Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The railings of the Sendai Gymnasium's stands have some peeling paint, and they smell rusty to the touch.

Karasuno's group found an open space to sit down. The lingering soreness from their match against Wakuya Minami was still creeping up their spines. Hinata Shoyo's eyes were glued to the court below the moment his buttocks touched the ground.

Another fierce battle is taking place there.

Aoba Johsai vs. Date Kogyo.

"So this is the 'Iron Wall'." Hinata leaned on the railing, his voice a mixture of excitement and apprehension.

On the court below, Date Industrial's three-man block came crashing down like a moving roller shutter. Although Aoba Johsai's attacker scored with a spike, the ball grazed the fingertips of the blocker; if the angle had been a little more precise, it would have been smashed back.

"The defensive stats are definitely maxed out." Lu Ren tore open the packaging of an energy bar, his jaw twitching. "The model has a large collision volume and a wide hitbox. This kind of front-line configuration would be like a roadblock monster specifically designed to block movement in an RPG."

Qingze Yazhi sat next to him, holding a data logbook, and rolled her eyes at him, annoyed: "That's 'Iron Wall,' don't talk about it like it's some kind of game bug."

"Pretty much." Lu Ren chewed on his food, but his gaze was sharp. "But it's just a bit harder. It's not very bright."

Kageyama Tobio, sitting in the front row, turned around upon hearing this, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly: "Date Institute's blocking is very strong, and their follow-up speed is very fast."

"He's fast, but too honest." Lu Ren pointed at Oikawa Toru on the field.

At that moment, Oikawa Tetsu was standing at the setter position. The volleyball flew into his hands, and his gaze subtly glanced to the left. Date Kogyo's blocker almost reflexively shifted his weight to the left.

The next second, Oikawa Tetsu flicked his wrist and passed the ball back to the right wing.

Iwazumi had already jumped up, and in front of him was a completely undefended vacuum.

"Bang!"

A powerful dunk scores the point.

"See that?" Lu Ren swallowed the food in his mouth. "This is the difference between fighting against script cheats. Date Kogyo's blocking logic is 'wherever the ball is, I go,' a typical single-threaded ball-chasing logic. But Oikawa Tetsu, that old schemer, is best at feeding this kind of simple AI fake data."

Kei Tsukishima, standing beside him, adjusted her glasses. Though she didn't speak, her expression clearly showed agreement. Faced with absolute intellectual superiority, mere physical defense seemed somewhat cumbersome.

"But who is that big guy?" Hinata suddenly pointed to the Date Kou changing area.

The referee raises a sign to substitute the player.

A man with an extremely burly build, estimated to be over 1.9 meters tall, walked up. His physique made him look like a misplaced image among a group of high school students.

The Golden River flows through. Date Industrial High School's first-year setter.

"Wow." Lu Ren raised an eyebrow. "This model, for use as a relay? Is Date Kou planning to completely shut down the network ports?"

However, what happened next caused a brief silence to fall over everyone at Karasuno.

Date Industrial's serve is in place. The ball flies towards Huangjinchuan.

The tall setter spread his arms wide, his posture as perfect as an illustration in a textbook, and then—

"Get out of here!!!"

With a powerful roar, the volleyball flew out of his hands.

It wasn't a pass. It was a launch.

The ball, with an aura that seemed poised to smash through the ceiling, soared straight into the sky, reaching a height more than twice that of the marker pole.

Date Kogyo's ace, Aone, craned his neck, looking up at the volleyball that seemed about to fly out of the atmosphere. On his usually expressionless face, a rare look of bewilderment appeared.

But he still jumped.

Do your best, listen to destiny.

Aone swung his arm at the highest point, but the ball was still higher. In the end, he could only barely graz it with his fingertips, and the volleyball softly crossed the net, easily caught by Aoba Josai's libero, Watari Chikaharu.

"Sorry!!! The upload was too high!!!"

Huang Jinchuan's voice was so loud that the entire stadium could hear it, and his apologetic posture was so sincere that one might suspect he was about to commit seppuku at any moment.

The stands at Karasuno were deathly silent.

"puff."

