Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The numbers on the scoreboard changed: 19 to 15. Karasuno was in the lead.

Sugawara Koji stood at the baseline, spinning the volleyball twice in his hand. He took a deep breath, and without any fancy movements, simply hit the ball steadily. The volleyball traced a not-so-sharp arc, landing in Aoba Johsai's backcourt.

"I'll do it."

Guo Jianying barely moved, simply turning sideways and using both arms to cushion the ball. The ball bounced steadily, neither too high nor too low, just right for the net.

Oikawa Tetsu is already in position.

This guy is like a precision instrument on the court. No matter how accurate the first pass is, as soon as the ball gets into his hands, it instantly transforms into a killing blow. He jumps, his hands making a tiny pause at the moment of contact with the ball, his gaze drifting to the left, while his wrists flick to the right.

"Attack quickly!" Daichi Sawamura shouted.

The ball flew towards Iwaizumi. This ace attacker from Aoba Johsai had already completed his run-up, his entire body like a taut bow being released suddenly in mid-air.

"Bang!"

Karasuno's double block kept up with the pace, but Iwaizumi's power was simply too overwhelming. The ball hit the edge of Tsukishima's palm, changed direction, and bounced high into the backcourt.

"It didn't land!"

The land of Sawamura is as solid as a hard foundation.

Sawamura Daichi leaped like a fish, sliding chest-first to the ground, managing to prop up the deflected ball.

"An opportunity ball!"

Sugawara Koji shouted, quickly adjusting his position. The safest option at this moment was to use his ace. He pushed the ball to the left wing, where Higashimine Asahi was already at full draw.

But Aoba Castle West's response was ridiculously fast.

The instant Higashimine Asahi jumped, three human walls rose up in front of the net: Oikawa Tetsu, Iwaizumi Ichi, and Matsukawa Kazushige. This trio formed a barrier like an impenetrable gate.

"Thump!"

The spike hit the blocker's hand but didn't penetrate; instead, it slowed down and bounced up.

"One touch!"

Hanamaki Takahiro darted to the landing point like an eel, then smoothly lifted the ball with his hand. Aoba Johsai's counter-attack was frighteningly fluid. Oikawa Tetsu didn't even need to adjust, making a direct back pass while on the move.

Matsukawa Kazushige launched a quick attack.

Although Tsukishima and Tanaka also set up a double block for Karasuno, Matsukawa played very skillfully, pressing down with his wrist, and the volleyball grazed the inside of the blocker's arm and fell right into the gap in Karasuno's back row.

The whistle blows, 19-16.

The difference has narrowed to three points.

"It's alright! We still have the advantage! Cut them off!" Daichi Sawamura clapped his hands loudly, his voice stabilizing the morale of his troops.

Hanamaki Takahiro serves again.

This time it was a jump serve to find someone. Lu Ren stepped to the left, pressed down with both hands, judged the ball's trajectory very accurately, and passed it to the target.

"Nice catch!"

Sugawara Koji touches the ball with both hands. His passing form is textbook perfect, without any unnecessary movements, delivering the ball steadily to the captain's position. Sawamura Daichi cuts in from the right and jumps to spike the ball.

"Snapped!"

The ball was intercepted and returned to bounds.

19:17.

Lu Ren frowned, looking at the volleyball that had rolled to his feet.

It wasn't that Daichi's dunk was bad, nor that Sugawara's pass was wrong. The problem was precisely that it was too "standard." Sugawara's passes were like a fixed combo written in a strategy guide—steady and solid, but lacking in variability.

For the seasoned veterans of Aoba Seishi, this kind of rule-abiding setter is so familiar that they know the ball's trajectory even with their eyes closed.

"This is the difference between the skills of an ordinary player and a pro player..." Lu Ren muttered to himself.

Huajuan continues serving.

This time, the ball didn't go to the back row, but instead, with a strange, erratic trajectory, it fell straight towards the setter's position.

"Oops!"

Sugawara Koji was preparing to launch an attack, but the ball went straight for his face, forcing him to crouch down and use his upper hand to catch it.

"The first pass is messed up! Who will cover for them?"

The ball flew high into the air and landed near the three-meter line.

"I'll do it."

Lu Ren happened to be nearby and took two steps to the ball.

At this moment, all of Karasuno's front row players were moving. Tanaka was yelling for the ball on the left, Asahi was preparing his run-up in the back row, and Daichi was pulling on the right. According to tactical logic, this corrective ball should have been given to the most reliable ace, Asahi, or to Tanaka, who has a strong attacking ability.

Lu Ren raised his hand, his gaze sweeping across the entire room.

He caught a glimpse of an orange figure out of the corner of his eye.

Hinata Shoyo, like a reckless fool, cut in from the middle. This kid's basic skills are terrible; passing to him in this chaotic situation is practically suicide.

"but……"

Lu Ren's fingers touched the ball.

If we play the conventional way, the opposing setter with the nasty temper will definitely figure it out, right? So let's play something illogical.

Instead of passing the ball to Xu, he inexplicably flicked his wrist and sent the ball towards the middle.

"Give it to Hinata?!" Coach Ukai on the sidelines nearly crushed the water bottle.

Hinata Shoyo himself didn't expect the ball to come to him; he just instinctively jumped and swung his arm.

However, the moment he swung his arm, something strange happened.

When the ball flew to him, it didn't fall in a parabola as usual, but... it seemed to be held up by some unseen force, and strangely "stopped" in the air for a moment.

It was this pause of less than 0.1 seconds.

