Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

Changbo's post-battle rest period was shorter than expected.

Once the human body, a piece of hardware, is forcibly shut down after operating under high load, restarting it often requires a longer loading time. Lu Ren found a corner against the wall, pulled his coat over his head, and went into standby mode. The surrounding noise, announcements, and the screeching of shoes on the floor were all physically blocked out by his coat.

He was awakened by Sawamura Daichi.

"Lu Ren, let's go."

Lu Ren lifted his coat, the "loading" progress bar still seemingly lingering on his retina. He yawned and followed the line, swaying leisurely into the main stadium.

As soon as I entered, a huge wave of sound hit me.

"Date Kou! Date Kou!"

"Go! Go! Let's Go! Dateko!"

On the other side of the stands, the Date Industries cheering squad, dressed in dark uniforms, occupied several entire squares. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, their slogans deafening, and there was even accompanying brass band music. In contrast, the stands on Karasuno's side looked rather shabby; apart from parents and a few observers, there was practically nothing else there.

Lu Ren stood on the sidelines, looking up at the sea of ​​people opposite him, his eyes revealing undisguised envy.

"Is this the treatment for pay-to-win players?" Lu Ren clicked his tongue in amazement. "They come with their own background music and morale buff. Just this kind of lineup alone should add twenty points to the initial morale assessment."

Sawamura Daichi, who was stretching, smiled wryly upon hearing this: "Stop looking, there's no use in being envious. As long as we keep winning, we'll have our turn in the future."

"Save those 'hard work pays off' platitudes, Captain." Lu Ren stroked his chin, his gaze sweeping over the cheerleading girls opposite him. His tone suddenly turned somewhat irreverent. "Instead of waiting for later, why don't I go over there now and use my charm? With this face of mine, while I'm not some top-tier SSR, hooking up with a few random fans to switch sides shouldn't be a problem. As long as I swing the hoe well, no wall is too high to break down..."

Dadi didn't speak, but a very subtle smile appeared on his face as he pointed to the back of Lu Ren.

Lu Ren was stunned for a moment, a chill running down his spine as if he were being targeted by a high-level monster.

He stiffly turned his neck.

Kiyosawa Yashige stood outside the railing, holding a clipboard, a standard, emotionless smile playing on her lips. Her gaze was calm, as calm as if she were looking at a corpse about to be cremated.

"Hey? Yazhi? What are you doing here?" Lu Ren's survival instinct instantly took over his mind, and cold sweat poured down his back. "Um... I was just analyzing tactics. You know, psychological warfare is also part of the game. My loyalty to Karasuno is locked at 100%, I have absolutely no intention of switching sides or building a harem."

Ya-Chi's smile didn't change at all; she just gave a soft "heh" and turned away to help Shimizu Kiyoko.

Lu Ren let out a long sigh of relief, feeling that what he had just done was even more tiring than playing a full five games.

"That was close, I almost triggered the hatchet ending."

At this moment, the atmosphere on the field had been brought to its peak by the support group of Date Industries. The orderly and imposing feeling made the air on Karasuno's side feel thick and sticky.

This atmosphere must be broken.

Yuu Nishitani clearly realized this as well. When it was the libero's turn to receive the ball and warm up, Coach Ukai tossed a high ball. Nishitani took a run-up, leaped, and at the moment his body touched the ground, completed an extremely elegant somersault to catch the ball steadily.

"Rolling——Thunder——!!!"

Nishitani roared, his voice piercing through the cheers of Date Kogyo and echoing throughout the stadium.

The entire room fell silent.

Whether it was the Karasuno team members, the burly men of Date Kogyo on the other side, or even the spectators in the stands, everyone was stunned by this sudden, over-the-top move. All eyes were on Nishiya.

Nishitani Yuu maintained her cool kneeling pose, confidently turning back to look at her teammates: "Everyone, how was it!"

Just as Tanaka Ryunosuke and Hinata Shoyo were about to shout "So cool!", their attention was drawn to someone next to them.

Lu Ren stood at the back of the line, expressionless. He slowly raised his hands, neither clapping nor giving a thumbs up. He simply raised both hands to his chest in an extremely perfunctory gesture, like shooing away flies, then slightly curled his lips, revealing an expression that was three parts mockery, three parts indifference, and four parts nonchalance.

Not a single word was spoken.

But his face clearly screamed: Is that all?

The veins on Xigu Yu's forehead bulged instantly.

"You bastard Lu Ren! What kind of expression is that?!" west Gu roared, pointing at Lu Ren. "You try making that face yourself! What does that look mean?! Do you want to fight?!"

Lu Ren didn't even bother to speak, he just turned his head to one side and whistled silently.

"Ugh! I'm so angry!" Feeling unprecedentedly offended, Nishitani rolled up his sleeves, ready to charge forward. "I'll show you what real senior authority is!"

"Calm down! Nishinoya! Calm down!"

Daichi and Tanaka held onto the rampaging Nishinoya tightly, one on each side.

