Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The setting sun dyed the streets an oversaturated orange-red, like a texture that had been rendered incorrectly by a graphics card.

Lu Ren and Qingze Yazhi walked side by side, their shadows stretched long and thin. When they reached the fork in the road, the two stopped in unison.

"See you tomorrow, Mr. 'Brick'." Qingze Yazhi waved, her smile appearing particularly sly in the sunset. "Don't forget to check the strategy guide. If you lose too badly on Saturday, I'll pretend I don't know you."

"Don't worry, I'm an expert at rollbacks." Lu Ren waved his hand lazily.

Watching the girl gracefully leap into the neighboring yard, Lu Ren turned around and pushed open his own front door.

Although he said he would make volleyball his main focus, the moment he stepped into his house, a system notification seemed to ring in his mind: *[Entered Safe House. HP/MP recovery speed +100%.]*

As soon as I changed my shoes, a strong, overpowering fragrance wafted down the corridor.

It has the aroma of Sichuan peppercorns and cypress branches, mixed with the smoky fragrance of bursting oil.

Lu Ren's olfactory radar activated instantly.

"Mom, I'm home."

He casually tossed his backpack, filled with volleyball strategy guides, onto the sofa and followed the aroma straight to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, a middle-aged woman wearing an apron was busy with her back to him. Amid the roar of the range hood, she skillfully tossed the wok with crisp, clean movements, displaying a style reminiscent of a martial arts master.

Lu Ren leaned closer to take a look.

The plate was piled with thinly sliced ​​sausages, glistening and translucent, red and white, glistening temptingly under the light.

"Sent by my maternal grandmother in Sichuan?" Lu Ren swallowed hard, his right hand moving with lightning speed towards a piece of minced meat on the edge of the plate.

He had practiced this move, "Empty Hand," countless times in the game, and its success rate was as high as 95%.

however.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the sausage, a hand holding a spatula appeared out of nowhere and hovered precisely three centimeters above his wrist.

There was no contact.

But that sharp sword aura—or rather, killing intent—froze Lu Ren's fingers in mid-air.

Lu's mother turned her head.

It was a well-maintained face; although there were some fine lines around the eyes, the gaze was still sharp as a knife.

"Trying to steal food without washing your hands?" Mother Lu's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable air of authority. "You can try. Let's see if your hands are faster, or my spatula."

*【System Warning: Encountering a high-level world boss. The current level difference is too great; a tactical retreat is recommended.】*

Lu Ren chuckled twice, withdrew his hand, and wiped it on his pants: "I just wanted to taste the saltiness for you. The color, the cooking time, it's practically a legendary quality tool."

"Stop being so glib." Mrs. Lu rolled her eyes at him, plated the stir-fried vegetables, and said, "Go wash your hands and call your father for dinner. He's been silent in his study for ages; I wonder what he's up to now."

"Understood."

Lu Renjing gave a perfunctory bow, then turned and slipped out of the kitchen.

After washing his hands, he went to the door of the study.

The door was ajar.

Lu Ren didn't knock. As a seasoned player of stealth games, he knew that going in directly at this point would only reveal a disguised illusion.

He slowed his pace, adjusted his breathing, and minimized his presence.

* Stealth skill (passive) activated. *

He floated to the doorway like a ghost and peered through the crack.

At the desk, the father, Comrade Lu Jianguo, who usually holds a teacup and talks about the stock market and international situation with a serious expression, is now wearing reading glasses and almost lying on the table.

He held a pair of fine tweezers in his hand, and in front of him lay a huge blueprint and countless tiny plastic parts.

His focused expression was ten times more serious than when Lu Ren was writing his college entrance exam mock test back then.

Lu Ren quietly pushed open the door and walked behind Lu Jianguo.

The objects on the table gradually became clear.

White armor, blue paint, and that iconic V-shaped antenna.

It's the RX-93, the Nu Gundam. And judging by the number of parts and the color separation, it's definitely PG (Perfect Grade).

"This sluice gate isn't handled well, Lao Lu."

Lu Ren's soft voice rang in Lu Jianguo's ears, "The polishing is too rough; there will be large gaps."

"Holy crap!"

Lu Jianguo shuddered in fright, nearly dropping the tweezers in his hand. He turned around abruptly, saw it was his son, and then patted his chest, still shaken.

"You little brat! Why do you walk so quietly?! Trying to scare your dad to death so he can inherit my Alipay Huabei account?"

Lu Jianguo quickly rolled up the blueprints, trying to use his body to block the conspicuous pile of parts on the table. He put on an awkward but dignified smile. "Um... I'm working. Yes, repairing... the company's precision instruments."

Lu Ren crossed his arms and looked at his father with a playful expression.

"Precision instruments?" Lu Ren pointed to the still-unfinished robot head. "Can this instrument fire floating cannons? And will it need an Amuro Ray as a pilot?"

Lu Jianguo's expression froze.

Now that he'd been seen through, he simply stopped pretending, slumped his shoulders, and put on a worried expression.

"Alright, you've got a sharp eye, kid." Lu Jianguo sighed, took off his reading glasses, and rubbed his eyes. "I only recently became obsessed with it. And... our wedding anniversary is coming up soon, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Lu Ren raised an eyebrow. "A wedding anniversary? What does that have to do with your Gundam project? Do you want to carve 'I love you for ten thousand years' onto this robot?"

"Get lost, that's so tacky!" Lu Jianguo glared at him and said in a low voice, "This is a gift for your mother."

Lu Ren: "..."

He searched his memory for his mother's hobbies.

Square dancing? I do it occasionally.

Mahjong? I'll play it on the weekend.

