The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Hey, hey, is this fucking real?!" Yuki stared at the court in disbelief. "How could this game turn into a one-sided massacre like this?!" He wasn't the only one who was in shock. In fact, almost all the people here were also in denial, not knowing how to proceed with this inside their heads.

Still, they couldn't be blamed here. The thing that happened on the court was indeed outrageous. At first, everyone thought that with the level that the two teams showed before this round, today would be a close game. Who would've thought that Shirayuki High would slaughter Shimo High mercilessly like this?

"Come on, Hideo-senpai! Move faster, he is going to the left!"

BAM!

"Fuck!"

"Oh, it is Ezaki again?! He really carries the team's defense!"

"Still, can he last that long, though?"

"Come on, Shimoyawata! This is a pure humiliation!"

BAM!

"OH! HELL, YEAH!"

As Shirayuki High once again scored the ball, on the stand, Yuki could only shake his head in disbelief. The last play really showed how Shimo was outclassed here. They couldn't match Shirayuki's constant quick play, and the fact that Shirayuki always attacked with numbers really made it difficult for their players to react. Only Ezaki – and sometimes Wakamatsu, the team's defensive specialist – was able to react quickly enough, because he had an outstanding game-reading ability and an above-average reflex speed.

He also tried to take command of the defense, yet it was clear that the boy was not used in that role. The speed of his mouth running and his command being translated into a real action by his teammates would always be a few seconds slower than Shirayuki's attack. That was one of the reasons why Shirayuki was able to dominate the game today.

Of course, where there was brilliancy, there would always be a brain behind it, the mastermind who controlled everything to go smoothly just as they wanted to be, and for Shirayuki High, the brain was their sophomore setter, the easy-going boy with a small smirk that was always on his face, Naoto Tsubasa.

The boy, Tsubasa, really grasped the rhythm of the game, controlling the pace like a puppeteer playing around with his toys. Not only that, he also directed his teammates to make sure that everyone was in the right place at the right time. More than that, his pass was so accurate and easy to hit, making it easier for his teammates to execute the attack. With his pass, even though the opponent was quick enough to jump and intervene, his teammates would still be able to do something to escape from that situation without giving away any points to their opponent.

Overall, Tsubasa really dominated the entire court, and everyone who knew volleyball could see it clearly.

"Goddamnit, Tsubasa-kun! Give those poor guys a chance to fight back!" Takumi, the team's captain, slapped the boy's back playfully.

"What? Do you want to hold back against them? Are you sure about that?" He wiggled his eyebrows in the same playful manner.

Takumi pondered in a faux innocent manner for a moment before a huge grin formed on his face. "Nah! Why would we do something stupid like that?! Let's just destroy them all here today! Come on!"

All the Shimo players who overheard that had their face darkened instantly. Unfortunately, they had no way to fight back against the mockery from their opponent since they couldn't fight back after the first point they received in this game.

"Come on, everyone! Show some personalities here! We haven't lost anything yet, right now!" Unexpectedly, it was Ezaki who tried to encourage his teammates. After all, he was their best player during the first ten minutes of the game, so he wasn't blown away too far mentally by their opponent. "The score is still 9 – 2, and this is still the first set! We have a long game awaiting us! Come on, let's try this again!"

While they all knew that Ezaki was right, all of the Shimo players were still pretty dejected because of the huge gap that Shirayuki High had right now. Honestly, Shimo didn't play like they were the former third-best team in Tokyo at all today. However, they couldn't help it. After all, they gained those titles three years ago, and right now, not a single player from that period is still on the team.

Unfortunately, they had no time to adjust their mentality as the referee had already called all the players from both teams to get ready for the next play.

"Come on, Yuya! Continue the streak!"

"Let's kill them all with one go!"

Masaki Yuya, Shirayuki's hitter, took a deep breath, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle. Just like Takumi and Kubota, who served the ball before him, Yuya was also the type of player who threw a powerful serve, using brute force to cover up the lack of accuracy.

Honestly, even though some people might say Shirayuki High lacked variety in their service team, having three players who could throw an ace service was a blessing in the first place. The fact that their quality was pretty high and similar to each other also helped elevate the team's service strategy. It was as if the opponents were getting bombarded by the same exact player from the service line in three different rotations in a row.

BAM!

"I got this!" Ezaki shouted, rushing toward the ball.

In the end, Yuya sent the ball to the joint area where Ezaki and Hideo guarded. Ezaki managed to react quickly, signalling that he would get the ball. Seeing this, Hideo also stepped aside, preparing himself to launch a counterattack.

"Ueno, give it to me!" He yelled, raising his hand for the ball.

Not just Hideo, Senki and even Genta, the team's middle blocker also joined the transitional attack, trying to use the same strategy as what Shirayuki high did to them earlier by overwhelming their opponent's defenders with numbers.

However, once again, Tsubasa showed off his superior game-reading ability by predicting accurately where the ball would go. Ryusei-senpai, go to the right! They want to fool us and go back to Ezaki!"

If anyone watched carefully, they would notice Ueno widening his eyes in shock, not knowing how Tsubasa saw through his intention. Even Ezaki, who tried to sneak from the blind spot, was also caught off guard, especially when two pairs of eyes landed on him immediately. In the end, because of the panic from his leaked plan, Ueno's hands trembled a little, and the ball finally slipped through his fingers, falling slowly to the spot right in front of him.

Thud!