Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

"One more ball!"

Lu Ren stood behind the service line, twirling the volleyball in his hand. The two balls he had just thrown the opposing team's formation into disarray, and now these guys were clearly positioned further back, watching his arm movements like frightened birds.

"Since you're so afraid of heavy artillery..." Lu Ren didn't toss the ball high like before, but took a step forward and gently sent the ball into the air.

Jumping and floating.

The volleyball, without any spin, drifted aimlessly through the air like a drunken ghost, swaying across the net. The libero, from the south, widened his eyes, took quick, shuffling steps, and tried to stop the ball with his chest, but it suddenly plummeted just before contacting his arm.

"Got it... no, it bounced off!"

The ball bounced off the libero's forearm and flew off the court at an off-center angle. The setter from the south scrambled over and awkwardly headed the ball back onto the court: "Towada!"

The captain, Towada, with his brown hair, gritted his teeth and jumped. Facing Tsukishima Hotaru's ridiculously high but listless blocking net, he practically swung his arm blindly with his eyes closed.

Snapped.

The ball hit Tsukishima's fingertips, changed direction, and landed right in the open space on Karasuno's field.

The referee whistle blows. Karasuno 5:1 Shannan.

"Yay—!!"

The cheers erupting from the south were as if they had won the World Cup final. Several teammates rushed up and patted Towada on the back, and Towada himself clenched his fist and roared, his face turning bright red.

The audience in the stands, who had been marveling at Karasuno's brutality, now gave a sparse round of applause, their eyes filled with a kind of condescending pity, as if they were watching a group of clowns putting on a show.

"Tsk." Lu Ren rubbed his ears and walked back to his seat. "Where does this kind of extremely low-value happiness come from, when you lose five points for only one?"

"Ren, you'll easily lose all your friends if you keep making those kinds of comments," Daichi Sawamura reminded him helplessly from behind.

Rotation. Nanami serves.

The ball flew in softly, a serve so harmless it looked like a slow-motion replay to Lu Ren. He barely bent his knees, his upper body slightly turned to the side, and his arms steadily placed the ball to the most comfortable spot at the net.

"Kageyama!"

Kageyama Tobio didn't even need to look to confirm; the moment the ball was in his hand, that familiar touch told him: this ball could be played in all sorts of ways.

A streak of orange lightning ripped through the air.

Hinata Shoyo had somehow darted to the net, his jump so high that the Nanami blockers could only look up at him. Kageyama's set shot was as precise as a scalpel, perfectly positioned within Hinata's swinging motion.

Bang!

The floor is shaking.

Before the Nani players even had a chance to turn their heads, the ball had already hit the corner of the baseline and bounced away.

6: 1.

The tiny flame that had just begun to ignite was extinguished by this ball, without even a wisp of smoke.

The rest of the match turned into a one-sided massacre.

Tobio Kageyama stepped up to serve. This "King of the Court," despite his foul temper, possessed a truly lethal serving technique.

boom!

The first ball hit the two players from Shannan directly between them, and the two froze on the spot, neither daring to move.

boom!

The second ball bounced off the arm of the captain of the south, and Towada was pulled backward by the force of the ball, falling to the ground with a thud.

The sound of the scoreboard flipping over was particularly jarring in the stadium. The point difference quickly widened to double digits.

Lu Ren yawned in front of the net, even having time to chat with Tsukishima next to him: "This dungeon is clearing too fast, the experience points are overflowing. Is Kageyama using an auto-clicker?"

Tsukishima adjusted his glasses, his gaze sweeping coldly over the person opposite him: "They've lost their mind. I've seen that expression before; it's the look of someone who feels that nothing they do will make a difference."

At this point, Karasuno had a lead of fourteen points.

The southern half of the field was deathly silent.

Towada braced himself on his knees, panting heavily. Sweat dripped from his chin onto the floor, but he felt no heat, only cold.

Is this what a formidable opponent looks like? Is this the kind of opponent we need to challenge?

They're not even from the same dimension.

