The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Um… Wang-kun, can you not… I mean, what is the word?" Reiki was struggling to find a word to communicate with Michael Wang with his limited knowledge of the English language. "Can you not fire them?"@@novelbin@@

"Fire them? What do you mean?" Michael Wang tilted his head confusedly. "They are not working for me, how could I fire them?"

Even though Reiki couldn't understand half of what the boy said, his face still flushed in embarrassment, knowing that by Michael Wang's confusion that he said the wrong thing here. He glared at his teammates who had the gal to snicker at the awkward communication here as they didn't even have the guts to try it and embarrass themselves.

This was probably the biggest problem Tsukiji High faced right now. Michael Wang was still new in Japan and wasn't proficient in the language, and while Tsukiji High was proud of its rigorous program that helped its students learn foreign language, none of the volleyball team's members joined it, and as a result, everyone was struggling to communicate with Michael Wang.

Honestly, since Michael Wang was still a freshman, the school didn't want to let him out too soon like this. They wanted him to at least be proficient enough to speak Japanese before they let him be on a big stage like this. Unfortunately, in a situation where even the supporters behind them couldn't be to their advantage, they needed a game changer here, and Michael Wang was the perfect player to do so.

"Urgh… I don't know how to say it, but… Can you not… Make them angry?"

"Ah, so that is what you mean!" Michael Wang smiled in realization. "The word you tried to find should be provoke, right? Come on, say it with me, pruh – vowk."

"Urgh… Pruh – vowk…" Reiki said it lamely. He swore if he could see his face he would mistake it as a tomato. Inwardly, he also swore vengeance on his teammates who dared to laugh at him right now. Still, he shook his head, turning his attention back to his troublesome kouhai. "Yes, Wang-kun, can you not… Provoke them like that?" The word 'Provoke' still rolled off his tongue strangely. "You will also make the referee angry too, you know?"

Reiki knew he was unfair to Michael Wang. Everyone was provoking each other since the beginning, so to tell the new boy that he wasn't allowed to do so was unjustifiable. Hell, after thinking about it, Reiki felt a cold sweat on his back as he could be accused of a racist here. Fortunately, Michael Wang was a happy-go-lucky kid and just agreed with his request quickly.

"Oh, sure! I am just impressed to see such an unorthodox offensive formation! I thought everyone here would stick to the boring, fundamental formation! I am glad that I was wrong." He smiled. Experience new tales on My Virtual Library Empire

"Well… Good for you?" Reiki smiled awkwardly.

"Yeah!"

A moment later, the referee blew the whistle, asking everyone to get ready for the next play. Tsunemori's libero came to the court to replace the middle blocker as a part of the rotation, nothing strange at all. However, Michael Wang could feel the terrifying aura directed at him, and when he saw almost all of the Tsunemori players staring at him, the boy could feel his instinct screaming danger here.

'Oh, they are planning something here… Let me see what they are going to do…'

The next one to serve for Tsunemori was their captain, the opposite hitter with the jersey number 5. He did an ordinary serve under the pressure and distraction of the crowd, which Ishida received easily. Michael Wang decided to stay on the sideline for this offense chance, wanting to observe what Tsunemori was planning to do.

'Their captain moves to the front quickly. He takes over the command since their blocker is out. He is good, but too short. Wait, their setter is joining him? Oh, that is interesting. But he is the second-highest player there, so there is nothing strange in it. Still… Why would my instinct warn me about something dangerous there?'

BAM!

"Oh! Nice rebound, Kiyotake!"

"Another one! Give us another one!"

Facing the two blockers who managed to read the play perfectly, Kiyotake decided to retreat and give the team another chance to attack. In Michael Wang's decision, it wasn't probably the best decision. While the opponent's blockers reacted in time, there was still a way to avoid it, like sending a dink or even aiming for a block-out. However, after a month he had been with this team, Michael Wang knew that Kiyotake was the most stable player there and didn't want to take any unnecessary risk, so he just let it slide and got ready to join another attack.

