Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The volleyball traced a high parabola in the air. Fukunaga Shohei's lob was met by Nishitani Yuu's diving save. Kageyama Tobio launched a back-row attack while running, and Hinata Shoyo jumped. Kuroo Tetsuro and Yoru Eisuke blocked the straight shot. The ball struck the blocker's hand and bounced high. Hisense took three steps back and caught it steadily.

There was no dead ball. The whistle was delayed.

The audience in the stands held their breath. Qingze Yazhi clung to the railing with both hands, her eyes unblinking. Next to her, Lu Jianguo held a camera, the lens swaying back and forth, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"How many times has this happened?" Grandpa Zhang asked in a low voice.

"The forty-third touch." Lu Jianguo stared at the screen.

Miyagi Prefecture, Aoba Josai High School Volleyball Club's rest room.

Oikawa Tetsu sat cross-legged in front of the television, clutching an unopened can of soda. On the screen, Karasuno and Otokoma's battle continued. Iwaizumi stood beside him, his brow furrowed.

"Disgusting," commented Toru Oikawa.

"Which way?" Iwaizumi asked.

"Both sides are disgusting." Oikawa Tetsu threw the can on the table. "Those crazy crows from Karasuno are actually patiently fighting this kind of war of attrition. Is Nekoma, that libero, equipped with radar? If Kindaichi had tried to spike that ball, he would have been blocked eight hundred times over."

Kindaichi shrank back in the back row, looking aggrieved.

Shiratorizawa Academy.

Ushijima Wakatoshi sat on a bench, looking at a tablet. Tendo Satoru came over, holding an ice pop.

"Wakari-kun, who do you think will win?"

"The one with better physical fitness." Ushijima's answer was very straightforward.

"Ugh—this is so boring. But watching them play is exhausting." Tendo took a bite of his popsicle.

Date Industries. Kenji Futakuchi stared at the broadcast screen, with Takanobu Aone standing behind him.

"This defensive tenacity is even more torturous than our iron wall." Futakuchi rubbed his aching neck. "Just watching it makes my calves cramp. Don't these guys even breathe?"

The broadcast then cuts back to the main stadium in Tokyo.

With the sound of the whistle, the long and drawn-out battle of the first game finally came to a dead ball.

Dongfeng Xu's powerful spike hit the edge of Huiyu Liefu's fingers and went out of bounds.

The referee raises his hand. The ball goes out of bounds. Karasuno scores.

Scoreboard flipped: 12:12.

Of the ten people on the field, all except Nishiya and Yoru were bent over, their hands supporting their knees. Sweat dripped from their chins onto the floor.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

The entire stadium echoed with heavy breathing. The score was only tied at 12, yet the exertion already exceeded what one would normally experience playing a full game.

Uyang Qixin decisively raised the substitution card.

Sugawara Koji stood on the sidelines, holding a number plate in his hand.

Lu Ren dragged his feet toward the sidelines. He felt like his lungs were filled with lead, and with every step, his thigh muscles protested. The stamina he had exhausted from playing against Inarizaki yesterday was completely drained by Otoko's high-intensity play right from the start of today's game.

"It's up to you, senior." Lu Ren and Sugawara gave each other a high five.

"Leave it to me, you go heal up first." Sugawara ran onto the field.

Lu Ren walked to the bench and plopped down on a chair. Kiyoko Shimizu handed him a towel and a sports drink. He put the towel over his head, unscrewed the cap, and drank half a bottle of water before he felt a little more alive.

"What kind of hellish dungeon is this..." Lu Ren muttered under the towel.

Teacher Takeda handed over the tactics board: "Lu Ren, are you alright?"

"He won't die." Lu Ren pulled off the towel, his gaze sweeping across the field to Yinju's bench.

Kozume Mamoru was leaning back in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. Kuroo Tetsuro was fanning him, and Yoru Eisuke handed him a water bottle.

In this match, the only two "squishy mages" on the field had their stamina bars flashing red. Lu Ren was severely exhausted from yesterday's match against Inarisaki, coupled with the high-intensity running and pulling at the start of today; Kenma, on the other hand, naturally dislikes sweating, and at this moment, Karasuno's chaotic rhythm forced his brain to work overtime.

"He's calculating," Lu Ren said, pointing to the grinding stone.

U-Yang leaned closer: "What did you figure out?"

"Calculate our running patterns." Lu Ren took the tactics board and pulled out a marker. "The core of Nekoma's tactics is 'restriction.' They don't aim for a one-hit kill, but rather force us to increase our attack frequency by constantly receiving our balls, thereby exposing our weaknesses. Hyuga's movement just now has already been figured out by Kenma."

On the field.

After Sugawara came on, Karasuno's rhythm changed. The double setter system was activated.

Kageyama Tobio receives the first pass, and Sugawara sets the ball. Hyuga cuts in from the right wing, drawing the attention of Lev and Kuroo's blocks.

Ryunosuke Tanaka jumped from the left wing.

Empty network!

"Good shot!" Tanaka roared, swinging his arm to smash the ball.

The volleyball hits the floor.

A red figure glided across the floor. It was Yoruichi Eisuke.

The ball hit Yoru's arm, dissipating the force, and bounced into the air.

"Well done!" cheered the substitutes on the bench.

With heavy steps, he walked to the net, lightly tapped the ball with his finger, and pushed it into the corner of Karasuno's half of the court.

