Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The score is 21:21.

The whistle stopped, and the air inside the stadium became so thick it was hard to breathe.

Ogata's absolute defense was like a merciless meat grinder. Karasuno's "mad dog mode" managed to tear open a gap, but it also took a huge toll on his stamina. Both sides were fighting for their last breath.

Dead ball state.

Without hesitation, Wu Yangxi handed over the substitution card to the technical desk.

Hold up signs. Number 13 goes up, number 10 goes down.

Lu Ren sat on the bench, pulling off the ice pack strapped to his thigh with one hand. Ice water dripped down his calves onto the floor. He stood up and stretched his ankles.

In the stands.

Qingze Yazhi raised an eyebrow: "Didn't this guy say his muscles were at their limit and he couldn't play?"

Lu Jianguo, holding a telephoto lens, snapped a picture: "All's fair in war. This kid's always liked to hide his cards when he played video games since he was little."

Sidelines.

Hinata Shoyo ran down, drenched in sweat, his chest heaving. The two high-fived.

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

"Go get some water." Lu Ren took the volleyball and walked towards the service area.

Outai halfway through.

Hirugami Yukirou stared at number 13 at the baseline. This guy had been watching from the sidelines the whole first game, and now he was being substituted in at this crucial moment; his intentions were all too obvious.

Key server.

Hoshino lowered her center of gravity and placed her hands on her knees.

Lu Ren stood outside the baseline, juggling the ball in his hands.

He didn't look at the defensive formation on the other side of the net, but instead looked down at the wood grain of the floor.

"White Horse Sprout, 2.03 meters tall. Center of gravity is relatively high. Lateral movement start time is about 0.7 seconds." Lu Ren processed the data in his mind.

This is a tower defense game. Now, he's going to throw a bomb.

The referee blows the whistle.

Lu Ren throws the ball. He takes a running start and jumps.

A tingling sensation shot through his thigh muscles, but he ignored it. He swung his arm.

Jump float ball.

Without a loud thud, the volleyball floated lightly over the net, like a weightless leaf.

They were looking for Bai Ma Yasheng.

White Horse moved forward, preparing to catch the ball. Just as the volleyball was about to touch his fingers, its trajectory suddenly changed, and it plummeted downwards.

White Horse couldn't react in time; the ball hit his forearm and bounced to the side.

Libero Shang Lin lunged forward, barely managing to touch the ball with his fingertips, but it still bounced off the wooden floor outside the boundary.

Within the boundaries. A point is scored directly from the serve.

22:21. Karasuno takes the lead.

A cheer erupted from the substitutes' bench. Ryunosuke Tanaka pumped his fist forcefully on the field.

Lu Ren landed and shook his wrist. He could still feel it.

Halfway through the Outai stadium, Shirama Yasei looked at his arm and gritted his teeth.

"Don't worry about it, catch the next ball." The God of Day patted the white horse on the back.

Serve again.

Lu Ren held the ball, his gaze sweeping across Outai's backcourt.

Shanglin expanded their defensive area, and Xinghai also took a half step back, preparing to help Baima relieve the pressure of receiving the first pass.

The formation has changed.

Lu Ren took two steps back. He tossed the ball.

This time it was thrown very high.

Run-up, sudden stop, push off the ground.

Heavy artillery fires in rapid succession.

The volleyball, spinning intensely, hurtled straight toward Xinghaiguang.

Xinghai didn't dodge. He stared intently at the ball's trajectory, shifted his feet to the side, and placed his hands together in front of him.

boom.

The immense impact caused Xinghai to slide back half an inch. The ball flew out of his reach.

The volleyball bounced high and headed straight for the net.

Probe ball.

Kageyama Tobio was already waiting there. He jumped on one foot and slammed the volleyball down hard as it flew towards him.

Suwa jumped to try and block the net, but was a beat too slow.

The volleyball landed within the three-meter line in Oudai's half of the court.

23: 21.

The whistle blew. Outai coach Aaron Murphy called a timeout.

We can't let this number 13 continue to be issued.

Karasuno's substitute bench.

Wu Yang handed Lu Ren a towel: "Well done. The momentum is on our side now."

Lu Ren wiped his sweat, picked up the water bottle, and took a swig. The soreness in his thighs was becoming more and more pronounced.

"That little guy on the other side is about to go ballistic." Lu Ren looked at the tactics board. "The next ball, they'll definitely pass it to Xinghai. Yuedao, keep a close eye on him."

Hotaru Tsukishima wiped her glasses with a towel: "Mind your own serving."

