A New Chapter
July 17th.
The volleyball club's summer training camp officially commenced.
Japan's school holidays differ from those in many other countries, typically consisting of three main breaks: Spring Break (around March 15th to April 1st), Summer Break (around July 15th to September 1st), and Winter Break (around December 20th to January 8th).
Therefore, while the camp might seem late, it was actually scheduled for the very beginning of the summer vacation, with everyone gathering at the school.
The entire Senkoku volleyball club assembled in the gymnasium, their faces alight with excitement. Even a faint spark of anticipation flickered in Akashi Asuka's eyes.
After all, even combining both his lives, this was his first "summer training camp." Such an institution didn't exist in his previous life, where middle school students didn't have a summer vacation.
A short while later, Shimokawa Sanwa entered, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, clutching a training schedule. He was accompanied by Tanno Sawa.
This was a necessary condition for holding a middle school summer camp. Regardless of the number of students participating, at least two teachers were required to be present to ensure student safety.
Seeing Tanno Sawa walk into the gym, Omae Masato instantly reacted like a mouse spotting a cat, wanting nothing more than to shrink into the floor.
Coach Shimokawa stepped forward, scanned the group, and spoke with mild satisfaction. "Alright, everyone is present! If so, I officially declare that this year's summer training camp has begun!"
"Oh, yeah!"
"Let's get down to business!"
"Watch out, Kitagawa First Middle School!"
...
The New Standard
The training officially started.
Since the team's objective was explicitly defined as "revenge" against Kitagawa First, the summer camp schedule could not possibly resemble their usual club activities.
Regular club activities often blended entertainment with instruction.
The singular purpose of the summer training camp, however, was a relentless pursuit of skill improvement.
Consequently, from the very first drill—receiving passes—the players immediately sensed an intensity vastly different from before.
Previously, receiving drills involved two-person groups tossing and spiking to each other, or self-practice. The main goal was feel for the ball and familiarity.
This new training was different; it was entirely focused on match-like realism.
One player was assigned to spike, while the remaining players rotated across the court to receive the ball over the net. Crucially, the player assigned to spike was Akashi Asuka.
For the next while, the gymnasium was dominated by a monotonous, constant repetition of sounds:
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
"Next!"
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
"Next!"
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
"Next!"
...
"Damn it, I never realized it when we were teammates, but this guy's spike is incredibly difficult to receive," Kazama Jujiro commented, wiping sweat from his face after receiving ten spikes and completing a grueling lap of "fish dives."
"Seriously. Powerful, fast, and the landing points are pinpoint accurate. I'm only now fully realizing how lucky we were to make it to the fourth round in the last tournament," added the sweat-drenched Kurata Neko.
Volleyball is a sport where "six strong players make the team stronger."
Yet, perhaps due to the heavy emphasis on cooperation, players often misjudged the true individual strength within their own squad.
After the loss to Kitagawa First, many Senkoku members still harbored a degree of resentment, feeling that if they hadn't drawn such a bad bracket, they could have progressed much further against any other opponent.
But as the summer camp commenced, they were suddenly forced to recognize that even within the same team, the gap in individual talent could be this vast.
To date, aside from Kurata Neko occasionally managing to receive a few of Akashi Asuka's spikes, no one else had succeeded even once.
After spiking fifty balls, Akashi Asuka rotated out, swapping with Omae Masato and Kazama Jujiro.
It was clear that the coach intentionally sought to enhance the attacking capabilities of his three main hitters: Akashi Asuka, Kazama Jujiro, and Omae Masato.
This alignment perfectly matched Akashi Asuka's own goals.
Even if, in the future, Akashi Asuka used the system to break the talent limits of all his attributes, under the same training intensity, the strongest attribute would remain the strongest.
In other words, whether Akashi Asuka liked it or not, Power would always be his most naturally gifted attribute.
The difference between his plan and Coach Shimokawa's was this: the coach aimed to strengthen his attack by reducing other training volumes, but Akashi Asuka's personal agenda was, "I want it all."
Basic physical conditioning, the six fundamental techniques, and the learning of advanced techniques—he intended to master everything this summer.
The coach's general timetable was: technical drills in the morning, physical conditioning in the afternoon, and practice matches in the evening.
It was under this kind of high-intensity schedule that the chasm between Akashi Asuka and the other players rapidly widened.
The morning's technical drills merely demonstrated that his spiking was formidable while his other skills were still fundamentally poor.
But starting with the afternoon's physical conditioning, the differences in raw physical attributes became visually obvious.
During weight training, Akashi Asuka's barbell weight was double that of anyone else.
During core strength training, whether crunches or planks, his repetitions and duration were also doubled.
During jumping drills, such as box jumps, Akashi Asuka performed at least 50 to 70 percent more sets than the others.
The same applied to speed and endurance training.
In every single drill, Akashi Asuka consistently completed at least fifty percent more volume than his teammates in the same amount of time.
This staggering intensity unnerved even the coach, who feared Akashi Asuka might collapse from exertion.
Several times, Shimokawa Sanwa was tempted to forcefully stop Akashi Asuka's practice.
But after the training session concluded, the coach saw the others lying on the floor, tongues lolling out like exhausted dogs, while Akashi Asuka was still standing, performing cool-down exercises as if nothing strenuous had happened. The coach gradually abandoned his plan to intervene.
It had to be accepted that human constitutions could not be judged equally.
Some people attempt a dramatic soccer slide and become a tiger's easy meal.
Others attempt the same slide and somehow manage to choke the tiger to death with sheer force.
And in the evening, even in the cafeteria, Akashi Asuka could polish off double or more the amount of rice than anyone else.
Suddenly, a palpable sense of urgency gripped the others. It was as if a failure to exert themselves immediately would result in being left behind.
Fire ignited in their eyes as they collectively glared at the "monster" across the table who was voraciously devouring his meal.
"You damned monster, we will not lose to you!"