[6] Grade 11: Kyoto Preliminaries

"The Crane Cry Pavilion has changed hands again."

"I am a Kyoto reporter sitting at the Yamazaki Tachibana table," he said to his companion.

As a dedicated reporter from Kyoto Shimbun, a mainstream local media outlet in Kyoto, who has long covered high school volleyball, they prioritized the stands in the half of the court where Yamazaki Tachibana plays.

The older, more experienced reporter fiddled with his camera: "I watched their quarterfinals and semifinals. They would make substitutions between sets, but not often during sets. And every time they started in the first set, they always fielded one of their substitutes."

"Is it to test their opponents? After all, they have no experience in major competitions." A new reporter who had been with the company for less than a year asked.

"It's highly likely. But they won't field all their main players in the second set of the first two matches; they'll take turns." The veteran reporter didn't look up, quickening his pace as he continued his work while answering the newcomer's question. "Only in the last set and the fourth set of the semifinals did they field all their main players in the starting lineup."

"Then why did they substitute their key player again in this set? And why such an important position as setter?" the new reporter pressed. "Is it because the first two sets went on for too long, and the setter didn't have enough stamina and needed a rest?"

"No, the setter from Tsurumeikan played all five sets in the first two matches. Perhaps it's Tsurumeikan's tactical arrangement, but Yamazaki Tachibana is not an easy school to deal with."

After readjusting the camera settings, the veteran reporter raised the camera and aimed it at the field for testing.

As the camera swayed, the blurry image on the camera screen jumped around. After the camera stabilized, the final focus of the view on the screen landed precisely on the newly introduced setter from the Heming Hall.

"Number 1..." The veteran reporter squinted at the camera screen and slowly read out the number of the newly introduced setter, "...Captain???"

The setter at Heming Hall, with her white jersey featuring a gradient of white and red hair, had a black number with a prominent red horizontal bar underneath.

The commentator's voice came late: "...Tsurumeikan suddenly brought in their captain and setter, 'Imaidekawa Yuzuru,' during this set break!! What kind of brilliant performance will this young player, a freshman from Tsurumeikan, bring us in her first appearance of the season?"

The first-year captain of the Crane Cry Hall stood in position number two, and faced with the opponent's tense expression, he revealed a light smile.

The veteran reporter pressed the shutter button as if by some strange impulse.

......

"...Yamazaki Tachibana vs. Tsurumeikan, third set, 'Yamazaki Tachibana' team serves first."

"Prepare--"

"The match begins!"

After the whistle blew, the third game of the IH Kyoto Prefecture Qualifier Finals officially began.

Yamazaki Tachibana took a deep breath, tossed the ball, took a run-up, jumped, and aimed at the number five position in the backcourt of Tsurumeikan for a jump serve.

"I'll do it!" Saotome Chihaya shouted.

Heming Hall No. 9, who was standing at position 5, quickly stepped back a few steps to make way for him to receive the ball.

The volleyball landed steadily in Saotome's arms, and he used it to send it to the golden-eyed captain.

A steady first pass allowed Imadegawa Yuzuru to easily and swiftly send the volleyball out with a simple flick of her wrist.

Aoyagi took a quick run-up, jumped, and swung his arms.

The volleyball slammed into Yamazaki Tachibana's half of the court with lightning speed.

A cheer erupted from the audience halfway through the performance at the Crane Sound Hall.

"Beautiful!!! The setter from Heming Hall orchestrated a textbook-perfect quick attack right from the start! The attacker scored with a spike as soon as the ball left his hand, and the opposing blocker didn't even have time to react!" The excited commentary rang out at the same time.

"So fast..." Yamazaki Tachibana murmured as she blocked the net.

Was the speed of Crane Pavilion No. 4 this fast before?

"Beep—"

Heming Hall has the right to serve, and all members of Heming Hall rotate.

The original number two, now number one – the captain of the setter team at Heming Hall – is standing outside the service line.

The Yamazaki Tachibana players keenly noticed that Tsurumeikan, whose morale was high at the start of the third set, was now on an even higher level.

The serve time ticked by, second by second.

The hearts of the Yamazaki Tachibana players were pounding.

Although they knew this was a common tactic used in volleyball to suppress mentality, they still couldn't help but feel the pressure from the opponent's half of the court.

The captain of the Crane Cry Hall, with his golden eyes, positioned himself at the very end of the 8-second serve time and delivered a high toss from the spot—

The setter's hand, not wrapped in tape, didn't cover the side of the volleyball; instead, he twisted his wrist at a peculiar angle and sent the volleyball flying.

"I'll do it!!!"

Yamazaki Tachibana, the libero, stared intently at the volleyball spinning rapidly, ran to the predicted landing point, and assumed a receiving stance.

The volleyball slowly expanded in his field of vision, getting closer and closer...

!!! !!! !!! !!!

...No, that's not right!!!

The volleyball's extremely fast spin made it difficult for Yamazaki Tachibana to see the direction of its rotation at first. It wasn't until the volleyball reached the air in front of him and its speed decreased slightly that he suddenly realized something was wrong.

The volleyball's trajectory suddenly veered, grazing the libero's face before slamming into his back with a "bang."

"—A standard powerful sidespin serve!!!"

—This is a serve with sidespin!

The commentator's exclamations of praise and the free man's inner judgment rang out at the same time.

"After gaining the right to serve, Heming Hall scored another point with a brilliant no-touch shot by their setter, making the score 2-0..." the commentator continued to add.

A hint of frustration flashed through Yamazaki Tachibana's mind, but since he still had the serve from setter number 1 at Tsurumeikan, he quickly dismissed the frustration and returned to his original position, keeping a close eye on the opposite half of the court.

