Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The whistle blew.

Lu Ren stood at the net, his chest heaving violently, his lungs feeling like a leaky bellows, each breath carrying the stench of blood. He stared intently at Usutoshi Mitsuru on the opposite side. The instant the setter's fingertips touched the ball, Lu Ren's brain, like an overclocked processor, instantly made its judgment: left wing, high ball.

He jumped. A full 0.5 seconds early.

This was an extremely risky anticipatory block; a wrong guess would mean certain death. Kiryu Hachi's run-up had barely begun when Lu Ren's hand was already like an iron gate blocking the spike's path.

"Bang!"

The volleyball whistled through the air and slammed heavily onto Lu Ren's fingertips. The enormous impact made his fingers go numb, and the ball changed direction and flew out of bounds.

The thug went out of bounds.

Upon landing, Lu Ren's thigh muscles involuntarily buckled, causing him to stagger two steps before crashing heavily to one knee. He gritted his teeth and forced a bitter smile. He had calculated the route and the timing correctly, but he hadn't anticipated Kiryu Hachi's unreasonable hang time and terrifying core strength. That monstrous physical ability to twist his waist and abdomen in mid-air and alter the trajectory of his spike turned Lu Ren's proud prediction into a joke.

The scoreboard flipped relentlessly. 2 to 6.

Kazusa's rhythm was flawless, like a cold, precise grinding machine. Usuri Mitsuru's serve was extremely tricky, specifically targeting the junction between Nishinoya Yu and Sawamura Daichi. It was an extremely disgusting attrition tactic, not aiming for a fatal blow, but rather to slowly drain Karasuno's stamina like cutting flesh with a dull knife.

Hinata Shoyo was running back and forth desperately at the net, but the "squeak" of his shoes rubbing against the floor had become noticeably duller. His amazing jumping ability, which used to allow him to easily leap over the block, was now so weak that he could barely reach Makoto's chin; each jump felt like dragging a lead weight.

Tobio Kageyama's passes remained terrifyingly accurate. But the receivers were ultimately a beat too slow.

Dong Fengxu gritted his teeth and jumped from the back row. Before the volleyball had even completely crossed the net, it was firmly blocked by the double block of Yunnan Huijie and Niwang, which was like a wall of sighs.

The volleyball landed without any surprise.

The score is now 5-12.

The score gap was relentlessly widened, and Karasuno's struggle seemed to be nothing more than a futile battle of a trapped beast in the face of absolute strength.

Lu Ren stood in the back row, gulping down the stale air. Sweat streamed down his forehead and stung his eyes, blurring his vision. Frustrated, he raised his sweat-soaked arm and vigorously wiped his face.

Refocusing our attention, we saw that the formation of the Kasaka team was so perfect it was nauseating.

There were no flaws.

Or rather, even if there were the slightest flaws, Karasuno's current physical strength and reaction speed would make it impossible for him to catch them.

In gaming terminology, this is called pure numerical domination. No need for fancy footwork or complex skill combos; just basic attacks can wear you down. Lu Ren had tried to revive the "Chimera" system, using multi-core rotations to tear apart the opponent's defense. But reality slapped him hard in the face. Multi-core operation requires extremely high running frequency and impeccable passing accuracy. This Karasuno team, their legs felt like lead, unable to run, and their hands felt frozen, unable to pass accurately. The so-called "multi-core" system had become a bunch of lag-ridden, constantly crashing, useless code.

7:16.

The last ball before the second technical timeout.

Kiryu Hachi leaped high from the back row, like an invincible demon god. Sawamura Daichi, Tsukishima Kei, and Tanaka Ryunosuke gritted their teeth and jumped with all their might to block the ball.

The volleyball, carrying terrifying wind pressure, pierced through the fingertips of the three players and crashed to the ground like a meteorite.

"It's not over yet!" Xi Gu Xi roared, his body lunging out like a cheetah, diving to save the ball. His forearm did touch the ball, but the spin and power of the volleyball were too terrifying, and it slid off his sweaty forearm, causing him to crash heavily into the GG sign on the sidelines.

With a muffled thud, Xigu Yu lay sprawled on the floor, unable to get up for a long time.

The referee blew the long whistle.

Karasuno requested a pause.

