Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

Outside the gymnasium of Karasuno High School, a cool night breeze blew. The bus engine shut off, and the doors popped open.

The sound of volleyball shoes scraping against the asphalt echoed continuously. No one complained of being tired, even though they had just gone through a life-or-death battle with Aoba City West, and their stamina should have been depleted long ago. But at this moment, an inexplicable heat permeated the air.

The stadium lights came on, reflecting a blinding white light off the wooden floor.

Ukai Shishin pulled over a tactical whiteboard, while Takeda Ittetsu was organizing a thick stack of documents beside him.

"Sit down." Without saying a word, Wu Yang slapped a photo onto the center of the whiteboard.

In the photo, Wakatoshi Ushijima, wearing a white and purple jersey, is jumping high into the air. His muscles are stretched to the limit, and you can almost smell the brutal destructive power through the paper.

"Shiratorizawa." Ukai drew a heavy black circle next to the photo with a marker. "The absolute champions of Miyagi Prefecture. We met them in the finals last time, and the result... I don't need to say more about the third-year students."

Sawamura Daichi remained silent. Higashimine Asahi subconsciously clenched his wrist. Sugawara Koji stared at the grain of the floor.

0:2.

It was a massacre that left no room for retaliation. Ushijima Wakatoshi's left-handed heavy artillery smashed the defenses that Karasuno had painstakingly erected into pieces.

"That guy's spikes are powerful, he's left-handed, and they have a strong right spin." Uo wrote a few keywords on the whiteboard. "His standard receiving motion means the ball will fly straight into the stands if it hits him. Their tactical system is extremely simple and brutal: the first pass is accurate, then it goes to the setter, who then passes to Ushijima. No matter if you're using a double block or a triple block, Ushijima will just overpower you."

This tactic is known throughout the county; it's no secret. But knowing it is one thing, and being able to defend against it is another.

"coach."

A voice suddenly came from the corner.

Wu Yang stopped writing and turned to look.

Lu Ren sat cross-legged on the floor, his back ramrod straight. Normally, during meetings, this guy would always find a corner to lean against, or prop his chin up with a volleyball, his eyes looking like he hadn't slept at all. Today, he was a completely different person.

His eyes were wide open, and a few blood vessels were even visible in the retina, looking frighteningly bright. His fingers tapped rapidly on his knees, making a soft "tap-tap" sound. It was his habit of warming up before playing challenging rhythm games or preparing for high-speed maneuvers.

"What's wrong?" Uyang asked.

"Isn't this a typical berserk boss?" Lu Ren stood up and took two steps to the whiteboard.

He snatched the marker from Uyang's hand and, with two quick strokes, drew a long blood bar above the head of Udo's photo.

"Shiratorizawa's system, translated into game terminology, is 'four protect one'." Lu Ren turned to face everyone, speaking rapidly with barely suppressed excitement, "Ushijima Wakatoshi is the only one with extremely high DPS, and everyone else is a support and healer. They don't need complicated positioning or varied tactics; as long as Ushijima can attack, they can deal tons of damage."

Hotaru Tsukishima pushed up her glasses, her brows furrowing. "So? How do you plan to defend against this kind of unreasonable harm?"

"We can't defend against it," Lu Ren replied confidently, without even a stutter.

The entire team stood frozen in place.

"Trying to defend head-on is suicide." Lu Ren jabbed the whiteboard a few times with a marker. "Our front-row blockers can't compete with him in either height or strength. Forcing a block will only cause our defense to collapse faster."

"Then what the hell are you talking about!" Tanaka Ryunosuke jumped up and down in frustration.

"What's the rush?" Lu Ren grinned, revealing a chilling smile.

Seeing this expression, Qingze Yazhi silently took a half step back. She was all too familiar with this state. Lu Ren used to act exactly like this when he relentlessly fought those hidden bosses in the game that no one in the entire server could defeat.

This is the kind of fervor that a hardcore gamer experiences when faced with the ultimate challenge, a fervor etched into their DNA.

"If we can't beat them head-on, we'll use debuffs." Lu Ren tossed the marker back to Uo, walked up to Tsukishima, and patted him on the shoulder. "Tsukishima, you'll be our main tank tomorrow."

Tsukishima slapped his hand away in disgust: "Speak like a human."

"Your mission isn't to stop Ushijima from dying," Lu Ren said, staring directly at Tsukishima. "You're here to disgust him."

"Nausea?"

"Right. Soft block." Lu Ren mimicked a blocking motion with his hands, deliberately tilting his palms back. "Don't try to force it; use your hand shape to cushion the power of his spike, or block the straight shot and force him to hit a cross-court shot. You have to stick to him like glue. If he jumps, you jump too. If he spikes, even if you can't block it, you have to touch the ball."

Lu Ren turned around and pointed to Nishitani Yu and Sawamura Daichi in the back row.

"Then, it's our back line." Lu Ren's voice echoed in the hall, carrying a seductive magic. "Tsukishima will restrict the power and trajectory of the ball in front, while Nishiya and the captain will receive the ball in the back. If they can't catch it the first time, they'll try again. If they can't catch it the second time, they'll try a third time."

"We're going to drag Shiratorizawa's prized 'one-hit kill' strategy into a quagmire of hand-to-hand combat."

Lu Ren walked back to the tactics board and looked at the photo of Ushima Island.

"Even if he's made of iron, his stamina has its limits. His patience will wear thin, his rhythm will be disrupted. That's when mistakes will occur."

