Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

With the referee's whistle, the two sides took turns.

The frontcourt lineup for Karasuno has changed. Kageyama Tobio, Tsukishima Kei, and Riku Ren, who loves to watch the drama unfold, have all moved to the net.

The tension in the air instantly intensified, not directed at the opponents, but at the teammates.

Hotaru Tsukishima pushed up her glasses, her gaze sweeping over Kageyama's still-sweat-drenched chin. Her tone carried her usual sarcasm and an indescribable disdain: "Those passes that are delivered to your hands with perfect precision are sickeningly accurate."

Kageyama Tobio was adjusting his knee pads when he heard this and suddenly looked up, his dead fish eyes widening instantly: "Huh? What did you say?"

Sawamura Daichi, sitting in the back row, sighed silently. Although Tsukishima's words sounded like he was nitpicking, as an attacker, Daichi could actually understand that feeling. Kageyama's pass was like a precisely calculated guided missile; the moment you jumped, you thought, "I hope the ball comes here," and the next second, the ball actually stopped in that position with spin.

The feeling of being completely seen through and even being forcibly fed was indeed quite unpleasant for Tsukishima, who had a very strong sense of self-esteem.

"Don't misunderstand." Tsukishima forced a smile. "I'm just saying that you're too controlling, Your Majesty."

"You bastard..." Kageyama's forehead veins bulged, and his fist hardened.

Standing between the two, Lu Ren's eyes lit up. Here it comes! Is this the legendary intra-team PvP session?

He immediately took a step to the side, crossed his arms, and struck a provocative pose: "Let's fight! Tsukishima said you're disgusting, how can you tolerate that? Kageyama, if I were you, I'd smash him with the ball machine right now. And Tsukishima, how can you just talk the talk? Kageyama's look just now clearly showed he wanted to hang you at the net like a teru teru bozu (a Japanese doll used to hang people on the ground), can you accept that?"

Tsukishima glanced at Lu Ren and sneered, "As someone who's still catching balls with his face, you seem to have a lot of free time."

"That's called a tactical human shield," Lu Ren said confidently. "Besides, even if I catch the ball with my face, I'm not like someone who just stands at the net like a telephone pole."

"Huh?" Tsukishima's fake smile couldn't be maintained any longer.

As the three people's heads drew closer and closer, as if they were about to start a "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in front of the net, a chill suddenly rose from behind them.

Sawamura Daichi appeared near the baseline at some point, wearing that "kind" smile that would give Tanaka Ryunosuke nightmares, his voice low and deep, as if it came from underground: "You three, having a good chat, huh?"

The three of them froze instantly, as if they had been petrified.

"The ball is coming," the earth whispered a reminder.

"yes!"

The three of them spoke in unison, quickly turning around and assuming a defensive stance in perfect unison. The change in expression was so swift that it was as if their previous infighting was merely a holographic projection.

The game continues.

Despite the point they had just lost, Aoba Castle West remained composed. Setter Yakinibu glanced at Karasuno's front-row positioning, his eyes flickering slightly.

Although the guy with the orange haircut went to the back row, the three people in the front row... just didn't look right. The tall guy in the middle (Tsukishima) looked unhappy, the setter (Kageyama) looked menacing, and the guy next to him, number 11 (Riku Ren), was looking around.

"Iwaizumi-senpai!"

Without hesitation, Yajin Shu passed the ball directly to his ace.

This was a powerful and wide-ranging attack.

Iwaiichi took a running start and jumped. His posture was extremely standard and full of power, a confidence honed through countless hours of practice.

But the moment he swung his arm, a wall suddenly rose up in front of him.

It wasn't a loose, single-person block, but rather three pairs of arms linked together.

Kageyama Tobio reacted the fastest, Tsukishima Hotaru's judgment was the most accurate, and as for Riku Ren... he simply jumped up because he saw the other two jump, his main message being "Although I don't know what happened, I still want to make up the numbers."

"Thump!"

The volleyball slammed heavily into the palm of Tsukishima and Kageyama's hand, making a dull thud, before bouncing weakly back onto Aoki's court and scoring a point.

Block!

The moment he landed, Kageyama Tobio clenched his fist and growled in a low voice, "Good!"

Hotaru Tsukishima patted the dust off her hands and glanced sideways at Kageyama: "Hey, I was the one who blocked that ball, right? It hit my hand."

"Huh?" Kageyama immediately retorted, "My pinky finger touched it too! And I blocked the straight shot, forcing him to hit it towards you!"

"That's because you jumped too early and almost got faked out."

"What did you say? Your sluggish movement is what you call almost letting the ball slip by!"

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Lu Ren forced his way between them, pointed to himself, and said, "Stop for a second. Can you let me say something fair? I was clearly standing on the far side, using my domineering aura to block his diagonal smash, forcing him to attack from the middle. This time, I was the MVP! I was the tank who gathered the monsters together! Do you understand the significance of that?"

