Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

Kageyama Tobio stood at the baseline, twirling a volleyball in his hand. He was still annoyed by the second attack that Oikawa Tetsu had blocked earlier; the guy's aura was frighteningly low, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

The whistle blows.

Kageyama throws the ball and leaps. This shot, imbued with obvious anger and incredibly fast, hurtles directly into the corner of Aoba Castle's backfield.

"Watari!" Oikawa Toru called out.

Aoba Castle West's libero, Watari Chikaji, reacted extremely quickly, sliding to the side and steadily raising his arms. The ball struck his arms with a dull thud, not flying wildly, but obediently bouncing towards the setter position.

"Great pass!"

Oikawa Toru was in position, his movements fluid and graceful, like conducting an orchestra. Without any hesitation, he pushed the ball directly to the right wing.

"Quick attack!"

Alarms went off in Lu Ren's mind instantly. He glanced at Tsukishima Hotaru beside him, and the two jumped almost simultaneously. Ignoring the decoy in the middle, they focused on blocking Kindaichi Yutaro's cross-court shot.

Seeing that the diagonal shot was blocked in mid-air, Kindaichi had no choice but to twist his waist and change to a straight shot.

"Snapped!"

The volleyball grazed Lu Ren's fingertips, slightly altering its trajectory, but still hurtling towards the backcourt with undiminished momentum.

"I'll do it!!"

Yuu Nishitani sprinted forward like a spinning top, and just before the ball hit the ground, she used one hand to baffle it. Although her form wasn't very graceful, the ball did indeed fly up.

"Kageyama!"

Kageyama Tobio quickly moved to the landing point. At this moment, only Tanaka Ryunosuke and Hyuga Shoyo were in the front row of Karasuno.

Tanaka had already started his run-up, letting out that weird yell you only hear when delinquents are fighting: "Give me the ball!!"

Kageyama's fingers touched the ball, and he instantly exerted force. The volleyball flew like a cannonball, precisely hitting Tanaka's hitting point.

The three-man defensive line west of Aoba Castle has been formed: Iwaizumi Ichi, Matsukawa Ichishige, and Oikawa Toru. The wall looks impenetrable.

Ryunosuke Tanaka wasn't afraid at all. He roared in the air, exerted his strength in his waist and abdomen, and instead of avoiding the net, he blasted directly at the fingertips of the net's blocker.

A cross-court shot from the inside corner!

The volleyball grazed Oikawa Toru's fingers and flew out of bounds.

"Yay!!!" Tanaka landed and pumped his fist, his face contorted in a grotesque grimace that could scare a child. "They've caught up!!"

"Tanaka-senpai is so cool!" Hinata jumped even higher than Tanaka.

The score is 5-8.

Lu Ren shook his fingers, which were numb from the block, and glanced at Oikawa Tetsu on the other side. The "King" wasn't annoyed by the point lost; instead, he was squinting as he observed their positioning.

"What a troublesome boss," Lu Ren thought to himself.

The rounds continued, and it was still Kageyama's turn to serve.

This time, Iwaizumi received the ball more steadily. Oikawa Tetsu organized another attack, flicking the ball with his fingers, sending it flying towards the middle. Kindaichi leaped high and delivered a short, quick shot.

Nishitani Yu once again demonstrated her guardian spirit, saving the ball with a diving forward roll.

Opportunity ball.

Kageyama quickly took his position.

Just then, Hyuga Shoyo suddenly started running, shouting as he sprinted diagonally, "Pass it to me!!"

That shout was so loud that the entire stadium could hear it.

Kindaichi and Matsukawa Kazushige, on the other side of the net, exchanged a glance.

In previous matches, they had already "deciphered" Karasuno's signals. When Hinata shouted "Pass it to me," it was usually a normal fast break.

Kindaichi made a judgment; he subconsciously observed the direction of Kageyama's pass and did not jump with full force to block Hinata.

He was the only one who symbolically reached out his hand.

However, Tobio Kageyama did not hesitate at all.

The volleyball in his hand turned into a streak of light and went straight into Hinata Shoyo's hand.

"What?!" Kindaichi's pupils shrank sharply.

With almost no one blocking his way, Hinata Shoyo stretched his body in the air, and the feeling of being suspended in the air made him look like he was flying.

Swing your arm and smash the ball.

"Bang!"

The volleyball bounced off the undefended floor and towards the backcourt.

Kindaichi landed, staring blankly at the ball rolling away, then looked at Oikawa Tetsu: "Oikawa-senpai, this isn't what we agreed on..."

Oikawa Tetsu curled his lip, looking at Riku Ren who was high-fiving Hinata, a hint of amusement in his eyes: "Ah, looks like we've been tricked. That guy reversed the logic of the code."

Lu Ren didn't show much expression.

Even during the pause, he suggested swapping the meanings of the codes "Give me" and "Take it." In the game, this is called modifying hotkey bindings, specifically designed to counter opponents who like to peek and predict.

"Since you guys enjoy doing reading comprehension, I'll give you a different question bank." Lu Ren thought to himself with a sense of satisfaction.

The score is close.

Kageyama continues to serve.

Perhaps because the previous fast break went too smoothly, Kageyama was a bit impatient with this shot. He didn't time his run-up properly and his body lurched forward too far.

"Oh no." Kageyama realized something was wrong while in mid-air.

The intended jump serve turned into an awkward push. The volleyball flew limply over the net, landing in an extremely awkward spot—right near the three-meter line in Aoba Castle's frontcourt.

"Chance!"

