Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The air inside the stadium was a bit sticky, a unique smell of Salonpas, floor wax, and teenage hormones mixed together.

The two teams faced each other across the net. Otoko in red jerseys, Karasuno in black jerseys.

Suddenly, a circle formed around Yinju's group. All the team members lowered their heads and extended one fist towards the center of the circle.

"We are blood."

Kuroo Tetsuro's voice wasn't loud, but it had a strange magnetism that pierced through the noisy background.

"For the brain to function properly, it needs to constantly flow forward, delivering oxygen."

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes not showing the fervor of a shonen manga protagonist, but rather like an old cat staring at a fish tank, its languidness concealing a shrewd glint.

"Let's go!"

"oh--!"

The entire group of Onkoma responded in unison, their voices perfectly synchronized.

Just as this aura was about to spread throughout the stadium, a faint and resistant voice broke the atmosphere.

"Kuro... please don't say things like that again, okay? It's embarrassing." Kozume Masami shrank his neck, looking like he wanted to go home and play games.

As Yamamoto Taketaka passed by, he slapped Momo on the back and grinned, "What's wrong with that! It's good for boosting morale!"

Hisense added a gentle twist: "It's like giving yourself a psychological suggestion, grinding."

On the other side of the net.

Hinata Shoyo gripped the net with both hands, his eyes sparkling with adoration: "So cool! Kageyama, can you hear that? Blood! Brain!"

Kageyama Tobio was stretching his legs when he heard this, and he just glanced coldly at the person opposite him: "I don't understand. As long as we can win, it doesn't matter what you say."

Sitting on the bench, Lu Ren draped a towel over his lap and watched this scene, unable to help but mentally complain: Isn't this just the embarrassing pre-guild war shout-out? Although it's incredibly cringeworthy, I have to admit that these cats really did give us a buff.

The match is about to begin; here are the starting players for both sides.

Hinata, sitting in the front row, was hopping around, stretching her ankles, when Inugami, a first-year middle blocker from the opposite side, suddenly approached. This big guy, like a large dog just taken out for a walk, stared at Hinata for a long time before blurting out:

"Wow, so short."

The air froze for a second.

Hinata's initially excited face instantly fell, revealing a fierce expression of someone who had been stepped on: "What did you say? Don't underestimate me!"

Startled by the sudden murderous aura, Inuoka Kakeru waved his hands hastily, explaining in a flustered manner, "No, no, no! No, I didn't mean to underestimate you at all! I meant... uh, although you're short, you seem very energetic!"

Hinata's face brightened instantly, like the weather in June, and even blushed slightly with embarrassment: "R-really?"

"Hey! You idiot!"

A furious roar erupted from behind Hyuga. Kageyama Tobio strode over, his face grim, his expression like that of someone scolding a dog that had been eating indiscriminately: "You bastard! Would it kill you to underestimate your opponent? The match has already begun!"

Hyuga and Inugami were both startled and quickly returned to their positions.

"Beep—!"

The referee whistle blows.

Otoko serves.

Kozume Kenma stood at the baseline, twirling a volleyball in his hand. He didn't have the imposing presence of a powerful jump serve; he simply tossed the ball calmly and swung his arm.

The ball's trajectory is flat and not fast, but its landing point is extremely tricky.

"I'll do it!"

Dong Fengxu shouted from the back row. Although this newly returned ace looked fierce, his catching technique was surprisingly solid. He lowered his center of gravity and placed his arms firmly under the ball.

"Bang."

The pass was accurate, but it was a little too close to the net.

"Sorry, it's a bit short!" Dong Fengxu shouted.

"no problem."

Kageyama Tobio's voice was as calm as if he were solving a math problem. He quickly moved under the ball and raised his hands.

In that instant, an orange bolt of lightning ripped across the field.

Hinata Shoyo started from the other side of the court, without any hesitation or running start, and rushed straight to the net. His speed was ridiculously fast, like a character in a game using a teleportation bug.

The front-row blocker hadn't even had time to judge the ball's trajectory.

Take off.

Hinata closed her eyes in mid-air.

This isn't trust, it's blind faith. It's surrendering your body completely to that ill-tempered setter.

Kageyama's fingers touched the ball. He didn't hold the ball, didn't adjust his grip, just flicked his wrist.

The volleyball was like a precision-guided missile, shoved directly into Hyuga's waving hand.

"Snapped!"

A crisp sound.

The volleyball hit the floor and bounced towards the ceiling.

At that moment, the blocking player from Yinju had just jumped.

The entire stadium fell into a deathly silence.