The team members helped each other toward the rest area, their steps dragging as if they had just been pulled out of a swamp.

No one spoke. The only sound was each other's heavy, labored breathing, like broken bellows.

Kiyoko Shimizu tenderly handed him a water bottle and a towel. Shoyo Hinata took the water, his hands trembling like leaves, spilling half the water onto his jersey without him even noticing.

Kageyama Tobio lowered his head, staring intently at his trembling hands, without uttering a word.

Lu Ren slumped back in his chair, head tilted back, staring at the glaring overhead light. His tactical maneuvers had completely ceased. It was useless. Faced with an absolute disparity in strength and physical ability, even the most ingenious tactics were nothing but scraps of paper.

The atmosphere was so oppressive that it was almost suffocating.

Wu Yangxi looked around at the group of wounded teenagers.

He suddenly slammed the tactical board onto the chair.

"Give up."

The moment those words were spoken, the entire rest area fell into a deathly silence. Even the deafening roar from the adjacent stands seemed to be drowned out at that moment.

Sawamura Daichi suddenly raised his head, his pupils dilating in shock.

Hinata Shoyo froze, and the water bottle in his hand fell to the ground with a "plop," spilling water all over the floor.

Hotaru Tsukishima's hand, which was pushing up her glasses, froze in mid-air.

Lu Ren turned his head and looked at his coach with half-closed eyes.

"Surprised?" Wu Yangxi crossed his arms, his sharp gaze sweeping over every exhausted face. "Your expressions, your movements, even your breathing, are all sending a message to your opponents—you can't win, so give up and get out of here sooner."

No one objected, because they were indeed extremely exhausted.

"Exhausted, tactics completely countered, and the opponent has an unreasonable monster on the other side." Ukai spoke calmly, each word piercingly. "Giving up is a reasonable choice. Protect your body, avoid injury, and prepare for next year's competition. That's rational, right?"

He paused for a moment, his chest heaving violently.

"So, is that really what you're thinking right now?!"

Wu Yangxi's voice suddenly rose, like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

"Are we just going to give up like this?! We've come this far, we've finally made it to the top four in the country! And now, faced with an insurmountable opponent, we're just going to hang our heads and slink away?"

He turned around abruptly and pointed at the opposite side of the mountain.

"Open your eyes and look at the other side! They haven't even broken a sweat yet! Are you trying to make everyone think that beating Karasuno was just a pre-match warm-up?"

"Is this the reason you risked your lives to get here?!"

Hinata Shoyo bit his lower lip hard, his eyes instantly turning red, like a young beast driven to the brink of despair.

Kageyama Tobio clenched his fists so tightly that his nails almost dug into his flesh.

Sawamura Daichi straightened up, took a deep breath of the polluted air, and his eyes regained their resolve.

Lu Ren smiled.

He actually laughed out loud.

At a time when even breathing was difficult and his muscles were screaming, he was laughing so hard his shoulders were shaking.

"Coach, your reverse psychology is a bit old-fashioned." Lu Ren grabbed a towel and vigorously wiped the sweat from his face, but his eyes were frighteningly bright. "However, it works quite well."

Lu Ren propped himself up on his knees and stretched his neck, which ached so much it felt like it was about to break, making a "crackling" sound as the bones rubbed together.

"When you encounter a boss in a game with an instant-death mechanic, you usually have two options. One is to simply reload your save and start over."

He turned his head and looked at Kiryu Hachi across from him as if he were staring at prey.

"Another way is to smash the keyboard directly onto the BOSS's arrogant face."

Lu Ren turned to his teammates, a crazy smile on his face.

"A numerical crushing victory, huh? Flawless, huh?" He licked his dry, bleeding lips. "Then let's forget about logic. Guys, we're all going to die anyway, might as well die a horrible death. We'll bite off a piece of their flesh like mad dogs, so that even if they go to the finals tomorrow, their legs will cramp up!"

Hinata Shoyo nodded vigorously, a fanatical flame burning in his eyes: "Bite them to death!"

Ryunosuke Tanaka pounded his chest, making a loud thud: "Even if I have to crawl on the ground, I'll crawl over there and bite them!"

Kageyama Tobio raised his head, his eyes as cold as knives: "I will pass the ball to your mouths with perfect precision."

