Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The whistle blew, shattering the noise of the arena. Timeout ended.

The players from both sides returned to their positions.

Karasuno's current lineup is highly offensive and defensively deep: Tobio Kageyama, Jin Riku, Asahi Higashimine, Yu Nishitani, Daichi Sawamura, and Ryunosuke Tanaka.

This is an all-weather lineup that has removed the dedicated middle blocker and is composed entirely of heavy hitters and ground defense experts.

Kazuki Hanayama, the setter for Minami Wakuya, stood in the service area. He dribbled the volleyball twice and looked up to observe Karasuno's position.

Conventional tactics of exploiting weaknesses don't work here. The receiving defense built by Nishitani Yu and Sawamura Daichi can withstand even a heavy hitter like Shiratorizawa, let alone a team like Wakuya Minami that excels in technique.

Hanayama chose to serve the ball towards the left sideline, aiming to cause trouble for Tanaka.

The volleyball, with a slight sidespin, passed over the white band.

Daichi Sawamura took a step to the side, positioning himself perfectly at the ball's landing point. He brought his arms together and lowered his center of gravity.

"In place."

The volleyball bounced steadily towards the net.

Kageyama Tobio didn't even need to take a single extra step. The ball landed directly between his fingers.

At that very second, Karasuno's three front-row attackers simultaneously launched their attacks.

Dongfeng Xu spread out on the left wing, Tanaka Ryunosuke cut in from the middle, and Lu Ren made a counter-run on the right wing.

Three figures took off simultaneously.

Hanayama and Nakajima quickly switched their gazes between the three, trying to track the trajectory of Kageyama's pass.

"Left!" Nakajima shouted, moving his body towards Higashimine Asahi.

Kageyama flicked his wrist, and the ball flew from his fingertips, heading straight for the right wing.

Lu Ren swung his arm in a wide arc as he faced the volleyball.

Naruko, the middle blocker from Wakuya Minami, desperately jumped up and tried to block the straight line.

Lu Ren glanced at Naruko's hand shape in the air, and his wrist made a very slight bend before touching the ball.

The volleyball grazed Naruko's fingertips and landed in the bottom corner.

The referee raises his flag; the ball is in. 3:8.

"Good shot!" Tanaka Ryunosuke ran over and gave Lu Ren a big high five.

"The opposing middle blocker jumped a beat too late, leaving too much of an opening," Lu Ren said calmly, waving his hand.

Minami Wakuya's defense is very resilient, but this is based on the premise that the opponent's attack rhythm is predictable. Karasuno's multi-core lineup, with its dispersed attack points and fierce firepower, directly overloaded the opponent's defensive system.

It was Tanaka Ryunosuke's turn to serve.

He stood outside the baseline, took a deep breath, tossed the ball, and took a running start.

A powerful jump serve.

The volleyball, propelled by the wind pressure, slammed towards Minami Wakuya's back row. Libero Akiho rolled on the ground, barely managing to raise the ball high.

"remedy!"

Huashan ran and reached over to scoop the ball, pushing it high towards position four.

Takeshi Nakajima was already waiting at the net.

Facing Karasuno's three-man block—Asahi Higashimine, Riku Jin, and Tobio Kageyama—Nakajima Takeshi's running rhythm remained perfectly intact.

He paused in mid-air, his gaze sweeping over three pairs of arms.

Lu Ren sat in the middle, his eyes fixed on Nakajima Takeshi's shoulder movements.

"The key to this kid's out-of-bounds shot lies in the wrist movement at the moment of contact with the ball." Lu Ren quickly analyzed the opponent's movement in his mind.

Nakajima swung his arm sharply, aiming directly at Lu Ren's outermost palm.

Just a fraction of a second before the volleyball hit his fingertips, Lu Ren's arm suddenly pulled inward by three centimeters.

Nakajima Takeshi's wrist had already completed the outward flick, and the volleyball lost its intended target, flying out of bounds along its original trajectory.

There are no tentacles.

The referee blew the whistle, the ball was out of bounds. Karasuno scored. 3:9.

Nakajima landed abruptly, looking at his hands with a furrowed brow.

"You hid?" He looked at Lu Ren through the net.

"That's called reasonable avoidance of physical collisions." Lu Ren shrugged. "Knowing you're trying to boost your stats, why would I put my hand there for you to rub against? I'm not stupid."

Hotaru Tsukishima, standing in the stands, pushed up her glasses and let out a short, mocking laugh.

"The technique of hitting a hand out of bounds, once it's figured out, is just a normal mistake."

The match continued.

Karasuno's hardware advantages are beginning to become fully apparent.

Higashifusa's powerful smashes, Tanaka Ryunosuke's straight-line breakthroughs, and Lu Ren's unpredictable tactical runs at the net.

The defenses of Wakuya South were torn to shreds.

Nakajima tried to break through by changing the attack route, but Nishitani Yu and Sawamura Daichi in the back row were like two pieces of chewing gum, stuck firmly to the floor.

"Bang!"

Nakajima's cross-court spike was deflected by Nishitani Yu with one arm.

"Kageyama!"

Kageyama Tobio quickly moved into position and passed the ball back to Higashimine Asahi, who had made a run into the back row.

Higashi Mineaki jumped from outside the three-meter line, and the volleyball hit between two defenders, Wakuya Minami.

7:14. The score difference has widened to 100%.

The support group for Minami Wakuya's family had quieted down considerably. Only a few scattered cheers were still managing to keep going.

