Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The whistle blew sharply, and the numbers on the scoreboard flipped with a crisp sound.

Although Karasuno is currently in the lead, the air on the field is thick and suffocating. Date Industries' "wall" is not a static, lifeless object, but rather like a missile defense tower equipped with an automatic tracking system.

Hinata Shoyo was like a tireless flea, frantically shuttling between the two ends of the court. His movement did create openings, giving other attackers opportunities to score. But that big guy without eyebrows—Blue Root High Extension—was practically a bug.

"Isn't this monster's aggro range a bit too wide?" Lu Ren, hands on his knees, stared at the lifeless eyes on the other side of the net, mentally ranting.

One second they were chasing Hinata's fast break, and the next they could use their unreasonable reach and reaction speed to forcefully extend their hands to the sideline to interfere. This isn't just a matter of physical ability; it's more like a passive skill that's been maxed out.

Just like the clingy cats like Nekoma are good at whittling down your health on the ground, the big guys from Date Industries are all about erasing your attack detection directly in the air.

The score is now 17-20, with Karasuno in the lead.

"Don't let your guard down! Number 7 is starting to adapt to Hyuga's speed!" Coach Ukai shouted from the sidelines, his tactical board almost deformed in his hand.

Lu Ren glanced at the rotation chart. Bad news: Hyuga was going to move to the back row to serve.

This means that the front row has lost a "bait" that can stretch the defensive line laterally, leaving only pure head-on confrontation.

"Tch, the most troublesome melee phase." Lu Ren straightened up and stretched his stiff neck. If he couldn't keep the score close in this round, and it got dragged into the third game, with his "half-finished" stamina, he'd probably just be a panting roadblock on the court.

Hyuga serves. The trajectory is unremarkable, and it is easily returned by Date Industrial's libero.

"left!"

Date Kogyo's setter, Shigeyoshi, needs to quickly organize an attack. The ball flies towards Kenji Futakuchi.

"One Touch!"

Although Lu Ren and Tsukishima's double block failed to completely stop the ball, it effectively slowed down the ball's speed. Nishitani Yu made a lightning-fast sliding knee save, placing the ball high towards the three-meter line.

"Kageyama!"

Tobio Kageyama arrived at the exact moment the ball began to fall. At that moment, the only attacking options in the front row were Asahi Higashimine and Tsukishima.

"Give me the ball!!" Dong Fengxu roared from the left wing. It was the ace's roar of wanting to tear the block apart.

Without hesitation, Kageyama made a back pass to the left wing.

However, just as Higashimine Asahi leaped, that despairing shadow loomed over him once more. Aone Takashi, along with Kamakichi Yasushi and Futakuchi Kenji.

Three people blocked the net.

It's like a fortress that suddenly rises from the ground.

"Thump!"

With a muffled thud, the volleyball slammed into Aone's palm, bounced vertically, and headed straight for the Karasuno floor.

"Tsk, another one of those forced parries."

Lu Ren's body reacted before his brain. He practically threw himself out, his entire body stretching into a straight line in the air, as he thrust his arm fiercely into the tiny gap between the floor and the ball.

A sharp pain shot through the back of my hand, followed by the dull thud of my body hitting the floor.

The ball bounced up.

"Good save!" Kageyama shouted, rushing over to adjust and pass the ball.

At this moment, Karasuno's formation was in complete disarray. Higashimine Asahi had just landed and was unsteady on his feet. Riku was still lying on the floor like a salted fish.

The only point of attack...

"Tsukishima!"

The tall, bespectacled man who usually seemed unmotivated was now at the net. He didn't choose to smash the ball—facing the already retreating Date Kou's block, a direct confrontation wouldn't be a wise move.

Tsukishima calmly stared at the other person's fingers, then gently pushed his wrist.

The volleyball grazed the fingertips of the blocker and landed softly in an open space on the court of Date Industrial.

This kind of effortless scoring method contrasts sharply with Dong Fengxu's earth-shattering spike that was blocked earlier; it's not very damaging, but extremely insulting.

"Beep—"

The referee blew the whistle, and Karasuno scored.

