Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, the streets of Chengdu still smelled of sulfur from firecrackers left overnight, and Zhao Gang had already kicked open the door of the provincial sports school training hall.

"The New Year is over, bring your soul back."

Zhao Gang threw a soaking wet training vest into the laundry basket, and held the training outline that Lu Ren wanted to call the police with just one look at it. He circled the "basic physical fitness" column with his pen.

"The past few days were just for cleaning up your body; starting today, we're getting serious."

Lu Ren was huddled on the bench, wrapping kinesiology tape around his knees. The torment of the past few days had numbed his pain receptors, and hearing the words "getting serious" left him completely unmoved, even making him want to laugh.

What else can it be? It's just increasing the number of squats from 100 to 200, or changing shuttle runs to weighted shuttle runs. For a player who has already accepted their "hardcore" persona, as long as their health bar doesn't drop to zero, this is their daily task.

But he was wrong.

Zhao Gang's so-called "getting serious" doesn't mean increasing the quantity, but rather changing the type of problem.

At 2 p.m., six giants walked into the training hall.

They are truly giants. On average, they are over two meters tall, wearing the red and white team uniforms of the provincial team. Each one of them is broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with real muscle mass, not the kind of ornamental muscles built up by eating protein powder in the gym, but the killing weapons honed in high-intensity competition over the years.

"Let me introduce you," Zhao Gang said, pointing to Lu Ren, who looked like a frightened quail. "He's a junior member of my teacher's family. He plays in the high school league in Japan, as an opposite hitter, and occasionally as a setter. You guys can practice with him these next few days."

The lead spiker, a bald man, grinned, his teeth dazzlingly white: "Coach Zhao, is this slender frame tough? Don't let it get suffocated by one ball."

"If it breaks, it's on me." Zhao Gang said expressionlessly. "As long as there are no broken bones, you can practice however you want."

Lu Ren swallowed.

He suddenly had the feeling of accidentally stumbling into a max-level dungeon. He was a level 10 alt wearing beginner's clothes, surrounded by level 99 players with god-tier gear, their health bars seemingly endless.

"Um..." Lu Ren raised his hand, "Are we practicing our teamwork?"

"Cooperation?" Zhao Gang said as if he had heard a joke. "With your skills, how can you cooperate with them? Today we'll practice one thing—catching heavy spikes."

Zhao Gang pointed to the bottom line: "Stand over there."

Lu Ren stood obediently at the bottom line.

The bald-headed main attacker walked to the net with the ball, tossed it, and jumped.

In that instant, Lu Ren felt the light dim for a moment.

That height was simply unreasonable. If Ushijima Wakatoshi's jump was like an eagle spreading its wings, then this person in front of them was like a bomber taking off.

There are no fancy techniques, just pure power and a highly violent aesthetic.

"Bang!"

Lu Ren didn't even see the swing of his arm clearly; he only heard a muffled thunderous thud, followed by a tremor in the floor beneath his feet. The ball hit him half a meter away, bounced up, and crashed directly into the steel frame of the ceiling.

The wind pressure swept across Lu Ren's bangs, and he stood there dumbfounded.

"Was this done by a human?" This was the only thought in Lu Ren's mind.

This isn't a volleyball, it's a cannonball!

"What are you standing there for?" Zhao Gang yelled from the sidelines. "Get your feet moving! Where's your anticipation? Where's your brain?"

The bald-headed main attacker chuckled and took another ball: "Little brother, watch out, this ball is going straight for you."

The next hour became the longest nightmare of Lu Ren's life.

If Aoba Johsai's Oikawa Toru's serve is a precise scalpel, then these provincial team mainstays are like wielding a sledgehammer to demolish a house. Every ball is as heavy as lead, and so fast that the retina can only catch a fleeting afterimage.

"Too slow!"

"The hand gestures have fallen apart!"

"Don't close your eyes! Look at the ball!"

Zhao Gang's roar mingled with the booming sound of the volleyball hitting the floor.

Lu Ren was repeatedly knocked to the ground by the ball, his arm skin quickly becoming congested, red, and swollen, then turning purplish-blue. He felt as if the bones in his forearm were groaning, and each touch of the ball felt like his flesh was hitting a block of iron.

