Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The volleyball spun twice in my palm, the rough surface rubbing against my fingerprints.

Lu Ren stood behind the service line and took a deep breath. The lights on the top of the stadium were somewhat dazzling, like rows of electronic eyes scrutinizing everyone.

The score is 15-18.

The score difference is still there, but that foul that went out of bounds has barely stopped the bleeding. The task now is simple: avoid mistakes and try to annoy the opponent as much as possible.

In the past few days of grueling training, besides turning himself into a ball-receiving machine and a backup setter, Lu Ren has also put a lot of effort into his serves. Although most of his skills are still at the "beginner" level and the icons are grayed out, that doesn't stop him from testing them in actual matches.

After all, that's the point of practice matches—to find bugs.

He looked up at the ceiling.

"What's he looking at?" Yamamoto Taketaka muttered from the other side of the net, then subconsciously looked up. "Is there something up there?"

Inugami also craned his neck, like two cats attracted by a laser pointer.

Right now.

Lu Ren didn't use the usual powerful jump serve approach, nor did he toss the ball over his head. He took a half step back with his right foot, his center of gravity suddenly dropped, his left hand gently lifted the ball, and his right hand, as if scooping up something, used the momentum of his body rotation to strike the volleyball hard right below with the heel of his palm.

"Get out of here!"

This strike does not aim for forward speed, but rather converts all kinetic energy into upward potential energy.

The volleyball, spinning wildly, shot straight into the light layer above the stadium like a launched satellite.

"Disappeared?" Tanaka rubbed his eyes in the audience.

In the eyes of the group, the moment the sphere entered the area of ​​intense light, it did indeed appear as if the system had deleted its texture. The white sphere melted into the white light, and visual detection became completely ineffective.

Hisense stood in the back row, his brow furrowed. As a reliable member of the Sound Horse defensive system, he rarely had moments of uncertainty.

Where's the ball?

In those fractions of a second of his hesitation, a white "meteorite" suddenly fell from the halo.

It didn't float down; it crashed down.

The physics engine's gravitational acceleration is on full display at this moment. When the ball reappears in view, it's moving at an astonishing speed.

"I'll do it!"

Hisense judged the landing point, raised both hands above its head, and prepared to catch the ball.

But he underestimated the acceleration of free fall.

There was a significant frame rate discrepancy between the ball's predicted speed and its actual speed. His hand had barely reached the target position when the volleyball had already breached his defensive judgment zone.

"Bang!"

The ball grazed his fingertips, slammed heavily onto the floor, and bounced back towards the backcourt.

The referee blew his whistle and gestured towards Karasuno.

16:18.

"Sorry!" Hisense looked at his hands, somewhat stunned. "I was too slow to make a judgment."

"It's alright, it's alright! That height is indeed difficult to handle." Kuroo Tetsurou clapped his hands, his gaze passing through the net and landing on Lu Ren. "A ceiling serve? This kid really knows a lot of tricks."

Lu Ren flicked his wrist and mentally graded the shot: 70 points. Luck played a large part; he mainly took advantage of the first-encounter kill mechanic.

This tactic works against ordinary monsters, but the opponent is a high-level character with maxed-out defense.

Back to the service line.

This time, the formation of the Sound Horse team had clearly changed. The free agent named Yoruichi took two steps back, his eyes fixed on Lu Ren's movements, as if he were watching a BOSS about to unleash a skill.

"We're being targeted."

Lu Ren knew that he couldn't use the same move twice against a Saint Seiya... no, against Otoko. But since the aggro level was already maxed out, he would try one more time.

Same motion, same hitting point.

The volleyball once again entered the light layer.

This time, no one looked up at Yinju in disbelief.

Yoruichi only slightly adjusted his position, without deliberately chasing the ball.

The moment the ball emerged from the halo, the red figure had already moved.

Without panicking and rushing to catch the ball, Yoru stepped back, giving the ball room to fall, then brought his arms together, squatted down, and steadily caught the "meteorite".

"Smack."

With a crisp sound, the volleyball lost all its force and obediently flew towards the setter's position in front of the net.

"Well done!"

Lu Ren's lips twitched.

That's it? It only took a minute. Isn't this adaptability a bit too outrageous?

The ball ended up in Kozume Grinding's hands.

The pudding-headed guy didn't even jump; he just stood there and flicked the ball with his finger. The volleyball drew a very low arc, heading straight for the open space behind the three-meter line.

"Inuoka!"

The first-year student, who looked like a large dog, had already charged forward.

too fast.

Although Dadi reacted in time and managed to fall to the ground to bail the ball up, the ball did not fly towards the setter's position, but instead flew directly towards the net.

"An opportunity ball!"

A chaotic battle ensued at the net. After some shoving, the ball eventually landed back on Karasuno's side.

Tobio Kageyama raised the ball high before it hit the ground.

"Hinata!"

Even in this chaotic situation, Kageyama still only has one choice.

Hinata Shoyo suddenly appeared from the side, kicking the floorboards so hard they creaked.

