Inside the huge gymnasium, Ryuhei Sanashita's shouts stood out, mainly because he was calling out at an unusually fast pace.
A typical three-person hitting drill usually takes about 12 to 15 seconds per cycle. But Sanashita was pushing it down to just 8 to 10 seconds.
The other two groups were calling out: "Next ball... next ball... next ball..."
But Sanashita's group was going: "Next ball… next ball… next ball…"
Even the sound of the volleyball hitting the floor was noticeably quicker and tighter.
Yet despite the accelerated pace, their rhythm stayed impressively steady, though it was clear they were exhausted.
You could tell just by looking at Hanamaki Takahiro, who was so worn out he could barely speak.
"Hanamaki-senpai, do you want to take a break?" Akashi Asuka asked thoughtfully.
Sweat poured down Hanamaki's face, but he was still gasping and refused to stop.
Asuka nodded and kept going. After another five minutes or so, Hanamaki's hitting pace finally started to slow. Asuka checked again:
"Hanamaki-senpai, maybe you should grab some water?"
This time Hanamaki didn't refuse.
Within Aoba Johsai, Hanamaki was never the most physically strong player, that title belonged to Hajime Iwaizumi.
As Hanamaki rested, the other two groups also paused for breaks.
But Asuka kept going...
Definitely not. Although Asuka's stamina was top-notch in Junior High, now that he was a high school freshman, his endurance was only "excellent" compared to upperclassmen who had been training for years longer.
But that's how training works, progress comes bit by bit, built up over time.
Right now, even though Asuka was fatigued, seeing others rest while he could push for just two more minutes fired him up.
Standing in the rest area, Iwaizumi listened to the relentless hitting from Asuka's court, feeling an odd irritation bubble up.
Losing the match was one thing.
But losing even in training? What's the point then?
"Hey, you idiot, Oikawa! Done resting? If so, come on over and toss the balls."
Tooru Oikawa, who had just opened his water bottle without even taking a sip: "???"
Not long after, the sound of hitting resumed on the neighboring court. Asuka's interest peaked.
"Already done resting?"
He glanced sideways toward Oikawa's court. Sure enough, barely thirty seconds had passed before Oikawa's group was back at it.
"Oikawa, we need to speed things up too. You're seniors in third year, you can't let freshmen outpace you." Iwaizumi said.
"Got it, Iwaizumi-chan!"
Oikawa answered cheerfully. Soon, their hitting rhythm also ramped up dramatically.
On the other side, Yahaba Shigeru, who'd been leisurely resting, suddenly felt a rush of urgency when he heard Oikawa's group speeding up.
"You two are done resting? If so, we should train too."
Yūtarō Kindaichii quickly replied, "No problem, Yaguchi-senpai."
Hideo Kunimi was silent.
"Get ready, we have to speed up. Even if we can't catch Oikawa-senpai's group, we can't lose to freshmen at our level!"
Kindaichi shouted, "Don't worry, Yaguchi-senpai!"
Inside Kunimi's head: So tired…
The sudden acceleration in hitting sounds from both courts made Asuka freeze for a moment.
He glanced first at Oikawa's court, then Yaguchi's, and immediately went wide-eyed.
They're already going all out?
Before entering high school, Asuka already knew it'd be tougher than Junior High, partly because high school matches carried more weight, but also because of the system itself.
According to the "Involution System." If Asuka wanted to rack up "Involution Points" quickly, the best way was to join a weaker school where no one could compete with him.
But here's the problem:
Volleyball is a team sport. If he joined a weak school, sure, it'd be easier to get points, but he'd never have strong teammates.
That meant no chance of winning official high school matches, no matter how talented he was individually.
But joining a powerhouse school gave him strong teammates, at the cost of making "Involution Points" much harder to earn.
High school sports aren't professional.
Professional players can transfer teams anytime, but switching schools just to win would ruin the fun of high school volleyball.
Besides, the system itself imposed restrictions on that.
So when Asuka chose his high school, this was part of what he considered.
Still, even he hadn't expected Aoba Johsai's team to start ramping up the intensity this quickly.
Is this really normal?
"Ah, coach, aren't these kids a little too fired up today?" An assistant coach said, eyeing the intense training from the second- and third-year starters.
"Heh heh." Nobuteru Irihata chuckled. "It's fine. When fresh water flows into a pond, it always causes ripples. It's good for them to feel some urgency."
"I'm not worried about the upperclassmen. But I do wonder if these freshmen might get discouraged with such intense training all at once."
Irihata waved that off. "Don't underestimate these freshmen!"
His gaze landed on Asuka. He said quietly, "I used to think 'geniuses' were just naturally gifted and effortless, but it turns out, no one succeeds without hard work."
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