Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The Lu family's dining table was brightly lit.

Lu Ren practically crawled onto the chair like a zombie. The tendon on the back of his thigh felt like a rusty steel cable; every time he bent his knees to sit down, it triggered a red alert at the system's core.

*[System Notification: Your stamina bar has been permanently reduced to zero. Current status: Half-dead.]*

"What's wrong?" Lu's mother came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of braised pork, looking at her son's strange sitting posture. "Did you get into a fight at school?"

"No, Mom." Lu Ren picked up his chopsticks, his hands trembling. "This is... a medal of honor. I paid the price physically to conquer that difficult challenge called 'Volleyball Club'."

"Speak like a human being." Lu Jianguo peeked out from behind the newspaper.

"I overtrained and got a leg cramp," Lu Ren confessed honestly.

Lu's mother laughed instead, adding meat to his plate as she said, "That's good, that's good. You used to just sneak into your room to play video games after school, but now you're finally willing to get moving. I heard that Yazhi girl invited you? That's more like it, boys should have some masculinity."

Lu Ren took a bite of rice, thinking to himself, "You have no idea what kind of monsters are in there. That's not masculine energy, that's the murderous aura of a battlefield."

"However," Lu Jianguo put down his newspaper, pushed up his glasses, and glanced at Lu Ren's stiff legs, "since it was strenuous exercise, if it's not treated promptly, the lactic acid buildup will make you feel like you're 'worse than dead' when you wake up tomorrow morning. That kind of soreness is like having a hundred ants tap dancing in your muscle fibers."

Lu Ren shivered, and almost dropped the braised pork on his chopsticks.

"Father, dear father." Lu Ren put down his bowl, his eyes sincere. "Since you know so much, you must have a solution, right? Were you a hidden master gamer in your youth?"

"Ahem." Lu Jianguo coughed tactically, his eyes darting around. "Although I can't do the actual work, I know the theory. Stretching and massage can effectively remove acid."

"That's great!" Lu Ren's eyes lit up. "Come on, Father, it's time to show your fatherly love! I don't have any money to buy stamina recovery potions, so I'll have to rely on your 'Great Rejuvenation Technique'."

Lu Jianguo waved his hands repeatedly, looking disgusted: "Go away, go away, my old arms and legs can't possibly move you. Besides, my strength is unpredictable, I might hurt you."

"What can I do?" Lu Ren asked in despair. "Am I just supposed to wait to die and become a stiff corpse tomorrow morning?"

Lu Jianguo smiled mysteriously and lowered his voice: "Although I don't know how, I know someone who does. And he's a professional."

"Who?" Lu Ren asked alertly. "Could it be Grandpa Wang next door? That's the kind of bone-setting technique he uses on dogs."

"Don't worry, it's absolutely reliable." Lu Jianguo pointed upstairs. "Go take a hot shower first, open up your pores and relax your muscles. Then go back to your room, lie on the bed, and wait. I've already booked this master for you; he'll be here soon."

Lu Ren was skeptical.

But his current condition is so bad that he would be willing to try anything, even if it were a veterinarian, let alone a master.

"Okay." Lu Ren stood up with difficulty and shuffled towards the bathroom like a penguin. "I'll give it my all for tomorrow's dungeon."

……

Twenty minutes later.

After taking a shower, Lu Ren wrapped himself in a towel and staggered back to the bedroom.

The hot water did relieve some of the pain, but the deep, aching sensation still clung to his bones. He collapsed onto the bed, buried his face in the pillow, and spread his legs out in a starfish shape, waiting for the arrival of the mysterious master.

This plot development is kind of like a "special service NPC" in an online game, isn't it?

I'm hoping for a gentle healer, definitely not the violent damage dealer type...

"Click".

The sound of the doorknob turning.

Lu Ren didn't turn around and said in a low voice, "Master, please come in. My leg problem is mainly with my hamstrings and gastrocnemius muscles. Please be gentle, my training level is low, and my defense is zero."

The footsteps were very light, suggesting an agile character.

