Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The gymnasium floor was cool, with a slightly salty smell of sweat and the burnt smell of rubber from friction.

For Lu Ren at this moment, this was the most comfortable Simmons mattress in the world.

He lay sprawled near the baseline, his chest heaving violently like a broken bellows. With each breath, his lungs felt like they were being sanded by sandpaper, a burning pain spreading from his trachea all the way to his throat.

*[Warning! Stamina is depleted!]*

*[WARNING! Lactic acid is accumulating; current concentration: lethal dose.]*

*[WARNING! The device is overheating and the cooling system has failed. Immediate forced shutdown is recommended.]*

"Lu Ren!"

A vibrant sound came from above, like some kind of high-frequency noise with great penetrating power.

An orange face suddenly came into view, blocking the light from the ceiling. Hinata Shoyo stared wide-eyed at the "corpse" on the ground with a look of curiosity.

"Are you still alive? You can't even move?"

Lu Ren struggled to move his eyes, as if turning two rusty bearings. He looked at Hinata. This guy had just run the same number of laps, done the same shuttle run, and even added two extra sets of spikes at the end.

But now, this orange-haired man hasn't even broken a sweat; his head is still steaming, like a perpetual motion machine that has just finished warming up and is ready to run at full power.

"...Monster." Lu Ren moved his lips, but the sound he made was barely audible.

"Huh? What did you say?" Hinata crouched down and put his ear close.

"I said..." Lu Ren took a deep breath and rolled his eyes with all his might, "Could you please not shove your max-level character's health bar... into the face of a level 1 newbie like me? It'll... it'll make me lose sanity."

Hinata tilted her head, clearly not understanding the sarcastic remark filled with anime slang.

"Although I don't quite understand, Lu Ren, you look terrible, like you've been poisoned."

"It's not poisoning." Lu Ren stared blankly at the ceiling. "It's due to excessive level suppression, causing players to suffer continuous mental pollution and physical attacks. You freaks... your base attribute panels are definitely cheating."

He glanced at the distance. Kageyama Tobio was tidying up the net with practiced ease; he looked like he could play another ten games. Sawamura Daichi was discussing tactics with Sugawara Koji, looking radiant.

Only him.

Lu Ren felt like an Animal Crossing villager who had accidentally wandered into the world of Dark Souls; their art styles were on completely different levels.

"Don't lie down. You've just done strenuous exercise; lying down is bad for your heart."

A fair hand was extended in front of him.

Lu Ren followed the direction of her hand. Qingze Yazhi stood against the light, her sports jacket zipped up to the top, her ponytail swaying gently with her movements. She wore that signature "kind" smile that sent chills down Lu Ren's spine.

"Come on, let's revive at this save point."

Lu Ren stared at the hand for three seconds, then tried to control his core muscles to do a sit-up.

failure.

My abs look like they've run away from home.

"I...I can't get up." Lu Ren abandoned his dignity and told the truth, "It seems that the modules below my waist have lost their connection signal."

"Promising."

Yazhi chuckled softly, not minding that his hands were sweaty, and grabbed his wrist.

An unreasonable, strange force came. Lu Ren felt like he was being forcibly pulled off the ground like a sack.

"Ouch! Be gentle! It's a fracture! It's confirmed to be a fracture!"

Lu Ren staggered to his feet, his legs still swaying uncontrollably, like a patient in the late stages of Parkinson's disease. He leaned most of his weight on Ya Zhi's shoulders, like a pendant.

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Yazhi supported him, slinging his backpack over her shoulder with her other hand. "It was just a few laps. Even Tsukishima and Yamaguchi didn't go this far."

"Them?" Lu Ren sneered, his face pale but his words still defiant. "That guy Tsukishima may look thin, but he's tall and has long legs; his stride is 1.5 times mine. As for Yamaguchi... he's the boss's companion monster, so his stats are definitely boosted."

"Excuse."

"That's called reasonable data analysis."

