Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The city's mornings are awakened by the clinking of covered teacups in the teahouses.

Lu Ren originally thought that today's itinerary was to go to Kuanzhai Alley to be a damn tourist or to Chunxi Road to see beautiful women, but early in the morning, he and Lu De were summoned by a phone call to an old-fashioned family compound in the south of the city.

This is the home of Lu Ren's great-uncle, the most senior member of the Lu family.

The old building had no elevator. After climbing to the third floor, the door was ajar. The interior was simply furnished with old solid wood furniture, and a few calligraphy and paintings hung on the walls, all in cursive script that Lu Ren couldn't understand.

An elderly man with gray hair but a sprightly spirit sat in a wicker chair, twirling two walnuts in his hands, making a crackling sound.

"Grandpa," Lu Ren greeted him respectfully.

In front of this old man, even Lu De, who was usually so unruly, shrank back like a quail, not daring to utter a sound. Before retiring, the old man was a professor at a sports academy, with countless students, and was said to be a formidable figure back in the day.

"You're here." The great-uncle raised his eyelids slightly, pointed to the stool next to him, and said, "Sit down."

Lu Ren had barely sat down when the old man spoke up: "I heard from Jian Guo that you play volleyball in Japan?"

"Uh, yes. It was just a club activity, just messing around." Lu Ren tried to downplay it.

"Are you kidding me?" The old man stopped eating the walnuts. "You think you can make it to the... county finals just for fun?"

Lu Ren's heart skipped a beat. Was this intelligence network a little too advanced? They even knew the results of the Miyagi Prefecture preliminary rounds?

"You lost, didn't you?" the old man asked again.

"...We lost."

"Losing isn't shameful; what's shameful is thinking you're no good after losing." The old man put the walnuts on the table. "Since you've started training, don't embarrass the Lu family. Although our family isn't a sports family, we can't let people take advantage of us."

After saying that, the old man picked up his old-fashioned mobile phone, dialed a number, and the keypad clicks were so loud that the whole room could hear them.

"Hey, Xiao Zhao. It's me. Are you free this afternoon? Bring your gear and come to the provincial sports school. Oh, right, there's a junior here. Can you feel his bones and see what kind of material he is?"

After hanging up the phone, the old man looked at Lu Ren with the same gaze he would give a piece of pork to be slaughtered.

"Go to the provincial team training base this afternoon. My student is now coaching the youth team. Let him take a look at you."

Lu Ren felt a chill run down his back.

Provincial team? Youth team?

It's like you've just been gored to death by a wild boar in the starting village, and suddenly a max-level NPC comes along and says, "Come on, let me take you to a max-level dungeon for a visit."

……

2 PM, Training Hall of Sichuan Provincial Sports Vocational College.

The air was thick with that familiar, suffocating smell of rubber and sweat, but the concentration here was clearly several orders of magnitude higher than in the Karasuno High School gymnasium. The floor was gleaming, and the volleyballs hit the ground with a dull, powerful sound, each thud feeling like a blow to the heart.

Lu Ren stood on the sidelines, watching a group of giants with an average height of over 1.9 meters practicing spiking.

The visual impact was devastating.

In Japan, someone who is over 1.8 meters tall is considered tall, but here, someone who is over 1.8 meters tall would only be considered a setter or libero.

"teacher!"

A middle-aged man in sportswear strode over. He had dark skin, a buzz cut, and muscles on his arms that looked like they were sculpted from granite. He walked with a powerful stride.

"This is Xiao Zhao," his great-uncle introduced. "Zhao Gang, the head coach of the provincial youth team."

"Hello, Coach Zhao." Lu Ren nodded obediently.

Zhao Gang looked Lu Ren up and down, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"Too thin," Zhao Gang said bluntly. "They look uninteresting."

Lu Ren's lips twitched. Although I am a mage and don't rely on strength for a living, this evaluation is too hurtful.

"Go, change your clothes and get tested," Zhao Gang said, pointing to the changing room.

Ten minutes later, Lu Ren changed into his sports gear and stood in the testing area.

Qingze Yazhi stood to the side, holding a small notebook, looking both nervous and expectant. Lu Deze hid behind his great-uncle, fearing that Zhao Gang would conscript him.

"First, touch the high point." Zhao Gang pointed to the running height test device.

Lu Ren took a deep breath, ran up, jumped, and slammed his fingers hard on the leaf.

Snapped.

