They all have hidden attributes!

"First, shoot an arrow according to the standard movements of the [Eight Sections of Archery]. I will carefully observe where your shooting form is incorrect."

"But I don't want to shoot arrows today." Tachimi Yuki suppressed his smile and showed a troubled expression.

Seeing her furrowed brows, Makoto Takahashi was also in a dilemma:

"Is the reason why Senior Tatsumi came to the archery club to correct her problem of releasing arrows too quickly?"

Yes, that's right.

“If you don’t shoot an arrow, I can’t find the problem. If the arrow is released too quickly, I can only correct it little by little.”

"Just let me watch Takahashi-kun practice archery."

Under his puzzled gaze, Tachikami put the bow and arrows back in their original positions, then walked to his shooting position, bent his knees, and sat upright with his buttocks resting on his ankles.

She turned to look at Makoto Takahashi, who was standing there in a daze, and smiled gently, saying, "I want to hear more different string sounds; maybe it can soothe the pain of the string breaking."

The pain of the arrow being released—this was one of the reasons Takahashi Makoto told Kashima Reiko that caused the arrow to be released too quickly, suggesting that Tachimi Yuki clearly understood her psychological problems.

"I understand."

Takahashi Makoto turned around and picked up his usual Japanese bow when she continued, "Please change into hakama, junior. That's how you look like an archer."

"What a hassle," he muttered to himself, but still put down the bow and walked toward the changing room.

After all, she had promised to help with the correction, and Kashima-senpai was currently playing instructional ball with Nekoya Hina. If archery could solve the problem, it would be quite simple.

Unfortunately, today's chosen option is [Assessment], and even with only her present, I can't trigger the assistance card for Li Jian.

After changing into hakama, Makoto Takahashi returned to the semi-open shooting range, picked up a Japanese bow and four arrows, and slowly walked to Yuki Tachimi's side, getting into position.

The archery range offers excellent visibility today; it's a rare treat for archery during the gloomy rainy season.

He took a deep breath, entered a state of concentration by focusing his breathing, pushed the bow with his left hand, nocked the arrow and drew the string with his right hand, and his usually listless eyes suddenly became sharp.

Snapped--

The string music suddenly rang out, as if striking Yuki Tachibana's heart. She raised her face and looked at Makoto Takahashi, her cold eyes rippling with emotion.

A gentle breeze rippled across the green grass, and as Yuki watched him draw his bow and nock an arrow, it was as if he were back at the National Archery Tournament in May.

Chapter 21 That day, she missed her target completely.

May 7, Aichi Prefecture.

Men's individual competition: qualifying elimination rounds followed by tiebreakers.

Ultimately, modern archery is a competition where you win as long as you hit the target. Even if the shot isn't pretty or there are some minor flaws in etiquette, it doesn't matter; tiebreakers are perfectly normal.

Because only four players were able to advance to the finals, and there were consecutive draws, the organizers arranged a tiebreaker before the women's individual finals and used a more difficult star target.

The weather was calm, the sky was clear and blue, so clear that not a single cloud could be seen.

Having changed into his hakama, Tachimi Yuki, ready to go on stage, sat in the shadows of the VIP seats, propping his head up with his left hand and idly surveying the semi-open shooting range.

Four contestants attended in turn. Three of them were well-known masters, all of whom were middle-aged or elderly adults. Only the very young boy seemed out of place.

"Who is that?" Tachikami asked with little interest.

Sitting on the other side of the table, Maya Uesugi glanced at him, recalled for a moment, and then said his background: "Makoto Takahashi, Class C, Year 1, Tsurumizawa."

"I never expected that our academy's archery club would have someone who knows archery."

Tatsumi Yuki chuckled sarcastically, then turned to Uesugi Maya and said in a nonchalant tone, "Haven't you always wanted to defeat me? How about joining the archery club?"

"I'm not that presumptuous." Uesugi Maya crossed her arms, her fingers twirling the ends of her black hair that fell over her shoulders, her beautiful eyes dark and brooding.

She came to watch the archery competition with only one purpose: to see how skilled Tachimi Yuki was in archery and whether she still had a chance to defeat her.

The answer is obviously no. Even a master who has been famous for a long time would definitely lose to her today.

Kyudo is a sport of self-discipline. Being single-minded and unaffected by others is one of the necessary conditions for hitting the target, and Yuki Tachi's mind is incredibly strong.

—After all, a sash bow is different from an ordinary bow; it cannot fix the direction of the arrow.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Uesugi Maya picked up the bottled water on the table and swallowed a mouthful: "I never thought he could get this far. Before, the chairman was even struggling with whether to specially recruit him because of his problem of shooting arrows too quickly."

"The arrows were fired too quickly?"

Just as Tachikawa asked the question, he suddenly heard a peculiar string sound.

She paused, staring blankly at Uesugi Maya's profile, until the second, distinctive melody echoed in her heart.

[How ruthless! He hasn't corrected the problem of releasing arrows too quickly at all.]

Yuki Tachibana realized this very well, turned to look at Makoto Takahashi, and stared intently at his shooting form with her beautiful blue eyes.

As she watched Takahashi Makoto fire his third arrow, and the sound of the arrow leaving the bowstring reached her ears, her body trembled violently, further confirming her suspicions.

The sound of these strings is so beautiful.

“I may never reach that level in my entire life, with an empty heart yet able to concentrate completely. He had no reason to draw the bow.” Yuki Tachimi murmured softly, slowly rising from his chair, the image of Makoto Takahashi drawing the last arrow etched in his eyes.