The two slowly made their way out of the gymnasium. The sun had already set, and the night breeze, carrying a chill, blew against their sweat-soaked clothes, raising goosebumps.

As he passed by the Sakata Shopping Street, the enticing aroma of meat buns seemed like a tangible snare, precisely hooking Lu Ren's nose.

"Hungry," Lu Ren said succinctly.

"Didn't you just say you were going to die?"

"In a near-death state, the desire to eat increases exponentially. This is a biological instinct."

Two minutes later.

Lu Ren sat on a bench by the roadside, holding a steaming hot meat bun in his hands. He took a bite, and the scalding meat juices burst in his mouth, the feeling of happiness instantly easing the soreness in his muscles.

*【System Prompt: Use the item "Sakashita Shop's Special Meat Bun". HP restored +15 points. Gained Buff: Mood.】*

"She's alive..." Lu Ren breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Ya Zhi who was eating a red bean bun next to him.

The dim yellow light from the streetlamp illuminated her profile, outlining her soft features. She ate with refined manners, a stark contrast to the strongwoman who had just lifted a person weighing over 100 pounds with one hand.

"Hey, Ms. GM," Lu Ren mumbled through his steamed bun, "this game... I mean the volleyball club, is there really no option to leave the club? Or maybe I could switch to being a 'substitute towel-waving specialist'?"

Ya-zhi stopped chewing and turned to look at him.

She swallowed the food in her mouth, carefully folded the wrapper, and then revealed her cute little tiger tooth.

"Lu Ren," she said with a smile, "have you ever seen a game's main quest that you can abandon? Once you accept it, you either complete the game or delete your account."

"Delete account..." Lu Ren shuddered.

"And," Yazhi stood up, brushed the crumbs off her skirt, and looked down at him, "if you dare to desert before Saturday's game, I'll take your limited edition Final Fantasy disc and use it as a frisbee."

"...Vicious. So vicious." Lu Ren stuffed the last bite of the steamed bun into his mouth, chewing it with grief and indignation. "This is malicious bullying targeting the players."

"Good luck!" Yazhi clenched her fist and made a gesture of encouragement to him. "If you can survive these three years, you'll be a legendary player."

"To survive for three years..." Lu Ren looked at the dark night sky, feeling that there was no light in the future. "This wish is really simple."

……

The journey home became unusually long.

With every step, his thigh muscles screamed. Especially on uphill sections, Lu Ren felt as if his legs were filled with cement, and lifting even one centimeter required tremendous willpower.

It was so difficult to move it to my doorstep.

"Then I'm going back." Yazhi waved from the gate of the neighboring courtyard. "Remember to take a hot bath, or you'll regret it tomorrow."

"Okay, okay, stop nagging."

Lu Ren waved his hand and pushed open his front door like a zombie.

In the living room, Lu Jianguo was watching the news, while his mother was applying a face mask. Seeing their son's disheveled appearance, as if he had just crawled back from a battlefield, both of them were stunned.

"Son, are you... being chased by loan sharks?" Lu Jianguo asked cautiously.

"No." Lu Ren leaned against the wall, his eyes unfocused. "I went... to slay a dragon. Although I didn't win, I survived the dragon's breath."

He didn't have the energy to explain further.

He changed his shoes and went upstairs. Those few dozen steps became a stairway to heaven in his eyes. He used both hands and feet, tumbling and crawling.

Back in his room, Lu Ren didn't even have the strength to turn on the light.

The PS3 on his desk, its red light flashing, held no appeal for him at that moment. Daily quests, sign-in rewards—to hell with them!

He didn't even take off his clothes before collapsing onto the bed.

The moment the soft touch of the blanket enveloped his body, the system notification finally sounded in his mind:

*【Entering hibernation mode. The process is forcibly terminated.】*

*[Saving...]*

My consciousness momentarily went blank.

……

the next day.

The morning sun, as always, punctually and mercilessly pierced through the curtains.

