Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

When they changed places, a strangely joyful atmosphere still lingered in the air.

It felt like the newbie in a raid who always makes mistakes finally wiped out the whole raid, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief—after all, the worst outcome was just repairing equipment, and now that they'd already wiped out the raid, they could focus on taking down the boss without any distractions.

Hinata Shoyo was still touching his palm, seemingly not yet recovered from the sensation of that "Final Kill: Back of the Head Destruction Cannon." Kageyama Tobio walked in front of him, a red mark on the back of his head, like a conspicuous weakness mark, but his aura had changed from "I want to kill" to "I want to win," a shift that warmed the surrounding air slightly.

Apart from the few people on the other side of the net.

"Hey, shorty."

Hinata flinched in fright and immediately stood at attention: "Yes, sir!"

"That move just now..." Kindaichi pointed to the back of his head, a hint of mockery in his eyes, "How did you do that? Aiming at that spot requires very high-level ball control skills, right? Is that some kind of secret tactic of yours?"

Hinata's mouth dropped open, her face flushed red: "N-no... that..."

"I'd really like to learn it too."

A lazy voice came from the side. Tsukishima Kei had walked over at some point, pushed up her glasses, and wore a mocking smile that made you want to punch her. "That kind of serve that can precisely strike the brain of your teammates, if I could learn it, the practice matches within the team would be quite interesting, right? Please teach me, Hinata 'Teacher'."

"Tsukishima, you bastard!" Hinata jumped up and down in anger. "That was a mistake! It was a mistake!"

"Alright, enough chatting, the match has started."

Sawamura Daichi, like a worried old father, gently pulled the two chickens, who were about to start fighting again, back to their respective places.

At the start of the second game, Karasuno served.

Lu Ren walked to the baseline with the ball. He took a deep breath and felt the rough texture of the volleyball on his palm.

Although the first game was a crushing defeat, Lu Ren, a player with extensive PVE experience, knew very well that the first game was merely to figure out the BOSS's attack patterns and skill cooldowns. Now that the data collection was complete and the trial-and-error phase was over, it was time to begin the real strategy.

He glanced at the other side.

The formation in the west of Aoba Castle was very stable. Iwaizumi stood in the back row, his sharp eyes fixed on them. The free agent named Watari Chikaharu was also constantly adjusting his position.

"Since conventional methods can be defended against," Lu Ren thought, bringing up the skill bar in his mind, "let's try something unconventional."

Instead of his usual powerful jump serve, he stepped back with his right leg, bent his body slightly, and gently tossed the ball into the air with his left hand.

It's not thrown forward, but vertically upward.

very high.

Lu Ren twisted his body suddenly, and instead of smashing the ball from above, he slashed it down from below like he was hitting a golf ball.

"Get out of here!"

The volleyball, with its intense backspin, flew straight into the lights above the stadium like a launched intercontinental missile.

The audience's eyes were involuntarily drawn to the ball as it moved upwards.

The ball flew too high, disappearing directly into the blinding halo of the ceiling lights. For the receiver, it was a visual disaster. The white volleyball blended seamlessly with the white light, and by the time you could see it again, it was already hurtling towards your face with the force of gravity.

This is the move Lu Ren used at the city gymnasium—the ceiling serve.

"It's that trick again."

Iwazumi pursed his lips, not even looking up to chase after the ball that disappeared into the halo of light.

A few days ago at the Civic Gymnasium, during a pickup game, that guy who called himself "Baki Hanma" used this disgusting move against the adult team. The serve went out of bounds.

As the most reliable shield in the west of Aoba City, no move I've ever seen has any effect on him.

He calmly took two steps back, slightly bent his knees, lowered his center of gravity, and fixed his gaze on the area where the ball might land.

"Don't stare at the light! Watch where it lands!" Iwaizumi shouted to his teammates.

The ball fell from the halo at an extremely high speed, accompanied by an unsettling whistling sound.

But just before it touched the ground, Iwaizumi's arms snapped shut like iron clamps.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

The volleyball was steadily raised, its spin perfectly neutralized, and it floated lightly towards the setter's position.

"Tch, you figured it out?" Lu Ren clicked his tongue and immediately rushed into the arena to prepare for defense. "As expected, elite monsters have the ability to learn."