Hotaru Tsukishima sighed helplessly, but also stood up: "What a bunch of hopeless lunatics."

The whistle rang out sharply again.

The pause has ended.

The entire Karasuno team returned to the field.

Their steps remained heavy, and their energy levels were still nearly depleted.

But Usutoshi Mitsuru, on the other side of the net, inexplicably frowned, a chill creeping into his heart.

He noticed that the eyes of the crows, who were originally on the verge of death, had completely changed.

That wasn't the look of someone yearning for victory.

That was a madman who planned to drag his enemy down with him.

"Come on." Lu Ren stood in front of the net, trying his best to lower his center of gravity, his hands spread out like sharp claws.

The competition has only just begun.

The serve is with Kasaka. Usuri Mitsuru stands in the service area, spinning the volleyball twice in his hand. He looks at Karasuno's formation; while he can't find any obvious flaws, he also doesn't see any threat in their counter-attack.

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

A powerful jump serve shot straight into the back corner, accompanied by a whistling sound that seemed to tear through the air.

"I'll do it!" Daichi Sawamura roared, lunging forward without regard for anything else.

The volleyball slammed heavily against his taut forearm and bounced high into the air. But due to his stamina waning, it was an extremely poor first pass; the ball, with intense spin, flew directly over the net.

"Chance ball!" Mao Wang shouted, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes, ready to jump and spike the ball.

Just as his feet left the ground, an orange figure appeared from the side like a ghost.

That day, Xiangyang was approached.

He had no running start at all; he did a straight jump from a standing position. This is a completely ergonomic takeoff that puts immense strain on his knees, but he stubbornly forced his hand over the net with his reckless grit.

The two collided violently in mid-air.

The volleyball was tightly squeezed between the two men's hands, making a dull, teeth-grinding squeezing sound.

In a pure contest of strength, Hyuga was at a clear disadvantage. His body instantly lost its balance in mid-air and fell backward uncontrollably.

But just as he was about to land, his bloodshot eyes widened, and he suddenly jerked his wrist, using the last bit of strength in his body to apply a lateral friction force.

Under immense pressure, the volleyball changed direction, narrowly missing Maki's fingertips, and landed in Maki's half of the court at an odd angle.

"Beep—"

Within the boundaries. Score.

8:16.

The entire stadium seemed to be muted for a second, then erupted in deafening cheers and exclamations.

Hinata Shoyo fell heavily to the floor, sliding several meters, and couldn't get up for a long time. Sawamura Daichi and Tanaka Ryunosuke rushed over and pulled him up.

"Good shot! Well done!"

Lu Ren dragged his heavy legs over and patted Hinata's shoulder hard.

"That keyboard-smashing-face move gets full marks."

On the other side of the Kasaka River, Usuri Mitsuru frowned deeply, his unease growing. Kiryu Hachi, though still expressionless, finally showed a rare hint of wariness in his usually calm eyes.

It's Karasuno's turn to serve.

Tadashi Yamaguchi was substituted into the game. He stood in the service area, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and his heart was pounding. He tossed the ball and jumped.

Jump float ball.

The volleyball traced a strange arc in the air with almost no spin, heading straight for Yunnan Huijie.

Yunnan Huijie took a steady stance, ready to receive the ball, but the moment the volleyball touched his arm, it seemed to suddenly lose its gravity and fell without warning.

The serve was misreceived. The ball went out of bounds.

9:16.

Karasuno scored two points in a row.

Coach Shizaka suddenly stood up on the sidelines and loudly reminded his players to pay attention to the rhythm and not to let the opponent's chaotic punches throw them off balance.

In the following rounds, the match completely deviated from the norm and entered a true meat grinder mode.

Karasuno abandoned all the complex tactical combinations that required precise calculations, leaving only the most primitive and pure hand-to-hand combat on the field.

Kiryu Hachi's powerful spike was unstoppable. Nishiya Yu didn't have time to adjust his posture and caught the ball with his face. Blood gushed from his nose instantly, flowing all over the floor, but he just wiped it off haphazardly with the back of his hand, covering his face with blood, and then continued to stubbornly stay in the back row as if nothing had happened.

Facing a three-man block on the left wing, Dong Fengxu didn't choose the clever trick of hitting the ball out of bounds. Instead, he let out a beast-like roar and smashed the ball hard against the blocker's arm.

