[1] Prologue: Crane Cry Pavilion

"つるめいかんこうこう... Hemingkan?"

The IH Kyoto Prefecture Preliminary Tournament coordinator, holding the application form, asked, "I don't think I saw any applications from this school last year. Is it a newly established volleyball club?"

"I think so... Wait?! Tsurumeikan??? Is it Tsurumeikan High School?"

The IH Kyoto Prefecture qualifier team member, who was busy organizing data, initially responded calmly, but then suddenly realized something, looked intently at the person in charge, and raised his voice several octaves in response.

"Yes, what's wrong?" The person in charge looked over, puzzled.

The member in charge pointed in a direction and exclaimed excitedly, "That's Tsurumyoukan! The Tsurumyoukan from Imadegawa!!!"

North of Kyoto, Imade River...

The person in charge immediately realized what was happening.

Although as a member of the Volleyball Association, he usually only pays attention to the few strong volleyball schools in Kyoto, as a native of Kyoto, he had heard of the illustrious reputation of Tsurumeikan since childhood.

"Huh?!?!" The person in charge exclaimed in surprise, uttering his daughter's usual high school girl exclamation when she was at home, "Wait! Is this really Tsurumeikan?!"

He took off his glasses and put them back on several times, until the words "Hemingguan Higher School" were clearly visible on the pristine white paper.

The member in charge also came over to examine it repeatedly, their expressions mirroring his astonishment and shock.

"Heming Hall is actually applying for sports club competitions?!" The member in charge couldn't help but mutter, "Isn't this school supposed to specialize in academics, arts, and politics?"

The person in charge also thought of the history of Kyoto's academic circles promoting Tsurumyoukan.

"Crane" symbolizes the hope that students will possess the noble spirit of a crane, "singing" symbolizes the resonance between scholarship and spirit, and "hall" embodies the profoundness of a temple of knowledge, implying "spreading the truth like the cry of a crane."

This prestigious school, founded during the Meiji era, has maintained its motto since its inception over a century ago: "The crane sings in the valley, the voice is heard in the heavens."

And just as its motto says, this school has cultivated many talented people over the past century who "speak out in the deep marshes and whose voices are heard in the heavens."

Even now, many prominent figures in politics, academia, and the arts are graduates of this university.

Although this university only has two junior high school divisions, junior high and high school, in the eyes of Kyoto residents, its prestige is enough to crush that of the University of Tokyo.

For the Crane Pavilion, which pursues academics and truth, students have always participated in various academic competitions, followed by elegant competitions for aristocratic young men and women, such as flower arrangement and tea ceremony. Even when they participate in sports clubs, they mostly participate in samurai-style activities such as archery and kendo.

Modern sports clubs were already declining in Kyoto, and even more so for the bookish nerds and upper-class individuals of the Tsurumeikan Academy who pursued truth.

The person in charge couldn't help but ask, "Is this the first time Heming Hall has applied for a national competition in modern sports?"

“It should be…” the member in charge replied, “As far as I know, Heming Hall has never applied for regional qualifying tournaments for modern sports in recent years. The sports department previously tried to communicate with the school and the principal, but they were unable to get in touch.”

The member in charge pointed upwards and said humorously, "We were wondering before whether Tsurumeikan would insist on not applying for a modern sports club, after all, it's Gakushuin, with its long history and rich cultural heritage."

The person in charge understood what he was implying and laughed, "That's not the case. There are more than two hundred clubs in Heming Pavilion. As far as I know, there are quite a few modern sports clubs as well. It's just that they are probably just interest-based clubs, and the club teachers haven't applied for major competitions."

The person in charge carefully smoothed out a corner of the application form that had been accidentally crumpled: "Okubo from the tennis association and I discussed this before. The overall strength of the female members of the Tsurumeikan tennis club is quite good, but most of them don't have the intention to participate in major competitions. They don't even play practice matches outside of school, and only 'fight each other' on campus."

"That old guy even solemnly assured me that he would build a good relationship with the coach of the Hemingguan Tennis Club and persuade the club president to bring the club members out to play a few practice matches against his students' schools."