Tsukishima and Kageyama turned their heads at the same time, looking at him with expressions that said, "Are you crazy?"

"The three of you..."

Captain Daichi's voice, laced with suppressed anger, rang out again from behind, "That's enough! If you're going to celebrate, then celebrate properly!"

The three of them immediately shut up and obediently ran back to their positions to high-five, but the force of the high-five was so great that it seemed like they were about to break their teammate's hand bones.

The pace of the game became even tighter after this point.

Having tasted success, Lu Ren tried to repeat his old trick. In the next round, when the first pass was off again, he jumped before Kageyama, attempting to pull off that "throw the ball to Hyuga" maneuver once more.

However, this time, reality gave him a resounding slap in the face.

Lu Ren's wrist flick was terrible in both power and angle. Although Hyuga jumped desperately, the ball flew directly outside the marker pole, not even clearing the net.

"Beep—" The referee blew his whistle, and Qingcheng scored.

Lu Ren landed and scratched his head awkwardly: "Um... that was a network delay, it lagged."

Sawamura Daichi walked over and patted him on the shoulder expressionlessly: "Seal away those reckless moves before you master them. If I see you experimenting in a match again, you'll have to practice catching the ball two hundred times tonight."

"Received." Lu Ren immediately stood at attention.

Although that "unreasonable setter" failed, Karasuno's momentum had been fully unleashed.

On the sidelines, at the coaching bench of Aoba Josai.

The young coach looked at the orange figure jumping around on the court with a serious expression: "We still need to limit that quick attack. As soon as that number 10 gets moving, our blocking is completely torn apart."

Standing next to him was the veteran coach, Nobuaki Irihata, with his hands behind his back, but his gaze swept over the rest of Karasuno, past Hinata.

"Indeed, the combination of Kageyama and that number 10 is a huge threat," Coach Irihata said slowly. "But what's worrying about Karasuno is not just that strange pair."

He raised his chin and gestured to Ryunosuke Tanaka, who was roaring and spiking the ball on the court.

"That bald-headed main attacker, although his technique is not refined enough, his strength and momentum in scoring even in adversity is a great boost to the team."

The gaze shifted to Tsukishima.

"That tall guy with glasses doesn't seem very motivated, but his blocking is very intelligent. He doesn't play with his body, he plays with his brain. He's manipulating our attackers."

Finally, Coach Irihata's gaze fell on Daichi Sawamura, who was bending over to defend in the back row.

"And then there's the captain. He may seem unremarkable, but he's like a patch, fixing wherever there's a hole. Without him stabilizing the situation, this team would have fallen apart long ago."

"And..." Coach Irihata narrowed his eyes, looking at number 11 who was arguing with Kageyama.

"That newcomer named Lu Ren."

The young coach was puzzled: "That number 11? His basic skills are very poor. That passing error just now was practically amateur level."

"Yeah, his fundamentals are a complete mess." Coach Irihata chuckled. "But he's strange. He always seems to know where the ball is going to fly, and he knows where we least want him to be. Although his technique can't keep up with his awareness, what's in his head... is dangerous."

"In a team, there are geniuses, reckless players, strategists, and a complete freak who doesn't play by the rules," Coach Irihata sighed. "This team is still very disjointed, full of flaws. But it's precisely this chaos that makes them extremely dangerous. You never know what they'll do next."

On the court, the score reached 24-22. Karasuno reached match point.

Kageyama Tobio took a deep breath, and the volleyball spun twice in his hands.

The pass was delivered perfectly.

At that moment, all the defensive players from Aoba Castle West tensed up.

who is it?

Is it Tanaka from the left wing? Or that tall guy Tsukishima?

In the instant they hesitated, an orange bolt of lightning tore through the air.

Hinata Shoyo cut diagonally into the court from the right side without hesitation or pause. He believed the ball would come, just as he believed the sun would rise.

Kageyama Tobio's fingers touched the ball, and his wrist flicked.

Without any unnecessary movements or hesitation, the volleyball, like a streak of light, struck Hinata's outstretched hand with pinpoint accuracy.

"Snapped!"

The sound was so crisp it sent chills down your spine.

Just as Qingcheng's blocker was about to jump, the volleyball hit the floor and bounced towards the second-floor stands.

That shot was so fast that even the afterimage was not visible.

"Yes!!" Hinata landed and excitedly raised his arms, shouting.

The referee blew his whistle and gestured towards Karasuno.

25: 22.

The second game ended with Karasuno winning a game back.

Lu Ren wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at the somewhat stunned Qingcheng team members opposite him, and a wicked smile appeared on his lips.

"Looks like the dungeon has entered its second phase," he muttered to himself. "But this boss's health bar doesn't seem that thick."