Chapter 8.2

Translator: Pineapple

Editor: Isalee

"The building looks great."

Han Woo Jin walked comfortably while holding his racket as he was wearing an easy to move in shirt and shorts.

Although it was raining outside, the air in the indoor courts was humid but the ground wasn"t slippery.

"If it"s only this much, there should be no problems with my games."

Inside the indoor courts, there were several people playing games and it looked like they were a part of the club. Only one of the three courts was empty.

Han Woo Jin thought that they had come at the right time after he saw the empty court.

"There"s an empty court but no opponent?"

The people who looked like club members were speaking to themselves and there was no one else inside the indoor courts. He might have to resort to practicing by himself.

Han Woo Jin saw someone enter.

"Someone"s here."

The two turned their heads at the same time. Three people entered from the entrance and he couldn"t understand their conversation. It wasn"t that they were speaking too fast, it was a different language. This language was something that Korean men heard a lot on the internet.

"j.a.panese?"

Han Woo Jin mumbled and Shin Sae Yeon nodded her head.

The three people were quickly speaking to each other in j.a.panese. Two of them were holding rackets. Han Woo Jin and Shin Sae Yeon looked at one of the players and spoke to one another. It was the face that they saw earlier on the papers.

"Your luck is good."

"… do you wanna try playing with him?"

Okuta Ryusuke.

What a coincidence. As soon as he checked into his hotel room, he met one of his potential opponents that was partic.i.p.ating in the tournament. Compared to Han Woo Jin who looked ready and excited to play, Shin Sae Yeon looked nervous.

Han Woo Jin just unconsciously wanted to play against him. He simply wanted to have a practice match before the tournament.

"I"ll hide my special skills from him. I just want to test the waters."

"If you say that… I"ll go ask him."

Shin Sae Yeon nodded her head.

An agent"s role was to a.s.sist their player. When the player really wanted to do something, if the agent refused, then it would not be a good career move for them. Also, she wanted to see how good Han Woo Jin was.

He was one of the two players who received a special contract from NK company. She already knew the skills of the other one.

The other player entered the Daegu Open and was currently in the top four. He never lost even a single set. He will probably be playing in the tournament in a few days, and definitely deserved the special contract from NK company.

"What about Woo Jin ssi…?"

Shin Sae Yeon didn"t see anything special about Han Woo Jin except for his harsh training. Even during practice games, his skills and talents were limited by Coach Jeon. That"s why she had never seen his full potential.

It was obvious that an agent should know everything about their player. Shin Sae Yeon was curious about the full extent of Han Woo Jin"s skills.

"[Excuse me, are you the player Okuta Ryusuke?]"

Okuta Ryusuke"s face showed that he was very surprised by her voice. He opened his mouth and mumbled,

"[She"s beautiful…]"

Okuta couldn"t say anything because of her, so the person next to him spoke.

"[Who are you?]"

"[I am agent Shin Sae Yeon. Can you listen to my request?]"

Okuta didn"t seem to care about what the two agents were talking about, he just blankly stared at Shin Sae Yeon. He was only 20 years old so he still acted immaturely whenever he saw pretty girls.

Shin Sae Yeon said something and it looked like they reached a decision. She walked back to Han Woo Jin. She looked tired and she opened her mouth to speak.

"Hooo, they will only play if he can serve first. Player Okuta seems to be young so he is a bit childish."

Han Woo Jin and Shin Sae Yeon were in their early twenties but Okuta was younger than them. If they took into account his actual birth date, then he wasn"t even 20 yet.

However, Han Woo Jin"s mental age was already over 30 years old and Shin Sae Yeon always had a poker face. So they thought that Okuta looked really young.

Han Woo Jin nodded his head.

"He probably won"t be childish on the court. Thank you for your hard work."

"It"s my job. Just do your best."

Do your best. This didn"t mean that he had to do his best, but it meant that he should scout his opponent. It was absurd for him to do his best to win but also was not good for him to completely lose. It was important to create a balance between these two ideas.

Han Woo Jin grabbed his racket and walked to the court. He looked at Okuta Ryusuke that was across the net. Suddenly, he saw Okuta"s information in his head.