Her strange reaction did not escape Uesugi Maya's notice. In the more than ten years since she had known Tachimi Yuki, this was the first time Uesugi Maya had seen her admit defeat.

That day, I saw that I missed with my first arrow.

-----------------

I wish I could keep him by my side and listen to his music for the rest of my life.

This must be the feeling behind what my father meant before he passed away: "You must marry the person you love."

Yuki Tachibana witnessed Makoto Takahashi hit the bullseye with all four of his arrows, then slowly stood up and walked out of the archery club without saying a word, not even saying goodbye.

She could barely suppress her possessiveness any longer, and to avoid doing anything dangerous that might scare him away, she decided to retreat first.

We can't rush things now. We must find a way to control him before we can take action. Hopefully, news from Yamanashi Prefecture will come soon.

Takahashi Makoto was even more confused by Tachibana Yuki's strange behavior of suddenly leaving.

Is the guidance over?

If that's the case, it's much easier than I imagined. But no matter how much I think about it, listening to the strings alone won't correct the problem.

After waiting for a while at the archery club, Tachimi Yuki still hadn't returned, even after Takahashi Makoto changed back into his original clothes. Since he didn't have the young lady's contact information, he could only send a message to Kashima Reiko to inquire.

There was no reply, and the text messages sent to Maya Uesugi also went unanswered.

After informing Nekoya Hina that he had left school, Makoto Takahashi went home with his violin bag and a paper bag from the bookstore and began reading the light novel that Kashima-senpai had enthusiastically recommended.

June 29th, a new week, Monday.

After a brief clearing of the sky yesterday afternoon, it rained all night again.

Makoto Takahashi, who always borrows umbrellas from the academy, had to buy a transparent umbrella while buying breakfast at a convenience store because he didn't bring one back yesterday.

He prefers long-handled umbrellas to folding umbrellas, even though they can't fit in the shoe cabinet, because they feel they have more style.

While taking the train to the academy, I checked my phone messages. Uesugi Maya still hadn't replied to yesterday's text message, which was very impolite.

Unlike Kashima-senpai, who promptly provided feedback on his archery instruction yesterday afternoon and indicated that she would arrange another meeting with him next time she had time.

As for the system, I selected [Training] as usual today, and the assist cards were Uesugi Maya, Nekoya Hina, and Kashima Reiko.

The classroom was noisy on Monday morning, with girls chatting in small groups about the weekend.

Makoto Takahashi sat down in his seat, glanced around, and didn't see Hina Nekoya in the classroom, so he took out "Himuro-kun, the Hypocritical Girl" to read.

—He is not powerful enough to openly watch 18+ content in the classroom.

Raindrops from the plum rain season tapped against the windows, and the incandescent light bulbs in the classroom cast a cool white light, illuminating the beautifully printed color pages. The air was filled with the youthful energy of the students in the same grade.

Makoto Takahashi genuinely enjoys this kind of daily life, and he doesn't care if he's unpopular or called aloof.

A short while later, a lively voice rang out from the back door of the classroom.

Good morning, everyone.

Hina Nekoya greeted everyone with a cheerful laugh. Makoto Takahashi turned his head and saw Maya Uesugi passing by the window leading from the classroom to the corridor, leaving behind a solitary and aloof profile.

A system panel pops up in front of you.

[Received a new assistance card]

[Physical constitution: Two people with completely opposite constitutions]

[Uesugi Maya - Self-Discipline: Medium probability of triggering Friendship Training, Physique Increase +100%]

[Nekoya Hina - Full of Energy: When triggering Friendship Training, there is a small chance that an existing skill level will increase by 1]

[Hidden Attribute: Not Yet Unlocked]

The card depicts two people running on a playground in the rain. Judging from their body types, the one wearing the red waterproof jacket is Hina Nekoya, and the one wearing the black long-sleeved tracksuit is Maya Uesugi.

Makoto Takahashi wasn't surprised that Maya Uesugi had mentioned morning exercises, but did this assistance card mean that the two of them shared a common hidden attribute?

He shut down the system, and just then, Nekoya Hina, who had finished greeting the others, walked over, put her hand on his shoulder, and pressed down on his weight.

"Acheng, did you receive the love letter?" she asked in a low voice, leaning close to his ear.

"No."

Makoto Takahashi shook his head, his gaze remaining fixed on the pages of the book: "I was actually looking forward to it when I opened the shoe cabinet."

"That's right, girls have a lot on their minds, they won't just hand you a love letter because of your looks."

Hina Nekoya patted his shoulder to comfort him, then gave him a mysterious look: "Actually, a few girls asked me to invite Makoto out to play so we can get to know each other better. Maybe then I'll receive a love letter."

"Forget it, I still prefer my ordinary life now." Makoto Takahashi refused without hesitation.

The two chatted briefly, and soon Supervisor Chihaya entered the classroom to begin today's morning meeting.

Chapter 22 Top-Tier Ingredients

Makoto Takahashi's daily life is destined to be anything but peaceful, unlike in the past.

During the break between the first and second classes, an uninvited guest suddenly arrived. When Kashima Reiko walked into Class 1-C, the entire classroom fell into an abrupt silence.

Makoto Takahashi, engrossed in light novels, sensed something was off. He looked up and glanced around, only to find all his classmates staring at him, completely bewildered.

Sitting beside him, Hina Nekoya acted as his diplomatic envoy, taking the initiative to speak to Reiko Kashima, who was standing behind Makoto Takahashi, saying, "Kashima-senpai, I'm here."

Makoto Takahashi turned around and met Reiko Kashima's calm, emerald eyes. He stood up awkwardly and asked, "What did you want to see me about, Kashima-senpai?"