Peninsula: Aiming for a Grand Slam

Chapter 94 Self-funded Old Man

Chen Jixian hesitated for a moment, then opened Liu Zhimin's Kakao and sent the sea view photos.

She replied very quickly.

In short: "Achievements".

"Oh, right!" Chen Jixian slapped his forehead.

He meant that he would give her the victory and the photo together, but now there's only the photo, and Liu Zhimin might start overthinking things.

Xiao Chen typed back: "We won. 6-3, 6-1. The opponent was a veteran Italian player who has been playing for over ten years."

after awhile.

Liu Zhimin said sarcastically, "Last time you paid for the kids yourself and lost two rounds. This time you paid for the old man and lost four rounds again."

"Wow, you've made great progress!"

Chen Jixian grinned.

She described the last youth competition as "paying out 500,000 yuan to beat up kids".

This time, he turned professional and became a self-funded old man again.

She always manages to roast him.

Xiao Chen was about to type.

Another message from Liu Zhimin popped up.

"How much is the prize money?"

He thought for a moment and typed three words.

"258".

"won?"

"Dollar!"

Chen Jixian almost jumped up.

What can you do with 258 Korean won?

Are you trying to fob me off like a beggar? Even beggars look down on you.

Liu Zhimin is still interrogating him.

"Before or after tax?"

"—Before tax."

The other side remained silent for a few seconds.

Then she sent a message.

"You flew for over ten hours to Africa, beat up a veteran player riddled with injuries, and in the end, you didn't even earn enough to buy a plane ticket back to Seoul?"

Chen Jixian thought of a few people: the person who kept accounts at the parking lot, and the person in the laundry room who was reluctant to put in coins.

He beat one of them and got the $258 they were desperately trying to get.

As a result, it wasn't even enough to buy a plane ticket back to Seoul.

"Then I'll beat up a few more old men."

"When will the next old man be?"

"tomorrow.

""

Tomorrow's opponent is a young man in his early twenties, but I'll still call him "old man" for now.

Monastir was amused.

"We can't lose tomorrow!"

"I won, is there a reward?"

"----No."

That means yes!

Chen Jixian smiled.

Then, he couldn't help but sigh:

The income gap is too large.

He did a quick calculation and found that aespa was already a brand ambassador for Givenchy, with a price tag of $250 million.

Other endorsements include being a spokesperson for Mediheal face masks, an endorser for the Eider outdoor sports brand, and a collaboration with KakaoGame.

Of course, the company takes a cut, and the members split the profits equally.

But no matter how you calculate it, her income far surpasses Chen Jixian's.

For Xiao Chen, the Monastir M15 event consists of five rounds with a total prize pool of only $15.

The champion will only receive $2160 and 10 ATP points.

If it can cover travel expenses and threading costs, then we'll be very grateful.

That's why Kim Sung-joon can't support himself.

For a professional player to support himself, it's not something that can be achieved in just a few hopeful matches.

Chen Jixian wanted a mere $2160 prize, but Daldry was still waiting for him on the draw sheet.

Forehand +5, backhand +4, it's really hard to beat.

Xiao Chen opened the system panel, wanting to check what was available.

[System Upgrade Notice!]

[The user has earned their first ATP point, officially becoming a professional tennis player. System upgrade complete.]

[Update: MatchBoostPack - Practical Enhancement Package]

Chen Jixian glanced at it and was a little confused.

By the way, M15 won not only $250 by winning the first round, but also a valuable ATP point.

Xiao Chen checked his ranking online.

1703T.

T indicates a tie.

A bunch of young players with only one point are crammed into this ranking stage—he can't even count how many there are.

Let's continue looking at the system.

[Forehand Enhancement Package 1: Achieve 30 forehand winners in professional matches at M15 and above.]

[Backhand Enhancement Package 1: 20 backhand winners.]

【Serve Enhancement Pack 1: ————】

Winning point?

If you swing your racket and the opponent returns the ball into the net or out of bounds, it's not a winning point.

A winning point is when the opponent's racket doesn't even touch the tennis ball.

Same standards as ACE.

It's very difficult.

However, it's better than the traditional training package.

After Xiao Chen entered the professional world, the traditional training package became ineffective.

No time!

Monastir M15, the intensity of the competition is very high.

