Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The whistle blew, and the game continued.

Sawamura Daichi stood at the baseline, his hand striking the volleyball with a steady rhythm. His serve, as a floor-based player, didn't aim for a powerful break; it focused on precise placement to deny the opponent a chance for a quick attack.

"Bang."

The volleyball flew over the net and headed straight for the back corner of the court.

Nekoma's libero, Yoru Eisuke, slipped, his center of gravity shifting instantly, his arms coming together. The volleyball struck his arms with a deep, resonant sound, a solid feel developed through long-term training.

"Nice, catch!" Yamamoto shouted.

The ball traced a perfect arc and was delivered almost flawlessly to the top of Kuzan's head.

The quality of that pass was exceptionally high.

Mojin stood at the net, his expressionless face appearing somewhat somber under the lights. He didn't look up at the ball, but his peripheral vision had already swept across Karasuno's defense.

Hisense cut in from the right wing.

The fingers, finely ground, lightly touched the ball, with minimal wrist movement. This was a back pass.

"Block the net!" Daichi Sawamura commanded.

Dongfeng Xu and Yuedao Ying quickly joined forces, their four hands forming a barrier in front of the net. Haixin Xing jumped, his movements appearing perfectly executed, his arm swing tracing a straight line diagonally.

But just as his fingers were about to touch the ball, Hisense's hand shape changed.

The originally powerful swing of the racket turned into a delicate flick.

"A feint! It's a lob!"

The volleyball slowly passed the blocker's fingertips and fell into the heart of Karasuno.

That was a no-man's-land.

"I'll do it!"

Like an enraged wild boar, Tanaka Ryunosuke leaped forward. The floor screeched as he used the back of his hand to cushion the ball just before it hit the ground.

But the ball was placed too far to the side.

After being hit by the force, the volleyball flew directly out of bounds.

"Sorry! I'll fill in!" Tanaka shouted from the floor.

The ball flew very high, but its arc in the air was very strange.

At this moment, Tobio Kageyama was in an awkward position. He had just participated in the net protection and was standing near the sideline.

According to general tactical logic, such chaotic plays should be left to the main attacker to handle forcefully.

"Nishiya! Send it to me!"

Kageyama's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable madness.

Instead of running towards the setter position, he took a step back to create more running distance.

Sitting on the sidelines, Sugawara Koji was stunned: "Kageyama's going to spike the ball?"

Without any hesitation, Nishitani Yu caught the ball with both hands and accurately located Kageyama.

Kageyama Tokio jumped.

His leaps were even more imposing than Hyuga's, a perfect blend of power and coordination. On Nekoma's side, Tetsuro Kuroo and Kaito immediately formed a double block, sealing off most of the angles.

Kageyama did not rush to swing his arm in the air.

He stared at the tiny gap between the opposing blockers, an absolute blind spot right next to the sideline.

"Bang!"

The volleyball was like a black lightning bolt, grazing straight along the sideline.

Yinju's blocker could even feel the wind generated by the ball, but couldn't touch it at all.

The ball hit the baseline, and the referee pointed his flag down.

Score.

Kageyama landed, expressionlessly dusting off his hands. He turned to look at Hinata Shoyo, who was still in a daze, his tone as calm as if he were reading an instruction manual.

That was a straight smash.

He pointed to the white line.

"Just cut straight along the edge, don't always try to rely on brute force. Learn properly, you idiot."

Hinata's face instantly turned bright red, whether from anger or being shown off, it was hard to tell: "Who are you calling an idiot! I can also draw straight lines!"

Ryunosuke Tanaka got up from the ground, brushing the dust off his clothes as he muttered irritably, "This guy's physical attributes and technique are infuriating. He's a setter, why is he stealing the spotlight from the outside hitter?"

The score began to rise steadily.

13: 11.

15: 13.

On the surface, Karasuno still holds the advantage. Hinata and Kageyama's "weird fast attack" can occasionally disrupt Nekoma's rhythm, and Higashimine Asahi's powerful bombardment can forcefully break through.

But Lu Ren sat on the bench, his brows furrowing more and more tightly.

Not right.

This feels like playing an RPG with extremely poor numerical balance.

Despite their team's incredibly high DPS and frequent use of ultimate abilities, the opponent's health bar barely decreased. Every time Karasuno scored a point, Otokoma always managed to catch up in the most stable and effortless way.

The score difference remained consistently narrow.

It feels like wrestling in a mud pit; you throw a punch with all your might, but your opponent deflects the force like cotton.

"Coach, I'm going to observe from another spot. I'll be back in a bit." Lu Ren stood up and patted his pants.

Uyang Xixin was intently watching the players' movements on the field, and waved his hand without turning his head: "Don't run too far."

Lu Ren circled around half the field and quietly made his way to the coach's bench near Yinju's side.

He didn't get close, but kept a distance where he could see the expressions of the members of the team and hear Coach Nekomata talking to himself.

At this moment, Yamamoto received a powerful dunk from Tanaka.

The ball was caught very steadily, and the deflection was extremely smooth.

The grinder stands in front of the net, hands raised.

Hotaru Tsukishima of Karasuno stared intently at Kenma's shoulder. He was a mental type, trying to predict the direction of the pass by observing the setter's center of gravity.

