Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The referee's whistle was sharp and piercing, like a blade slicing through glass, instantly penetrating the stuffy, humid air inside the stadium caused by intense exertion.

At the technical table, the substitution sign was held high. Number 13 came on, and number 11 went off.

Hotaru Tsukishima walked slowly off the field with his name tag in hand. The wooden floor was soaked with the players' sweat, reflecting his slightly tired figure. He handed the name tag to Riku, then roughly wiped the beads of sweat from his chin with his forearm, his chest heaving.

"Don't break your legs." Tsukishima's voice was hoarse, with a barely perceptible gasp.

"If it's broken, it'll be considered a work injury. I can ask the coach for reimbursement, and I can even swindle him out of a barbecue meal while I'm at it." Lu Ren smirked, took the sign, and casually stepped into the penalty area.

The atmosphere on the court suddenly became as oppressive as the low pressure before a storm, as if the air itself had solidified. All the players in Oudai's half turned their attention to the newly substituted number 13. He had been sitting quietly on the bench as a spectator in the first set, served a few points in the second, and now it was a crucial 15-15 tie in the deciding set, and Karasuno had somehow managed to bring him on at this critical juncture.

Hirugami Yukirou bent slightly, adjusted his knee pads, and forced himself to slow his breathing. His calm eyes were fixed on Rikuren; his intuition told him that this number 13 was definitely an unpredictable variable.

Lu Ren walked to the net and stood beside Ying Shan Fei Xiong.

Kageyama didn't look at him, but kept his head down, staring intently at his hands, as if they were some unfamiliar object. Sweat slid down his sharply defined wrists and into the black wristbands. As if possessed, he repeatedly opened and closed his fingers. From the start of the decisive game until now, the sensation on his fingertips had become increasingly strange and clearer.

The recoil of the volleyball striking his palm, the perfect arc of his fingers enveloping the ball, even the subtle cross-hatching of the leather on the ball's surface—all these formed a series of concrete and precise data in his mind. Yesterday, no, not even in the first set, he couldn't achieve this level. But today, at this moment, there was an inexplicable, indescribable stickiness between his hand and the ball.

That was definitely not a slip of the hand, but an extreme level of control that seemed to completely tame the volleyball.

"What are you staring at? Are you seeing things?" Lu Ren teased in a low voice. "Didn't you wash your hands?"

"It doesn't feel right." Kageyama rubbed his fingertips together vigorously, his brows furrowing slightly. "It's too smooth, unbelievably smooth."

"Isn't passing to you good? Do you think you, a genius setter, secretly enjoy being masochistic?" Lu Ren slapped Ying Shan on the back without any politeness. The slap was quite forceful, making Ying Shan shudder. "Pass me a high one. My legs are sore, I can't jump high."

The referee blows the whistle. The serve belongs to Outai.

Shiroba Mei stood outside the baseline, took a deep breath, tossed the ball, ran up, and jumped. With his terrifying height of 2.03 meters and a powerful jump serve, the volleyball, carrying strong wind pressure, slammed into Karasuno's back row like a cannonball.

"I'll take it!" Daichi Sawamura roared, quickly retreating and precisely blocking the landing point. He crossed his arms and forcefully blocked the heavy cannonball.

Bang! A dull thud rang out, and the ball bounced high into the air, heading straight for the net.

"Great pass!"

Kageyama Tobio moved swiftly to the side, sliding and pausing with fluid movements. He didn't look at any of the attackers on the court; his deep gaze remained fixed on the volleyball falling through the air. He raised both hands to meet the ball.

The moment he touched the ball, that strange, sticky feeling returned like an electric current. The time the volleyball lingered on his fingertips seemed to be stretched by a fraction of a second in his conscious mind. It was this extremely slight pause, imperceptible to outsiders, that allowed him to push the ball to an incredibly tricky, illogical angle.

Right wing. Lu Ren had already taken to the air.

His thigh muscles protested with aches and pains, as if countless needles were pricking him, but he ignored them completely. On the other side of the net, Hirugami Yukiro and Suwa's double block quickly followed up. With their excellent sense of smell, the two calculated Riku's jump height and spiking point, building an impenetrable wall in mid-air.

But Kageyama's pass was half a beat slower and half an inch slower than they expected. That half beat and half an inch caused a fatal misalignment in Oudai's blocking rhythm.

Lu Ren twisted his waist and abdomen in mid-air, forcibly leaning his body backward in an extremely awkward yet highly flexible posture, avoiding the highest blocking line. He swung his right arm in a wide arc, not opting for a brute-force spike, but rather precisely slicing the volleyball with the edge of his palm.

A sliced ​​ball with intense spin!