The counterattack from the west of Aoba City came swiftly.

Although substitute setter Shuu Yajin doesn't possess the phenomenal court control of Toru Oikawa, his fundamentals are very solid. He quickly moved under the ball and pushed it with both hands.

"Kunimi!"

The ball flew to the right wing.

Kunimi Hide, the guy who always looked like he hadn't slept enough, was now displaying astonishing running efficiency. He made no unnecessary movements, just jumped and swung his arm.

At the net, Sawamura Daichi and Hinata Shoyo jumped simultaneously to block.

"Too inexperienced." Kunimi Hide said expressionlessly, flicking his wrist.

Instead of a powerful spike, the ball cleverly slipped through the gap between Daichi and Hinata's arms, taking advantage of a slight time difference.

"Me too!"

Although Tsukishima Kei in the back row said, "I'm just here to coast along," his body language betrayed him. He took a long stride and managed to prop up the ball behind Daichi.

"Nice, catch!" Daichi Sawamura shouted.

The ball flew towards the net, at a moderate height, but slightly off-center.

Kageyama Tobio dashed towards the ball like a black lightning bolt.

At this moment, Hyuga Shoyo had already landed and quickly retreated to a distance of three meters.

"What is that guy up to?" Kindaichi frowned.

Before the ball was even passed, Hyuga began his full-speed run-up. He didn't even look at where the ball was or where the blockers were; he was like a missile with a pre-programmed trajectory, rushing towards a predetermined target.

"Is it that kind of messy positioning again?" Kindaichi sneered, preparing to jump and block.

However, what happened the next second stunned him.

Hinata rushed to the net, pushed off the ground with both feet, and flew up like a spring.

Then, in mid-air, he closed his eyes.

Yes, I closed my eyes.

"Huh?" Kindaichi thought he was seeing things.

Kageyama delivered the pass in that instant. The ball was incredibly fast, like a bullet leaving the barrel, heading straight for Hyuga's hand.

Hinata swung his arm forcefully in the air.

"call--"

The sound of a hand cutting through the air was clearly audible.

However, there was no sound of the ball being hit.

The volleyball grazed past Hinata's fingertips, causing him to miss his target. He spun halfway through the air before landing like a kite with a broken string. The volleyball, meanwhile, landed alone on the floor on the other side with a mocking thud.

The entire room fell silent.

The team members from Qingye City West looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Pfft..." Tsukishima covered his mouth.

Kindaichi watched this scene with immense satisfaction. Sure enough, this hastily assembled team was a joke. That "King" Kageyama Tobio was probably about to explode again, just like in middle school, berating his teammates for missing the spike and blaming them for not keeping up with his pace.

He looked at Kageyama with schadenfreude, awaiting that familiar thunderous rage.

However, Kageyama did not swear.

Kageyama Tobio, who always had a dark face and was arrogant, actually lowered his head in front of the short guy who missed his swing.

"Feel sorry."

Kageyama's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet stadium: "That pass just now went too high."

Kindaichi's chin almost hit the ground.

What did he hear?

That Kageyama? That arrogant dictator? That tyrant who only knew how to yell "Jump faster!" and "Raise your hands higher!"?

He's actually apologizing?

"Huh?" Hinata was also taken aback, scratching his head. "Is...is that so? I thought I jumped too low..."

"No, it was my mistake." Kageyama turned around, his expression terrifyingly serious. "I'll correct it for the next shot."

Lu Ren stood in the back row, watching this scene, a playful smile curving his lips.

Kindaichi sees this as a miracle of Kageyama's transformation. But to Riku, the "player," the logic behind it is crystal clear.

This isn't about a change in personality; it's about a change in the operating mechanism.

In the past, Kageyama treated his teammates as "independent AIs" who would report errors if they did not follow instructions.

Right now, Kageyama is playing a shooting game called "Hyuga Shoyo".

Hinata's blindfolded jump signifies that he has abandoned all aiming and judgment, transforming himself purely into a "trigger" or "turret." His sole responsibility is to appear at a fixed location at a fixed time and execute the "arm swing" action.

As for whether the ball can hit the target, whether it can get around the block, and whether it can score a point—that's all the setter's job, who's responsible for "delivering the ammunition."

