Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

As soon as the whistle blew in the third set, the air in the stadium became thick and sticky.

Without any probing, both sides floored the accelerator from the start.

On Karasuno's side, Hyuga Shoyo and Riku Ren simultaneously launched their attacks from the left and right flanks at the net. The shrill sound of their shoes scraping against the wooden floor mingled together as the two transformed into two afterimages, rushing straight towards the net.

"Double Monster Fast Attack!"

The volleyball lingered in Kageyama Tobio's hands for only a fleeting moment before being pushed toward the left wing with an absurd speed. Hyuga met the ball with a powerful spike, and before Inarizaki's blocker could even close the gap, the ball had already slammed into the three-meter line.

Before the cheers from the stands had even subsided, Inarizaki immediately retaliated.

Coach Kurosu signaled a substitution from the sidelines. Kita Shinsuke took off his jacket and walked calmly onto the court.

This captain, who lacked extraordinary talent, possessed an eerie sense of stability. The moment he stepped onto the court, Inarizaki's slightly agitated rhythm, a result of the intense competition, was immediately smoothed out. With his solid fundamentals, he meticulously stitched together Inarizaki's somewhat loose defense, making it airtight once again.

Gong You and Gong Zhi exchanged a glance in front of the net.

On the next attack, Miya Yu leaped high, his passing motion identical to Kageyama's. Miyaji surged forward from the back row, facing Karasuno's double block, and swung his arm without even opening his eyes.

"Bang!"

The volleyball hit Karasuno's half of the court.

Gemini version of the weirdo fast attack.

比分牌翻动。10:10，11:11，12:12。

The two sides engaged in close combat in the mud, exchanging blows, but neither could deliver a fatal blow.

The referee blew his whistle, and Karasuno requested a timeout.

No one spoke in the rest area.

Coach Ukai sat on the bench, his right leg shaking uncontrollably, the sole of his shoe striking a rapid rhythm on the floor. The atmosphere was oppressively heavy. Having reached this stage, the second round of the national tournament, no one wanted to buy a return ticket at this point.

Lu Ren sat in the corner, covering his head with a white towel, curling up into a ball.

"Actually..." a muffled voice came from under the towel, "I have another trick. It might work."

Tanaka Ryunosuke ripped the towel off his head, his eyes widening: "You're still hiding something, kid?"

Everyone turned their heads in unison, their gazes fixed on Kageyama and Hinata. Their eccentric, rapid-fire attacks were already Karasuno's open trump card; could they possibly have some other combination techniques?

Kageyama shook his head. Hyuga waved his hands repeatedly, "Don't look at me, I don't know!"

Lu Ren wiped the sweat from his face, his chest heaving violently: "It's not that I wanted to hide it. That move is too CPU-intensive; if I use it, my stamina bar probably won't last until the end of the match."

Coach Wuyang stopped shaking his leg, stood up, and slapped the tactical board hard: "Use it. Don't worry about the future, just win the game in front of you. Go all out and try it."

Lu Ren nodded.

The timeout ended, and the referee signaled for a substitution.

Dong Fengxu took the number plate and replaced Lu Ren.

"Let's heal first," Wu Yang said to Lu Ren.

The meat grinder on the court continued to grind. Higashimine's powerful spikes frequently attacked from the left wing, but Kita Shinsuke always appeared in the most accurate defensive position, steadily setting up the ball. Inarisaki's counterattacks were equally sharp, and Oshiro Aran's spikes left Nishiya Yu's arms red.

14: 15.

16: 17.

The score is now Inarizaki leading 18-16.

Karasuno's rotation has reached a crucial point. Lu Ren stood up, stretched his sore ankle, and took the substitution card.

He walked to the sidelines and gave Dongfeng a high five.

"It's up to you now," Dongfeng said, panting heavily.

Inarizaki's serve.

Miyako stood at the baseline, tossed the ball, and jumped to serve. The volleyball, spinning intensely, hurtled towards Karasuno's back row on the left.

Lu Ren lowered his center of gravity. Instead of relying solely on data to predict the landing point as usual, he adjusted his steps in small, delicate movements, his body incredibly flexible.

"The key to Yoruichi's receiving of the ball is not quick reaction, but preemptively occupying the inevitable point of the ball's trajectory." In Lu Ren's mind, code was running wildly. He calculated the parabola, spin speed, and air resistance of Miya Yu's serve, and moved his heel half a step in advance.

The moment the volleyball came flying at him, he brought his arms together and lifted them upwards with his wrists extremely relaxed.

"Good shot!" Kageyama shouted.

Nishiya watched in stunned silence. The way he absorbed the force, the subtle footwork adjustments before receiving the ball…

"Is that Yoru from Otokoma?" Nishitani blurted out.

The ball is passed to the net. Kageyama pushes the ball to the right wing.

Lu Ren surged forward from the back row and jumped. His approach run changed; his stride became much longer, his left arm was raised high, and his entire body was drawn into a full-moon bow in the air.

"Ushijima Wakatoshi's strength lies in his ability to perfectly transmit the power of his entire body to his arms through his core muscles." Lu Ren forcibly twisted his waist and abdomen in mid-air, abandoning the precise control of the landing point and putting all his skill points into power output.

With a swing of his arm, the volleyball, accompanied by a dull thud, smashed through Rintaro Kakuna's block.

