The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Riku was no stranger to professional games. After all, what inspired him to dive into this world was one game he watched with his family in Italy. At that time, he would always find himself in the stands every week to learn from those professional players, whether with his father, Sekine, or even alone.

Still, watching from the stands was one thing, and being part of the game itself was another.

"Agostini! Left!"

BAM!

"Oh! Nice spike, Uehara!"

"Damn, Uehara! Have mercy on their rookie, will you?!"

"Why would I do that, idiot?!"

Riku could only shake his head as he watched his teammates banter with each other. This was the third time something like this had happened, where the opponent's blockers read the play perfectly, only for the block to be as flimsy as wet paper, easily broken by a little power on the spike.

Honestly, this was the first time Riku faced a situation like this. Back in Tsunemori, he would usually be in control; if he sent an easy ball to his teammates, they wouldn't be able to do anything and would just watch as their attack was easily dismantled by their opponent.

However, things were different here. Everyone was a great player with their ego and strong personality. They had trained hard for a long time to face any challenges in front of them, so even if he sent a bad pass, they wouldn't complain; they would simply find a way to deal with it, and they had the ability to do so.

This was the first time he felt he wasn't in control of the game, and honestly, Riku didn't know how to feel about that.

'If this is just a U-19 game, I wonder how it would be with the main team,' he muttered. Thinking about this, he slapped his face hard, determination suddenly igniting from within him. 'Okay, I need to wake up! I cannot just go with the flow here; I need to do something to gain a foothold. Come on, let's do this!'

A few seconds later, the game resumed, and Thunder was leading by 3 points. The atmosphere on the Giant Bear's side shifted as their concentration peaked. It seemed they were done underestimating their opponent after this poor opening session.

"Come on, Uehara! Give us a good serve!"

It was still the same boy who served the ball, and all the Giant Bear's players stepped back unconsciously to prepare for a powerful serve. Seeing this, Uehara changed his strategy and gave a short serve to the front left, which, unfortunately, the opponent was able to pick up easily.

Thud!

"Nice cover, Haruo!"

"Zuki! Give it to me!"

All the Thunder's players tensed as they saw Ojiro Senta make a move. While this was still early in the game, Ojiro Senta was the opponent's ace, so shutting him down right now would instantly boost the team's morale.

"Tondo!" Explore more adventures at empire

"I got this!" Tondo, the team's middle blocker, waited for the right moment before he jumped. However, before he could even leap, Ojiro Senta was already in the air, and Tondo was taken aback by how the opponent's hitter jumped earlier than he expected.

"DAMN!" Tondo cursed, gritting his teeth as he jumped too to stop the attack. However, the timing difference between their jumps played a significant role, as before Tondo could reach his highest point, Ojiro Senta was already soaring and swinging his arms swiftly to transfer the power from his body to the ball.

BAM!

"Oh! Nice, Senta!"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Come on! Don't underestimate Giant Bear, bastard!"

"Yeah! Where are those mocking voices now?!"

Under the cheers from the audience, Ojiro Senta smirked mockingly at Tondo before saying, "It's still easy to face you. Go back and learn the basics, Tondo."

-0-

The successful attack from Ojiro Senta seemed to trigger all of Giant Bear's players to wake up from their slumber. After that, they began to play aggressively, pushing the Thunder's players to their limit.

It wasn't that Thunder was playing poorly; they were still able to score a few points occasionally. However, the game was completely dominated by Giant Bear. The sheer intensity displayed by the opponent's attackers was enough to overwhelm Thunder, extending the score to 11–6 in Giant Bear's favor. The illusion that Thunder was the better team, established after a strong opening by Uehara, evaporated, and it was now clear that Giant Bear was far superior in every aspect of the game.

"Kawaki-sensei, should we make a change?" Yuki overheard Zeno, Kawaki's assistant coach, whisper. "Agostini-kun isn't playing at his best right now. He is too nervous on the court, and his performance is affecting the entire team. We cannot let him continue like this for longer than necessary."

Yuki couldn't help but furrow his brows when he heard this. Indeed, Riku wasn't playing like his usual self today. His blonde friend was too passive, always following orders and not daring to go beyond them. This worked for other players, but Yuki knew that his best friend's greatest weapon was his creativity, and the blonde boy hadn't shown that since the game began.

He could see Kawaki pondering for a moment before shaking his head. "No, we don't have any setters left on the bench, so we cannot afford to bench him right now. But I have a way to force him to improve."

"Oh? How?" Zeno asked, curious.

"Well, it's simple." Then, Kawaki turned his gaze to Yuki. "Kobayashi, are you ready to play?"

"M-Me?!" Yuki stuttered, surprised.

"Yes, you." Kawaki nodded in confirmation. He ignored the surprised whispers from the other players on the bench and said, "Right now, our situation is far from favorable. We've fallen into a slump and are too afraid to break out of it. So, when we finally score, I will replace Miyahara, who is next to serve, and put you in as the pinch server. What I want you to do is serve aggressively and snatch the momentum from our opponent. It would also be beneficial if you could show confidence to everyone so that it would remind your friend how he usually plays, not this garbage style he's shown us right now. Can you do that?"

Yuki was still dazed, unable to believe this conversation was real. However, after staring into the coach's serious gaze, he finally realized the gravity of the situation and nodded firmly. "Don't worry, Sensei. I will set him straight after this."

Kawaki just laughed as he playfully slapped the boy's back. "That's the spirit! Now, go out there and show us why you deserve to be here!"

"Yes, Coach!"

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