The pause has ended.

The players from both sides returned to the field.

The noise level inside the venue has reached its peak again.

Lu Ren stood in the service area, juggling the ball in his hand.

Two serves, one float and one heavy. Outai's receiving formation is now a bit awkward.

Shanglin stood in the middle, looking to both sides.

The whistle blows.

Lu Ren throws the ball. He takes a running start.

Muscle fatigue caused him to jump three centimeters lower this time than the previous two times.

Jump to the next position.

The ball speed wasn't fast. It was a standard serve.

Shanglin steadily rose up.

"The pass is perfect!"

Suwa ran to the net and touched the ball with both hands.

Outai made multiple runs. Bai Ma called for the ball on the right wing, while Zhou Shen cut in from the middle.

Xinghai Guanglai started from the left wing.

Kageyama's gaze swept across the opposite side, his brain rapidly processing the information.

The ball is passed to the left wing.

The ball leaps into the sky. An extremely high striking point.

Hotaru Tsukishima and Daichi Sawamura form a double net.

Tsukishima didn't jump prematurely; he kept his eyes fixed on Hoshino's shoulder movements. The instant Hoshino swung his arm, Tsukishima leaped, his hands precisely blocking the straight path.

The sea of ​​stars lingered in the air.

In the field of vision, straight lines were blocked, and diagonal lines were blocked by Sawamura's net.

But he didn't panic.

With a slight twist of his wrist, Xinghai forcibly changed the trajectory of his spike in mid-air, aiming it at the outermost edge of Yuedao's blocking hand.

The volleyball grazed Tsukishima's little finger and flew out of bounds.

The referee raises his flag. The player has gone out of bounds.

But just a second before the referee blew the whistle, Yu Nishitani made a diving save from the back row.

The volleyball hit Nishiya's hand and bounced high into the air.

"It's connected!"

The audience gasped in surprise.

"Counterattack!" Daichi Sawamura roared.

Kageyama ran to the landing point and caught the ball with both hands.

Karasuno's multi-pronged attack has resumed. They're going into berserk mode.

Tanaka, Higashimine, and Sawamura were running at the same time.

Hiruzen moved his feet quickly at the net. He had anticipated Kageyama's passing intention.

back row.

Dong Fengxu jumped, stepping on the three-meter line. Back row attack.

White Horse and Day God blocked the net together.

Dongfeng gritted his teeth in mid-air, exerted his strength in his waist and abdomen, and slammed the ball down hard against the net.

The volleyball hit Hirugami's arm and bounced back to Karasuno's half of the court.

Before the player who had been knocked down could even catch his breath, Tobio Kageyama had already fallen to the ground and used one hand to cushion the ball.

"Hit me again!"

The ball is passed to the left wing. Ryunosuke Tanaka jumps.

Facing a single blocker, Tanaka did not choose to spike with force, but instead flicked his wrist in mid-air and lobbed the ball.

The volleyball went over the block and landed in the gap in Outai's defense.

24: 21.

Karasuno reached game point.

The Karasuno supporters in the stands went wild.

Lu Ren stood at the bottom line and let out a long breath.

Just one point short.

Lu Ren caught the volleyball thrown by the referee.

Fourth serve.

The muscles in my thighs began to tremble involuntarily. This was a warning sign of overload.

Throw the ball. Take a running start.

At the moment of takeoff, Lu Ren felt the loss of leg strength.

The serve went wide.

The volleyball didn't have enough spin and flew straight towards the back row of the Outai team.

Shanglin easily lifted up.

"Great pass!"

Suwa passes the ball.

Xinghai Guanglai jumped again from the left wing.

This time, there was no hesitation in Xinghai's eyes.

Tsukishima and Kageyama form a double net.

Xinghai looked at the two walls of people in front of him from the air. He used his superhuman ability to hang in the air to wait for the exact fraction of a second that Tsukishima's body began to fall.

Swing your arm.

The volleyball slipped through the gap between Tsukishima and Kageyama's arms and slammed heavily into Karasuno's three-meter line.

24: 22.

Outai scores.

The whistle blew. The serve changed hands.

Lu Ren's serve is over.

Uyang Shishin raised the substitution sign. Number 10 enters, Number 13 exits.

Lu Ren walked off the field.

Hinata Shoyo stood on the sidelines, and the two passed each other.

"Take it down," Lu Ren said.

"Leave it to me." Hinata ran onto the field.

Lu Ren walked to the bench and plopped down on a bench.

Kiyoko Shimizu handed over a towel and a new ice pack.

