Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

Lu Ren was being supported by Kinoshita and Narita, his feet dragging on the ground, the soles of his shoes making a soft, scraping sound as they rubbed against the asphalt. Both of them were covered in sweat and staggered as they walked.

"I said," Lu Ren rolled his eyes, protesting weakly, "Can't you guys at least show a little respect for me, who's risking my life for the team? At least carry me, don't drag me. These shoes are a limited edition; if the soles wear out, are you going to pay for them?"

Kinoshita was panting heavily, and his grip loosened a little, causing Lu Ren's body to slump down.

"Stop complaining. You're as heavy as a rock, like a lead sack," Kinoshita retorted irritably. "How about Tanaka carries you instead?"

Ryunosuke Tanaka, who was walking ahead, turned around upon hearing the name, flexing his biceps and eagerly declaring, "No problem! Are you going to carry him on your shoulders like a sack of rice? Leave it to me!"

"No thanks." Lu Ren's face darkened. He imagined the extremely embarrassing scene and promptly shut up.

Nishitani Yu was bouncing around beside him, full of energy, not at all like someone who had just finished three high-intensity matches. He moved closer to Lu Ren and poked Lu Ren's calf, which was cramping.

"Hiss—" Lu Ren jerked his foot back, wincing in pain. "Senior Nishitani, murdering a meritorious official is a court-martial offense!"

"Your muscles are as hard as rocks," Nishiya laughed heartily. "Weren't you jumping around quite a bit on the field just now? You used all of Ushijima and Aone's moves, so cool!"

"That's extreme overclocking," Lu Ren corrected, his tone carrying a hint of tech geek pride. "It's a miracle the CPU didn't burn out with all four cores running at the same time. This is a forced cooling period; physical contact is prohibited."

At the very front of the group, Daichi Sawamura and Koji Sugawara walked side by side. Neither of them spoke, but their steps were much lighter than usual. Victory over Inarisaki was of extraordinary significance for this team, once known as a "fallen powerhouse."

Hinata Shoyo pushed his bicycle and walked alongside Kageyama Tobio. Surprisingly, the two didn't argue; they simply kept their heads down, seemingly lost in thought.

"Hey, Kageyama," Hinata said, "What did your hand feel like when we blocked that last ball?"

Kageyama turned his head and thought about it carefully: "It's very heavy. Heavier than a normal spike. But the trajectory is too easy to predict."

"Right!" Hinata's eyes lit up. "I think so too! That feeling is so familiar, it's exactly the same as our usual practice!"

Lu Ren shook his head as he listened from behind. These two simple-minded people had just finished an epic battle, yet their minds were still filled with thoughts of volleyball.

Back at the inn, the landlady had been waiting in the lobby for quite some time. Seeing the exhausted Karasuno group walk in, she smiled and greeted them, offering them hot towels.

"Thank you all for your hard work. Hot water is ready in the bathroom, and dinner is prepared. Also..." The proprietress pointed towards the restaurant, "Mr. Lu sent over a large batch of ingredients, saying it's to treat everyone."

Upon hearing the name "Mr. Lu," the eyes of everyone in Karasuno lit up.

Lu Jianguo delivered on his promise of a top-quality Wagyu beef feast from the stands.

Half an hour later, the Karasuno team members, having showered and changed into clean clothes, rushed into the restaurant like hungry wolves.

On the long dining table, sizzling grill plates were piled high. Slices of top-grade Wagyu beef with evenly distributed marbling were stacked into small mountains, emitting an enticing aroma of fat.

"Let's eat!" Daichi Sawamura commanded, and the chopsticks clattered in mid-air.

Lu Ren sat in the corner, holding a bowl of rice in his hand, slowly stuffing meat into his mouth. He was so exhausted that he barely had the strength to chew.

Qingze Yazhi carried over a plate of roasted meat, placed it in front of Lu Ren, and pulled out a chair to sit down.

"Eat something good to replenish your energy, Little Tyrant Learning Machine." Yazhi rested her chin on her hand, smiling as she looked at him. "Weren't you quite imposing on the field today? Why are you so listless now?"

Lu Ren picked up a piece of meat, rolled it in the sauce, and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling as he retorted, "What little tyrant? Mine is a top-of-the-line alien. Do you even know what tactical overload is? Running four high-consumption programs at the same time would crash anyone."

"Yes, yes, you're the best." Yazhi handed him a glass of ice water. "However, you really messed up a bit today. With your small frame, and since you don't usually train your strength, you were just trying to imitate Ushijima's power. You're lucky your shoulder didn't dislocate."

"I know what I'm doing." Lu Ren took a sip of water and swallowed his food. "In the game's mechanics, the higher the risk, the greater the reward. If it weren't for that burst of power, Inarizaki's system wouldn't have been able to be torn apart at all."

On the other side, Hinata and Kageyama almost got into a fight over the last piece of Wagyu beef, and each of them was given a flick on the forehead by Sawamura Daichi, and they sat down obediently.

