Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The score is 17-19.

It's time for the lone claw to grind and serve.

The guy stood at the baseline, and even during his serve, his face was filled with a weariness that screamed "I just want to go home and play video games." He tossed the ball very low and hit it very low, without any of the momentum to smash through the floor; he simply "sent" the ball over.

The ball floated lightly over the net, landing in a very tricky spot, right at the junction of the front and back rows.

"I'll do it."

Lu Ren took a step forward, knelt down, and used a standard passing motion to steadily send the ball to the net. Although his serve just now failed, he had still mastered this basic skill as a receiver.

Tobio Kageyama didn't even look at the ball; his body had already moved to the optimal position following the ball's trajectory.

At the same time, Hinata Shoyo in the front row made a move.

No running start.

Or rather, there wasn't even time for a running start.

That kid seemed to have springs in his feet, jumping up from the spot. The most outrageous thing was that his eyes were tightly closed, and his face still showed the lingering fear of being hit in the face by the ball, completely with an "I don't care if I die or not" expression.

Kageyama's pass followed shortly after.

It wasn't the "high-hanging ball" that was still in the testing phase, but a straight beam of light so fast that its trajectory was almost invisible.

"Bang!"

Without any fancy pauses, and without giving the attacker time to think, the volleyball exploded in Hyuga's palm and then slammed into the three-meter line of the Nekoma court.

The blocking players hadn't even had time to close in.

18:19.

Lu Ren straightened up and dusted off his knees. Looking at the odd couple high-fiving, he couldn't help but click his tongue inwardly.

They were arguing just a moment ago, and the next second they're executing this zero-latency teamwork. It's like two players who've never talked on voice chat before pulling off a perfect combo in a team fight. Is this what they call a "bond" system? This kind of setting that allows you to share your thoughts without needing to communicate is truly infuriating.

"Nice ball!" Daichi Sawamura shouted, tossing the ball to Hinata. "Good serve!"

Hinata took the ball and walked to the service area, took a deep breath, and looked more nervous than if he were going to a haunted house.

Lu Ren glanced at the rotation, silently moved two steps towards the sideline, and hid himself in the shadows. Hyuga's serve... it's a random event in itself, so to avoid being accidentally hit, it's best to stay away.

"Whistle sounds—"

Hinata tossed the ball up, his movements stiff as a robot.

"Smack."

As expected, he's a completely harmless noob.

Nekoma's libero, Yoru Eisuke, probably didn't expect the ball to be so easy to receive. He paused for a moment, then easily cushioned the ball up.

The pass was delivered perfectly.

Kozuru Grinding stands in front of the net, hands raised.

In that instant, all members of the Sound Horse team moved.

The red jerseys, which were originally scattered on the court, seemed to be attracted by some kind of magnetic field and surged towards the net. Four or five players from the left wing, right wing, middle, and even the back row jumped and ran up at the same time.

Attack from multiple points.

This is the chaotic fighting style that Nekoma excels at; the screen is filled with red afterimages, making it impossible to tell who the real attacker is.

Hotaru Tsukishima, sitting in the front row, adjusted her glasses and quickly scanned the figures.

If it's a crucial point, the ace will most likely be awarded.

His gaze locked onto Yamamoto Takeo on the left flank, and he shifted his weight accordingly, preparing to block the straight line.

However, the grinding fingers only flicked lightly.

The ball didn't fly towards any of the front-row attackers; instead, it seemed to have eyes, soaring over everyone's heads and flying towards the middle of the back row.

There, Fukunaga Shohei had already jumped silently.

"Oh no!" Tsukishima's pupils contracted.

At this point, Karasuno's defenses had been completely dismantled, leaving the middle lane wide open.

Fukunaga waves his arm.

The volleyball, whistling through the air, hurtled straight towards Karasuno's backcourt.

That was the position where Hyuga had just retreated to defend.

The single-celled organism was clearly still reeling from the serve and was about to look up to assess the situation when a magnified white ball suddenly appeared before its eyes.

"Bang!"

A dull thud; it sounded painful.

The volleyball slammed into Hinata's face, the force of which knocked him backward, nearly causing his nose to bleed.

"Hyuga!" Tanaka shouted.

Lu Ren felt his eyelids twitch.

Good grief, is this going to physically exorcise Hyuga directly? Isn't this attack hit detection a bit too realistic?

However, something strange happened.

The ball that Hyuga caught with his face didn't hit the ground; instead, it bounced high into the air, flew over the net, and returned to Nekoma's court.

"An opportunity ball!"

Kuroo Tetsuro reacted extremely quickly, shouting as he steadily caught the volleyball with its "face coating".

The game continues.

Hinata lay on the ground covering his nose, and the referee didn't blow the whistle, which meant the round wasn't over.

Grinding raised his hand again.

The attackers of Soundhorse were like tireless zombies, launching another attack.

Lu Ren lowered his center of gravity and stared intently at the setter with the pudding-shaped haircut.

