Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

The game continued, and the air inside the stadium seemed to have been baked by the high temperature, with every breath carrying a scorching heat.

Date Industries' "Iron Wall" truly lived up to its name. The oppressive feeling wasn't just a cold defensive value on a stat panel, but rather three solid mountains standing tall at the net. If the ball hesitated even slightly, those six arms would instantly close in like a Venus flytrap.

But Karasuno wasn't idle either. Since a direct confrontation would result in damage, they could only rely on skillful maneuvering.

Kageyama Tobio completely let loose, acting like a child who had found a new toy, relentlessly using Hinata Shoyo as the "ultimate bait" to make his presence felt. Every time Hinata jumped without reservation at the net, it seemed like he was taunting his opponent: "Come and catch me, you idiot!"

Date Industries' defense was tight, but this extreme lateral movement was extremely taxing on their stamina. Just as they were getting dizzy from the little orange guy, Tanaka Ryunosuke and Higashimine Asahi's heavy artillery would come crashing down from the flanks.

The scoreboard was flipping rapidly.

23: 15.

Karasuno is in the lead.

"This is too smooth." Lu Ren stood in the back row, wiping the sweat from his chin. Although the score looked good, he knew very well that it was achieved by walking an extremely dangerous tightrope. Once Hyuga couldn't run anymore, or Kageyama's passing had a bug, this system would collapse instantly.

It was Lu Ren's turn to serve.

He walked to the service line with the ball in his arms and gently tapped it twice. The vibration from the floor felt very realistic, reminding him that this wasn't a simulator where he could reload his game at any time.

"A standard basic attack will definitely be countered; these guys' defensive proficiency is too high." Lu Ren looked up at the rows of glaring mercury lights on the stadium ceiling, narrowed his eyes, and said, "Let's try using environmental textures then."

The whistle blew.

Instead of taking a running start as before, Lu Ren stood still and took a step back with his right leg. He took a deep breath and swung his arm out from below.

"Get out of here!"

Instead of rushing forward, the volleyball shot almost vertically into the air, heading straight for the ceiling.

"What is this?" The Date Industries team members were stunned for a moment.

The ball seemed to pause for a moment at its highest point, then plummeted at twice the speed it had been. For the receiver, the most nasty thing about this kind of ball isn't the speed, but the fact that they have to look up.

In that instant, the blinding lights and the white volleyball overlapped.

Yusuke Ichimatsu, a freelancer at Date Industries, is a character with solid fundamentals. He quickly adjusts his pace, lowers his center of gravity, and tries to gain more reaction frames for himself.

"I can see it!" he said through gritted teeth, making the judgment the instant the ball left the aperture.

"Bang!"

The ball hit his forearm. But he underestimated the impact of gravity; instead of flying obediently to the setter, the ball bounced out of bounds like a drunkard.

"Tsk, no direct score?" Lu Ren clicked his tongue. "As expected, the AI's judgment on elite monsters is very high."

Just as the ball was about to fly out of bounds, Date Industrial's setter, Moting, lunged out like a fish out of water, forcefully catching the ball back onto the court with one hand.

"Green Roots!"

With a roar, the eyebrowless behemoth leaped at the net. Though his posture was awkward, he used his terrifying core strength to smash the ball.

"Don't even think about it!"

Sawamura Daichi and Tsukishima Kei jumped at the same time.

"Snapped!"

The ball slammed into Tsukishima's arm, changing its trajectory. Instead of bouncing back to the other side, it fell into the open space to Tsukishima's left.

There was no one at that spot.

Except for Lu Ren.

"I knew you'd bounce this way." As if he had anticipated the BOSS's skill range, Lu Ren appeared at the landing point with a slide step. He didn't even need to leap; he simply raised his arms and firmly cushioned the ball.

The ball went over the net and landed wobbly in front of Date Industrial's front row net.

24:15. Karasuno reaches game point.

"Nice, catch!" Nishiya's loud voice was so loud it hurt people's eardrums.

