Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The air inside the stadium was so thick it felt like it would freeze. The second set officially began, and Inarizaki had possession.

The referee blows the whistle.

Gong You stood at the baseline, twirling a volleyball in his hand. The eight-second countdown timer ticked on the referee's stopwatch. He didn't look at the scoreboard; his gaze went through the net and locked onto Lu Ren in the back row of Karasuno.

Throw the ball, take a running start, and jump.

An arm swung through the air, leaving a blur, before the palm struck the back of the volleyball. A powerful, heavy jump serve.

The ball was extremely fast, with a strong backspin, and landed precisely on the junction between Nishinoya Yu and Sawamura Daichi. The two started moving at the same time, but hesitated for a mere tenth of a second halfway through the flight of the ball.

The volleyball hit the floor and bounced towards the stands.

Within the boundaries. Score.

1-0. Inarizaki took the lead from the start.

In the stands, Sagara crossed his arms, and the entire brass band from Inarizaki remained silent, but the invisible pressure was even more deafening than the symphony.

Lu Jianguo cracked open some sunflower seeds and spat out the shells: "This Japanese lad has a strong grip."

Grandpa Zhang nodded, stroking the brass suona in his hand: "It's even fiercer than Wang Mazi, the blacksmith in our village. Should I blow it a couple of times to cool him down?"

"Speak the rules, Lao Zhang." Lu Jianguo waved his hand, "No talking when serving, we promised them."

On the field, Gong You once again stepped onto the baseline.

This time, he changed his serving posture. He lowered the height of his ball toss and slowed down his approach run.

Jump float ball.

After the volleyball crossed the net, its trajectory became unpredictable, like a drunken butterfly. Nishitani Yu lowered her center of gravity, her eyes fixed intently on the ball's flight path. Just as the ball approached Nishitani's face, it suddenly plummeted downwards.

Nishiya was forced to use an overhand catch. The volleyball hit his fingertips, the force uneven, and bounced to the side and back.

Inarizaki scores another point. 2-0.

With two consecutive direct points from his serves, Gong You demonstrated the dominance of a top-tier setter in the country. He not only orchestrates dazzling attacks but also possesses the destructive power to single-handedly tear apart defenses.

Gong You looked at Karasuno's half of the field, his provocation undisguised.

Lu Ren wiped the sweat from his forehead, his mind racing with tactical input.

"Nishiya-senpai, take half a step back. Daichi-senpai, move the left flank towards the center." Lu Ren gave the tactical hand signals. "His next serve will most likely be aimed at me."

The third ball. As expected, Miyako once again unleashed a powerful jump serve.

The target was Lu Ren.

Lu Ren kept his feet still, lowered his center of gravity, and firmly blocked the landing point with his arms. "Bang!" The volleyball hit his forearm, and the huge impact made him take half a step back, but the ball was steadily caught.

The pass was delivered perfectly.

Kageyama Tobio quickly moved under the ball and passed it to Tanaka Ryunosuke on the right wing.

Tanaka faced Da-erlian's solo block and swung his arm for a powerful spike. Da-erlian reacted extremely quickly, his blocking hand precisely touching the bottom of the volleyball, effectively supporting it.

The ball flew high towards Inarizaki's backcourt. Libero Akagi easily flicked the ball towards the net.

Miyaji made a high-speed run from the back row and touched the ball with both hands in mid-air. It was a concealed back pass.

Ooshiro Aran leaped high on the left wing. Karasuno's blocking net quickly assembled, with Tsukishima Hotaru, Sawamura Daichi, and Kageyama Tobio forming a three-man iron wall, blocking all conventional routes.

Without pausing in the air, relying on her pure physical qualities and terrifying core strength, Wei Bai Alan forcefully smashed the ball over the three defenders' net!

The volleyball flew past Tsukishima's fingertips and slammed into the three-meter line of Karasuno Stadium with an unreasonable thud.

3:0.

Inarisaki displayed breathtaking dominance. With a sophisticated dual-core system and a top-five national-level heavy hitter like Oshiro, this team's floor was terrifyingly high.

Coach Kurosu Hōshō sat on the sidelines, his expression calm. This was Inarizaki's usual practice.