Ever since that second-chance opportunity was figured out, this guy has become much more cautious. All his feints have been eliminated, leaving only the purest and most efficient passing motions.

It's like turning the graphics settings down to the lowest possible level just to get the highest frame rate.

The intention is unclear.

Since we can't read it, we can only rely on physical analysis.

At the moment of contact with the ball, Lu Ren caught an extremely subtle outward angle of his wrist.

That direction... is for Kuro's fast attack!

Lu Ren's brain instantly completed the trajectory calculation, and with a burst of power from his legs, he lunged to the left like a cheetah.

As long as you can get the ball in the right place at the right time, you can launch it!

The ball flew towards Tetsuro Kuroo as expected.

The captain with the rooster-like hair had jumped to the highest point, his arm raised high, ready to smash.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Heiwei caught sight of Lu Ren, who had already moved into position.

Black Tail, suspended in mid-air, suddenly twitched the corner of his mouth.

That wasn't a smile; it was more like a mockery of seeing prey fall into a trap.

He twisted his body forcefully in mid-air, turning his intended straight-line shot into a cut to the right.

"What?!"

Lu Ren's heart skipped a beat.

This boss has two phases?!

He tried to forcefully change the direction of his save, but his body's inertia had already pulled him to the left. This is the difference between reality and games; there's no "cancel recovery" mechanic.

"Snapped!"

The volleyball hit the floor a meter away from Lu Ren and bounced out of bounds.

18:20.

Lu Ren lay on the ground, watching the volleyball roll away, and slammed his fist hard on the floor.

"Tsk."

It's not that our awareness can't keep up, it's that our hardware can't keep up.

If my agility was a bit higher, or my core strength was a bit stronger, I might have been able to save that ball. My mind had already processed what was happening, but my body felt like a high-ping warrior with a lag.

This is really annoying.

On the other side of the net, Kuroo Tetsurou landed and glanced at Lu Ren through the net.

"Hey, Mamo." Kuroo wiped his sweat. "That number 13 is a bit annoying. I almost got caught by him just now."

Kozume Kenma stood still, his gaze fixed on Lu Ren, who was getting up from the ground.

"Hmm." The sound of grinding was very soft. "He's one of us."

"ha?"

"Like me, he enjoys observing." Mo Jin turned around. "However, his level hasn't been raised yet."

The game continues.

Yamamoto Takeshi stood at the service line with the ball in his hand, roared fiercely, and served a powerful jump serve.

"Euro!"

The ball was moving very fast and had a strong spin.

"I'll do it!"

Sawamura Daichi roared and stood tall to meet him.

"Bang!"

The ball hit his arm, but because of the strong spin, it didn't fly towards the setter's position; instead, it flew directly out of bounds.

"Sorry! It's off-center!" the earth shouted.

"It's alright! He can be saved!"

Nishitani Yuu's figure darted out like lightning, and just as the ball was about to hit the ground, she made a sideways dive and hooked the ball back with one hand.

"Senior Xu!"

The volleyball soared high into the air, landing on the left wing.

Dong Fengxu has already taken his running start. As the ace, there's no turning back at this point.

"Leave it to me!"

Dong Fengxu leaped up, his signature hovering motion, all his strength concentrated in his right arm, and he slammed it down.

"boom!"

This shot was powerful and heavy, heading straight for the corner of the baseline.

But standing there was Yoruichiro.

The libero, Yinju, was like an emotionless ball-receiving machine. His footwork was perfectly steady, and with a simple swing of his arms, he calmly deflected the powerful spike.

"Well done!"

The ball flies towards the net.

They then reorganized their attack.

This time, Kuroo Tetsurou cut in from the middle lane.

Hotaru Tsukishima and Asahi Higashimine, who had just landed, immediately joined forces to block the net.

"Don't even think about going there!" Dongfeng Xu roared.

Black Tail jumped.

Tsukishima and Higashimine Asahi also jumped.

The three people met in mid-air... No, wait!

Lu Ren could see it clearly from the back row.

Although Kuroo made a jumping motion, his feet did not leave the ground! It was just an extremely realistic feint!

Tsukishima and Higashimine Asahi were tricked into jumping up, and their bodies began to fall.

At that very moment, Kurowei truly pushed off the ground and jumped.

One person's time difference.

This is an advanced technique that takes advantage of the timing of the blocker's jump, specifically designed to exploit those blockers who are quick to react but lack experience.

At this moment, the network port was as empty as a main road in the early morning for Heiwei.

Goodbye.

Kuro chuckled softly in mid-air, calmly swinging his arm to dunk the ball between the two as they fell.

"Bang!"

The volleyball lands.

18:21.

Lu Ren watched as Kuroki, having succeeded, high-fived Moyan, and felt a vein throb on his forehead.

That old cat has a really dirty heart.

This kind of play, which exploits a bug in the game mechanics, is practically mocking the defensive system here for being full of loopholes.