Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The numbers on the scoreboard jumped.

Lu Ren's "delayed judgment" just now caused a slight crack in Yinju's defense. But that wasn't enough; the "brain" on the other side was still working, constantly correcting the data.

"One more ball!" Daichi Sawamura serves.

The ball traveled steadily, heading straight for the back row.

Otoko's free agent, Yoru Eisuke, seemed to be born on the floor, gliding lightly into position and bringing his arms together.

"Bang!"

The first pass was so accurate it was outrageous.

The volleyball traced a perfect parabola, landing in front of the net as the Lone Claw Grinds. Without the slightest pause, the force dissipated the moment the fingers touched the ball, sending it drifting lightly towards the left wing.

That's Yamamoto Taketaka.

This guy was seething with anger, his face screaming "I'm going to smash the floor!" He took a running start, pushed off the ground, and jumped, his movements wide and powerful.

Lu Ren and Hinata Shoyo jumped almost simultaneously.

Hinata jumped high, but he simply wanted to block the ball. Lu Ren was different; his eyes weren't on the ball, but fixed on Yamamoto Takeo's shoulder.

Shoulders pulled inward, elbows lowered.

It's a cross-court shot.

Lu Ren forcibly adjusted the angle of his arms in mid-air, not to block it off, but to "guide" it. His hands were like a door that was only half open, blocking all paths of the cross-court ball, leaving only a pitifully narrow straight passage.

"Want to shoot diagonally? No way, go straight."

Yamamoto, the tiger, gritted his teeth in mid-air. His body was unable to change its posture, so he could only grit his teeth and smash the ball straight through the gap left by Lu Ren.

Is that place empty?

No.

Just as the ball cleared the net, an orange figure slid across the floor.

"Nishitani!"

"nice shot!"

Yuu Nishitani's hand precisely tapped the ball at its landing point, sending it bouncing high into the air. A perfect defense.

"Counterattack!"

Kageyama Tobio was already standing at the landing point.

Hyuga Shoyo landed without hesitation, like a startled rabbit, instantly launching himself from one side of the court to the other. Nekoma's front-row blocker, Inugami Kakeru, immediately followed. Hyuga, the "ultimate bait," had aggroed the opponent so effectively that he took down a blocker.

The area in front of the net is empty.

But Kageyama didn't pass the ball to the fast break.

He pushed the ball to the right and delivered a high ball.

That's Lu Ren.

In front of him was a double blocker, Tetsuro Kuroo and Kaishin, who quickly moved in to cover.

"Not a fast break?" Heiwei frowned, but his body reacted quickly, raising his arms high to block Lu Ren's spike route.

Kageyama's pass wasn't fast, giving Rikuren ample time to "read the time bar".

Lu Ren stretched his body in mid-air, pulling his right hand back fully, engaging his core muscles, his whole body resembling a taut bow. This stance looked like a powerful spike designed to smash the volleyball.

"Defense!" Yoru shouted from the back row, lowering his center of gravity.

Black Tail and Hisense pressed down with their palms, preparing to meet the impact.

however.

Time seemed to pause for a moment.

Lu Ren's right hand swept through the air in a sharp arc, accompanied by the sound of wind—but he missed.

The volleyball was not hit.

Just as everyone was stunned by the bizarre missed swing, the volleyball slowly passed by Lu Ren's outstretched left hand, which he was using to aim.

Lu Ren's wrist moved very subtly.

It wasn't a smash, it wasn't a drop shot.

He simply used the fingers of his left hand to gently, even tenderly, flick the side of the volleyball.

The volleyball changed trajectory, like a leaf blown by the wind, lightly passing over the outstretched fingertips of Kuroo Tetsuro, and then falling helplessly behind the two blockers.

That was a vacuum zone that Soundhorse was defending.

"Smack."

The ball landed.

There was no thunderous thud, only a slight thud as the ground touched down.

Kuroo Tetsuro landed, looked back at the rolling volleyball, and had an expression on his face that looked like he had swallowed a fly.

The entire room fell silent.

Two seconds later, laughter came from the sidelines.

"Hahahaha!" Nekoma's coach laughed so hard he almost fell over, slapping his thigh. "Interesting! Really interesting! These young people these days have so many ideas, it's impossible to keep up!"

Lu Ren landed, shook his left hand, and showed no expression on his face, as if the extremely unpredictable goal was just routine.

"Wow! Is that your left hand? It's definitely your left hand!" Hinata Shoyo's eyes lit up as he leaned closer, staring intently at Lu Ren's hand. "That was like magic! How did you do that? Teach me, teach me!"

A hand reached out and grabbed Hinata by the back of his collar.

With a dark expression, Kageyama Tobio dragged Hinata away: "Don't learn that. That's crooked and evil; you'll go astray."

"But he's so handsome!"

"Handsome my foot, he's dirty." Kageyama glanced back at Lu Ren, his eyes showing a mixture of disdain and undeniable acknowledgment.

Lu Ren shrugged: "A skill that can score points is a good skill, who cares if it's a bug or not."

The game continues.