The volleyball was ruthlessly blocked, and Sawamura Daichi, despite his abrasions, fell to the ground to save him. Kageyama Tobio, enduring the soreness in his thigh, passed the ball to Higashimine Asahi again.

Detain again. Block again. Rescue again.

For a full two minutes, the ball flew through the air, and no one was willing to let it land.

Both sides were expending their energy at an alarming rate. The breathing of the Kasaka members also began to become heavy.

In the end, amidst the chaos on the right wing, Lu Ren astutely seized an extremely small opening and scored a delicate lob shot, securing the hard-fought point.

10:16.

When Lu Ren landed, his right thigh muscles suddenly spasmed violently, as if countless needles were pricking him. He gritted his teeth, swallowed the pain, and showed no sign of discomfort.

He raised his head, looked at Usutoshi Mitsuru across from him, and gave a provocative sneer.

"How is it? Is this piece of meat easy to chew?"

Usutoshi didn't speak, he just stared at him coldly, but the sweat sliding down his forehead betrayed his inner turmoil.

The match continued. In the fast-paced footage, only sweat, shouts, and the roar of the volleyball hitting the ground remained.

The sheer strength of the Kazusa clan remains unchallenged, like an insurmountable mountain. Kiryu Hachi's attacks are still unstoppable, and Yunnan Keisuke and Maki Nozomi's blocking remains impenetrable.

The score fluctuated, but the gap in points remained.

12:20.

15:23.

The score difference remains huge, as if all of Karasuno's efforts have been in vain.

But the atmosphere on the field had completely changed.

The Kasaka players were no longer as relaxed as they had been at the start of the game. Their breathing became rapid and erratic, and their jerseys were completely soaked with sweat, clinging tightly to their bodies.

Every time Karasuno went down to defend, every time they launched a desperate counterattack, it was like a rusty saw cutting flesh from their bodies bit by bit.

"The last ball!"

Match point for Shirazaka. 24-17.

Kiryu Hachi jumped high from the back row.

This was his thirtieth jump of the competition. What was disheartening was that his movements remained textbook perfect, and his power remained terrifying.

The volleyball, carrying the aura of death, hurtled towards Karasuno's half of the court like a cannonball.

Lu Ren stood in front of the net, but this time, he did not jump to block.

His brain was racing, calculating precisely where the ball would land.

He suddenly turned around and ran wildly towards the back row.

The volleyball slammed heavily onto the floor, bounced high, and looked like it was about to fly out of bounds.

Lu Ren leaped out without hesitation, stretching his body as far as he could in mid-air.

"Get up!

His fingertips barely touched the bottom of the volleyball.

"Bang."

The volleyball was barely managed to be raised, and it flew crookedly towards the net.

"Kageyama!"

Lu Ren fell to the floor, shouting at the top of his lungs.

Kageyama Tobio was already in position. His vision was blurred with sweat, and his breathing was extremely rapid. He didn't look at Hinata, nor at Higashimine Asahi.

He instinctively passed the ball to Lu Ren, who had just struggled to his feet from the floor.

This was an extremely poor pass. Too low, too close to the net, leaving almost no room for a spike. Kageyama's fingers trembled slightly at the moment of contact with the ball, weakened by the loss of momentum.

But Lu Ren did not hesitate at all.

He jumped, dragging his cramped thigh.

Facing the double barrier of Yunnan Huijie and Zhouwang, which was like an iron wall.

In mid-air, looking at the arm that almost blocked all routes, he did not choose to force a spike. Instead, he used the last bit of strength left in his body to flick his wrist and gently push the ball to the outermost fingertips of the blocking hand.

The ball grazed my fingertips and flew out of bounds.

The thug went out of bounds.

18:24.

Lu Ren fell heavily to the floor, his legs completely numb, and he could no longer stand up.

His thighs were cramping violently, his lungs felt like they were going to explode, and his vision was going black in waves.

But as he slumped to the ground, looking at the Kasaka team members across from him, panting heavily and with a hint of exhaustion in their eyes, he suddenly grinned and smiled.

"Do you see that...?" he gasped, his voice hoarse but unusually firm.

"We're not completely dead yet."