Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

Lu Ren stood outside the baseline, his five fingers spread out, gripping the volleyball. He could clearly feel the fine texture on the ball's surface with his fingertips.

He glanced up at the western half of the field in Aoba City. Oikawa Tetsu was standing in the back row, his sharp eyes scanning every corner of Karasuno like radar.

"In team games, it's common sense to focus fire on and kill the enemy commander first."

Lu Ren muttered to himself as he tossed the ball high into the air with his right hand.

His approach stride was extremely heavy, and the screeching sound of the floor as he pushed off with his final step drowned out the noise from the stands. Leaping into the air, twisting his waist, swinging his arms—the entire sequence was devoid of any unnecessary embellishment, only displaying extreme explosive power.

The volleyball was spun in an almost straight line, its target clear to the point of arrogance—directly aimed at Oikawa Toru's chest.

This is an open conspiracy.

If you receive the ball, you lose the opportunity to organize an attack immediately; if you dodge, the ball will glide past the baseline and into the field.

The expression on Oikawa Tetsu's face changed the moment the ball was released. He didn't back down; instead, he lowered his center of gravity and steadily brought his arms together.

"Bang!"

The ball hit Oikawa Tetsu's arm with such force that his feet slid half a meter backward on the ground.

"Well done!" Iwaizumi shouted.

Although the first pass was pushed to the backcourt, Oikawa Tetsu did not show any weakness after receiving the re-serve. He quickly got up and retreated, leaving space for the attack.

An interesting scene unfolded.

Aoshima's other main attacker, Hanamaki Takahiro, didn't wait for Oikawa Tetsu to pass the ball. He spotted Oikawa Tetsu's position while running and rushed directly to the setter position.

"Exchange roles?" Lu Ren narrowed his eyes.

With a flick of his wrists, Hanamaki sent the volleyball flying in a graceful arc back to Oikawa Tetsu, who had just received the ball and was in the running-up position.

This is what makes Aoba Johsai so terrifying. Every single person on this team possesses extremely solid fundamental skills. In the moments when Oikawa Tetsu is unable to pass the ball, anyone can transform into a competent setter.

Oikawa Toru jumped from the highest point.

In front of him stood a double barrier formed by Hinata Shoyo and Tsukishima Kei.

Hinata has excellent jumping ability, and Tsukishima has amazing height. The combination of these two is like an impenetrable fence in front of the net.

But in Oikawa Tetsu's eyes, this fence has a fatal logical flaw.

Hinata was too eager to block, and his center of gravity tilted slightly inward; Tsukishima, though calm, created a tiny side gap the moment his hands came together in order to match Hinata's rhythm.

Oikawa Tetsu paused almost imperceptibly in mid-air. Instead of going head-to-head, he flicked his wrist outwards at the moment of contact with the ball.

The volleyball grazed the edge of Tsukishima Hotaru's right little finger and precisely slipped into the narrow passage between the net and the marker pole.

"Thump."

The ball landed on Karasuno's sideline.

1: 2.

Oikawa Toru landed, rotated his wrist, and looked in Lu Ren's direction with a provocative "tit-for-tat" look in his eyes.

"Tsk, as expected of a max-level, fully refined BOSS, he can even exploit such a small loophole." Lu Ren shook his hand and retreated to his defensive position.

It's Qingcheng's turn to serve.

Matsukawa Kazushige stood on the service line; he was a guy with an extremely cunning playing style.

The ball was served with strong backspin, landing between Karasuno's first and second positions.

Lu Ren stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and steadily lifted the ball with a standard passing motion.

"Kageyama!"

Tobio Kageyama didn't even need to look back; his control over the ball allowed him to instantly appear below the landing point.

He glanced at the net.

Tanaka Ryunosuke roared and charged forward. Aoki's defense reacted extremely quickly; Matsukawa, Kindaichi, and Hanamaki quickly closed in, forming an "iron wall" in front of Tanaka.

"Go to hell!!"

Tanaka drew his bow fully in mid-air, facing a three-man net, he showed no fear and directly chose the most violent straight smash.

"Snapped!"

The ball slammed heavily into the opponent's blocker's hand.

"Touch!" Kanedaichi shouted.

After being blocked and cushioned by the net, the volleyball bounced high into the air. Aoki's libero, Watari Chikaharu, was like a blue lightning bolt, diving to the side and rescuing the ball before it hit the ground.

"Oikawa-san!"

The ball flies towards the net.

Oikawa Tetsu jumped while running, his movement was very deceptive, it looked like he was going to make a second attack, but the moment his fingers touched the ball, he sent a back pass to the back.

Kindaichi Yutaro.

This middle blocker, who was once "dominated" by Kageyama, is now showing his most primal fangs under Oikawa Toru's set ball.

Kindaichi's height advantage came into play at this moment, and he jumped over Karasuno's three-man block.

"Stop him!" Daichi Sawamura commanded from the back row.

But Qingcheng's teamwork on that play was too smooth.

Kindaichi was not blocked, and he completed a powerful spike at the highest point.

"Bang!"

The ball slipped through the gaps in the net and hit the floor.

1: 3.

Karasuno's initial advantage is being eroded little by little.

