Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The minibus stopped at the entrance of Karasuno High School, its engine letting out a weary sigh.

Lu Ren felt that his current state was similar to that of the engine. As a player who had long only invested in the "Intelligence" and "Perception" attributes, while completely ignoring the "Endurance" attribute, he had played three high-intensity dungeons in a row today. Even though he had been slacking off most of the time, his body was already on the verge of being forced to shut down due to low health.

As soon as I got out of the car, the night wind rushed into my collar. It felt great, but my calves were definitely cramping.

"Everyone, tidy up the gym before you disperse!" Sawamura Daichi's voice still sounded as energetic as ever, not at all like someone who had just finished a fierce battle with the top four teams in the prefecture. Is this the passive health regeneration of a tank class? Lu Ren thought to himself.

The stadium lights snapped on, illuminating the familiar wooden floor.

Hinata Shoyo's adrenaline had probably completely subsided, leaving him in a dazed, half-awake state. He held the mop in his hand, his head bobbing up and down like a robot vacuum cleaner that had run out of power, performing random Brownian motions on the floor.

"Hey, Hinata, are you mopping the floor or drawing talismans?" Tanaka Ryunosuke passed by and casually patted the orange-headed boy.

Hinata suddenly woke up with a start: "Ah! I'm here! The ball didn't hit the ground!"

"The ball has already landed; now it's cleaning time."

Lu Ren sighed and resignedly walked towards the storage room to get his tools.

Just as he reached out to grab the rag, a hand cut in front of him and stopped him.

"Lu Ren, go and rest over there."

It was Sugawara Koji. The deputy commander's face was still damp with sweat, his smile was gentle, but his eyes betrayed his weariness.

"Senior, I'm not tired, and I can even earn some contribution points." Lu Ren tried to struggle a bit.

"Alright, look at your legs, they're shaking." Sugawara pressed Lu Ren down onto the bench next to him without saying a word. "You and Kageyama worked together very well today, especially those last few random shots, they must have taken a lot of brainpower, right? Leave this to us."

Lu Ren opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't try to be brave in front of this "team mom." He really was about to collapse; if he moved any further, he would probably trigger the "fainting" debuff.

He slumped in his chair, and Qingze Yazhi naturally sat down next to him and handed him a bottle of water.

"Alive?"

"Barely." Lu Ren unscrewed the bottle cap and took a swig. "It felt like using a level 1 alt to solo a max-level boss. I didn't die, but all my equipment durability turned red."

Ya-zhi chuckled softly, but didn't reply. She simply brushed the hair that was falling across his forehead.

Not far away, Daichi Sawamura and Mr. Takeda were standing on the sidelines.

Lu Ren squinted. Although he couldn't hear very clearly, his position allowed him to see the expressions of the two men. Teacher Takeda was beaming with excitement, gesturing wildly as if he were still savoring his victory. Daichi, on the other hand, was smiling, but a lingering shadow hung between his brows.

"Thank you so much, teacher." Dadi bowed slightly.

"No, no, everyone has worked hard." Takeda Ittetsu adjusted his glasses, his tone sincere. "Winning against Aoba Johsai, even if it was just a practice match, is a huge surprise to me. It proves that we're on the right track."

Daichi was silent for two seconds, his gaze sweeping over Hyuga and Tanaka who were playing around, and finally landing on Kageyama, who was staring blankly at the wall.

"We won, but that was thanks to the 'Weird Fast Attack' that killed us on our first encounter." Daichi's voice lowered. "Once Hyuga is targeted, or if our first pass collapses like it did in the third set today, we'll be completely paralyzed."

Mr. Takeda suppressed his smile and listened attentively.

"And..." Daichi clenched his fist, seemingly finding it difficult to speak, "When we're in a desperate situation, as the captain on the field, I have to receive the ball and maintain morale, so it's hard for me to spare the energy to give tactical instructions from a 'coach' perspective. We need a real coach, someone who can see the situation clearly from the sidelines."

"I see..." Coach Takeda nodded thoughtfully, then his eyes hardened. "Leave the coaching job to me."

Dadi was taken aback: "Can it really work? Didn't you say before..."

"Although they haven't agreed yet, I'll keep trying." Teacher Takeda clenched his fist, as if encouraging himself. "For these children, I'll do anything, even kneel at the shop door to persuade them to come out of retirement. I know what I'm doing."

Lu Ren watched this scene from a distance. Although he couldn't hear the specific content, judging from Teacher Wu Tian's "If I don't go to hell, who will?" expression, he guessed that he was taking on some high-difficulty daily quest.

"Hey, look over there." Yazhi suddenly nudged Lu Ren with her elbow and gestured with her chin toward the storage room.

Lu Ren followed her gaze.

At the entrance to the storage room, Yamaguchi Tadashi stood bewildered, holding a mop. The mop head was broken in half, splinters sticking out, looking quite dangerous.

"Um... Sugawara-senpai," Yamaguchi asked cautiously, "should we throw this away? The broken edge is very sharp and could easily hurt your hand."

Sugawara, who was tidying up the net, stopped and walked over. He stared at the broken mop for a while, his eyes somewhat glazed over.

The noise in the stadium seemed to be shut out of the storage room at that moment.

"No need to throw it away." Sugawara took the mop, his fingers gently tracing the broken wooden handle, ignoring the splinters. "Just wrap it with tape, make sure it's tight, and it'll still work."

"But..." Yamaguchi wanted to say that it was already scrapped.