Immediately afterwards, the mattress sank slightly.

A familiar, subtly citrusy scent of shower gel wafted into my nostrils.

Lu Ren suddenly opened his eyes. This smell... is wrong! How come it smells exactly like Ya Zhi's?

He struggled to sit up and turned his head to look.

"!!!"

Qingze Yazhi was sitting cross-legged on the edge of his bed, wearing a loose pink loungewear set, her ponytail casually tied behind her head. She held a bottle of liniment for sprains and bruises in her hand, and had that kind of "kind" smile on her face.

Good evening, Lu Ren.

Lu Ren was so startled he almost rolled off the bed, but the violent movement instantly aggravated his strained thigh, making him grimace in pain: "Ouch—how is it you?! Where's my 'Master Expert'? Where's my hidden NPC who can bring the dead back to life?!"

"So far away, yet so close at hand." Yazhi shook the medicated oil in her hand; the sloshing sound of the liquid was strangely eerie. "Uncle Lu just texted me saying you urgently need 'special care.' Perfect timing, here I come."

Lu Ren's eyes widened: "You know massage? How come I didn't know you had that skill?"

He and Yazhi grew up together, practically inseparable, and he knew all her skills perfectly well. Besides being the fastest at eating pudding in the entire server, when did this girl ever learn medicine?

"Tch, don't look down on me." Ya-zhi rolled up her sleeves, revealing her fair forearms. "Back in elementary school, I was a member of the 'Junior Red Cross First Aid Club.' My teachers back then praised me for my strong hands, saying I could handle anyone who challenged me."

"Elementary school level?!" Lu Ren's voice trembled. "That's a ten-year-old version! This skill is outdated!"

"Shut up."

Without saying a word, Yazhi grabbed Lu Ren's ankle.

In that instant, Lu Ren felt as if his foot wasn't being grabbed by a girl's hand, but rather locked by a hydraulic clamp.

*[System Warning: Encountered a powerful control skill (Imprisonment). Unable to break free.]*

"Now that you're in the volleyball club, this level of physical contact is unavoidable." Yazhi's voice became serious, but her eyes sparkled with excitement. "I've read the book; the best way to treat this kind of acute muscle strain is deep stretching. Come on, relax, take a deep breath."

"Wait...wait a minute!" Lu Ren tried to use his persuasive skills, "We can discuss this theoretically first, or maybe we can try applying a hot compress first..."

"Stop talking nonsense, I'm not listening, I'm not listening."

Yazhi didn't give Lu Ren a chance to read the message.

She leaned forward, placed her hands on Lu Ren's right leg, and then—

Push it upwards with a sudden burst of energy!

"Click!"

Lu Ren felt a cracking sound coming from the base of his thigh.

Immediately afterwards, a jolt of electric pain shot through my nerve center straight to the top of my head, instantly exploding into countless fireworks.

"Aaaaaaaahh ...

A heart-wrenching scream pierced through the bedroom door, tumbling down the stairs to the living room on the first floor, even startling a stray cat sleeping outside the window.

downstairs.

Lu Jianguo was peeling an orange when he heard the scream, and the orange peel in his hand trembled.

Mrs. Lu was watching a TV series when she was startled by the noise: "Old man, is everything alright upstairs? Why is it screaming like a pig being slaughtered?"

Lu Jianguo calmly popped a segment of orange into his mouth, his eyes deep: "It's nothing. This is the price of growing up. Back when I first went for a massage... cough, well, no one's going to die. That girl knows what she's doing."

"That's true." Mrs. Lu nodded and continued watching TV. "Yazhi is a thoughtful child; she's definitely doing this for Lu Ren's own good. This child is just too spoiled; a few cries are just to improve blood circulation."

Upstairs, in the bedroom.

This place has turned into a hellish difficulty dungeon.

"Lady Ya... Lady Yazhi! Heroine! Spare me!"

Lu Ren was folded into an odd angle. Ya Zhi sat on his back, her hands gripping his ankles, trying to pull them toward his head.