Karasuno serves.

Nekoma's resilience was on full display at this moment. He didn't lose his composure despite the bizarre point he'd just lost. Yoru once again calmly received the first pass.

The ball was now in the grinder's hands.

Lu Ren stood in front of the net, his gaze fixed on the boy with the pudding-shaped haircut across the net.

The grinder remained expressionless, but his eyes glanced extremely quickly to the left just before contacting the ball.

Feint.

That look in his eyes was so realistic, it was like he was telling everyone, "I'm going to pass to the left."

If it were an ordinary person, their body would instinctively follow that gaze.

Lu Ren's center of gravity did indeed shift slightly to the left.

The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly as he used his fingers to pass the ball behind his back to the right.

There stood Kuroo Tetsuro, who had already taken a running start and jumped.

"We succeeded in fooling them."

Black Tail stretched its body in the air, seemingly with nothing in front of it—

Just as he swung his arm, a dark figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

It wasn't just one person.

There are three.

Hotaru Tsukishima, Shoyo Hinata, and... Riku Ren, who was supposed to be tricked into going to the left.

"What?!" Kuro's pupils contracted.

I clearly saw Lu Ren shift his center of gravity just now, how come he returned to his original position so quickly? Doesn't this guy have any momentum?

Lu Ren looked at Heiwei's astonished face from the air, but his heart remained unmoved.

Please, in games, when fighting a boss, there's always a wind-up animation before the boss uses its skills. To Lu Ren, that look in Moyan's eyes was a huge red exclamation mark.

Besides, who says you can't jump back if your center of gravity is off?

"Snapped!"

The three-man block was like an impenetrable high wall, firmly pressing Black Tail's spike back into Otoko's half of the court.

The ball landed.

Score.

Lu Ren landed and looked at the somewhat dazed Mo Yan through the net, saying in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Don't think you're the only one who can fake moves. I'm a professional at reading instructions too."

Mo Yan frowned, and that look, as if he were looking at some incomprehensible program code, reappeared.

Lu Ren also glanced at Tsukishima, his eyes conveying the message that Tsukishima had just been fooled.

Tsukishima looked disgusted, yet he managed to catch her and mock her.

For the next few balls, the two sides were locked in a tug-of-war.

Otoko's defense remained like a large net, and no matter how Karasuno attacked, they always managed to catch them with great difficulty.

Karasuno serves.

Hisense received the ball and made a perfect first pass.

The grinding process was forced to be adjusted and passed on to Yamamoto Taketora.

"Again!" Yamamoto roared.

Lu Ren reappeared at the net.

Same posture, same blockade.

"That disgusting positioning again!" Yamamoto cursed inwardly, forced to switch from his original plan to a straight shot to a wide diagonal one.

"Bang!"

Although Nishitani Yu anticipated the position, Yamamoto used all his strength on this shot, and the ball was too fast, hitting Nishitani's arm and bouncing away.

It was off-center and flew directly out of bounds.

"Sorry! I'll fix it!" Nishiya shouted.

Kageyama Tobio's location is too far away; he simply cannot get there in time.

The ball flew through the air, about to hit the ground.

Lu Ren rushed over.

He braked near the sideline, his body turned sideways to the net, his hands raised.

"Setter?"

This position, this posture, is for launching an adjustment attack.

Lu Ren glanced around the arena out of the corner of his eye.

Tsukishima Hotaru was taking a step back, a signal that she was preparing to attack. Riku Ren gave Tsukishima a look that was clear: "Here you go."

Tsukishima understood immediately and quickened his pace.

Otoko's blocking net was immediately moved towards Tsukishima.

But the grinding didn't move.

Those cat-like eyes were fixed on Lu Ren.

wrong.

Although Lu Ren was looking at Moon Island, his body orientation and that subtle pause... his attention was elsewhere.

Moyan followed Lu Ren's concealed gaze.

Kageyama Tokio.

The talented setter didn't sit idly by even though he hadn't received the ball; he had already quietly run up to the net, ready to spike.

"It's Kageyama!"

His sharpened brain made a decision in an instant. Lu Ren was to pass the ball to Kageyama, using Kageyama's spiking ability to launch a surprise attack.

Grin immediately moved to prepare to block Kageyama.

Just as the center of gravity shifts during the grinding process.

Lu Ren's hand touched the ball.

He didn't pass it on to Tsukishima, nor to Kageyama.

He pushed with his right hand.

The volleyball didn't fly towards any of the attackers, but instead fell straight and vertically into the open space on the court where Nekoma had just been standing.

Second attack.

"Thump."

The ball landed.

Grinding remained frozen in place, still moving towards Kageyama. He looked back at the volleyball bouncing where he had been standing, then turned to look at Rikuren.

The entire room fell silent.

Everyone was stunned.

Even Tsukishima and Kageyama had expressions that said, "Were you just kidding me?"

Lu Ren stood in front of the net, facing the complex gazes of the crowd, and slowly revealed an extremely kind and innocent smile.

"Oops, my hand slipped."

lied to you.

It's all acting.