Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The air was filled with the smell of burning brain cells.

This isn't a game of Werewolf; it's more like a rehabilitation exchange meeting at a mental hospital.

Lu Ren sat cross-legged in the center of the tatami mat, holding several identity cards in his hand. He looked at the group of guys who were usually as shrewd as ghosts on the basketball court, but now they were twisting their logic into a pretzel over a fabricated identity.

"I already said," Kuroo Tetsuro slammed the cards on the ground, his gesture more like spiking a ball than playing cards, "I am the Seer. Last night I investigated and killed General Yu—oh wait, there's no one here named Tomi, I investigated and killed Akaashi. He's a wolf."

"Kuroo-senpai," Akaashi Kyoji said without even lifting his eyelids, holding the now-cold barley tea in his hand, "Although I really want to play along with your performance, unfortunately, I am also a seer. And last night I checked you; you are the werewolf."

"What a coincidence." Sugawara Koji raised his hand with a smile, his face bearing that signature "I'm a good person" holy smile. "I'm also a prophet. I'm investigating the Earth, and he's a good person."

"Um..." Masami Ikawa scratched his head, raised his hand with an innocent look, "Actually, I'm also a prophet."

Lu Ren felt a throbbing sensation in his temples.

In a game with twelve players, seven prophets emerged.

When this group plays volleyball, they emphasize tactical teamwork, but when it comes to psychological warfare, they resort to dirty tricks. Kuroo, that old cat, is clearly stirring up trouble, Akaashi is trying to control the game, Sugawara is protecting Daichi, and as for Goro... that guy probably just didn't understand the rules and thought that being a prophet was some kind of welfare job.

"Close your eyes when it gets dark." Lu Ren announced the procedure expressionlessly, too lazy to correct the charlatans in the room. "Werewolves, open your eyes."

Several pairs of eyes slowly opened in the darkness.

Over the next half hour, Lu Ren witnessed how the lower and upper limits of human intelligence collapsed at the same moment.

This game was a textbook example of "garbled text".

Hotaru Tsukishima drew a commoner card, but spoke from a "I am God" perspective throughout the game. His mocking tone made everyone think he was a witch with powerful skills. As a result, the real witch, Eisuke Yagyu, dared not poison anyone indiscriminately and held onto the poison until the end of the game.

Even more outrageous is the use of a single claw for grinding.

After getting the werewolf card, the cat showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, it revealed its identity during the sheriff election: "I'm a werewolf. This game is too tiring, I want to finish quickly, grab my notebook, and leave. If you don't vote for me, I'll kill Blacktail in the next round."

The entire room fell silent.

This "suicide truck" gameplay has completely baffled the good guys.

"He's fishing." Sawamura Daichi frowned, overinterpreting Kenma's intentions. "He's either a hunter trying to take the hit or an idiot god trying to trick us into wasting turns."

"That's right!" The stern-faced Deer Tree nodded frantically. "We can't vote for him! If we vote for him, we'll lose!"

Thus, within this magical closed loop of logic, the wolf-like player, who had already revealed his hand, managed to survive until the final round. He even got so bored that he started playing with his fingers under the table, completely ignoring everyone.

"This game is unplayable."

Lu Ren threw down the cards in his hand and announced the end of the game.

"The werewolves win."

"Huh?" Sawamura Daichi looked completely bewildered. "Why? Hasn't Kenma been refusing to cut anyone?"

"Because the good guys fought amongst themselves and got wiped out." Lu Ren pointed to the scoreboard next to him. "In the last round, you all voted out the remaining three civilians in order to decide who the real seer was. Congratulations, you've successfully achieved a 'suicidal' team wipe."

A chorus of wails and a strange sense of satisfaction filled the room.

Kuroo Tetsuro was the first to jump up, stretching out his long arm and precisely pulling out the notebook belonging to Otoko from that row of notebooks.

"A bet's a bet." His signature mischievous grin returned, and he casually flipped through a couple of pages, his previously playful expression instantly fading. He saw data analysis on his hand position adjustments during blocks, accurate to the centimeter.

"Thanks, Brother Lu Ren." Heiwei closed the notebook and patted it in his hand. "Although the methods were a bit dirty, this thing does have some weight."

Kyoji Akaashi silently took the notes about Fukutani. He read them very carefully, his fingertip lingering on the line "Bokuto's Negative Mode Trigger Threshold" for a long time. Finally, he sighed softly, seemingly worrying about the even more arduous babysitting work ahead.

Goro and Kogane each took their respective team's analysis report.

Moyan slowly crept over and took the "Complete Collection" book.

"This one's mine," he said softly, a rare hint of anticipation in his eyes. "I want to see how you analyze Xiangyang."

"Whatever you want." Lu Ren waved his hand, like a spendthrift who had squandered his family fortune.

A few minutes later, the core minds from various top universities in Tokyo, carrying their spoils, left the faculty lounge satisfied. The corridor echoed with Kuroo's teasing of Yoru and Akaashi's whispered phone call to Bokuto to check on his sleeping.

Only the three people from Karasuno remained in the room.

Sawamura Daichi looked at the empty tatami mats, then at Riku Ren who was casually tidying up the playing cards, and finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Lu Ren!"

The voice from the earth carried the terror of an old father discovering his spendthrift son had mortgaged the property deed: "You...you just let them take it like that? That was intelligence we painstakingly gathered! It even included our own weakness analysis!"