The grinding shoulder tilted slightly to the right.

"To the right!" Tsukishima reacted instantly, shifting to the right.

But the moment he moved, Mo's wrist twisted gently as if it had no bones.

The volleyball flew to the opposite left.

Fukunaga Shohei had been waiting for a long time, and scored with a light, diagonal spike.

"Tsk." Tsukishima landed, pushed up his glasses, and looked annoyed.

"Little crow, what are you doing here?"

A slightly hoarse but powerful voice came from the side.

Coach Cat looked at Lu Ren with a smile, his eyes like those of an old cat that had seen a new toy.

Lu Ren immediately put on an innocent smile, his tone as sincere as could be: "I've come to hear your teachings, and I hope you won't hesitate to share your wisdom. Our coach is currently very worried, so as a player, I have to come and learn from your experience."

Coach Mao chuckled a few times, but didn't expose his little scheme.

"Going to learn from the West? Weren't your setter and that short guy having a pretty big fight?"

"It's all fun and excitement, but it's meaningless if no one gets killed."

Lu Ren took the opportunity to do some simple warm-up exercises while observing Yinju's half of the field.

This is the closest location to the soundtrack.

Here, he could clearly see the "breathing" of the players on the field.

Yamamoto Takeo is receiving the ball.

Hisense is receiving the ball.

Yoru Eisuke is receiving the ball.

Even the seemingly frail Momo was using tiny movements to adjust his defensive position.

A game screen automatically popped into Lu Ren's mind.

Otoko's lineup was not designed for offense at all.

They are a "grind-down" build with high defense, high recovery, and extremely low resource consumption.

The score continued to climb, 18-17.

Karasuno's error rate has started to increase.

Hinata's breathing became heavy. Although Kageyama's pass was still accurate, he was forced to increase his mental exertion due to the increased intensity of the opponent's defense.

On the other hand, Guanyinju, those guys in red clothes, even their sweat flowed in a rhythmic manner.

Lu Ren saw what he wanted to see.

He bowed slightly to the cat coach and said, "Thank you for your hospitality. I've had my fill of watching."

Coach Nekomata stared at the boy, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes: "Oh? What did you see?"

"I saw some 'old coin' operations that shouldn't be happening at this level."

Lu Ren returned to Karasuno and went straight to Coach Karasuno's side.

He didn't mince words and said, "Otokoma truly lives up to its reputation as a veteran high school. No wonder their motto is 'Blood Cult.' This kind of play really makes you want to smash your controller."

Coach Wu Yang, who was already annoyed, turned around and asked, "What's the trick to it?"

"Exactly the same as their slogan."

Lu Ren pointed to the Lone Claw Grinding Stone on the field.

"The setter is the brain, and everyone else is the blood. Coach, have you noticed that from the start of the game until now, the distance that pudding-haired setter has run is not even as far as the distance I just walked around to the other side?"

Wu Yangxi was taken aback, then fell into deep thought.

"He basically doesn't make any long runs," Lu Ren added. "All the balls are precisely delivered to him by his teammates. He's conserving his energy, using all his mental processing power to observe and direct our attacks."

"Moreover, they're not even going all out right now."

Lu Ren lowered his voice.

"Their ball-catching technique is extraordinary. In terms of ball-catching, we bandits who only know how to bombard are not even in the same league as them. They are observing us now, adapting to our rhythm. When they finish decompressing Hyuga and Kageyama's 'data packets,' that will be the time when we collapse."

Wu Yangxi's expression turned extremely ugly.

He knew, of course, that Otoko was good at defense, but he didn’t realize that the opponent’s defense had become so systematic.

"So how should we win?" Wu Yang asked subconsciously.

He regretted asking the question as soon as he did; he was a coach, and he was asking his players how to play a game.

Lu Ren didn't care. He looked at Hyuga on the field, who was gradually being caught up by Inugami, and spoke with the calmness that gamers have.

"Generally speaking, when you encounter a tank boss in a game that has extremely high recovery, maxed-out defense, and continuous health regeneration, the best approach is not to confront it head-on."

"What is that?"

"Put a 'Healing Reduction' or 'Weakness' debuff on him to limit his healing. Or..."

Lu Ren narrowed his eyes, looking at Yin Ju's rock-solid defense.

"Or, we could use power exceeding his recovery limit to deal true damage in a short time and wear him down. But our mana (stamina) is almost depleted, so a direct assault isn't a long-term solution."

"so?"

"So, we have to find a way to cut off their 'blood circulation.' No matter how powerful the brain is, if the heart can't supply blood, it will shut down."

Lu Ren stretched his shoulders, producing a series of crisp popping sounds.

"Coach, if Hinata gets completely shut down later, let me go up and change things up. I may not have many other skills, but I'm best at patching up these kinds of high-difficulty bosses."

On the field, Hinata's fast break was once again touched by Inuoka Kakeru.

The volleyball bounced up, but was saved by Yaku Eisuke.

Mo Dan revealed a very faint smile in front of the net.

That was the expression on a hunter's face when he saw his prey fall into a trap.

The score is 19 to 19.

They split it equally.

Karasuno's "first encounter kill" bonus has officially been exhausted.