July 17th.
The volleyball club's summer training camp officially began.
Unlike the mainland, the academic calendar in the island nation was structured around three main school breaks:
Spring Break: Around March 15 to April 1
Summer Break: Around July 15 to September 1
Winter Break: Around December 20 to January 8
So while the timing of the camp might seem late, it actually kicked off right at the beginning of summer break. From day one, everyone had already gathered at school.
The entire Sengoku Junior High volleyball club assembled in the gym, their faces lit with excitement. Even Akashi Asuka, who was usually calm and composed, had a subtle gleam of anticipation in his eyes.
After all, even combining his two lifetimes, this was his very first "summer training camp." His previous life didn't offer this kind of experience, back then, Junior High didn't even have a summer break.
Before long...
Coach Shimokawa Mitsuto entered the gym wearing a short-sleeved shirt and baggy shorts, holding the training schedule in hand. Beside him was teacher Saye Tanno.
Their presence was actually a requirement, regardless of how many students joined the camp, at least two faculty members were needed to supervise and ensure safety.
The moment Saye Tanno walked in, Oomae Masato visibly shrank back like a mouse caught in a cat's stare, wishing he could bury his head in the floor.
Coach Shimokawa stepped forward, glanced around, and, sounding satisfied, spoke:
"All right, everyone's here, right? Then I hereby declare the start of this year's summer training camp!"
"Yeah!"
"Let's go all out!"
"Just you wait, Shiratorizawa!"
…
Training officially began.
With their target now set on getting revenge against Shiratorizawa, the intensity of the training plan for summer camp naturally far exceeded that of regular club activities.
Sure, their usual club practices involved serious drills, but they were often mixed with a sense of fun and leisure.
This time, however, the camp was all about one thing: pure skill improvement.
Even the first drill, basic bumping, felt drastically more intense than usual.
Normally, bump drills were done in pairs, tossing and bumping to each other, or just solo bumping. These exercises were mainly meant to improve familiarity and comfort with the ball.
But this time, the focus was pure realism.
One player would spike the ball aggressively, while the rest would rotate in to receive over the net. And the one doing the spiking? Akashi Asuka.
What followed was a relentless rhythm echoing through the gym.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump...
"Next!"
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump...
"Next!"
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump...
"Next!"
And so on...
"Damn it... I didn't realize it when we were teammates, but this guy's spikes are seriously brutal." groaned Jujirou Kazama, wiping the sweat from his face after diving for ten balls and then running a full lap around the gym.
"Yeah, powerful, fast, and perfectly placed... I'm only just now realizing how lucky we were to make it to the fourth round last time." agreed Neko Kurata, drenched in sweat.
Volleyball is a sport where "a strong team gets even stronger."
But maybe because the sport emphasizes teamwork so much, it often causes players to overlook the vast differences in individual abilities.
After their loss to Shiratorizawa, many players at Sengoku still felt a little bitter, thinking they could've gone further if they'd just drawn a different opponent.
But once this summer camp started, reality hit hard, they finally realized just how wide the skill gap could be, even within the same team.
So far, only Neko Kurata had occasionally managed to return Akashi's spikes. The rest hadn't landed a single successful receive.
After spiking fifty times, Akashi rotated out, trading spots with Oomae Masato and Jujirou Kazama.
It was clear the coach intended to focus on strengthening these three, Akashi, Kazama, and Oomae, as the team's core attackers.
Which aligned perfectly with Akashi's own training plan.
Because even if one day he used the system to max out all his attributes, in an environment with equal training intensity, the strong only got stronger.
In other words...
Whether he liked it or not, power would always be his strongest natural talent.
However, his goals were different from Coach Shimokawa.
The coach wanted him to specialize in offense, even if that meant cutting back on other areas.
But Akashi's plan?
"I want it all."
Foundational fitness. Six core techniques. Advanced skill sets.
He intended to master everything this summer.
Technical drills in the morning.
Physical training in the afternoon.
Practice matches at night.
That was the basic framework Coach Shimokawa had laid out.
And under such high-intensity training, Akashi's gap in ability compared to the others only became more obvious.
The morning's skill drills just highlighted how powerful his spikes were, but made him look lacking in other technical areas.
But once the afternoon physical training began, the gap in raw physical ability became so obvious it was painful to watch.
In weight training: His barbell loads were twice as heavy as everyone else's.
In core training: Sit-ups, planks, his reps and duration were double that of others.
Jump training: Box jumps and the like, his sets were 50–70% higher than the rest.
Speed and endurance drills? Same story.
No matter the training category, within the same timeframe, Akashi was doing at least 50% more work than anyone else.
His training volume was so intense, even the coach felt nervous watching, worried Akashi might literally collapse on the spot.
Coach Shimokawa even considered forcibly stopping him several times.
But when training ended...
While everyone else lay sprawled on the floor like dead dogs, tongues out and gasping for air, Akashi was still calmly stretching like nothing had happened.
Eventually, the coach gave up trying to stop him.
After all, everyone's body is different.
Some people slide into a tackle and get eaten alive by the tiger.
Others slide in and stuff the tiger to death.
…
By evening, even in the dining hall, Akashi outpaced everyone, putting away double or more the amount of rice as anyone else.
Suddenly...
Everyone around him felt an intense pressure, as though a hand was pushing them forward from behind.
If we don't try harder, we're going to get left behind.
Their eyes burned with determination as they stared at Akashi, who was still devouring rice with relentless focus.
"Damn monster... We're not losing to you that easy!"
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