Ushijima Wakatoshi?

After failing to save the ball with a somersault, Lu Ren lay on his back on the floor, panting.

I used to think that Ushijima was an invincible boss, but now compared to these monsters, Ushijima is just an elite monster that gives experience to newbies.

These people are professionals. This is their livelihood. Their level of power is on a completely different level.

"Can't get up?" Zhao Gang walked over and looked down at him. "If you don't think you can, go back and eat hot pot right now."

Lu Ren gritted his teeth and pushed himself up from the floor.

It hurts. It hurts like hell.

But the fire in his eyes did not go out.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! This is the legendary "boost training"! Although the process is a bit painful, the experience points are real. If I can get used to this level of spiking, watching high school games again will be like watching slow-motion replays.

"Again." Lu Ren got up and got into position to receive the ball.

A hint of surprise flashed in the bald attacker's eyes, then he nodded approvingly: "That's some guts. I won't hold back then."

"Bang!"

Another powerful dunk.

This time, Lu Ren did not freeze under that terrifying momentum. His brain was working at lightning speed, breaking down the giant's movements into individual frames.

The angle of shoulder rotation, the moment the wrist is pressed down, and the direction of muscle tension.

Data-driven players don't rely on brute force; they rely on understanding and mastering the game mechanics.

If you can't win by force, then win by anticipation. If you can't keep up with the reaction, then move ahead of time.

The moment the ball came, Lu Ren's body moved before his mind could react. He didn't try to block it head-on, but instead used the ball's momentum to deflect the force backward, bringing his arms together like a sponge.

"Snapped!"

The ball slammed into my forearm, and although it bounced away and didn't reach the setter, at least it went high.

"Good shot!" Qingze Yazhi couldn't help but shout from the sidelines, her water bottle squashed in her hand.

Zhao Gang raised an eyebrow, said nothing, but made a note in his notebook.

The subsequent training programs were even more varied.

When practicing serves, Zhao Gang brought in the 2.1-meter-tall middle blocker to stand at the net and block. Lu Ren's proud jump float serve seemed so powerless in front of those towering hands.

"Your float serve is floaty, but it lacks power," Zhao Gang pointed out incisively. "In high-level matches, opponents will easily intercept your serve with a strong, penetrating pass. You need speed and penetration."

Zhao Gang personally demonstrated that his movements were not large, but his core strength was extremely fast. When the ball went out, it had a drilling force and dropped sharply after crossing the net.

"Use your waist and abdomen to drive your arms, like whipping them out."

Lu Ren began to imitate the serve repeatedly, adjusting his breathing and the height of his toss. Every time he served, the giant middle blocker would ruthlessly block even low-quality serves.

That sense of pressure forced Lu Ren to serve the ball more tricky, closer to the net, and more aggressively.

When he was training as a setter, the provincial team's setter personally taught him hand positions.

"Your hands are too stiff." The seemingly mild-mannered setter squeezed Lu Ren's fingers. "Passing the ball needs to be done with warmth. You're supposed to 'feed' the ball to the attacker, not 'throw' it over."

He demonstrated a back pass to Lu Ren. The ball drew an extremely smooth arc in the air and stopped precisely at the bald attacker's hitting point, so satisfying that the bald man couldn't help but roar and slam the ball into the floor, creating a dent.

"See that? That's called a ball leading the man."

Lu Ren seemed to be deep in thought. When he was at Karasuno, he relied more on calculating the ball's trajectory to deliver it to the correct position. But a top-level setter uses the ball to engage the attacker's muscle memory.

The lights in the training hall were not turned off until 8 p.m.

Lu Ren slumped on the sidelines like a lump of mud, too weak to even lift a finger.

Those provincial team leaders were quite magnanimous; before leaving, the bald guy even patted Lu Ren on the shoulder, almost knocking him apart.

"Not bad, kid. You caught over a hundred balls from me this afternoon without crying or complaining. You're a real man." The bald man grinned. "If you ever have the chance to play ball in Sichuan, I'll have your back."

"Thank... thank you, brother," Lu Ren replied weakly.

