Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The sound of shoes rubbing against each other on the court continued, like an endless melee.

After Daichi Sawamura took over from Rikuren, the defensive solidity of this temporary B team increased dramatically. Being the official captain, his defensive coverage and consistency were far superior to Rikuren, a novice who still needed to consult strategy guides. Kei Tsukishima was clearly much more comfortable, no longer needing to constantly guard against the backcourt leaks, allowing him to make more difficult blocking choices.

As for the two on the other side of the net...

"Bang!"

Another spike, but this time Tsukishima seized the opportunity, his fingertip brushing against the ball, causing it to change direction and fly out of bounds.

"Tch." Kageyama Tobio tugged at his jersey collar in annoyance.

This guy's gone crazy.

Although that orange-haired weirdo's movement speed was still ridiculously fast, Kageyama kept forcibly increasing it in pursuit of that "absolute speed." The fast attacks were indeed very fast, so fast that Tsukishima sometimes couldn't even lift his hand, but the success rate was pitiful. It felt like... completely abandoning accuracy in pursuit of DPS (damage per second), gambling on critical hits.

Lu Ren sat on the floor by the court, the water droplets condensed on the outside of the Coke can in his hand dripping down between his fingers, making his palm numb from the cold.

"Lu Renjun," Qingze Yazhi squatted down next to Lu Ren, holding a writing board in her hand, her brows furrowed like a little bun, "What are you looking at? You probably couldn't have caught that ball, right?"

"I definitely couldn't catch that one just now." Lu Ren tilted his head back and took a swig of soda, the carbonated bubbles bursting on his tongue. His stamina bar, which had been flashing alarm, finally stopped. "But I can already see his progress bar."

"Loading bar?" Ya-zhi looked bewildered.

"That setter, Kageyama Tobio," Lu Ren pointed to the black-haired boy on the court with a murderous look on his face, "Every time he prepares to force a high-speed pass, his right toes will turn inward more than usual, and his shoulders will drop more noticeably. In the game, this is called 'casting animation'."

Ya-zhi's eyes widened as she looked back and forth: "Really...really? They all look the same to me."

"Regular players obviously can't tell; this is a privilege reserved for data enthusiasts."

Lu Ren crushed the empty can and casually tossed it into a trash can a few meters away. With a clang, it hit the bullseye.

The first set ended in this chaotic battle. Kageyama and Hinata suffered a crushing defeat. After all, volleyball is not a game where speed alone guarantees victory; the error rate was too high, and with Sawamura Daichi's rock-solid defense, they were basically handing points to themselves.

This is the second game.

The scoreboard reads 12:10. Kageyama is still down by two points.

That weirdo's rapid attacks are scary, but as long as they aren't triggered on a large scale, the threat isn't that great. Right now, Kageyama is like a child holding the nuclear launch button; he wants to press it but is afraid of it exploding, and hesitation will lead to defeat.

almost.

Lu Ren stood up, dusted off his buttocks, and the aching pain from his torn muscles had subsided considerably. Indeed, the regenerative abilities of a young body are a kind of advantage.

Lu Ren walked to the referee's chair and made a gesture towards Sugawara Koji sitting on it.

"Change players."

Sugawara paused for a moment, then blew his whistle.

Sawamura Daichi walked over with some surprise, wiping the sweat from his brow: "Hey, Lu Ren, why don't you rest a little longer? I saw your face was all pale just now, don't push yourself."

"Fully recovered." Lu Ren cracked his ankles, making a series of crisp sounds. "If I didn't go on the field soon, you, Captain, would eat up all my experience points. And..."

Lu Ren looked at Kageyama Tobio, who was panting heavily on the other side of the net, and couldn't help but smile.

"I've memorized the BOSS's attack patterns; now it's time to rack up points."

Sawamura, with an expression that said, "I don't understand what you're saying at all, but you seem really impressive," patted Lu Ren on the shoulder and left the stage.

Lu Ren returned to his seat in the back row.

Hotaru Tsukishima pushed up her glasses, and that infuriating gaze swept over her again: "Yo, isn't this our game master? I thought you just disconnected and quit the game. What, your stamina bar is full? Don't lie on the ground pretending to be a corpse again in a bit."

"Shut up, bespectacled guy." Lu Ren stood behind him, lowering his center of gravity. "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll treat this as a PVP mode, take you down first with a red name, and then fight the other side."

"Huh?" Tsukishima raised an eyebrow, clearly not understanding what "red name" meant, but he could also sense that it wasn't a compliment.

The whistle blew.

It was Kageyama Tobio's turn to serve.

This guy stood on the baseline with the ball, his aura frighteningly low. A series of conceded points and misplays had clearly pushed this talent to the brink of explosion.

He tossed the ball high into the air.

The ball was thrown further forward than usual, and the stride of the run-up was also longer.

It's a powerful jump serve.

The instant his hand touched the ball, Lu Ren's brain was already screaming alarm bells. Based on the data model he had derived from observing the entire game from the sidelines, with this ball-throwing height and run-up angle, there was only one possible landing point.

Bottom left corner, a blind spot.

The moment Kageyama's body leaped into the air and his arm swung down, everyone's eyes were fixed on the ball.

Except for Lu Ren.

Lu Ren's foot had already moved. No need to think, no need to react, it was like facing the boss in Sekiro, seeing him raise his hand and knowing you had to press the block button.

Move two steps to the left, squat down, and raise your hands.

"Bang!"

The volleyball came hurtling over like a cannonball.

Then, without veering off course, it crashed right into the arm platform that Lu Ren had already set up.

