Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The whistle blew throughout the stadium.

The referee signaled a substitution. Yuu Nishitani patted Hotaru Tsukishima on the back, and the two completed the handover on the sidelines. Ryunosuke Tanaka strode onto the court, replacing Shoyo Hinata.

"Give me the ball!" Tanaka shouted, slapping his thigh, his voice louder than the band in the stands.

The cheers for Shiratorizawa's school song were perfectly synchronized, and the sound of brass instruments echoed under the dome, creating a powerful sense of pressure.

The match continued. Both sides engaged in a high-intensity back-and-forth struggle.

As soon as Nishitani Yu entered the game, she received a straight ball from Goshiki Kou. The ball flew into the air, and Kageyama Tobio made a back pass to Higashimine Asahi. Higashimine's spike was blocked by Ohira Shion. Sawamura Daichi covered the gap to save the ball, and Riku Ren made a run from the back row and delivered a soft lob.

Tendo Satoru reacted incredibly quickly, flicking the ball up with one hand. Shirabu Kenjiro organized a counterattack, and Ohira Shione broke through Tanaka's defense to score.

In the next round, Ryunosuke Tanaka launched a strong attack on the left side, and the ball went out of bounds, winning the round.

The volleyball flew back and forth at the net, the sharp sound of shoes scraping against the wooden floor never ceasing. Karasuno kept the score close, but Shiratorizawa's ground was too stable, with an extremely high margin for error.

The scoreboard page turns. 10:7. Shiratorizawa leads by three points.

Tendou Satoru was standing in the service area.

The red-haired middle blocker tossed the ball and jumped. The movement was casual, but the ball speed was extremely tricky.

The volleyball goes over the net. Nishitani Yuu anticipates the landing point and parries it with both arms. "First pass, perfect!"

Kageyama Tobio quickly moved forward and lifted the ball with both hands. The ball flew towards the left wing.

Ryunosuke Tanaka takes a running start, jumps, and smashes the ball with a powerful swing of his arm.

Shiratorizawa's blocking reaction was extremely fast. Ohira Shion and Tendo Satoru double-teamed to block. The volleyball bounced off Tendo's fingers and rose upwards.

"One touch!" Tendou Satoru shouted as he landed.

Shiratorizawa libero Yamagata Hayato makes a diving save. He glides half a meter across the floor, sending the ball steadily towards the net.

Kenjiro Shirabu didn't even glance at the other attackers. His only task was to pass the ball to the strongest ace.

Ushijima Wakatoshi began his run-up. Each step he took on the floor carried a heavy, oppressive weight. The wooden floorboards creaked under the strain.

At the front row of Karasuno, Riku Ren, Sawamura Daichi, and Tanaka Ryunosuke quickly joined forces. Their three arms formed a barrier in front of the net.

Lu Ren stared intently at Ushijima's movements. Jump height, arm swing amplitude, hitting point. He rapidly built a model in his mind, trying to trap the left-handed player in a blind spot.

Ushima takes off. His left arm traces a full moon arc in the air. He swings his arm.

boom.

The volleyball slammed between Lu Ren's arms, which were pressed together. The force was so brutal that it squeezed through his fingers. Lu Ren felt a sharp pain in his arm bones, and his entire arm went numb from the impact. The blocking formation was completely disrupted.

Pure numerical superiority.

The ball's speed decreased, its trajectory changed, and it hit the back row of Udonno.

Nishitani Yu was right there. He lowered the chassis, pushed up with both hands, and lifted the de-stressed heavy artillery piece.

"We can still fight!" Nishiya roared.

Kageyama made another run and passed the ball to Tanaka.

Ryunosuke Tanaka jumped from the left side, avoiding Shiratorizawa's still-developing block, and smashed the ball diagonally.

The volleyball hit inside the boundary of Shiratorizawa.

The referee blew the whistle, Karasuno scored. 10:8.

Lu Ren landed on the wooden floor and shook his left hand. A large red patch on the outside of his forearm burned with pain.

He glanced down and smirked. Ushijima's basic attack damage was ridiculously high. If it weren't for the Earth's arm helping to absorb that damage, the defense line would have collapsed instantly. This kind of illogical numerical monster was designed by the game designers just to annoy players.

The referee signaled for a substitution.

Lu Ren walked to the sidelines, and Dong Fengxu gave him a high five.

"It's up to you, senior. That left-handed guy over there has an excessive strength rating, don't try to fight him head-on," Lu Ren said in a low voice.

Dong Fengxu nodded, wiped the sweat from his palms, and walked onto the court.

Meanwhile, due to rotation, Hotaru Tsukishima walked back onto the field with her number and replaced Nishinoya.

Lu Ren stood beside the bench, picked up his water bottle, and took a sip. His eyes never left the field.

Kiyoshi Aya leaned halfway out from the stands, waving an inflatable stick in her hand.

"Ah Ren, don't slack off!" Ya Zhi's voice cut through the noise of the band and reached Lu Ren's ears precisely.

Lu Ren rolled his eyes and ignored her. At this point, his brain's CPU was about to overload.

Coach Ukai walked over with a tactics board. "Is your hand alright?"

"I won't die, I'll just lose a little health." Lu Ren shook his hand. "Coach, the enemy's backline defense is pretty tough."

He stared at Hayato Yamagata across from him, his mind racing.