Everyone had left, leaving only Zhao Gang, Lu Ren, and Ya Zhi in the empty stadium.

Zhao Gang tossed a bottle of Yunnan Baiyao aerosol spray to Yazhi: "Spray it on him, especially his wrists and knees. Don't take a hot shower tonight, use cold compresses instead."

Yazhi took the medicine bottle with a pained expression, squatted down beside Lu Ren, and carefully rolled up his sleeves. His arms were swollen like purple eggplants, a pitiful sight.

"Hiss—" Lu Ren gasped as the medicinal mist was sprayed on him.

"If it hurts, just yell it out." Zhao Gang packed his things without turning his head.

"It doesn't hurt." Lu Ren grimaced. "That feels great."

Zhao Gang stopped what he was doing, turned around and glanced at him, a rare smile appearing on that grim-faced man.

"We'll continue tomorrow. Those guys have an intra-squad scrimmage tomorrow, and I'm putting you in as a substitute. Be mentally prepared; real matches are much more brutal than training."

"receive."

After Zhao Gang left, Lu Ren finally let his guard down and rested his head on Ya Zhi's shoulder.

"Am I a masochist?" Lu Ren muttered to himself, "Why would I waste my vacation and come here to suffer?"

As Yazhi gently massaged his arm, she snorted, "You're only just realizing that? When that bald guy spiked the ball, your eyes were practically shining, like you'd seen a limited-edition figurine."

Lu Ren laughed, his laughter causing his abs to ache again.

"Ya-Zhi".

"Um?"

"Suddenly, I feel like that Ushijima Wakatoshi isn't so scary after all."

Lu Ren stared at the ceiling, his gaze somewhat unfocused, but his focus was clear.

"After receiving that bald guy's ball today, I feel like my arm defense rating has increased by at least 50 points. When I get back to Japan, receiving a ball from Ushijima will probably just be a 'normal attack'."

That's the benefit of having seen the world.

Once you've witnessed how a truly max-level character fights monsters, the fear of the unknown disappears when you look back at the bosses in the starting village. What remains is simply a difference in stats.

And the data gap can be bridged by working harder.

"Yes, yes, you're the best." Yazhi helped him stand up. "The future number one opposite hitter in all of Japan."

"Keep it down, keep it down." Lu Ren leaned half his weight on her as they slowly moved away. "Let's set a small goal first: make Oikawa Tetsu's serve so badly that he'll question his existence."

Stepping out of the stadium, the night breeze in Chengdu carried a damp coolness.

The hot pot restaurant across the street was brightly lit, and the aroma wafted across the road, making Lu Ren's stomach rumble.

"Want some?" Ya-zhi asked.

Lu Ren swallowed hard, then shook his head. "Forget it. Zhao Yanwang said if you don't want to die, control your diet. Go home and eat boiled chicken breast."

"Good boy." Yazhi patted his head. "As a reward, you can sleep in for an extra half hour tomorrow."

"Could you reward me by letting me not have to face that bald guy tomorrow?"

"cannot."

"...Then let's eat chicken breast."

Lu Ren looked at the neon lights in the distance, pondering tomorrow's competition.

Since it's a real battle, it means that tactics can be used.

We can't compete in strength, and we can't compete in technique.

But he has brains.

Those provincial team veterans may have insane physical attributes, but their playing style leans towards wide-open, aggressive play. If I could exploit the rules, use visual deception, and take advantage of those "dirty" tactics...

Lu Ren couldn't help but smile slightly.

Even in a max-level dungeon, if you find a bug, you can still solo it by exploiting a positioning error.

What's more, he now has the only hidden buff in the entire server: "Provincial Team Training Partner".

When the spring college entrance exam preliminaries resume.

Kageyama, Hinata, and that arrogant Oikawa Toru.

Are you ready for the version update?

Lu Ren clenched his fists. Although his palms still stung, he couldn't wait to return to the arena.

"Hurry up," Lu Ren urged. "Let's go back and review today's video. I noticed a very interesting detail about the setter's hand position..."

Yazhi sighed helplessly, then, carrying this volleyball fanatic, disappeared into the Chengdu night.