Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

Tokyo summers feel like they're being steamed alive.

Inside the gymnasium of Morinaga High School in Saitama Prefecture, the air was so thick it was almost viscous. The floor was covered with the marks left by dried sweat, only to be covered again by fresh drops. More than sixty innings. For a whole week, these high school students had been like tireless perpetual motion machines, running wildly on the court.

But now, even the perpetual motion machine is running out of fuel.

Hinata Shoyo lay sprawled on the floor, tongue lolling out, like a dog suffering from heatstroke. Kageyama Tobio was still standing, but his eyes had lost focus as he practiced his ball-handling technique in the air. Tanaka Ryunosuke and Nishitani Yu, this "single-celled duo," sat back to back, their usual boisterous noise completely gone.

"I'm exhausted..."

Someone muttered something that instantly resonated with everyone in the room.

This was not only a physical exhaustion, but also a mental limit. Constant losses, constant punishments, and constant getting back up to fight again. Even Lu Ren, who had undergone grueling training, felt as if his thigh muscles were filled with lead. He sat cross-legged on the ground, calculating whether he could escape the final training match if he pretended to faint now.

Just then, Daichi Sawamura walked in.

The captain of Karasuno wore a smile that was ostensibly that of a "benevolent father" but was in reality a "devil." He clapped his hands, and the crisp applause echoed through the lifeless gymnasium.

"Listen up, everyone," Daichi's voice wasn't loud, but it was incredibly penetrating, "I just overheard that after this final match against Fukudani..."

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the pile of "corpses" on the ground.

"The coach treated everyone to barbecue."

Dead silence.

One second. Two seconds.

Hyuga Shoyo, who was lying on the ground, suddenly twitched. Then, he launched himself forward in a way that defied human biomechanics, and his previously cloudy eyes instantly flashed with two tangible beams of light.

"Meat?!"

The word seemed like some ancient forbidden spell, instantly activating the DNA of Karasuno's group of single-celled organisms.

Ryunosuke Tanaka suddenly sprang to his feet, clenched his fists, and roared to the sky, his voice sounding utterly inhuman: "Flesh, flesh, flesh, flesh, flesh!!"

Nishitani Yu did a somersault, performing three backflips on the spot: "Pork belly! Beef tongue! Diaphragm!!"

Even Kageyama Tobio's usually expressionless face showed a blush of "desire" at this moment, and a suspicious liquid dripped from the corner of his mouth.

Looking at his teammates who had instantly regained full health and were now incredibly powerful, Lu Ren couldn't help but facepalm.

"So these guys are powered by protein?" He sighed, got up from the ground, and although he was complaining, his stomach also growled.

Barbecue...

That sizzling sound on the wire mesh, the grease dripping onto the charcoal fire and creating white smoke, the sensation of stuffing your mouth with sauce...

"Alright!" Lu Ren dusted off his backside, his eyes sharpening. "To make this barbecue, pluck all the owl's feathers!"

……

On the other side of the net, the students from Fukutani Academy took a half-step back when they saw Karasuno suddenly exuding a murderous aura.

"Akaashi..." Kotaro Bokuto swallowed hard, pointing at the flock of crows opposite him whose eyes were gleaming green. "Are they going to eat us?"

Kyoji Akaashi calmly tightened his shoelaces: "In a sense, yes. Bokuto-senpai, please be careful, that's a beast that awakens for food."

With the referee's whistle, the final battle of the Tokyo training camp officially began.

Karasuno serves.

Standing at the baseline was Dong Fengxu. This bearded ace, who looked like a gangster but was actually quite sensitive, took a deep breath and tossed the ball high into the air.

Run-up, jump, swing your arms.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the volleyball slammed into the backcourt of the opponent's court with heavy force.

"nice shot!"

Fukutani's libero, Haruki Omi, reacted extremely quickly. Despite the ball's heavy force, he still managed to steadily bounce it up.

"Red Reed!"

The pass was delivered perfectly.

Kyoji Akaashi stood at the net, his gaze quickly sweeping across the court. In the front row of Karasuno were Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Tanaka.

Since this is the final match, let's defeat them head-on.

"Bokuto-senpai!"

The volleyball traced a precise arc and flew towards the left wing.

With a roar, Kotaro Bokuto took a running start and leaped into the air. His body stretched out to its fullest extent in the air, like a taut bow.

Faced with this powerful spike, Karasuno's block moved.

Kageyama Tobio and Tsukishima Kei jumped at the same time.

If it were the old Tsukishima, he would probably just be doing his best and leaving the rest to fate, thinking, "As long as I don't get proven wrong, it's fine." But this time, Lu Ren saw everything clearly from the back row.

