Chapter 55: The National Competition Begins (30th Part and Additional Update) ...

Opening ceremony, where contestants gather.

"Actually, I'm kind of looking forward to the Aichi Stadium," Tendo said to Ushijima, hands on his hips, "I think the last time we went was in Osaka?"

Ushijima's expression remained unchanged. "As for the gymnasium, it shouldn't be much different."

"It's just sentimentality, Jorari-kun." Tendou Jue waved his hand. "But the one in Tokyo is still bigger."

The other teams around kept looking over, and some were discussing Shiratorizawa in low voices.

"That's Ushijima, right? He's one of the top three spikers in the country."

"He's quite big, and he's only in his second year. I heard the national team is already paying attention to him."

"Shiratorizawa is also a strong player. Who did he lose to last year?..."

The distance was very close, so the sound reached their ears directly. However, since Senmi and Tendo were only second years after all, they were very calm at the moment. As for the first-year junior high school students, they were also frequent participants in national competitions and had no stage fright at all.

As for the only unfamiliar Jiancheng,

Setimi looked in his direction, then sighed and said, "Kenjiro, go and bring him back."

In the blink of an eye, he was already at Oudae. Didn't they just meet yesterday? Why was he so enthusiastic?

Shirabu Kenjiro, who was playing dead: "...Yes."

He grabbed the collar and went to take the person away.

Xinghai Guanglai of course raised his hand in agreement. He had been deeply impressed by Jiancheng Xinyi since he got the nickname "Frost Melon" yesterday.

"Absolutely an idiot." Xinghai pinched his chin. At this moment, he could only see the struggling back of Kenjo Shinichi, so he repeated the conclusion he had reached in the hotel last night.

Hirugami was silent for a few seconds: "It's not good to judge people by their appearance."

Xinghai chuckled, his face showing dissatisfaction: "If I were to judge a person by his appearance, he wouldn't be a fool, but a very cunning type."

Hirugami:.

That's true, Kenjo Shinichi's appearance is quite deceptive.

That being said, Shiratorizawa seems quite popular. The second-year student is wearing a uniform that says "Kanagawa No. 1." So, neither Kaijo nor Ikukawa made it to nationals this year.

The competition is really fierce.

——Eita Senmi was talking to Ichiro Tokito who came over to say hello.

"I didn't expect to be assigned to the same group this year." Yuichiro spoke first.

The match schedule was released before the opening ceremony. Shiratorizawa and Kanagawa No.1 are both in Group A. No matter who wins, they will have to face Kobesaka in Group B. Every match will be a tough battle. Unlike Kanagawa No.1, Shiratorizawa, as one of the quarterfinals last year, had a bye in the first round. This means that Kanagawa No.1 must first defeat their first-round opponent Fukuda Soso before they can meet Shiratorizawa.

Upon hearing this, Seto was quite helpless. "We still have Owl Valley and Inarizaki on our side, and we met Luoshan and Jingdashan on the opposite side in the quarterfinals."

Last year's champions and runners-up were Jingdashan and Luoshan. This year, the two teams met directly in the quarterfinals. Really...

"It's going to be very dramatic," Ichiro said. "It's going to be intense on both sides."

As soon as Kenjo Shinichi was captured, he met Fushigi Genya who came with Tokito and Ichiro. The other party nodded when he saw him, as a greeting.

farmer:……

The farmer was originally listless, but upon seeing Alex, who was supplying him with wholesale snacks for work, he perked up a bit. "Good evening."

Shirabu: ...

Shirabu: "It's morning, idiot."

Xuan Mi:.

Everyone in Shiratorizawa has a really good relationship with each other. Unlike Shiratorizawa where almost all the members are sophomores and first-years, Xuanya is the only first-year in the lineup of Kanagawa First IH. I feel a little envious when I see this scene.

It’s great to have classmates.

But think about it, Tanjiro is much better. After all, Tanjiro is also a first-year student. Although his position is manager, he is still the same age as us.

If Bai Bu knew Xuan Mi's mentality, he might even ask him if he wanted the Sword City (……)

The radio sounded at this time: "Sorry to have kept you waiting——"

"Next begins the opening ceremony of the men's volleyball competition at the National College Sports Meet."