The volleyball traced a strange arc, bypassing the outside of the day god's arm, and plummeted down in Oogawa's half of the court. Uebayashi was shocked and desperately lunged forward, his fingertips barely grazing the ball, but the volleyball still spun and hit the floor, bouncing out of bounds.

16:15. Karasuno takes the lead!

"Great shot!" Tanaka Ryunosuke roared excitedly on the court, swinging his fist forcefully.

Lu Ren landed steadily, casually flicked his wrist, turned to look at Kageyama, and raised an eyebrow: "That was a pretty fancy pass, Kageyama."

Kageyama looked at his hands, still silent, but a terrifying light ignited in his eyes. He was certain. Under this intense pressure and suffocating rhythm, his body had undergone some incredible reorganization. Passing was no longer a rigid calculation or a connection on the tactical board, but had become an instinct as natural as breathing.

At halftime, head coach Aaron Murphy stood on the sidelines, his brow furrowed, stroking his chin. Karasuno's substitution of number 13 had completely thrown their offensive rhythm into disarray. What had been a methodical war of attrition had suddenly been disrupted by a deadly variable that defied all logic.

The serve returned to Karasuno. Riku Ren strolled leisurely towards the baseline.

He dribbled the ball while feeling the strain on his legs. A jump serve was out of the question; his stamina bar was already in critical condition, not supporting such an energy-intensive movement.

Throw the ball, take a running start, and float the ball.

The ball floated lightly over the net, its trajectory unpredictable, searching for Xinghai Guanglai.

Xinghai's eyes narrowed, and he quickly moved to the side to catch the ball. The ball was caught extremely steadily, without the slightest wobbling, and the force was perfectly absorbed.

"In place!"

Suwa quickly ran to the net to pass the ball. Seikai, like a true seagull, swiftly surged forward from the back row and leaped into the air.

At the net, Hinata Shoyo jumped almost at the same time.

The two shortest people in the entire arena engaged in a fierce confrontation in mid-air.

Hinata's eyes widened, her breath caught in her throat, and she stared intently at Hoshina before her. Hoshina's movements were so clean and efficient, his hang time in the air was incredibly long, as if he had defied gravity. From catching the ball to jumping, there wasn't a single superfluous movement; the distribution of power was extremely precise, and every muscle was working.

This is the complete form. The thought suddenly popped into Hyuga's mind. Hoshino's ball control, jumping ability, and aerial vision were all far superior to his current self. Standing on the other side of the net was practically his future self, honed to perfection with no weaknesses whatsoever!

Hoshino looked down at Hinata from high above, keenly catching Hinata's blocking gesture. In a flash, her wrist turned slightly, and she swung her arm to slam the net.

The ball hit Hinata's arm hard and flew out of bounds with tremendous force.

16:16. Another draw.

Xinghai landed lightly and glanced at Hyuga. He didn't say anything, but his condescending gaze clearly showed the provocation of a strong person.

Hinata clenched his teeth, tasting a hint of blood in his mouth. His heart pounded wildly in his chest as if it would explode, and scalding blood rushed wildly to his eardrums.

He didn't want to lose. Even if the person opposite him was his future self, even if his current self wasn't perfect, he absolutely didn't want to admit defeat here!

In the following rounds, the situation became incredibly intense and suffocating.

Lu Ren roamed the court, his playing style extremely "shameless" and disgusting. He never went head-to-head with Outai's proud high-point blocking, but instead, like a ghost, he looked for gaps in the defensive system. His lobs, side-steps, and second-attacks were incredibly realistic feints. On one occasion, he even saved a seemingly hopeless ball with the instep of his foot in an extremely comical manner from the back row.

His presence was like a super virus constantly generating gibberish, causing the airtight, machine-like network of defenses in Taiwan and mainland China to malfunction frequently, tearing the defenses to shreds.

Hirugami Yukiro's brows were furrowed into a tight knot. His prized blocking instincts had failed him; he realized he couldn't predict Ri Ren's movements at all. This number 13's actions were completely illogical; one second he was making a powerful spike run-up, and the next he could suddenly stop and switch to a delicate screen, fooling the blockers like idiots.

"Ignore him, don't let him disrupt your rhythm, keep your eyes on the ball!" The God of Daylight gritted his teeth and growled at the white horse beside him.

17 square meters. 18 square meters.

The score remained neck and neck, with the score fluctuating back and forth, each point relentlessly draining the energy of both teams.

Meanwhile, Tobio Kageyama's passes became increasingly unpredictable and divine. He completely abandoned conventional tactical routines and instead made all sorts of incredible yet perfectly timed passes based entirely on the attacker's current position, jumping state, and even remaining energy.

Hyuga cut in from the middle like lightning, pushing his speed to the limit.

Kageyama's ball has arrived.

Extremely fast, extremely low, it flew almost touching the net.

Hinata didn't make any adjustments, or even have time to think; he swung his arm violently based entirely on his beast-like instincts.