"Don't worry about it, we'll get the next ball back!" Daichi Sawamura clapped his hands, took the ball from his teammate, and walked towards the service area.

Daichi's serve was as steady as ever. The volleyball flew along the baseline towards Aokiji's backcourt, and Kunihiro received the ball expressionlessly.

Oikawa Tetsu once again took control of the attack.

He glanced at Iwaizumi Ichi beside him.

That was his most trusted partner, and the true soul and core of Qingcheng.

Oikawa's pass was extremely fast and had a certain amount of lead time, forcing Iwaizumi to shoot at the highest point.

Without any hesitation, Iwaizumi stretched his body in the air, avoiding Tsukishima's effective blocking area, and delivered a powerful diagonal spike.

2: 3.

Qingcheng pursued them fiercely.

The whistle blew, and Karasuno requested a substitution.

Nishitani Yu hopped onto the field, replacing Tsukishima Kei, who had been rotated to the back row.

"Leave the guard duty to me!" Nishiya shouted, patting his thigh.

On the Qingcheng side, Guo Jianying stood on the service line.

This guy, whom Lu Ren described as an "energy-saving enthusiast," had an unusually tricky serve. He served a float serve, and the ball suddenly sank after crossing the net.

west Gu Xi's eyes narrowed, and her body shot out like a spring, her hands scooping upwards.

"Nice catch!"

Kageyama Tobio quickly took his position.

At this moment, Hinata Shoyo had already begun that reckless lateral sprint.

"Is it that move again?" Oikawa Tetsu stared intently at Hinata's footsteps.

No matter how many times he watched it, this kind of fast attack that completely disregards physical exertion and logic always seemed extremely reckless to him.

But acting recklessly often means being unpredictable.

Kageyama's pass precisely found Hinata's highest point.

"Drink!"

Hinata waved his arms in mid-air with his eyes closed (or instinctively), and the volleyball, like a streak of light, landed directly deep in Aoki's half of the court.

2: 4.

Hinata landed and excitedly gave Kageyama a high-five, although Kageyama dodged it with a look of disgust.

"Seriously, even if I see this ball a hundred times, it still seems unscientific," Lu Ren complained, but he couldn't hide the smile in his eyes.

Only this chaotic rhythm can disrupt Qingcheng's precise, clock-like operation.

Karasuno makes a substitution.

Higashimine Asahi replaced Hinata.

As Karasuno's ace, the first thing Higashimine Asahi does after entering the game is serve.

He took a deep breath, tossed the ball, and jumped.

"boom!"

This powerful jump serve carried an astonishing tail force, directly shaking off the defender's defensive range. Unfortunately, Watari Chikaharu's basic skills were too solid, and he managed to head the ball up with his chest.

"Got it! Oikawa!"

Oikawa Toru calmly observed from the net.

Kindaichi has jumped again.

This time, Karasuno was smarter. Tanaka, Kageyama, and Higashimine Asahi formed a three-man defensive line, ready for battle.

Kindaichi looked at the three large hands in front of him, a ruthless glint in his eyes.

Oikawa's pass was a little higher than before.

Kindaichi soared higher in the air, his hitting point even exceeding the tip of the blocker's hand!

A powerful spike!

The volleyball traced an exaggerated arc, soaring over the block and heading straight for the backcourt.

"Oops!"

Just as the ball was about to hit the ground, an orange figure slid across the floor.

west Guxi!

He used a near-self-destructive leap to lift the ball less than five centimeters off the ground.

"It's not over yet!" Nishiya shouted.

The ball flew towards the front row.

Kageyama Tobio adjusted his center of gravity the instant he landed and strode towards the landing point.

At the same time, Lu Ren, who was originally in the back row, had already started his running start.

Instead of taking the conventional receiving route, he used the positioning and cover provided by Higashikazu Asahi and Tanaka to draw a huge arc from the right wing, directly shaking off Aoki's marking players.

"Kageyama!"

Lu Ren's voice rang out from in front of the net.

Kageyama's pass appeared in front of Riku Ren at just the right moment.

Height, speed, rotation—all perfect.

Lu Ren felt that long-lost "mental tension" in the air.

He glanced at Kindaichi and Oikawa Tetsu, who were rushing over to cover him, and a restless smile crept onto his lips.

"Since you guys like using physics cheats, I'll give it a try too."

Lu Ren did not choose to dunk with all his might in the air.

At the moment he touches the ball, there is an extremely subtle tremor in his wrist, concentrating all the power of his body into his fingertips.

The volleyball didn't fly out in a straight line, but with a strange side spin, drawing a tiny arc in the air, just avoiding Oikawa Tetsu's outstretched fingertip, and slamming heavily into the blind spot of Aoki's number one position.

"Bang!"

2: 5.

The entire stadium was silent for a second, then Karasuno's supporters erupted in deafening cheers.

Lu Ren landed, dusted off his hands, and looked at Oikawa Tetsu opposite him.

"Sorry, I slightly adjusted the trajectory of this ball."

As Oikawa Tetsu looked at number 13, who stood on the other side of the net with a lazy expression but sharp eyes, he had a strong premonition for the first time.

This guy is even more troublesome than Kageyama.