The members of the Sound Horse team remained in their defensive stance, their faces filled with disbelief. It wasn't surprise at the powerful spike, but rather bewilderment at some kind of supernatural phenomenon.

"Hey... what's going on?" On the bench, Coach Nekomata, who had been squinting, suddenly opened his eyes a crack. "That little guy, he wasn't even watching the game, was he?"

Ukai Koshin sat in his chair, legs crossed, a smug grin spreading across his face – the kind of "I've got a winning hand" kind of smile. Next to him, Takeda-sensei pushed up his glasses, the glare obscuring the excitement in his eyes.

Lu Ren rested his chin on the back of his chair, looked at the stunned Yinju crowd, and slowly uttered a sentence:

"Here it comes, the legendary 'first encounter kill'."

This kind of fast attack, which completely defies the laws of physics and motion, is an unsolvable mechanic-based kill for an opponent encountering it for the first time. Unless you've read a guide, who would imagine that there's a cheat-like player in this game who can fight monsters with their eyes closed?

The score is 1-0.

Karasuno made a strong first move.

It was Karasuno's turn to serve. Ryunosuke Tanaka, holding the ball, turned his neck with a fierce expression, making a cracking sound.

"Take this!"

Overhand serve.

The ball, spinning, flew over the net.

Behind Nekoma, the guy named Fukunaga Shohei silently glided into position, his movements as light as a cat, and steadily cushioned the ball.

"Nice catch!"

Moyan glanced at the incoming ball, made no extra movements, and gently lifted it with both hands.

The ball flew towards the left wing.

"A fierce tiger!"

Yamamoto roared, his signature mohawk arcing through the air. He faced Karasuno's double net, his arm whipping like a whip.

"Bang!"

The ball flew over the blocker and towards the backcourt.

"Don't even think about it!"

An orange figure glided along the ground.

Xiguxi.

Karasuno's guardian deity made a perfect diving save, rescuing the ball from landing with one hand.

"Good shot! Nishitani!"

The ball flew high into the air and landed near the three-meter line.

Kageyama is in position again.

Otoko's blocking formation was quickly set up. The big guy named Inugami stared intently at Hinata.

That fast break was too unpredictable; we absolutely cannot let it happen!

Hyuga started again. This time, he swooped in from the right flank towards the middle, his footsteps pounding loudly, his presence terrifyingly strong.

"It's a fast break!" Otoko's block was drawn by this momentum, and he subconsciously jumped up after Hinata.

However, Hinata missed.

Kageyama flipped his wrist backward.

The volleyball flew in a long arc towards the no-man's-land on the left flank.

There, Dong Fengxu, who had been waiting for a long time, leaped high into the air.

At this moment, Otoko's net area was wide open, leaving only the libero Yoru Eisuke in the back row.

Looking at the smooth road before him, Dong Fengxu released the pent-up frustration in his heart with a swing of his arm.

"boom!"

That was a powerful and heavy slam.

Yoruichiro reacted extremely quickly; he judged the landing point correctly and lunged forward.

"bump!"

The ball hit his arm, but the immense spin and impact sent it flying. The volleyball went out of bounds and slammed into the wall with a loud thud.

2: 0.

"Tsk." Yoru got up from the ground, rubbed his reddened arm, and looked sharp. "That ball was heavy."

Coach Maoyou on the sidelines stroked his chin, his face not showing panic, but rather a playful smile: "I see. That little guy isn't just a quick attacker, he's also a top-notch decoy. As long as he runs around on the court, the blockers will be unconsciously drawn to him, thus missing the real power hitter."

"However..." the old coach laughed even more heartily, "there's nothing we can do if we can't save that kind of shot, after all, it's our first time meeting."

The game continues.

Karasuno's momentum was fully unleashed.

Hinata and Kageyama's "Monster Quick Attack" is like an unreasonable bug skill, activating as soon as the cooldown is over. Every time Hinata jumps, a crack appears in Otoko's defense.

If Otoko tries to target Hyuga, Kageyama will immediately pass the ball to Tanaka or Higashimine.

"Good shot! Tanaka-senpai!"

"Whoa! That was a great dunk!" Tanaka took off his shirt... no, he just made a fake shirt-taking motion, and then roared.

The score went back and forth, but Karasuno maintained a slight edge over Nekoma.

The two liberos, Nishiya and Yoru, put on a defensive tutorial. One would save a dangerous shot, the other would follow with a powerful dunk. The floor creaked from their friction.

Lu Ren watched from the sidelines, shaking his head in disbelief.

Everything went too smoothly.

Something's not right with this script.

In a typical boss fight, if the player has a smooth start, it usually means that the boss hasn't entered the second phase yet, or is casting a powerful attack.

