Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The whistle blows, and the substitution sign is raised.

Lu Ren draped the towel he used to wipe his sweat around his neck and slowly walked to the sidelines. As he passed Dong Fengxu, he raised his hand and gave the ace, who had a full beard but a sensitive heart, a high five.

"It's just a two-meter-tall tank, Senior Xu, don't be intimidated by its model." Lu Ren said casually, his tone as relaxed as if they were discussing what to have for dinner. "As long as we don't let it stand still and attack, this monster is easy to kill."

Dong Fengxu gave a wry smile, took a deep breath, and stepped onto the court. Although Lu Ren spoke lightly, only those standing at the net could understand the oppressive feeling of looking up at a giant.

The game continues.

Daichi Sawamura stepped onto the service line. No fancy run-up, no terrifying spin, just a simple, unpretentious, and tricky overhand float serve. The volleyball sailed over the net, heading straight for Kadokawa's backcourt corner.

"I'll take it!" Kadokawa's libero, Komaki, shouted. Although his catching technique was still not perfect, he managed to lift the ball high.

For Kadokawa now, whether the first pass is accurate or not is not important at all.

"Baize!"

The setter didn't even glance at the other attacking options, directly lobbing the ball high over the head of that two-meter giant. Simple, brutal, yet infuriatingly effective.

Yuta Hyakuzawa jumped at the net.

It was indeed a very unreasonable visual impact. He didn't jump very high, and his movements were even a bit clumsy, but when his long arms were outstretched, it looked like he was throwing stones off a second-floor balcony.

Bang!

The volleyball hit Higashi Mineaki's arm, and the huge momentum made the Karasuno ace stagger back half a step, but he still managed to catch the ball steadily.

"Nice catch!"

Kageyama Tobio quickly moved below the landing point.

At the net, Hinata Shoyo darted out like a spring-loaded flea. His dizzyingly fast running path instantly tore apart Kadokawa's fragile defense.

"Quick attack!" Kadokawa's middle blocker shouted in panic.

But Hyakusawa Yudai didn't move. Or rather, he simply couldn't keep up with Hinata's speed and could only stand still on instinct, arms outstretched.

This is enough.

The moment Hinata Shoyo jumped to spike the ball, a large portion of the previously wide court suddenly disappeared from his field of vision. Those two enormous hands were like sunshades that appeared out of thin air, forcefully blocking the spike's trajectory.

Snapped.

The ball hit the edge of Bai Ze's palm and bounced high into the air.

"Chance ball!" Kadokawa's libero scrambled to save the ball.

Fight back.

It's the same old routine. The ball flies towards Baize again.

This time, Bai Ze didn't opt ​​for a brute-force dunk. He glanced at Karasuno's defensive positioning in mid-air, then with an extremely stiff flick of his wrist, he hit a wide diagonal shot.

That's an angle that's difficult for players of average height to hit.

The volleyball, whistling through the air, hurtled straight towards Nishitani Yuu's face.

"Tsk!"

Nishitani Yu's reaction was astonishingly fast, but he had originally anticipated a straight dunk, and his center of gravity had already shifted to the left. Faced with this sudden cross-court shot, he could only forcefully twist his waist and reach out to block it.

Boom!

The volleyball hit his forearm, but the rebound angle was out of control, and it flew directly into the stands outside the court.

The whistle blew.

Kadokawa 3:4 Karasuno.

"Damn it!" Nishitani Yu slammed his hand on the floor, a few strands of blond hair on his forehead damp with sweat and plastered to his brow. He rubbed his cheek where the ball had grazed him, his eyes filled with annoyance. "That guy doesn't even look at his opponent when he plays; it's pure blind luck!"

"Very good!"

On the other side of the net, Bai Zexiong clenched his fist, his face showing the pure joy of a novice.

There's no thrill of tactical maneuvering, no arrogance of technical dominance; it's simply—the ball lands, the point is scored.

Sawamura Daichi clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back: "It's alright! It's only one point. Since they tried to overpower us with their height, we'll repay them with double the speed!"

Kadokawa serves.

The ball went straight. Daichi Sawamura didn't even need to move his feet; he smoothly delivered the ball to Tobio Kageyama's head.

The moment the ball left his hand, Karasuno, this sophisticated war machine, suddenly roared to life.

Hinata Shoyo in the front row began to run sideways, his footsteps so rapid they sounded like a dense drumbeat.

Ryunosuke Tanaka on the left wing roared as he took a running start, his aggressive demeanor suggesting he was about to devour someone.

At the same time, Dong Fengxu in the back row also started up, cutting in like a heavy tank.

Even Daichi Sawamura, who wasn't participating in the attack, made a feint by moving forward.

For a moment, the area in front of the net was filled with black jerseys swaying.

This is the new weapon Karasuno honed after being repeatedly thrashed by strong teams like Ikugawa, Mori, and Fukutani during their Tokyo training camp—all-out attack.

The computer on the other side of the screen crashed instantly.

His brain couldn't process so much information. Someone was shouting on the left, someone was jumping on the right, and a small orange figure was flying in the middle.

Who are you stopping?

Who are you looking at?

In those fractions of a second of hesitation, Tobio Kageyama's fingers had already touched the volleyball.

Neither the most conspicuous Hinata nor the loudest Tanaka were given a spot.

The volleyball transformed into a streak of light, passing over the heads of everyone in the front row, and precisely finding Dong Fengxu, who was leaping up from the back row.

