Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The technical timeout always passes quickly; before Lu Ren could fully recover from the burning sensation in his lungs, the whistle blew again throughout the stadium.

"Let's go." Daichi Sawamura clapped his hands, his voice a little hoarse but with an undeniable sense of composure.

The players from both sides returned to the court. On the scoreboard, the red numbers 15:13 were slightly glaring under the lights. Karasuno led by two points, but this slight advantage was as thin as a windowpane that could be torn at any moment in the face of Shiratorizawa's absolute power.

In the service area, Wakatoshi Ushijima bent down and picked up the volleyball from the ground.

Lu Ren stood in the back row, his gaze fixed on the man's shoulder, beyond the net. In Lu Ren's mental model, Ushijima Wakatoshi's "fatigue level" should have already accumulated to over 60%. The numerous powerful spikes in the previous set and the repeated back-and-forth battles at the start of this set should have exhausted this numerical monster's stamina.

"Statistically, the ball's speed will decrease by 3% to 5%." Lu Ren thought to himself, his feet slightly apart, his center of gravity extremely low, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, ready to move at any moment.

Ushijima Wakatoshi took a deep breath and tossed the ball.

Run-up, jump.

The movements were still as precise as a CG animation in a textbook, with each muscle group exerting its force just right.

"Bang!"

The volleyball was struck hard by that left hand, and the sound was not a crisp bounce, but a dull thud, like a heavy hammer hitting raw cowhide.

The ball traveled straight, heading directly for Lu Ren's defensive area.

"I saw it clearly." Lu Ren's pupils contracted slightly.

This serve didn't have much sidespin; it was a pure power jump serve. Lu Ren judged the landing point, turned sideways, and brought his arms together, preparing to use a power-reducing technique to send the ball back into the air.

However, the moment the volleyball touched his arm, Lu Ren's expression changed.

weight.

too heavy.

That wasn't a ball; it was a solid lead ball, radiating intense heat. The calculated angle for deflecting the impact crumbled instantly under that absolute force. The volleyball slammed into Lu Ren's radius bone with a dull thud that made your teeth ache, before bouncing backward at an almost insane speed.

Lu Ren tried to close his arms to save her, but his arms went numb for a second.

The volleyball flew in a very high arc, went out of bounds, and crashed heavily onto the railing at the edge of the stands.

The referee blew the whistle, and Shiratorizawa scored.

15: 14.

Lu Ren stood there, staring blankly at his hands. His hands throbbed with pain, and an unnatural flush quickly rose to his skin.

"Hey, Lu Ren, are you alright?" west Gu Xi ran over from the side and glanced at his arm.

Lu Ren shook his hand, his brows furrowing into a knot, and muttered under his breath, "Something's not right. These numbers are wrong."

"What?" Nishiya didn't hear clearly.

"His serves are even heavier than at the start of the game." Lu Ren looked up at Ushijima on the other side of the net. "His movements started to show slight lag in the latter half of the last game. Logically, his stamina should be declining now. Why... why are his stats still going up?"

Lu Ren's logical chain began to tangle. This completely contradicted the "rules of the game" he had constructed. In a balanced game, a BOSS usually enters the second phase by sacrificing defense for attack, or by having obvious mechanic weaknesses. But the Ushijima Wakatoshi before him gave him the feeling that he was in his growth phase.

Yes, in this intense final match, in this physically demanding third game, this man was still getting stronger.

"Is he really human?" Lu Ren chuckled self-deprecatingly. It felt like you'd finally managed to whittle down a boss's health bar to half, only for the boss to suddenly level up on the spot, even raising its level cap significantly.

On the other side of the net, Ushijima Wakatoshi stood expressionless at the baseline.

He showed no joy at this point. His gaze swept over everyone in Karasuno.

This was the strangest team he had encountered in Miyagi Prefecture in the past three years.

They lacked the absolute hierarchical structure of Shiratorizawa, and the precise teamwork of Aoba Josai. They were like a group of freaks forcibly molded together, each surviving on the field in an almost absurd way.

The ridiculously short Hinata Shoyo, the wicked yet extremely rational Tsukishima Kei, and the number 13 who always looked at the court with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Very interesting," Ushijima thought to himself.

This constantly changing attack pattern and this relentless defensive mechanism did put some pressure on Shiratorizawa. But it was only a slight pressure. In Ushijima's view, all mechanisms would eventually collapse in the face of absolute numerical power.

He serves again.

