Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The sharp whistle broke the brief silence.

Iwaizumi stood at the baseline, the volleyball in his hand slightly deformed from his grip. Although two sets had already been played, this man, the ace of Aoba Johsai, seemed to still be running out of energy.

"Good serve! Iwaizumi-senpai!"

Amidst cheers, Iwaizumi tossed the ball, took a run-up, and jumped. The ball, imbued with obvious anger, slammed heavily into Karasuno's backfield.

"I'll handle this!" Daichi Sawamura's voice was always so reassuring. He lowered his center of gravity, his arms acting like a magnet, steadily deflecting the powerful shot. The volleyball obediently flew towards the net.

Kageyama arrived quickly.

In the front row, Hinata Shoyo, like a wind-up orange doll, began to jump wildly around the net. The two blockers from Aoba Johsai almost instinctively followed his movements—that "bait" was just too conspicuous.

The middle is empty.

Kageyama flicked his wrist backward, sending the volleyball flying in a straight line toward the left wing.

"Senior Xu!"

Facing a lone blocker, Dong Fengxu had an unobstructed view, as if he were playing a practice match. He took a deep breath and swung his arm to smash the ball. The cross-court shot was powerful and heavy.

"Snapped!"

Although Hanamaki Takahiro judged the position correctly, the ball was too powerful. It hit his arm and bounced off, wobbling as it flew back to Karasuno's field.

The network port instantly became a battlefield.

Hinata jumped again, trying to slam the tennis ball directly onto the opposite floor. However, another hand was faster, steadyer, and more cunning than him.

Oikawa Toru.

This guy is clearly a setter, but his timing for jumping is better than anyone else's. He didn't choose to block head-on, but instead used one hand to lift the ball in mid-air.

The volleyball seemed to have eyes, passing over Hinata's fingertips and landing precisely in front of Iwaizumi, who was about to step back.

"Xiaoyan!"

"Ohhh!"

Iwaizumi didn't need to adjust at all; he just slammed the ball down with a powerful dunk.

No one could react in time.

The volleyball hit the floor and bounced into the stands.

17: 19.

Aoba City West scored a point.

"Don't worry about it! There was nothing we could do about that shot!" Sawamura clapped his hands and shouted.

Lu Ren stood on the field, staring at the flipping scoreboard, wiping the sweat from his chin with the back of his hand.

"This is really troublesome." He licked his slightly chapped lips. "It's like those elite monsters that regenerate health extremely quickly. If you stop attacking for even a second, their health bar will be back up."

But he didn't feel anxious. Instead, a strange tingling sensation was creeping up his spine. His fingers were trembling slightly, not from fatigue, but from excitement.

The suffocating feeling of being neck and neck with the score, the pressure of the possibility of collapse at any moment, is even more exciting than playing a difficult dungeon all night.

"Requesting a pause!" Coach Uyang stood up.

……

"Listen, everyone is doing a great job."

Looking at the team members gathered in a circle, Ukai Shishin spoke quickly, "Their central defense has adapted to our rhythm, especially Hyuga's fast breaks; the decoy effect is diminishing. In the next few balls, we need to shift our offensive focus to the flanks and tear apart their defense."

"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.

Wu Yang's gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Lu Ren.

Something's off about this kid.

Sweat streamed down Lu Ren's face, his jersey was soaked and clung to his body, making him look as if he had just been pulled out of the water. But his eyes were frighteningly bright, and his pupils seemed to be a size larger than usual.

"Lu Ren, are you alright?" Wu Yang asked, frowning. "Are you exhausted?"

Lu Ren paused for a moment, as if just coming to his senses. He looked down at his hands and clenched his fists tightly.

"have no idea."

He grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, his smile tinged with a hint of neurosis. "But I feel incredibly good right now. Really, I've never felt this good."

All the jumbled thoughts in his mind vanished. Tactical analysis, data prediction, and mechanism deciphering were all thrown to the back of his mind. At this moment, his senses were amplified to an infinite degree; the sound of the floor scraping, the impact of the volleyball, and even the sound of air flowing were all clearly audible.

Adrenaline and dopamine are being released at an alarming rate, as if the body is being forcibly injected with an overload of fuel.

This feeling is called "frenzy".

……

The pause has ended.

Karasuno makes a substitution. Tsukishima Hotaru, holding her number tag, replaces Nishiya Yuu with a blank expression.

"It's up to you, Tsukishima."

"Yes."

The game continues.

Iwaizumi served again. This time he aimed for a better angle, and the ball flew just past the sideline.

Sawamura Daichi sidestepped and nudged the ball; although his posture was a bit awkward, the ball still went high.

"Kageyama!"

Kageyama was in position. The defensive netting west of Aoba Castle instantly erected a high wall in front of the netting, keeping a close watch on both flanks.

However, Kageyama gently pushed the ball to the number three position.

That's Tsukishima Hotaru, who just took the stage.

"Block him!" Matsukawa Kazushige roared, and the double block blocked all the spike routes.

Tsukishima looked at the forest of arms in front of him, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes behind his glasses. He swung his arm with full force, but at the moment of contact with the ball, his wrist suddenly lost its grip.

