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The First Set
"Three-on-three is okay, young man?"
"No problem."
Akashi Asuka readily agreed.
Matches organized impromptu in these public gymnasiums are naturally informal. They proceed as long as each side has at least two players.
However, playing with only two or three players demands a more comprehensive skill set from each individual.
Akashi Asuka's teammates were a middle-aged man and a college student with dyed hair, both ordinary amateur enthusiasts, not professional players.
Upon starting, Akashi Asuka initiated with an overhand serve to send the ball over the net. Immediately, the three players on the opposite side organized their first offensive attempt.
THUD!
The volleyball cleared the single block and dropped straight toward the floor.
In a critical moment, Akashi Asuka quickly shifted laterally to receive the ball. It popped high into the air, slightly off-direction, but still on their side of the court.
"My apologies, the receive was off," Akashi Asuka alerted his teammates.
"No worries, no worries! Good effort!"
The dyed-hair student responded. This wasn't just simple comfort; when playing in these conditions, teams are often assembled with players of mixed abilities.
Sometimes, they even have to drag in people who don't play volleyball at all just to fill spots.
Given that Akashi Asuka looked quite young, the college student had been somewhat concerned. Now, confirming that Akashi Asuka actually understood volleyball was a relief.
"Here we go, young man! You're new, so we'll give you the honors for the first point!"
The dyed-hair student spoke again, and the setter delivered a high ball, arcing toward the space in front of Akashi Asuka.
The three opponents quickly sent two players to prepare for the block.
This was one of the limitations of playing on a "pickup court." Since teams were temporary and lacked communication or coordination, fast attacks were impossible.
Therefore, in most situations, both offense and defense relied heavily on individual skill.
"Hey! You three are too harsh! This young man is just joining us for the first time, can't you ease up a little?" The dyed-hair student immediately complained loudly, seeing the defensive setup across the net.
"Ha ha ha... Giving it your all on the court is the greatest respect you can show your opponent!" the two opposing blockers, both well over six feet tall, grinned and shouted back.
The dyed-hair student choked, seemingly gaining a new appreciation for the "shamelessness" of the other two. He opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment, Akashi Asuka in front of him leapt high into the air.
In an instant, the two opposing blockers watched Akashi Asuka swiftly transition from eye-level to looking down on them. Even when they jumped to their highest point, their line of sight barely reached Akashi Asuka's chin.
Simultaneously, a sentence slowly registered in their ears: "The seniors are right. Giving it your all on the court is the greatest respect you can show your opponent."
BAM!
With an explosive sound, the volleyball shot directly over the hands of both blockers and slammed violently onto the court floor before the back-row defender could even react.
The volleyball court fell silent abruptly.
Everyone's movements seemed to freeze instantly.
The two opposing blockers looked at each other, identical expressions of shock visible on their faces.
After a few seconds, a loud, exclamatory sound finally erupted from the dyed-hair college student: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa~~~ What was that? That jump was so high! That height must be nearly 340 centimeters! Young man, what do you do?"
"Not quite. My maximum vertical reach is just barely 337 \text{ cm}. I'm currently the Wing Spiker for my school's volleyball club," Akashi Asuka replied humbly.
The people on the court: "..."
Are middle school students already this terrifying?
What did a reach of 337 \text{ cm} signify?
To put it simply: This guy has the potential to go pro.
None of the five other people on the court, despite all being older than Akashi Asuka, had a vertical reach exceeding 330 \text{ cm}. In fact, very few of them could even reach 320 \text{ cm}.
There were two main reasons for this:
First, they were not professional volleyball players. Physical abilities do not necessarily get better with age; on the contrary, in the modern environment, while university years are theoretically the human peak, in reality, most people reach their physical peak in high school.
Second, talent. In the system's data panel, Jumping and Speed were arguably the two attributes most reliant on talent. Akashi Asuka himself understood this deeply.
Before his Jumping attribute broke 75, Akashi Asuka's maximum reach was just 331 { cm}. But the shift of just 0.1 from 74.9 to 75 caused his reach to instantly surge by 5 { cm}.
This was a subtle yet fundamental change.
Without the system's influence, Akashi Asuka might have had to wait for another stage of physical development to jump higher.
But by then, he would have fallen behind his competition.
A slow start means falling behind repeatedly.
This is the distinction between most professional athletes and ordinary amateurs.
Akashi Asuka's "humble statement" left the others speechless for a few seconds. Soon after, the dyed-hair student covered his mouth and burst out laughing: "Pfft~~ Hahaha! That serves you two right! You keep bullying newcomers, and now you got what you deserved!"
"Shut up!"
The two opposing blockers clearly knew the dyed-hair student. Their faces flushed with embarrassment and anger at his taunt.
"Hahaha... I'm dying here! Come on, let's keep playing! Young man, I'll set a few more balls for you, after all, 'giving it your all is the greatest respect for your opponent,' right?"
The last sentence was delivered by the dyed-hair student mimicking the tone of the blocker's earlier statement. Upon hearing it, the blocker nearly jumped the net to pummel him.
Can you believe this guy?
After a bit of joking around, the match resumed.
The dyed-hair student upheld his promise, relentlessly setting the ball for Akashi Asuka. Akashi Asuka did not disappoint, dominating the opponents for the first few points purely with his superior height.
However, as the match continued, Akashi Asuka's offense gradually faced restrictions.
While the opponents couldn't match Akashi Asuka's jumping ability and flexibility, volleyball is never just a battle of height.
These players might not have played many formal matches, but their years of experience on "pickup courts" had given them extremely rich adaptive skills.
Faced with Akashi Asuka's consistent attack, the two opposing blockers made only one change that severely limited Akashi Asuka's spikes...