Sawamura Daichi dives to save the ball, which flies out of bounds.

Nishitani Yu rushed out of bounds and hooked the ball back.

"attack!"

It's another endless tug-of-war.

In the stands, Qingze Yazhi bit her nails: "This is such a frustrating game. If Lu Ren were still on the field, he would definitely be cursing."

"He doesn't swear; he's looking for loopholes." Lu Jianguo knows his son well. "These kinds of torturous levels are the ultimate test of a player's patience."

On the bench, Lu Ren watched Mo Yan's footsteps.

"Coach," Lu Ren said.

"explain."

"Grinding's movement speed is 0.5 seconds slower." Lu Ren drew a line on the tactics board. "His stamina is dropping faster than mine. He's the core of Yinju's defensive network. As long as the core stops turning, the network will break."

"What do you want to do?"

"Force him to run." Lu Ren pointed to Yinju's backcourt. "Don't hit hard spikes, hit lobs. Put the ball in his most uncomfortable position. Force him to start and stop frequently. This is the physical 'memory overflow'."

Wu Yang looked at Lu Ren with a serious expression: "That's a dirty trick."

"It's like playing a game. You use terrain to your advantage, wear down the enemy's health, and whatever works as long as you can beat the game." Lu Ren handed the tactical board back. "I'll play next round. Let Ri Xiang catch his breath."

The score remained tied at 15-15.

Every point scored is accompanied by a huge physical exertion.

In Nekoma's half, Kuroo Tetsurou wiped his sweat and looked at Karasuno on the other side of the net.

"These crows can really fly."

He bent over, his hands resting on his knees, sweat dripping into his eyes, stinging them.

"Little Black." The grinding sound was faint.

"What's wrong?"

"That number 13 is coming up again." Makoto looked up at Karasuno's bench.

Lu Ren was holding his number and standing in the changeover area.

The two looked at each other across the net.

One is a shrewd "tower defense player," and the other is a "speedrun pro" who excels at breaking the rules.

Lu Ren came on, replacing Hyuga Shoyo, who was exhausted.

"You've worked hard, go get some water." Lu Ren patted Hinata on the shoulder.

"Lu Ren, you have to win!" Hinata's face was flushed, and he was panting heavily.

The game continues.

Yinju serves. Hisense serves a standard float serve.

The land of Sawamura was steadily taken up.

Kageyama Tobio is in position.

Lu Ren started from the right wing. Unlike Hyuga, who ran around the field randomly, he took a very strange zigzag route, using Tanaka's movement as cover.

Kuroo Tetsuro stared at Riku Ren's footsteps, quickly retrieving data from his mind.

Cross screen? Or individual breakthrough?

Lu Ren jumped.

Kageyama passed the ball to him.

Blacktail and Lev blocked the shot with a double block.

Lu Ren didn't exert any force in the air; he flicked his wrist and gently rubbed the lower half of the ball with his fingers.

Drop ball.

The volleyball flew over the block and landed lightly on the three-meter line in front of the net in Yinju's half of the court.

That position was exactly the defensive blind spot of the grinder, and it was also the farthest from Yoru Gosuke.

He gritted his teeth, started his lunge forward, and made a save. The ball landed just before his fingertips.

16: 15.

He lay sprawled on the floor, his chest heaving violently.

Lu Ren landed and watched the grinding process through the net.

"I anticipated your movement," Lu Ren said in a voice only the two of them could hear.

Moyan slowly got up, patted the dust off his knees, and looked up at Lu Ren.

"The game has only just begun," Morin replied.

In the stands, Lu Jianguo held up a camera, the lens pointed at the two people in front of the net.

"These two lads are really going at it," Grandpa Zhang said with a chuckle.

"In online games, mage duels are all about who has more mana and who has better movement skills." Lu Jianguo adjusted his focus.

In the following rounds, Lu Ren thoroughly implemented the "grinding" tactic. He no longer pursued powerful spikes, but frequently used drop shots, hits to the opponent's hand out of bounds, and soft pushes to send the ball to the most difficult junction of Yinju's defense.

The player was forced to run back and forth in front of the net repeatedly, which greatly increased his physical exertion.

Kuro-o sensed Lu Ren's intention and began to actively expand the defensive range to relieve the pressure on Mo-ma.

"Don't let him succeed!" Kuroo shouted.

"Senior, you're being too nosy." Tsukishima Hotaru suddenly blurted out in front of the net, deliberately stretching out her arm to block Kuroo's view when blocking the net.

Dong Fengxu seized the opportunity to break through and slammed a powerful dunk into Yinju's backcourt.

18: 16.

Karasuno gradually widened the score gap.

Coach Neko raised his hand again, requesting a timeout.

Both teams' players walked off the field looking as if they had been pulled out of the water.

"Well done, Lu Ren!" Tanaka handed over a water bottle.

"Don't get too excited." Lu Ren unscrewed the bottle cap. "That old cat Yinju is definitely going to come up with something new. He'll probably have to restart the system on that grinding machine."

Onkoma's bench.

Moyan sat in the chair, a towel covering his head.

"Can you still hold on?" Kuroo asked.

"That number 13 is annoying." A grinding voice came from under the towel. "He treats volleyball like a real-time strategy game, wearing us down with micromanagement."

"Then what do we do?" Yoru asked.

As he pulled off the towel, he noticed something unusual in his eyes.