Ch 72. The Long 60 Seconds

The next morning, Yukinoshita woke up with slightly damp eyes.

Staring at the ceiling, she couldn't help but marvel at the incredible training effects of Hoshimi's dream.

In just one night, she had not only mastered the tricky 'disappearing serve' and 'twist serve', but her receiving skills had also slightly improved.

It was unbelievable.

But on closer thought, it seemed to make sense.

After all, in the dream, she had unlimited stamina and an indestructible body, allowing her to train continuously without worry.

Additionally, Hoshimi's ability to control her body to replicate others' serves was simply astounding.

On top of that, Hoshimi could fine-tune these serving skills to fit her physique perfectly.

Just these abilities alone were terrifying enough.

But there was something even more outrageous. Hoshimi could replicate tennis players he had seen on TV in the dream to serve as practice partners.

And it wasn't just one or two players but a whole team!

According to Hoshimi, he had replicated 40 mixed doubles pairs of various skill levels as practice partners.

The most ridiculous part was that Hoshimi had these 40 pairs practice against each other, ranking them from weakest to strongest.

As Hoshimi put it, "It's just like playing a game. We can challenge them one by one, from weak to strong, in 40 levels. I estimate that after we pass two or three levels, we can crush those guys at Sobu High."

It was too absurd! Hoshimi's dream ability far exceeded her imagination!

This rascal possessed such a terrifying ability but wasted it on frivolous pleasures, completely squandering his potential!

If she had this dream ability, she would surpass her sister in all aspects within a year! And it would be a crushing victory!

Unfortunately, she didn't have it...

"Sigh~"

Yukinoshita sighed deeply, a lament for his misfortune and anger at his lack of ambition.

How wonderful it would be if she had Hoshimi's dream ability...

Yukinoshita calmed herself, threw off the covers, and sat up, stretching lazily.

Although she had made significant progress training all night, her body felt a bit artificially fatigued and needed a short rest to clear these false signals.

Moreover, Hoshimi was indeed a rascal!

When they started training last night, he hadn't mentioned anything, but just before waking up in the morning, that rascal suddenly demanded a teaching fee.-

He made her choose between dancing or staring at him for a minute as the teaching fee.

She looked at the dance Hoshimi wanted her to perform. It was something called the 'phuthon shake.'

From the holographic demonstration video Hoshimi provided, she felt deep malice.

So she resolutely rejected that option and chose to stare at him for a minute.

Thinking about it, Yukinoshita's eyes became evasive, and the scene replayed in her mind.

...

"Yukinoshita, are you sure you want to choose the staring contest?" Hoshimi asked, rubbing his chin with a mysterious expression she couldn't decipher.

"Yes."

"Then let's begin." With a wave of his hand, a desk and two wooden chairs appeared out of thin air.

They sat facing each other, and Hoshimi gently patted the desk with his hands, seemingly signaling her to place her hands on the table as well.

She hesitated for a moment before slowly placing her hands on the table.

Then, Hoshimi held her hands, smiling mischievously, "Yukinoshita, the game begins now. If you don't complete it, I won't let you go."

"This is a clock." Hoshimi took out a clock and placed it at the edge of the table. "It will track our staring time. When it reaches 60 seconds, it will ring, and the game will be over."

"And if it doesn't reach 60 seconds?"

"If it doesn't?" Hoshimi's smile made her uneasy. "If it doesn't, the time resets, and the game starts over."

She understood Hoshimi's meaning. They had to stare for a full 60 seconds in one go; otherwise, they had to start from scratch.

She thought it over. This game didn't seem too difficult. As long as she had enough patience, she could easily last 60 seconds.

But Hoshimi definitely wouldn't let her complete it easily.

She guessed that Hoshimi would likely make faces or do other small actions to distract her.

As long as she stayed focused on these two points, completing the game wouldn't be hard.

"Now, the game begins." Hoshimi pressed the clock, officially starting the game.

She calmed her mind, expressionless, and stared at Hoshimi.

"Tick-tock... tick-tock..."

The clock ticked steadily.

She stared into Hoshimi's red eyes, and for a moment, it seemed as if his eyes were getting closer.

Focusing, she realized that Hoshimi hadn't moved at all and was still at the same distance.

She bit her lip, concentrating and continuing to stare into Hoshimi's eyes.

But a few seconds later, the illusion reappeared, making it seem like Hoshimi's eyes were getting closer.

Holding her breath, she ignored the illusion and stared at Hoshimi's red eyes.

As she continued staring, she suddenly noticed that Hoshimi's red eyes were very clear, like red pomegranate seeds, distinct and full of watery charm.

Looking closer, she was shocked to see her reflection filling Hoshimi's eyes.

Her breath faltered, and she instinctively turned away from his gaze.

"Ah-ha~ Yukinoshita, you failed."

"...How long did I last?"

"21 seconds."

"Huh? How could it be only 21 seconds!"

She doubted whether Hoshimi had done something to the clock. She had felt it was almost 50 seconds.

"Don't believe me? I can replay the recording of our staring contest to see how long it really was."

"No need, continue."

Seeing Hoshimi's confidence, she didn't say more and asked to continue the game.

"Alright, the game begins."

After an indeterminate amount of time, her ears burning, she averted her gaze again.

"How long?" she asked, unwilling to give up.

"19 seconds. You've regressed, Yukinoshita."

"...Again!"

After a while, she turned away again.

"15 seconds. You've regressed even more," Hoshimi said smugly.

Feeling increasingly frustrated, she demanded, "Continue!"

"12 seconds."

"11 seconds!"

"10 seconds!"

"10 seconds!"

Failing again and again, she finally couldn't last more than 10 seconds.

She didn't understand why she kept turning away from Hoshimi's gaze. He wasn't doing anything, so why did she look away?

What was the problem?

At this rate, she needed to adopt a new strategy!

Looking at Hoshimi's hands, she got an idea.

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