[Ding······]
[To outdo your rivals, you must first outdo your teammates. That's the first rule of being a true king of the grind.]
[Congratulations! You've exceeded your teammates' training load in long-distance running by double. You've completed a Basic Grind.]
[Stamina · Grind King Value +0.1]
…
The system alert sounded out of nowhere again, snapping Akashi Asuka out of his trance. When he looked around, he realized that at some point, he had become the only person left on the field. The rest of the volleyball club had long since disappeared.
At the same time—
On his system panel, small "+" symbols appeared next to the "Endurance" and "Cardiopulmonary Function" sections in the Stamina box.
Seeing this, Akashi Asuka perked up.
It felt like he had just grasped the system's XP mechanics.
It was a simple, no-nonsense interface. With just a thought, the 0.1 Grind King Value vanished, and in its place, his endurance stat ticked up from 70 to 70.1.
A moment later—
A faint, warm sensation coursed through his body, but it faded quickly.
Not that he expected much. It was only a 0.1 increase, if his muscles had suddenly bulged and he felt like he could punch out a cow, that would've been weird.
"If twice the team's training volume counts as a basic grind... what happens if I go three times?"
Intrigued by the system's mechanics, Akashi Asuka didn't slow down and kept running. Today's club training hadn't been too intense, so even after jogging ten laps around the 400-meter track, he still had energy to spare.
But as the distance grew, his breathing became heavier, and his legs started to feel like they were made of lead.
Still, giving up never crossed his mind.
Not because he had superhuman willpower, but because anyone who's ever trained seriously knows: real training starts when your body wants to give up.
[Ding······]
[Congratulations! You've exceeded your teammates' long-distance training load by threefold. You've completed an Intermediate Grind.]
[Stamina · Grind King Value +0.2]
The moment he finished his fifteenth lap, the system chimed again.
This time, Akashi Asuka finally slowed to a halt. Hands on knees, he bent over and gasped for breath.
As curious as he was about what counted as an Advanced Grind, his body clearly wasn't up for pushing any further today.
Besides—
He wanted to conserve some strength to explore other ways of triggering the system.
Without much hesitation, he used the newly acquired 0.2 Grind King Value to further increase his Endurance, bumping it up to 70.3.
After a few minutes of rest, drenched in sweat, he dragged himself toward the volleyball gym.
By now, it was already past 5 p.m. Even with the longer daylight hours of early summer, the sky was beginning to dim.
Back at the gym—
Most of the volleyball club had already cleared out. Only one person remained: Nishimori Tomohiko, the junior he had met right after arriving in this world, was still there diligently organizing equipment.
As Akashi entered, Nishimori was just about to wheel the last basket of volleyballs into the storage room.
"Wait, Nishimori!" Akashi called out. "You can leave that basket for now. I'll take care of it later."
"Huh? Senpai, are you planning to keep practicing?" Nishimori asked in surprise.
Akashi nodded. "Yeah, I want to get in a little more. You can head home. I'll clean up afterward."
Saying that, he grabbed the cart and headed to the side of the court, ready to test some new "training styles" with the system.
But then—
He suddenly heard Nishimori's nervous voice from behind.
"Um… If you don't mind, Senpai… I can toss it for you."
"Huh?"
Akashi turned around to see Nishimori fidgeting nervously, clearly unsure of himself. "Are you a setter?" Akashi asked.
"Y-Yes. I'm still not as good as Sanashita-senpai, but if it's just for practice… I think I can manage," Nishimori replied, head down and voice trailing off.
Akashi couldn't help but feel a bit exasperated.
In Japanese schools, the hierarchy between upperclassmen and underclassmen is notoriously rigid, almost like a class system. Add to that Akashi's naturally intimidating aura and Nishimori's shy personality, and it was a miracle the kid had even spoken up.
In truth, Nishimori's inner turmoil was far worse than Akashi imagined.
"Crap, crap, crap! What was I thinking?! Now I've roped myself in! The coach and everyone else are gone. What if Akashi-senpai gets mad? It's just the two of us here!"
"Mom, I think I messed up bad this time…"
Just as Nishimori began mentally drafting his last will and testament, Akashi's voice cut in.
"Thanks. Let's practice spikes. Just stand to the side and toss the ball to me."
"Wha—?" Nishimori blinked in shock.
"What are you spacing out for? We don't have much time. Let's make the most of it," Akashi said as he wheeled the cart toward the net.
"O-Okay! Coming!"
Snapping out of it, Nishimori ran to the net. As he watched Akashi warm up his shoulder, a realization struck him:
"Maybe Akashi-senpai… isn't as scary as everyone says?"
As Nishimori set the first ball into the air, Akashi jumped high—
WHAM!!!
The entire gym echoed with a thunderous boom. The ball slammed into the floor like a bullet, rebounded violently, and hit the far wall with a loud thud.
It was the first time Nishimori had ever seen Akashi spike up close, and his brain short-circuited.
"…Mom, I'll take it back. Akashi-senpai is terrifying."
…
"Not bad at all. Volleyball might actually be kind of fun."
Akashi swung his arm a bit, satisfied with that last spike.
Originally, if Nishimori hadn't offered to help, Akashi had planned to practice overhand serves. But with a setter now assisting, it only made sense to work on his spike technique.
According to his host body's memories, the Miyagi Prefectural Junior Boys' Volleyball Tournament was less than a month away.
With such limited time, improving his strengths would yield better results than trying to cover weaknesses.
"Akashi-senpai, how many spikes are we doing?" Nishimori asked.
"Let's start with a hundred."
"A hundred?! You're going to spike that many times?!"
"Is that a lot? Basic skills like this only improve through repetition. A hundred's nothing."
"I see…" Nishimori's eyes lit up with a hint of admiration.
…
Half an hour later—
[Ding······]
[Secret extra training is a mandatory trait for any true Grind King.]
[Congratulations! You've exceeded your teammates' training load in spiking by double. You've completed another Basic Grind.]
[Spiking · Grind King Value +0.1]
------------
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