If you start from the qualifying rounds, you only get one day off a week. Even for players in the main tournament, there are only three days of rest.

This has led to some players winning the championship only to be eliminated in the first round.

There's no other reason than that my body can't keep up.

The traditional training package involves tens of thousands of forehands, which cannot be completed in just three days. The higher the level, the heavier the task.

Currently, traditional training packs only have one use—speeding up, and spending money!

Chen Jixian started doing the math: "The potential release fund gave me $25.5 in one lump sum, plus $1.5 from FILA, so I have a total of $27 on hand."

Xiao Chen glanced at the acceleration package.

The acceleration package with a maximum of 11 costs $5.

The acceleration package with a maximum of 5 costs $15.

This is only a one-time price.

The more you use it, the more expensive it becomes.

Chen Jixian looked at the above, at the enhanced packs for forehand and backhand.

There's a certain trick to choosing between these two enhancement packs.

"ATP strategic analysts have summarized that the winning ratio of forehand to backhand is approximately 7:3."

"Most people are still used to finishing their opponents with their forehand."

Xiao Chen is one of the majority.

Therefore, you shouldn't buy the "Backhand Enhancement Pack." 20 backhand winning points will allow him to grind until his Dao Heart breaks.

You should invest in your backhand first, and once your backhand skill improves, then use your backhand to pad your forehand!

Tennis is great, you can even help yourself out.

If it were a soccer ball, and you ended up with a teammate who was a ball hog, even the system couldn't do anything about it.

Xiao Chen had a "backhand training pack" installed. He only glanced at the mission details and then immediately spent money on it.

— $5.

Spending money like water.

[System notification: Backhand level +1]

Backhand level: 4

Upon closer inspection, the training pack with a maximum of 5 costs $18 for one acceleration.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Jixian attached another [Stable Training Package].

The next three games.

In two of those matches, relying on forehand attacks to win inevitably restricted one's movements.

In the match against Daldry, Xiao Chen will be at a disadvantage.

These three matches will inevitably involve a lot of running, various sliding steps, and all sorts of extreme saves.

The result is either a poor hitting point or an unstable center of gravity.

Therefore, it is essential to reduce unforced errors.

For every point of stability gained, the true damage increases by a fraction.

Krypton Gold!

—18.

Great, I'm broke again.

Only $9 left.

[Stability Level +1]

After spending the money, Chen Jixian then selected the "Forward Hand Enhancement Pack".

[The forehand enhancement pack is now enabled.]

[Task objective: Achieve 30 forehand winners!]

[Task Progress: 0/30]

It wasn't a forehand shot that scored.

It's a forehand to win!

"We can no longer use old ideas to view tomorrow's and the day after's games."

Tomorrow, in the second round of the main draw, my opponent is another unremarkable tennis prodigy—average talent, average skill, and average experience.

The reason I got this far is partly due to my abundant physical strength and partly due to good luck in the lottery.

If Xiao Chen plays normally, he can finish the game in two rounds without any problem.

But he can't do that!

With thirty winning points, Xiao Chen might need to go into a third set, and several sets of 6-4 or even 7-5 to guarantee finishing the set.

This task is not difficult.

However, once a time limit is set, it becomes very troublesome.

And what if it crashes?

Chen Jixian took out his phone: "Mr. Schneider, do you have information on our opponents for the next two rounds?"

The message was sent, and Schneider replied almost instantly: "Didn't you already see it? We can win by playing normally."

We can win if we play normally.

The problem is, the next game can't be played normally.

He's so reckless!

Not only should you reduce the chances of scoring with your backhand, but sometimes you should also give up opportunities to score with your forehand.

Xiao Chen must complete the "Forehand Enhancement Package" task before the semi-finals.

Otherwise, with Daldry's +5 forehand, what can he use to counter it?

Chen Jixian hesitated for a moment, then typed, "Mr. Schneider, I need more detailed information."

Schneider replied quickly: "In what way?"

Chen Jixian: "The more recent match videos, the better."

There was a moment of silence on the German side, but soon after, a video file was sent over.

Schneider told Xiao Chen, "You take a look first, and I'll contact my old friends again."

He didn't ask why, but immediately offered his solution.

That's the advantage of being a top agent.