Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

In Miyagi Prefecture in December, the cold air freezes your breath into white mist.

Inside the Karasuno High School gymnasium, the screeching of sneakers rubbing against the floor mingled with the heavy thud of volleyballs hitting the ground. The numbers on the scoreboard were a glaring red.

22: 14.

On the other side of the net, Kenji Futakuchi, the captain of Date Industries, wiped the sweat from his brow and gasped for breath. He stared at the Karasuno team on this side of the net as if they were a group of completely unfamiliar monsters.

A few days ago, the Karasuno players returned to the team after finishing their individual training camps. To test their team cohesion, Coach Karasuno arranged a practice match against Date Kogyo. It was expected that facing Miyagi Prefecture's strongest "iron wall," Karasuno would need a tough fight to regain their team rhythm.

The result was a complete one-sided crushing defeat.

Hinata Shoyo mastered the "thump-style jump," significantly increasing his aerial dominance. Date Industrial's blockers often found themselves at their highest point of contact with the ball just as Hinata was landing. Tsukishima Kei brought back a more rigorous defensive strategy from the prefectural training camp, creating an impenetrable net defense. Coupled with Riku Ren's support from the back row and data analysis, Date Industrial's once-proud blocking system was riddled with holes.

They won easily. They're leading by a large margin.

But the atmosphere on the field was so oppressive that even Mr. Takeda on the sidelines kept wiping away sweat.

The problem lies with Tobio Kageyama.

"Again!" Kageyama stood in front of the net, his voice loud and somewhat hoarse.

Nishitani Yuu received Futakuchi's powerful jump serve from the back row, and the first pass was perfect. The volleyball flew steadily towards the net.

Kageyama moved into position, jumped, and touched the ball with both hands. His movements were faster than ever before; the instant his fingers flicked the ball, it became a yellow and blue afterimage, hurtling straight towards the left wing.

Dong Fengxu was taking his run-up. He had just taken his last step when the ball was already in front of his face.

It was too fast. And the arc was extremely gentle, with almost no room for it to fall.

Dong Fengxu jumped hastily, forcefully twisting his waist and abdomen in mid-air to reach the ball. His hitting point was off; his palm only grazed the edge of the volleyball.

"Bang."

The ball softly hit Aone's outstretched blocking hand and fell back into Karasuno's half of the court.

Date Industrial's score: 22:15.

Dong Fengxu landed, staggered a bit, and raised his hand apologetically: "My bad, I was a beat too slow in jumping."

Kageyama turned his head and stared at Higashimine Asahi. His eyes lacked their usual calmness, replaced by a chilling anxiety and harshness.

"Asahi-senpai, your approach run was too slow. At that height, you could have easily avoided the net if you had just sped up." Kageyama's voice was cold and hard, carrying an unyielding command.

Dong Fengxu paused for a moment, opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Lu Ren, standing in the back row, frowned. He had felt something was wrong since earlier.

This wasn't the first time Kageyama had caused trouble on the field.

From the very first set, Kageyama's passes were constantly accelerating and rising. He was like a machine set to its limits, relentlessly delivering passes of the highest difficulty.

He yelled at Hinata for not jumping decisively enough because Hinata's fast break was too slow; he also criticized Tsukishima for swinging his arm too slowly because Tsukishima failed to hit the straight shot he expected.

The "dictatorial king" who was isolated at Kitagawa No. 1 Middle School for imposing his personal will on his teammates seems to have been awakened again after training with the All-Japan Youth Team.

The game continues.

Date Kogyo serves. Sawamura Daichi receives the ball steadily, and it flies towards Kageyama again.

Hyuga cut in from the right flank, slamming his right foot heavily onto the floor. *Thump!*

He leaped into the air, reaching an unprecedented height.

Kageyama glanced at Hinata's position and threw the ball over without hesitation.

It was still that kind of fast-paced, highly oppressive pass. The ball was even three centimeters higher than Hyuga's highest hitting point.

Hinata stretched his arm out desperately in mid-air, his fingertips barely brushing the ball. The volleyball changed direction and flew directly out of bounds.

Out of bounds. 22:16.

Hinata landed, panting heavily, and shook his numb fingers.

"Hyuga, you idiot!" Kageyama strode over, looking down at him. "What's the point of jumping so high? Your arm swing is as slow as a tortoise's! What are you waiting for?"

Hyuga gritted his teeth, tilted his head back, and retorted, "You passed the ball without any pause! How am I supposed to generate power? And it was way too high!"

