The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

For all the people inside the building, the image of Konan High inside their heads was always 'invincible', 'almighty', 'untouchable', or something like that. No matter how many years passed and how many times players come and go, they would always come out as a benchmark for a proper championship team.

They were a bunch of monsters being placed into a team and somehow, it would always work perfectly without each one of them conflicting with the others.

They had the best recipe for being a champion team here: they were full of talent, experienced, and could work together like a well-oiled machine.

That was why when a team like Tsunemori managed to give them trouble, it shocked all the people who watched the game. Even though they admitted Tsunemori's performance far exceeded their expectation, what Konan players showed in this game was far below their standard. That was why it wasn't so strange for anyone to hear the critique echoed all over the building.

"Man, are they serious? This is not like Konan High at all!"

"Yeah! Even though they win, it is still a terrible performance by them!"

"If they are not waking up quickly, they will suffer far worse than the current situation!"

The score itself was still 18 – 13 for Konan's lead. From the outside's perspective, it wasn't that bad. However, considering this was the first time ever Konan suffered five consecutive points in a row, and it was against a newborn team nonetheless, everything looked bad for them right now.

Konan's coach also noticed this situation. However, he didn't call a timeout to stabilize his players' mentality. No, instead of doing that, he asked one of his players on the bench to get ready to play.

"Genzo, it is your turn. Show Nobu how he should do this." It was just a short instruction. However, anyone who heard that shivered unconsciously, knowing something terrible might happen after this.

"Yes, Sir!" The boy nodded and rose from his seat with his face still expressionless.

A moment later, the substitution that shocked the entire Tsunemori team happened on the other side of the net. Sawada who didn't play that bad, per se, was replaced by a boy with an average height and unremarkable build. At first glance, the new boy didn't look special at all, making them think that it was Konan's attempt to provoke and look down at them.

However, as the boy walked silently on the field, a calm, almost unsettling smile barely tugged at the corners of his lips, causing all the Tsunemori players to feel an inexplicable chill as if they were staring down a predator disguised in sheep's clothing.

"Damn, he is dangerous," Koji muttered lowly.

Yuki and Riku who overheard that couldn't help but nod, their expression solemn. Even though Sawada who gave them a lot of trouble was replaced, they didn't feel relieved at all. Instead, they felt wary, knowing the new guy would be as dangerous or even more compared to Sawada's threat before.

However, it wasn't just Tsunemori players who felt nervous. All the Konan players – hell, even Matsumoto who was the captain of the team straightened their back immediately when they saw the new guy come to the court. The guy didn't say anything for a moment, making the tension rise astronomically on Konan's side. After a while, he suddenly let out a deep sigh before started speaking.

"Arizawa, your movement becomes sloppier in the last six minutes. There are about four chances you could kill the opponent's spike with a block directly, yet your hesitation makes the game prolonged unnecessarily."

"Yes, Harada-senpai!" The second-year opposite hitter straightened his back and answered the critique in a military way.

"Take, your impatience also affected the team. There are about two specific situations where if only you move in a system with Arizawa, you will be able to cut the opponent's momentum." Discover hidden stories at empire

"Yes, Senpai!"

"Shimada, you are also the same."

"Matsumoto…"

"Lucas…"

He scolded all the Konan players one by one with a monotonous tone, yet the ones who received the end of it could only swallow their protest behind their nervousness and nodded their heads quickly to not attract the boy's attention. All of this made the Tsunemori players dumbfounded, wondering the identity of the new boy.

To make all the Konan players who had a strong personality listen was definitely not something any ordinary player could do.

However, it seemed they were the only ones who were clueless here, as the crowd suddenly got excited when they all saw the boy.

"Is that Genzo Harada? I thought he was retired already!"

"Yes, he is Genzo Harada. Also, are you blind? He has been there since the game started, you know?!"

"Hey, it is not easy to detect his ordinary presence among his monstrous teammates, you know?!"

"You are right. But hey, at least we can finally see his performance again!"

Hearing the whisper from the crowd, all the Tsunemori players furrowed their brows. It was clear by now that the boy was a veteran who had a reputation, and by people's reaction, his ability shouldn't be below Sawada. However, based on Akira's intelligence, the player who always filled the setter's spot in this tournament was Sawada.

So, how come such an amazing player was willing to be on the bench all the time?

"Oi, Yuki." Riku suddenly whispered to his friend. The glasses boy leaned his body aside, putting his ears close to the blonde boy. "Do you think he is the senpai that Sawada snatched the position as a setter from when he talked about it in my house?"

Yuki was startled, then his memory suddenly brought him back to the time when he and Riku met Sawada for the first time in Riku's house. At that time, Sawada was full of hesitation since he didn't feel quite right after snatching the main setter position from his senpai.

In the end, Riku's speech managed to untie the knot in Sawada's heart, and Yuki somehow forgot about that problem until he was reminded by his friend.

Unfortunately, this information didn't change anything except for giving a small insight that PROBABLY, Sawada was slightly better than him that made their coach put the freshman instead of the veteran.

However, after the scolding session was over and they all saw the excitement that was visible in Konan's players, they felt uneasy once again, thinking that the new guy here would bring them more problems than all the Konan players possessed before.

'Man, to think that we finally grabbed the momentum of the game… Hopefully, nothing drastic would change just because of his presence.'