Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

Dong Fengxu stands on the service line.

The referee's whistle was short and sharp. Dong Fengxu exhaled sharply and tossed the ball high into the air. He took a run-up, jumped, and swung his arm.

The volleyball slammed into his palm with a dull thud. The jump serve, with its strong topspin, soared over the net and headed straight for Nekoma's backcourt.

Yoruichiro positioned himself perfectly at the landing point. His legs were spread apart, his center of gravity extremely low, and his arms were brought together in a perfect plane. The ball struck his forearm, dissipating the force, and bounced steadily towards the net.

"Great pass!" Kuroo Tetsuro shouted.

The ball moved beneath the net. His steps were slow and labored, the soles of his shoes screeching against the floor. His brain was still racing, but his body was already a beat too slow. He didn't jump, or even make any feints; he simply reached out and pushed the ball to the left wing.

Yamamoto leaps to meet the ball. Tsukishima Hotaru and Sawamura Daichi double block the straight shot. Yamamoto forcefully twists his waist in mid-air, hitting a sharp, narrow cross-court shot.

The ball bypassed the blocker and crashed into Karasuno's court.

Yuu Nishitani leaped out. His body slid along the floor, and just a second before the ball hit the ground, he used the back of his hand to cushion it. The volleyball bounced high into the air and flew out of bounds.

"Make amends!" Daichi Sawamura turned and ran.

Tobio Kageyama was even faster. He rushed out of bounds, jumped on one foot in front of the GG sign, turned his back to the net, and scooped the ball back onto the court with both hands.

The ball was passed very high, with a long arc.

Hinata Shoyo started from the back row. His thigh muscles tensed, and his shoes stomped heavily on the floor. Accelerate, accelerate again. He rushed towards the net, ignoring Otoko's blocking formation, and jumped without holding back.

Blacktail and Lev jumped at the same time. The two tall figures formed a wall in front of the net.

Hinata swung his arm in the air. Instead of smashing, he flicked his wrist and gently lifted the lower half of the ball with his fingertips.

Drop ball.

The ball passed over Kuroo's fingers and floated lightly into the open space in front of Nekoma.

Fukunaga Shohei rolled on the ground and scooped the ball up with one hand. The ball flew into the air again.

A tug-of-war.

No one paid attention to the numbers on the scoreboard. 24:22. The score had lost its meaning. The twelve players on the court had only their eyes on the volleyball flying through the air.

My muscles are burning, my lungs are protesting, and my throat is full of the taste of blood.

Pain is forcibly blocked by adrenaline. Exhaustion is suppressed by the instinct to win.

Hit the ball over there. Don't let it land on your own court.

This became the only logic.

Panting, Morin passed the ball to Lev. Lev attacked from a high point, the ball hitting Tsukishima's blocker's hand and bouncing back to Nekoma's half. Yaku rushed over and cleared the ball high. Kuroo ran up from the back row and jumped to spike. Sawamura Daichi caught it steadily.

Kageyama passes the ball while running. Tanaka Ryunosuke attacks hard. Hisense moves to defend.

Back and forth.

The cheers from the stands fell silent. Lu Jianguo put down his DSLR camera, while Qingze Yazhi gripped the railing tightly, her nails digging into her flesh. Coach Maoyou and Wuyang Xixin stood on the sidelines, neither of them uttering any tactical commands.

We've exhausted all our tactics.

Now it's a battle of who has the tougher backbone and the more insane will.

Lu Ren moved to the back row. His gaze went through the net and locked onto Mo Dan.

The tower defense player's health bar was almost empty. Every move he made pushed him to his physical limits. But he kept calculating. His eyes remained fixed on Karasuno's formation, trying to find a weakness in the chaos.

The fifteenth round.

Grind passed the ball to Hisense on the right wing. Hisense smashed the ball. Nishiya received it. The ball flew towards the net.

Shadow Mountain is in place.

At the front row of Karasuno, Hyuga and Tanaka jumped simultaneously. Rikuren moved up from the back row.

Multi-core operation. The chimera system restarts under extreme conditions.

His brain was frantically calculating. Hinata's approach run, Tanaka's arm swing, Riku's angle of attack.

To whom should it be sent?

Kageyama's fingers touched the ball. He didn't pass it to the front row, nor to Lu Ren in the back row. With a flick of his wrist, he passed the ball to the right wing.

Dongfeng Xu is there.

Nekoma's defense was breached by Hinata and Riku's running. Higashimine Asahi faced the empty net and swung his arm heavily.

"Bang!"

The ball hit the back row of the sound horse.

Yoruichiro displayed his ultimate defensive instincts. He made a diving save, deflecting the ball with one arm. The ball changed direction and flew towards the stands.

Yamamoto rushed off the field, knocked over the barriers on the sidelines, and retrieved the ball from a pile of chairs.

"Kuroo!" Yamamoto shouted.

Tetsuro Kuroo stood in the midfield, leaping to meet the returning ball. Back row attack.

Tanaka Ryunosuke and Riku Ren blocked the ball together.

The ball struck Lu Ren's forearm with tremendous force. The volleyball bounced high into the air, flying deep into Karasuno's backcourt.

Yuu Nishitani turned to chase the ball. The distance was too great.

A figure in orange suddenly appeared from the side. It was Hinata Shoyo. He was running too fast, his feet slipped, and he fell to the floor. But he didn't stop. Using the momentum, he slid forward, crossed his hands, and managed to catch the ball before it hit the ground.

