Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

Karasuno's "Chimera" tactic was barely executed, but the awkwardness was like trying to run a AAA game with a graphics card from ten years ago.

Although it can move, it suffers from severe frame drops.

Kageyama Tobio's passing accuracy is fine, and Hyuga Shoyo's running speed is fine too. The problem lies in everyone's "interaction logic." Everyone is running their own thing, instead of working together as a unit to squeeze the opponent's space. This level of teamwork might work against second-tier teams in the prefecture, but if they encounter a strong team with an impenetrable defense, they will eventually be caught out by this momentary "delay."

Lu Ren sat on the bench in the department office, looking at the messy data sheet in his hand, his brows furrowed tightly.

"We're missing a driver."

He threw his pen on the table and made a decision. Since writing code himself was too slow, he would just copy what was already there.

The following afternoon, Wu Yangxi looked at the empty rendezvous point and his eyelids twitched twice: "Where's that kid Lu Ren?"

"Um..." Mr. Takeda pushed up his glasses, his expression somewhat strange, "He said there was an emergency at home, so he took half a day off. He said he was going to... investigate future academic options."

Ukai's lips twitched. That guy who treats volleyball like a game, cares about getting into a good school?

At this very moment, at the entrance of Mori High School in Saitama Prefecture.

Lu Ren was dressed in casual clothes, not wearing Wu Ye's conspicuous black school uniform, and carrying a briefcase, looking like a precocious idler. He stood in front of the large iron gate of Senran High School and was stopped by the burly security guard.

"What are you doing here? Outsiders are not allowed to enter." The security guard looked wary, his hand already reaching for the walkie-talkie at his waist.

Lu Ren didn't panic; he even calmly took a transparent folder out of his bag.

"Hello, I'm here to inquire about transferring schools."

He unfolded the folder, and the first page prominently displayed a gleaming gold certificate—first prize in the All-Japan Mathematical Olympiad.

The security guard was stunned. He couldn't understand the complicated mathematical symbols, but he recognized "First Prize" and the bright red seal.

"I'm a student from Miyagi Prefecture, but my parents are moving to Saitama because of a job transfer." Lu Ren lied without batting an eye, his tone as sincere as a genuine top student. "Senran High School is famous for its science college entrance rates, and I wanted to check out the environment beforehand. If it doesn't work out, I might have to consider a cram school there..."

"Wait, wait a minute!"

Less than five minutes later, a male teacher with thick-rimmed glasses and a receding hairline rushed out in a panic. He was the dean of students at Senran High School, and when he heard from the security guard that a student who had won a gold medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad had come to his door, he almost lost his shoes in the process.

"Oh, you're too kind, student!" The head of student affairs looked at the certificate, his eyes shining. "Senran welcomes talented people like you anytime! Come, come, let me show you around!"

Lu Ren put away the certificate and flashed a standard "good student" smile: "Then I'll trouble you, teacher. Actually, I'm also very interested in Senran's club culture. I heard that their... volleyball club is quite unique?"

"The volleyball club? Oh, that's definitely our school's signature sport!" The dean of students slapped his thigh. "Let's go to the gymnasium first!"

The plan is in place.

Lu Ren followed behind the director, listening to the director's endless introduction to the school cafeteria's nutritious meals and the library's collection, but his attention went in one ear and out the other. He had only one goal—the original code of Senran Volleyball Club's "multi-point attack" strategy.

Upon reaching the second-floor stands of the stadium, the familiar sounds of sneakers rubbing and balls hitting the shuttlecock filled the air.

The Moriran High School volleyball team is holding an intra-squad practice match. The team's average height is not outstanding, and they don't have an unreasonable power hitter like Ushijima Wakatoshi, but their playing style is extremely disgusting.

Lu Ren found a corner seat and took out his notebook from his bag.

The dean of students continued rambling on: "Our school's volleyball team emphasizes teamwork and makes it to the Kanto Tournament every year..."

"Teacher, can I watch this quietly for a while?" Lu Ren pushed up his non-existent glasses. "I want to experience this atmosphere."

"Alright, alright, take your time looking at it. I'll go get you a copy of the admissions brochure!" The director walked away cheerfully.

Lu Ren instantly dropped his obedient demeanor, his eyes turning sharp.

Off the court, the setter gave a signal.

In an instant, all four attackers moved at the same time.

There were no fixed running routes; everyone was providing cover. The main attacker cut in from the left, the middle attacker made a feint in the middle and then quickly moved laterally, and the opposite hitter, who was originally in the back row, suddenly moved in.

It looks messy, like a swarm of wasps that's been poked.

But in Lu Ren's eyes, it was a sophisticated algorithm.

"I see……"

He was drawing quickly in his notebook.

Senran's core tactic is not "simultaneity," but "misalignment."