The member in charge said thoughtfully, "Tennis club, for example, has members of the Tennis Association keeping an eye on it, and it's a modern sport that's popular among Western aristocrats. It would make sense if it were the first modern sports club in Heming Hall to apply for the national tournament preliminaries. Why did the volleyball club suddenly take a detour and submit its application to us?"

"I don't really remember the volleyball team at Heming Hall either..." The person in charge tapped the application form lightly, "However... the preliminary rounds haven't been going on for long, so we'll see the specific reason by then."

The member in charge followed the leader's gesture and looked at the application form. His fingertip was currently resting on a name—

Imade Kawa Yuzuru, No. 1, setter.

"Aren't you going to be a regular starter?" The plump, white northern long-tailed tit flew forward and landed on the boy's lap.

"No." Imadegawa Yuzuru rested her forehead on her hand to calm her breathing. "I can't go now."

"Why?" The chubby little bird tilted its head and looked into his eyes.

Imadegawa Yuzuru retorted, "Do you really think I can play right now?"

"Although your current six-dimensional stats are still at the bottom among the characters in this world's storyline, you should have no problem playing in the Kyoto qualifiers, right?"

The chubby little bird jumped on his lap. "There are no story characters in Kyoto, so the win rate will be much higher, right?"

"The winning percentage would be higher if I didn't play."

Imadegawa Yuzuru lowered her hand, leaned back, and looked away from the chubby little bird. "Besides, it will be a mess when you go on stage. Don't."

"How about we work harder to improve our six dimensions before the Kyoto qualifiers?"

Imaichi Kawa turned his attention to the field.

The main volleyball stadium of Heming Hall is extremely luxurious.

The venue was built strictly according to the standards for major competition venues. The flooring is maple wood, which is certified by the FIVB for its excellent shock absorption performance. The elastic layer and anti-slip coating of the flooring are inspected daily.

It is equipped with a full range of intelligent systems, including a serve and spike machine, a motion capture system, an eagle-eye challenge system, an intelligent lighting system, and a constant temperature and humidity system.

In addition, air circulation was specially designed inside the venue to prevent airflow from interfering with the ball's trajectory.

(bNrV) Imadegawa Yuzuru had never seen a volleyball hall at another school, but according to Little Fat Bird, this volleyball hall was set up according to the national team's standards.

As the number 001 in the volleyball youth development system, I am the most professional among all the volleyball youth development systems.

—This is what the chubby little bird said after spending all its resources to unlock the luxurious volleyball hall immediately after establishing "Crane Pavilion High School".

"I am a human being, not a god."

Now, as we slowly leave Sichuan, we speak.

Even if I could practice passing, serving, and receiving for 24 hours straight without eating or sleeping...

He drew out the last syllable—

"Before the first match of the Kyoto qualifiers, it probably won't even catch up with the six-dimensional attributes of this SR setter, right?"

The boy gazed at the "character card" he had drawn from the "card pool"—a card that was now diligently undergoing basic training and looked no different from a normal human being.

Even though the conversation touched on the setter, Imadegawa Yuzuru's gaze never actually fell on "him".

"Moreover," Imadegawa paused for a moment.

"As long as I'm on the team, whether I'm a substitute or a starter, my anchor point is stable enough, isn't it?"

His voice trailed off with a subtle hint of amusement.

————————

*The timeline is set in 2010, in a fictionalized Kyoto where modern sports are not highly valued. Furthermore, Tsurumeikan is set as a feudal aristocratic private school, where, apart from those focused on academics and the arts (tuition-free special admissions), the majority of "students" are not particularly interested in sports, as they are mostly from the political or financial worlds where infighting takes place (admission is by invitation only for wealthy students).

Information unlocked:

The first day of the founding of "Tsurumeikan High School"

Principal: Little Fatty

Teacher: 0

Students: 1 (Imadegawa Yuzuru)

Volleyball team member details:

Members: 1 (Imadegawa Yuzuru)

Imade River Yuzuru:

Position in the team: None

Height: 177.2cm Weight: 60.8kg

Birthday: January 30th

Favorite food: a secret

My recent worry: Ugh, I have to start all over again.

Overall Ability (out of 5): Strength 1; Stamina 1; Speed ​​1; Jumping 1; Skill 0; Intelligence 0.

Note: The "brain" attribute here refers only to the player's ability on the field and has no relation to academic performance or IQ.