Lu Ren draped the towel over his head and re-tied the ice pack back to his leg.

"Mission accomplished." Lu Ren leaned back in his chair, watching the scene unfold.

Uyang Shishin didn't look at him, his gaze fixed on the field: "Take a rest. Next up is their battlefield."

On the field.

Outai serves. Shirama buds.

Jump to the next position.

Daichi Sawamura received the pass steadily.

"The pass is perfect!"

Kageyama Tobio ran towards the net.

Karasuno's offensive gears began to turn once again.

Hinata Shoyo cut in from the middle lane at an extremely fast speed.

Hirugami Yukirou moved forward, following Hinata.

Kageyama touches the ball with both hands.

It wasn't passed to Hinata.

The ball flew towards the right wing. Dong Fengxu jumped.

Hoshino Koki and Suwa double-teamed.

Dong Fengxu looked at the opposing net from the air. His previous failures to hold on had not made him back down.

The ace's job is to smash the ball onto the opposite side of the court.

Arm swing. Smash.

The volleyball hit Suwa's arm, and the immense force sent it flying through the block, changing its direction and landing in bounds in Oudai's half of the court.

25: 22.

The whistle blew for a long time.

The second game is over.

The referee pointed to Karasuno's half of the field.

The score is tied 1-1. A draw.

Thunderous cheers erupted inside the stadium.

The Karasuno players were huddled together on the field.

In the halftime of the match at Oogawa, Hoshino Koki wiped his sweat and looked at Karasuno on the other side of the net.

"The third round," Xinghai said to Zhoushen.

The god of day nodded.

Lu Ren sat on a bench, listening to the cheers around him.

He removed the towel from his head and looked at the blinding searchlight above.

The game has entered the decisive round.

Now, this is the real hellish difficulty.

Lu Ren flexed his fingers, and his knuckles made a slight cracking sound.

He glanced at the opposite side of the Outai bench. Aaron Murphy was drawing something on the tactics board.

"Do you want to rebuild the defense system?" Lu Ren muttered to himself.

Qingze Yazhi stood in the stands, tapping the railing with an empty water bottle in her hand.

"This match was so intense, it almost gave me a heart attack," Ya-Chih said.

Lu Jianguo put down his camera and examined the photos he had just taken.

"That's the nature of competitive sports," Lu Jianguo said. "Until the very last moment, no one knows who will win."

On the court, both teams' players left the court for the intermission.

Karasuno's substitute bench.

Wu Yangxi held the tactics board and looked at the team members who were surrounding him.

"We played very well in the second game. The chaotic fighting tactics worked," Wu Yang said. "But Outai isn't stupid. In the third game, they will definitely adapt to our rhythm."

Kageyama Tobio drank his water without saying a word.

Hinata Shoyo jumped up and down excitedly: "Again! I can still run!"

Hotaru Tsukishima adjusted her glasses: "The physical exertion is too great. In the latter half of the third round, the efficiency of chaotic tactics will drop sharply."

Ukai nodded in agreement: "That's right. So in the third set, we need to regain control of the rhythm. We can't keep following the chaos."

He looked at Lu Ren sitting next to him.

"How's your leg?" Wu Yang asked.

Lu Ren patted his thigh, which was wrapped with an ice pack.

"I won't die," Lu Ren said. "In the third round, call me anytime if you need me to play."

Wu Yang looked at him without saying a word, then turned back to continue strategizing.

Outai halfway through.

Aaron Murphy looked at his players.

"Karasuno is very aggressive," Murphy said. "They're using chaos to break our order. But it's an extremely physically demanding style of play."

Hirugami Yukiro drank water and looked at the tactics board.

"Maintain discipline." Murphy tapped the tactics board. "Don't let their chaotic fighting get the better of you. Our defense is fine. Just make our net tighter, and they'll make mistakes eventually."

Hoshino Hikari stood up and stretched her shoulders.

"I will score more points in the third game," Xinghai said.

The five-minute break passed in the blink of an eye.

The whistle blew.

The decisive game begins.

Players from both sides return to the field.

In front of the net.

Hinata Shoyo and Hoshino Kōra's eyes met again.

Hotaru Tsukishima stood in front of the net, looking at Hirugo on the other side.

Reason and instinct.

Disorder and order.

Lu Ren sat on the sidelines, holding a marker pen, and drew an X on his palm.

"The show is about to begin," Lu Ren said.

The volleyball went up into the air again.

Under the lights, the decisive 25-point game officially began. Every point was like walking a tightrope over a cliff.

Whoever loses balance first is eliminated.