"It still works." Sugawara repeated, his voice soft but with a strange stubbornness. He took some super glue from the shelf, squatted down, and began to wrap it around the broken edge, one circle at a time.

The movements were slow and delicate, like bandaging a wound.

Lu Ren's radar went off instantly.

"Look at Sugawara-senpai's expression right now," Lu Ren whispered, leaning close to Ya Zhi's ear. "Don't you think something's off?"

Ya-zhi squinted and observed for a while: "Hmm... there's a kind of broken beauty."

"Yes, yes, that's the word!" Lu Ren slapped his thigh, instantly perking up and forgetting half of his fatigue. "Look at the way he's wrapping the tape around his hands. He's clearly fixing a mop, but it gives me the feeling that 'even though I'm broken, I can still put it together and continue to shine for this home.'"

Ya-zhi chuckled: "What kind of description is that? It sounds like lines from an eight o'clock melodrama!"

"You don't understand, that's the tension of character design." Lu Ren analyzed with great interest, "Look, Kageyama, this genius second passer, has come out and directly snatched the starting position. As the vice captain of the third year, how can Sugawara-senpai feel good? But he can't show it, he can only repair and patch things up like Xiu, trying his best to make himself still valuable in this team."

"Is this what you call... the feeling of a 'mother who has a falling out with her son'?" Lu Ren concluded, stroking his chin.

Ya-zhi paused for a moment, then looked over again.

Sugawara squatted on the ground, his back looking somewhat thin. The dim light shone on his silver-gray hair, which indeed conveyed an indescribable sense of loneliness. The mop in his hand, tightly wrapped up, seemed to be a manifestation of his current mood—even though it was covered in wounds, he was unwilling to discard it.

"Incredible." Yazhi couldn't help but admire Lu Ren's unique way of thinking. "Now that you mention it, when I look at Sugawara-senpai, all I can think of is that image of a suffering mother who endures hardship for her child."

Just then, Sawamura Daichi walked to the door of the storage room without anyone noticing.

He didn't go in, but stood in the shadow of the doorway, quietly watching Sugawara squatting on the ground. He didn't speak, nor did he urge him, but simply crossed his arms, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

There was worry, guilt, and a tacit understanding and heaviness in his eyes that only comrades-in-arms who were also in the third year and had climbed up from the bottom together could understand.

"Holy crap." Lu Ren gasped. "Look at where Dadi is standing."

"I see it!" Ya-zhi's eyes lit up. "Isn't this just like 'a helpless father standing at the door watching his aggrieved mother still doing housework'?"

"This melon is guaranteed to be ripe." Lu Ren clicked his tongue in amazement. "This isn't a hot-blooded sports anime, it's clearly a family drama. Look at Daichi's eyes, that's the struggle of 'I have no choice, I'm also very upset, but I have to make a decision for this family (team)'."

The two hid behind a bench, drinking water and pointing towards the storage room, their faces bearing the typical "spectator" expression of someone who loves watching a good show.

"Do you think Sugawara-senpai might turn evil?" Lu Ren's imagination ran wild. "Like, suddenly throwing down the mop, yelling 'I can't live like this anymore,' and then running away from home?"

"No." Ya-zhi shook her head, her tone certain. "According to the plot logic, he would fix the mop, then smile and hand it to Kageyama, saying, 'From now on, the floor is yours.' That's where the heart-wrenching part lies."

Lu Ren shuddered: "That's too much. Manager Qingze, you're the devil."

In the storage room, Sugawara finally finished wrapping the last layer of tape. He forcefully tore the tape, swung it a couple of times to make sure it was secure, and then a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"Alright, Yamaguchi, here you go."

He stood up, turned around, and met Da Di's gaze at the doorway.

The two stared at each other for a second.

There were no melodramatic arguments or sentimental dialogues.

Sugawara paused for a moment, then flashed his signature cheerful smile and dusted off his hands: "Daichi? What's wrong? You look so serious. I'll go clean up right away."

Daichi opened his mouth, but in the end he just sighed and patted Sugawara on the shoulder.

Don't push yourself too hard.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Sugawara laughed and gave him a push. "Our goal is the whole country."

Watching the two walk out of the storage room side by side, Lu Ren finished his last sip of water and precisely tossed the empty bottle into the trash can three meters away.

"Three points," he whispered to himself.

"Is the dungeon settlement complete?" Yazhi stood up and patted her skirt.

"Done." Lu Ren stretched, hearing his spine crack. "Although the plot was a bit tragic, at least the team is finally integrated. Next..."

He glanced at Hyuga, who was being yelled at and woken up by Kageyama, and then at the group of people who, though exhausted, had a sparkle in their eyes.

"Next, it's time to level up. Now that the Great Demon King Oikawa has spoken, if we newbies don't improve our defense, we'll really get riddled with bullets next time we meet."

Lu Ren propped himself up from the chair, feeling a little strength return to his legs.

"Let's go home. I'm starving."

"What would you like to eat?"

"Meat buns. The kind with thin skin and lots of filling, so juicy you can burst with flavor with every bite."

Aren't you afraid of getting fat?

"I'm currently overworking myself, expending a lot of brain cells, and desperately need the comfort of carbohydrates and fats. Do you even know what the law of conservation of energy is?"

Their voices faded into the distance, disappearing into the quiet night at Karasuno High School.

Inside the gymnasium, a mop wrapped in duct tape leaned quietly against the corner, maintaining the cleanliness of a certain area. Though no longer brand new, it still stood firm.