Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The referee's whistle pierced the air of Sendai Gymnasium.

Tadashi Yamaguchi stood in the service court, volleyball in his hand, palms sweaty. He took a deep breath, tossed the ball into the air, took a run-up, and jumped. His palm struck the lower-middle part of the ball, without applying any spin.

The volleyball is like a drunken ghost; its trajectory suddenly becomes erratic after it crosses the net.

In the back row of Shiratorizawa, libero Hayato Yamagata lowered his stance, his eyes fixed on the irregularly moving ball. Just as the ball was about to fall, he took a half-step forward, clasped his hands together, and pushed it upwards.

"Pass it in place!" Yamagata shouted.

Kenjiro Shirabu quickly moved forward. His movement was fluid and precise, with his hands raised in front of his forehead. The Karasuno defenders at the net immediately tensed up.

Tendo Satoru cut in from the left with incredible speed. His exaggerated and deceptive jump drew the attention of Karasuno's middle blocker, Tsukishima Hotaru. Tsukishima's muscle memory reacted before her brain could process it, and she jumped in response.

But at the moment his wrist touched the ball, he didn't pass it to Tendo. The volleyball flew from his fingertips, tracing a slightly concealed flat arc, heading towards a position behind Tendo.

Time difference attack.

Ushijima Wakatoshi had already completed his run-up. Using Tendo's leap as cover, he took off the moment Tsukishima began to fall. His left-handed cannon shot opened in the air and swung heavily down at the volleyball.

Tsukishima gritted his teeth in mid-air, forcibly stretching out his arm to try and reach the ball, but he was half a beat too late.

The ball, accompanied by a heavy gust of wind, grazed Tsukishima's fingertips and slammed onto the floor of Karasuno's half of the field with a dull thud that made your teeth ache.

The scoreboard flips. Shiratori Sawa 16:14 Karasuno.

A beep sounded indicating a technical pause.

The players from both sides walked to the sidelines. In Karasuno's rest area, the atmosphere was somewhat somber. Facing a team like Shiratorizawa, who maximized individual skill, every point lost added a heavy psychological burden.

Coach Ukai, holding a tactics board, quickly drew lines on it: "The defensive formation needs to be tightened up a bit more. Although we've limited Ushijima's diagonal spikes, his hang time is too long, so his straight spikes are still very powerful. The front row's blocking must leave enough space for the back row to react."

Lu Ren took a sip of water from the kettle, glancing at Tsukishima Hotaru standing to the side.

Tsukishima wiped his sweat with a towel, his movements much slower than usual. His eyes, hidden behind his sports glasses, weren't on the tactics board, but fixed on the floor, his brows furrowed. The guy who usually talked about "passing the test" and wanted to avoid trouble was now clearly engaged in some kind of high-intensity mental calculation.

Lu Ren walked over, leaned back on the bench, and said casually, "What's wrong? Your armor's durability's almost gone? Can't repair it and you want to surrender? Are you giving up? After all, it's just a club activity."

Tsukishima stopped wiping his sweat. He turned his head and looked at Lu Ren.

There was no retort as usual, nor that habitual sneer. Tsukishima's expression was unusually serious. He draped a towel around his neck and lowered his voice.

"I have an idea," Tsukishima said, looking into Rikuren's eyes. "Can you support me?"

Lu Ren raised an eyebrow. This wasn't like Tsukishima usually. He straightened up, abandoning his playful demeanor, and gestured for Tsukishima to continue.

Tsukishima leaned closer and spoke quickly in a voice only the two of them could hear.

Lu Ren didn't answer immediately after listening. He lowered his head, quickly recalling the positioning data of both sides, Ushijima's spiking habits, and the margin for error of this tactic. This was equivalent to abandoning defense to gamble on a fatal counter-attack in the BOSS's berserk state. The risk was extremely high.

A few seconds later, Lu Ren raised his head and met Tsukishima's gaze.

"Okay." Lu Ren tossed the kettle onto the chair. "I'll do my best."

The timeout is over, and everyone is on the court.

