Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

Five o'clock in the morning.

The sky outside the window was a lifeless gray-blue, like a texture that had failed to be rendered by a graphics card.

Lu Ren sat at the dining table, holding a bowl of freshly cooked noodles. The rising steam made his lifeless eyes look even more glazed. At this time of day, apart from the roosters crowing and sanitation workers, the biological clocks of normal humans should be in a deep sleep.

There was no sound from the master bedroom upstairs; Comrade Lu Jianguo and his mother were fast asleep. Lu Ren slurped up a mouthful of noodles, mentally labeling this behavior as "inhumane."

The battle was over in five minutes: washing dishes and changing shoes.

The moment he pushed open the door, the cold air felt like a chilling slap, instantly raising Lu Ren's alertness level by ten percentage points.

Under the streetlights at the entrance of the courtyard, Qingze Yazhi was doing high knees as a warm-up. She was wearing a light gray tracksuit, her ponytail swaying with her movements, radiating energy. Upon seeing Lu Ren emerge, she immediately stopped, her eyes wide with the anticipation of encountering a newly spawned rare monster.

"morning."

Lu Ren pulled up his collar, trying to hide his face inside: "Hey lady, are you the system's anti-addiction guardian? 5:30, are you trying to go to the market to steal the first batch of chives?"

"Since we've decided to tackle the volleyball challenge, we need to complete all the daily quests." Yazhi ignored his complaints and pulled a folded map from her pocket. "This is today's route plan. Run around the neighborhood, then go to the riverbank, and finally meet at the Sakata Store."

Lu Ren glanced at the map, his lips twitching.

"This is called 'going around once'? This is more like a city marathon! Today is Sunday, a public holiday, a day when even God would lie down after creating man."

"Oh, really?"

Yazhi smiled and pulled a small, transparent plastic bag from her pocket, inside which was a CD. Although they were several meters apart, Lu Ren's well-trained dynamic vision still accurately spotted the Final Fantasy logo on the cover.

"About 70% of your game discs are still in my bag. This one is just one of the 'hostages'." Ya-zhi shook the bag in her hand. "If you don't want them to get scratched by 'accident' or end up being thrown to the neighbor's big yellow dog like a frisbee..."

"run."

Lu Ren immediately stood at attention, declaring righteously, "Life lies in movement. I love running the most, and I'll fight anyone who tries to stop me."

……

Ten minutes later, Lu Ren regretted it.

The morning air was fresh, but inhaling it felt like swallowing razor blades. His legs felt like lead, and every step required all his willpower. Meanwhile, Qingze Yazhi, who was clearly a girl, breathed as steadily as if she were taking a walk, and even occasionally corrected his arm swinging posture.

"Adjust your breathing, two steps for one inhale, two steps for one exhale. Don't pant like a broken bellows."

"I'm...cooling down..." Lu Ren stammered, "This is...the machine's overheat protection..."

The two turned a street corner, and ahead was a long uphill road.

Just as Lu Ren was about to request to "pause the game", a series of noisy footsteps and shouts suddenly came from above the slope.

"Rye—!!"

"Good shot! Don't stop! Sprint!"

A group of figures dressed in black sportswear rushed down the slope, looking aggressive, like a pack of wild beasts just released from their cages.

Leading the group were two bald men—no, one bald man and a short man with orange hair. Behind them followed the composed-looking Daichi Sawamura, the clean-cut-looking Koji Sugawara, and the dark-faced Tobio Kageyama, who looked like someone owed him five million yen.

Apart from Kei Tsukishima, the bespectacled guy who likes to wear headphones, almost all the main players of the Karasuno volleyball team were present.

Lu Ren stood there, stunned, even forgetting to catch his breath.

Do these people not need to sleep? Are their stamina bars locked?

"Lu Ren?"

Tanaka Ryunosuke, who was in the lead, slammed on the brakes, his shoes screeching against the asphalt. Hyuga Shoyo followed closely behind, nearly crashing into Tanaka's back.

"Oh! It's Lu Ren!" Hinata waved excitedly, her energetic appearance making Lu Ren feel a stomachache.

The main force stopped. Daichi Sawamura wiped the sweat from his forehead, revealing his signature white mouth, and his hearty smile was so bright it made you want to call the police.

"What a coincidence? You're here for a morning run too?"

Lu Ren, supporting himself on his knees, felt as if all the air in his lungs had been squeezed out: "What a coincidence... what a joke! Are you all... sleepwalking?"

"It just so happens that everyone gets up early, so we decided to go for a run together," Daichi Sawamura said casually, as if it were as ordinary as eating and drinking.

Lu Ren looked at the group of people with the eyes of someone looking at monsters.

just?

A group of high school boys, at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday, "just happened" to all be unable to sleep, "just happened" to all want to go for a run, and "just happened" to all gather together?

This is what you call a coincidence? This is clearly a server bug causing all the NPCs to spawn at the same coordinates!

