Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The roller shutter door of the Sakashita store was half-closed, and the dim yellow light cast long shadows on the shelves.

"I know this is annoying, but please."

Takeda Ittetsu was bent over deeply, his forehead almost touching the cash register on the counter. He had been in this position for a minute, the fabric of his suit jacket stretched taut.

Behind the counter, Uyang Xixin, with dyed blond hair and an earring, was impatiently unpacking a box of cigarettes and roughly stuffing it into the shelf. Hearing this, he paused, his brow furrowing so deeply it could trap a fly.

"You're really annoying, teacher." Wu Yangxi casually tossed the empty cardboard box to the ground with a clatter. "I've told you countless times, I'm not going to be a coach."

"I'm very ashamed." Takeda didn't straighten up, his voice muffled. "As an advisor, I'm a complete novice. Aside from handling logistics and driving, I can't offer the kids any technical guidance. Those kids are all excellent, really, with just a little bit of professional guidance..."

"So, don't come looking for me." Wu Yangxi scratched her messy blond hair, looking impatient. "My grandfather was the one leading the team before, not me. I've already told you, I'm not cut out to teach. And I have to take care of a bunch of annoying high school students? Spare me."

He took a cigarette from the pack, put it in his mouth, but didn't light it.

"Teacher, to be honest," Ukai glanced sideways at the stubborn teacher in front of him, "While you do need technical guidance, what you really want from me, all this pestering, is the name 'Ukai,' isn't it?"

The air froze for a few seconds.

Takeda Ittetsu finally straightened up. He pushed up his glasses, and the look in his eyes behind the lenses was so honest that it was impossible to look away.

"To be honest, I do have that idea."

Uoyo Shishin gave a soft hum, as if to say, "Just as I thought."

"Ever since Coach Usakata retired, Karasuno has been on a downward spiral." Takeda's voice lowered, tinged with bitterness. "The glory days of our former powerhouse have faded, and we've gradually fallen behind other schools in the prefecture. Forget about strong teams; it's even hard to get a regular practice match now. Because in other people's eyes, Karasuno is now just a 'fallen powerhouse,' with no competitive value."

He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh.

"But, if we had the name 'Ukai'..."

"Do you think that as long as you raise the banner of a famous general, things will change?" Wu Yang interrupted him, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger.

"This is my key." Takeda bowed deeply again, his voice even louder than before. "I beg you, Mr. Ukai! For the sake of those children!"

The old refrigerator in the store emitted a buzzing sound of its compressor running.

Uyang Shishin looked at the teacher in front of him, who was even willing to do a dogeza (a traditional Chinese kneeling posture), and irritably spat out the unlit cigarette from his mouth.

"I refuse."

He turned around, with his back to Takeda, and began to organize the liquor cabinet behind him.

"I know your sincerity, teacher. But I still have to mind the shop, take care of the farm work, and play club games with a bunch of kids. I don't have the time."

Takeda Ittetsu remained bowed in silence for a long time before finally straightening up and tidying his somewhat disheveled collar.

"I see."

Uyang breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this guy was finally going to give up.

"Then I'll come again tomorrow."

"Huh?!" Wu Yang turned around abruptly, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. "I told you I wouldn't do it!"

Takeda had already reached the door when he heard this and stopped. He turned around, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone on his somewhat thin back, inexplicably revealing a kind of resilience.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Mr. Ukai." Takeda smiled, a smile that carried an inexplicable confidence. "But I think that once you've seen those kids compete, even just once, you'll understand why I'm so persistent in asking you to come out of retirement."

After he finished speaking, he pushed open the shop door, and the bell hanging on the door made a crisp "ding-a-ling" sound.

"Hey! I'm serious! No matter how many times you come, I absolutely—"

U-Yang's furious roar was cut off by the closed glass door. He watched the figure ride away on a bicycle, then grabbed a rag from the counter and vigorously wiped the already clean tabletop.

"Tch, they're all so stubborn."

……

Meanwhile, at Lu Renjia's house.

The television screen was filled with flashing lights and shadows, and the exciting electronic sound effects mixed with the frantic clattering of the controller buttons filled the entire room.

"Left hook! Low kick! Defense, you idiot!"

Lu Ren sat cross-legged on the carpet, his body swaying from side to side with the movements of the characters on the screen, his thumb leaving afterimages as he rubbed the controller.

"Stop talking nonsense!" Kiyosawa Aya, standing beside her, bit her lip, her eyes glued to the screen, her hands moving with lightning speed. "Take this Hadouken!"

On the screen, two pixelated characters are engaged in a fierce battle. Ya Zhi, controlling a female fighter, seizes an opening in Lu Ren's defenses and unleashes a combo that sends Lu Ren's character flying into the air.

"KO!"

The television broadcast a merciless pronouncement.

"Ah—!" Lu Ren threw the controller onto the carpet and collapsed backward. "This detection is wrong! I clearly pressed parry! The system is targeting me!"

"If you're bad, practice more. If you can't handle losing, don't play." Yazhi snorted smugly, picked up the Coke next to her, took a sip, and said, "Admit it, in the fighting game genre, you're a noob."