Hinata Shoyo's initially flustered gaze instantly focused. He saw it clearly! Aoba Josai's block was a fraction of a second too slow due to a miscalculation, leaving a huge gap in the middle!

"Bang!"

Hinata's hand firmly gripped the volleyball, slamming it hard into the opposite floor.

The entire room fell silent for a second.

20:17.

After landing, Hyuga did not celebrate immediately. He stared blankly at the volleyball rolling on the west court of Aoba Castle, then suddenly turned to look at Rikuren, his eyes wide like saucers.

"Senior Lu Ren! What was that just now?!"

Hinata rushed over, waving his arms excitedly, "The ball stopped in the air! It really stopped! It just suddenly stopped right in front of me! And then I hit it down with a 'thud'!"

"ha?"

Lu Ren looked at his hands, somewhat bewildered.

That last touch... definitely felt different. Rather than "passing," it was more like the spin on the ball was forcibly canceled out, creating a brief illusion of zero gravity?

"It's probably a bug in the physics engine," Lu Ren casually remarked, trying to cover up the fact that he himself didn't understand the situation. "Don't make a fuss, it's basic stuff."

Off the field.

Kageyama Hiroshi suddenly stood up, staring intently at Lu Ren on the field.

"How is this possible..." he muttered to himself.

That last shot was definitely not an illusion. That kind of pass that could offset the attacker's descent time and make the ball "wait" for the attacker at the hitting point... that was the ultimate secret he had been trying to use to evolve his "weird fast break".

This lazy guy actually used it first?

The game continues.

It's Hyuga's turn to serve.

The kid was clearly still basking in the exhilaration of that shot, and was in a state of excessive excitement.

"Watch my killer serve!"

Hyuga throws the ball, takes a running start, jumps, and swings his arm.

"Smack."

The ball hit the net squarely and bounced back into their own half.

20:18.

"..."

The entire hall fell silent once again.

Hinata Shoyo's face instantly turned a deep shade of liver, and he crouched on the ground, clutching his head, yelling, "Aaaaaah! I'm so sorry!!"

"It's okay, it's okay! Don't worry about it!" Daichi Sawamura quickly ran over, patted his back, and soothed him. "Just get the next ball back!"

"Hyuga, you're out." Coach Ukai raised the substitution sign.

Nishitani Yu jumped onto the field and patted Hinata's butt: "Go calm down, leave the rest to me."

Aoba Josai serves.

Iwazumi stood on the baseline with the ball in his hand, his eyes fierce.

"Good serve!"

Iwaizumi's powerful jump serve was heavy and forceful. Although Nishitani Yu reacted extremely quickly, the ball, with its strong sidespin, hit his arm and flew directly out of bounds.

"Sorry! It's too far!" Nishiya called out.

The ball flew out of bounds and was about to fly over the marker.

Sugawara Koji tried desperately to catch up, but the distance was too great.

Another figure rushed out.

Lu Ren.

"This is such a hassle..."

He complained, but his body had already sprinted to where the ball was about to land. At this moment, with his back to the net, he couldn't see the attacker's position at all.

But the strange sensation from before still lingered in my mind.

The feeling of your fingertips enveloping the ball, reducing all the spin to zero, and then releasing it.

"Try again."

Lu Ren did not hesitate. He forcibly twisted his body while running and raised his hands.

"Tanaka!"

Ryunosuke Tanaka is running on the left wing.

Lu Ren's fingers touched the ball. This time, he consciously controlled it. It wasn't a push, nor a bounce, but rather a "sucking" in the ball before sending it out.

The ball flew towards the left wing.

Ryunosuke Tanaka jumped.

Kindaichi, the blocker from Aoba Castle West, looked at the ball in the air and thought to himself, "This ball is too high; it will fly out of bounds."

He instinctively wanted to stop.

However, just as the ball reached its highest point, that scene that defied the laws of physics reappeared.

The volleyball seemed to have been paused, abruptly halted in mid-air, before slowly descending.

Kindaichi's pupils suddenly contracted, as he had initially thought the ball would fly away.

At that moment, Ryunosuke Tanaka had just reached the highest point of his arm swing. The ball lay quietly in front of his palm, waiting.

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh!"

Tanaka doesn't even need to adjust; he just needs to swing his arm and smash it down!

"boom!!"

A powerful spike pierced through Aoba Johsai's defense.

21:18.

"Great pass!!" Tanaka roared after landing, then rushed over and grabbed Lu Ren by the neck. "That pass was perfect! It was like the ball just crawled into my hands!"

Lu Ren's eyes rolled back as he was being squeezed: "Let go... I'm going to die..."

He broke free from Tanaka's clutches and shook his slightly numb fingers.

This feeling...

It's like suddenly figuring out the rhythm of a combo while playing a game. You don't need to think; your fingers just know how to move.

On the sidelines, Tobio Kageyama could no longer sit still.

He stared intently at Lu Ren; if that look could kill, Lu Ren would probably be dead hundreds of times over.

"That guy..." Kageyama gritted his teeth, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

That was the technology he had always dreamed of.

That was the key that allowed Hinata to fight with his eyes open.

Why? Why was it this guy who always complains about "trouble" and "how tiring" who got the keys first?

Lu Ren seemed to sense the murderous gaze. He turned his head and met Ying Shan's eyes.

He shrugged, looking somewhat innocent.

"Don't look at me like that," Lu Ren thought to himself. "It's like breathing; you use it when you want to, and there's nothing I can do about it."