Zhao Gang glanced at the data, expressionless: "3.25 meters? That's not bad for a Japanese high school student, but here, he wouldn't even make the bench."

Lu Ren landed and rubbed his ankle. The blunt truth was truly jarring.

"Shuttle run".

Lu Ren gritted his teeth and sprinted frantically between the two lines. His lungs began to burn, and his thigh muscles tensed.

"Your reaction time is pretty fast." Zhao Gang glanced at the stopwatch and finally nodded. "Your coordination is okay, but your core strength is too weak. You'll be sent flying with the slightest contact in aerial combat. No matter how good your technique is, it's all just for show."

After a series of tests, Lu Ren collapsed on the floor, feeling like his lungs were about to explode.

Zhao Gang, holding the data sheet, went to his great-uncle and reported: "Teacher, his foundation is average. His explosiveness is okay, but his endurance and strength are poor. However, he should be smart; I saw his footwork when he was running, it was very precise. He's someone who plays with his brain."

My great-uncle took a sip of tea: "Can I practice?"

"You can train." Zhao Gang grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. To Lu Ren, that smile was even more terrifying than Ushijima Wakatoshi's. "As long as you don't die from training, train like you're going to die."

Lu Ren shivered.

"Kid, get up." Zhao Gang kicked Lu Ren's shoe sole. "Don't lie there, the lactic acid buildup will make you feel even worse. Starting today, I'll give you extra help every afternoon from two to six."

"Coach, I mainly play as an opposite hitter or setter..." Lu Ren tried to explain that he was a technical player.

"With me, there's no such thing as position, only whether your physical fitness is up to par." Zhao Gang took a medicine ball out of the basket. "Your current physical condition simply can't withstand a high-intensity five-set match. Once your physical fitness declines, your brain will lack oxygen, and your judgment will be flawed. All the so-called tactics and awareness are utter nonsense in the face of absolute physical exhaustion."

These words struck Lu Ren like a heavy hammer blow to the top of his head.

indeed.

During the match against Aoba Castle West, in the final few points, he genuinely felt his mind couldn't process anything anymore, and he was acting purely on instinct. If his physical condition had been slightly better, even just a little bit better, perhaps he wouldn't have collapsed so quickly against Shiratorizawa.

"Here you go." Zhao Gang tossed the shot put over.

Lu Ren caught it; it was heavy, weighing at least five kilograms.

"Start with five sets of squat throws, twenty reps per set. No drinking water until you finish."

The gates of hell have been opened.

Over the next three hours, Lu Ren experienced firsthand what it meant to be "defeated by a professional team."

There were no fancy tactical explanations, no warm psychological counseling, only tedious, repetitive, and high-intensity physical torture.

Squats, deadlifts, burpees, shuttle runs.

Every tearing sensation in his muscles reminded Lu Ren how far his body was from becoming a "strong person".

"What are you going to do about your legs going weak? Stand up straight!" Zhao Gang's roar echoed throughout the arena. "You want to win, don't you? If you want to win, stop whining like a girl!"

Lu Ren gritted his teeth, sweat stinging his eyes. He didn't utter a sound, just mechanically repeated the movements.

I am a player.

This is for leveling up.

This is adding points to the damn attribute panel.

Each squat increases strength by 1. Each shuttle run increases stamina by 1.

Once you stack up these damn basic stats, no boss will be able to break through your defenses easily in the future.

Qingze Yazhi stood on the sidelines, her water bottle rattling in her hand. She watched as Lu Ren's face turned pale, and he almost vomited several times, but forced himself to swallow it back and continue practicing. Her eyes were a little red.

"Um..." she whispered to her great-uncle, "Wouldn't that be too harsh?"

The great-uncle looked at the figure on the field, swaying precariously but never falling, and a hint of admiration flashed in his eyes.

"Ruthless?" The old man chuckled. "This kid's got a temper raging inside. Look at his eyes, they haven't wavered."

Finally, the last group of shuttle runs ended.

Lu Ren collapsed onto the floor in a starfish position, his chest heaving violently, a bellows-like sound coming from his throat. He felt as if his soul had left his body, staring at this broken shell from the ceiling.

Zhao Gang walked over and looked down at him.

"It's alright, not as delicate as I thought." Zhao Gang tossed a towel over Lu Ren's face. "We'll continue tomorrow. Oh, and bring knee braces tomorrow; we're going to practice defensive footwork. If you don't want to ruin your knees."