Player A jumps not to spike the ball, but to block the opposing blocker's view for a second; Player B's running route is to bring the libero out of the defensive core area. They take full advantage of their height disadvantage, playing the "timing difference" and "position difference" to the extreme.

This is what Karasuno lacks.

The Karasuno team's positioning is too straightforward. Hyuga just charges in blindly, and Kageyama just passes mechanically. They need to learn to "deceive," to use their teammates' bodies as cover, instead of simply competing in speed.

Lu Ren's pen never stopped, and his notebook was filled with arrows and formulas.

"The outside hitter's jump timing is delayed by 0.3 seconds... the middle blocker's lateral movement distance needs to be increased to 1.5 meters... the setter's release point needs to be lower than usual..."

He was like a hardcore gamer trying to crack the mechanics of a game boss, greedily recording every detail.

Time passed second by second.

Thirty minutes later, the match came to an end. Senran's players gathered together to drink water and rest.

Lu Ren closed his laptop, satisfied. Data collection was complete; all he had to do now was go back and install the "patches" for those idiots in Wuye.

He stood up, preparing to slip away quietly.

"Hey, you upstairs."

A voice suddenly came from the audience.

Lu Ren paused in his steps.

The formidable captain, the man with short, neat hair who looked very composed—Kano Daiki—was squinting at the second-floor stands.

"Even though he wasn't wearing his team uniform..." Kojiro pointed at Rikuren, "I remember his face. He's the pervert who ate two bowls of spicy hot pot broth by himself during the Tokyo training camp last time."

The entire stadium fell silent instantly.

All the Senran team members turned their gazes toward the second floor.

One of the first-year students, Senshikazu Eikichi, with a cauliflower-like hairstyle, pointed at Riku and yelled, "Ah! It's Karasuno, that sharp-tongued opposite hitter! That guy whose serves are disgusting!"

"I remember! Last time he said my blocking was as slow as an old lady crossing the street!"

He also described our attack as "a chaotic mess!"

The hatred level instantly reached its maximum.

Lu Ren stood by the railing, looking down at the excited group of "green monsters," without the slightest embarrassment at being caught.

Just then, the head of student affairs came running back with a thick stack of documents: "Oh dear, student, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting! This is from our school..."

He looked down at the hostile eyes below, then at Lu Ren beside him who remained calm, and was stunned: "What's wrong? You two know each other?"

Lu Ren calmly stuffed the notebook into his bag, then turned to give the head of student affairs an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, teacher, but I suddenly realized that I seem to be more interested in agricultural schools."

After saying that, he ignored the dean's expression, which looked like he had swallowed a fly, and jumped over the railing, running down the stairs in a flash.

"Don't run! Hand over our tactical data!"

"Catch that spy!"

The team members shouted that they were going to rush up, but Lu Ren had already skillfully used the terrain to his advantage and slipped out of the stadium like a slippery eel.

Reaching the school gate, Lu Ren glanced back at the furious security guard and the volleyball players who had chased after him, then took out a piece of chewing gum from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.

"Thanks, guys."

He patted the notebook in his briefcase.

Although there were no monsters to fight in this "dungeon", the loot dropped was epic.

It was already evening when we returned to Miyagi Prefecture.

The gymnasium in Karasuno was still brightly lit. The sound of shoes scraping the floor and the tireless shouts carried far into the night.

Lu Ren pushed open the door.

"Senior Lu Ren! You're back!" Hinata Shoyo, with his sharp eyes, was the first to call out. "Where did you go? We were practicing that multi-point attack just now, and it still felt a bit stiff!"

Kageyama Tobio also looked over. Although he didn't say anything, his eyes were full of "come and help."

Lu Ren tossed his briefcase onto the coach's bench, took off his jacket, revealing the training T-shirt underneath.

"Stop yelling."

He walked to the tactics board, picked up a marker, drew a huge X on it, and then began to draw a completely new and extremely complex set of running positions next to it.

"All the previous logic was wrong. Come here, I'm going to show you something good."

Lu Ren's lips curled into a playful smile, the kind of expression a player has when they finally find the secret to winning.

"From today onwards, what we're going to learn isn't cooperation, it's 'deception.'" He tapped the whiteboard. "Those guys from Senran taught me a trick called 'How to turn five people into a swarm of bees.'"

Sawamura Daichi stared at the diagram, cold sweat pouring down his back: "This...aren't these positioning moves too likely to cause them to collide?"

"You'll get used to it after a few crashes." Lu Ren capped his pen. "If you don't want to be eliminated like a monster in Spring High, then memorize this code."

Uyang Xixin stood to the side, looking at the picture, her eyes gradually becoming fervent.

"That kid..." he muttered under his breath, "He actually went and dug up their secrets."

That night, the screams at Karasuno Gymnasium were twice as loud as usual, and the sounds of impacts echoed everywhere.

But everyone knows that something is quietly taking shape amidst this chaotic collision.