Tsukishima's hand gesture has changed.

No longer the slight retreating posture to avoid injury, but rather an aggressive forward stretch, palms pressing down, like a trap waiting for prey to run into it.

He was thinking, he was anticipating, he was trying to... kill this top-five ace in the country.

"Bang!"

Bokuto's spike slammed hard against the edge of Tsukishima's palm.

The immense impact caused Tsukishima's arm to jerk backward, changing the trajectory of the volleyball, which bounced high into the air and landed out of bounds.

"Hand out of bounds!" The referee signaled that the point was scored by Ootani.

0: 1.

After landing, Wood Rabbit excitedly waved his fist: "Hey! Hey! Hey! Did you see that, Akaashi? A super powerful smash!"

Akagi nodded: "Yes, it was wonderful."

But on the other side of the net, Tsukishima Hotaru was looking down at his reddened palms. He pushed up his glasses, his face showing no sign of annoyance, but rather a very faint, intriguing expression.

"Tsk, almost there."

Lu Ren walked over and patted Tsukishima on the shoulder: "Stop pretending. If that ball had been lowered by two centimeters, Bokuto would have been devastated."

Tsukishima glanced at him: "Shut up, are you trying to say I've been slacking off all this time?"

"Isn't that right?" Lu Ren shrugged. "But now, you finally look like a normal volleyball player."

Tsukishima scoffed, turned around and walked back to his seat, but his steps were noticeably lighter.

The game continues.

Furutani serves. Konoha Akiki serves a steady overhand float serve.

Sawamura Daichi caught it steadily: "Kageyama!"

The volleyball flies towards the net.

At that moment, Karasuno's "Chimera" machine, which had been debugged for a week and was full of bugs but also extremely powerful, began to operate.

Hinata Shoyo was like an orange lightning bolt, instantly cutting into the middle from the right wing, shouting "Give me the ball!" with an astonishing jump height.

The blocking net was immediately drawn to this extremely conspicuous "bait," and the two blockers instinctively jumped up as well.

However, the moment Kageyama's fingers touched the ball, his wrist twisted in a very subtle way.

The ball wasn't given to Hinata; instead, it flew backward, leaving a flat and fast trajectory.

In the back row, a figure had already taken to the air.

It is Dong Fengxu.

There were no complicated positioning moves, only pure power and speed. The moment Hyuga tore through the defense, Higashimine Asahi was left with an undefended open space in front of him.

"boom!"

Back row attack.

The volleyball slammed heavily into the three-meter line of the Ooku Valley and bounced away.

1: 1.

"Great!!" Tanaka and Nishiya rushed up and bumped chests with Asahi in celebration.

Coach Nekomata on the sidelines squinted: "Using decoys to tear apart the defense, attacking from multiple points at the same time... these kids from Karasuno have finally managed to put together this messy set of tactics."

Rotation.

Lu Ren took the ball and walked to the service line.

He twirled the volleyball in his hand, feeling the texture of its surface.

All eyes were on him. This week, Lu Ren's name had been spreading like wildfire among the schools. Not because he was particularly strong, but because this guy was truly "dirty."

That disgusting tactical targeting, that all-seeing prediction, and that unforgiving mouth.

"call……"

Lu Ren took a deep breath and cleared his mind of all distractions.

He looked at the Owl Valley members opposite him, who were standing ready, especially the Free Man who was staring intently at his hand movements.

Since you all think I'm a tactician who uses his brain, then I'll show you something illogical.

Throw the ball.

The ball was tossed very high and had a strong lateral spin.

A running start. One step, two steps, three steps.

Lu Ren's body twisted violently in the air, his core muscles bursting with power, and his right arm lashed out like a whip.

Instead of hitting the back of the ball, it sliced ​​hard onto the lower right side of the ball.

"Bang!"

The ball was extremely fast, heading straight for the left corner of the goal.

Fukudani's libero, Haruki Omi, made an accurate judgment and moved with lightning speed: "Out of bounds! That ball is out of bounds!"

He turned to the side, ready to watch the ball fly out of bounds. Judging from its trajectory, the ball would go at least half a meter off course.

However, just as the volleyball flew over the net, something strange happened.

The volleyball, which was originally flying straight out of bounds, drew a huge, banana-shaped arc in the air due to the strong side spin.

It veered sharply in the air, abruptly turning a corner and heading towards the boundary.

"What?!"

Komi Haruki's pupils contracted sharply, and his body instinctively tried to save the ball, but his center of gravity had already completely shifted.

"Smack."