"Neito-senpai, give it to me!" He raised his hand.

Even though Michael Wang still felt there was something wrong here, he didn't want to back down twice in a row. He pointed his finger up to the sky, glancing sideways through the net to see some of the Tsunemori players tensed, waiting for him to take action.

A moment later, though, he finally knew what was Tsunemori's plan.

Instead of trying to put a blocker or two in front of him, all of them backed down immediately, waiting for him to attack. Michael Wang widened his eyes, realizing what they were trying to do.

'They know the blockers mean nothing to me, so instead of sticking with it, they decide to throw away the blocker and face my attack directly like this. Shit!'

Even though the space in front of them was wide open, Michael Wang couldn't find any hole in Tsukiji's defense. The height advantage he had was nullified, and now, he had to rely on strength and ball placement. In the end, he decided to try his luck by aiming the ball at the number 3, probably the most ordinary player in Tsunemori's side.

BAM!

"Oh! Nice receive, Jimmy!"

"Move, move, move! Spread apart! Try to get a good position!" The blonde setter from Tsunemori shouted, signaling all of his teammates to rush forward. Michael Wang also tried to recover from his jump after the last attack. Unfortunately, before he could do so, he saw the captain was already in the air, flying right in front of his face.

BAM!

"Oh, yeah! Nice attack, Asa-senpai!"

"Go, go, Asahi! Come on, Asahi!"

Even though they were outnumbered, the crowd supporting Tsunemori High wasn't afraid to voice their thought. Their cheers were deafening, ironically silencing the home team's own crowd. Michael Wang could only shake his head, wondering how crazy the situation was. However, before he could say anything, the blonde setter from the opponent suddenly said something that caught him off guard.

"Don't think you can act almighty just because you are a foreigner, you prick! You are just an ordinary player that will be our stepping stone today!"

It was a provocation. However, Michael Wang blinked, not focusing on the heated part of the setter's words. No, what he found to be surprising the most was the fact that there was a player who could speak English fluently like him.

"You understand me?!" Michael Wang pointed his finger at himself in disbelief.

The setter furrowed his brows, feeling insulted at his insinuation. "Of course, I can understand you. Do you think I am that stupid?"

"No, no, no, nothing like that!" Michael Wang shook his head quickly. "It is just a surprise for me too! You are the first one who can communicate with me fluently like this! Hell, even the English teacher in the school struggled to keep up with me! Man, this is good!" Michael Wang was shaking in excitement as he realized he finally had a friend to talk to.

Tsunemori's setter frowned, wanting to rebuke the statement. After all, they were still opponent here, and he wasn't here to make a friend. Before he could do that, though, the four eyes from the Tsunemori side suddenly shouted, "Oi, Riku! I know you want to show off, but don't be so buddy-buddy with him! We are still in the middle of the game!"

"Shut up! I am not acting buddy-buddy with him!" The blonde boy retorted back.

"… So, you are not the only one who can understand me?" Michael Wang felt his jaws slack.

In return, the setter – Riku – furrowed his brows as if he was insulted once again by Michael Wang's words. "Of course, I am not the only one! Yuki could communicate fluently without any problem, our coach could do that, and while most of the players couldn't put their thoughts into their mouths easily, they could still understand what you were saying easily. Don't think we are that stupid!"

If before, Michael Wang was surprised, this time, he was sure he felt his jaws dropped. A month he had been in this land and couldn't find anyone his age who was proficient enough to speak the same language as him, then, suddenly, two boys appeared out of nowhere as if they were meteors falling straight in front of him. It was a cruel fate that those two were his opponent right now, and for a second, Michael Wang lamented his luck that he entered Tsukiji High instead of Tsunemori High.

'No, I cannot do that!' Michael Wang shook his head. 'Even though not a lot could understand me in the new school, I cannot give up so easily, especially when they put their hope on me, a mere freshman! I cannot disappoint them here! I need to focus on the game first and think of making a friend later!'