Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The alveoli are burning.

Lu Ren tilted his head back and gulped down a mouthful of electrolyte water. The icy liquid slid down his esophagus into his stomach, barely suppressing the metallic taste rising in his throat. The muscle fibers in his legs were protesting fiercely, and the soreness from the lactic acid buildup rushed straight to his brain from his nerve endings.

Tired. So fucking tired.

But he couldn't stop.

Adrenaline completely took over my body. This feeling was all too familiar. I remember staying up all night playing Street Fighter ranked matches, winning fifty straight games, only to run into a guy whose ID was just a bunch of random characters. You throw a light punch, he crouches to defend; you jump in, he launches a high-powered attack into the air. Every move was perfectly countered, every opening was precisely countered.

That chilling, trembling feeling that sends shivers down your spine.

The current Kokuzawa Grinding is that garbled ID.

In the stands, Qingze Yazhi squeezed the empty popcorn bucket so hard it made a creaking sound.

"This isn't volleyball, it's like training an eagle." She stared at number 13, who was still swinging his arms on the sidelines. "Lu Ren's eyes are bloodshot. The last time I saw him like this was when he was stuck on the final boss of Sekiro for three days and three nights."

Lu Jianguo, holding his DSLR camera, snapped photos repeatedly: "You don't understand. It's a battle of equals, a clash of titans. This kid's stubbornness has been completely ignited by that blond-haired guy on the other side."

Karasuno's bench.

Uyang Shishin didn't draw on a tactics board. He held a marker in his hand, looking at the group of sweaty teenagers.

"The third round." Ukai looked around. "The tactics have all been exhausted in the first two rounds. The other side has done the same. What follows is a battle of who will swallow their pride first."

Sawamura Daichi hastily wiped his face with a towel and clapped his hands loudly: "Go on stage!"

The whistle blows.

Both sides stood at attention again.

The third game. The deciding game.

The exhaust fans in the stadium's dome hummed loudly. Noises that would normally go unnoticed were now amplified.

Otoko serves.

Hisense stood behind the baseline, dribbled the ball twice, and tossed it up.

Without a powerful jump serve, it's just a standard overhand float serve. At this stage, energy is depleted, and pursuing extreme speed and angle will only increase the error rate. The most reasonable solution is to steadily send the ball to the opponent, forcing them to make mistakes.

"I'll do it." west Gu Xi moved her feet, keeping her center of gravity low and her arms firmly supporting her weight.

The ball speed is not fast, and the first pass accuracy rate is extremely high.

Kageyama Tobio ran into position.

On the other side of the net, Kuroo Tetsuro and Yoru Eisuke's defensive line had already been set up.

Without any unnecessary feints, Kageyama pushed the ball directly to the left wing.

Ryunosuke Tanaka takes a running start and jumps.

"Bang."

The ball hit Kuroo's arm and bounced high into the air.

"One touch!"

Ye Jiu quickly started from the back row and scooped up the ball with a diving leap.

Instead of running to the net, he directly set the ball near the three-meter line.

Lev leaped high into the air and swung his long arm.

Hotaru Tsukishima and Daichi Sawamura's double block sealed off the straight line, and the ball grazed Tsukishima's fingertips as it flew towards the back row.

Lu Ren was already waiting there.

Instead of forcing the ball up, he took a half-step back, letting the ball's momentum carry him, and then used his hands to deflect the force in front of his chest. The volleyball obediently bounced towards Kageyama.

"Easy catch!"

The tug-of-war has begun again.

This was no longer the fast-paced, high-octane clash of the first two sets. Both players moved more slowly. Every jump, every save, felt like a struggle in quagmire.

Hinata Shoyo moved up from the back row, ready to launch a fast break.

Otoko's Inugami immediately followed up with a defensive move.

With a flick of his wrist, Kageyama passed the ball to Higashimine Asahi in the back row.

In the third attack by Higashi, the ball was forcefully pushed up by Fukunaga Shohei's shoulder.

back and forth.

Back and forth constantly.

The spectators in the stands held their breath, afraid of breaking the suffocating balance on the field.

The twelfth touch of the ball.

Lu Ren received possession of the ball on the right side of the front row.

He jumped, glancing at Otoko's defenses out of the corner of his eye.

Yoru is on the left, Kuroo is in the middle. Maki stands slightly to the right, his hands hanging down, his eyes vacant.

He was waiting for me to make a diagonal cut.

Lu Ren forcefully twisted his waist and abdomen in mid-air, and his right hand, which was originally preparing to exert force, stopped halfway and gently rubbed the lower edge of the ball with his fingers.

Drop ball.

The volleyball flew over the block and landed lightly in the empty space in Yinju's half of the court.

The grinding started.

He didn't jump; instead, he took a step forward and scooped up the ground with one hand.

The ball was rescued, but not high enough.

Kuroo could only manage to get the ball over the net.

Opportunity ball.

"An opportunity!" Nishiya shouted.

Kageyama launched another attack. This time it was Hyuga.

The purest form of high-point fast attack.

"Thump!"

The volleyball hit the sideline of the court.

The referee blows the whistle; the ball is in play.

1: 0.

Karasuno took the lead.

There were no cheers, no roars. After landing, Hinata simply clenched his fist, turned around, and ran back to his position.

I'm so tired. I need to save my energy for celebrating.

It's Karasuno's turn to serve.

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

He stood outside the baseline, patted the ball, tossed it up, took a running start, and jumped.

Jump float ball.

The volleyball traced a strange S-shaped trajectory in the air.

