The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Meanwhile, in Tsunemori's bench...

"Ayaka-san, can you find out any information about him? Anything will do." Akira instructed his manager quickly.

It was a no-brainer for him to worry about this new boy. The physical appearance alone was enough to intimidate everyone. Coupled with how he introduced himself in English, it was clear he was a foreigner, probably a transfer student. That would explain a lot about how he could stay under everyone's radar even though Tsukiji High was a high-profile school.
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"Yes, Sensei I am on it." Megumi nodded, her fingers dancing on the tuts of her phone. Fortunately, there was no strict rule against anyone accessing any device as long as it wasn't anything illegal like drugs or something like that. After a while, Megumi suddenly widened her eyes in shock and said, "Sensei, you have to look at this!"

Hearing the slight hint of panic in her voice, Akira jumped immediately, concerned by any information his manager just found out. There, he could see the player profile page Megumi accessed on the tournament's website, particularly one boy he asked her to find.

Name: Michael Wang

Nationality: American – Chinese

Status: Transferred from Alvin High School, Houston, TX.

Age: 15

Height / Weight: 207 cm / 99 kg

Profile: ...…

Akira kept reading the page while nodding subconsciously as he tried to grasp the information there. "So, he has a dual citizenship passport, huh? And from China too? It is not often that someone from there is allowed to have two nationalities. His family should have a good connection. What?" Akira asked as he could see Megumi huffing in exasperation from the corner of his eyes.

"You are focusing on the wrong thing, Sensei," Megumi said, then pointing her finger toward one part that she deemed important. "Here, look at this!" Akira blinked for a moment before his eyes widened in realization.

Height / Weight: 207 cm / 99 kg

"What the hell?! He is 207 cm?!" Akira exclaimed in shock. "He is about 15 cm taller than Hirano, our tallest player! He should be the tallest player in this competition, right?"

"Yes, and not just that, he also has a proportional weight, which means his body coordination should be good." Megumi nodded solemnly. "Also, I am sure those muscles are not just there for show, and if that was true, we would have to deal with the hybrid player here, a monster middle blocker and hitter. This is not going to be easy."

-0-

What Megumi forgot was that Michael Wang's role wasn't just reflected on the court, but his mere presence alone was enough to intimidate all the Tsunemori players. Hell, the fact that he was a foreigner and talked English itself was enough to make everyone's legs tremble. After all, it was natural for teenagers to feel inferior when they saw someone talk in a language they didn't understand.

Unfortunately, the game must go on here, and since Akira didn't call a timeout, they didn't have the time to adjust their mentality.

"Okay, everyone! Don't think too much about him! He is just one person, and like us, a normal being who eats rice every day! There is no need to fear him!" Asahi spoke, trying to calm his teammates' nerves.

"A normal human being, he said." Ogawa snorted. "There is no way a normal human being can be that tall." He added with a wry smile. The others also nodded in agreement, still couldn't believe the player towering in front of them was a boy at their age. Even Yuki and Riku who had already seen a glimpse of the professional world were surprised too since the boy – Michael Wang – was probably – no, definitely the tallest person they had ever met.

"Oh, shut up, Jimmy! Go back to the line and do your job before the referee scolds us again!" Asahi snarked. All of the Tsunemori players winced unconsciously at the reminder before they all went back to their positions.

A minute later, everyone was finally ready to continue the game again. It was still Ogawa's turn to serve, and with the score 9 – 4, the momentum should be on Tsunemori's side. Unfortunately, the mere presence of Michael Wang was enough to change that.

"Come on, I haven't seen anything worthy today. Show me something good." The new boy muttered under his breath. Yuki and Riku who understood what he was saying shuddered as they tried their best to ignore it. They just prayed that Ogawa was able to handle the pressure from both on and off the court.

DRUM! DRUM! DRUM! DRUM!

BAM!

"Oh! A good serve, Jimmy!"

"I got this!"

Even with the distraction and the new pressure for Tsunemori, Ogawa was still able to do his job perfectly. He sent a powerful serve straight to the middle in the area between Banjo and Ishida. However, with good communication between those two, Ishida managed to handle the ball calmly without creating any chaos on Tsukiji's side.