Wu Yangxi carried over a plate of fried noodles and sat down at the head of the long table. He glanced around at the team members who were enjoying their meal and tapped on the table.

The restaurant quieted down, with only the faint sound of sizzling fat on the grill.

"Eat and drink your fill, replenish your energy." Coach Wu Yang placed a videotape on the table. "Tomorrow is the third round of the competition. Our opponent has been determined."

Everyone stopped eating and turned their attention to the videotape.

Mr. Takeda adjusted his glasses and added, "Just now, Otokoma High School defeated Hayakawa Industrial High School 2-0 and advanced to the third round."

There was a pause of one or two seconds in the air.

Hinata Shoyo stood up, knocking over the chair behind him. His eyes were wide open, and he was breathing rapidly.

"Grind it..." Hinata clenched his fist.

Sawamura Daichi's expression turned serious. Sugawara and Higashimine exchanged a glance, both seeing suppressed excitement in each other's eyes.

The final battle at the landfill.

The fateful showdown between cats and crows.

Since the era of Coach Ulaanbaatar, the two teams have faced each other in countless practice matches, but have never met on the official stage of the national competition.

And now, this promise, spanning decades, will be fulfilled tomorrow at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

"Otoko." Lu Ren put down his chopsticks, rubbed his still sore shoulders, and automatically brought up the data panel of Otoko High School in his mind.

Defense is paramount.

The king of the ground.

There is no absolutely outstanding ace, but everyone is a ball-catching machine.

If Inarisaki is a high-speed, precise, and violent dual-core engine, then Nekoma is a bottomless swamp.

"This is troublesome," Lu Ren muttered.

Hotaru Tsukishima sat opposite him, adjusted her glasses, and keenly caught Riku's muttering to herself: "What? We even beat Inarisaki, are you still afraid of Nekoma?"

"It's not fear." Lu Ren tapped the table with his knuckles. "It's restraint."

He stood up, walked to the tactics board, and picked up a marker.

"Inarizaki's strength lies in their proactive attacking style, using an extremely high margin for error to pressure their opponents. To counter this kind of team, we can disrupt their rhythm with a faster pace or break their system with an unreasonable fast break. This is called head-on confrontation."

Lu Ren drew a simple sketch of a crow and a cat on the whiteboard.

"But Nekoma is different. Their core mechanic is 'defense and counterattack.' Kozume Makoto is a complete 'tower defense player.'"

Hinata paused for a moment, then asked, "Tower defense?"

"That's right." Lu Ren nodded. "He doesn't take the initiative to attack; instead, he builds his half of the court into an impenetrable wall. Then, he observes our attacking habits and sets traps step by step. The higher you jump, the denser his net becomes. The faster you run, the deeper the hole he digs."

Lu Ren used a red pen to draw a dense net around the simple cat drawing.

"When fighting the Sound Horse, don't be impatient. This is a slow-paced, quagmire battle. Whoever loses patience first will be swallowed by the swamp."

Coach Wuyang nodded approvingly: "Lu Ren is right. Yinju knows us too well. We played so many practice matches during the training camp, they know our cards inside and out."

"The 'weird fast attack' is no longer a secret weapon for them," Kageyama interjected coldly.

"What should we do then?" Tanaka scratched his head. "We can't exactly compete with them in catching the ball, can we? That's Otoko's forte."

"We definitely can't beat Yoru-senpai when it comes to receiving the ball," Nishiya admitted frankly, but there was no sign of backing down in his eyes. "However, defense isn't just about technique; it's also about perseverance."

Lu Ren threw the marker back into the pen holder and patted the chalk dust off his hands.

"So, for tomorrow's match, we don't need overclocking or any fancy combos." Lu Ren looked at everyone. "What we need to do is use the most basic tactics to keep smashing the ball over and over until we break through their defense."

He paused for a moment: "Kozume Makoto is a smart man. The weakness of smart men is that they overthink. As long as our physical output exceeds his computational limit, his system will crash."

"Physical output?" Dong Fengxu clenched his fist.

"That's right." Lu Ren pointed to Dongfeng, Tanaka, and Hyuga. "Tomorrow, it's up to you. Tear their proud defenses apart with brute force."

Hinata nodded vigorously, her eyes shining with an astonishing light: "Leave it to me! I'll make Kenma say 'I'm so unwilling'!"

Late at night.

The hotel corridor fell silent.

Lu Ren lay on the tatami mat, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The muscles in his thighs still ached faintly, a reminder of the brutality of the match he had played that day.

He took out his phone and opened the game interface.

On the screen, a small figure stands in front of a tall tower. The tower is surrounded by various traps and fortifications.

"A tower defense game," Lu Ren muttered to himself.

He controlled the little figure, choosing neither to take a detour nor to break the trap, but instead raised the greatsword in his hand and slashed it heavily down at the tower's gate.

One sword.

Two swords.

Three swords.

Cracks began to appear in the defensive structures on the screen.

Lu Ren turned off his phone and closed his eyes.

Tomorrow, the landfill.

Let's see who wears out the other first.