Ye Jiuwei's footwork was swift and precise, allowing him to intercept the landing point and catch the ball steadily.

"here you go!"

As he received the ball at the net, he caught a glimpse of Lu Ren moving towards the middle. With a flick of his wrist, he passed the ball to Yamamoto Takeo on the left wing.

Yamamoto met Tanaka's solo block with a powerful spike.

The ball hit Tanaka's arm and flew out of bounds.

The thug went out of bounds.

1: 1.

Yinju swiftly retaliated.

Lu Ren rubbed his fingertips together.

That last shot fooled him. He thought Grin would launch a second attack, so he shifted his weight prematurely, creating a half-second opening in the right wing defense.

Well thought out.

Lu Ren swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

This is exactly what he wanted. Not the kind of mindless, numerically overwhelming victory, but a high-stakes, cutthroat competition of computational power. You predicted my prediction, and I countered your counter-prediction.

The serve returned to Nekoma.

The grinding station is in the service area.

He glanced at Karasuno's position. Hinata was in the front row, and Riku was in the back.

The ball was served towards the junction between Hyuga and Sawamura. An extremely disgusting landing point.

Sawamura received the ball first, but his position was poor, and the ball flew a bit low.

Kageyama was forced to fall to the ground to catch the ball.

Lu Ren rushed up from the back row. With no running start, he could only jump from the spot.

The double blocker pairing of Kuro and Lev has been formed.

Lu Ren looked at the two enormous hands in mid-air. He knew he couldn't just bite them head-on. With a flick of his wrist, he pushed the ball towards the edge of Lev's fingers.

"Don't even think about it!"

Lev roared and pressed his hands down hard.

The ball was blocked and crashed directly onto Karasuno's court.

1: 2.

Soundhorse overtook them.

For the next ten minutes, the situation on the field turned into a meat grinder.

Both sides are using the most basic tactics and the most primal instincts to climb up point by point.

2: 2.

3: 2.

3: 3.

The score was neck and neck, with neither side able to pull ahead by more than two points. Every point required more than ten back-and-forth attempts.

Lu Ren's breathing grew heavier. Sweat stung his eyes, forcing him to blink frequently.

The grinding on the other side of the net isn't much better.

The usually tiring Yinju Brain, who would rather take even one extra step, has now covered more distance than he did in the previous two games combined. After one save, he even collapsed on the floor, panting for three seconds before getting up.

"Still running, huh? Tower defense player." Lu Ren mocked through the net in a voice only the two of them could hear.

Moyan lifted her eyelids and glanced at him.

"Your cheat code is about to expire, isn't it, you Frankenstein's monster?"

The two looked at each other.

No unnecessary words were exchanged. The instant their eyes met, a palpable tension filled the entire area.

4: 4.

Karasuno serves.

Kageyama Tokio.

He tossed the ball three centimeters lower than usual. His decreased physical fitness led to distorted movements. His jump serve hit the net, slowed, and landed in Nemoma's half of the court.

Lucky ball.

Ye Jiu made a desperate lunge forward to save the ball, managing to prop it up.

The player jumps at the net, preparing for a second attack.

Lu Ren jumped at the same time and blocked with one hand.

Grinding changed his move in mid-air and passed the ball to Kuroo behind him.

Blacktail smash.

Hotaru Tsukishima made a timely save, blocking the ball with both arms. The ball bounced high and landed in Karasuno's backfield.

Nisugu Xi rushed to save the ball.

"Kageyama!"

Kageyama ran to the net and made a back pass. The target was Lu Ren on the right wing.

But the ball was passed a little too close to the net.

After Lu Ren jumped, he realized he was too close to the net and had no room to swing his arm. Meanwhile, Heiwei on the other side had already blocked the line.

Dead end.

Normally, Lu Ren would choose to push the ball forward and reorganize the defense.

But he didn't want to back out.

He forcefully pulled in his stomach in mid-air, and gently braced his left hand on the net, using the force to keep his body suspended in the air for a fraction of a second.

It was this brief pause of a fraction of a second that allowed Black Tail's net to begin its descent.

Lu Ren brought his right hands together and tapped the side of the ball hard with his knuckles.

A highly irregular hitting motion.

The volleyball, spinning strangely, grazed Kuroo's arm and flew diagonally towards the corner of Otokoma's half of the court.

Fukunaga Shohei dived to make a save, his fingertips just one centimeter away from the volleyball.

"Smack."

The ball landed.

5: 4.

Lu Ren landed, staggering as his left foot touched the floor, nearly falling. He steadied himself and shook his numb right hand.

"This is too reckless." Kageyama walked over, his voice hoarse.

"As long as it works." Lu Ren pulled up his jersey to wipe his sweat.

The game continues.

The numbers on the scoreboard flipped slowly.

6: 5.

7: 6.

8: 7.

Karasuno took the lead with 8 points.

The referee blows the whistle.

The two sides exchanged venues.

Lu Ren walked to the rest area and picked up the water bottle.

The suona horns and brass bands from the stands had long since stopped. The cheerleaders had lost their voices from shouting and could only express their cheers with applause.

This is a mud wrestling match without any fancy techniques, just a pure test of willpower. Whoever makes the first mistake will be doomed.

Lu Ren took a sip of water and looked at Yinju on the other side of the field.

Moyan was sitting on the bench, head down, with a towel covering his head.

"The second half," Lu Ren tossed the water bottle to Sugawara, "is about to completely break through his firewall."

The real battle to the death has only just begun.