I Really Am Just a Substitute – CH3

Chapter 3

“Ning Zhou is a genius in terms of vision!”

The ball left Ning Zhou’s hands, spinning not at all, but carrying an inner force as it arced toward the outside hitter…

The opposing blockers tried to chase it down, but they were too late—

They had just blocked an outside hit moments ago, and were still shuffling back to their base positions.

Athletes’ bodies are built for quick directional changes, but the pause between stopping and launching again costs a fraction of a second. And in volleyball, even a fraction of a second can be fatal…

Exclamations erupted from the sidelines, “Wow, he shook them into a one-man block!”

“Not even just one—look, the timing’s off, the block jumped late, that’s basically no wall at all, almost an open net!”

“And Shao Qiu’s team’s back-row defense isn’t set either, the hitter has so many attack angles to choose from!”

“Damn, that setter is ridiculously lucky, his very first set just hit their weak spot…”

The opponents were rattled. But the one most rattled… was actually Ning Zhou himself.

This was his first game since being reborn. He still wasn’t fully familiar with the strength of his restored fingers. He had deliberately lightened his touch, yet the ball’s trajectory still came out too high—higher than the ideal hitting point for most spikers…

Damn it, my very first set is going to sabotage my hitter! The confidence Ning Zhou had before the set evaporated instantly. His face twisted in regret as he turned to watch the outside hitter—Yu Bai.

Yu Bai’s sharp gaze locked onto the ball, his expression as fierce as his cropped hair. He looked completely unfazed by the high set. Without hesitation, he stepped forward, ready to leap…

Yu Bai’s approach was unique. He kept his center of gravity lower than most players, like a cheetah crouched before a hunt, his thighs brimming with explosive power. Launching from a low stance gave him incredible momentum. At takeoff, he seemed to defy gravity, rocketing upward.

In midair, his arm whipped through, striking the ball cleanly. His contact point soared above the opposing blockers—the ball slammed down into their court…

A ruthless, no-nonsense spike to the floor!

“Hissss—”

Gasps rippled through the crowd, overwhelmed by the sheer force of Yu Bai’s attack. The referee’s whistle blew. Point to Yu Bai’s team. They led the game, 1–0!

It was a thrilling but safe point. Ning Zhou adjusted his feel for the ball and sidled up to Yu Bai, “Nice hit! Was the set too high?”

“…” Yu Bai silently rolled his shoulders.

“?” Ning Zhou pressed, “You didn’t swing with full force just now, right? Should I lower it a little next time?”

Yu Bai glanced down at him, then turned away: “No need.”

“…Alright.”

Ning Zhou had never met a hitter this hard to communicate with, not even in his past life. Back then, Yu Bai had been a national team starter, while Ning Zhou was only a substitute.

Outside of necessary exchanges during practice, they hardly interacted—certainly never like this, with such a tense, almost hostile atmosphere.

What’s his problem? Is his speech center infected with some kind of vertical-jump virus!? Ning Zhou thought helplessly.

“Ning Zhou! We actually scored first!”

His roommate, Nie Feiang, was giddy, snorting like an excited bull, “You and Yu Bai work together so well! Did you know his hitting point was high, and purposefully set it higher?”

Ning Zhou pressed his lips together and said modestly, “Shh, keep it low-key.”

Nie Feiang’s eyes shone with worship, “Good man, Ning Zhou! Set a few for me too! This is the perfect chance to show off in front of the coaches!”

Ning Zhou pretended not to hear, already heading back to the service line.

The audience’s focus was locked firmly on Yu Bai, “Who is this guy? Conservatively, that spike point was at least 3.5 meters!”

“I’ve seen plenty of jumpers, but the momentum on his takeoff is top-tier. Gave me goosebumps…”

“Was he raised on springs or something?”

Assistant coach Ning Xu also praised, “A fine seedling! Coach Luo’s eyes are as sharp as ever!”

“No,” Coach Luo’s eyes gleamed as his smile deepened, “when it comes to talent-spotting, you’ve never fallen short.”

“Although Yu Bai’s performance is dazzling, we mustn’t overlook the brilliance of Ning Zhou’s set.”

“Can he really maintain that wide-field vision state for long?”

Ning Xu shook his head and answered, “From what I’ve observed, Ning Zhou’s court vision is an innate ability. But his stamina is average. In the latter half of a match, once his focus starts slipping, his setting and vision won’t sync up as well—he’ll make mistakes.”

“I see…” Coach Luo rubbed his fingers together, looking energized. “That’s enough!”

…

While the coaches were discussing on the sideline, the players on court were also reviewing the rally. Shao Qiu’s team, currently trailing, had just squandered an attacking opportunity, but the mood wasn’t particularly gloomy, “That one’s on me, I messed up the first pass!”

“It’s fine, next ball, next ball!”

“That rookie outside hitter on their side is just too fierce, it’s normal we couldn’t stop him.”

Only Du Jun looked unsettled. He smoothed down the edge of the tape on his knee, “Their setter’s tempo was faster than I expected. We need to adjust our blocking formation—don’t cluster in the middle, spread out more.”

The middle blocker raised a brow: “That was just a lucky set… Fine, we’ll go with your call. Honestly, their setter isn’t anything special. Once I block a few of his balls, you’ll see.”