Shiratorizawa serves. Ohira Shion stands at the baseline and hits a solid overhand float serve.

Sawamura Daichi slid in from the back row, lowering his center of gravity to its lowest point, and steadily cushioned the ball with both hands. "Kageyama!"

Kageyama Tobio ran into position, his gaze sweeping across the net. Tanaka Ryunosuke had already set up his stance on the left wing. Kageyama pushed the ball with both hands, sending it precisely to Tanaka's hitting point.

Tanaka roared and swung his arm for a powerful dunk.

But Shiratorizawa's defense was incredibly resilient. Yamagata Hayato made a diving save, managing to revive the powerful spike from the edge of the floor. The volleyball bounced high into the air.

"White cloth!" Yamagata shouted.

Kenjiro Shirabu took control of the ball three meters from the net. Without any hesitation, and without even looking at the positions of the other attackers, he once again sent the ball to the right wing with both hands.

Ushijima Wakatoshi took a running start. The floorboards creaked in protest.

Karasuno's front row formed a double block. Ushijima forcefully twisted his waist in mid-air, avoiding the frontal block, and hit the ball towards the outside of the blocker's arm. The volleyball struck Tanaka's forearm and bounced out of bounds.

The thug went out of bounds.

Shiratorizawa 17:14 Karasuno. The point difference widened to three points.

Coach Uyang gestured from the sidelines: Substitution.

Lu Ren walked to the sidelines with his number plate in hand. Following the rotation and tactical arrangements, Nishitani Yuu was substituted, and Lu Ren, as the backcourt defensive anchor, positioned himself near the baseline.

Lu Ren stood in the back row, his gaze passing through the net and landing on Tsukishima Hotaru in the front row. Tsukishima didn't turn around, but merely twitched her fingers slightly. This was their pre-arranged signal.

Shiratorizawa serves. Goshiki Kou's powerful jump serve, with a strong downward force, slams into Karasuno's half of the court.

Lu Ren shifted his feet to the side, accurately predicting the ball's landing point. Instead of catching it head-on, he leaned back slightly, using his hands to absorb most of the force on the ball, and steadily passed it to the setter position.

"Great pass!"

Kageyama Tokio leaped up, holding the ball with both hands. Higashimine Asahi jumped high on the left flank, facing Shiratorizawa's double block, and delivered a powerful spike.

"Bang!"

Shiratorizawa's Shiono Ohira held his position firmly in the back row, blocking the powerful shot with both hands. The ball spun slightly, but still flew towards Kenjiro Shirabu.

"Counterattack!" White Cloth shouted, and the ball flew towards Ushijima Wakatoshi again.

This is Shiratorizawa's simplest and most unbeatable tactic: give the ball to the strongest player.

Ushijima began his run-up. Every step felt like a tickle to the nerves of the Karasuno team members. He leaped high into the air, his left arm outstretched behind him.

At the net, Tsukishima Hotaru jumped up as well.

In previous rallies, Tsukishima's blocks had primarily been soft blocks, attempting to slow down Ushijima's ball speed by touching the ball. But this time, Tsukishima's hand position changed in the air.

Instead of trying to cover Ushijima's entire hitting range, he resolutely and without reservation tilted his hands to the right, completely blocking Ushijima's best diagonal smash path.

That move was too absolute. So absolute that it left an incredibly wide, straight passage in front of the net.

For an attacker of Ushijima's caliber, such an obvious opening was nothing short of a provocation. In those fractions of a second of airtime, Ushijima's gaze caught that straight line. With a powerful thrust of his left arm, the volleyball, carrying overwhelming force, crashed down along that deliberately left-open line.

The ball moves at an extremely high speed, almost impossible to see with the naked eye.

But Lu Ren was there.

The instant Tsukishima jumped to block the diagonal line, Lu Ren had already moved to the baseline blind spot of the straight line. He knew what Tsukishima was betting on. Tsukishima was betting on Ushijima's instincts as an ace, betting that he would definitely choose this seemingly unobstructed straight line.

The volleyball came whistling in, accompanied by wind pressure.

