Chapter 52: Cheating… With Your Own Power!

Win the match? Easier said than done…

Himekoji glanced at his balance of zero 2D Points and suddenly sighed.

Wanting to win against opponents who outclassed you meant only one thing: needing to pull off a cheat!

But pulling off a cheat still required a hefty stash of 2D Points…

Well, no choice now—

“Sell! Sell all my stocks right now!”

Himekoji mentally cried out, his heart aching.

His stock trading wealth plan, barely set up, was already crumbling…

【100 shares of Yukinoshita stock sold. Price: 600.】

【10 shares of Nanami stock sold. Price: 80.】

【10 shares of Katou Megumi stock sold. Price: 9.3.】

【Sell all?】

Hey, hey, wait a minute!

If I’m not mistaken, didn’t Yukinoshita stock cost over seven points before? Why did it drop to six so fast?

This Yukinoshita stock is poison!

“All Yukinoshita stocks sold. As for the other two… I’ll wait for now.”

After careful thought, Himekoji Akito made this decision.

Looking at the market performance, it really seemed best to unload Yukinoshita stock fast… its value was shrinking and falling badly.

The other two stocks weren’t urgent though, since selling them now wouldn’t get him many 2D Points.

[Sale successful, Yukinoshita Stock -100. Congratulations! You received 600 2D Points!]

What could 600 2D Points buy?

2 one-time serve skills, and 1 one-time return skill.

Only three chances to cheat.

Well, those were the System’s skill prices—so unfair!

…

“Hey! I said, rookie over there, daydreaming?”

Miura bared her teeth, glaring with thickly lined eyes while waving her racket impatiently toward Himekoji Akito.

“I get that you’re totally losing and want to quit to save face, but this unfocused sloppiness really pisses me off! Has no one taught you? Facing a strong opponent, you must stay alert—it’s basic respect!”

“Yumiko, respect isn’t exactly that serious yet…”

Hayama, about to serve, paused at her interruption. He smiled weakly, trying to mediate.

“Miss Mihara, Hikigaya-kun, I’m coming in♂, watch out!”

After his straightforward warning, Hayama served.

A standard, perfect posture. The ball soared upward; his swing was one smooth motion.

…

Geez, so who the heck is “Mihara”? Always messing up names on purpose—haven’t you overused that joke?

Himekoji Akito mentally griped. Simultaneously, he didn’t just stand still. The moment Hayama tossed the ball, Akito began moving early to position himself.

…

Huh? Why was he standing so close to return serve? Trying to break?

Akito’s positioning slightly caught Hayama’s attention.

But nothing more. After several games, Hayama knew Himekoji and Hikigaya’s level well enough.

The instant his racket swung out, Hayama knew—

This was locked in!

A beautiful, high-speed ace!

Still, Hayama stayed alert for that tiny chance at a return. His feet shuffled quickly across the court until he reached the center. He kept his eyes trained on the opposite side.

That was Hayama—even certain of victory, he never underestimated opponents.

“This serve rocks!”

“Hayato’s so dreamy! Ah! I can’t! I wanna marry him!”

“Hayato! Hayato! Hayato!”

Hayato’s fan club cheered their hardest.

…

But the expected winning point never happened.

Hayama’s “perfect” serve was met perfectly by Himekoji Akito with a crushing return. Next, a scorching heavy cross-court drive zoomed toward Hayama’s forehand corner.

Just as Hayama initially guessed, Akito was absolutely going for the break!

After the stunning return, Akito didn’t stop. He shuffled quickly, watching Hayama while moving into the next position he’d planned.

With the return skill equipped, Akito’s forehand drive was unstoppable. Though Hayama barely reached it, the moment his racket hit, he felt it—

No spin, no float, slow speed… but deadly. The shot had zero rotation!

Meaning, whenever Akito chose where to hit next, Hayama would be wide open.

As if reading this, as Hayama tried to predict Akito’s choice through movement, he froze, shocked.

Himekoji Akito had already slipped into that deadliest position, racket cocked back.

Exactly center of both service lines—the inevitable path his return must cross!

Thwack!

Slightly staggered, Hayama watched Akito’s return whiz past his ear.

“Himekoji Akito breaks serve for one point!”

“One game retrieved! Score: 1-3!”

Even the temporary umpire seemed surprised. He hesitated, mouth open, before calling the result honestly.

…

“Huh? What happened?”

“Hayato’s fast serve… broken?”

“Must’ve gotten lucky…”

“A pervert like him broke Hayato’s serve?”

“Ugh, a pervert! How’d he hit such an amazing return?”

“Pfft, fluke point. Anyway, Hayato’s serve pose was gorgeous!”

…

Himekoji Akito tuned out the crowd’s murmurs, utterly exasperated.

Hello? I won that point!

Then too… this replayed that scene perfectly from the PE agility test a week ago!

It was the lateral shuttle run test then.

Akito scored way higher than Hayama.

But what people said next? Unbelievable:

Hah, Akito got 90 reps? Whatever.

Forget him. Hayato hit 71 reps—awesome!

Totally! Next to Hayato, Akito’s nothing.

Right? His 90 reps aren’t worth tying Hayato’s 71-rep shoes!

Excuse me? Did I flunk math? When is 71 bigger than 90?

Himekoji Akito had given them the most stunned look ever then…

…

Aww, come on. Just one point pulled back. Obvious Hayato let him… next point, game over.

Whoa, Hayato’s so sweet! Didn’t want them down 0-4. Generously gave them a point for dignity~

Himekoji Akito felt terrible!

He clearly used his own skills fairly, so why did people claim Hayama was letting him win?

Darn it, that wasn’t fair!

…

By the way, the scoring rule used for this match was—

Each point won added one to the score, and the first to reach four points won the game.

If both sides reached three points, it was called “deuce.” After deuce, the winner needed to secure two consecutive points to win the game.