Korean dramas? I watch them every day.

Gundam?

This option does not exist in the database.

Lu Ren narrowed his eyes, smiled crookedly, and revealed his signature "I see right through you" expression.

"Old Lu, that's not fair of you." Lu Ren pointed at the model. "Are you sure it's my mom who likes it? Or did you just want to play with it yourself, buying it under the guise of a gift so you can legitimately display it at home?"

This tactic is all too familiar.

Just like when Lu Ren was a child, he told his mother that the game console was a "learning machine" in order to buy it.

The bloodline inheritance belonging to men.

Caught off guard, Lu Jianguo blushed, but he still stubbornly insisted, "Nonsense! This is for your mother! This is called... this is called a man's romance! Your mother will definitely understand!"

As he spoke, he looked at the pile of complicated parts on the table, then glanced at Lu Ren, and suddenly an idea came to him.

Lu Jianguo grabbed Lu Ren's arm, his tone becoming obsequious: "Son, since you've seen it... come on, help your dad. This thing is too hard on the eyes; the print in the instruction manual is smaller than ants. You're young and steady, help me put this leg back together."

Lu Ren pulled his hand back in disgust.

"No, please." Lu Ren took a step back. "This is a 'gift' for Mom. Since it's a gift, it has to be sincere. What kind of business is outsourcing? Boosting accounts gets you banned."

"Why are you so stubborn, child!" Lu Jianguo exclaimed impatiently. "I've been your father for so many years, I've done my part, even if I haven't done anything great, I've certainly put in the effort, haven't I? Can you really bear to watch your old father's eyes go blind in this pile of plastic sheets?"

"I'm doing this to uphold your dignity," Lu Renyi said righteously. "This thing only has soul if you make it yourself."

"Dinner's ready!"

A loud, energetic shout came from the living room.

Lu Renru was relieved: "Alright, the Empress Dowager has ordered the meal. Good luck, I'm rooting for you."

After saying that, he slipped out of the study.

"Hey! You heartless bastard..." Lu Jianguo looked at the pile of parts on the table that seemed to be mocking him, and painfully scratched his hair.

……

The dinner table.

The atmosphere was peaceful.

The savory aroma of sausages and the sweet fragrance of green vegetables mingled in the air.

Lu Ren held the bowl and shoveled rice into his mouth. He had to admit, his mother's cooking skills were truly at the level of a master chef; every bite was incredibly nourishing.

Lu Jianguo sat opposite him, seemingly absent-minded. He mechanically chewed his rice while occasionally stealing glances at his mother and then at Lu Ren, his eyes filled with a warning.

*【The NPC "Father" is sending you a signal through his eyes: Shut up. Keep it a secret.】*

Lu Ren pretended not to see it and picked up the biggest piece of sausage and put it in his mouth.

"Mom," Lu Ren suddenly spoke.

"Hmm?" Mother Lu served soup to the two of them without looking up.

"Um..." Lu Ren swallowed the meat in his mouth and asked innocently, "Do you like Gundam?"

"Cough—cough cough!"

Lu Jianguo, who was drinking soup across from him, choked instantly. He coughed violently, his face turning a deep purplish-red, and stared at Lu Ren with terrified eyes, as if he were looking at a terrorist who had detonated a nuclear bomb.

That unfilial son!

This is going to get me killed!

Lu's mother stopped what she was doing, glanced at her husband who was coughing so loudly, and then looked at her son: "Gundam? What's that? One of those toy robots?"

"Yes, it's one of those cool-looking plastic figures that are complicated to assemble and cost several thousand dollars," Lu Ren added with a smile.

Lu Jianguo closed his eyes in despair.

It’s over.

Their secret stash of money has been exposed.

The excuse was exposed.

I'll probably have to sleep on the floor in the study tonight.

"Why are you suddenly asking this?" Mrs. Lu put down her soup spoon and thought about it seriously.

The air at the dining table seemed to freeze. Lu Jianguo held his breath, awaiting the arrival of judgment.

"I'm not interested in those plastic pieces," Lu's mother said casually.

Lu Jianguo's heart sank.

"However..." Mrs. Lu changed the subject, a gentle smile appearing on her face, "If it were from you, or from your father, I would be very happy. After all, it's something you put time into making, which is much more thoughtful than just buying a bag."

After saying that, she picked up a piece of green vegetable with her chopsticks and put it in Lu Jianguo's bowl. "Old Lu, eat more green vegetables. Have you been feeling hot lately? Your face is so red."

Lu Jianguo was stunned.

He blinked, a surge of joy at surviving the ordeal welling up inside him.

"Ah...yes, yes! I'm a little feverish!" Lu Jianguo was so moved he almost burst into tears, nodding repeatedly. "Wife, you eat too, you eat too!"

He glanced at Lu Ren furtively.

Lu Ren continued to eat with his head down, but the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, concealing his merits and fame.

This is something else.

This was a perfect clear after an extreme stretch.

"Oh, right." As if remembering something, Lu's mother looked at Lu Ren and said, "How's your volleyball club going? Don't just play around. If you fall behind in your studies, I'll confiscate all your game consoles."

Lu Ren paused in his eating.

He recalled the oppressive atmosphere of Sawamura Daichi, the menacing Kageyama Tobio, and the "Illustrated Guide to Volleyball Tactics" lying in his schoolbag.

"Don't worry, Mom."

Lu Ren raised his head, a barely perceptible glint in his eyes.

"That volleyball club...it's quite interesting."

"After all, there's a group of guys out there who are even more troublesome and difficult to deal with than Gundams, waiting for me to conquer them."