At this moment, Yudai Hyakusawa, who had just been attracted by Tanaka's roar, subconsciously wanted to block the left side.

When he realized the ball was in the middle, Dong Fengxu had already drawn his bow to its fullest extent.

That's the ace's hang time.

boom!

This powerful back-row attack pierced through Kadokawa's weak defense, slamming onto the floor with a loud thud.

Kadokawa 3:5 Karasuno.

Kadokawa's setter wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his voice trembling as he looked at the Karasuno players celebrating with high-fives on the other side of the net: "Those number 10 and number 13 are already a headache enough, how come even that bearded uncle who looks like a repeat student is so fierce..."

That's the pressure from a strong team. It's not about one particular player standing out, but rather about one problem after another, making it impossible to defend against.

"Then let's take back one point."

A muffled sound suddenly rang out.

The Kadokawa team members turned around in surprise. It was Yudai Momozawa who spoke.

The newcomer, who had been temporarily brought in to act as a "cheat code," was staring at his palm. His eyes held less confusion and more of something called "enlightenment."

"I don't understand tactics or anything like that, and I can't run around like them." Bai Ze looked up at his setter. "Give me the ball. All I can do is spike it down."

Kadokawa's captain paused for a moment, then patted Bai Ze hard on the back: "You're right! If you can't figure it out, then don't think about it anymore! This is our only way!"

Simple, yet tragic.

The ensuing match turned into a fierce battle of offense and defense.

Or rather, it was a battle fought by Yuta Hyakusawa alone.

Kadokawa's first pass often goes astray; that's the norm. The setter has no choice but to run all over the court, raise the ball, and correct it for Hyakusawa.

Bai Ze jumped and smashed the ball.

They were stopped and turned back.

Jump again, dunk again.

Karasuno's offense was incredibly varied, employing quick attacks, back-row attacks, and timing maneuvers, as if they were giving Kadokawa a volleyball tactics lesson. Kadokawa's response, however, was always the same: a high, powerful attack aimed at Hyakusawa.

The score went back and forth.

On the sidelines, on the substitutes' bench.

Lu Ren sat in a chair, holding a water bottle in his hand, but his gaze never left the huge figure that kept jumping on the field.

"Interesting," Lu Ren muttered to himself.

The man next to him, Yukishita, gave him a strange look: "What's wrong? Is that big guy about to run out of energy? His movements are all messed up."

"It's almost exhausted, but it's still evolving."

Lu Ren narrowed his eyes slightly. Those eyes, which were usually lazy, now looked like a sophisticated scanner, analyzing some kind of data.

"Look at his timing for jumping. In the first game, he jumped entirely based on the ball, often jumping too early or too late. But now, he's starting to learn to watch Kageyama's hand movements."

"And his spikes. Just now, he actually learned to tuck his stomach in mid-air to avoid Tsukishima's block."

On the court, Yudai Hyakusawa jumped again. This time, facing a double block from Hotaru Tsukishima and Ryunosuke Tanaka, just as his body began to fall, he used his wingspan advantage to poke the ball towards the fingertips of the blockers.

Snapped.

The thug went out of bounds.

After landing, Bai Ze gasped for breath, his chest heaving like a bellows, sweat dripping from his chin and pooling on the floor. But the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"The team's hopes rest on you. We rely on you for both offense and blocking." Lu Ren's voice was soft, only audible to those around him. "This kind of pressure, carrying the entire team on your shoulders, would be a devastating blow for an ordinary person. But for some 'monsters,' it's the perfect catalyst."

"If we let him play volleyball for another six months... no, even just three months." Lu Ren shook his head, a somewhat complicated smile curving his lips. "Then it probably wouldn't be our current 'hard mode,' but a true 'hellish dungeon.'"

The scoreboard flips over.

Kadokawa 12:16 Karasuno.

Although Bai Zexiong is getting stronger at a visible rate, and although he puts all his strength into every spike.

But volleyball is ultimately not a game for one person.

When Baize's stamina began to decline and his spikes were no longer as lethal, the huge gap between the two teams on the defensive end became apparent.

Karasuno has Daichi Sawamura and Yuu Nishitani. These two are like two solid foundation stones. No matter how much Hyakusawa attacks, he can always stubbornly bounce the ball back and turn it into a counter-attack opportunity.

As for Kadokawa, apart from Hyakusawa, the others could only keep up with Karasuno's multi-pronged attack.

Another round.

Kageyama Tobio passed the ball, and Hinata Shoyo made a convincing feint at the net, tricking the already jittery Hyakusawa into jumping in a panic.

However, the ball flew to the other side.

With no one guarding him, Ryunosuke Tanaka delivered an extremely smooth, straight-line smash, slamming the ball hard against Kadokawa's baseline.

"nice shot--!!"

Tanaka excitedly took off his shirt and waved it (he was then warned by the referee to put it back on), and Karasuno's momentum was overwhelming.

On the other side of the net, Bai Zexiongda rested his hands on his knees, watching the volleyball bouncing on the floor, a deep sense of powerlessness flashing in his eyes.

It's not because it's not tall enough.

It's not because they're not strong enough.

It's because... I'm too lonely.

The loneliness of fighting an entire army alone was gradually eroding the giant's will as his strength waned.

Lu Ren unscrewed the bottle cap, took a sip of water, looked at the situation on the field, and sighed softly.

"It seems this beginner's tutorial is about time to come to an end."