Lu Ren pulled off the towel, laboriously raised his hand, and made an "OK" gesture.

"Thank... thank you, Coach." His voice was hoarse, as if he had swallowed a handful of sand.

On the way back, Lu Ren was helped into the car by Lu De and Ya Zhi. His legs were shaking uncontrollably.

"Is it really necessary?" Lu De complained as he drove. "I finally got a day off, and instead of staying home and relaxing, I came here to suffer."

Lu Ren leaned back in the back seat, and Ya Zhi was massaging his stiff calf muscles.

"Brother, you don't understand." Lu Ren closed his eyes, but the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. "This is called... version update."

"What?"

"I'm patching myself up," Lu Ren muttered to himself. "Right now, I'm a half-finished product riddled with flaws. Once I've patched these up..."

The image of Ushijima Wakatoshi's indifferent face and Oikawa Toru's irritating smile flashed through his mind.

"When I get back, I'll kill them all."

Lu De's hand trembled, and the car swayed slightly: "...Are you going to play volleyball or to participate in a gang fight?"

Ya-zhi paused for a moment, then increased the intensity of her movements.

"Ouch—be gentle! It hurts!" Lu Ren cried out in pain.

"Bear with it," Ya-zhi said irritably, but her eyes were incredibly gentle. "Weren't you quite patient on the field just now?"

"That's different, that's for showing off..."

For the next two weeks, Lu Ren lived like an ascetic.

In the morning, Lu De dragged me out of bed for a morning run. In the afternoon, I went to the provincial sports school to receive Zhao Gang's grueling training. When I got back in the evening, Ya Zhi supervised me to do stretching and review.

That kind of leisurely life unique to Chengdu was completely gone from him. He could no longer eat hot pot because he needed to control his body fat; he could no longer play mahjong because he needed to ensure he got enough sleep.

But he could sense the change.

The change wasn't sudden or rapid, but rather gradual and subtle.

My thigh muscles started to become firmer, my core strength increased, and the feeling of airtime when jumping seemed to last a fraction of a second longer than before.

Most importantly, his control over this body is increasing.

If there was a delay in the previous process—the mind had an idea, but the body had to be a beat behind to follow—then now, this delay is being compressed infinitely.

The day before Lunar New Year's Eve.

After training, Zhao Gang, unusually, did not swear.

He tossed Lu Ren a bottle of sports drink and sat down himself.

"Tomorrow is Chinese New Year, so I'll take a day off," Zhao Gang said.

"Thank you, Coach." Lu Ren unscrewed the bottle cap and took a big gulp.

"I saw your jump float serve too," Zhao Gang suddenly said. "Your serve technique is interesting, but it's too soft. The core power I've been teaching you these past few days, go back and think about it. Serving isn't about flicking with your wrist, it's about using your core."

As he spoke, Zhao Gang stood up, picked up a volleyball, and walked to the baseline.

He didn't take much of a running start; he just casually swung his arm.

boom!

The volleyball, like a cannonball fired from a gun, slammed into the opposite corner with a strange, erratic trajectory.

"Did you see that clearly?" Zhao Gang turned around. "Strength is the foundation, skill is the superstructure. Without a foundation, you can't build a proper building."

Lu Ren stared intently at the ball's landing point, his eyes gleaming.

"Look carefully."

"Alright, get lost." Zhao Gang waved his hand. "We'll continue on the third day of the Lunar New Year. Don't get too fat; if you come back three pounds heavier, you're dead meat."

Lu Ren got up from the ground and bowed deeply to Zhao Gang.

Stepping out of the stadium, a light rain began to fall. Chengdu's winter rain was chilly and penetrating, but Lu Ren felt a surge of heat throughout his body.

"How is it?" Ya-zhi stood at the door, holding an umbrella, waiting for him.

Lu Ren crawled under the umbrella and took the coat she handed him, putting it on.

"I feel like I've leveled up." Lu Ren clenched his fist, feeling the power emanating from his fingertips. "Although I'm not at max level yet, at least... I can break through defenses now."

"That's good." Yazhi smiled and tilted the umbrella slightly towards him. "Let's go home. My aunt made sausages and cured meat tonight. You can eat a couple less slices."

"Two slices? Who do you think you are? I want three slices!"

In the rain, the two figures gradually disappeared into the distance.

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away in Miyagi Prefecture, the same flock of crows were sharpening their claws in their respective nests.