Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

Miyagi Prefecture Representative Selection Competition, Round 1.

The dome lights of Sendai Gymnasium were a stark white, and the air was thick with that familiar, acrid smell of deodorant and rubber. Across the net, Jozenji High School wore bright yellow uniforms, which, like their dyed hair and earring-wearing teammates, exuded a flamboyant vibe, as if they were clubbing in a nightclub.

Lu Ren sat on a bench next to the coach's bench, holding a tactical board in his hand, not in a hurry to fill in the names in the starting lineup.

His gaze passed over the net and landed on the banner belonging to Jozenji Temple—"Simple and Strong".

"What do those four words have to do with them?" Lu Ren rested the pen cap on his chin, not even lifting his eyelids. "It's like sticking a 'I'm a healer' label on the forehead of a max-level berserker. It's false advertising. I suggest we file a complaint."

"Don't say that," Sugawara Koji said with a wry smile. "Although he may seem frivolous, he must have real strength to make it to the semi-finals."

"I haven't seen any real skill, but their ADHD is quite obvious." Lu Ren looked at the group of people on the other side who were running around the court like monkeys, shouting and yelling during their warm-up exercises. Some of them were even hanging on the net doing pull-ups. "This isn't a warm-up; it's primate atavism."

The whistle blew.

Karasuno's starting lineup was fairly standard: front row: Tsukishima Hotaru, Tanaka Ryunosuke, and Hinata Shoyo; back row: Higashimine Asahi, Sawamura Daichi, and Kageyama Tobio.

Lu Ren crossed his legs and entered "spectator mode." He needed to see how the underlying code of these "monkeys" was written.

Dong Fengxu serves the first ball.

Having experienced the summer training camp and Riku Ren's "mental pressure," Higashimine's serve became increasingly steady. Toss the ball, run-up, jump, and a powerful cannon shot slammed into Jozenji's backcourt.

"Good shot!" the Karasuno bench cheered.

The back row of the Jozenji team clearly did not expect such a strong serve at the start of the game. The receiver's movement was distorted, and although the ball did not land, it went directly out of bounds and was about to fly into the stands.

"Chance ball!" Tanaka shouted.

However, just when Karasuno thought the ball was doomed, Jozenji's libero, like a slippery eel, leaped out of bounds and scooped the ball back into the air with one hand.

The ball was high, with a large arc, and landed in the back row of Jozenji Temple.

This position is unassailable. Just as Lu Ren was thinking this, he saw Terujima Yuji, the commander of the Jozenji Temple, make a move.

The guy, who had been strolling around in the front row, suddenly turned around and sprinted backward like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He jumped from behind the three-meter line, his body twisting into a pretzel shape in mid-air for no apparent reason. With his back to the net, he forcefully swung his arm in the instant he lost his balance.

"Bang!"

The ball flew over the net at an odd angle and landed in the gap in Karasuno's defenses.

0: 1.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a burst of cheers from the direction of Jozenji Temple, sounding like the cries of monkeys.

Lu Ren nearly dropped his pen. His eyes widened as he stared at the blond-haired commander who struck a pose after landing, and his mental tactical model instantly malfunctioned.

"What is this?" Lu Ren pointed at the court. "A back-to-the-basket blind shot? A 360-degree mid-air spin followed by an absurd smash? Does this conform to physics? Does this conform to ergonomics? Is this guy's spine made of springs?"

"Indeed... it's very chaotic." Coach Ukai Kishin frowned as well. "There's absolutely no method to it."

"No, this isn't haphazard." Lu Ren narrowed his eyes, re-examining his opponent. "This person has maxed out their 'Intuition' attribute. Their body moved before they thought. A troublesome type."

The second ball is served by Jozenji.

The ball's trajectory was unremarkable, and Higashimine Asahi received it steadily. Kageyama Tobio quickly moved to the landing point, and the instant his fingertips touched the ball, Tanaka Ryunosuke had already cut into the left wing like a cannonball.

"Take this!"

Tanaka's signature diagonal smash is incredibly powerful.

The front row blocker from Jozenji was a beat too slow; the ball hit the blocker's arm, deflected towards the net, and was about to hit the ground.

"We scored!" Yamaguchi Tadashi was about to clench his fist.

Just before the ball was about to touch the ground, one of the players from Jozenji suddenly stretched out his foot.

It's not the kind of desperate save, but rather like kicking a shuttlecock, with the instep straight and a light flick upwards.

The ball took off again.

Before Karasuno could react, the guy who had been blocking the ball landed and jumped again without hesitation, smashing the ball that had just been kicked into Karasuno's court.

0: 2.

"..."

Lu Ren fell silent. He looked at his tactics board and felt that the positioning diagrams drawn on it were mocking him.

"This works?" Tanaka Ryunosuke's mouth dropped open, his face filled with disbelief. "That was a foot, wasn't it? It was definitely a foot, wasn't it?"

"Did the soccer team wander onto the wrong set?" Lu Ren rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "These guys don't use their brains at all when they play, they rely entirely on spinal reflexes. That last play was so fluid, it didn't look like a save at all, it looked like part of their tactical plan."

"What kind of tactic is this?" Hinata asked.

"This is called 'wild beast' style of play." Lu Ren wrote the words "high mobility" and "unpredictable" in his notebook. "Their athleticism is ridiculously high. As long as the ball hasn't touched the ground, they can use any part of their body to get past it. It's like a bunch of... monkeys just released from the mountains."