The atmosphere at Karasuno was somewhat tense. Losing three points in quick succession at the start would have caused an average team to lose their rhythm.

Lu Ren laughed. He cracked his neck a few times as he moved his shoulders.

This is the level of difficulty a game should have. If the boss breaks with a single touch, what's the point of playing cross-server dungeons?

"Kageyama, speed up!" Lu Ren shouted. "Put the accelerator all the way down!"

Karasuno's counterattack began.

Inarizaki made a service error, and possession changed hands. Karasuno then served.

Tadashi Yamaguchi was substituted on. A key player in the distribution.

Yamaguchi takes a deep breath, tosses the ball, and jumps. A jump float.

The ball headed straight for Wei Bai Alan. Wei Bai Alan received the ball and made a perfect pass.

Miya Yu jumped on one foot while running and passed the ball to Rintaro in the middle.

Hotaru Tsukishima stared intently at Kakuna. He didn't rush to reach out, but instead remained in a retracted position, waiting for Kakuna to make a move in mid-air.

Kakuna contorted his body in mid-air, attempting to evade Tsukishima's net. Tsukishima seized the opportunity, extending his arm straight upwards. Just as the net was taking shape, Kakuna's wrist flicked in an extremely uncanny way, sending out a tiny diagonal shot.

The volleyball grazed the edge of Tsukishima's arm and hit the floor.

4:1.

The ability to stay airborne and the core strength of the character are entirely a manifestation of personal ability, which is a blind spot that tactics cannot fully cover.

The game continued. Inarizaki's attacks came like a tidal wave.

The Miya brothers' fast breaks, Oshiro Aran's powerful shots, and Kakuna's unpredictable attacks relentlessly assaulted Karasuno's defense. The score reached 8-4, with Inarizaki leading by four points.

Coach Uyang stood on the sidelines without calling a timeout. He believed that the players on the court could find a way to break the deadlock themselves.

Lu Ren kept adjusting his defensive position in the back row.

"Memory overflow plan, activate." Lu Ren walked to Ying Shan's side and said in a low voice.

To disrupt Inarizaki's system, we must start with the first pass. By forcing the Sakaki brothers to constantly engage in high-intensity running and passing adjustments, their energy expenditure will increase exponentially.

It was Lu Ren's turn to serve.

He stood at the baseline, the volleyball in his hand spinning twice.

The whistle blows to serve.

Throw the ball, jump.

Not a powerful shot, nor a regular jump float. A banana kick.

The volleyball drew an extremely strange arc in the air, bypassing libero Akagi who was preparing to receive the ball, and directly hit Miyaji in the back row.

Gong Zhi hurriedly dove to save the ball, barely managing to bounce it up before it flew straight to the net.

This is a terrible ball.

Gong You was forced to jump on one foot, and at the limit of his body about to touch the net, he passed the ball to Wei Bai Alan with one hand.

Alan spikes the ball.

This time, Hotaru Tsukishima and Daichi Sawamura's double block was flawless. The volleyball hit the blocker's hands and bounced straight back to Inarisaki's half of the court.

Stop them!

8:5.

Lu Ren continued serving.

This time, he switched to using heavy artillery fire, targeting Rintaro Kakuna directly.

The player in the corner misreceived the ball, and the first pass went directly over the net.

Probe ball!

Hinata Shoyo leaped up like a spring, firmly pressing the ball into the opponent's half of the court.

8:6.

The Karasuno supporters in the stands erupted in cheers.

Lu Jianguo stood up and clapped his hands loudly: "That was a fantastic shot!"

Lu Xin raised the megaphone: "Wuye, rise up!"

Inarizaki's rhythm was disrupted by Lu Ren's serve.

Gong You's eyes turned dangerous. He stared at Lu Ren opposite him. This number 13 was not only intelligent, but also had a plethora of technical skills that were frustrating.

For his third serve, Lu Ren opted for a short, quick attack, directly targeting Gong You.

Gong You catches the ball, but it goes too high.

Miyaji moved up from the back row, ready to take over the pass. Karasuno's block quickly converged on the middle and left wing, preparing to defend against Inarisaki's quick attack.

Miyaji touched the ball with both hands in mid-air, but he didn't pass it. He glanced at the gap in Karasuno's block, then swung his left arm and spiked!

