The Birth of A Volleyball Legend-Chapter 384: The Final Set Begins! (I)

A moment later, the referee finally blew the whistle, asking for all the players from both teams to get ready for the final set. Tension brewed as the cheers from the crowd kept getting louder. Some people might even think that this atmosphere was crazier than most of Konan’s games in the last Inter-high except when they played against Matsuita. After all, this was probably the closest the team was to the death door, and all of the team’s supporters knew this was the moment their favorite team needed them the most.

"Come on, Konan High!"

"Let’s go, Lucas! Kill them all like the last set!"

"Matsumoto, we are counting on you!"

As all the Konan players entered the court, they took a glance at the other side and were taken aback by the determination blazing on their opponent’s eyes. All the Kyoei Gakuen players really entered the court with the intention to kill them all.

"Oh, how scary…" Lucas whimpered in a faux fright. "It looks like they are going to kill me..." Some of the Konan players snickered at his tone.

"Be more serious, Lucas!" Matsumoto frowned, slapping his friend straight in the back. "Don’t underestimate them! We don’t want the disaster in the first set to repeat, right?" Warned the captain.

As Lucas rubbed his back from getting hit by the captain, he just let out a small smile before stretching his body one more time. "Don’t worry, Matsumoto! You know my secret. It doesn’t matter how good my opponent is, I will never look down on them. Playing with my best effort is my style." He grinned, showing a set of white teeth that was pretty in contrast to his tanned-skinned body.

As the final set was about to start, the new formation set by Kyoei Gakuen shocked the home team to the core. Instead of going forward like the usual, Haruo, the most dangerous player on the other side of the court went to the middle back, the place where the defensive specialist would usually be there. It was not the place where a blocker was supposed to be, especially considering how their talent would be useless there. So, his presence there only meant one thing.

"They are declaring war on us, huh? Trying to tell from the beginning that the same strategy won’t succeed against them? They sure have guts! Man, this is going to be interesting!" Lucas bounced on the spot up and down from the excitement. Of course, his teammates weren’t as amused as him. Continue reading stories on novelbuddy

Even though they were not afraid of Haruo, having been able to get rid of the opponent’s best player occasionally was a blessing for them since it would affect not only the opponent’s performance on the court, but they could pressure their opponent and break their mentality off the court. Now that Haruo decided to stay on the court at all times, even though he won’t be able to participate on the front line, at least he would be there as a morale support for the team.

"Still, it seems he underestimates how difficult it is to be in the back row," Matsumoto muttered, loosening his knuckles and making it pop a loud sound. "Maybe, we should try to show him that the back row player is not for those who faint heart, what do you think?" A small grin cracked on his face, which most of the players there shared immediately.

A moment later, the referee was finally ready to start the game. The privilege to serve was on the Kyoei’s side, and Nitta stood on the service line calmly despite the loud boos from the crowd. He was one of the rare breeds who strived under pressure, so the boos around him were just another additional fuel to his fire.

FWEEE!

BAM!

Right after the referee blew the whistle, a second later, the ball had already flown crossed the net, startling most of Konan’s players. This was the trick that he learned from watching how Yuki from Tsunemori High served, by taking it as quickly as possible after the whistle was blown, there was a chance that the opponent wouldn’t be ready to anticipate it. That was a decent thought, if only he didn’t forget that Konan High also saw the same trick when they played against Tsunemori High in the last Inter-high.

"Shimada!"

"Don’t worry, I got this!"

Since Nitta threw the ball hastily, even though it managed to catch Konan High off guard, as a consequence, the power generated through it was far weaker than what Nitta was capable of. As a result, Shimada didn’t have a hard time receiving the ball, sending it straight to the middle where Sawada stood.

"Nobu! Give it to me!"

"LEFT!"

Just like usual, it was always Matsumoto and Lucas who reacted first. They dashed off immediately, using the space in front of them to start their run-up. Sawada who knew his senpai’s aggressive playing style complied with their request, sending the ball to –

"CAPTAIN, LEFT!"

"Um?!" Sawada was taken aback by the sudden shout coming from the other side of the net. When he took a quick glance at what was going on, he could see Haruo eyeing him closely with their captain moved to the direction where the shout earlier told. "So, that is how he wants to fight from the back, huh?"

Still, due to the surprising shout before, Sawada wasted about three seconds here, and the next thing he knew, the ball was just one foot away from his hand. He didn’t have too much choice but to send it to the right side of Konan’s court where Haruo had already predicted he would go there.

"Matsumoto-senpai, give it back to me!"

"Sure! You get it!"

BAM!

Matsumoto didn’t even hesitate to go for a rebound ball after he heard Sawada’s shout. While the setter might be a freshman, he trusted the boy with his life. After all, being able to get into the main team for Konan High in his first year was not a feat anybody could achieve. For Sawada to be able to do that, it meant the coach acknowledged his current ability, since potential alone wouldn’t be enough to get through Konan’s main team. So, yeah, Matsumoto would never hesitate to listen to what Sawada commanded.

"Oh! Nice rebound, Captain!"

"Sawada! Left!"

"Middle! Do it quick!"

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All the Konan players restarted the attack immediately, rushing forward to outnumber Kyoei’s line of blockers. Sawada himself didn’t even bat his eyes on his teammates’ movement. Since he asked his captain for a rebound ball, he had already determined what he was going to do with it, and nothing his teammates said would be able to change it.

’You want to take a command from the back? Let’s see if you are quick enough to do so when I do this!’

Thud!