Bang! The volleyball grazed the tip of Hakuba's desperately outstretched finger and slammed into the boundary.

19:18. Karasuno takes the lead again!

Hinata was panting heavily, sweat stinging his eyes. He wiped his face haphazardly with the back of his hand, staring intently at Hoshino on the other side of the net like an unyielding young beast.

Xinghai was also panting heavily, his chest heaving violently, but his steps remained steady and his eyes remained sharp.

"Can you still jump?" Lu Ren asked casually as he passed by Hinata without stopping.

"Yes!" Hinata answered crisply and decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

"Then keep flying." Lu Ren stopped, pointed his thumb at the other side of the net, and said, "Pull that high-flying seagull down with your bare hands."

A whistle sounds. Outai requests a halt.

The noise inside the venue, which was almost enough to lift the roof off, subsided slightly, but it was still buzzing.

Aaron Murphy, holding his tactical board, looked grave. He slammed the board down with his marker: "Kurunano is speeding up. That number 13 is a big problem; he's disrupting our defensive formation like an eel. Daybreak God, don't let him lead you. Hold the middle, trust your blocking!"

The God of Day took a big gulp of water, nodded heavily, and his eyes were gloomy.

On Karasuno's side, Karasuno looked at his panting teammates without saying anything about complicated tactics.

"Keep up the pace! You're doing great. Kageyama, your pass... was excellent." Ukai Shishin looked at Kageyama, a hint of amazement flashing in his eyes.

Kageyama wiped his sweat with a towel and glanced at his hands again. He knew he was truly different today. The feeling was incredible; muscle memory and brain judgment were perfectly synchronized at that moment, as if the entire court was under his control.

The timeout has ended. The game resumes.

Dongfeng Xu serves.

A high toss, a long run-up, and a powerful jump serve like a heavy tank! The volleyball, with a chilling whooshing sound, slams into the back row of the Oudai team.

Shang Lin gritted his teeth, moved quickly, and forcefully received the ball. The ball bounced into the air, and the first pass was in place.

"remedy!"

Xinghai Guanglai ran towards the landing point like a cheetah, turned his back to the net, and steadily lifted the ball with both hands.

White Horse Sprout leaps high on the right wing and delivers a powerful slam dunk over the ball.

"Don't even think about going over there!" Nishitani Yu leaped out from the back row like a lightning bolt, the volleyball slamming heavily onto his strong forearm, narrowly missing the floor as it flew up.

"Kageyama!"

Kageyama was already in position as if by magic. He didn't jump; his feet were firmly planted on the floor, and his hands gently touched the ball.

It was an extremely smooth pass, without any fancy moves, yet it carried a reassuring power.

On the left wing, Ryunosuke Tanaka roared as he jumped. Ogata's double block quickly took shape, sealing off the straight line.

Tanaka forcefully pulled back his strength in mid-air, deftly flicked his wrist, and lightly suspended himself!

The volleyball soared over the high wall of the net and floated lightly into the open space where no one was defending.

Just when everyone thought the ball was doomed, Hoshino Kōrai rushed out from the back row and, with an extreme sliding motion, managed to catch the ball.

"Hit me again!" Suwa shouted hoarsely.

Xinghai sprang up from the floor quickly and jumped again without pausing.

Hinata Shoyo stared intently at Hoshino at the net. He jumped up with all his might, his leg muscles almost tearing, his hands desperately reaching for the highest point he could.

Stop them!

Bang! The volleyball slammed into Hyuga's arm, carrying his indomitable will, and bounced back to Omodai's half of the court.

The God of Daylight's eyes widened in fury as he lunged to save the ball, but he was a fraction too late. The volleyball crashed to the ground right before his eyes.

20:18. Karasuno forcefully widened the gap to two points in the deciding game!

The referee whistle blows.

boom--!

A huge cheer erupted in the stadium instantly, and the sound of the Karasuno support group was like a tsunami, almost lifting the roof off the entire stadium.

Hyuga landed, her legs suddenly buckled, her physical strength was exhausted to the limit, and she almost knelt directly on the wooden floor.

Lu Ren reacted quickly, grabbing him tightly by the back of his collar and lifting him up like a chick.

"Don't kneel, the game isn't over yet." Lu Ren chuckled, his voice still clear amidst the noise.

Hinata grinned, revealing a smile that was dazzlingly bright. Sweat dripped into his mouth, tasting salty and bitter, but he felt incredibly refreshed.

Hoshino stood on the other side of the net, her chest heaving, staring intently at the numbers on the scoreboard. 20:18.

He turned his head and looked at the Karasuno group on the other side of the net, especially number 13 and Hinata.

The course of the game has completely slipped out of Outai's meticulously calculated control. This seemingly hopeless game has been turned around by these madmen.