The volleyball struck the inside of the sideline with precision, making a crisp, mocking sound before bouncing away.

The entire room fell silent.

Even the referee was stunned for a second before blowing the whistle and pointing to the inside of the court.

2: 1.

"Holy crap..." Kuroo Tetsuro spat out his sports drink on the sidelines. "Is that a human being able to hit a ball like that? Did Beckham possess him?"

"Banana kick," Momo said casually, but his fingers stopped pressing the game console. "Utilizing the Magnus effect of aerodynamics... but using this footwork principle in volleyball, is this guy's wrist made of rubber?"

On the field, Karasuno's players looked at Riku Ren as if he were a monster.

"Lu Ren! What was that just now?!" Hinata rushed over, her eyes shining like two light bulbs. "Was that magic? The ball suddenly changed direction!"

Lu Ren calmly flicked his wrist, maintaining a cool "this is just basic stuff" expression on his face, but inside he was screaming wildly: Awesome! So awesome! That arc was absolutely perfect! If this were recorded, it would definitely be in the top ten goals of the year!

"Just a little rotation," Lu Ren said casually. "Physics, Hyuga, this is the power of science."

"That's amazing!!"

Back to the service line.

Lu Ren could sense that the atmosphere in Xiao Gu across the way had changed.

Everyone's positions were slightly spread outwards, clearly in preparation for that strange sidespin shot. The libero kept his center of gravity low, staring intently at Lu Ren's wrist.

"Are we guarding against the curve?"

Lu Ren's lips curled up slightly.

If it's a boss in a game, the best time to switch to offensive mode is when it starts defending against one of your skills.

Throw the ball.

This time, the ball was thrown without spin, going straight up and down.

Run-up, jump.

Just as everyone in Xiaogu was on edge, preparing to judge the direction of the spin, Lu Ren's palm slammed solidly onto the back of the ball.

There are no fancy side cuts, no bizarre rotations.

Pure speed.

"Bang!"

This time, the sound of the ball hitting the ground was shorter and more explosive than before.

The volleyball, like a cannonball, flew straight towards Xiaogu's backcourt without any hesitation.

Because it doesn't rotate, it's fast. Extremely fast.

The free agent in the owl valley was still anticipating the arc, his brain was still processing the information of "whether it will go left or right", and his body was half a beat slower in reacting.

By the time he realized it was a straight, powerful shot, the ball had already grazed his arm and slammed heavily onto the floor.

"Thump!"

The floor seemed to shake.

3: 1.

"..."

Komi Haruki remained in the receiving position, watching the still-rolling volleyball, cold sweat pouring down his face.

If I had caught that ball just now, my arm would have broken, right?

"nice shot--!!"

A cheer erupted from Karasuno's side.

Lu Ren blew on his bangs and mentally gave himself a perfect score for his acting skills.

If you're fast enough, your opponent's mind can't keep up. This is simply the principle of "speed is the only way to win in martial arts."

Third serve.

Lu Ren tossed the ball again.

This time, Xiao Gu did not give him another chance.

Koji Haruki, being a free agent from a prestigious school, quickly adjusted his mindset and withstood Lu Ren's heavy attacks.

"Received!"

Although the first pass went slightly into the net, it went high.

"Red Reed!"

Kyoji Akaashi jumped high at the net and corrected the ball with one hand.

"Bokuto-senpai!"

In situations like this, only an ace can break the deadlock.

Kotaro Bokuto rushed up from the back row. He seemed to be enraged by Lu Ren's two serves, his golden eyes burning with fierce fire.

"Don't get too cocky, you brats from Karasuno!"

He paused in mid-air for a moment, facing the double net of Kageyama and Tsukishima.

There was no dodging, no thugs.

Only absolute power.

"boom!"

Bokuto swung his arm in a wide arc and slammed it hard into the ball. The volleyball, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, broke through Tsukishima and Kageyama's arm blockade and crashed into the center of Karasuno's court like a meteorite.

Nishitani Yu didn't even have time to make a fish-like leap.

3: 2.

The wooden rabbit landed, clenched its fists, and roared to the sky: "Hey! Hey! Hey!!"

The sound was deafening, as if announcing to the entire audience: this is the true strength of the top five in the country.

Lu Ren looked at the owl head that was glowing on the field and rubbed his slightly numb wrist.

"Sure enough," he licked his dry lips, his fighting spirit growing even stronger, "If we don't defeat this kind of BOSS, the barbecue won't taste good at all."

"Everyone!" Daichi Sawamura shouted, clapping his hands. "Don't be intimidated! Attack!"

"oh!!!"

The final show, the final celebration, is only just beginning.