He looked toward Onkoma's half of the field.

Despite being behind, those guys in red... were too calm.

The guy with the pudding-shaped haircut, nicknamed "Grinding Pudding," wasn't very active and even seemed a bit lazy, but his gaze never left Hinata. His eyes didn't seem to be looking at an opponent; it was more like he was observing a new dungeon mechanic, searching for a positioning buff.

And then there's Kuroo Tetsurou. Although he's always a beat slow when blocking, he seems to be gradually adjusting his timing and hand position when jumping.

It's like a large net that's slowly tightening.

The score is now 11-8. Karasuno is in the lead.

"beep--"

The referee whistle blows.

Onkoma requests a pause.

Coach Cat stood up with a smile, watching the players walk off the field.

"How was that fast break?"

"It's disgustingly fast." Yamamoto Taketora took a swig of water and wiped his sweat. "I can't even react to it."

"But..." Moyan sat in the chair, head down, his voice very soft.

All eyes were on him.

"Although it's fast, it's not entirely without pattern." Mojin raised his head, his cat-like pupils devoid of any emotion. "Shoyo... that little guy, before he jumps, his gaze will look towards where no one is. Also, although Kageyama's passes are fast, their landing points are actually quite predictable."

Kuroki grinned: "So, you've found the strategy guide?"

"Hmm." Moyan nodded. "Probably."

On the other side, in Karasuno's rest area.

"That was amazing! That shot!" Hinata exclaimed excitedly, waving his arms and legs. "I completely fooled that tall guy!"

Kageyama, who was drinking water from his bottle, frowned upon hearing this: "Don't get carried away. There were a few balls where your positioning was too far forward. If I hadn't corrected you, you would have made a mistake."

"What does it matter! We scored anyway!"

Wu Yang looked at the group of excited young men with a thoughtful expression. Although he was happy too, something felt off. The old fox opposite him was smiling too calmly.

"Listen," Ukai patted the tactics board, "The opponent called a timeout definitely to counter Hyuga's fast break. Their defensive positioning might change in the upcoming match. Kageyama, you need to observe closely."

"Yes."

Lu Ren sat down next to Dong Fengxu, opened a bottle of mineral water and handed it to him, muttering, "Senior Xu, if things go wrong later, just be a ruthless pile driver, forget about tactics, just go all out and create miracles."

Dong Fengxu was taken aback: "Huh? Why do you say that?"

"Intuition." Lu Ren pointed to his temple. "That guy with the pudding-shaped haircut over there is looking at Hinata like he's looking at a data packet that's already been unpacked. I have a feeling our 'cheat code' is about to get banned."

The whistle blew again.

The game continues.

Karasuno serves.

The ball went over the net, and Yinju caught it steadily.

Grinding and supporting the ball.

This time, he didn't pass to anyone, but instead made an extremely subtle second attack move.

Hotaru Tsukishima, who was in the front row, reacted quickly and jumped to block.

But just as Tsukishima jumped, Mojin twisted his wrist and gently pushed the ball into the open space in the back row.

That was where Hyuga should have been, but he had already rushed to the net in preparation for a fast attack.

The ball landed.

11: 9.

"Never mind! Next ball!" Daichi shouted.

However, the real changes have only just begun.

On the next ball, Kageyama passed it to Hyuga again. As usual, Hyuga closed his eyes, jumped, and swung his arm.

"Snapped!"

The ball did not touch the ground.

A hand appeared precisely in the path of Hyuga's spike.

It wasn't a block, but... a catch.

Instead of jumping to block, Inuoka took a step back and positioned himself in the path Hinata usually took to spike the ball. He then forcefully received the ball with his chest.

The ball bounced up, and although it bounced a bit, it didn't land.

"Got it!" Inugami shouted excitedly.

Kageyama's pupils suddenly contracted.

Coincidence?

No.

In the following balls, Otoko's blocking strategy completely changed. They no longer tried to match Hinata's speed, but instead narrowed their defensive circle, forcing Hinata to spike the ball in a fixed direction, like herding sheep. And in that direction, there was always a red figure waiting.

The big guy named Inugami is adapting to Hyuga's rhythm at a speed that can be seen with the naked eye.

"This is what they call..." Lu Ren sighed from the sidelines, covering his head with a towel. "The boss has entered the second phase, the mechanics have changed, if we don't change our strategy, we're going to be wiped out."

Wu Yangxi's expression darkened.

That old fox saw through the essence of the weirdo's fast attack in just half a game and found a way to stop it.

Is this the foundation of a traditionally strong team?