"That's your problem! Didn't you say you were going to break through the national defense barrier? You can't even handle this ball; you'll just be a stepping stone for others in the national tournament!"

Kageyama's words grew increasingly harsh, his tone so fiery it seemed to ignite the entire stadium.

Hotaru Tsukishima adjusted her sports glasses and sneered, "Oh dear, His Majesty has quite the upbringing since returning from his inspection tour of Tokyo. It's a pity we commoners can't keep up with your noble pace; we are truly sorry."

Kageyama abruptly turned his head, staring intently at Tsukishima: "Stop talking nonsense. If you guys can't keep up, I'll figure it out myself."

The moment those words were spoken, the air in the room froze completely.

Sawamura Daichi's face darkened, and he was about to reprimand her.

A figure moved faster than him.

Lu Ren, who was originally standing in the back row of defense, now walked directly through the front row and strode up to Ying Shan.

He didn't speak, and he didn't waste any words.

He reached out his right hand, grabbed the collar of Kageyama's black jersey, and yanked it down hard. Then, he clenched his left fist and swung his arm in a wide arc.

"Bang!"

The fist slammed solidly into Kageyama's left cheek.

A muffled thud.

Kageyama was knocked to the side, lost his balance, and fell heavily to the floor.

The stadium was deathly silent. The only sound was the soft scraping of the volleyball as it rolled into the corner.

On the other side of the net, Kenji Futakuchi and Takanobu Aone stared wide-eyed, while the entire staff of Date Industries stood there dumbfounded.

"Lu Ren!" Daichi Sawamura reacted and rushed forward. Ryunosuke Tanaka was also startled and quickly ran over to hug Lu Ren's waist, trying to pull him back.

"Let go." Lu Ren flicked his wrist, his tone eerily calm.

He didn't struggle; he just stood there, looking down at Kageyama, who was sitting on the floor in a daze.

Kageyama covered his rapidly swelling cheek, looked up, and his eyes were full of astonishment and anger.

"What are you doing?" Kageyama asked through gritted teeth.

Lu Ren sneered, took a step forward, and stared intently at Ying Shan.

"What am I supposed to do? I'd like to ask you what kind of industrial waste is in your head." Lu Ren pointed at Ying Shan's nose, "You spent a few days with the national youth team, saw some monsters with high-end equipment, and now you don't even recognize yourself?"

Kageyama wanted to stand up and refute, but Lu Ren didn't give him a chance to speak.

"You think your passing is amazing? Fast, high, avoids the block, perfect?" Lu Ren's tone was extremely fast, like a barrage of words. "Is that what you call passing? That's called dealing! You turn the parameters up to the maximum, throw the ball into the air, and then tell the attackers, 'If you can't hit it, it's your fault.'"

"I didn't!" Kageyama roared. "I'm doing this to make the offense more efficient! This speed is essential for the National Tournament!"

"Bullshit!" Lu Ren retorted mercilessly. "Do you think you're playing a single-player game? Do you think you're the creator, holding a bunch of NPCs whose stats you can change at will?"

Lu Ren broke free from Tanaka's hand, walked to the net, and patted the taut net.

"Volleyball is a six-player game. You're a setter; your job is to get the ball to the attacker's most comfortable hitting point, not to force the attacker to conform to your unrealistic fantasies!"

Lu Ren turned around and looked at Ying Shan.

"You saw Hoshino Mitsuru and Sakusho Seishin, and you felt that Karasuno's attackers were too weak and couldn't keep up with your pace. You got anxious. You wanted to forcefully raise the team's ceiling with passing."

Lu Ren's every word hit Kageyama's sore spots precisely.

"Is this what you call a tactic? This is forced overclocking! You're pushing the server to its maximum load, regardless of whether your teammates' hardware can handle it. The result is a complete system crash!"

Lu Ren walked back, squatted down, and looked directly into Ying Shan's eyes.

"Kageyama Tobio, don't be so arrogant. Attackers are living, breathing people; they have habits and their physical condition varies from day to day. If you can't even adapt to your teammates, if you don't even have the trust to entrust the ball to them, then you should go back to your throne and play by yourself. Don't disgust people here."

These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over my head.

Kageyama was stunned. The pain in his cheek was still throbbing, but the fire in his mind suddenly went out.

He recalled his days training with the national youth team. Everyone there was so strong that he didn't need to worry about the details of passing the ball; as long as he passed the ball, those monsters could use their amazing physical abilities to spiking it.