Lu Ren got up from the ground, rubbing his sore shoulder, walked up to Tsukishima and raised his hand: "Well done, Glasses, that was a perfect finishing move."

Tsukishima glanced down at Lu Ren's hand, which was raised in mid-air, a look of disgust on his face, as if he had seen something dirty. Without saying a word, he turned and walked away, leaving Lu Ren with a cold back view.

"Hey! Is your social networking system not installed?" Lu Ren awkwardly withdrew his hand and wiped it on his clothes. "Fine, I'll let it go for the sake of the points."

The game continues.

Kageyama serves.

Date Industrial's first pass accuracy is frighteningly high. The setter once again passes the ball to their star player, Futakuchi.

Lu Ren and Yue Dao jumped side by side again.

"Don't think you can get past this easily." Lu Ren stared into Futakuchi's eyes, trying to predict his shot.

In mid-air, Erkou changed his wrist and made an extremely tricky small diagonal cut, avoiding Lu Ren's palm.

"Nishitani!"

"exist!"

As if she had foreseen the future, Nishitani Yu appeared at the ball's landing point and made a diving save to propel the ball up.

"Great pass!"

Kageyama Tobio stood at the net, his brain working at high speed like a sophisticated CPU. Touhou Higashimine Asahi on his left had already taken his run-up, and Riku Ren on his right was also calling for the ball.

to whom?

Date Ko's line of sight shifted between the two.

Kageyama's finger touched the ball and pushed it to the right.

Lu Ren took a running start and jumped.

In my field of vision, that green and white "iron wall" instantly moved in front of me. Qing Gen's expressionless face was inches away, and his huge hands almost blocked all the spikes.

"They're really persistent, this level of hatred lock-on is unstoppable."

Lu Ren gritted his teeth in mid-air. A hard spike would definitely be blocked, and if he tried to lob, the opponent's backcourt would be protected.

That being the case...

Lu Ren swung his arm out, but did not hit the ball with full force. Instead, he aimed at the outer edge of the blocker's arm.

"May I borrow your hand?"

"Snapped!"

The volleyball hit the blocker's forearm, changed direction, and flew out of bounds.

"Hand out of bounds! Goal!" Tanaka waved a towel on the bench.

Lu Ren landed and exhaled. This kind of maneuver was too mentally taxing; he had to calculate the angle and force within 0.5 seconds, and even a slight deviation would result in giving away points.

But in the next few balls, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

To alleviate the pressure, Kageyama tried to feed the ball more to ace Higashimine Asahi. However, Date Kogyo seemed determined to stick to their strategy: whenever the ball went to Higashimine Asahi, they would unleash a relentless three-man block.

"Bang!" It was stopped.

"Bang!" It was stopped.

Even Lu Ren's back row attack was blocked by Qing Gen alone.

Each dull thud was like a heavy hammer blow to the hearts of the Karasuno members. Higashimine Asahi's face visibly darkened; the nightmare that had once made him avoid the volleyball club seemed to be repeating itself.

Lu Ren scratched his hair, feeling a little irritated.

"The difficulty of this dungeon is being adjusted too quickly." He glanced at the scoreboard. Although Karasuno was still in the lead, their momentum was completely suppressed by the opponent.

If this "absolute defense" is not broken, it's only a matter of time before morale collapses.

"I need to think of a way, even if it's by exploiting a bug or using terrain..." Lu Ren's brain was working at lightning speed, his eyes scanning the field, analyzing the positioning habits of each NPC... no, each opponent.

Date Industrial serves.

Daichi received the pass steadily, and the ball flew towards Kageyama with a perfect arc.

"Asahi-senpai!" Kageyama shouted.

The shout was very loud, even a bit deliberate.

Although Dong Fengxu was mentally on the verge of collapse, his body's instincts remained intact. He gritted his teeth, let out a low growl, and launched a powerful run-up from the left. His momentum seemed to be releasing all the pent-up frustration he had been holding back.

Date Industries' netting was instantly drawn. Aone, Kama, and even Futakuchi all moved to the left.