A gentle lift.

The volleyball flew over the tall block and landed lightly in the open space behind the blocker.

The back row defenders of Aoba City West desperately leaped, their fingertips scraping the floor with a screeching sound, but they were still just a few centimeters short.

"Thump."

17: 20.

"Good shot! Tsukishima!" Yamaguchi shouted, waving a towel on the bench.

Tsukishima adjusted his glasses, turned around, and gave Lu Ren a high five.

"You have a really bad personality, Tsukishima-kun," Riku said with a laugh, his voice a little hoarse.

"Likewise," Tsukishima replied casually.

It's Karasuno's turn to serve.

Dong Fengxu stood at the baseline, took a deep breath, and jumped to serve with great force.

"Bang!"

The ball was powerful, but Aoba Johsai's libero, Chikaji Watari, reacted extremely quickly, using a side roll to deflect the ball.

"The pass is perfect!"

Oikawa Tetsu stood at the net, his posture as graceful as if he were dancing. Without the slightest hesitation, he passed the ball back to Iwaizumi Hajime.

When Yanquan jumped together, the momentum was so strong that it seemed like he wanted to smash the volleyball.

Sawamura Daichi had anticipated the position, but Iwaizumi hit the ball at the wrong time, and the ball struck Daichi's wrist and bounced high into the air.

"remedy!"

Kageyama quickly retreated, his eyes fixed on the falling volleyball. He rapidly mentally constructed an attack route: Hinata on the left, Toumine in the back row, Tsukishima near the net…

Just then, a figure barged into his field of vision.

It's Lu Ren.

This guy didn't make any runs, didn't shout, and didn't even look at the opposing team's net. He just charged straight at them with that unbridled, almost manic smile on his face.

That look seemed to say:

—Besides me, who else can you send this to?

It was an almost tangible desire to attack, so strong that even Kageyama, the "King," felt a momentary tremor in his heart.

Reason told Kageyama that this didn't fit the tactics. Lu Ren's position was poor, and his run-up was insufficient.

But instinct beats reason.

The moment Kageyama's fingers touched the ball, muscle memory took over his brain. With a flick of his wrist, he delivered a lightning-fast, flat pass.

That was a bullet pass specifically designed for the "Weird Fast Break".

Apart from Hinata, no one can keep up with this speed.

Apart from Lu Ren now.

Lu Ren jumped.

In his world, time seemed to be slowed down. The ball passed by Kageyama was no longer a blur, but a clearly visible, slowly rotating object, awaiting his judgment.

The blockers from Qingye City West were still on the ground, their expressions astonished, their eyes still chasing the afterimage from the previous second.

too slow.

The whole world is too slow.

Lu Ren stretched his body out in mid-air, his back arching into an exaggerated bow. He even had the leisure to adjust his striking point in mid-air, and then—

boom!

The palm fits the volleyball perfectly.

This shot had no technique, no hitting out of bounds, no drop shot. It was just the purest, most powerful straight smash.

The volleyball, like a cannonball, pierced through the court in an instant and landed near the baseline.

The referee's whistle blew a beat late.

17: 21.

Lu Ren landed, his feet slamming heavily onto the floor.

After that moment of silence, he erupted in a furious roar.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!!"

He seemed to be squeezing all the air out of his lungs, turned around and hugged Kageyama, who was closest to him, shaking him violently. Then he rushed over and gave the bewildered Tsukishima a hard slap, so hard that Tsukishima's eyebrows twitched.

"What was that ball all about?!" Oikawa Tetsu stood on the other side of the net, watching Lu Ren bouncing around like a monkey, his brow furrowed. "That reckless style, that absurd speed... Did this guy suddenly mutate?"

Sidelines.

Coach Wu Yang stared wide-eyed, nearly dropping his notebook.

"What kind of fighting style is that...?" Teacher Takeda stammered. "It's completely unreasonable."

"That's not the right way to play."

Qingze Yazhi stood to the side, clutching her water bottle tightly, her eyes filled with complex emotions as she looked at her childhood sweetheart, who was in a state of excitement on the field.

"It happened once before," she said softly. "It was in junior high school. He was playing an extremely difficult action game. He was stuck on that boss for a whole day and night. No matter how he analyzed the mechanics, memorized the patterns, or made a strategy, he was always just a little short of defeating it."

Wu Yang turned to look at her.

"and then?"

"Then, on his last attempt, when he was about to lose again, he suddenly threw away all the strategies and techniques." Yazhi recalled that scene, "He didn't look at the health bar, didn't look at the skill cooldown, and didn't even look at the prompts on the screen. He relied entirely on his subconscious reactions and hand speed to fight head-on."

She pointed to Lu Ren, who was still laughing loudly on the field.

"In that state, his brain was probably burned out by dopamine and adrenaline. There was no logic, no tactics, only the pure instinct to win."

Ya-zhi paused, then sighed helplessly.

"Although he looks very handsome, usually after this state ends... he sleeps like a dead dog for two whole days."

On the field, Lu Ren finally released the breathless Ying Shan, turned around, and stared intently at the field in the west of Qingye City.

That was the look of a predator.

"Again!" he roared.