Cricket Ascend System

By the next week—

Sahil Choudhary had become a problem.

Not just for bowlers.

For captains.

Because now every gully team in nearby colonies discussed the same thing before matches.

"How do we stop Sahil?"

Some teams tried bowling only yorkers.

Others stacked boundary fielders.

A few even refused to give him strike early.

Nothing worked consistently.

Because even Sahil himself still didn’t fully understand his own hitting yet.

And slowly—

his reputation started spreading beyond Riverside.

"Woh six-hitter ladka?"

"The one from Shastri Market?"

"He clears terrace shots with tennis ball AND leather ball."

For the first time in his life—

people talked about Sahil with excitement instead of jokes.

And honestly?

That feeling became addictive.

Meanwhile—

Mission 3 finally approached completion.

That evening after school—

Sahil stood alone under the dim streetlight outside his house again.

Bat in hand.

Sweat already soaking through his shirt.

Swing.

Reset.

Swing.

Reset.

Again.

Again.

Again.

At this point the shadow swings no longer felt mechanical.

His body had started adapting naturally.

Front foot smoother.

Balance cleaner.

Hands quieter during downswing.

The system tracked silently.

MISSION 3 PROGRESS

Shadow Swings: 19,992 / 20,000

"...Seriously?" Sahil muttered tiredly.

Eight swings left.

After twenty thousand.

That somehow felt insulting.

He exhaled slowly.

Then completed the final repetitions carefully.

No rushing.

No lazy form.

Last swing.

The bat sliced cleanly through air.

And instantly—

the blue screen appeared brightly.

MISSION 3 COMPLETE

Swing Foundation Training Finished

Reward: +10 Control

Allocate Points?

YES / NO

Sahil selected YES immediately.

Control: 18 → 28

The difference hit instantly.

Not physically.

Mechanically.

It felt like his bat path became clearer inside his mind.

Cleaner.

More repeatable.

Then suddenly—

new notifications appeared rapidly afterward.

BEGINNER FOUNDATION PHASE COMPLETE

Host successfully completed: ✔ Endurance Foundation ✔ Swing Foundation ✔ School Selection Phase 1

System difficulty scaling increased.

Then new advanced missions unlocked.

And immediately—

Sahil’s happiness disappeared.

ADVANCED MISSION — POWER CONTROL

Objective: Hit 100 clean straight drives in practice without mistiming.

Reward: +4 Timing

ADVANCED MISSION — MATCH TEMPERAMENT

Objective: Play full innings without reckless aerial dismissal.

Reward: +3 Mental Toughness

ADVANCED MISSION — ATHLETIC FOUNDATION

Objective: Complete sprint training 5 days consecutively.

Reward: +3 Agility

The rewards looked tiny now.

Absolutely tiny.

Sahil stared blankly.

"Three points for FIVE days of sprinting?"

SYSTEM NOTICE

Higher-level progression requires exponentially greater effort.

"...Cheap system," Sahil muttered again.

Still—

deep down—

he understood why.

Because his stats were no longer beginner-level.

Improvement now required refinement.

Not miracles.

The next Sunday proved that immediately.

Match

Riverside Royals vs Patel Street Panthers

Target: 184 in 15 overs

The Panthers came fully prepared for Sahil.

No short balls.

No predictable spin.

Wide yorkers constantly.

Slower deliveries mixed carefully.

Deep field placements from ball one.

For the first time in weeks—

Sahil actually struggled early.

After 10 balls:

Sahil: 9 runs

No boundaries.

The crowd became restless immediately.

"Why isn’t he attacking?"

"Today finish ho gaya kya?"

Even Ravi looked slightly worried.

Because this was new.

Teams were evolving specifically against him now.

And that meant one thing.

Sahil would need to evolve again too.