Lu Ren slowly regained consciousness.

He wanted to turn over to avoid the annoying light.

The brain issues the command: *【Roll to the left.】*

Body feedback: *[Error 404. Hardware not responding.]*

"ah--!!!"

A piercing scream shattered the tranquility of the Lu residence.

Downstairs, Mrs. Lu's hand trembled, nearly spilling the milk on the table. "What's with this so early in the morning? Are you trying to summon a ghost?"

in the room.

Lu Ren remained frozen in a twisted position on the bed.

pain.

It hurts too much.

Every muscle in your body, even the muscles between your fingers, is frantically releasing nerve signals called "soreness." This is the legendary DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).

If yesterday was a red name for durability issues, then today it's equipment completely destroyed, with durability reduced to zero.

"I can't move... I can't move..."

Lu Ren tried to raise his arm, but it felt like he was being weighed down by two heavy weights. This wasn't just a delay; the internet had completely cut off.

Just then, the door was pushed open with a "bang".

"Lu Ren! You're oversleeping again! Today is morning training!"

Wearing a neat school uniform and carrying a backpack with a cat pattern, Qingze Yazhi rushed in.

As soon as she entered, she saw Lu Ren writhing on the bed like a maggot, his face covered in a mask of pain.

"...What are you doing? Doing yoga?" Ya-zhi raised an eyebrow.

"Help...help me..." Lu Ren squeezed out the words through gritted teeth, tears welling in his eyes, "My body...has been hacked. I've been stripped of control."

Yazhi walked over and poked his thigh muscle.

"Hiss—!!" Lu Ren gasped. "No! That's a weak point! It'll be a critical hit!"

"Pfft." Yazhi couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Didn't I remind you yesterday? This is called lactic acid buildup, it'll be fine after some exercise."

"I can't move. I really can't move." Lu Ren looked desperate. "Can today's daily tasks be canceled? I need to take sick leave. The reason is... total paralysis."

"turn down."

Yazhi glanced at the clock on the wall. "Morning training starts in twenty minutes. Kageyama and Hinata must have arrived by now."

"Let them practice! I'm not practicing! I'm quitting!" Lu Ren buried his head in his pillow, trying to escape reality. "I'm not playing this trash game anymore!"

"That's not up to you."

Yazhi sighed and threw her schoolbag on the ground. She walked to the bedside, rolled up her sleeves, revealing a section of her fair wrist.

"It seems the only option is to use GM privileges to force the system online."

"What...what are you going to do?" Lu Ren turned around in horror.

The next second, the blanket was suddenly yanked off.

"Get up! Change your clothes! Brush your teeth! Wash your face!"

Yazhi moved with the fluid grace of a ruthless, even somewhat violent, caregiver. She grabbed Lu Ren's arm and dragged him off the bed.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! My arm is going to break! It's really going to break!"

Lu Ren screamed repeatedly, his feet leaving two desperate marks on the floor.

"Enough talk! This is the responsibility of a volleyball team manager!"

So, on that bright and sunny morning...

Pedestrians on the street were fortunate enough to witness a bizarre scene.

A girl wearing Karasuno school uniform, carrying two backpacks and dragging a boy who seemed to have lost his soul and could only groan "ouch, ouch," strode towards the school.

No matter how much the boy wailed, the girl's hand remained as still as an iron clamp.

"Let me go... Yazhi... let me die at home..." Lu Ren was still making a last-ditch effort.

"Dream on." Yazhi didn't even turn her head, her ponytail swinging in a sharp arc. "Today's task is to practice receiving serves. If you dare to be late, Senior Dadi will show you what a real 'hellish dungeon' is like."

As Lu Ren watched the school gate approach, he closed his eyes in despair.

*[System notification: Forced login successful.]*

*[Loading map: Karasuno High School Gymnasium.]*

*【Current Status: The debuff "Full-Body Crushing Aches" is still in effect.】*

This damn youth.

This damn volleyball.