"Open your eyes...open your eyes..."

He silently repeated it to himself, forcing himself to fight the instinct to close his eyes.

In my field of vision, the ball wobbled and flew over.

It's still awkward.

Kageyama added too much spin to make the ball "stop," resulting in an extremely unstable trajectory.

Hyuga jumps and swings his arm.

Because he was staring at the ball, his movements appeared somewhat stiff, completely lacking the smooth and fluid feel he had before.

"Snapped!"

Instead of hitting the center of the ball, the palm awkwardly sliced ​​the lower half of the volleyball.

This wasn't a smash; it was more like a poorly executed lob.

The volleyball followed a strange parabola, passing over Inuoka's blocker and also over Yoru Eisuke, who was preparing to receive a powerful spike in the back row.

Like a dead fish, it fell with a thud into the corner of the baseline of the Sound Horse Stadium.

The entire room fell silent for a second.

"Beep—"

The referee blew the whistle, and Karasuno scored.

17:18.

"Yay!!!" Hinata excitedly clenched his fist after landing. "I saw it! I saw it clearly this time! Although it missed a little..."

"Was it a little off?" Kageyama walked over with a dark face, gesturing with his hand. "That was just luck! And the ball was still too high! You jumped too early!"

Watching these two single-celled organisms arguing even after scoring, Lu Ren sighed.

Although the process was ugly and the video even had some frame drops, the result was good.

The difference has narrowed to one point.

Lu Ren stepped onto the service line for the third time.

The ceiling serve has been cracked; using it again is just giving away points. A standard serve is like a tickle to a defensively strong team like Nekoma.

Then we'll have to resort to that skill that's still in beta testing.

Lu Ren retreated a considerable distance until his back was almost touching the wall.

"Oh? You're going to use a powerful jump serve this time?" Yamamoto Taketaka raised an eyebrow.

Lu Ren took a deep breath, tossed the ball, and began his run-up.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Take off.

His posture looked quite professional, but in the instant he was in the air, he suddenly stopped swinging his arm.

It wasn't a powerful slam, it was a push.

The palm strikes the middle of the volleyball.

The volleyball had no spin, and wasn't even very fast; it drifted across the net like a drunken ghost.

Jump float ball.

This is the town's signature move. Lu Ren had tried it before and, after several days of training, managed to roughly imitate it.

"Passed!"

Watching the ball sail over the net, Lu Ren mentally gave himself a thumbs up.

As long as the ball gets over the net, it's a victory!

However, reality is always cruel.

For a team like Karasuno, whose serve reception is weak, the jump float shot might be a powerful weapon. But for Otokoma…

Kuroo Tetsurou stood in the back row, looking at the soft, fluffy ball, his face even showing a "that's it?" expression.

Instead of using his hands, he took a step to the side, stretched out his body, and placed his arms firmly under the ball.

"This level of float serve isn't even as good as the serve machine in our team."

With a lighthearted remark, the ball was perfectly delivered to the top of the grinder's head.

The first pass accuracy rate was 100%.

Looking at this scene, Lu Ren felt like he was trying to kill a max-level BOSS with a wooden sword from the beginner village, and the damage display showed only "1".

"Grind!"

The volleyball was passed to the left wing.

This time, it was Tetsuro Kuroo who personally spearheaded the fast attack.

As a middle blocker who also excels at quick attacks, Kuroo's offense possesses a seasoned cunning. His feint in the air fooled Tsukishima's block, and with a flick of his wrist, he delivered an extremely tricky diagonal shot.

"Bang!"

The ball hit inside the three-meter line. Although Dadi made a timely save, the ball still flew out of bounds.

17:19.

The serve changed hands.

Lu Ren scratched his hair in exasperation.

"As expected, a skill that hasn't been practiced to full proficiency is just a waste in actual combat."

He glanced at the scoreboard.

Although it was only a two-point difference, the feeling of being completely defended by the opponent no matter how you attacked, while your own offense felt like walking a tightrope, was really mentally taxing.

If you were a regular player, you'd probably be thinking of surrendering and starting over by now.

But Lu Ren is not.

Looking at his opponents on the other side of the net, whose eyes were as calm as cats, he felt a strange itch to play.

That's what makes it interesting.

If it's just about stomping noobs, what's the point of buying this game?

"Don't worry about it! Get the next ball back!" Daichi Sawamura's voice remained calm.

"yes!"

Lu Ren returned to his seat, his gaze sweeping over Kageyama and Hinata.

The two guys were still whispering to each other, seemingly not taking the point they had just lost to heart at all.

"Lower it a little more." Kageyama stared at his fingers.

"I know! But I feel like I can see it!" Hinata's eyes shone with an alarming light.

Lu Ren smiled.

Although the current "Weird Man Fast Attack 2.0" is still a buggy test version, it is prone to lag and error messages.

But as long as it hasn't crashed, there's still hope for a comeback.

"Come on, Otoko."

Lu Ren lowered his center of gravity and assumed a receiving posture.

"Let me also inject some virus into your defense system."