It felt like... the ball just came knocking on my door.

As Kageyama Tobio landed, his sharp gaze instantly froze. He looked at the blind spot where the score should have been, only to find Lu Ren standing there, waiting for him as if he had read the script beforehand.

"nice shot!"

Although my arm was numb from the vibration, the ball bounced steadily. The volleyball bounced high, tracing an imperfect arc as it flew towards the front court.

"Yamaguchi!" Lu Ren shouted.

Tadashi Yamaguchi rushed to the landing point in a bit of a fluster. Although his movements were still a little stiff, the kid played with confidence and his pass didn't falter this time.

"Tsukishima!"

Hotaru Tsukishima leaps and swings her arm.

"Don't even think about it!" Tanaka Ryunosuke roared as he jumped to block the net.

This bald guy's reaction was really quick; his finger touched the ball. A single touch!

The volleyball changed trajectory and flew towards the backcourt. Kageyama Tobio reacted extremely quickly; he almost teleported to the ball's landing point and caught it just before it hit the ground.

Opportunity ball.

At that moment, everyone's nerves were stretched to the limit.

This is a chaotic situation. In this case, a normal setter would choose to pass to the outside hitter on the sideline, who is more likely to succeed, namely Tanaka.

But Lu Ren saw it.

Kageyama Tobio's gaze didn't fall on Tanaka, but lingered for a moment on the man with the orange haircut. That was his only gamble in this desperate situation.

No matter how bad the teamwork was, no matter how many mistakes were made, this proud genius still firmly believed that his move was invincible.

"Hyuga!" Kageyama roared.

Almost simultaneously, Hinata Shoyo, the small guy in orange, had already jumped on the other side. Fast, incredibly fast, he seemed to teleport away from all the blocks.

This is an empty network.

If it were the old Lu Ren, he would probably just stand there and shout "666" at this point.

But things are different now.

In Lu Ren's vision, a red warning circle seemed to appear. It was a calculated path based on Kageyama's passing habits, Hyuga's jumping position, and the correction rate of their past mistakes in teamwork—the inevitable route.

"Every program has bugs. Every technique has a trajectory."

Before Hyuga could swing his arm, Riku had already lunged forward.

That spot was empty. To everyone else, it looked like Lu Ren was leaping into thin air.

Hinata Shoyo's hand slammed heavily onto the ball.

"We got it!" Tanaka's cheer was caught in his throat before he could finish shouting it.

Because along the trajectory of that rapidly falling volleyball, an extra pair of arms appeared.

"Thump!"

A dull thud.

There was no fancy power release, nor any textbook-perfect ball-passing technique.

But it is not important.

The important thing is that the ball didn't hit the ground.

The volleyball was blocked, bounced high, and flew towards... the net.

The entire venue was deathly silent.

Kageyama Tobio was stunned. His prized, even desperate, fast-paced attack had been predicted by a rookie who had just been drinking cola on the sidelines?

"Yamaguchi, pass the ball!" Lu Ren fell to the floor, ignoring the pain, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

This roar shattered the frozen moment.

Yamaguchi Tadashi suddenly realized that the ball was near the net, and he didn't need much skill. He simply jumped up and made an overhand pass, pushing the ball to Tsukishima.

At this moment, the entire opposing team was still in a state of shock and disorientation.

Hotaru Tsukishima looked at the ball so close to her, a wicked smile curling at the corner of her lips.

How could he miss such a good opportunity to slap someone in the face?

A gentle push.

The volleyball landed on the empty floor opposite.

"beep--"

The whistle blew.

Lu Ren lay on the floor, looking at the light on the ceiling.

"Feed".

A large face appeared above my field of vision. It was Tanaka Ryunosuke. He looked at Riku Ren through the net, his expression twisted as if he had seen a ghost. "That shot just now... you guessed, didn't you? How did you know Shohoku would hit that spot?"

Lu Ren struggled to get up from the ground and patted his numb arm.

Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shoyo also looked over. Especially Kageyama, whose gaze was like that of a boss that had to be eliminated.

"Just a guess?"

Lu Ren straightened his slightly disheveled collar, trying his best to appear more mysterious.

"If it was a fluke, I should go buy a lottery ticket instead of sweating here with you guys." Lu Ren pointed to his head. "I told you, this kind of straightforward physical attack is not much harder than swatting a fly if you calculate the lead time correctly."

That's obviously bragging. If that ball had been five centimeters off target, Lu Ren would be retrieving it right now.

But that doesn't stop Lu Ren from showing off.

Hotaru Tsukishima walked up to Rikuren, looking down at him. Surprisingly, she didn't immediately mock him, but instead scrutinized him with a probing gaze: "Are you a monster? With that ball speed, even if you knew where it would land, could your body react in time?"

"I couldn't react in time," Lu Ren answered honestly, "so I started running early. As long as I reached the landing point a step faster than the ball, the rest was just letting the ball hit me."

Lu Ren spoke casually, but everyone present—including Shimizu Kiyoko and Yazhi on the sidelines—had their expressions change.

Anticipating in advance. It sounds simple, but in those split second, to be certain that the opponent will hit that spot, and to move into position before they even make a move, requires not only keen observation skills, but also the courage to risk everything.

"Again."

Across the net, Kageyama Tobio's voice was as cold as ice. He stared intently at Riku, his aura of wanting to devour me alive growing stronger.

"Oh wow, the hatred level is maxed out."

Lu Ren shrugged and said to Tsukishima, "Are you ready? The BOSS has entered its berserk phase. What follows is hellish difficulty."