"Don't panic! We'll take it back one point at a time!" Nakajima clapped his hands, trying to calm the troops.

However, the cruel reality of competitive sports is that when the gap in physical strength reaches a certain threshold, tactical compensation becomes insufficient.

Karasuno's current lineup is an absurd version update.

Kazuki Hanayama's passing options are dwindling. Takeshi Nakajima's stamina is being depleted exponentially by Karasuno's high-pressure blocking.

It was another protracted tug-of-war.

Wakuya Minami's libero, Akiho, made three consecutive diving saves, narrowly returning Karasuno's powerful smash to the net.

"Captain!" Huashan lifted the ball high.

Nakajima gritted his teeth and jumped. His height had already dropped by five centimeters compared to when he started.

Lu Ren and Zecun Dadi double barrier net is formed.

Nakajima Takeshi tried to find an angle for the thug to go out of bounds in mid-air, but Lu Ren's hand shape blocked all the outer space, leaving only an extremely narrow straight line.

Nakajima Takeshi had no choice but to force his way to the straight line.

The volleyball hit the floor.

It wasn't the floor in Wakuya Minami, but the back row in Karasuno.

Nishitani Yu stood steadily on the landing point and chopped the ball up with both hands.

"A trap." Oikawa Tetsu in the stands rested his chin on his hand. "That number 13 deliberately laid out a straight shot to lure the opposing main attacker into the libero's hands."

Iwaizumi crossed his arms: "That's awful."

The ball flew towards the net, and Kageyama Toyo leaped up, pressing the ball towards the opposite half of the court with one hand.

Second-chance points.

8: 18.

Minami Wakuya requested a second suspension.

Takeshi Nakajima walked to the sidelines, took a towel, and wiped his sweat. His breathing was a little rapid.

"Their defense has no blind spots," Kazuki Hanayama said, panting.

"It's not that they don't have blind spots, it's that they've hidden them with their positioning." Nakajima took a big gulp of water. "That number 13 is not only an attacker at the net, but also a defensive playmaker."

The atmosphere was much more relaxed in Karasuno.

"Lu Ren, how did you manage that hand-stopping motion just now? Teach me!" Hinata Shoyo jumped around on the sidelines.

"Reaction speed plus dynamic vision." Lu Ren took the water bottle from Qingze Yazhi. "It can't be learned; it's a talent."

"Tch." Hinata curled his lip.

Sawamura Daichi clapped his hands: "Alright, let's take this game in one go and not give them a chance to breathe."

The timeout has ended, and the game is nearing its end.

Karasuno's scoring machine is running more and more smoothly.

Dong Fengxu's serve repeatedly disrupted the opponent's first pass.

Ryunosuke Tanaka's powerful attacks from position four were frequently successful.

Lu Ren even played some drop shots at the net, making the front row players of Wakuya Minami run around in circles.

The score is now 12-24. Karasuno's game point.

The serve returned to Lu Ren.

He walked to the service area and twirled the volleyball in his hand.

The opposing team, led by Minami Wakuya, were on high alert. Takeshi Nakajima lowered his center of gravity, his eyes fixed on Riku's movements.

Lu Ren throws the ball and takes a running start.

The height of the jump was astonishing.

His arm swung through the air, leaving a blur, before his palm slammed hard onto the volleyball.

There is no rotation.

A powerful, floating ball.

The volleyball traced a strange parabola in the air, and just as it cleared the net, it suddenly plummeted to the left.

Akiho made a diving save, barely managing to touch the ball with his fingertips.

The volleyball changed direction and hit the "GG" sign outside the court.

A point is scored directly from the serve.

The referee blew the long whistle. The first set ended.

12: 25.

Karasuno dominated the first game.

The two sides exchanged venues.

Lu Ren walked off the field and draped a towel around his neck.

"The opposing captain's health bar is almost empty." Lu Ren glanced at Nakajima Takeshi, who was wiping his sweat, and said without any sarcasm, only an objective statement of the data.

Qingze Yazhi handed over a bottle of sports drink: "Don't be too arrogant, or you might lose in the second round."

"It's unwinnable." Lu Ren unscrewed the bottle cap and took a big gulp of water. "The hardware gap is there. Unless they can code and modify the system on the spot, this game will be a one-sided sweep."

Coach Wu Yang walked over with a tactics board.

"We played well in the first set; the rhythm of defense and counter-attack was completely on our side." Coach Ukai tapped the board with his pen. "They will definitely change their formation in the second set, and Takeshi Nakajima won't give up easily."

"Let it change." Lu Ren leaned back in his chair in the rest area and stretched his wrists. "No matter how it changes, the underlying physical logic will not be wrong. As long as the ball goes over the net, just smash it back."

Sawamura Daichi chuckled and patted Lu Ren on the shoulder: "You, sometimes you talk like a villain."

"Villains are great, they live longer and deal more damage." Lu Ren stood up. "Let's go collect the remaining experience points."

The whistle blew again.

The second game begins.

All Karasuno players took to the field.

On the other side of the net, Minami Wakuya's teammates patted each other on the back, trying to boost their morale. Takeshi Nakajima's eyes remained bright; he hadn't been defeated by the crushing defeat in the first game.

Lu Ren stood in front of the net, looking at Nakajima Takeshi through the white tape.

"Good resilience," Lu Ren said in a low voice.

But that doesn't change the outcome.

The gears of the race started turning again.

Kageyama Tobio serves.

The volleyball, with a strong backspin, headed straight for Minami Wakuya's back corner.

A new harvest has begun.