[Okuta Ryusuke]

Strength 47 / Stamina 55 / Agility 53

HP 2025/2200 SP 530/530

Forehand: 13/20

Backhand: 2/20

Serve: 9/20

Volley: 6/20

Smash: 7/20

Drop Shot: 7/20

Lob: 9/20

Special Skill: ??? (Forehand)

"Of course."

He had an amazingly strong forehand but his backhand was extremely pathetic. Han Woo Jin already saw it. Okuta Ryusuke could not hit backhands. However, there was a reason why he was able to climb to become a world ranker.

Han Woo Jin wanted to find out if his current "style" was the reason why he was able to become a world ranker or if he developed it later on. His clenched his fist harder as he wanted to find that out.

Okuta who was serving first, looked very childish as he looked at Han Woo Jin.

"[Shall we start?]"

He didn"t know what he was saying but he understood what he was saying. Han Woo Jin just nodded and Okuta threw up the ball with a serious expression.

*Toong!*
"Toong?"

Han Woo Jin blankly stared at the ball that was going straight toward his face. The ball flew over the net in a slow arc and bounced in front of him.

*Puduk!*

His molars and fingers made a cracking sound at the same time. He was angry that his opponent had no intention to play seriously. His hand suddenly gripped his racket in an intense manner. Han Woo Jin couldn"t find a reason to hold back his anger.

Okuta"s serve wasn"t weak, but he had no intention of playing seriously. That ball was from a player who didn"t care.

His muscles contracted and immediately flexed. It was a stroke that looked like he was breaking something. He used his whole body and turned to use a full swing on a one-handed smash.

*Pang!*

The ball flew back at a speed that n.o.body could see.

The ball headed towards Okuta Ryusuke"s the direction; his face mirrored that of a blank idiot.

He was 19 years old in j.a.panese age. Okuta had a good feeling.

As soon as he arrived in Korea, it was raining, and he was uncomfortable because of the humidity. However, it disappeared as soon as he met Shin Sae Yeon. He thought this was fate.

"I was told that Korean women are beautiful, it"s true!"

When his friends talked about Korean girls, he didn"t believe them, but now he did.

Instead of playing tennis, he wanted to ask her out to eat. If he didn"t have his agent Sato who was famous for his strictness, he would have immediately asked her out.

Okuta was only thinking about Shin Sae Yeon and wasn"t interested in the tanned man standing across the net. He was a little bit shorter than him. He looked a little handsome but he didn"t take care of his skin, and so that was why he didn"t pay attention to him.

However, he needed to at least show some manners?

Okuta was focused on Shin Sae Yeon who was watching the game and he spoke to the Korean player.

"[Alright, let"s start.]"

His opponent seriously nodded his head. He thought he was a boring person and threw up the ball.

"Anyway, this is just a practice match. There"s no need to go all out."

That"s what Okuta thought as he served. The slow ball went over the net.

Afterwards…

*Pang!*

The ball came back with amazing speed and pa.s.sed Okuta"s side.

The ball skimmed his ear and flew out of the court. It was a stroke that he didn"t expect at all.

"That hurts…!"

If the ball"s speed was 200 km/h or faster, even if the ball just barely pa.s.sed by him, it would hurt. Okuta"s ear was slightly swollen and red. He wanted to say something.

Yet he lost his voice when he saw his opponent.

Okuta stepped back unconsciously. He was perplexed and he looked scared. The opponent"s face looked angry although he was the one that got hurt.

You know that feeling when your friend gets mad at you for joking?

That was what Okuta felt was happening right now. His messy serve unintentionally made his opponent mad.

Also, the ball that he returned? He thought that Han Woo Jin had hit the ball while aiming at his face on purpose. If the ball curved a little bit more it would have hit his face. If it were a direct hit, he might have broken his nose.

"Okay, let"s play seriously."

A man doesn"t let others. .h.i.t him without hitting back. If he was young, he was much more hot-blooded.

Now Okuta put strength into his grip. He was more fired up, both physically and mentally.

"… [I"m gonna be serious now.]"

His opponent probably didn"t hear him.

It wasn"t for his opponent but for himself. Although he was young, he was still a pro. He had such intense concentration that he could block out all thoughts that were not related to the game.

This time, he tossed the ball up with a serious face.

The score was 15:0.

Okuta Ryusuke started the second rally of the first game of the first set.

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