"Don't worry about it! Next ball!" His teammate's voice sounded weak and unsteady, as if it were coming through a thin film of water.

Towada looked at Kageyama Tobio, who was preparing to serve again on the other side of the net, and then at Riku Ren, who looked relaxed as if he were strolling in his backyard.

The thought of "giving up" grew wildly in my mind like weeds.

Anyway, we're just an ordinary public high school.

Anyway, our predecessors didn't leave behind any great achievements.

Anyway, we're only in second grade.

Yes, we're only in second grade.

Towada's eyes dimmed. It's okay to lose this year, right? As long as I try harder next year...

"Kageyama serves!"

Kageyama swung his arm, and the volleyball came hurtling towards him with a whistling sound.

The ball went slightly off course and flew towards the bench outside the field.

Towada's feet twitched unconsciously, but his body remained frozen.

Too far.

I can't receive it.

Moreover, the ball was so powerful that even if you caught it, you wouldn't be able to get up.

Forget it.

"Anyway, there's always next year..."

The moment the thought popped into his head, it was like a thorn, piercing his nerves.

In that instant, Towada suddenly remembered the look in the eyes of Number 13 (Lu Ren) when he looked at them. It was the look of looking at an NPC, the look of looking at a nobody, the look of utter arrogance that didn't consider them opponents at all.

The reason it's so weak is because it always thinks "there's always next year"!

The body reacts before the brain.

The footsteps that had already stopped suddenly stomped on the ground, the soles of the shoes screeching as they rubbed against the floor.

"Aaaaaaahh ...

Towada charged off the field like a mad boar.

The ball is about to hit the ground.

In front of them are iron folding chairs and a referee's stand.

But he did not slow down.

"Get up!!!!"

Bang! Crash!

Towada leaped out, landing hard on the ball with one arm, before crashing uncontrollably into a pile of chairs with a loud thud.

The ball flew high into the air and returned to the field.

The entire room fell silent.

Even Kageyama, who was preparing to celebrate the score, was stunned for a moment.

Towada scrambled out of the pile of overturned chairs, his knees scraped and his elbows throbbing, but he paid no heed to that. He roared at his teammates, who were still in a daze on the field, the veins in his neck practically bursting:

"The ball is still in the air!!! It's not over yet!!!!"

That shout brought the entire Shannan team back to their senses.

"yes!!"

The libero from the south rushed over to set the ball like a madman, and the outside hitter gritted his teeth and jumped to spike the ball.

Although Nishiya easily received the ball, Lu Ren casually scored with a soft drop shot from position four, ending the first set.

But that one-sided, suffocating atmosphere was broken.

After the start of the second game, although Oginan's technique was still rough, he still couldn't receive Kageyama's serve, and he still couldn't keep up with Hyuga's fast attacks, but that "I'll just lose it" attitude disappeared without a trace.

They started fighting for every ball, rolling on the ground to save it, and shouting out tactics even when they were down by twenty points.

Finally, 25:12.

Karasuno won the second game without any doubt, securing the victory.

The two sides lined up and shook hands.

Lu Ren looked at Towada across from him, whose knees were wrapped in bandages and whose eyes were red but whose back was still straight. His expression of "wanting to leave work early" softened a little.

Thank you for your guidance!

Both teams bowed.

Lu Ren straightened up, watching Shan Nan and his group leave in tears, then turned to Ying Shan beside him and said:

"Although they were a bunch of rookies, that final collision was actually quite interesting."

Kageyama, who was busy drinking water, mumbled a reply, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"It's nothing." Lu Ren shrugged and turned his gaze to the huge stadium.

Failure is the norm. In this brutal arena, only one team can emerge victorious.

But after recognizing the reality that they are "weak," they can still personally cut off the escape route called "excuse." This kind of NPC... no, this kind of opponent deserves to be remembered.

"Let's go eat." Lu Ren patted Hinata's head. "Didn't you say you wanted to eat pork cutlet rice? Don't throw up again."

"I won't throw up!!"