Second attack!

The volleyball hit the empty space in Karasuno's frontcourt.

9:6.

Inarisaki managed to stabilize the situation purely through his personal abilities.

The two sides entered into a deadly battle.

Inarisaki's dominance lies in their ability to score with unstoppable individual skill even when their meticulous tactics are outmaneuvered. Karasuno's resilience, on the other hand, lies in their tenacity, like a pack of wolves relentlessly biting their prey and never letting go.

Nishitani Yu was in the back row, dodging left and right, and received three consecutive powerful dunks from Ooshiro Aran.

"Well done!" Tanaka Ryunosuke shouted.

Counterattack. Hyuga and Kageyama's quirky fast attack struck again. Hyuga used a "thump" jump to survey the entire field from mid-air and landed an extremely tricky shot.

The score went back and forth. 15 to 13. Inarizaki still led by two points.

Lu Ren was exhausted, sweat dripping from his chin onto the floor. But the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter, the kind of light a pro player would show when conquering a hellish dungeon.

"Their correction frequency is decreasing." Lu Ren said to Tsukishima Hotaru during a break in the dead ball. "The Miya brothers are running 20 percent more distance than they did at the same point in the first game. The system is starting to lag."

Tsukishima adjusted his glasses: "Your data analysis is truly insane. But even with the lag, their numbers still crush us."

"High numbers don't mean invincibility." Lu Ren wiped his sweat. "Every system has a critical point where it can break down."

Inarizaki Kyugo.

Gong You passed the ball to the corner flag.

Hotaru Tsukishima jumped. This time, he didn't wait for the character to make a move, but instead reached out and blocked the straight line.

The character was forced to twist his waist in mid-air and hit a diagonal shot.

Lu Ren was already waiting at the point where the diagonal line would land.

"Bang!" The volleyball was caught smoothly.

"Counterattack!"

All Karasuno players were running. The dual-setter system was operating at high speed.

Lu Ren made a run from the back row, assuming a passing motion. Inarizaki's blocker, Da Erlian, was fooled and shifted his weight towards the middle.

Lu Ren flicked his wrist and accurately passed the ball to Tanaka on the left wing.

Tanaka faced an empty net and slammed the ball down for a point.

15:14.

Just one point short.

Coach Kurosu Homaku stood up and asked the referee for a timeout.

As the Inarizaki team members walked off the field, Miya Yu, panting heavily, grabbed a towel to wipe his sweat.

"The opposing number 13 is deliberately wearing us down," Gong You gritted his teeth. "He's figured out our rotation strategy and is deliberately hitting the ball in areas where we're uncomfortable."

Coach Blackbeard nodded: "He's a very smart commander. Next, reduce complicated running and fast breaks with the twins. Give the ball to Alan and the cornerstone, and use raw power to break through them. Don't let them drag you down with their pace."

On the other side, Coach Wu Yang patted Lu Ren on the shoulder: "Well done, the tactics worked. They're starting to catch their breath."

Lu Ren drank half a bottle of sports drink and stared at the rest area of ​​Inarizaki.

"The BOSS is about to go berserk." Lu Ren put down his water bottle. "They're going to abandon complex tactics and just crush us with pure numbers. Get ready for the onslaught."

The timeout has ended. The game resumes.

Inarizaki changed his strategy. Instead of pursuing extreme tactical variations, he passed the ball to Oshiro Aran.

Oshiro Aran faced a three-man block and forcefully spiked the ball. The ball hit Nishitani Yu's arm with such force that it flew out of bounds.

16:14.

Then, Rintaro Kakuna scored directly from his serve.

17:14.

Inarizaki widened the score gap again. This team's depth is unfathomable; someone always manages to step up and take over the game at crucial moments.

Karasuno did not back down.

Dong Fengxu unleashed a powerful shot from the left wing, breaking through a double block.

17:15.

The match reached its climax. Both sides were pushing their physical and mental limits. The dull thud of the volleyball hitting the floor and the squeak of skating shoes against the rubber surface intertwined to create the purest symphony on the court.

Lu Ren stood in the backcourt, staring intently at everyone on the other side.

The hunt has only just begun.