The stadium was completely silent.

Everyone was frantically trying to digest this theory. It turned volleyball into a pure war of attrition, using extremely precise defensive positioning to gamble on the opponent's key player making a mistake.

"This requires extremely high tactical execution and a high margin for error." Wu Yangxi stroked his stubble and said in a serious tone, "Once the block fails to restrict the ball's trajectory, the back row simply doesn't have time to react."

"So we need 'Chimera'." Lu Ren turned his head, his gaze fixed on Kageyama Tobio and Hyuga Shoyo. "We're suffering on defense, but on offense, we'll make them suffer even more."

"Kageyama, Hinata."

The two looked up at the same time.

"In tomorrow's match, push the speed of the 'weird's fast break to the limit." Lu Ren pointed at them. "Don't worry about where the opponent's block is, just run. Hyuga, you need to become the most annoying fly on the court, tearing Shiratorizawa's blockers to shreds. Kageyama, your passes need to be like guided missiles; no matter where we are, the ball must be delivered."

Kageyama Tobio stood up, a black flame burning in his eyes: "What Oikawa-senpai couldn't do, I will do."

"No, you need to go even further," Lu Ren corrected him. "What we're going to do is launch a multi-position, indiscriminate attack. Higashimine-senpai's backcourt, Tanaka's diagonal runs, even my and Sugawara-senpai's second-chance points. We're going to completely overload Shiratorizawa's defensive system!"

Lu Ren became more and more excited as he spoke, pacing back and forth in place, waving his hands unconsciously.

"Just imagine! Dragging that arrogant, absolute king into the mire, bit by bit. Watching his proud power being neutralized by our mechanics, watching Shiratorizawa's boring single-core tactics turn into a pile of waste paper in front of our 'Chimera'! Isn't that the best game-clearing experience?!"

"We're going to get the first kill! The only first kill in Miyagi Prefecture!" Lu Ren slammed his fist into his palm, making a dull thud.

"This guy's broken," Hotaru Tsukishima commented aptly.

"Lu Ren!" Hinata Shoyo was completely ignited, leaping up as his orange hair swayed wildly under the light. "First kill! We have to get the first kill! Defeat the Great Demon King!"

"Idiot, stop making a fuss!" Sawamura Daichi grabbed Hinata's head and pressed it down.

But when he turned around, Daichi's expression changed. The usually composed and serious captain grinned, revealing an extremely fierce smile.

"However, dragging the king into the mire... does sound exciting." Dadi released his grip and looked around the arena.

Higashimine Asahi clenched his fist. Nishitani Yu slapped her thigh hard, making a crisp sound. Tanaka Ryunosuke had already started taking off his shirt, preparing to run laps to release his energy.

Wu Yangxi looked at the group of unruly brats and shook his head helplessly.

"That's roughly the tactic." Wu Yang regained control of the conversation. "Lu Ren's approach is extreme, but against Shiratorizawa, conventional tactics won't work. Tomorrow, Tsukishima will be the core of the blocking, while Nishiya and Daichi will stabilize the back row. On the offensive end, Kageyama will be in charge of all the coordination, and Lu Ren will be ready to cover and support at any time."

"Understood!" the whole team shouted in unison.

"Alright, get back to sleep. Anyone who can't get up tomorrow will have to play a practice match against the head of student affairs." Wu Yang waved his hand, announcing the end of the session.

The group dispersed and went to pack their backpacks.

Qingze Yazhi walked to Lu Ren's side and handed him a bottle of water.

"You're acting very strange today," Ya-zhi said, looking at him. "Usually, when you encounter trouble, your first reaction is to find a way to shirk responsibility. Why are you taking on the most tiring work today?"

Lu Ren unscrewed the bottle cap, took a big gulp of cold water, and forcibly suppressed the heat in his heart.

"You don't understand." Lu Ren squeezed the water bottle so hard it cracked. "That's Ushijima Wakatoshi. One of the top three bosses in the entire server. You can't even encounter a monster like that normally, even if you pay for a ticket. Now he's right in front of me. I won't be able to sleep tonight unless I skin him alive."

Ya-zhi rolled her eyes: "You're just being dramatic. If someone breaks your ribs with a volleyball tomorrow, I'm not going to be responsible for carrying you back."

"Don't worry." Lu Ren tossed the empty water bottle precisely into the trash can. "My movement skills are the best in the entire server."

Kageyama Tobio walked over with his bag on his back and stopped in front of Riku.

"I won't give in to you for tomorrow's toss," Kageyama declared expressionlessly.

"I couldn't be happier." Lu Ren met his gaze. "You'd better make the rumors even more outrageous. The more chaotic the situation, the more fun I have."

Hinata suddenly appeared from the side and grabbed Kageyama by the neck: "Kageyama! Tomorrow we're going to use the fastest fast break! We'll shake them all off!"

"Let go! You idiot! Your neck is going to break!" Kageyama struggled to pull Hinata's arm away.

The noisy stadium gradually quieted down.

Lu Ren walked last and turned off the headlights.

As darkness fell, he glanced back at the empty court. The net posts stood silently.

Tomorrow, this place will become a battlefield.

A clash between mechanics and numerical values, a battle between teams and individuals.

Lu Ren loosened his collar, letting the night wind rush into his clothes. His heart was pounding, not from nervousness, but from extreme hunger.

"Shiratorizawa..."

Lu Ren murmured the name, as if savoring a grand meal about to be served.