with curly and fluffy hair and sunny and handsome looks, walked to the edge of the court.

"They're coming!"

In the stands, the fans of the Greek team suddenly became excited. In the center of the stands, some people even excitedly raised the Greek flag and waved it vigorously.

"Greece!"

"Greece!"

"Greece!"

Suddenly.

As if they had rehearsed it long ago, the audience excitedly shouted out the slogan of the Greek team. Everyone looked at the representatives of their own team with anticipation.

“Are those our fans?”

In the Greek team, a tall young man shielded his eyes from the sun with his hands, with a smile on his face: "Not bad, these guys deserve a response from me, Apollo Stephanopoulos."

talking.

The young man raised his left hand and bowed gently towards the audience very gracefully.

"Okay, Apollo."

Next to Apollo, another boy who looked exactly like him said in a deep voice: "Don't get too complacent, those guys are coming."

Ok?
Hear the words.

The boy named Apollo looked up at the open iron gate on the other side. He saw a young man with fiery red hair and a fierce face leading a group of teenagers wearing red and black coats, entering one after another.

"cut!"

Seeing this, Apollo curled his lips in disdain and waved his hand, saying, "It's just a team ranked outside the top 20. There are no players worth paying attention to."

"You're wrong about that."

Suddenly, the leader of the Greek team turned around and shook his head at him, saying, "In yesterday's warm-up match, the Japanese team defeated the German team with three consecutive wins. They are no longer unknown."

Zeus Iliopoulos.

15 years old (grade 1).

The Greek team was responsible for dealing with the main player of the Japanese team in the group stage, and he was also the leader of the entire Greek team.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Hearing Zeus' words, Apollo's eyes widened suddenly, and he said in disbelief: "Japan has won three consecutive games. Germany?!"

He could understand each word individually, but when they were put together, he couldn't understand them at all.

That's the German team, not some random team.

Three consecutive wins?
No matter how you look at it, it seems like a fairy tale.

"This is a fact."

At this time, the boy named Orion Stephanopoulos, who looked exactly like Apollo, said, "This matter has spread like wildfire among all the U17s."

“It’s actually true?”

Apollo stared at his opponent with eyes wide open, looking at him in disbelief. In an instant, the disdain on his face completely disappeared, replaced by an extremely strong look of fear.

"That's true, but."

At this time, a slender young man with a gentle appearance said: "The good news is that none of the players who played against the German team yesterday are here."

“It’s really good news.”

The main general Zeus smiled and said: "However, no matter who the opponent is, I hope everyone will give their best and complete the next game to their heart's content."

"understood."

Everyone nodded.

No one was dissatisfied with this baby-faced boy who was full of the sunny atmosphere of a boy next door. On the contrary, everyone was very excited to appear on the stage with Zeus.

For the sake of victory and for their commander, almost everyone was prepared to risk their lives.

"The opponent is the Greek team!"

Entering the stadium, Niou, with his long silver-blue hair, uttered strange syllables, with a gleam of brilliance in his eyes.

"Yes."

Liu, who served as a staff officer and was also selected as one of the 14 junior high school representatives, nodded and said, "Looking at their lineup, they should be the best of the best. If I'm not mistaken, they should have given up the game against the Swiss team."

“A wise choice.”

Oshitari beside him nodded and said.

If he were the head coach of the Greek team, and had to choose between the super dark horse and the world's second, he would definitely pay more attention to the latter.

Therefore, the Greek team's tactics are also very simple.

Because of the four-to-two rule, as long as they get second place in the group in total points, they will be able to advance to the next round.

In other words.

The Greek team can completely give up the match with the Swiss team and concentrate their elite forces on dealing with the Japanese and Australian teams.

“I just didn’t expect that it would be their team leader who led the team.”

Liu raised his head and looked towards the direction of the Greek team. The boy with a baby face and extraordinary temperament said: "Although Zeus is only a freshman in high school, his fame in Europe is already close to that of the big 4's main players."

"Yes."

Kimijima nodded and said, "In the next World Cup, he will definitely participate as a professional player. At that time, the Greek team will probably become the most popular seeded team outside of the big four."

“Is he only in the first year of high school?”

Hara Tetsuya, who was also in the first year of high school, said in amazement: "As expected, Europe is a region full of talented people. A player like this would definitely be a figure who could sweep an era in Japan, right?"

“Maybe in the past.”

The ghost who served as the team leader suddenly spoke.

Hearing this, everyone was stunned, and then they all looked at each other in surprise. Especially the junior high school students in the team, in their impression, ghosts have always been serious, even fierce and serious.

I didn't expect the other party to say such a thing.

"It's clear that the other team thinks we are a pushover." At this time, Irie, who was wearing round-framed glasses, raised his glasses and said with a smile, "I just don't know how strong the Greek team, which ranks tenth in the world, is."

Hear the words.

The others also became excited.

They raised their heads and looked at the Greek team representatives with fierce eyes.

"Next, the World Cup group stage is about to begin, with the match between Greece and Japan in Group B."

The radio sounded.

Oni and Zeus, each with their own team, walked onto the field. The two captains came out and shook hands with each other.

"Well!"

Despite the language barrier.