If left unchecked, this haphazard, unpredictable pace of defeating a seasoned master is truly frustrating.

The third goal.

The server from Jozenji probably wanted to show off too much, so he served too forcefully and hit the white belt directly.

1: 2.

"It seems their base stats aren't very high." Lu Ren put a big X in the 'Stability' column. "Once they lose that unpredictable feel, their error rate becomes their Achilles' heel. A typical RNG (random number generation) team, they rely entirely on luck."

The fourth ball, served by Tsukishima Hotaru.

Jozenji's first pass was still inaccurate, but the setter was extremely fast and managed to turn a bad ball into a quick attack.

1: 3.

"They still play proper volleyball, huh?" Lu Ren scoffed. "I thought they were just good at juggling."

The fifth ball, served by Jozenji.

That was a clever serve, a net ball. The ball hit the white belt, losing its force, and drifted wobbly towards Karasuno's frontcourt.

"I'll do it!"

Ryunosuke Tanaka reacted extremely quickly, making a diving save. However, he jumped a little too far, and the ball hit his wrist bone, bouncing directly out of bounds and heading straight for the GG sign next to him.

"This goal is beyond saving..." someone in the stands sighed.

A streak of orange lightning flashed across everyone's vision.

Hinata Shoyo.

He darted out of bounds like a bird startled by a shot. The ball was about to hit the wall, with nowhere to land.

"There's no way out!"

Just when everyone thought he was going to brake suddenly, Hinata Shoyo did something that made everyone's jaws drop.

He didn't slow down, but jumped up and slammed his right foot hard against the gymnasium wall.

"squeak--!"

The sneakers screeched against the wall. Using the reaction force from the push, he forcibly hovered in mid-air for a moment, like a gecko hanging on the wall, then used his waist and abdomen to hook the ball back onto the court.

"Holy crap." Lu Ren finally dropped his pen. "Newton is really going to call the police. Did this kid glitch the physics engine? This is a volleyball anime, not Naruto!"

The ball flew back into play, with sufficient height.

"Nishitani!" Sawamura shouted.

Yu Nishitani was already in position, and delivered a standard pass to send the ball over the net.

The members of Jozenji were probably stunned by Hyuga's move. In addition, because their formation had been pushed too far forward in the previous attack, their backcourt was a no-man's land.

The ball landed lightly on the baseline.

2: 3.

"Huff...huff..." Hinata got up from the ground, his face full of excitement, "Got it!"

"You didn't just catch it! You're scaling walls!" Tanaka rushed over and ruffled Hinata's hair. "You're so cool, you bastard!"

Lu Ren picked up his pen, looking thoughtfully at Jozenji's formation: "I see. Because of their excessive pursuit of offense and the thrill of 'playing around,' their defensive formation is as loose as a sieve. As long as we break their rhythm, they'll be full of holes."

The sixth ball, served by Tobio Kageyama.

Kageyama stood at the baseline, taking a deep breath. Hinata's shot had clearly provoked this "King." He tossed the ball, jumped, and swung his arm like a whip.

"boom!"

Killer serve.

But this time, Jozenji's libero somehow managed to find the right position by instinct, and although his posture was awkward, he managed to head the ball up.

The ball flew towards the net.

"Chance ball!" Tsukishima jumped, preparing to head the ball.

However, Jozenji's front row attacker did not spike the ball, but instead gently hooked it in the air, sending it to another attacker's side for a smash, which then landed in Karasuno's back row.

"It's not over yet!"

After serving, Kageyama quickly entered the court and slid down to cushion the ball. The ball flew back to the Jozenji court.

This time, Jozenji didn't try anything funny and went straight for a smash.

The land of Sawamura was like a rock, firmly wedged in the path, catching the force of this heavy slam.

"The pass is perfect!"

Tobio Kageyama didn't even need to look at the ball; his body was already positioned beneath it. His hands were raised above his head, but his eyes sharply swept towards the other end of the net.

Meanwhile, Hinata Shoyo had already taken off from there.

No running start, jump from the spot.

The explosive power contained in his calves was fully released at this moment. Like an arrow piercing the clouds, he instantly defied gravity and appeared at the highest point of the net.

The defender from Jozenji Temple had just bent his knees.

"Too fast..." Terujima Yuuji's pupils contracted slightly.

Kageyama's pass seemed to be equipped with navigation, precisely delivering the ball to the trajectory of Hyuga's arm swing.

There was no unnecessary thought, no fancy movements.

Swing your arm and smash the ball.

"Bang!"

The sound of the ball hitting the floor was so crisp it sounded like some kind of declaration of war.

3: 3.

Hyuga landed, turned around, and gave Kageyama a victory sign. Although Kageyama had a stern face, a hint of smugness flashed in his eyes.

Across the court, Terujima Yuuji paused for two seconds.

He looked at the short guy who was a head shorter than him, and then at the cool-faced setter. The cynical smile on his face slowly faded, replaced by the excitement of discovering a new toy.

"Hey, is this for real...?"

Terujima licked his lips, his eyes gleaming.

"That's so cool!"

Lu Ren, watching from the sidelines, took in the whole scene. He drew a circle on his tactical board and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.

"Looks like these monkeys have finally realized this isn't just a game," Lu Ren muttered to himself. "But unfortunately, the updated Karasuno isn't something you can win with just tricks."