Strong teams all have exceptional spikers. Having trained daily with power hitters like Ushijima, Shiratorizawa's backcourt players have developed remarkable physical resilience. Receiving balls of this intensity is routine for them.

Trying to break through their defense with a conventional powerful dunk is too difficult.

"We either need to crush Ushijima head-on, or we need to bypass their defensive system. The core of the 'Chimera' tactic is random, unpredictable passing. We need to have Kageyama speed up the passing rhythm by half a beat, so fast that Yamagata Hayato won't have time to predict the landing point." Lu Ren gestured with the tactical board.

It's Karasuno's turn to serve.

Kageyama Tobio stood at the baseline, tossed the ball, and delivered a powerful jump serve.

The ball was extremely fast, with a strong downward trend.

Back row at Shiratorizawa. Yamagata Hayato took a step to the side and caught the pass steadily with both arms. Perfect first pass.

Kenjiro Shirabu ran again, passing the ball to Ushijima once more.

The tactics are simplistic, but there's no solution.

Ushijima jumps. Karasuno's front three-man block is complete again. Tsukishima, Higashimine, Tanaka.

This time, Ushima did not choose to confront the opponent head-on. Instead, he stretched his body in the air, used the hang time to observe the gaps in the net, and swung his left arm to deliver an extremely high overhand smash.

The volleyball flew over the fingertips of the three players and landed in the gap in Karasuno's back row.

11:8. The score difference widened again.

Dong Fengxu landed on the ground, looking at his hands, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead. The sense of responsibility as an ace weighed on him, and his breathing became erratic.

A loud shout suddenly came from the sidelines.

"Calm down!"

Sugawara Koji stood in front of the substitutes' bench, his hands cupped to his mouth, the veins on his neck bulging. "There's no time to fend for yourselves! What are you all afraid of!"

That voice was so loud, the whole stadium could hear it.

The referee turned his head and stared at Karasuno's bench with an unfriendly look.

Hinata Shoyo stammered in fright, "Sugawara-senpai is so scary!"

Lu Ren and Hyuga quickly grabbed Sugawara from the left and right, fearing that the usually mild-mannered vice-captain would rush onto the field.

"It's nothing, Mr. Referee, he's just a bit loud, he's cheering on his teammates." Lu Ren smiled apologetically at the referee, forcefully pulling Sugawara back, and complained in a low voice, "Vice-Captain, you're better at drawing aggro than I am, the referee's eyes are practically ready to pull out a red card for you."

Sawamura Daichi turned around on the field, wiping his sweat: "I understand. Sugawara, calm down too."

Panting, Sugawara broke free from Riku and Hyuga's grasp, sat back on the bench, and stared intently at the arena.

Karasuno's morale was somewhat boosted. Higashimine Asahi took a deep breath and patted his cheeks.

"I'm sorry to have worried everyone." Dongfeng's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a strong sense of determination.

Hotaru Tsukishima pushed up her glasses, her tone as sharp as ever: "Senpai, if you keep sweating like that, you'll make the floor slippery."

Dongfeng gave an awkward laugh.

Ryunosuke Tanaka ran over and patted Higashimine hard on the back: "Ace, show some spirit! He's just a high school student, not some three-headed, six-armed monster!"

Sawamura Daichi stood at the net, hands on his hips: "Alright, everyone concentrate. Next ball, take it back."

The match continues. It's Shiratorizawa's serve.

Goshiki stood outside the baseline, taking a deep breath. He stared at Sawamura Daichi on the opposite side. Karasuno's captain, his defense as solid as a rock. Goshiki gritted his teeth, tossed the ball, and jumped.

He wants to prove that he deserves Shiratorizawa's starting position.

The jump serve carries extremely strong spin, drawing a sharp straight line.

Daichi Sawamura shifted half a step to the side beforehand. He bent his knees and lowered his center of gravity. Just as his arms came together, the volleyball struck his forearms with a dull thud.

"Well done!" Nishitani Yu shouted from the back row.

Kageyama Tobio sprinted quickly. He didn't look at the net, but relied on his sense of his teammates' positions to catch the ball with both hands.

Hotaru Tsukishima jumped from the right side. Instead of using his full strength to dunk, he flicked his wrist and hit a tricky little cross-court shot.

Wu Segong had just served the ball, his body still in the momentum. But he instinctively lunged forward and scooped the ball up with one hand.

The ball flew high, but it missed the setter's position.

Shion Ohira burst out from the left. He didn't rush, steadily passing the ball to the right flank with both hands. The experienced outside hitter has a wealth of experience in handling and adjusting the ball.

This is a strategic adjustment, and the target is, without a doubt, Ushijima.

Ushijima Wakatoshi jumped from the left flank. His body stretched out fully in the air, like a taut, heavily drawn bow.

Karasuno's blocking was disrupted by Goshiki's save, and they were unable to organize an effective block in time.

The net is wide open.

Ushijima swung his arm. Heavy artillery fired without any obstruction.

Nishitani Yu stood in the back row, facing the spike directly. Without the buffer of the front row's block, the ball's speed was too fast for the naked eye to catch.

Nishitani lowered his body and forcefully reached out with both hands to catch it.

The volleyball hit his forearm with a dull thud, bounced out of bounds, and flew towards the second-floor stands.

Nishiya rolled over on the ground, stood up, dusted off his pants, and shouted, "Sorry, I didn't manage to hold him down!"

The referee blows the whistle. 12:8.