But both sides felt each other's extremely extraordinary temperament.

"interesting."

After releasing his hand, Zeus's eyes flashed with surprise: "I didn't expect that in addition to Ishikawa Shin, there is another character in the Japanese team that I can't see through."

In the European community, Zeus was extremely famous, not only because of his great strength, but also because of his special ability of "omniscience and omnipotence".

He was able to see through his opponent's inner thoughts through meticulous observation. Many times, other players could not hide any secrets in front of him.

but.

When Zeus faced the ghost, he felt an extremely heavy and terrifying aura like the abyss of purgatory from this ferocious-looking opponent.

"Onii-Jujiro?"

Zeus secretly wrote down the name of his opponent: "It seems that the Japanese team is much stronger than it appears!"

“As expected, he is Europe’s new superstar.”

The ghost also felt a little pressure on Zeus.

The other person's gaze seemed calm, even a little friendly. But in fact, it was as sharp as a blade, able to cut open people's hearts.

If the ghost was not so calm and resolute, he would have been shaken by the other party's gaze.

then.

Under the surprised gazes of their respective teammates, the two men nodded to each other and then left the court.

"How about it?"

The slender young man Vulcan Laerceu, who served as the Greek team's advisor, asked, "Lord Zeus, can you tell what the other commander is thinking?"

"Sorry to disappoint you."

Zeus shook his head and said, "The opponent is not an ordinary player. Although the players of this Japanese team are all unfamiliar faces, my intuition tells me that they are very strong. You must not take it lightly."

"Well."

Zeus' words shocked everyone.

"Don't worry, Lord Zeus."

At this time, a handsome boy with curly hair walked to the side of the court confidently: "We will definitely not let you down in this game."

tread!
His voice fell.

A tall young man with a beard walked behind him, and a faint silver-white light emanated from his body.

"Leave the game to us!"

"Now, the Doubles 2 match is about to begin."

"Greece's representatives, Taranta Hercules (3rd year of high school) and Papadopoulos Evangelos (3rd year of junior high school), versus Japan's representatives, Kimijima Ikuto (3rd year of high school) and Niou Masaharu (3rd year of junior high school)!"

"Please prepare both players."

The radio voice fell.

From the Japanese team, a young man with long flaxen hair and glasses, and another handsome young man with silver-blue hair, walked into the court one after the other.

"Kimijima and Niou?"

In the rest area not far away, someone showed a surprised expression.

"Kimijima is calm, Niou is sharp."

Zhongdao smiled and said, "This pairing is quite good as a stepping stone for the first game."

Everyone nodded.

Facing the world's tenth-ranked Greek team, Oni's arrangement was indeed a safe one. Both Kimijima and Nioh were characters that could make people feel at ease.

soon.

Both sides stepped into the stadium.

Because of the language barrier, the two sides did not communicate much. After the referee tossed a coin to guess the side, the serve was officially determined.

"The match will be decided in one set."

"In the first game, the Greek team's representative, Taranta Hercules, serves, and the game ends!"

On a high chair.

The referee looked towards the bearded young man in the corner.

“Is this guy really a high school student?”

Seeing Hercules' appearance, Hiyoshi in the stands couldn't help but complain.

The exact opposite of Zeus.

Hercules looks so old that even Byodoin and the demons pale in comparison to him.

If you didn't know him, you would think he was a retired professional player pretending to be a player of the Greek team because of his full beard.

Snapped!
Snapped!
Snapped!
Under everyone's gaze, Hercules bent down calmly and gently hit the tennis ball.

It seemed as if everything in the outside world did not exist at all to him.

call!
Sudden.

He threw the tennis ball up, stretched his arms quickly, locked his eyes on the tennis ball in mid-air, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes: "Let's use this ball to open the situation!"

Bang!
There was a crisp sound.

The tennis ball was hit hard by him.

The speed was so fast that many spectators could only see a trace of afterimage. However, Kimijima reacted quickly and moved to the vicinity of the landing point almost the moment the tennis ball hit the ground.

Swish!
only.

Just as he raised his racket and was about to hit the ball, the tennis ball, which was supposed to bounce straight up, suddenly turned a corner, just like a playful cat's tail, and passed by the racket.

Snap.
Looking at the tennis ball that fell outside the court, Kimijima couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

"15-0!"

The referee on the high chair immediately announced the score.

"It appears. It's Hercules-senpai's [Innocent Tail]!"

Evangelos, who plays as a forward, said excitedly.

At this moment, he felt very safe. Because he could partner with a top player like Hercules, Evangelos didn't need to worry about the outcome of the game.

"Even the high school student on the other side couldn't return this serve, so this junior high school student can only watch."

Bang!
At this time.

Hercules strikes again.

The tennis ball flew out at high speed, and it was already very difficult to catch its trajectory, not to mention that Hercules was on top of it, applying an extremely strong side spin.

Just when almost everyone thought that this junior high school student with silver-blue hair would not be able to hit the tennis ball back, a crisp voice suddenly rang out.

Whoosh!
Followed by.

A pale yellow tennis ball shot out as fast as an arrow.

"Excuse me."

But I only saw a faint smile on Ren Wang's face: "I have seen too many such skills."

(End of this chapter)