"Let's play one more round. I was careless just now and didn't dodge." Lu Ren sat up straight again, grabbing the controller with a hint of resentment. "This time I'm going to use my main character."

The character selection screen lit up again. While casually choosing a character, Lu Ren asked, "Speaking of which, do you have any information about that short senior today… that 'Asahi' that Nishitani-senpai mentioned?"

Ya-zhi's finger paused on the key for a moment.

"You mean Senior Dongfeng Xu?"

"Yes, it's that legendary ace." Lu Ren selected a muscular-looking, hulking character. "Nishiya refuses to rejoin the team because of him, and Hinata looks at him with such admiration. A character that the 'Guardian Angel' cares about so much must be a formidable one, right?"

"Hehe." Yazhi suddenly revealed a mysterious smile. She leaned closer and lowered her voice, saying, "Trying to distract me when you can't beat me? That trick won't work on me."

"I'm just being a gentleman, giving you some time to prepare," Lu Ren said stubbornly. "Hurry up and tell me, I've heard you gossiping all over school."

Yazhi pursed her lips, refocused her attention on the screen, and said while controlling her character, "I have indeed heard some rumors. It is said... he is a very ruthless person."

"Ruthless?" Lu Ren raised an eyebrow. "For example?"

"He looks like a typical delinquent." Ya-zhi recalled the gossip she had heard from a second-year girl, "He has long hair, a beard, and fierce eyes. I heard he has a nickname outside of school, something like 'North High's Destruction Dragon'."

"Destruction Dragon? What a cringeworthy nickname. It sounds like a hidden boss in some RPG game," Lu Ren retorted.

"Not only that," Ya-zhi's voice grew even lower, as if she were telling a ghost story, "He also has a most famous legend called the 'Midnight MRT Incident'."

Lu Ren's movements were a beat too slow, and the character on the screen got punched: "What the hell? The Ring?"

"I heard that a student saw him walk into a convenience store that was about to close at midnight when he took the last tram," Ya-zhi described vividly. "Not long after, the owner bowed and apologized as he was asked to leave. And... the owner had a new scar on his face!"

"Holy crap?" Lu Ren was shocked. "Extortion for protection money? Or just simple assault? This isn't just typical juvenile delinquency; this is material for a legal news channel!"

"Some people also said that he was selling contraband outside of school and had repeated a grade for five years, so he was actually already thirty years old," Ya-Chih added.

Lu Ren gasped.

A 30-year-old high school student? Isn't that a bit too futuristic?

He quickly conjured up an image in his mind: a violent maniac who was two meters tall, had a face full of scars, was covered in tattoos, held an iron bar, and would start fighting at the slightest provocation.

"I see." Lu Ren nodded thoughtfully. "Looks like a typical 'Berserker' class."

"What berserker?" Ya Zhi seized the opportunity to unleash another combo, leaving Lu Ren's character with only a sliver of health left.

"He's the kind of character with maxed-out attack power, mediocre defense, and probably negative intelligence—a pure damage dealer," Lu Ren analyzed logically. "He doesn't seem like someone to mess with. No wonder that hot-blooded idiot Xigu would acknowledge him as his older brother; this must be what they call 'villainous attraction.'"

The word "KO" popped up on the screen again.

Lu Ren lost again.

But this time he didn't complain; instead, he stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.

If this "Dongfeng Xu" is really the kind of fierce and evil character rumored to be, then the difficulty of conquering him is probably even higher than that of Oikawa Tetsu.

"A brute force attacker, huh..." Lu Ren muttered to himself. "Looks like I need to prepare some physical defenses. I wonder if my 'talk-no-jutsu' skill will work on him; I might just get physically silenced."

"What are you muttering about?" Yazhi poked his arm with the controller. "Are you still going to play? If not, I'm going home."

"Fight! Of course we'll fight!" Lu Ren snapped out of his daze, his eyes sharpening. "We were just collecting data before, now I need to get serious. Just like when we're facing that so-called 'ace,' we have to go all out!"

"That sounds nice," Yazhi rolled her eyes. "Then why don't you win a game and show me?"

Outside the window, the night was deepening.

While frantically pressing the controller, Lu Ren silently updated Karasuno's character profile in his mind.

Current configuration:

Captain Daichi Sawamura: A defensive tank, the cornerstone of the team.

Setter Tobio Kageyama: A genius player, currently in a period of adjustment due to personality issues.

Decoy Hyuga Shoyo: A highly agile assassin with a built-in confusion aura.

Free agent Nishitani Yu: God-tier support, physical defense maxed out.

Strategist Tsukishima Hotaru: A sharp-tongued mage, the brains of the group.

Now we have another "violent berserker" named Dong Fengxu.

"This team setup..." Lu Ren couldn't help but complain, "It looks more like they're going to a brawl than to play volleyball."

"Enough talk, take this!"

"Holy crap! That's a cheating trick!"

The room was filled with joyful shouts once again. The terrifying image of that "legendary ace" had taken deep root in Lu Ren's mind and was developing in an increasingly outrageous direction.