I Became an All-round Artist

The next day.

At the Qinzhou Sports Center, just before the start of a tennis match sponsored by a well-known sports brand, Han Qi, dressed in professional athletic gear, yawned with slightly visible dark circles under his eyes.

"Not good," he muttered.

He was a bit sleepy.

Even though Han Qi had forced himself to turn off the lights and go to sleep the previous night, his frustration grew as his mind filled with thoughts about the plot of The Prince of Tennis (Tennis no Ōjisama). The more he tried to sleep, the more awake he became, and it wasn't until he finally drifted off in a daze that he got any rest.

"Get ready."

The coach’s voice pulled him back to reality.

After warming up, Han Qi stepped onto the court.

This was a mid-level tennis match held within Qinzhou. The outcome wasn't particularly critical, but Han Qi was determined not to lose today because his friends were watching from the stands. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of them.

As the crowd roared with excitement, the match kicked off.

Han Qi's opponent was a seasoned veteran, skilled and experienced. Early on, he dominated Han Qi on the scoreboard, partly due to Han Qi’s lack of rest the previous night, leaving him less focused than usual.

"Calm down," Han Qi reminded himself.

Tennis requires both strength and stamina. Although his opponent’s experience was extensive, the veteran’s energy couldn’t keep up with Han Qi’s youth. Gradually, the power behind his opponent’s shots began to weaken.

Once Han Qi regained focus, he started to close the gap in the score.

The match turned into a back-and-forth battle, where both players were evenly matched. By the later stages, it became less about skill and more about sheer willpower and mental endurance. Unlike the flashy, cool descriptions in The Prince of Tennis, reality was much more grounded.

"I must be going crazy!"

How could he be thinking about a novel during a match?

Forcing these odd thoughts aside, Han Qi found himself locked in a tense exchange with his opponent. The match was incredibly suspenseful, keeping the audience hooked, and the commentators enthusiastically speculated on how it would unfold.

"This is a real nail-biter!" one commentator exclaimed. "Han Qi didn’t seem to be in top form at the beginning, but as the match progressed, he found his rhythm. On the other side, his opponent, the seasoned veteran, is showing us how to play with experience and strategy, even as his stamina starts to give out."

After half an hour, both players were gasping for air.

The match reached its sixth set, a tiebreaker that would decide the victor. The score was tied, and this set would tip the balance. Both players adopted a cautious approach, avoiding risky moves, as the consequences of a failed attack were too high.

“Smack!”

Han Qi lost a point.

His disadvantage grew instantly.

Despite his exhaustion, the veteran opponent couldn’t help but flash a smile. The outcome of the match became much clearer after Han Qi's mistake.

"Am I going to lose?" Han Qi thought.

At that moment, The Prince of Tennis came back to his mind. He recalled various match scenarios described in the novel, including situations similar to his own. "What would Ryoma Echizen do?" he wondered.

Han Qi felt like he was losing it.

The novel portrayed so many idealized scenarios, and many of the moves were more for show than practical use. But in a strange twist, as he prepared to serve next, he heard himself shout out:

"Twist Serve!"

This wasn't a conventional straight serve. Han Qi opted for a side-spin serve, similar to what was described in The Prince of Tennis. His racket sliced through the ball with a sharp forearm rotation, sending it flying.

Caught off guard, his opponent couldn’t react in time.

As the ball bounced and veered out of bounds, Han Qi scored a spectacular point, and the crowd erupted. The commentator’s voice was filled with excitement and surprise: "What an incredible spin! An ACE!"

In tennis, an ACE is when a player serves the ball, and it lands within the valid area, but the opponent fails to touch it, resulting in an immediate point. If the opponent touches the ball but it goes out or into the net, it’s just called a service point—not an ACE.

"I won!"

Amid the thunderous cheers, Han Qi’s face turned bright red. He had actually shouted out loud! It felt as if two kids were fighting, and one of them had just struck an embarrassingly dramatic pose while yelling “Kamehameha.”

The embarrassment was off the charts!

Luckily, no one seemed to have noticed his shout, as everyone was busy cheering for his serve. Only the referee seemed to have heard it—judging by the referee's puzzled look toward him.

His teammates rushed over to celebrate.

Back in the locker room, even the coach gave him a surprised look. "Since when did you start practicing spin serves like that? Your serve was so unconventional, your opponent couldn’t predict its direction at all."

"You wouldn’t believe me if I told you."

Han Qi’s expression turned awkward. "I learned it from reading a novel."

Everyone burst into laughter, assuming Han Qi was joking.

But when it came time for the post-match interviews, and a reporter asked about his final serve, Han Qi actually mentioned the book again: “I’ve been reading The Prince of Tennis recently. It’s incredibly well-written, and during the match, I just had this sudden inspiration. Of course, that serve had a bit of luck involved, and my opponent deserves respect.”

The reporter was speechless.

His teammates were dumbfounded.

Some sports journalists started wondering if Han Qi was being paid to promote The Prince of Tennis.

But the arts and culture journalists weren’t going to let such an interesting story slip away.

The next day, one of the headline stories in Qinzhou's literary sections read:

"Famous Tennis Player Han Qi Claims The Prince of Tennis Inspired His Game."

The news shocked many Prince of Tennis readers!

“Is this for real?”

“I thought all the tennis moves in the book were just fictional. But now even a professional tennis player says the book is legit? That’s amazing!”

"I’m loving The Prince of Tennis even more now!"

"But isn’t the craziest part that Han Qi is actually learning moves from the book?"

"Ha, that must be a joke."

"Not entirely! I watched that tennis match yesterday at the Qinzhou stadium. Han Qi's winning serve was almost an exact replica of the Twist Serve! The only difference is that Ryoma is left-handed, and Han Qi used his right hand," one spectator explained.

Soon, many readers familiar with tennis confirmed that the technical details in The Prince of Tennis were indeed quite professional.

In fact, some had mentioned this before.

But it wasn’t until a professional tennis player validated it that everyone truly began to take notice.

No one in the publishing world could have predicted this.

A professional tennis player from Qinzhou had essentially broken the fourth wall, creating a dream collaboration between the real world and the fictional one!

And on that day, sales of The Prince of Tennis surged once again!

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