Lu Ren couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Is this what they call the tutorial level?" Lu Ren crumpled the energy bar packaging into a ball. "Is this guy playing with a setter like a catapult? This isn't passing the ball; it's clearly testing the gravity parameters of the physics engine."

Tobio Kageyama's expression was complex. As a setter with an obsessive pursuit of precision in ball control, seeing this kind of "violent pass" made him feel that his professional dignity had been subjected to a kind of dimensional reduction attack.

"But he's very tall." Kageyama finally managed to say after a long pause, "And... he's a huge threat at the blocking end."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the western part of Aoba City launched a counterattack.

Hanamaki Takada spiked the ball from the left wing.

Although Huang Jinchuan's passing technique is impressive, his movement and blocking range at the net are truly terrifying. He simply stands there with his arms outstretched, like an extra-thick concrete wall.

"Snapped!"

Huajuan's ball was blocked directly.

"Nice Block!!!" The Date team members frantically patted Huang Jinchuan on the back.

"As long as you stop them, it's not a loss, right?" Lu Ren said, resting his chin on his hand. "Using an absolute height advantage to compensate for a lack of skill. A typical stat-obsessed fighting style."

The match continued.

Although the addition of Hwang Gwang-chon brought Date Kobe's blocking height to a desperate level, the fatal weakness still exists—too straightforward.

Oikawa Toru is simply toying with his opponent.

He exploited Huang Jinchuan's lack of experience, frequently using second-chance opportunities and feints. Each time Huang Jinchuan was shaken off balance, Oikawa Tetsu's smug smile grew even wider.

"That setter..." Hinata watched Konkukawa on the court, who was scrambling to save a ball and then loudly encouraging his teammates. "He's so energetic."

"Yeah, he's got too much energy." Lu Ren watched as Huang Jinchuan angrily slapped the floor because of a silly mistake, then instantly revived and shouted "Again!" to his teammates, and couldn't help but shake his head.

"Another hot-blooded idiot."

Lu Ren turned to look at Qingze Yazhi, pointed to his temple, and said, "Do you think strenuous exercise can really lead to brain hypoxia, causing a temporary drop in IQ? How come these volleyball players are all like they have no brains, relying solely on recklessness to get by?"

Kiyosawa Yashiro was recording the rotation positions of Aoba Castle West when she heard this. Her pen paused, she glanced at Hyuga and Kageyama beside her, and lowered her voice: "What you said insults half of our team."

"I'm just stating the facts," Lu Ren shrugged. "That big setter is now just a physical accessory. He doesn't know how to read the game at all; he plays purely on instinct. In Oikawa Tetsu's eyes, he's just a walking experience pack."

On the field.

Oikawa Toru serves.

The volleyball landed precisely on the sideline.

Date Industrial's first pass was disrupted. Huang Jinchuan had to run out of the three-meter line to adjust the pass.

He appeared somewhat flustered while running, his massive frame becoming a hindrance at that moment. His intention to pass was too obvious; before he even released the ball, Aoba Josai's blocker had already assembled at position four.

"left!"

As expected, Huang Jinchuan pushed the ball hard to the left wing.

The three players from Aoba Josai, who had been waiting for a long time, blocked the ball and ruthlessly pushed it back.

"That's terrible." Lu Ren clicked his tongue. "This is what happens when you play games without thinking. No matter how good your equipment or how high your level, if your skills aren't up to par, you'll still get crushed by skilled players."

"Senior Lu Ren."

Kageyama Tobio suddenly spoke, his gaze fixed on Oikawa Tetsu in the audience, "Oikawa-senpai... he's gotten stronger again."

"Hmm?" Lu Ren followed his gaze.

Oikawa Tetsu was high-fiving Iwaizumi. The man who had left a "kingly" shadow in his middle school days was now displaying a truly terrifying dominance. He wasn't just orchestrating the offense; he was manipulating the opponent's defense like a puppeteer.

"He has indeed upgraded." Lu Ren put away his nonchalant expression, his gaze lingering on Oikawa Tetsu for two seconds. "Before, he was just good at the game, but now... he's learned how to set up schemes."