Lu Ren did not retreat. In his mind, he broke down this heavy cannonball into pure physical data: speed, mass, and impact point. His thigh muscles were taut to the limit, his center of gravity lowered, and his hands were clasped in front of him.

"Come on, numerical monster." Lu Ren gritted his teeth.

The volleyball slammed heavily into Lu Ren's forearm. The enormous impact traveled through his bones, propelling Lu Ren backward half a meter, his shoes screeching against the floor.

But he didn't fall. His arms were locked tightly, and at the moment of contact with the ball, he completed an extremely subtle force-dissipating movement.

"It's connected!" Sugawara Koji, standing on the sidelines, suddenly stood up.

The volleyball soared high, tracing a perfect arc before landing in front of the net.

Without a second thought, Kageyama Tobio sprinted to the bottom of the net. Without even glancing at the opposing defense, he pushed the ball to the right wing with both hands.

Ryunosuke Tanaka was there. He didn't waste the counter-attack opportunity that Lu Ren had risked his life for. A run-up, a jump, a swing of the arm. The volleyball slammed into Shiratorizawa's three-meter line.

The referee blows the whistle. Karasuno scores.

Shiratorizawa 17:15 Karasuno.

Lu Ren shook his numb arm and looked at Tsukishima in front of the net. Tsukishima pushed up his glasses, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, a rare occurrence for him.

The trap has been set.

The serve went to Karasuno. Kageyama Tobio took the ball and walked towards the service area.

He twirled the volleyball in his hand, his eyes fixed on Shiratorizawa's back row. He tossed the ball, took a run-up, and jumped. Kageyama's powerful jump shot, brimming with aggression, hurtled straight towards Ohira Shion.

Shion Ohira barely managed to receive the ball, and the first pass was only halfway through.

Kenjiro Shirabu quickly made his move and adjusted. Karasuno's blockers rapidly moved towards Ushijima's direction. But at the moment of contact, Shirabu flicked his wrist, passing the ball to Satoru Tendo in the middle.

Tendou's fast attack surprised everyone.

But Tsukishima Hotaru wasn't fooled. His rational mind was working at its peak at that moment. Instead of jumping blindly, he watched Tendo's arm swing and stretched out his hands at the most precise moment.

Touching the ball with fingertips.

"One touch!" Tsukishima shouted as he landed.

The ball's speed was slowed down, and it fell into Karasuno's half.

Tobio Kageyama started again. This time, his gaze did not linger on the net.

In Shiratorizawa's half of the court, Tendo Satoru had just landed, while Ushijima Wakatoshi was still preparing for the next offensive and defensive transition. Shiratorizawa's attention was entirely focused on Tanaka and Higashimine Asahi in Karasuno's front row.

Just then, a figure suddenly started moving from the back row at the baseline.

Lu Ren.

He started his run-up from three meters out, moving at an extremely fast pace. He controlled his rhythm with the first two steps, then pushed off the ground with a powerful final step. He soared into the air like a fully drawn bow.

Kageyama Tobio's pass was released at the same time. It wasn't a regular high ball for a backcourt attack, but an extremely fast, flat-arc straight pass.

This is a killer move that they have practiced countless times in daily training but rarely use in actual combat—the back row monster fast attack.

The volleyball passed through the gap in the defense at the net and was accurately delivered to Lu Ren's outstretched right hand.

At that moment, Tendou's intuition radar went off like crazy, but it was too late for him to jump. He could only watch helplessly as the guy in the number 13 jersey slammed the ball down from mid-air.

"Bang!"

The volleyball hit the feet of the defender in Shiratorizawa and bounced towards the stands.

The referee blew his whistle again.

Shiratorizawa 17:16 Karasuno.

The point difference is now down to just one point.

After a brief moment of deathly silence, the entire Sendai Gymnasium erupted in a tremendous roar. Lu Ren landed on the floor and let out a deep breath. He looked at Shiratorizawa, whose face was ashen, on the other side of the net, and cracked his knuckles.

"The game has only just begun."