"Schools, please enter—"

The women's volleyball competition ended a few days ago. Unexpectedly, the Johor Bahru women's team won the championship again. As a member of Miyagi Prefecture, Shiratorizawa was slightly inferior to the Johor Bahru women's team, who have always been the champions and runners-up. Of course, reaching the quarterfinals is also a very good result.

When they heard the announcement of [Miyagi Prefecture representative team: Shiratorizawa Gakuen], Ushijima led the team into the gym.

The national competition has officially begun.

——That being said, Shiratorizawa’s first match is actually in the afternoon.

In addition to the warm-up before the game, the coach also gave them enough free time.

Shirabu couldn't persuade Kensho and chose to stay to watch Odai's game. In fact, he also wanted to leave, but Coach Washi Takumi said that he would always feel uneasy leaving Kensho Shinichi alone in the stadium (of course, this was not the original words), so Shirabu, who failed the draw, was left behind again.

Taichi Kawanishi originally wanted to follow, but after seeing the back of the eagle master Kaji disappear, Kencheng took out the hat that looked like a potted plant from somewhere and put it on without hesitation.

Taichi Kawanishi:......

Shiratorizawa, a first-year deputy attacker, ignored the pleading look from his good friend Shirabu and chose to escape.

Goodbye, Kenjiro, I can't do something that would lead to social demise.

Bai Bu accidentally understood his gaze: ...

hateful.

*

The first game in the morning, Group G, Outai vs. Yangquan.

Yosen High School is a school in Akita Prefecture. After the "Generation of Miracles" made it flourish in the field of basketball, other sports clubs followed suit the following year, especially volleyball. After changing the previous coach, it reached the national level in the second year. Although it lost to Kobezaka in the round of 16, its strength should not be underestimated.

In particular, new players were added to strengthen the team.

"That big guy over there," Xinghai Guanglai stared at the tall guy from Yangquan for a while during the warm-up, "Is he about the same height as Yasheng?"

Mei Shiraba, the main attacker of Outai, is 2 meters tall.

Hirugami followed the direction of Xinghai Guang's gaze and saw a foreigner with brown hair and red-rimmed glasses. (Note 1)

The man seemed to realize that Oudai and the others were looking at him. Seeing this, he tucked the excess hair behind his ear with his fingers, smiled, and from the shape of his mouth, he seemed to be saying -

"hi"

Xinghai Guanglai was silent for a few seconds and withdrew his attention.

He turned to Hirugami with a deadpan expression: "I hate him."

Hirugami:......

Forget it, just come and hate me if you want.

But, having said that,

When he saw a figure on the sidelines, the corners of his mouth curled up and he nodded at Xinghai: "Here, your 'new friend' is here."

Star Sea Light: ...

No doubt it's that silly blue-haired guy from Shiratorizawa.

The other person was waving a piece of clothing vigorously, looking like he had just arrived. But what was that overhead? Starry light appeared, his eyes blank. Was that a potted plant?

Why would someone wear a potted plant on their head?

*

The farmer saw Frost Melon, but he didn't look very happy. He was pushed to the farmer's side by an NPC, and his expression looked a little reluctant.

But that was okay, he understood—Frost Melon's personality might be like Shane's without the red heart. (Note 2) They peasants had the strength and the means to make friends.

Farmer: "Keep mining."

Light from the sea of ​​stars:.

Xinghai Guanglai's eyes were dead. "What kind of mining are you doing? Are you using abstract metaphors?"

He found that he really had no way to deal with this kind of idiot. If Jian Chengxin was a little more arrogant or conceited, he could just ignore him. The hateful thing was that this guy liked to stare at him with that expectant look.

Xinghai Guanglai, there is nothing I can do about the sincere type.

Shirabu: "...He likes to refer to volleyball as mining. Please bear with me, Xinghai-kun."

Upon hearing this, Xinghai turned to Shirabu and sighed, "It's not easy for you either, Shirabu-kun."

As a person from another school, he had to spend a lot of effort just to understand whether Jiancheng Xinyi was speaking human language or bird language. He couldn't imagine how much hardship it would take to reach Baibu's level - maybe he could really compete with Sun Wukong in the journey to obtain the scriptures.