"Oh! Nice receive, Ishida!"

"Neito-senpai, give it high!" Michael Wang suddenly pointed his finger at the sky.

Both Hirano and Yuki stiffened a little when they both saw Michael Wang start to run. Honestly, seeing such a massive presence blitzing his way over the front line could bring nightmares to anyone here. Hirano and Yuki had to hold back the urge to give a way to the boy in fear of him bodying them both to oblivion.

However, the horror didn't just stop like that. When the ball was passed and they both jumped in an attempt to block the shot, the two blockers from Tsunemori High were surprised once again when they saw Michael Wang reach the ball at the point that was even higher than Hirano's reach, and that basically meant he was attacking Tsunemori without any blocker in front of him.

BAM!

"Oh, yeah, Baby!" Michael Wang grinned, clapping enthusiastically as he saw his attack was unstoppable. "My first point in Japan! Come on!" That was followed by the cheers from the supporters.

"HELL YEAH! GOOD JOB, NEW BOY!"

"Kill them all, Chinese Boy! Kill them all!"

"His name is Wang, don't you dare to forget about it, Bastard!"

Meanwhile, both Yuki and Hirano looked lost as they both were ignored by Michael Wang in the last attack. "Hey, Yuki, you alright?" Riku asked, worried.

After spending a few seconds in silence, Yuki finally opened his mouth and said, "… We cannot reach him."

"Eh?"

"We CANNOT reach him at all." Yuki repeated his words, emphasizing the word 'Cannot'. "Do you know how ridiculous it is?! Even if you count me out as I am the smaller player, Hirano-senpai is 192 cm with a wingspan of about 180 cm, his standing block alone should be about 300 cm, right? But he cannot reach that Wang! We cannot touch the bastard with a block anymore!"

That was when all the Tsunemori players realized how fucked up they were.

"Are you sure you are not exaggerating here?" Asahi asked with the same worried tone as Riku before. "I mean, I am not the one who face it directly, so I cannot see it from your perspective. But are you sure you didn't mess up with your timing?"

However, instead of Yuki, it was Hirano who answered the question. "Positive, Asahi. We didn't mess up our timing at all. His highest point is out of my reach."

"Damn!" Several of them cursed at the repercussions of his word. Not that they didn't believe Yuki, but Hirano never minced his words. The middle blocker never underestimated or overestimated his opponent. So, his assessment of Michael Wang was enough to make most of them curse in despair.

"We have to ask Sensei for a quick timeout! We cannot do this in our state right now!" Suggested Ogawa. Unfortunately, before anyone could say anything, the referee had already called them out. "Tsunemori, go back to your position! We will start the game soon."

"Yes, Sensei!" All of them scampered over their original position in panic while they hadn't had an answer on how to handle this situation yet.

Fortunately, the privilege to serve was on Tsukiji High, so this was their chance to counterattack. With Banjo doing an ordinary serve, it was easy for Koji to receive the ball, sending it straight to Yuki and Riku's direction.

"Damn, they are going to do it again!"

"Hey, Chinese boy, keep your eyes on them both! Don't let anyone slip through your defense!"

As they were going to attack, Yuki and Riku tried their best to ignore the giant on the other side of the court. Fortunately, it was their turn to attack, so they had the initiative to avoid Michael Wang at any cost. Seeing that the Chinese boy hadn't even moved from his position, Yuki decided to rush forward and act as a distraction while Riku sent the ball far to the wing side where it was impossible for the opponent's giant to reach.

Or… That was what they thought.

Unfortunately, even though Michael Wang was one or two seconds late, he showcased his incredible reaction and speed by moving from the middle to the left with only two steps. Koji who was already in the air was dumbfounded when he saw a pair of imposing hands pop up out of nowhere, covering all the areas where he was about to spike.

He wanted so badly to change his approach to either rebound the ball to give the team another chance to attack or a block out to raise the team's morale, but since he had already swung his arm, there was nothing he could do. As a result…

BAM!

Michael Wang slammed Koji's spike easily, and as everyone stared at the ball in disbelief, the Chinese boy wiggled his finger playfully at Riku. "No, no, no, you cannot do that here. Aerial attack is forbidden in Tsukiji's territory, okay?"