After Hank and Yui Michimiya returned home, there were still about half a month left before his first real match against Karasuno. During that time, Hank naturally had no intention of wasting even a second. He threw himself wholeheartedly into his daily tasks.
Every day, he kept himself under strict supervision. By seven in the morning, he had already finished washing up and was on his way to the Aoba Johsai volleyball club to train.
This nearly self-punishing style of training, combined with Hank's already outrageous talent, raised everyone's opinion of him yet again. It was not only the players whose respect for him kept rising—even Coach Nobuteru Irihata silently nodded in approval.
He held Hank in the highest regard as a player.
After all, having extraordinary talent was one thing. Having that level of talent and still demanding this much from yourself was something else entirely. A person like that could already be entrusted with major responsibility. In fact, if Toru Oikawa were not around, the captaincy should have gone to Hank.
"This guy... at first I just thought he was ridiculously talented. I never expected him to hold himself to such a brutal standard... Not only does he run ten kilometers here every single day, but he also trains in the club without fail. Even after finishing the required training, he still keeps going."
"I can't even imagine how far he'll go in the future. Someone this gifted, and this hardworking too... just how high is he going to climb?"
"There's no doubt about it. Hank is the hardest-working and most talented player I've ever seen. If we get to play alongside him, maybe we really can go even farther!"
Seeing Hank train so intensely, even Akira Kunimi—who had always been a little lazy in practice—started working harder too. The whole team had begun to enter a positive cycle because of Hank's arrival, and everyone could see those changes clearly.
It could even be said that Hank was gradually becoming the team's standout figure.
"Hank-kun, are you some kind of robot!? You've got talent like that, and you're still this disciplined."
"Or do you secretly enjoy this kind of suffering?"
Oikawa walked up behind Hank and slung an arm around him with a bright grin. As his junior, Hank worked this hard... and in daily life, he had none of the personality issues that made people difficult to deal with. Oikawa had already come to see him as his ideal partner for the future.
That was why he kept coming over to discuss their coordination with him whenever he had the chance. He would even adjust the way he set the ball to match Hank's habits.
After all, this was the first time he had ever met a player who could get half his body above the net, so of course he had to make adjustments.
For the sake of future victories, Oikawa was even willing to give up control of the offense and devote himself completely to supporting Hank.
And that was exactly what Hank had always needed. A setter who could not devote himself fully to serving the Ace was someone Hank had no use for. No matter how strong that setter was, he still would not need him.
"Oikawa-senpai, aren't you the same?"
"Even after you go home, I still see you training all the time. I've noticed your hard work too."
"Besides, as the team's Ace, I can't be the one dragging everyone down."
Hank smiled lightly. He felt no dislike toward Toru Oikawa at all. To be honest, it was precisely because of Oikawa's personality that he could bring out the best in every player on the team. His emotional intelligence was incredibly high.
Girls loved hearing him talk, and boys felt comfortable around him too.
"That's great to hear, Hank-kun!"
"With you on the team, I'm feeling full of confidence about the upcoming Spring High qualifiers."
Oikawa was all smiles. After chatting with Hank for a while, the two of them went under the net and continued practicing spikes. In actual matches, setters and wing spikers communicated with each other the most, so...
The person Oikawa spent the most time practicing with every day was Hank. He kept studying what kind of angle would give Hank the best feel on his spikes.
And just like that, time slipped by second after second. Soon, it was already the start of the school term at Aoba Johsai. Even after classes began, Hank still did not relax his training in the slightest. Every day, he continued pushing himself through his routine...
Finally, on the last day of the month, he completed the system sign-in task.
"Ding! Detected that the host has completed 30 consecutive days of 10-kilometer endurance training, 500 spikes, 5,000 keep-ups, and 1,000 serves!"
"Successfully signed in: Read-and-React Blocking!"
...
Just as Hank ran to a crossroads, the system notification rang in his ears. Immediately afterward, all the information related to Read-and-React Blocking poured straight into his mind. Feeling that wave of knowledge settle in his head, a smile spread across Hank's face.
At last... he had completed the system sign-in task.
Those thirty days had not been easy on him. On some days, he had really wanted to rest for a while, but he had forced himself to endure it.
He had to admit, though—the feeling of receiving a reward after exhausting yourself like this really was pretty good...
"Originally, I thought getting three stat points before the official match against Karasuno would already be pretty great. I didn't expect to end up improving by eight points instead!"
"My physical abilities, spiking, keep-ups, and serving all went up by two points each. Now I only need ten more points before my overall strength reaches youth national team level."
Hank silently ran the numbers in his head. Only ten more points were needed for him to raise his strength to the youth national team level. That was definitely not bad...
Which meant he could start looking forward to the upcoming match against Karasuno a little more.
As long as he could win... then maybe he would be able to gain those ten stat points!
By then, every aspect of his overall ability would improve significantly.
(End of Chapter)
If I see that this fanfic has support, I will upload 20+ chapters to Patreon!!
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]