Shirabu received a sympathetic look and said, "...same here."

I am the parsnip and you are the frost melon, we are actually the same.

Hirugami was behind him: "Let's go, Guang come, the game is about to begin."

It's time to line up.

*

Yangquan is high.

"Dodo," the black-haired secondary attacker tugged at the hem of Dobson's shirt, who was staring at the rest area, "Your clothes are not tucked in properly."

"Ah, thank you, Mingta," he came back to his senses, "I just saw someone I know."

Actually, we weren't acquaintances, but we had been in the same club before, so we looked somewhat familiar. (Note 3)

In other words—

He knows the person, but the person may not know him.

However, these thoughts were of course unknown to Mitsuki Mitsuki. Upon hearing this, he simply scratched his head and asked, "Should we go say hello?"

"But there's probably no time now."

The referee's gesture indicated that the game was about to begin.

Dobson shook his head. "No."

Anyway, we are not in that club anymore, and there is no need to get to know each other better.

——He doesn't want to see anything about JOJA anymore.

Everyone lines up, and then the whistle blows.

“Beep—”

"The first match of Group G, Outai vs. Yangquan, starts now!"

"Please give me your guidance!"

*

Akita Prefecture——

"Welcome to the first round of the IH Men's Volleyball Tournament this morning. I'm Sano, the commentator, and I'll be covering the Group G match between Oudai and Yangquan."

The commentator's voice came from the mobile phone, a little distorted due to the electric current.

"Muro-chan?" Murasakibara Atsushi heard this as he walked in. The basketball team's IH was still a few days away from leaving for Tokyo after the volleyball match, so he was a little confused when he heard the commentary about the national tournament. "Why are you watching volleyball?"

Himuro lowered the volume a bit, "Do you remember when school started, there was a junior who came for a tryout?"

Murasakihara:......

Well, judging by her expression, she probably didn't remember. Himuro didn't beat around the bush and explained directly: "She was very capable and tall, but she ended up joining the volleyball club."

It just so happens that I have nothing to do and I'm free. The volleyball team of Yangquan High School has also emerged as a strong force this year, so I decided to watch the game when I remembered.

Murasakibara didn't know if she heard him or not, and picked up a delicious stick on her own, "Oh."

Himuro sighed.

The explanation continues——

"Amazing height! Oudai No. 5! Xinghai-san's smash leaves Yangquan High School completely unable to react!"

"It's worth mentioning that Xinghai, the main attacker, is the shortest player in this IH competition, at only 166.7cm tall. However, his spike just now completely broke through the block of the two-meter-tall Yangquan player!" (Note 4)

Passionate.

"It's just like a little giant!"

"That junior," Himuro said, "looked startled."

Murasakibara chewed the delicious stick in his mouth and said, "166cm, quite short..." Then he added, "About the same height as Kuroko."

Himuro: ...

Himuro: "...Don't say things like that in front of others anymore, Atsushi."

-----------------------

Author's words: Note 1: Dobson, a character in the old version of Stardew Valley, works for Joja. He is not in the new version. He looks like a man with brown hair and a middle part (with a bit of squinty eyes), wearing red-rimmed glasses. His height and personality are all private settings.

Note 2: (This prize-winning guess has been won. Those who arrive late can check plq)

Shane, a Stardew Valley NPC with a slightly bad temper, loves chili peppers and beer, and also works for Joja (though he'll be replaced by another anime character. Guess who it is; the clue is related to his personality, and he's a Prince of Tennis character). There's a prize contest! The first person to guess correctly will receive a 100 Jinjiang Coin red envelope from Yami-san (participation requirements: first guess + subscription requirement of 70% or higher, both are required) (second place winner gets 20 Jinjiang Coins, subscription requirement also of 70% or higher) (Hope someone else guesses correctly) (All guesses have been made. Congratulations to the two bosses, Ban Xintian and Gugu! [Fireworks][Fireworks][Fireworks])

Note 3: JOJA Corporation, the famous exploitation company in Stardew Valley, is the volleyball club in this article! Finally, I'm writing about JOJA! (Wow!)

Note 4: I don’t know Xinghai’s height in his first year of high school, so I started making it up again ()