Another serve came hurtling towards Tachibana Yamazaki's half of the court!

Having learned from the previous ball's mistake, libero Yamazaki Tachibana stared intently at the volleyball, trying to discern its spin angle.

However, the speed of the side spin serve was too fast, blurring the spin of the volleyball. The libero could only barely discern the angle when the volleyball was about to fall.

The libero turned sideways to try and catch it.

The volleyball's trajectory changed again—

With the same force and spin as the previous ball, the volleyball swept past him again and slammed into Yamazaki Tachibana's half of the court with a "bang".

"Don't mind!!!"

Yamazaki Tachibana, the ace attacker, shouted at the top of his lungs.

The free agent waved his hand to indicate that there was no problem.

Although sidespin serves are difficult to receive, as long as you can see the direction of the spin, you can better predict where the volleyball will land.

He saw the spin of this ball earlier and more clearly than he did on the previous ball, and if there were no surprises, he would be able to receive the serve from Hemingguan No. 1 on the next ball.

...but an accident happened.

Yamazaki Tachibana, the libero, watched the volleyball fall a few steps to his left.

The first two serves from Hemingguan No. 1 were sidespin serves from the top left to the bottom right. However, the third serve had the opposite sidespin, from the top right to the bottom left!

The libero, who subconsciously stepped to the right ahead of time, missed the landing point of the volleyball.

"Mine!" Yamazaki Tachibana, the ace attacker standing in position five, spoke first. "I should have covered for it the moment I saw it go astray."

"Don't mind!" the middle blocker reassured him.

"No, it's mine too." The libero returned to his original position. "I misjudged the landing point. I didn't expect him to serve a reverse sidespin ball this time."

The reverse sidespin shot is known for its left-leaning and sharp drop; if the player misjudges it, there is absolutely no time to react and save the shot.

"It's okay! Next ball!"

The golden-eyed server from Heming Hall served another ball just before the 8-second buzzer.

Even though Yamazaki Tachibana's players were prepared, they still couldn't save the ball.

The fourth serve from the first-year setter captain of the Crane Sound Hall was a precise short topspin serve near the net!

After crossing the net, the volleyball floated upwards at high speed and deviated to the side, flying towards the small triangle area near the net of Yamazaki Tachibana.

Even as the setter turned to try and save the ball, and the back row outside hitter and libero rushed to try and recover, the volleyball still deftly avoided their arms and landed on the sideline at position one of Yamazaki Tachibana's positions.

The volleyball bounced high after touching the ground inside Yamazaki Tachibana's boundary, accelerating towards the outside of the boundary.

"Is he a volleyball that has come to life?!?! He can make the volleyball spin however he wants."

Yamazaki Tachibana looked resentful.

"He can make the volleyball go whichever way he wants—that's just too unreasonable!"

The commentator in the stands, oblivious to the frustration of the players on the court, exclaimed in admiration towards the direction of Tsurumeikan: "...The setter and server from Tsurumeikan has given us a wonderful visual feast! This first-year player has mastered the art of sidespin serve, whether it's topspin, backspin, or even the unpredictable reverse sidespin, he serves with effortless ease."

"This is also the fourth point that Heming Hall has scored through a serve without touching the ball!!!"

Amidst the commentator's enthusiastic commentary, Coach Yamazaki Tachibana raised his hand and called a timeout.

The middle-aged supervisor entered the room with a sullen face.

The standard 30-second pause can only be called twice per game by each side. The time is short and precious, but it is appropriate to use it now.

It was not only to disrupt the serve of the Tsurumeikan setter, but also to break the unconscious retreat of the Yamazaki Tachibana players in the second half.

Coach Yamazaki patted the ace and libero on the back, exasperated, and said, "Besides the spin of the volleyball, you also need to pay attention to the angle of the server's wrist!!! It's one thing to be hard to receive a reverse sidespin serve, but how come you can't even receive the initial sidespin serve? Last year when we played in the national tournament, you also encountered servers who were good at sidespin serves, and you can't receive them this time?!"

You said it yourself, it's a nationwide campaign...

Besides, the player I encountered in the top 32 of the national tournament last time never served a reverse sidespin serve...

Yamazaki Tachibana, the ace, is silently heartbroken...

Who would have thought that I would encounter such a well-executed sidespin serve in the qualifiers?

Coach Yamazaki gestured to the players: "Make sure you see his wrist clearly! Inward slash and downward cut with sidespin, upward lift and outward flip with sidespin, inward slash and diagonal cut with reverse sidespin! Remember that well!!!"

"Next, we need to get past Hemingguan No. 1's serve as soon as possible and regain control of the game!"

"yes!!!"

————————

Finally, I got to write about Xiao He's appearance, and I can finally say what I've been holding back for so long.

Xiao He's inspiration came from a dream I had while half-asleep, in which he dominated the basketball court. So before I started writing this story, I didn't originally intend for him to "avoid battles," otherwise I wouldn't have given him such high talent and the cheat system.

After quickly drafting a few hundred words of outline, I immediately started writing, because I didn't want to miss him. Therefore, I found the passage in the prologue somewhat inexplicable when I put it down. It wasn't until I wrote "No, it would be very embarrassing" that I had a strange premonition—not only did I not want to miss him, but he was also eager to appear in my writing so I would know of his existence.

Even if this version of him is completely different from the one I dreamed about, perhaps this is the original him. What I saw in my dream was a projection of him from the "future."

Thank you, Xiaohe, for allowing me to meet you. (laughs)