The afternoon tennis matches began quickly.
Yukino performed just as well as in the morning—no, even better. After all, she had decided she was taking the championship; she absolutely could not afford to mess up.
Two matches in total—her second opponent was the vice-captain of the tennis club. The two fought fiercely for over ten minutes before Yukino finally took the set and advanced straight into the top eight.
When the referee announced the result, Yukino let out a long, heavy breath of relief.
Her third-year opponent was pure strength type—every shot carried weight. Thankfully, Yukino had been diligently doing rehabilitation training these past days. Otherwise, the match would have been far more difficult.
After they shook hands, the vice-captain looked at Yukino with undisguised admiration and directly invited her:
"Want to join our tennis club? With your level, you can definitely compete for a main singles spot and represent us in next year's university tennis tournament."
Yukino shook her head. "Sorry. Tennis is just a hobby for me. I play occasionally. And my stamina isn't great—long matches aren't suited for me."
"I see."
The senior wasn't disappointed. After chatting a bit, she left.
When Yukino returned to the rest area, she wiped the sweat off her forehead, drank some water, and exhaled deeply.
Ichin looked at her. "That opponent had quite the pressure."
Yukino nodded. "Her power was strong, but her footwork and technique were lacking. It was troublesome at first, but once I figured out her rhythm, it wasn't hard to find a way to win."
After saying so, Yukino packed her things and went to change.
Ichin walked out to meet up with Utaha and the others.
Looking toward Haruno, he asked, "Haruno-nee, how's the video recording?"
"Perfect!"
Haruno gave a thumbs-up. "Once tomorrow's match is over, I can edit everything and bring it home for Mom. There're some projects she needs to negotiate, so she didn't have time to come."
"Come in person, huh."
Ichin smiled. "But we're not in high school anymore. If Auntie comes again, Yukino would probably die of embarrassment."
"Hehehe, wouldn't that be great?"
Haruno's face was full of mischief and anticipation—but unfortunately her mother couldn't make it.
Yukino came out after changing, and everyone prepared to leave the collage.
It was only a little after 2 p.m., but Ichin didn't plan to send Yagami Kō and the others—who had taken leave—to return to work. He just let them go enjoy their afternoon freely.
As for himself, he drove Utaha and Yukino home. Haruno had to return to the company later, so she took Yukino's car.
When they got home, Yukino went to shower and rest. Ichin headed back out to the supermarket to buy ingredients for dinner.
It took almost an hour for him to return. By the time he got home, Yukino and Utaha were already in the living room, petting the cats while watching TV.
Seeing him come in, Utaha happily asked:
"Ichin, what's for dinner?"
"The supermarket had really good ribs today, so I bought some. Also chicken wings and beef. For veggies, I found lotus root—so we're making lotus-root rib stew. And cauliflower for a dry pot stir-fried cauliflower. Chicken wings will be cola wings, and the beef will be potato-braised beef stew. Four dishes—three of them big ones. Should be enough, right?"
Listening to the menu, both Utaha and Yukino nodded repeatedly. Ribs and chicken wings were their favorites.
Since Yukino was the athlete today, Ichin and Utaha didn't let her help in the kitchen. The two of them prepared everything, and when Haruno came home from work, the four ate dinner together.
In the evening, Utaha and the others played cards in the living room, while Ichin went to the bedroom to check on the day's game stats.
Apex's player numbers were still at the top across platforms, and video and streaming sites were flooded with Apex content.
Even though it was a free game, Apex had excellent quality, extremely stable servers, and—most importantly—no cheaters.
And that last point was absolutely critical to players. In a multiplayer game, even one hacker can ruin the experience for everyone else.
Because Ichin's team kept cheaters under tight surveillance, Apex continued to receive overwhelmingly positive feedback after launch.
Of course, some people were complaining about a certain group of weapons:
Why are there so many trash Mozambiques!? I don't want to see them anymore!!
Forget Mozambique—P2020 is also trash! Just delete it already!
I actually like Mozambique. It's great if enemies land with no armor.
If they land with no armor… what gun isn't good!?
…Fair point.
Players had been debating each weapon's strength and every Legend's balance since launch.
Mozambique and P2020 were indeed weak—Ichin knew that. But battle-royale games inherently needed loot with varying strength. Some players land with god-tier gear; some land with only ammo. That randomness is part of the fun.
After reading through the forum discussions, Ichin chuckled and shook his head.
"Balancing updates are definitely coming. But it's still Season 1. Play as it is for now. After Season 1 ends, we'll push a major balance patch."
He put on his headset, opened Apex, and joined Eriri and Ruri under their urging to start the night's ranked grind.
Why not invite Umiko, who was stronger?
That gal was online… but she was sweet-duo-queuing with Sakura Nene. Ichin had no intention of being the third wheel.
They played until late at night. Even though they were carrying Eriri—the walking burden—she at least knew her limits. Besides occasionally dealing damage, she carried a ton of supplies and picked a support Legend. So their ranked climb went quite smoothly.
By 12:30, the three of them reached Platinum.
After winning the last match, Ichin stretched and said:
"Alright, that's it for today. I have to go to college tomorrow to watch Yukino's match. Ruri, you rest too—you've got work tomorrow."
After saying goodnight to the two, Ichin shut down the game, took off his headset, and looked at Utaha sitting on the bed reading.
Utaha looked back and smiled. "Done? Then hurry and rest."
"Yeah… I should. I'll go wash up."
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