The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Holy shit! What happened with Konan's players? Why didn't they react to those easy services at all?!"

"Idiot! How could you know? The situation on the court is complicated, you know?!"

"But to score three aces against Konan, he is amazing!"

"You are right! If I remember correctly, this should be the first time in Konan's history that they have suffered from three aces in a row."

"Really?!"

"I wonder who is the name of that number 19 from Tsunemori?"

For a moment, all the attention was on Yuki. This was understandable. Just like what the crowds mentioned, before this game, Konan had never suffered from three consecutive aces in a row. Hell, only a few could score twice in a row, and those who did that usually became a great player for the country. So, for Yuki to break the record, it was something that no one expected it.

Konan High themselves also reacted quickly. Their coach stood up immediately and asked for a timeout from the referee. Even though it was strange for them to take a timeout this early, especially when they still were in the lead, the coach wanted to cut off the opponent's momentum while also inquiring to his players about what happened before.

"Shimada, care to tell me why you froze and reacted late in the first two serves?" He asked.

Not just Shimada, but all the Konan players gulped nervously. Although they were probably the best players in the country, they still had a healthy amount of fear and respect toward their coach.

How could they not, when their coach, Kentaro Nakai, had a reputation in the volleyball community in Japan. Although he was still in his early 30s, he managed to establish his name as one of the best coaches in tournament history by leading Konan to win the inter-high tournament six years in a row. That was the domination that no one could ever dream of.

"I-I don't know, Nakai-sensei." Shimada stuttered a little. "It is like, when I saw the ball, my brain suddenly said I cannot get it. I don't know why."

Everyone also stared at Shimada in wonder. This was the first time they saw such a bizarre technique, and they couldn't help but feel curious. Nakai himself also pondered for a moment, recalling the details on the court to figure out what happened. After a moment, he finally spoke.

"Well, based on my observation, I have a pretty good guess of what happened to you." All of his players leaned forward in curiosity. "If I am not wrong, that number 19 would always send his serve toward Nobu's route to go to his usual spot. That is the point he takes advantage of."

"Me?!" Sawada was surprised when his name was mentioned all of a sudden.

"Yes, you." Nakai nodded. Then, he took a small whiteboard before explaining, "Your normal spot is on the top right. However, due to the rule, you have to wait until the opponent does his serve before moving. And this is the route you have to take to get into your position." He drew a line to explain better.

"So, that number 19 sent the ball there to make Shimada's peripheral vision catch Nobu's movement, and in that way, Shimada's brain would think it would be Nobu who received the ball. As a result, Shimada would react late, and the ball would slip through his defense."

All of the players were stunned for a moment. They all were the best players in the country and had a pretty high volleyball IQ. It didn't take a long time for them to understand their coach's explanation. However, because they understood what happened they felt that this operation was far more impressive than it looked like.

"His control should be really amazing for him to be able to do that," Lucas muttered.

"Yeah." Matsumoto nodded solemnly. "This trick could only be done after months or even years of training and observing the players' habits on the court. The requirement for control is too high. If anything goes wrong, the serve would turn into a weak one which would be easy for us to counterattack. So, for him to be confident to pull something like this, he is amazing."

All the Konan players stared at Yuki in a new light. After all, it was one thing to understand the method, but doing it was a completely different thing. They could imagine if they were in Yuki's position, they wouldn't be able to persist from the boring and arduous practices and would give up immediately for something easier or flashier like a jump serve or a spin serve.

That was why they appreciated Yuki's ability in the service line more.

"Just with this trick, he could be the top five best servers in the country." Shimada said solemnly.

As for Sawada, he felt complicated. Before this, all of his thoughts were filled with Riku's challenge that he ignored Yuki's existence at all. Who would've guessed that it would be Yuki who shone first, and the glasses boy also took advantage of his movement to fool the entire team.

However, after knowing the answer to the trick, it would be easier for them to solve this situation.

"So, we should just empty the back and let Shimada-senpai do the rest, huh?" Akihiro asked.

"Yeah, you are right." Nakai nodded.

However, Yuki and Sekine had already known that Konan would be able to figure out this trick. When Yuki entered the court and saw the confident look in the opponent while Sawada also stared at him with a complicated gaze, he knew the same trick wouldn't work again this time. Fortunately, he had so many tricks on his sleeves that was ready to be unleashed after this,

'Listen, Yuki-kun. The taboo thing for a service specialist for you is to get predictable. Once the opponent knows your trick and how to handle it, you will be in trouble. That is why I ask you to learn so many tricks. That way, if one didn't work, you can still have more to pull. So, be creative, and don't always stick to one trick!'

That was what Sekine said when Yuki learned from the old man for the first time, and that was also the basic principle for Yuki's service up until now. After managed to score twice with the 'aim to the crowd' serve and once with his floater, he wanted to save it back for later. As for now…

'Well, they should know by this point how accurate my serve is. So, why not let it engraved into their head?'

Right after the referee blew the whistle, Yuki did another 'ordinary' serve once again. However, unlike before it was a bit short, and everyone thought the ball would hit the net. Well… Everyone who didn't know Yuki, of course.

Riku who accompanied Yuki when the glasses boy wanted to practice his accuracy for the first time knew his friend wouldn't make a silly mistake like this. So, when he saw the ball was a bit short, he knew Yuki's aim was for…

*Thud!*

"The ball hit the net!"

"No, it still crosses the net! It falls to Konan's front side!"

Yeah, what Yuki aimed for was the front side of the court. When he saw Shimada was ready on the back while everyone also gathered to counterattack on the front side, of course, Yuki knew it was terrible to send it to Shimada. So, he sent it to the front side where the players were ready to counterattack to catch them off guard.

Fortunately, unlike tennis, volleyball didn't have something like let, so it was legal to aim the ball to hit the net.

"Arizawa! Cover it!"

"I got this!" A boy, a hitter who hadn't done anything yet reacted quickly to save the ball.

Akihiro also moved to cover the mess. He picked up the shaky ball from his teammates and gave it to Lucas. The Brazilian boy jumped, ready to execute the last ball. However, right before he could swing his arm, a pair of hands suddenly popped up in front of him, covering his sight.

"What?!"