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“Asuto-senpai, it’s your turn to go in next.”
The voice in his ear pulled Li Mingshi back to reality. At the same time, the sound of a ball thudding against the floor and shoes screeching on the court flooded his brain like a tidal wave.
He opened his eyes.
The face of a delicate-looking teenage boy came into view… pretty, yet faintly filled with fear. Li Mingshi recognized the distinctive overhead lights of a familiar indoor gymnasium.
“????”
In an instant, Li Mingshi was completely dumbfounded.
‘What’s going on?’
‘Who am I?’
‘Where am I?’
‘Am I still drunk?’
“Asuto-senpai?” Asuto-senpai? Are you okay?”
Seeing the confusion in Li Mingshi’s eyes, the delicate-looking boy spoke again.
He wasn’t speaking Chinese; it sounded a bit like Japanese, but, for some reason, Li Mingshi understood him perfectly.
Li Mingshi looked at the boy. As the familiar yet unfamiliar face surfaced from the depths of his memory, a torrent of memories poured forth from the deepest recesses of his mind, bringing him both pain and a strange sense of comfort.
…
Akashi Asuto.
15 years old.
Height: 179 cm.
Currently a third-year student at Sengoku Junior High School in Miyagi Prefecture.
Not long ago, he was ambushed during a fight and hit hard on the back of the head with a blunt object. He felt dizzy and disoriented for the entire afternoon afterward, until he suddenly lost consciousness. No one noticed, but his body was quietly taken over by Li Mingshi.
He is a member of the Volleyball Club and plays as an Ace Spiker.
And the team practice match is in progress…
…
Li Mingshi quickly extracted the useful information from the massive amount of memories that clearly didn’t belong to him. And then… he became even more confused.
“So… I transmigrated? That voice wasn’t joking?”
…
Li Mingshi: 24 years old.
After graduating from university, he worked as a basketball coach at a provincial training institution for two years, during which the COVID-19 pandemic raged for three years.
Because of the pandemic, nearly every industry in the country, which was already trending toward fierce internal competition, was pushed to the extreme.
During his university years, Li Mingshi had considered himself a particularly driven individual. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to secure a starting position on the notoriously competitive university team for two consecutive years, despite his relatively unremarkable physical gifts.
Had he not pushed himself too hard, ultimately leading to physical injuries, Li Mingshi’s future prospects would have been much brighter.
However, what Li Mingshi never anticipated was that after graduation, he would encounter an entire cohort of people who were better at grinding than he was.
Only, what they were grinding on wasn’t their personal ability or skills, but rather, who could curry favor with the boss and supervisors better.
This was commonly referred to as “social intelligence” or “navigating workplace dynamics.”
Unfortunately, Li Mingshi wasn’t good at that.
So, even though he worked extremely hard, he often received worse returns than people who spent their days hanging out and drinking with the boss.
When effort and reward became completely disproportionate, even Li Mingshi began to feel like he couldn’t keep grinding anymore.
Right at that moment, a voice suddenly appeared in his mind:
[“Since you can’t grind here anymore, why not find another place to keep grinding?”]
Having just gotten completely wasted, Li Mingshi clearly didn’t have the capacity to think about why a voice had suddenly appeared in his head. Drunk as he was, he only had one thought when he heard it:
[“Grind? Of course I’ll grind! Just give me a fair and just environment, and I’ll grind those bastards into the ground.”]
And so…
When he opened his eyes again, Li Mingshi found himself staring at this scene.
“…”
For a moment, he was speechless. He considered himself pretty adaptable, but this sloppy transmigration still made him want to complain.
Fortunately, Li Mingshi had been an orphan in his original world, with no attachments. So, before long, his mind, which had briefly frozen, began to function again.
Though it still hurt a little while doing so.
‘Tsk! Young punks these days have no martial ethics, ambushing a man in his twenties like that! Oh, wait! I wasn’t the one who got hit!. Then that’s fine.’
“It’s okay, Nishison. I’ve finished warming up. I’ll get in there right away.”
Li Mingshi rubbed the back of his head, which still ached slightly. He smiled at Nishison Tomohiko, the boy in front of him, and then stood up and walked toward the volleyball court.
He still hadn’t fully adjusted to being Akashi Asuto, but that could wait until after the practice match ended.
As he watched Li Mingshi’s departing back, Nishison Tomohiko froze in place for a moment.
‘For some reason, Asuto-senpai seemed a little different today.’
…
“Volleyball, huh!”
After stepping onto the court, Li Mingshi couldn’t help but feel emotional.
During his university years, Li Mingshi had studied a bit of volleyball, but it was mostly theoretical knowledge, as his main focus was basketball. Still, with this theoretical knowledge combined with the muscle memory inherited from Akashi Asuto, he figured completing this Team Practice Match shouldn’t be too difficult.
‘Yeah.’
‘Probably.’
“Asuto-senpai!”
“Asuto-senpai!”