Aoba Castle West's free agent, Watari Chikaharu, leaped forward and raised the ball high with one hand.

But the ball was caught too hastily and flew directly out of bounds.

"Don't even think about running away!" Iwaizumi reacted quickly, rushing out of bounds and hooking the ball back with his back to the net.

The volleyball soared high, cleared the net, and landed in Karasuno's half of the court.

"This kind of ball is the most troublesome," Lu Ren frowned.

The ball landed deep and with strong spin. Kageyama Tobio, having just committed a service error, rushed onto the court and was now right where the ball had landed.

As a setter, receiving the first pass is a major taboo, because it means that he cannot organize an attack in that round.

But there's nothing we can do.

Kageyama could only lower his center of gravity and use both hands to cushion the ball.

"The pass is perfect!"

The ball flew steadily towards the third position in front of the net.

That was originally the setter's position. Now, it's empty.

No, someone moved.

Lu Ren was like an NPC with a pre-written script, already activated the moment Kageyama received the ball. He took two steps to the three-position, his hands naturally raised, his posture impeccable.

"Two setters." Oikawa Toru raised an eyebrow. "That's quite a luxurious setup."

The front line of the Qingye City West defense team instantly tensed up.

Lu Ren's eyes weren't on any of the attackers, but fixed on the opponent's block. He jumped.

The movements were very large, and the trajectory of the arm swings looked like a direct second-attack spike.

"It's a second attack!" Matsukawa Kazushige and Kindaichi jumped up to block at the same time.

Just as their hands were about to cover the net, Lu Ren's right hand suddenly stopped. With an extremely gentle flick of his wrist, his powerful smash instantly transformed into a soft lift.

The volleyball flew past the two blockers and flew laterally to the left wing.

There, Ryunosuke Tanaka had been waiting impatiently for some time.

"nice shot!!"

Facing a weakened blocker with only one and a half remaining (Oikawa Tetsu's cover was a beat too slow), Tanaka Ryunosuke didn't need much skill; he simply relied on brute force to smash the ball.

"boom!"

The volleyball smashed through the net and landed in bounds.

The score is 7-8.

After landing, Lu Ren dusted off his hands and turned to look at Kageyama, who was getting up from the ground: "Although your serve just now was terrible, like a bad example in a beginner's tutorial, your return was passable. After using the moves you've used, I realized just how freakish you are."

Kageyama, his face dark, wiped his sweat and said, "...Shut up."

Although he was sharp-tongued, Kageyama knew in his heart that in that chaotic situation just now, the only person on the team who could instantly cover and pass such a high-quality ball was Riku Ren.

Is this guy really just a volleyball newbie who started playing halfway through his career?

The game continues.

Kageyama serves again. This time, Aoba Johsai's libero, Watari Chikaharu, doesn't give him another chance, steadily delivering the ball to Oikawa Toru.

Oikawa Toru didn't use any fancy moves; he directly launched a textbook-perfect fast break.

Kindaichi jumped from position three, facing a double block from Hinata and Kageyama, and scored with a very quick spike.

The score is 7-9.

Rotation.

The man who sent chills down the spines of the entire Karasuno team walked toward the service area with the ball.

Oikawa Toru.

He stood at the baseline, not in a hurry to serve, but habitually twirling the volleyball in his hand. The spotlight shone on him, and his confident, almost narcissistic, demeanor was undeniably oppressive.

"Tsk, even the stance has its own model?" Lu Ren thought to himself, but his body honestly lowered its center of gravity. "So cool. I'll ask if I can learn this move after the competition."

The whistle blows.

Oikawa Tetsu throws the ball.

Run-up, jump, swing your arms.

The entire movement was so smooth, it was like a meticulously rendered CG animation.

"Bang!"

The sound of the ball hitting the ground was so heavy it was startling.

The volleyball, with its intense backspin, was like a cruise missile, precisely locking onto a point in Karasuno's back row.

It wasn't the free agent Nishinoya, nor the captain Sawamura Daichi.

It was Ryunosuke Tanaka, who had just scored a point and was in the highest spirits.

"Targeting the attacker?" Lu Ren reacted instantly.

Tanaka clearly hadn't expected the ball to be aimed at him, and at such an absurdly fast speed. He instinctively reached out to block it, but his footwork wasn't quite right yet.

"Catch it!!"

The volleyball hit Tanaka's forearm, and because of the strong spin, it bounced to the side and crashed hard into the GG sign next to him.

"Damn it!" Tanaka slammed his fist on the floor in frustration.

Direct score.

Oikawa Toru landed with his signature, infuriating smile on his face, and gave Tanaka a "V" sign.

"Looks like they're planning to disable our firing positions first." Lu Ren's heart sank as he looked at Tanaka's expression.

Tanaka is the leader of Karasuno's morale-boosting team and also their most daring offensive player. Oikawa Toru, that cunning old fox, wants to crush Tanaka's spirit to suppress the morale of the entire Karasuno team.

"Is this the PvP strategy for a max-level character...?"

Before Lu Ren could come up with a solution, Coach Wu Yangxi blew his whistle.

"pause!"

The Karasuno team returned to the sidelines. The atmosphere was somewhat heavy, and Tanaka's expression was particularly grim.

Lu Ren took the water bottle from Qingze Yazhi, took a sip, and the cool water calmed his feverish mind a little. He looked at Oikawa Tetsu, who was chatting and laughing with his teammates across from him, and instead of fear, a strange sense of excitement ignited in his eyes.

This oppressive feeling of being targeted and cornered by the BOSS is something I haven't felt in a long time.