This time, Karasuno's defensive line clearly retreated half a step. Nishitani Yu took the initiative to take over a large defensive area.

"Bang!"

It was that same dull, rumbling sound again.

The ball was incredibly fast, heading straight for Nishiya's chest. Nishiya let out a low growl, his legs planted firmly on the ground like nails, his hands clasped together, and in that instant, he executed a perfect passing motion.

The ball has been caught.

But the spin and power were too strong. Although Nishiya dissipated most of the force, the ball did not fly towards Kageyama's position. Instead, it flew straight over the net and back to Shiratorizawa's half of the court.

"A chance!" A cheer erupted from Shiratorizawa's bench.

Kageyama Tobio and Tsukishima Kei immediately lowered their center of gravity at the net, preparing to form the first line of defense.

Kenjiro Shirabu didn't hesitate. Now that the ball was back, they would resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

He didn't even look at Udo Island, and simply stretched his hand into the air.

Like a mantis pouncing on its prey, Tendo Kaku had already leaped into the middle. His large, somewhat eerie eyes were fixed on the trajectory of the ball, and a slightly unsettling smile played on his lips.

"Hey, got you guys!"

Tendo waved one hand in the air.

It wasn't a pass, it was a direct spike.

The volleyball swept past Kageyama's fingertips and slammed heavily onto the central axis of the Karasuno floor.

15: 15.

Share equally.

The Shiratorizawa support group inside the venue erupted in a unified shout, so loud that the ceiling seemed to tremble.

The atmosphere on Karasuno's side became somewhat tense. Their initial two-point lead was completely wiped out by Ushijima's serve in less than a minute.

"Don't worry about it! Get the next ball back!" Daichi Sawamura shouted, trying to calm his teammates down.

Lu Ren took a deep breath and rubbed his slightly numb arm again. He glanced at Ying Shan, whose face was as cold as ice and whose eyes revealed a fierce, defiant spirit.

"Kageyama, don't rush the counterattack, stabilize the first pass first," Lu Ren reminded him.

Kageyama nodded without saying anything.

Wakatoshi Ushijima stepped up to serve for the third time.

The entire arena fell silent. The pressure of scoring consecutive points was enough to break the mentality of an ordinary high school student.

Throw the ball, jump.

Lu Ren knew that the ball would most likely go to him or Dongfeng. Nishitani's impressive receiving ability would likely provoke Ushijima to take on a stronger challenge, or he might simply choose to avoid the libero altogether.

Sure enough, the ball, with a sharp whooshing sound, slammed into Lu Ren's side and back again.

Lu Ren determined that it was a ball that was just touching the line. He didn't back down, but forced his way over, trying to cushion the impact with the muscles on the side of his body.

"Bang!"

The moment the ball hit his arm, Lu Ren felt as if his bones had been electrocuted. That feeling of helplessness and frustration washed over him again.

The ball flew away.

It flew very far, crossing the sideline and crashing into the water bottle rack next to the referee's table.

15: 16.

Shiratorizawa overtook him.

Lu Ren stood there, stunned, staring at the volleyball bouncing on the ground.

This was the first time he had felt this sense of powerlessness. In previous matches, whether it was Oikawa Tetsu's precision or Futakuchi Kenji's ironclad defense, he could find a way to break through them through "mechanism analysis".

However, Wakatoshi Ushijima's current performance has gone beyond the scope of "mechanism".

This is pure numerical suppression.

It's like you're fully equipped and going to a dungeon, only to encounter a world boss with stats ten times higher than yours. No matter how skillful you are at maneuvering, the boss can easily take away half your health with just a light touch.

"It's not over yet." Hinata Shoyo ran over and patted Rikuren on the back.

His grip was so strong that it jolted Lu Ren back to his senses.

"Lu Ren, your expression is awful, like you ran into Kageyama in the bathroom without toilet paper." Hinata grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.

Kageyama roared from the side, "Hyuga, are you looking for death?!"

Looking at these two lively characters, Lu Ren felt a slight relaxation in his tense state.

"Yeah, it's not over yet." Lu Ren glanced down at his arm.

Since the numerical values ​​are suppressed, the only option is to use more extreme mechanisms to offset them.

The ensuing match turned into an extremely fierce and protracted battle.

Karasuno attempted to disrupt Shiratorizawa's defense through frequent positional changes using the "Chimera" tactic, and Hyuga's freak fast break did indeed score a few points. Kageyama also tried to break through Tendo Satoru's defense with second-chance points and feint passes.

