At three thirty in the afternoon, the sunlight stretched the gym's shadow long across the ground.
Lu Ren stood at the gym entrance, holding his shoes from his uniform, his face utterly bleak. He glanced at Kiyosawa Mashiba, who had changed into her sportswear and looked full of energy.
"I mean," Lu Ren said with a yawn, a tear of physical exertion still clinging to the corner of his eye, "I get that I was forced into the instance because I got a 'random' position. But aren't you a free agent? Why aren't you going to your Tea Ceremony Club or Home Club? What are you doing in a place that reeks of sweat?"
"Who said I was going home?"
Kiyosawa Mashiba clasped her hands behind her back and turned to face Lu Ren. Her name tag gleamed in the sunlight. The corners of her mouth lifted, revealing a cute little fang.
"Allow me to introduce myself again. I'm Kiyosawa Mashiba, the new manager of Karasuno High School's boys' Volleyball Club."
Lu Ren stared at her for two seconds.
"Manager?" He pointed at Mashiba, then at the gym. "You mean the thankless job of handing out water and towels, recording stats, and putting up with a bunch of sweaty guys shouting at the top of their lungs?"
"To clarify, I'm in charge of assigning missions, managing supplies, and..." Mashiba leaned closer to Lu Ren and lowered her voice. "Keeping an eye on whether someone's slacking off. Think of me as the 'GM'—the Game Master."
Lu Ren's mouth twitched. "...So you've made house arrest legal."
"Nice to meet you, Lu Ren." Mashiba patted his shoulder, then turned and pushed open the doors, leaving him with a jaunty view of her back. "Hurry up. You'll lose Experience Points if you're late."
Lu Ren sighed.
She wasn't a support NPC at all. She was a system-bound familiar, and the kind you couldn't get rid of.
Inside the gym.
The air was thick with the mixed scents of Salonpas and floor wax. To Lu Ren, it was the unmistakable smell of a "battle map."
Sawamura Daichi stood in the middle of the court with a roster in hand. When he saw Lu Ren come in, he nodded, his stern expression tinged with a hint of anticipation.
"Gather round!"
At his command, the players scattered across the court quickly came together.
Along with Tanaka Ryūnosuke and Sugawara Kōshi, whom he'd met yesterday, and the "murderous server" Kageyama and the "teleporting monster" Hinata, there were a few new faces on the team.
"Now that everyone's here, let's introduce ourselves," Sawamura Daichi said. "We'll start with the new first-years."
Lu Ren stood at the end of the line and switched on "player observation mode."
The first to step forward was a lanky blond with black-framed glasses, who looked close to six foot three.
"Tsukishima Kei, first-year. Position: middle blocker."
His voice was languid, carrying the cool detachment of someone thinking, "I'm just here to see what these idiots are up to."
Lu Ren narrowed his eyes.
[NPC Compendium Updated: Tsukishima Kei] [Attributes: Sharp-tongued, highly intelligent, taunt specialist.] [Threat Level: A. Special Skill: Mental Attack.]
The way he looked at Lu Ren held a touch of scrutiny and faint contempt. It was like a max-level character in a newbie village spotting a rookie in basic gear.
The unspoken "Heh. Another hot-blooded idiot" practically materialized and smacked Lu Ren in the face.
Lu Ren marked him in his mind: High-risk Red name monster. Recommended strategy: kite from a distance. Do not engage in melee.
Next, a freckled boy popped up from behind Tsukishima.
"I'm Yamaguchi Tadashi, first-year. My position... is also middle blocker."
As he spoke, his eyes kept drifting toward Tsukishima. It was obvious he looked up to him.
[NPC Compendium Updated: Yamaguchi Tadashi] [Attributes: Sidekick, loyal, lacking in confidence.] [Threat Level: C. Special Skill: Summon Tsukishima.]
Lu Ren understood. Wasn't this the kind of minor monster that usually accompanied a boss in an RPG? They were typically there to buff the boss or take hits for him. Yamaguchi looked like Tsukishima the great demon king's bullied—no, dominated—childhood friend.
Last came a second-year who looked utterly ordinary, almost like a nameless extra.
"Ennoshita Chikara, second-year. Wing Spiker."
[NPC Compendium Updated: Ennoshita Chikara] [Attributes: Balanced, steady, reserve captain in the making.] [Threat Level: B. Special Skill: Invisibility (struck through). Low presence.]
That face, that air about him—he was the textbook "save point NPC." He looked like the most normal one, which probably meant he'd be the hardest to deal with, since he had no obvious weaknesses.
"All right, now that you've all met each other," Sawamura Daichi said, clapping his hands and bringing Lu Ren back to reality, "the first-year scrimmage is this Saturday. It'll be three-on-three, but volleyball is a physically demanding sport. No matter how good your technique is, basic fitness is the bare minimum."
Sawamura Daichi's gaze swept over the group, then rested on Lu Ren for a second.
"Today's training is simple. First, warm up with a few laps, then do shuttle runs, and finish with two sets of receiving drills."
"Simple?" Lu Ren raised an eyebrow.
That sounded like the Newbie Tutorial's "Press W to move forward."
"No big deal." Lu Ren rolled his neck, producing a sharp crack. "For someone who's cleared countless hardcore action games, a few laps are nothing..."
Ten minutes later.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Lu Ren braced his hands on his knees, feeling as if a blacksmith's forge had fired up in his lungs, its bellows wheezing away. Every breath burned.
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