…
Akashi Asuto (hereafter referred to by this name for clarity) had just stepped onto the court when a group of first- and second-year students quickly approached him, bowing respectfully. However, judging by the expressions on their faces, their fear seemed to outweigh their reverence.
But that was only natural.
After all, besides being the current ace spiker of the Volleyball Club, Akashi Asuto also held another title: “delinquent.”
In his memories, he had only gotten into a few fights and hadn’t bullied or abused his power. However, in the Japanese school environment, the title alone was enough to scare plenty of students.
In Japanese middle schools, “students with excellent grades,” “core members of sports clubs,” and “delinquents” are universally acknowledged as being at the top of the school hierarchy.
And Akashi Asuto happened to occupy two of those categories.
No, three.
It might even be three.
Because in his memories, aside from those two points, Akashi Asuto also seemed to be quite handsome.
Over the past two years of junior high school, he had received no fewer than twenty Valentine’s Day chocolates and love letters.
“Please take care of us!”
“Please take care of us!”
After a brief exchange, both sides lined up. Following a loud, formal bow, the match quickly began.
Akashi Asuto was assigned to the Red Team. This team practice match split up the six core members of the volleyball club. Aside from Akashi Asuto, the other two main players on his team were the setter, Mishita Ryuhei, and the opposite hitter, Oda Miki.
Beep!
The whistle blew.
Red Team serves first.
A second-year substitute sent out a simple underhand serve, normal by middle school standards. The ball arced smoothly through the air, landing steadily in the opponent’s back row.
“I’ve got it!”
The Blue Team’s starting libero, Kurata Mao, spread his arms and shouted. He easily received the serve.
Immediately afterward, the Blue Team’s substitute setter rushed in and lightly set the ball with both hands. The ball flew to the net straight above the middle blocker, who had already jumped high in preparation…
Omae Masato.
Bang! Smack!
In an instant, two crisp sounds echoed across the volleyball court simultaneously.
The first was the sound of Omae Masato’s spike.
The second was the sound of the ball being blocked by Akashi Asuto.
Asuto was the tallest member of the entire volleyball club. Under normal circumstances, scoring a spike past him during a practice match would be a considerable challenge.
At 179 cm, he was considered very tall for a third-year junior high student.
There were people taller than him in the same age group, but none of them were in the Sengoku Junior High School Volleyball Club. After all, Sengoku Junior High’s volleyball program was only average in Miyagi Prefecture.
Meanwhile, at Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High, the undisputed powerhouse of Miyagi Prefecture, it was rumored that the average height of their starting players already exceeded 180 cm.
“Hmm, Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High… that name sounds kind of familiar.”
A fleeting thought flashed through Akashi Asuto’s mind before his focus snapped back to the net defense.
Although Asuto had blocked the previous shot, it didn’t secure an immediate point. Instead, at a crucial moment, the Blue Team’s ace Libero, Kuramae, had managed to dig the ball, and now the Blue Team was launching a second attack.
To be honest, Asuto was genuinely surprised that Kuramae had managed to keep that ball in play.
After all, they had only just entered their third year of middle school. Although Li Mingshi had often heard in his previous life that Japanese middle schools had excellent sports programs and facilities for sports, it was only through firsthand experience that he truly understood the vibrant athletic atmosphere here.
At the very least, everyone’s expression when facing volleyball was serious.
“Hehe~”
Asuto slightly bared his teeth. He had to admit, it was getting exciting.
Competitive sports become boring if they aren’t taken seriously.
He was starting to understand why that mysterious voice had brought him here. To some extent, campus sports competition could indeed be considered a “fair and impartial” environment for internal competition.
The volleyball soared high into the air. Omae Masato jumped again, and Asuto matched his timing quickly.
However, in the next second, the ball bypassed Omae Masato entirely, drifting toward the left side of the block. There, another figure, leaping almost as high as Omae Masato, had already soared into the air.
It was the other starting middle blocker… Kazama Jūjirō.
Bang!
With a sharp crack, the volleyball slammed into the floor and rebounded high into the air.
Score: 1–0.
“Hahaha, you fell for it, Asuto! Today, Kazama and I are teaming up to take you down!”
Seeing their team score, Omae Masato planted his hands on his hips and burst into laughter. Although the Volleyball Club’s junior members feared Asuto, the main players maintained a good rapport with each other.
But good relationships were one thing.
Whether it was Omae or Kazama, both had wanted Asuto’s “ace” position for a long time.
It just goes to show…
Competition was everywhere.
Asuto didn’t respond to Masato’s “provocation.” He simply stared at the spot where the ball had hit the floor. There was no hint of disappointment on his face; in fact, the corners of his mouth slowly lifted, and his expression gradually became deranged.
‘Subarashii’ (Magnificent)!
Sure enough, the scent of this kind of cutthroat competition was far more intoxicating!
[Ding!]
[Detected host’s “Soul of Involution” igniting…]
[Involution System officially activated…]
(End of Chapter)
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