This isn't stretching! This is folding him up, packing him up, and shipping him away!

"Don't scream!" Ya-zhi gasped for breath, clearly struggling as well. "Your muscles are too stiff! Like steel bars! You have to be stretched! Otherwise, you won't even be able to walk tomorrow!"

"It's broken! It's about to break! My health bar is empty!" Lu Ren's face was pressed against the sheets, tears and snot streaming down his face. "What kind of cult ritual is this? I admit I'm guilty. I shouldn't have shown off in front of Kageyama. I shouldn't have tried to jump serve... Please let me go!"

"Hold on!"

Yazhi didn't stop; instead, she increased her pressure. She even used her knee to press against Lu Ren's lower back, creating an absolute fulcrum that he couldn't resist.

"Ten seconds left! Hang in there! This move is called 'Scorpion Tail'!"

"Ugh—this isn't a volleyball skill! This is definitely a wrestling skill!"

Lu Ren felt his soul leaving his body.

His pain shielding system completely failed, and every muscle in his body was screaming. He seemed to see a large, gleaming white door leading to a peaceful game lobby, with countless save points beckoning him.

Five minutes later.

"Next up are the inner thigh muscles." Yazhi changed her posture, this time facing them head-on.

The two stood with their feet touching and their hands clasped together.

"No... I really can't go on..." Lu Ren was as weak as an old man on his deathbed.

"I don't believe it." Ya Zhi's eyes widened like saucers. "I read in the book that as long as you can reach this angle, you're considered qualified. You haven't even reached the passing grade. Lu Ren, you don't want to lose badly on Saturday, do you? Do you want to cramp up as soon as you step onto the court and then writhe on the ground like a shrimp in front of all the girls in the school?"

This psychological attack is extremely effective.

Lu Ren gritted his teeth, closed his eyes in grief and indignation: "Come on! Give me a quick death!"

"Very good, that's right." Yazhi's lips curled up.

"Click".

"Aaaaaah—!!!"

……

A full hour.

In Lu Ren's bedroom, a tragedy unfolded that was called "rehabilitation therapy," but was in reality a "one-sided beating."

Finally, everything returned to calm.

Lu Ren lay limp on the bed like a lump of mud, too weak to even move a finger. His soul had been completely purified; his eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, and he occasionally uttered a meaningless syllable.

*[System Notification: Your flexibility has increased by 0.5. Your pain resistance has increased to MAX.]*

Yazhi jumped off the bed, straightened her slightly disheveled clothes, and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her cheeks were flushed, as if she had just finished a vigorous workout.

"Phew—I'm exhausted." Yazhi shook her wrist. "Your physical condition is ridiculously poor. But don't thank me, it's the manager's job."

She picked up the half-used bottle of liniment and looked down at Lu Ren: "How are you feeling?"

Lu Ren moved his lips slightly, and with the last bit of strength, he raised a trembling thumb.

"Awesome...absolutely awesome..."

"That's good." Yazhi nodded in satisfaction, turned and walked towards the door. "Get a good night's sleep. I'll wake you up tomorrow morning. Don't try to stay in bed. Don't forget, our goal is—"

She paused, then turned back and smiled.

"Defeat the BOSS."

The door closed.

Lu Ren lay in the darkness. Although his body still ached, he was surprised to find that the stiffness that had locked his joints had actually disappeared by most. In its place was a burning, exhilarating feeling of blood flowing rapidly.

"A violent nanny..."

Lu Ren gave a wry smile and turned over.

Although the process was brutal, the effect... was truly divine.

However, he had a vague feeling that this kind of life was only just beginning.

If this is the only path to becoming a pro gamer, then the game's designers must be sadists.

As he pondered, a wave of exhaustion washed over him, and Lu Ren fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, he turned into a volleyball, and was kicked around like a ball by Ya-zhi and Kageyama...

***

The next morning, when the clock struck 5:30.

The door, the source of all nightmares, was silently pushed open once again.