"Setting up a trap?" Hinata tilted his head.

"Look at the landing points of those balls just now." Lu Ren stretched out his finger and gestured in the air. "The first two balls were deliberately fed to Date Kogyo's libero, making it easy for him to receive and giving him the illusion that 'this ball is easy to receive.' The third ball suddenly changed speed. The landing point was still the same, but the rhythm changed. Date Kogyo's libero's muscle memory was still in the rhythm of the previous ball, and he missed it immediately."

Lu Ren sneered, "This is a classic case of psychological manipulation. This person's heart is filthy."

Kageyama Tobio clenched his fist.

"Don't look at me like that." Lu Ren patted Ying Shan's shoulder, quite forcefully. "Let him be dirty, the bright moon still shines over the river. Our next opponents are these tactical geniuses. Compared to the straightforward, clueless Date Kou, fighting Qingcheng will be much more satisfying, won't it?"

At this point, the match was nearing its end.

Aoba Josai has reached match point.

Oikawa Tetsu stood on the service line. The entire stadium seemed to hold its breath as the volleyball in his hand touched the ball.

Throw the ball, jump, swing your arm.

The movements were so fluid, like a meticulously crafted CG animation.

"boom!"

The volleyball hit the field of Date Industrial and bounced towards the stands.

competition is over.

Aoba Castle West emerged victorious.

Date Konkawa, the big setter from Date Industrial, stood at the net, his face streaked with tears and snot, shouting something in frustration. Oikawa Tetsu, on the other hand, simply shook hands politely across the net, wearing his signature business smile that made you want to punch him.

"It's over." Daichi Sawamura stood up, clapped his hands, and said in a steady tone, "Let's go back and prepare. Tomorrow's tough battle is the main event."

The Karasuno members all stood up.

Before leaving, Lu Ren looked back once more.

Just then, Oikawa Tetsu looked up, his gaze piercing through the noisy crowd and landing precisely on the stands on Karasuno's side.

Their eyes met briefly in mid-air.

Oikawa Toru raised an eyebrow and made an extremely provocative gesture.

Lu Ren remained expressionless, raised his hand, pointed his thumb down, and made a sharp gesture.

"Childish." Qingze Yazhi gave him a push from behind. "Let's go, stop fighting like elementary school kids."

"This is called pre-match friendly communication." Lu Ren walked towards the exit with his hands in his pockets. "Tell that system administrator to prepare for a hacker attack tomorrow."

The lighting in the corridor was somewhat dim.

Hinata Shoyo, walking ahead of Riku, suddenly stopped and turned back to ask, "Ruki, can we win tomorrow? Oikawa-sama seems... incredibly strong."

Lu Ren looked at the short man with the orange haircut; his eyes burned with unease, but even more so with longing.

"Hinata."

Lu Ren reached out and pressed down on Hinata's head, making her already messy hair even messier.

"In this game, there are no absolutely invincible bosses. As long as their health bar is on, even if they are gods, I'll kill them."

Lu Ren's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a metallic quality in the empty corridor.

"And," he said, a wicked smile playing on his lips, "my greatest pleasure is watching those guys who think they're in control turn into panickers."

Hinata paused for a moment, then grinned, revealing his signature bright smile.

"oh!!!"

"Shut up, you're so noisy." Kageyama Tobio slapped Hinata on the back of the head.

"Kageyama, what are you doing! Want to fight?!"

"Idiot, save your energy for fighting Oikawa-senpai tomorrow."

Watching the two oddballs bickering, Lu Ren stretched, his joints cracking.

West of Aoba Castle. Oikawa Toru.

Since the plot forces us to go through this, don't blame me for tearing this script to shreds.

"Yazhi, help me look something up when we get home tonight," Lu Ren suddenly said.

"What?"

"Let's see if there are any folk remedies that can cure 'setter's excessive self-consciousness syndrome'," Lu Ren said seriously. "I think there will be two seriously ill patients on the court tomorrow, so I need to prepare some medicine in advance."

Qingze Yazhi rolled her eyes and ignored him, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

That familiar, mischievous Lu Ren is already in a state of readiness.