"Now!"

The instant Kageyama's fingers touched the ball, his wrist subtly flipped backward.

Pass it on from behind!

The ball flew to the right.

There, Lu Ren had already jumped.

"We succeeded!"

However, just when Lu Ren thought there was a smooth road ahead, a huge black shadow moved across again.

Green roots stretch high.

This guy's lateral movement speed is simply unbelievable! Although he jumped a beat slower, he managed to block Lu Ren's straight spike route thanks to his abnormal wingspan and jumping ability.

Not only that, Date Industries' libero, Yusuke Sakuna, also saw this scene. He judged that Riku would choose to hit a cross-court shot or a powerful spike in order to avoid the block, so he quickly sprinted forward to prepare to receive the rebound ball after the block or defend against a powerful spike.

An impregnable fortress lies ahead, and pursuers are closing in from behind.

Lu Ren was in the air, looking at the overwhelming hand in front of him, and the libero below with a fanatical look in his eyes, ready to take a powerful dunk.

If it were the old Lu Ren, or that kind of hot-blooded fool who only knew how to act recklessly, he would probably choose to close his eyes and try to achieve a miracle.

But Lu Ren is a player.

What are players best at? Reading mechanics.

"The block has sealed off the airspace, and the libero is rushing up to defend against the ground spike..." A very subtle smile suddenly appeared on Lu Ren's lips, a sly smile that seemed to indicate he had found a shortcut to victory.

"Since you're all so excited, let's give you a chance to calm down."

His arm swing in the air was extremely fluid, making it look as if he was about to smash the ball through the floor.

Qinggen pressed down with his palm, his muscles tense. The free man lowered his center of gravity, staring intently at Lu Ren's hand.

However, just as his palm was about to touch the volleyball, Lu Ren suddenly withdrew all his strength.

The originally powerful smash instantly transformed into a gentle caress.

His fingertips gently supported the bottom of the volleyball, and he flicked his wrist lightly.

Instead of being launched like a cannonball, the volleyball traced an extremely short and high parabola.

It passed over the fingertips of the green root that were desperately stretching out, and also over the head of the free man who couldn't stop because he was rushing too fast.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

Everyone at Date Industries froze, watching helplessly as the ball floated and slowly landed behind the undefended three-meter line.

"Clatter".

The ball landed with a soft thud.

Compared to the deafening smashes of the previous attacks, this sound was as soft as a sigh.

But it represents a certainty.

Dead silence.

Then came cheers from Karasuno's side.

"Holy crap! This feel! Silky smooth!" Lu Ren landed, clenched his fist, and felt a thrill that made his scalp tingle.

He turned his head, looked at the blank-faced Qinggen and the frustrated Free Man opposite him, and shrugged.

"Don't be so nervous. Besides basic attacks, you can also use skills in this game."

The scoreboard flips over.

Date Kogyo 20:23 Karasuno.

Although the score difference was still small, this stroke of genius was like carving a hole through an impenetrable iron wall.

Kageyama walked over, unusually without a sour face, and looked at Rikuren with a probing gaze: "That shot just now, did you do it on purpose?"

"Of course, it couldn't have been a slip of the hand, could it?" Lu Ren rolled his eyes. "In that situation, a direct tackle would have been fatal, so it was better to gamble on their habitual thinking. That's called a 'mechanism-based kill,' understand?"

Kageyama nodded, seemingly understanding, "Although I don't understand what you're saying, this ball... is disgusting. But I like it."

"...Can you compliment people in a more normal way?"

Lu Ren turned around and looked at Dong Fengxu, who was still slightly out of breath. Although this ace had just been bait, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed a little when he saw the ball land.

"It's not over yet." Lu Ren clapped his hands, his eyes sharpening again. "Now that we've found the crack in that wall, even if we have to pry it open with a toothpick, I'm going to tear this wall down."

The whistle blew again, and the game continued.

But this time, the wind seemed to have shifted subtly. That suffocating "iron wall," in the face of Lu Ren's quirky tactics, was no longer an invincible symbol of despair.