Chapter 2

"Fan... Ju...! Fan... Ju...! Are you... okay?"

"He... should... be... fine, but... he seems... to be... in a daze?"

Fan Ju only felt dark shadows moving around him, but something strange happened. The people around him suddenly slowed down, speaking as if they were half a beat behind. Although it didn’t affect his hearing, this strange phenomenon made Fan Ju sit motionless on the court, not even feeling the pain from the slightly red wound on his head.

Fan Ju thought the match was definitely going to be lost, so he decided to just go through the motions. After serving the second ball, he didn’t even bother to run to the baseline.

However, he didn’t expect his opponent to want to show off. He hit a big diagonal shot directly toward Fan Ju’s serving position, intending to hit a beautiful passing shot while his opponent was moving. But instead of hitting a passing shot, he hit a direct shot!

Given Fan Ju’s athletic nerves, which he had deliberately trained since childhood, dodging this ball shouldn’t have been difficult. But just then, a pretty girl passed by, and his attention was completely drawn to her. When he turned his head, he naturally couldn’t see the ball. By the time he reacted, he was already knocked straight to the ground.

It’s not common to see a KO in a tennis match. If it were before, Fan Ju would have probably used the injury as an excuse to withdraw from the match. But seeing the world suddenly slow down, Fan Ju’s initial thoughts of quitting were reined in!

"Fan Ju? What are you looking at?" At some point, the world seemed to return to normal. Fan Ju saw the glasses-wearing senior waving his hand in front of him, seemingly worried about his condition. However, Fan Ju felt that the senior was more concerned about the match’s poor start affecting his "reputation."

"Uh... Senior, stop waving, I’m fine." Fan Ju couldn’t stand the senior’s "enthusiasm" and, after checking his own condition, he spoke up.

"Fine? That’s good. Can you continue the match?" The glasses-wearing senior wasn’t completely heartless and asked for Fan Ju’s opinion.

Fan Ju still had doubts about what had just happened. Was the situation after the collision just a hallucination from being hit, or was it a one-time occurrence, or had he finally gained a "cheat" after his rebirth?

Nodding, Fan Ju got up with the senior’s help, dusted off his dirty sports pants, and looked at his opponent, who had a slightly apologetic look on his face.

Fan Ju understood that the situation was entirely his own fault. He waved to indicate he was fine. If he hadn’t been distracted by the girl, he wouldn’t have been hit so badly. Thinking about the ball boys in tennis matches who can easily dodge serves over 200 km/h, Fan Ju was certainly better than them, right?

Soon, the spectators who had gathered around the court returned to their seats behind the wire fence, and Fan Ju had to continue his unfinished service game.

Looking at the 30-0 score, Fan Ju could only continue the match with his powerless serve.

Watching the tennis ball slowly rise, Fan Ju couldn’t help but think about what had just happened.

"If I could slow down like that, my serve should be able to hit harder... Huh!!!"

Don’t worry, Fan Ju didn’t see a ghost, and no second ball was flying toward his head. He just suddenly noticed that the ball he had thrown up seemed to have slowed down, causing his racquet, which was about to swing, to come to an abrupt stop. He watched the tennis ball slowly pass the hitting point and fall to the ground, then slowly bounce back up.

However, his actions confused the spectators, especially the glasses-wearing senior, who couldn’t help but wonder if the ball had really knocked the boy silly.

The slowed time didn’t last long. Fan Ju saw the ball speed up again to its normal physical state just before it hit the ground.

"Is this real? Do I really have special abilities?" Fan Ju wasn’t stupid; he realized this wasn’t just a momentary illusion but a real change!

Since regaining consciousness after his rebirth, he had tried to develop his potential abilities, but to his disappointment, he hadn’t managed to develop any magical, cultivation, teleportation, or even the simple ability to bend a spoon.

But he never gave up on exploring. He never imagined that his special ability would be triggered by a ball!

"What kind of ability is this? Time slowing down? But it doesn’t seem to slow down much? It’s not like I can dodge bullets, probably just tennis balls?" Thinking about the ball that hit him, Fan Ju couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

Despite his muttering, he forgot that a bunch of people were waiting to watch him play. Even though being hit by the ball was unfortunate, he couldn’t keep a group of people waiting for him to act silly.

"Ah! Sorry, my head is still a bit dizzy, I’ll start right away! Right away!"

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Fan Ju suddenly realized that now wasn’t the time to act silly. Even if he wanted to study his special ability, he had to finish the match first.

His opponent, though feeling a bit guilty about Fan Ju’s strange behavior, didn’t say anything. After all, if Fan Ju had been seriously injured by his shot, he couldn’t afford the medical and nutritional expenses.

Fan Ju looked at the ball in his hand and thought again, "If I could slow down, that would be great." When he threw the ball, indeed, the world seemed to slow down again!

This time, Fan Ju didn’t act silly. He swung his racquet with his right hand, hitting the ball accurately at the best hitting point near the center of the racquet.

His opponent, who was just preparing to receive the serve, suddenly noticed that this ball was clearly different from the previous two weak serves. Although it was still a regular flat serve, both the power and speed had noticeably increased.

If there were instruments to measure the ball’s speed, it would be clear that Fan Ju’s previous serves were at most 60 km/h, but this serve had already reached over 90 km/h!

The moment he served, Fan Ju returned to the normal state from the slowed-down world. After two experiences, he realized that this state wasn’t uncontrollable!

Just like before, he thought about returning to normal after serving. He noticed that in that state, actions were more strenuous than in the normal state. Although his mind was faster, his body was still in its original rhythm. To make his body faster, he had to use more energy and strength to control it.

This exertion was manageable for just one serve, but maintaining it after serving made Fan Ju feel uncomfortable. However, the transition back to normal was just a moment of mental awareness, and this momentary change allowed him to still feel the force of his swing on the racquet.

Although tennis isn’t the fastest sport, a 90 km/h serve can’t be underestimated, especially when the opponent is distracted. Fan Ju’s opponent clearly wasn’t prepared for the sudden change. The combination of two fast balls and one slow ball completely disrupted his return rhythm.

"Fault on the return! 30-15!" The commentator wasn’t a professional, but the glasses-wearing senior and the other senior were semi-enthusiasts and clearly knew the term "fault on the return."

"Um... Not bad! Really not bad!" Seeing his opponent caught off guard by the sudden change in ball speed, Fan Ju was very satisfied. After all, being dominated isn’t a good feeling, especially for someone with his special rebirth. Not dominating others was already a sign of divine mercy; how could he let others dominate him?

The spectators on the side didn’t quite understand what had changed on the court. They only noticed that Fan Ju’s serve was slightly faster than before, and the other side might have just missed the return.

They couldn’t see that something significant had changed on the court, and this change would have a profound impact on the world!