Although Sugawara Koji didn't say anything, his expression clearly said, "Is this child stupid?"

Telling your opponent about their weaknesses is like aiding them; telling your opponent about your own weaknesses is like committing suicide.

Lu Ren put the playing cards back in the box, picked up the bottle of cola that had warmed up, and took a big gulp. The carbonation burst in his throat, taking away the heat of the night.

"Senior Earth".

Lu Ren let out a loud burp, held up one finger, and said, "First, let's figure out our location. Where are we?"

"Saitama Prefecture... no, the school is in Miyagi." Daichi paused for a moment.

"Yeah, Miyagi." Lu Ren spread his hands. "Where are they? Nekoma, Fukutani, Mori, Ikugawa, they're all in Tokyo. We won't even run into them in the preliminaries. If we want to meet these guys in the official tournament, we'll have to make it out of Miyagi Prefecture and into the national tournament."

He paused, a sly glint in his eyes. "If we can't even get past Shiratorizawa, this intelligence is just a pile of waste paper. Giving it to them will do us a favor and give them a little trouble—after all, knowing your weaknesses but being unable to change them is more painful than not knowing them at all."

"But..." Sugawara frowned, "What if we actually meet in the national tournament? What if they exploit our weaknesses?"

"That's my second point."

Lu Ren stood up, dusted off his trousers, and walked to the window. Outside, the moon was half-hidden by clouds, like an owl with one eye open and one eye closed.

"Seniors, have you ever played online games?"

Daichi and Sugawara exchanged a glance and shook their heads.

"In games, there's something called 'version update'."

Lu Ren turned around, leaning against the windowsill, backlit, his expression somewhat blurred, but his confidence permeated his tone.

"The data recorded in those notebooks is indeed very detailed. For example, Daichi-senpai's sluggish center of gravity when receiving the ball on the right, Tsukishima's hesitation when facing a lob, and Kageyama's habitual passing lines."

"but."

Lu Ren raised his second finger and waved it in the air.

"Those are all data from 'last month'."

Daichi Sawamura was stunned.

"Didn't you guys notice anything this week during the training camp? We're changing." Lu Ren's lips curled into a smile. "We're trying out the 'Chimera' tactic, we're forcing Tsukishima to take the initiative on defense, Kageyama is learning to coordinate with the attackers, and Hinata is practicing feints. Even Nishinoya-senpai is practicing passing."

"Those notebooks contain data from 'Kasuno Version 1.0'."

"When we return to Miyagi, after the baptism of the Spring High School Qualifiers, and perhaps even if we are fortunate enough to stand on the stage of the National Tournament..."

Lu Ren's voice softened, yet it struck their eardrums like a hammer.

"By then, Karasuno had already been updated to version '2.0' or even '3.0'. Did they think they could beat the new version's boss with an old strategy guide?"

Lu Ren chuckled, picked up the empty Coke bottle from the ground, made a shooting motion, and accurately threw it into the trash can in the corner.

"Clang!"

"Then wish them 'happy game'."

Sawamura Daichi opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time. He looked at the first-year student in front of him and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

This kid has been scheming from the very beginning.

He not only outmaneuvered his opponent, using intelligence to win this intense battle of wits, but also took advantage of the time difference in "intelligence timeliness" to lay a huge cognitive trap for his opponent.

When Nekoma and the others used those notes to train Karasuno's weaknesses, they were actually targeting a phantom of the "past."

The real Karasuno, however, is growing wildly and unchecked under the cover of this illusion.

"You rascal..." Sugawara Koji couldn't help but laugh out loud, walking over to give Rikuren's head a good ruffled ruffle. "Your heart is so dirty! Really so dirty!"

"Thank you for the compliment." Lu Ren was being rubbed and swayed, but he still insisted, "This is called tactics. Warfare is based on deception. The wisdom of our ancestors."

"Alright, stop joking." Daichi Sawamura breathed a sigh of relief, the huge weight lifted from his heart. He glanced at the clock on the wall; the hour hand was pointing to twelve.

"Go back to sleep. There's one last half-day of practice matches tomorrow. Since you've already bragged about it, if you underperform tomorrow, I'll show you what the captain's iron fist is all about."

"Yes, ma'am."

Lu Ren gave a lazy salute and followed the two seniors out of the lounge.

The dim lighting in the corridor cast long shadows of the three people.

Lu Ren walked at the back, his hands in his pockets, his fingers rubbing a piece of paper inside.

That was something I secretly slipped to him when I took the notebook earlier.

Using the dim light from the vending machine at the end of the corridor, Lu Ren took out the slip of paper and glanced at it. There was only one line of text on it, the handwriting so neat it didn't look like a boy's:

Although data may expire, some habits are ingrained. Don't get too cocky; next time we meet, I'll dissect your new version thoroughly too.

Lu Ren chuckled, crumpled the note into a ball, and casually tossed it into the trash can.

"Disassemble me?"

He muttered something under his breath, a flicker of excitement burning in his eyes.

"That depends on whether you have the ability to keep up with the speed at which I update patches."

The cool night breeze in Saitama dispelled the heat, but it couldn't extinguish the wildfire burning in the hearts of these young men.

That night, the Tokyo training camp came to an end.

Meanwhile, the system called "Kanasano" is quietly loading in the background something that could upend the entire volleyball ecosystem of Miyagi Prefecture—

A brute-force patch.