If the turret presses the fire button but fails to fire due to lack of ammunition, whose fault is it?

It was definitely the operator's fault for loading the ammunition.

That's why Kageyama apologized. In his view, it wasn't out of politeness, but rather an objective statement about his operational error.

"What an interesting way to exploit a bug." Lu Ren mentally gave this tactic a thumbs up. "Turning uncontrollable teammates into controllable programs, that's the mindset of a pro player."

The game continues.

Aoba Josai serves.

This is a very standard overhand float shot. Lu Ren adjusted his footwork slightly and brought his arms together.

"I'll do it."

The ball bounced off his arm, tracing a perfect arc before landing steadily at the setter's position.

"Nice pass!"

Tobio Kageyama stood at the net once again. His gaze became extremely focused, as if everything around him had disappeared, leaving only the ball in his hand and the coordinates on the court.

"One more ball!" Hinata shouted.

He started it up again.

That kind of unrestrained, even blind, full-speed run-up. The floor screeched as his sneakers rubbed against it.

At the same time, Ryunosuke Tanaka started his run-up on the left wing, shouting "Give me the ball!"; Daichi Sawamura also made a screen attacking stance on the right side.

Karasuno's attack line instantly became more three-dimensional.

The blockers from the west side of Aoba City hesitated for a moment.

"Who are we defending?"

"Left side? Or middle?"

In those fractions of a second of hesitation, Hinata had already jumped.

He still made that gesture of not watching the ball, and he still maintained that crazy posture with his eyes closed.

Kageyama's fingers touched the volleyball.

There was no pause, no ball possession, not even time to think. It was the perfect coordination of muscle memory and neural reflexes.

"Whoosh!"

The volleyball transformed into a straight beam of light, instantly piercing through the court.

It's not a parabola that soars high into the air and then falls back down; it's a straight line that's almost parallel to the ground.

fast.

too fast.

Just as the blocker was about to jump, Iwaizumi, who was about to move his feet, was about to reach the back row.

"Snapped!"

Hinata intercepted the bullet in mid-air with his palm.

The sound was short and powerful, like a whip lashing through the air.

The next instant, the volleyball slammed heavily into the three-meter line of the Aoba City West court, then bounced high and crashed into the wall behind it.

"Thump—"

The echo reverberated throughout the stadium.

The field was deathly silent.

Kindaichi was still in a half-squatting position, ready to block, his eyes wide open, his gaze still fixed on Kageyama's hand, but the ball had already bounced on the floor behind him.

"Varied……"

Coach Aoba Josai on the sidelines suddenly stood up, almost dropping his notebook.

On the second floor, several students who had been chatting idly by the railing fell silent, looking as if they had seen a ghost.

"What was that... just now?"

"Did you see it clearly?"

"No... I just saw that guy with the orange hair jump up, and then the ball landed."

That speed was unlike anything a high school student could pull off. It was an attack that defied logic and felt like a bug.

Hinata Shoyo landed with his eyes still closed.

Two seconds later, he cautiously opened his eyes, looked at his palms, and then at the empty field opposite him.

The feel of hitting the ball, the perfect touch of my palm against the ball, travels straight to the top of my head.

"Waaaaaahh ...

Hinata suddenly let out an excited scream, turned around and rushed towards Kageyama, clenching her fists, "It's in! It's in! Kageyama! That feeling just now! It was amazing! It was like a 'whoosh' and then a 'smack'!"

Kageyama looked at Hinata, who was as excited as a monkey, and his tense lips finally relaxed a little, revealing a stiff but somewhat smug expression.

"Of course," Kageyama scoffed. "As long as you jump from this position, the ball will come."

Lu Ren walked over, patted Hinata on the shoulder, and then glanced at Kindaichi and Kunimi Hide, who were still in a daze.

"So this is what they call a 'version update'," Lu Ren said in a voice only he could hear. "Although the graphics still have some clipping issues and the physics engine is a bit strange, the damage numbers... are definitely overflowing."

Sawamura Daichi clapped his hands loudly and shouted, "Great shot! That's the spirit! Let's get another point!"

"Ohhhhhh!!!"

The momentum on Karasuno's side finally ignited like dry tinder being lit.