Saku once told him, "Your passing is very standard, but also very boring."

To avoid boredom and to prove he could handle a more advanced level of volleyball, he subconsciously brought the standards of the national youth team back to Karasuno. He was eager to help Karasuno evolve, but he overlooked the most fatal flaw.

The attackers here are Hyuga, Higashimine, and Tsukishima. They are not the finished monsters of the national youth team; they are a group of guys who are still learning and growing.

He used them as tools to realize his art of passing.

How is this any different from the isolated version of myself in junior high school?

Coach Wuyang stood on the sidelines, not stopping Lu Ren's performance. He knew that this psychological barrier could only be effectively broken by the players themselves.

The stadium was so quiet that only the sound of everyone breathing could be heard.

Hinata swallowed hard, mustered his courage, stepped forward, and extended his hand: "Um... Kageyama, actually, if you had just raised the arc a little bit, I could have definitely spiked that ball."

Dong Fengxu scratched his head: "I'll also speed up my approach pace. After all, to compete nationally, I really need to increase my speed."

Tsukishima turned his face away: "Don't get me wrong, I never said I couldn't hit it. It's just that your passes were too stiff."

Kageyama lowered his head, looking at the wood grain on the floor.

a long time.

He pushed himself up from the floor and slowly stood up. He didn't look at Lu Ren, nor at Hinata.

He turned around to face his five teammates on the other side of the net.

He stood with his feet together and bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle.

"sorry."

The voice wasn't loud, but it was very clear. The previous frenzy was gone, replaced by a frankness born from recognizing reality.

"I was too hasty. I didn't consider everyone's hitting points. It was my fault."

Kageyama remained bowed for a full five seconds before straightening up.

Lu Ren looked at him, took out a mint from his pocket, threw it into his mouth, and crunched it loudly.

"Have you cleared your head of all that nonsense?" Lu Ren asked.

Kageyama nodded: "It's clean."

"Alright. Let's keep fighting then." Lu Ren turned around and walked back to the back row. "Those guys from Date Industries have had enough of watching the show; it's time to get back to work."

On the other side of the net, Kenji Futakuchi's lips twitched. What kind of bizarre structure is this team? The setter goes berserk, the opposite hitter goes up and beats someone up, and then they can continue the game as if nothing happened?

The game has restarted.

Date Kogyo made a service error, and possession returned to Karasuno.

Kageyama walked to the service court, took a deep breath, tossed the ball up, ran up, and powerfully jumped to serve.

The volleyball, spinning intensely, hurtled towards Date Industrial's backcourt, where it was barely caught by the libero and went straight over the net.

Opportunity ball.

Nishitani Yuu easily lifted the ball. The volleyball flew towards Kageyama.

Kageyama moved to the net. His gaze quickly swept across the entire court.

Hinata jumps from the right wing, Higashimine takes a running start from the left, and Tsukishima provides cover in the middle.

He no longer pursued that extreme, rigid speed. He observed his teammates' footwork, breathing, and the height of their jumps.

Hinata slammed his foot on the floor with a "thud," and his body was lifted into the air.

Kageyama touched the ball with both hands. He slightly reduced the force, adding a tiny bit of hesitation to the arc of the pass.

The volleyball flew to the right wing.

Hinata stretched his body in the air. The ball no longer forced him to reach it, but stopped perfectly at his highest point of impact, as if waiting for him to swing his arm.

A perfect match.

Hinata's eyes shone brightly as he swung his right arm in a wide arc and slammed it heavily onto the volleyball.

"Bang!"

The volleyball pierced through the defense before the high-reaching net closed, and was firmly planted within the three-meter line of Date Industrial.

Score on landing. 23:16.

Hinata landed, shouted excitedly, turned around and rushed towards Kageyama, wanting to give him a high five.

Kageyama raised his hand and patted Hinata's palm. His expression remained tense, but his eyes had regained their clarity.

"I'll pass the ball even better next time," Kageyama said.

Lu Ren watched this scene from the back row, chewing the last bit of mint candy.

While increasing numerical values ​​is important, if the gears of the mechanism cannot mesh perfectly, even the highest numerical values ​​will result in a disorganized mess.

Now, this chimera team named Karasuno, after experiencing self-torn-out and re-stitching, has finally completed its final system adjustments before heading to the national stage.

"Alright." Lu Ren stretched his neck and looked at Date Industries across from him. "Warm-up complete. Let's take them down in one fell swoop."