After Hank followed Oikawa and the others in thanking the club members who had supported them all this time, he said goodbye to everyone and headed straight for the locker room. But just then, a notification rang out by his ear.
"Ding! Detected that the host has completed a match against Nekoma High. Strength +3, Serving +4, Passing +4, Ball Control +6!"
"Ding! System mission refreshed. Successfully advance to the Spring High qualifiers finals. Reward: Left-Handed Spike. (When the host uses a left-handed spike, it will have 150% power!)"
Just after Hank finished packing up his things, the system prompt sounded again beside his ear. A flood of information immediately poured into his mind. After just one practice match against Nekoma High, his physical abilities had improved by quite a bit.
Hank was naturally thrilled by that kind of improvement. As long as he kept pushing forward, then before graduating from high school, bringing all four of his core attributes up to national-team level would be completely possible.
There was also another point that satisfied him greatly... as long as he could smoothly advance into the top four of the Spring High qualifiers, he would be able to successfully sign in for the Left-Handed Spike. And when it came to a left-handed spike, any serve struck with it would carry 150% of his normal power. A reward like that was simply too good.
After all, unlocking a Left-Handed Spike was far more than just being able to spike with his left hand in the future. Its greatest value was that he would be able to use approaches from different directions to throw off the rhythm of the other side and completely disrupt the flow of the match.
This kind of improvement was far from a simple one-plus-one-equals-two increase. It was a multidimensional boost, one that could directly elevate his strength to an entirely different level. Hank was naturally delighted by the result... as long as he could make it to the Spring High qualifiers finals next,
he would be able to directly obtain a skill like the Left-Handed Spike. After that, even if he had to face Shiratorizawa, led by Wakatoshi Ushijima, he would still be able to handle them perfectly.
After all, the defensive openings created by a left-handed spike, as well as the way it fit into team coordination, were completely different.
According to how the original story went, after Aoba Johsai defeated Karasuno, they ran straight into Shiratorizawa afterward. And after that battle, they still lost in the end because they were no match for them. Hank was naturally very clear on that outcome.
He definitely wanted to make it straight into Spring High in one go and climb to the peak of volleyball even faster...
"Damn it, that pretty boy is actually that strong... and what makes it even worse is that I not only lost to him on the court, I lost to him off the court too..."
"This seriously pisses me off!"
Seeing that Hank had not only won with ease, but could even stay close to Kiyoko, Yamamoto felt like he had taken a massive blow. There was no way he could accept that reality...
What could be worse than losing to someone on the court... and then, because your own charm fell short, having the senior you liked snatched away by him too?
It was a double failure, both in competition and in love.
Infuriating!
"Yamamoto, you really are..."
Kuroo could only sigh helplessly. Even though Nekoma had lost the practice match to Aoba Johsai, this could still be considered good news. Judging by Aoba Johsai's current momentum, they might actually be able to defeat the reigning powerhouse Shiratorizawa next. And if they made it to Spring High...
then there would still be a chance for them to meet again. And when that time came... compared to facing Hank with zero experience, it was still better that they had already fought him up close like this now. Even if the feeling was still deeply frustrating...
the gap in strength was right there in front of them. No matter how much they wanted to change things, there was no way to make up for that absolute difference in ability so quickly.
All they could do was go back and keep polishing their fundamentals. In their eyes, this practice match had undoubtedly served as a warning bell. As long as they kept training their receives, then even Hank's spikes could be dug up perfectly one day!
"As expected of you, Hank."
"That match really was impressive. Spring High qualifiers are coming up soon, so the next time we meet, it'll be on the court. We won't let our guard down either."
After Hank had more or less packed all his things, Daichi and the others, who had been watching the match from the stands the whole time, also began walking over one after another. Daichi, leading the group, directly praised him.
Even though they had already been training in private for a long time... Hank still stood far ahead of them. Even if they wanted to keep narrowing the gap through training, it was probably something they simply could not achieve.
(End of Chapter)
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