"Ahem, what exactly is the difference between an outside hitter and a middle blocker?" Kaedehara Taichi leaned over beside Kunimi Akira and asked quietly. After all, Kaneda Hajime didn't seem very bright either.
Kunimi Akira looked slightly surprised as he glanced at Kaedehara Taichi. "You've been playing for so long and still don't know?" Usually, Taichi seemed like a smart type, so it was unexpected for him to ask a question like Kaneda would.
Kaneda Hajime suddenly felt like someone was insulting him — not just one person — but after looking around, he didn't see anything.
Kaedehara Taichi was straightforward: "Lately, I've been focusing most of my energy on improving physical strength. The theoretical knowledge of volleyball — especially the specific roles of these two positions — isn't very clear to me."
Kunimi nodded and explained: "Simply put, the outside hitter (main attacker) needs to have strong power hitting skills, able to score even when the opponent forms a double or triple block. Also, when the team's reception isn't good, the setter will still pass the ball to the outside hitter for a kill, so the outside hitter must step up and use personal skill to score. The middle blocker, on the other hand, focuses on tactical plays, requiring active movement, height advantage, and coordination with teammates to execute fast and varied attacks that avoid the opponent's blocks."
"Then I can also be an outside hitter! I want to be the ace!" Kaedehara blurted out immediately.
Kunimi gave him a sideways glance: "No way. That was only about offense. Your reception is terrible. The outside hitter also needs to be good at defense and take reception duties in the back row."
An ace is one who can both attack and defend, the thought suddenly flashed in Kaedehara's mind.
"Besides, no one says the ace has to be an outside hitter. Isn't our team's ace Senpai Oikawa?" Kunimi looked at Oikawa Tetsuro with admiration.
Kaedehara was a bit surprised; he hadn't expected Kunimi, who usually seemed lazy, to be so observant of everyone in Aoba Johsai.
Anyway, I just need to get stronger. Whether starter or ace, it doesn't matter as long as I'm strong enough.
"System, what's my current ability level?" After two weeks of training, Kaedehara felt like he had undergone a complete transformation.
"Kaedehara Taichi — Speed: 90, Strength: 75, Stamina: 70, Vertical Jump: 65, Technique: 55 (Reception, Serve, and Spike at passing level; training goals have been updated)."
"Training Goal 1: Every 10,000 serve-receive cycles completed, +1 Reception, +1 Serve (until the host reaches 70 ability)."
"Training Goal 2: Every 10,000 spikes completed, +1 Spike (until the host reaches 70 ability)."
Oh, stamina has increased too, but strength and vertical jump haven't changed. Kaedehara looked at his arm muscles, expecting some improvement in strength. The training goals had increased tenfold, which was expected — as his skills improved, the difficulty of each step rose accordingly. Becoming a top player is definitely not easy.
"Now, let's divide into groups. Upperclassmen group, front row: Outside hitter Iwaizumi Hajime, setter Yagami Shu, middle blocker Matsukawa Kazushige; back row: outside hitter Hanamaki Takahiro, opposite Wada Heisuke playing libero, middle blocker Tamiya Toshiki."
"Lowerclassmen group, front row: Outside hitter Kunimi Akira, setter Oikawa Tetsuro, middle blocker Kaedehara Taichi; back row: outside hitter Hino Eiji, libero Wataru Shinji, middle blocker Kaneda Hajime."
Team captain Gouguchi looked at the two groups and said: "After 30 minutes of warm-up, we'll start the match. Do your best to show your abilities."
Kaedehara felt excited. He wasn't sure if this counted as his first official start — not as a countermeasure against some difficult player, but standing on the court right at the start of the match.
A rare chance. Kaedehara took a close look at the other players besides himself.
"Oikawa Tetsuro — Overall ability 90, Height 184 cm, Strength 95, Vertical Jump 85, Stamina 90, Speed 88, Specialties: Serve 95, Set 94."
"Strange, has Oikawa's speed gotten faster?" Kaedehara noticed some difference compared to last time.
"Host's judgment is correct. Oikawa Tetsuro's speed has increased by 2 points since the last training match."
Scary... Better look at others.
"Iwaizumi Hajime — Overall 86, Height 179 cm, Strength 92, Vertical Jump 85, Stamina 88, Speed 85, Specialties: Reception 80, Spike 85."
Iwaizumi is a balanced player like Sawamura Daichi but leans more toward offense rather than defense. As a cornerstone of the team, he somehow looks more like the captain than Oikawa.
"Hanamaki Takahiro — Overall 81, Height 184 cm, Strength 86, Vertical Jump 80, Stamina 85, Speed 70, Specialties: Reception 82, Spike 85."
Interesting stats.
"Matsukawa Kazushige — Overall 82, Height 187 cm, Strength 88, Vertical Jump 75, Stamina 85, Speed 82, Specialties: Reception 78, Spike 80."
Hmm, these stats are also quite subtle.
"Kaneda Hajime — Overall 78, Height 189 cm, Strength 83, Vertical Jump 78, Stamina 88, Speed 70, Specialties: Reception 70, Spike 83."
Haha, a tall but clumsy stamina dummy.
"Kunimi Akira — Overall 79, Height 182 cm, Strength 78, Vertical Jump 80, Stamina 75, Speed 83, Specialties: Reception 80, Spike 80."
I recall he's a high volleyball IQ player who doesn't waste any energy. His actual performance is probably better than these numbers. Tsukishima Kei and Kozume Kenma might have similar traits.
"Wataru Shinji — Overall 80, Height 171 cm, Strength 70, Vertical Jump 88, Stamina 78, Speed 85, Specialties: Reception 85, Set 82."
I used to think Aoba Johsai's libero was weak, but against teams like Karasuno and Shiratorizawa, it's really hard for anyone to do better.
"Yagami Shu — Overall 80, Height 181 cm, Strength 78, Vertical Jump 75, Stamina 72, Speed 85, Specialties: Reception 88, Set 89."
If he were at another school, Yagami Shu could probably be a main player. But because Oikawa is so outstanding as a setter, Yagami Shu has stayed a substitute.
Kaedehara pulled back his thoughts — looking at this, Aoba Johsai isn't weak at all. Except for the libero, everyone is basically above 180 cm, with solid fundamentals. They don't have any outstanding star, but there's no glaring weakness either.
Kaedehara glanced back at the banner hanging on the second floor — "Dominate the Court." For the first time, he felt the weight of those four words.
Honestly, Kaedehara hadn't felt strong belonging to Aoba Johsai before. The only people he cared about were Oikawa and Iwaizumi.
He didn't choose to be a part of Aoba Johsai — he was just transported there.
In the "one superpower, many strong" Miyagi Prefecture, the powerhouse Shiratorizawa, the physically strong Date Tech, and the wild-growing Karasuno all had more appeal than the "just decent" Aoba Johsai.
But that "just decent" is exactly what makes Aoba Johsai proud — balanced excellence is proof of their hard work. Not only geniuses can step onto the court.
Oikawa isn't a genius, and Aoba Johsai doesn't have geniuses either.
Aoba Johsai's consistent spot in the Miyagi top four and even its national appearances are all due to solid fundamentals and strong team cohesion — because their captain believes in everyone, and everyone trusts that captain who's not a genius.
"Ding — host has realized the importance of the team and genuinely accepted being a part of Aoba Johsai. Stamina +3 gained."