"Since we've run into each other, let's go together."

Sugawara Koji walked over with a smile and casually patted Lu Ren on the shoulder. His smile was gentle, even carrying a maternal glow, but Lu Ren inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine.

"Oh, right, Lu Ren. You left in such a hurry yesterday, there's something I didn't have time to tell you."

Sugawara's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached Lu Ren's ears.

"Mr. Takeda has arranged a practice match for us. It's next Saturday."

Lu Ren had a bad feeling.

"Our opponent is one of the top four teams in the prefecture, Aoba Johsai High School." Sugawara paused, then added with a smile, "Your name is on the starting lineup. Get ready, our 'secret weapon'."

Lu Ren's brain instantly shut down.

Aoba City West? That school where the supposedly strongest setter in the prefecture plays?

Also, starting lineup?

I?

A new player who has been in the club for less than three days and has accomplished nothing except for serving errors and receiving the ball by mistake is thrown directly into this high-difficulty elite dungeon?

"Wait...wait..."

Before Lu Ren could even utter his refusal, Hyuga and Tanaka beside him exploded like rockets that had been set on fire.

"Practice match! Defeat the strong opponent!" Hinata jumped three feet high on the spot.

"Yay! Let those elite young masters see how powerful we are!" Tanaka waved his fist and let out a strange shout.

"Hyuga's gone! Whoever ends up at Sakashita Shop last has to buy you a meat bun!"

"Oh my god! I won't lose!"

The two kicked up a cloud of dust and disappeared instantly at the end of the slope. Kageyama Tobio clicked his tongue, muttered "idiot," and sped off to catch up.

"Then we'll go first." Sawamura Daichi nodded to Riku Ren and led the rest of the group to continue running.

Lu Ren stood frozen in place, like a weathered stone statue.

"First move... attack Qingye City West..." he muttered to himself, feeling as if he had just left the newbie village and been teleported to a map full of max-level monsters.

"Stop daydreaming." Yazhi waved her hand in front of his eyes. "The quest has been updated, Hero. Aren't you going to chase after it?"

Lu Ren took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and strode off: "Chase! Why not chase! I'm going to ask that Mr. Takeda if I can apply for a refund..."

……

Twenty minutes later.

The open space in front of the Sakashita Store.

Lu Ren slumped onto the grass, utterly undignified, feeling as if half his soul had already floated out of his head. Next to him, Hyuga and Kageyama were still arguing about whose toes crossed the line first; their energy was almost palpable, making one wonder if they had nuclear reactors inside them.

Daichi Sawamura is organizing everyone to stretch.

"Everyone did a great job." Sawamura clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention. "Although today's idea was impromptu, the results were excellent."

His gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on Lu Ren, who looked utterly dejected.

"Lu Ren mentioned something to me while we were running just now."

Lu Ren looked up abruptly, his face blank.

What did I mention? Apart from panting and cursing this uphill road in my heart, did I utter a single complete sentence the whole way?

Sawamura Daichi gave him that trustworthy, captain's smile: "He said, 'Since everyone is so motivated, why not make this enthusiasm a regular occurrence?' I think that makes a lot of sense."

Lu Ren's eyes widened.

Was that my exact wording?

What I said was, "Are you guys training like this every day, risking your lives?" That was a rant! It was a question! Not a suggestion!

"So," Daichi Sawamura completely ignored Riku Ren's 'Are you kidding me?' expression and continued, "From now on, unless there are special circumstances, everyone can voluntarily come here for a morning run on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday mornings. Although it's not mandatory, I believe everyone will come."

A chorus of "Oh!" echoed from the surrounding area.

Lu Ren opened his mouth, about to argue that this was a serious misinterpretation in every sense, when a hand suddenly reached out from the side.

"Since it was Lu Ren who suggested it, he will definitely be the first to sign up."

Kiyosawa Ayashi held a small notebook in her hand, smiled and made a mark on it, then gave Sawamura Daichi a thumbs up.

"From now on, I'll be responsible for making sure he arrives on time. Don't worry, Captain."

Daichi Sawamura nodded in satisfaction: "Then I'll leave it to you, Manager Kiyosawa."

Looking at the two people singing in unison, Lu Ren felt like he was a laborer who had been sold into a black coal mine and was still forced to count the money.

"Keep it up." Ya Zhi lowered her head, looked at Lu Ren who was slumped on the ground, and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "This is a hidden mission that you started yourself, so you have to finish it even if you have tears in your eyes."

The morning light filtered through the leaves, illuminating Lu Ren's face, which was etched with despair.

He glanced at Hyuga and Kageyama, who were still bickering on the side, and then at Daichi, who was discussing tactics with Sugawara.

This is not a volleyball club.

This is clearly a den of iniquity filled with bugs, cheats, and forced storylines.

"I want to load the save file..."

Lu Ren buried his face in his knees and let out a whimper like a defeated dog.