Bang!
“Next ball.”
Bang!
“Next ball.”
Bang!
“Next ball.”
Bang!
······
Inside the huge gymnasium, Mishita Ryuhei’s shouts could be heard clearly.
The frequency was simply too fast.
Under normal circumstances, a three-person spike drill cycle took twelve to fifteen seconds per rotation. However, Mishita Ryuhei’s group had forcefully compressed this to eight to ten seconds.
The other two groups’ practice rhythm was more like:
“Next ball… next ball… next ball…”
Meanwhile, Mishita Ryuhei’s side sounded like this:
“Next ball… next ball… next ball…”
Even the frequency with which the volleyballs slammed against the floor was far more rapid and compact than that of the other groups.
And yet, despite the greatly increased pace, Mishita Ryuhei’s group still maintained a remarkably steady rhythm.
It just looked absolutely exhausting.
As for proof of that…
One only needed to look at Takahiro Hanamaki, who was so tired that he could barely speak.
“Hanamaki-senpai, do you need a short break?” Asuto asked considerately.
“No, I’m fine…” Hanamaki was drenched in sweat but still stubbornly refused, panting heavily.
“All right then.” Asuto nodded and continued training.
After another five minutes or so, Hanamaki’s rhythm began to visibly decline.
Asuto asked thoughtfully once again: “Hanamaki-senpai, why don’t you go and drink some water first?”
“F-Fine…”
This time, Hanamaki didn’t refuse.
Within Aoba Johsai, Hanamaki was never considered a stamina-oriented player to begin with. The one with the best physical endurance among all the members was Iwaizumi Hajime.
Once Hanamaki finally stopped to rest, the players in the other two groups gradually followed suit.
Yet Asuto was still practising…
‘Wasn’t he tired?’
Obviously he was.
Although his stamina had been among the best in junior high school, after entering high school it could only be considered excellent at most.
After all, he was still only in his first year, whereas those in their third year had had two extra years of training.
But training had always been like this.
Improvement was built little by little over time.
Just like now.
Even though Asuto was exhausted, when he saw his teammates resting and realized he could squeeze out two extra minutes of practice, he was filled with motivation.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
· · ·
Standing in the rest area, listening to the endless echo of Asuto’s spikes in the gym, Iwaizumi suddenly felt irritated for no apparent reason.
Losing the match was one thing.
But if they couldn’t even keep up during training, then what the hell were they playing for?!
“Hey, Trashykawa! Are you done resting yet? If so, get over here and set the ball!”
Oikawa Tooru had just opened his water bottle but hadn’t taken a sip yet.
“???”
· · · · · ·
Not long afterwards…
Hearing the sound of spikes resuming on the nearby court, Asuto’s expression shifted slightly.
“They’re done resting already?”
Glancing towards the neighboring court out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the players had returned to practice.
Sure enough, after resting for less than thirty seconds, the players in Oikawa Tooru’s group had returned to practice.
“Oikawa, we need to speed up our training pace too. After all, we’re third-year upperclassmen; we absolutely can’t lose to a first-year brat,” Iwaizumi Hajime said.
Iwaizumi Hajime said.
“Okay, Iwa-chan!”
Oikawa Tooru answered.
Before long, the frequency of spikes on their court increased rapidly as well.
······
On the other side…
Shigeru Yahaba, who had been resting leisurely, suddenly heard the rhythm of the spikes on Oikawa Tooru’s court speeding up too.
A strange sense of urgency rose inside him instantly.
“Have you two finished resting? If so, we should get back to training too.”
Kindaichi responded immediately:
“No problem, Yahaba-senpai!”
Akira Kunimi said nothing.
“Get ready. We’re increasing the pace too. Even if we can’t catch up with Oikawa-senpai’s group, we absolutely can’t lose to the first years in your year!”
Kindaichi replied loudly:
“Oh~~ Leave it to us, Yahaba-senpai!”
Akira Kunimi thought: ‘I’m so tired…’
· · · · · ·
The sudden increase in the rhythm of the spikes from both neighboring courts caused Asuto to pause briefly during training.
Out of the corner of his eye, he first glanced towards Oikawa Tooru’s court, then towards Shigeru Yahaba’s, and instantly became dumbfounded.
‘Good grief!’
‘What on earth is this supposed to mean?!’
Are they already turning this into an ‘involution’ competition?
Come to think of it, Asuto had known before entering high school that it would definitely be far more competitive than junior high.
One reason was that high school tournaments carried completely different weight to junior high competitions.
The second reason was the System’s own mechanics.
According to the settings of the Involution System, the best method for Asuto to rapidly earn Involution Grind Value would actually have been to join a weak school.
That way, nobody would be able to out-grind him.
But the problem lay precisely there.
Volleyball is a team sport.
Although obtaining Involution Grind Value would become much easier if Asuto attended a trash-tier school, he would never have capable teammates.
In that case…
No matter how strong Asuto became individually, he still wouldn’t be able to win official high school matches.
However, if he joined a top school, his teammates would be stronger, but the difficulty of obtaining Involution Grind Value would also increase dramatically.
After all, high school competitions weren’t professional leagues.
Professional players could casually transfer teams through trades.
But if a high school player constantly switched schools purely for the sake of winning and losing, then the true joy of high school competition would disappear entirely.
Besides, the System itself had restrictions regarding that sort of thing.
So when choosing which high school to attend, this had naturally been one of the factors Asuto considered.
It was just that…
Even Asuto never expected the people of Aoba Johsai to start competing this intensely so quickly.
Was this really something human beings were supposed to do?
······
“Uh… Coach, don’t you think the kids are a little too fired up today?”
One of the assistant coaches, after seeing the training intensity of the second- and third-year starters, couldn’t help but speak up.
“Hehehe~~”
Irihata Nobuteru chuckled softly and said:
“It’s fine. Whenever fresh water flows into a pond, it’s bound to create some ripples. Letting them feel a little pressure isn’t a bad thing.”
“I’m not too worried about the second- and third-years,” the assistant coach hesitated before continuing.
“What I’m worried about is the first-years who only just joined today. Suddenly facing this level of training intensity… could they possibly… start feeling discouraged?”
But Irihata Nobuteru didn’t seem concerned at all.
“Don’t worry. Don’t underestimate this year’s first-years too much.”
His gaze drifted toward Asuto’s direction as he slowly said:
“I used to think that so-called ‘geniuses’ were simply unreasonable existences.”
“But now it seems…”
“There truly isn’t anyone who can succeed casually without putting in the effort.”
······
(End of Chapter)