The ball flies towards the net.

Hinata didn't stay on the ground. He pushed off the floor with both hands and sprang up. His thigh muscles exploded, and he sprinted towards the net again.

"Kageyama!" Hinata called out.

Kageyama Tobio stood under the net, watching the ball plummet high into the air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hyuga jump. Tanaka on the left wing also jumped. Riku Ren in the back row was accelerating.

Who will take this point?

Whoever does that is the hero of this battle.

Gin stood on the other side of the net. He looked at Kageyama. He was gambling. Gambling that Kageyama would pass the final ball to Hyuga.

Kuroo and Lev jumped after Hinata. The three of them met in mid-air.

Kageyama holds the ball in both hands.

Apply force with your fingertips.

The ball was not passed to Hyuga.

It wasn't passed on to Tanaka either.

The ball was passed to the back row.

Lu Ren jumped, stepping on the three-point line. His body stretched out in the air, like a fully drawn bow.

His pupils contracted. He had miscalculated.

Yakuei moved quickly from the back row, trying to block Rikuren's spike route. Fukunaga Shohei also came to cover.

Lu Ren, in mid-air, surveyed the opposing defensive formation. Ye Jiu's position was impenetrable. If he attempted a powerful dunk, there was a high chance it would be blocked.

Without hesitation, his swinging arm suddenly slowed down in mid-air, his wrist twisted, and his five fingers spread out to wrap around the side of the ball.

With a gentle flick.

The volleyball traced a very short parabola in the air, passed over the net, over Yoru's head, and landed lightly in the center of the court.

That was where Kenma had just been standing. To defend against Hyuga's quick attack, Kenma moved forward two steps.

The middle is empty.

He turned and made a save.

His fingers were stretched to their limit.

The volleyball grazed his fingertips and landed on the wooden floor.

"Smack."

The sound was very soft.

But it could be clearly heard in the quiet stadium.

The referee blew his whistle and raised his arms, pointing towards Karasuno's field.

25: 22.

competition is over.

The entire hall was silent. Two seconds later, thunderous applause erupted.

Lu Jianguo swung his fist forcefully, ignoring the pain as the DSLR camera slammed into his chest. Qingze Yazhi let out a long breath, slumped into a chair, and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

On the field.

Lu Ren landed on his feet. His knees buckled, and he had to use one hand to brace himself against the floor to avoid kneeling. His lungs were churning like bellows.

Sweat dripped from his chin onto the floor.

Won.

I finally beat this stupid game.

After landing, Hinata Shoyo quickly turned around and assumed a defensive stance. He stared at Nekoma's half of the court, shouting, "Where's the ball? Serve! I can still jump!"

Kageyama Tobio walked over and slapped Hinata on the back of the head.

"Idiot." Kageyama's voice was terribly hoarse. "It's over."

Hinata froze. He remained in a defensive stance and glanced up at the scoreboard.

25:22. The overall score is 2:1.

"It's... over?" Hinata blinked and turned to look at Kageyama.

Kageyama didn't speak, he just nodded.

Sawamura Daichi walked over and pulled the two into his arms. Sugawara Koji, Higashimine Asahi, Tanaka, Nishiya, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and everyone else rushed over and hugged each other tightly.

On the other side of the net.

The first half of the game for Onkoma.

The moment the ball hit the ground, Mo Ren didn't get up. He simply lay down on the floor, limbs outstretched, chest heaving violently. Sweat soaked through his red jersey, and his hair clung wetly to his face.

Kuroo Tetsurou walked over, put his hands on his hips, and looked down at him.

"Stand up and line up, grind." Kuroo's voice was very soft.

The grinder didn't move. He stared at the high ceiling of the gymnasium. The glaring lights made him squint.

"I'm so tired," Mo Dan said weakly.

Kuro smiled and extended his hand.

Moyan didn't reach for Kuro's hand. He turned his head and looked at the other side of the net.

Lu Ren had already squeezed out of the crowd. He walked to the net, put his hands on his knees, bent down, and looked through the bottom edge of the net at Mo Ren lying on the floor.

"Feed," Lu Ren called out.

Grinding and polishing looked at him.

"You lost this round," Lu Ren said.

Moyan didn't refute. He knew he had lost. The computing power was exhausted, and the system was breached.

"It was pretty fun, though." Lu Ren straightened up and wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand. "Let's play games together sometime. Video games."

Grinding was taken aback for a moment.

He looked at Lu Ren, the guy who treated volleyball like a dungeon and him like a boss, using the most ruthless yet sophisticated methods to dismantle his defenses, who was now inviting him to play a game.

Grinding blinked. He reached out, grasped Kuroo's hand, and used it to stand up.

He dusted off his jersey and walked to the net. Through the net, he looked at Lu Ren.

"Okay." Moyan nodded.

Lu Ren smiled. He turned around and walked towards his team.

Both sides lined up.

The twelve boys bowed to each other across the net.

Thank you for your guidance!

The sound echoed throughout the stadium. Applause erupted again from the stands, lasting for a long time.

Lu Ren followed behind Sawamura to the sidelines. Ukai Shishin handed him a towel. Lu Ren took it and covered his head with it.

He turned around and glanced at the arena behind him.

The wooden floor gleamed under the light.

The National Tournament instance has another boss waiting.

Lu Ren gripped the towel tightly. His wrists were still aching, and his thigh muscles were still twitching. But he felt good.

very good.

The game has only just begun.