But Shiratorizawa's resilience exceeded everyone's expectations.

Or rather, Ushijima Wakatoshi's stability is terrifying.

No matter how exquisite the teamwork is from Karasuno, as long as the ball gets to Ushijima, he can forcefully take back the points with a simple straight or diagonal spike.

Kenjiro Shirabu also became unusually calm. He no longer tried to compete with Kageyama, but instead, like a precise ball-feeding machine, repeatedly sent the ball to Ushijima's most comfortable height.

The score came to 18:21.

Karasuno are down by three points.

Lu Ren returned to the front row. His physical strength had reached its limit, and every jump felt like his legs were filled with lead.

"block!"

Facing Ushijima's smash, Tsukishima and Rikuren jumped together.

Ushijima made an extremely slight adjustment in mid-air. He looked at the two men's hand gestures, and at the last moment, his left arm slammed down, striking the edge of Tsukishima's fingers.

The volleyball deflects and flies towards the backcourt.

Nishiya made a desperate save, his fingertips touching the ball, but it still bounced out of bounds.

19: 22.

Every member of Karasuno was panting heavily. Sweat dripped from their faces onto the floor, making a pattering sound.

"Is this... the king of Miyagi Prefecture?" Higashimine Asahi leaned on his knees, his eyes somewhat unfocused.

This feeling of being completely suppressed was even more suffocating than when they lost the first game. Back then, they still had backup plans and tactics they hadn't used. But now, they had pulled out all the weapons at their disposal, yet they still couldn't budge that mountain.

In the final few points, Shiratorizawa played extremely steadily.

Wu Segong completed a beautiful diagonal spike from the wing, scoring his 23rd point.

Subsequently, Tendo Satoru anticipated Kageyama's passing intention at the net and single-handedly blocked Tanaka's spike.

20: 24.

Shiratorizawa's point.

The shouts from the stands had become a continuous roar: "Shiratorizawa! Go! Shiratorizawa! Go!"

The last goal.

Oohira Shion serves.

The ball was served very steadily, and Daichi Sawamura caught it smoothly.

Kageyama Tobio moved swiftly at the net, glancing at Hinata. Hinata had already transformed into an orange shadow, running wildly around the net.

This was Karasuno's final counterattack.

Kageyama passes the ball, and Hyuga jumps.

But Shiratorizawa's net had already formed a three-man encirclement. Tendo Satoru's eyes were fixed on Hinata's hand like a venomous snake.

"Snapped!"

The ball was intercepted and returned to Karasuno's half.

The fish leaped out of the water and was rescued.

Lu Ren rushed up from the back row. Instead of passing the ball, he used his momentum to jump and try to launch a second attack at the net.

His movements were so quick that they even fooled Bai Bu.

But Ushijima Wakatoshi appeared there.

The man, simply standing at the net, exuded an insurmountable sense of oppression. He stretched out his hands, blocking all of Lu Ren's spike routes.

Lu Ren gritted his teeth and tried to change his hand position.

However, the exhaustion slowed his movements by 0.1 seconds.

The volleyball struck Ushijima's palm with a crisp sound and landed vertically on Karasuno's court.

The referee whistle.

20: 25.

Shiratorizawa won the third game.

The score is now 1-2. Karasuno is once again on the brink of elimination.

The stadium was quiet for a moment, then Shiratorizawa's cheers nearly lifted the roof off.

Lu Ren landed, stumbled, and almost fell. He braced himself on his knees, gasping for air.

In his line of sight, Ushijima Wakatoshi was turning and walking towards the rest area. The man's back was still upright, and there wasn't even much sweat on it.

"He's already advanced to his final form before we've even finished defeating the second-phase boss?"

Lu Ren wiped the sweat from his face, a bittersweet smile appearing on his lips.

This kind of difficulty is what you call a challenge.

"Hey, Kageyama, Hinata." Riku straightened up and looked at his two juniors who were looking down and exuding a low-pressure aura.

"In the next round, we're going to completely crash this numerical monster's system."

Kageyama raised his head, the flame in his eyes not extinguished, but burned even brighter.

"Ah, that's exactly what I was thinking."

Hyuga clenched his fist, his voice not loud, but filled with fierce determination: "I'm going to jump higher, so high that he can't see the net."

Coach Ukai watched the group of kids from the sidelines. Although they had lost a game, the tenacity they possessed, known as "Ukai," seemed to be undergoing its final tempering under this extreme pressure.