The Birth of A Volleyball Legend-Chapter 366: Anticlimax Ending (II)

Michael Wang had his mouth gaped wide when he saw the ball flying right above him slowly and mockingly. Even though he saw Riku’s dump set a few times during the first set, he didn’t expect that the opponent’s setter would pull out this kind of stunt in such a clutch moment like this. Clearly, he didn’t know anything about Riku Agostini.

Still, even though he knew he was too late and the ball would fall faster to the floor before he could even react, that didn’t mean he would just give up like that. With sheer determination and pure instinct, he raised his left foot backward, extending it far till he felt a tingling pain on the back of his knee. His effort was rewarded as he felt the ball hit the back of his left foot, and with a little twist, he managed to let the ball live, flying straight in Ishida’s direction.

’It goes to Ishida? Lucky me!’

Yeah, Michael Wang was lucky the ball went to Ishida, as he was probably the only one who could handle the ball ricocheted from his foot. The libero didn’t even flinch, redirecting the ball to the sky to give his teammates a chance to attack.

"No way!"

"It could be saved?!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?! Michael Wang, he is a real deal!"

"Damn! Come on, Wang! Ishida!"

After feeling desperate since everyone from Tsukiji High’s side thought they would lose another point, they got excited immediately when realizing the ball was still in the air. Unfortunately, this was already the second touch Tsukiji players committed in this sequence, so they had to execute the ball directly without being able to adjust it first.

BAM!

"Easy! I got this!" Ogawa handled the ball effortlessly. He sent it toward Riku in the middle who had already caught all the Tsukiji players’ attention, didn’t want the setter to slip once again like before.

Unfortunately, for all their preparation against Riku’s surprise attack, they didn’t expect the boy to do a dump set twice in a row, let alone for him to spike the ball directly from the back row. And that was exactly what Riku did. Read the latest on novelbuddy

BAM!

This time, even Ishida tried his best to reach for the ball, but he reacted too late, and as a result, the ball slipped through his defense, landing straight behind his body.

"YOSSHAAA!" Riku roared, punching his chest wildly. This was followed by the unwavering cheers from the crowd while his teammates jumped and latched onto his body immediately.

"Good job, Riku!"

"Yeah! If you cannot do it the first time, try it again the next time!"

"Just prove to them that you don’t suck!"

"Hey, why do you all say like I suck at this?!" Riku grumbled, trying to get away from all of his teammates who tried to mess up his hair. "I got the point, right? That is what matters!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Come on, two points left!"

"Yeah, Yuki! This is your time to shine! Do your job seriously!"

"Oh, shut up!"

While all the Tsunemori players celebrated with each other, a different atmosphere could be seen on the other side of the court. The home team players gathered with each other, most of them had this gloomy atmosphere on their faces. After spending the last few seconds in silence, it was Ishida who finally broke it.

"Sorry, everyone. That is my fault. If only I reacted faster…" He clenched his fist tightly, regretting his failure.

"Eh, I don’t know what you are saying here, Ishida-kun, but you better not blame yourself." Michael Wang suddenly interrupted. "Out of all the people here, only you and I haven’t given up yet, so we deserve more praise than blame. So, cheer up! Just try your best and don’t fret over anything else!"

Even though Ishida didn’t know what Michael Wang was talking about, he knew the Chinese boy was trying to cheer him up. Coupled with the comical gestures the boy made, Ishida couldn’t hold back his chuckle, lifting the mood immediately.

Fortunately, no one from the team could catch what Michael Wang said, or most of them would be furious at the insinuation there. Even though most of them had given up already, being called out by the team’s new members would definitely sting.

The unfortunate part, though, was that even though the mood was better, they still had to face Tsunemori’s executioner here, and even though they did a good job in the last play, they still felt uncomfortable having to face Yuki’s serve in this situation. After all, just like Riku, they didn’t know what kind of trick the glasses boy still had under his sleeves.

"Come on, Yuki! Give me a good serve!"

As the referee blew the whistle, the boy tossed the ball immediately before recoiling his arm, gathering strength from inside his body. Unlike before, when he went for accuracy, this time, he changed his approach, going for a power play. However, he also added a little twist, wanting to remind Tsukiji – and Michael Wang especially – that it wasn’t just him who had this trick on the bag.

BAM!

The ball moved at a high speed, curving sharply to the joint area between Ishida and Kiyotake. At first, the hitter hesitated whether he had to pick it up or not. However, the shout coming from Ishida forced him to back down immediately.

"SENPAI, MOVE BACK! THIS IS MINE!"

It was a good decision since Kiyotake hadn’t been active during the last couple of plays. Unfortunately, since Ishida was a bit too far from the ball, even though he managed to reach it, the ball fell onto the awkward spot on his forearms, bouncing wildly outside of the court.

"Shit! Sorry, Wang! Cover it for me!" He shouted.

"Don’t worry, Ishida-kun! I got it!" With his massive body, it was pretty funny to see the boy rushing forward to save the wild ball. However, he managed to do it, sending the ball back to their own side of the court. "Finish it, Senpai!" Of course, he didn’t know which senpai he meant since he couldn’t see who was there. However, he was sure there was one teammate ready to handle the third ball.

Unfortunately….

FWEEEET!

The play got stopped prematurely as the referee blew the whistle, pointing one of his hands toward the Tsunemori side, signaling that the away team got one point out of nowhere. Before anyone could protest, the referee explained, "Tsukiji High’s number 4 touched the net when he was attacking, violating the rule. A penalty of one point for Tsunemori High!"

The sudden announcement stunned everyone in the building. However, it only took a second before the silence was broken by the roars coming from the Tsunemori side.

"HELL YEAH!"

"We got a free point! One left and everything will be over!"

"Come on! We can do this!"

While the other side celebrated the game point, all the Tsukiji players turned their heads toward Banjo who was too stunned to react. Michael Wang himself couldn’t see the situation when the incident happened, but he wanted to know what was going on there. However, the only thing he heard was an apology from his senpai.

"I am sorry, everyone." All the Tsukiji players could hear Banjo’s voice was shaking. "I don’t know what is going on, but it seems I cost the team our last tournament." Yeah, for Banjo who was in their senior year already, this was going to be his tournament with the team. For him to make a mistake that cost the entire team the tournament, of course, it would be a big blow.

Usually, in this kind of situation, there would be at least one player stepped up to reassure the boy. Unfortunately, no one was in the right mood to do so. They all just went back to their position immediately, half of their soul flying away from their body. Now, they just wanted to end this suffering as quickly as possible, not caring for even the loudest cheers from their own supporters.

And just like a good executioner, Yuki granted their wish with a strong, spin serve like before, piercing through their defense with a strong rotation before it fell behind Reiki’s spot.

BAM!

The sound of the ball hitting the floor also ended the very long and exhausting game between Tsunemori High and Tsukiji High, with the away team advancing through the next round of the tournament with a solid two-set win against the traditional powerhouse school in Tokyo, Tsukiji High.

Tsukiji High 16 19

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Tsunemori High 25 25