"Don't be impulsive! He's an ally! He may be a smart aleck, but we still need him for this game!" Daichi, sweating profusely, advised. "After the match, you can beat him up however you want, we won't stop you! Just hold back for now, for the sake of the bigger picture!"

After this commotion, the tension I felt from being overwhelmed by Date Kou vanished instantly.

Nishitani Yu struggled for a few moments, took a deep breath, and straightened his jersey. He turned around, his back to the crowd, and although his figure was short, it appeared exceptionally tall.

"Alright, there's nothing to worry about."

Nishitani's voice calmed down, no longer as loud and boisterous as before.

"Just keep your eyes on the front. I'll protect the defense behind us."

At this moment, he is the true guardian deity of Karasuno.

Hinata's eyes sparkled: "So handsome..."

Tanaka clenched his fist: "Aya, you bastard..."

Even Lu Ren dropped his nonchalant attitude and nodded: "Indeed, this line is probably 90 points cool. If you don't consider that embarrassing move name from earlier."

Nishitani's lips curled up, clearly feeling a little smug from the praise.

Lu Ren walked up to him.

Nishitani waved his hand magnanimously: "Hmph, you're smart to admit it. Since you praised me sincerely, I'll forgive your earlier offense..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Ren suddenly squatted down, mimicking west Gu's earlier move, and did an extremely stiff roll on the ground. Then he abruptly stood up, struck that embarrassing pose with his hands, and read aloud in a monotone tone:

"Rolling——Thunder——"

The air froze for a second.

"Lu Ren!!!"

Nishitani Yu completely lost her temper, and this time she couldn't even hold onto the ground.

"You're definitely mocking me! You're definitely doing it! Don't run away! I'm going to teach you a lesson with an armbar!"

"This is a tribute! A tribute, don't you understand?!" Lu Ren argued insincerely as he circled the ball-shaped pillar, "I'm trying to grasp the essence of a master through imitation!"

"Understand my foot! You just rolled your eyes!"

"That's an eye muscle spasm."

"Shut up, all of you! Get warmed up!" Coach Wu Yang finally lost his temper and roared, interrupting the farce. "The race is about to start, anyone who messes around again will have to run laps!"

The two then reluctantly gave up.

Although it was a farce, by the time the referee blew the whistle and the two sides lined up, everyone on Karasuno was completely warmed up. The stiffness and tension from before had vanished during the chase.

Game start.

Karasuno maintained their starting lineup from the previous match. Facing Date Kogyo's proud "iron wall," the best strategy is to probe with the sharpest spear.

Date Kogyo serves first.

The serve was from their middle blocker, Yasushi Kamakichi. This guy was big and burly, and his serve was a pure power jump serve.

"Bang!"

The volleyball slammed into Karasuno's backcourt with a heavy thud.

"I'll do it!"

Daichi Sawamura took a half step back, lowering his center of gravity. The ball hit his arm with a dull thud, but instead of bouncing away, it was steadily deflected and sent to the net.

"Beautiful pass!"

Kageyama Tobio was already standing at the landing point.

At the same time, Hyuga Shoyo started.

This wasn't some unreasonable "weird fast attack," but a normal A-class fast ball. Hyuga leaped up like a nimble swallow, and at that height, a normal blocker simply couldn't react in time.

"We've got this ball!" Tanaka shouted from the back row.

However, just as Hinata swung his arm, a huge shadow suddenly loomed over him.

There was no running start, and no anticipation.

Number 7 from Date Industries, the tall guy with no eyebrows, appeared in front of Hinata as if he had teleported.

Those arms stretched out extremely high, their palms large, like an iron gate that had suddenly closed, completely blocking Hyuga's spike route.

"Did they read the instructions? This reaction speed is unbelievable." Lu Ren, sitting in the audience, narrowed his eyes.

The visual impact is too strong. One second your eyes are completely empty, and the next second they become a wall.

Hyuga's pupils contracted sharply in the air.

But he didn't panic. The intensive training over the past few days had taught him to "think" in the air.

Since we can't win head-on, then—

Hinata made a very slight adjustment to his wrist at the moment of contact with the ball. His hand, which was originally intended to spike the ball, was changed to a push, forcefully swishing the ball towards the outside of Aonen's arm.

"Snapped!"

The ball wasn't blocked; instead, it hit the outside of Aomoto's forearm, changed direction, and landed squarely in the open space in front of Date Industrial.

"Beep—!"

The referee signaled that Karasuno scored.

1: 0.

Hyuga landed, panting heavily, looking at his palms and then at the expressionless giant opposite him.

"That was close..." Hinata muttered to himself.

Lu Ren sat on the bench, draped a towel over his lap, and his eyes sharpened.

"Although he scored, that last move..." He looked at Aone, who was staring at Hinata, "That number 7 wasn't predicting the ball at all, he was locking onto the player. That's a true 'tank' class, full of taunts and maxed-out defense."

This dungeon is probably much harder than we imagined.