“Beeeep—”

The serve whistle blew. Since Yu Bai’s team had won the last point, they kept the serve. Ning Zhou was up again. He pressed his palm against the ball, recalling the feel from before. His toss was calm, and at the instant of the jump serve his wrist made a tiny adjustment—

The ball just skimmed over the net, headed for the same back-row hitter as before. But this time, the trajectory dropped sharply after crossing the net…

A short, sinking serve to midcourt!

“Damn it!”

That outside hitter, still wary from the deep serve earlier, had adjusted his position further back than usual. He hadn’t expected the next ball to land shallow in midcourt!

His feet couldn’t keep up. He dove forward, barely managing to get the ball up…

But he’d used too much force. The ball floated straight back over the net.

Once again, the attack shifted to Yu Bai’s team! Their libero dug it up easily, feeling like fortune had just fallen from the sky: “Chance! Chance!”

Ning Zhou moved into the setter’s spot. With half-lowered lids, he mapped out the six opponents across the net in his mind’s eye: The three blockers had spread out into a new formation. This time, it wouldn’t be so easy to open a free lane like before. No matter where he set, at least one blocker could chase it.

Ning Zhou’s jump-set posture was fluid. Until the ball left his hands, it was impossible to guess if it would be a front set or a back set. The opposing middle blocker couldn’t read it. He braced himself in the center, ready for anything…

Ning Zhou’s eyes flashed. He snapped his fingers, sending the ball to his dorm-mate Nie Feiang, the middle blocker going up for a quick attack—A quick set!

The ball shot out at high speed. Normally, a setter wouldn’t dare run a quick with a middle he’d never played with before—especially without any agreed-upon signals. But Ning Zhou knew Nie Feiang. What stood out most about him was his explosive vertical speed. When jumping at the same time as others, he reached peak height faster.

What’s more…

The corner of Ning Zhou’s eyes softened, as though he were embedding his reply into the ball itself—Here. The ball you wanted is yours!

Fueled like he’d been injected with chicken blood, Nie Feiang sprang up. The opposing middle’s block was half a beat late…

But the dosage of “chicken blood” was too strong—Nie Feiang was so desperate to impress that his hand didn’t fully cover the ball. The ball carrying Ning Zhou’s earnest response sailed out of bounds.

“Uh…” Nie Feiang darted a guilty glance at Ning Zhou, but stiffened his neck and insisted, “It was a touch! Definitely a touch!”

If a spike brushes the blocker’s hands before flying out, it counts as “touched out” and the attacker’s team scores. But if it goes straight out, it’s a hitting error, and the other team scores. That distinction decided the point.

Shao Qiu’s middle blocker looked exasperated, “What touch? I didn’t even jump!”

The spectators chuckled and heckled, “Shouting out how bad your block was must feel great, huh~”

“The hitter can’t feel good either—squandered a free point!”

“Tut tut, neither middle blocker should laugh at the other—public execution in front of the coaches, haha!”

The referee ignored their chatter and firmly ruled the ball out, awarding the point to Shao Qiu’s team.

Ning Zhou stopped Nie Feiang, who still wanted to argue, and instead turned to the opposing middle across the net with an apologetic smile, “Sorry, he got too worked up. No hard feelings. That ball definitely wasn’t touched—I saw it clearly.”

“…It’s fine.”

The middle blocker’s face twisted with conflict. Unable to hold back his curiosity, he stared into Ning Zhou’s eyes and asked, “Just now… Did you set to the middle because you saw I was prepping to block the wing?”

“Oh, so that was your plan?”

Ning Zhou pointed at his legs, “No wonder your stance was high—you didn’t bend like you were about to jump. So I figured you wouldn’t keep up with a quick set.”

The middle blocker put on a mask of pain: “Wait, what? In less than a second before your set, you even studied my legs?”

Ning Zhou earnestly added, “Also, your back-row defense was standing deep, so I guessed you were bracing for Yu Bai’s heavy spike…”

“!?”

The middle’s face drained of color. Gripping the net with both hands, his mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out…

Thinking the conversation over, Ning Zhou turned away to console the sulking Nie Feiang, “It’s okay. Next time, just put it away.”

Nie Feiang, “Hey, Ning Zhou, you’ll still set the ball for me next time, right?”

Ning Zhou, “Depends.”

Nie Feiang, “See! You are mad! But my gut tells me that ball brushed his fingertips—it was a block touch!”

Ning Zhou, “……”

Across the net—While Shao Qiu’s team was huddled together celebrating the point, they suddenly realized someone was missing. They turned their heads and saw their middle blocker hanging off the net, like a fish caught in a net…

Du Jun poked him on the back: “Still alive?”

“You were right, Du Jun!”

The middle blocker jolted upright like a dying patient, clutching Du Jun’s shoulders and shaking him wildly, blurting out something completely off-topic, “That setter on the other side—he’s the one we really need to watch out for!”

…

In the reception room of the gym, a woman in her fifties was flipping through the players’ profiles from the men’s national training camp, frowning.

“The team’s starting setter really doesn’t want to appear on the show? We can work around his training schedule!”

“Director Zhang, we confirmed with Shao Qiu several times. He doesn’t want to waste a single minute of camp practice. You’d better find someone else… maybe check the athletics training center next door? They also have national team members…”

“Wait, this face!?”

Director Zhang suddenly shot up, finger trembling as she pointed at the headshot in one of the profiles, “Can you ask if this player is willing to come on our variety show?”

The name on that profile read, in bold: Ning Zhou.

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