Higashimine gasped from the sidelines: "That arm swing... is that Ushijima from Shiratorizawa?"

Change of serve. Ukrainian wins the ball.

Inarisaki's first pass was halfway through, and the ball flew towards the net. Miya Yu prepared for a second attack, but Lu Ren had already jumped ahead of time. His hands blocked the straight line like an iron gate, without any unnecessary movements, his eyes cold.

"The essence of Date Kogyo's iron wall is 'not being led astray'." Lu Ren's eyes were fixed on the ball, not on the player. No matter how realistic the feints Gong You made at the net, Lu Ren's center of gravity remained as steady as a mountain, only springing up like a spring the moment the ball left his hand.

"Bang." The ball was blocked.

Tanaka's mouth dropped open: "The Green Root of Date Kogyo!"

The situation on the field has completely changed.

Lu Ren is no longer the tactical genius who relies solely on data analysis to play basketball. He has become a Frankenstein's monster.

But this is by no means just a matter of imitating movements.

Sugawara Koji clenched his fists on the sidelines. He watched as Riku Ren orchestrated a brilliant pass from the back row, comfortably delivering the ball to Hyuga and avoiding the opponent's highest blocking point.

"It's not just the movements," Sugawara muttered to himself, "he even copied their way of thinking. The vision and timing of that pass just now were exactly like Oikawa Toru's style."

"The terrifying thing about Oikawa Tetsu is that he can bring out the attacker's full potential, even 100% or 120%." Lu Ren observed Hyuga's stride frequency while running and passed the ball to Hyuga at the highest point of his jump, with perfect accuracy.

Lu Ren's brain was working overtime.

Yoru's defensive positioning logic, Ushijima's core power generation techniques, Aone's man-to-man blocking mechanism, and Oikawa Tetsu's overall coordination.

He was running four completely different systems in his mind at the same time.

Sweat blurred my vision, my lungs were gurgling like a bellows, and my calf muscles began to twitch irregularly.

With each jump and each fall, he was pushing his body to its limits.

But the effect is immediate.

The Inarizaki players discovered that they were no longer facing Karasuno's number 13, but an "all-star team" composed of top players from Miyagi Prefecture and even Tokyo.

Kita Shinsuke frowned. He couldn't predict Riku's next move, because Riku himself was constantly switching "accounts".

Gong You's passes began to deviate slightly, and Lu Ren frequently caught the deflected balls with his Yoru-style defense.

In the stands, Qingze Yazhi gripped the railing tightly with both hands, her fingernails scraping against the metal railing with a faint sound.

"That idiot." She bit her lip. "What does he think his body is? A server?"

Lu Jianguo stopped eating sunflower seeds and stared intently at the scene.

"Old Zhang, stop blowing your horn." He pressed down on Grandpa Zhang, who was about to raise his suona, "This kid's risking his life."

Grandpa Zhang put down his suona and sighed, "This kid has a stubborn streak."

The score was gradually chipped away at.

19: 19.

22:21. Karasuno takes the lead.

The air inside the stadium was eerily thin. The music from the cheering squad's instruments had long since faded, leaving only the muffled thud of volleyballs hitting the ground and the shrieking of sneakers scraping the floor.

24: 24.

25: 25.

Bonus round.

Gong Zhi spiked the ball at the net, and Lu Ren jumped up, using a green root-style block to prop up the ball.

"Counterattack!"

Lu Ren landed, his legs buckled, and he almost knelt on the ground. He gritted his teeth, forced himself to regain his balance, and squeezed in from the back seat again.

Kageyama passed the ball to the middle.

Lu Ren leaped to meet the ball, switching his mind to the power generation module of Ushijima.

Inarizaki and his two companions blocked the net.

"Break it!"

The volleyball hit Gong You's arm and bounced towards the stands.

Out of bounds. The thug went out of bounds.

The referee blew his whistle and pointed to Karasuno's half of the field.

26:25. Karasuno has match point. Just one point away.

Lu Ren landed. This time, he couldn't stand up and sat down hard on the floor.

My chest heaved violently, and my vision blurred in waves. The sounds around me became extremely distant, as if separated by a thick film of water.

He tried to prop himself up, but his thigh muscles completely gave out.

"I've reached my limit." Lu Ren gasped for breath and gestured towards the sidelines.

Coach Wuyang immediately requested a substitution from the referee.

Dong Fengxu, holding his number, strode onto the field.

Lu Ren was helped off the court by Tanaka and Nishiya. He looked as if he had been pulled out of the water, his team uniform clinging tightly to his back.

"Leave the rest to us." Dongfeng patted Lu Ren on the shoulder.

Lu Ren sat on the bench and accepted the towel and water that Shimizu Kiyoko handed him. He didn't even have the strength to unscrew the bottle cap.

"Well played." Coach Uyang didn't say much, he just ruffled his hair vigorously.

Lu Ren leaned back in his chair, his vision blurred as he looked at the court.

"Senior Dongfeng..." His voice was hoarse, sweat dripping from his chin onto the towel, "Get me through this level."

On the field, Higashimine Asahi stood still. He took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on Inarizaki's half of the field opposite him.

The last piece of the Karasuno puzzle has been put back in place.

The decisive ball is about to be played.