Lu Ren rubbed his reddened wrist and walked back to the service line.

"The 'ceiling serve' move is like a trap that kills on first encounter; it works once, but the opponent will definitely be on guard the second time." Lu Ren looked at the opponent's well-prepared formation and thought to himself, "It's time to switch skills now."

He took a few steps back and this time chose to run up.

Throw the ball, start moving, swing your arm.

It wasn't a powerful jump serve; the moment the hand struck the ball even had a strange pause.

Jump float ball.

Although his proficiency level was only C, which is the kind of skill that "might backfire if used," Lu Ren was betting on that uncertainty at this moment.

The volleyball didn't spin as it crossed the net, like a lifeless leaf. Just as it was about to clear the net, the ball seemed to be pulled by some unseen force and suddenly plummeted.

"What?!"

The ball grazed the white band of the net.

This touch on the net completely altered the ball's trajectory and speed. The previously normal parabola instantly collapsed, and the volleyball, like a kite with a broken string, plummeted straight down towards the front row floor of Date Industrial.

Lu Ren's heart skipped a beat: "Is there a bug in the physics engine?"

The opposite Qinggen Gaoshen reacted with frightening speed, his massive body actually performing a sideways fish leap that defied the laws of physics.

"Thump!"

Just as the ball was about to hit the ground, Aone's hand cushioned it. The ball soared high, cleared the net, and returned to Karasuno's side.

"Chance ball!" Daichi Sawamura shouted.

Lu Ren quickly stepped forward and, with perfect technique, steadily lifted the harmless tennis ball and sent it over Kageyama Tobio's head.

"Counterattack begins!"

At that moment, the entire Karasuno crew activated.

This is similar to the rush phase in a raid instance, where everyone unleashes their burst damage abilities at this moment.

Hyuga Shoyo cut in from the left, and his exaggerated running start and high jump instantly drew away most of Date Industries' defensive attention.

"Is it a fast break?!" Date Industries' blocker was on edge.

However, Kageyama pushed the ball to the right the instant his finger touched it.

The ball flew towards the right wing.

There, Hotaru Tsukishima had already jumped.

"How naive!" Kenji Futakuchi of Date Industries was not completely fooled by Hyuga. He and another middle blocker quickly stepped together and formed a double wall in front of Tsukishima.

Tsukishima spikes the ball.

"Bang!"

The ball slammed solidly into the blocker's hand, bounced back, and was extremely fast, heading straight for Karasuno's backcourt.

"Oh no!"

At that critical moment, a dark shadow slid across the floor.

It is Kageyama Tokio.

This guy is not only a setter, but his defensive skills are also top-notch. He saved that seemingly hopeless shot with one hand.

The ball was high, but near the three-meter line.

Who will pass the ball?

At this moment, Kageyama was lying on the ground and had not gotten up, Nishiya was defending in the back row, and Hyuga had just landed and was still cooling down.

Lu Ren glanced at the ball in the air, then at Tsukishima, who was preparing to jump a second time.

The guy's eyes showed displeasure; he was clearly unhappy about being stopped earlier.

"Alright, I'll play support for a bit."

Lu Ren rushed to the net and raised his hands above his head.

The opposing Date Industries' blockers immediately reorganized their defense.

"That substitute needs to pass the ball! Keep an eye on the attacker!"

Hotaru Tsukishima takes a running start and jumps.

The three defenders from Date Industries jumped up as if by reflex.

However, Tsukishima did not jump.

He bent his knees, feigning a jump, but stopped at the last moment.

This is an extremely obvious "time difference" attack.

The three blockers from Date Industries were already airborne and beginning to fall.

At that moment, Tsukishima finally pushed off the ground and jumped.

At that moment, Lu Ren also passed the ball out.

It wasn't the kind of precise, centimeter-level surgical pass; the ball was a bit floaty, even a bit spun, but the height and timing were damnably perfect.

Tsukishima was in the air, facing the descending net blocker, with a wide field of vision.

"This feeling..." Tsukishima muttered to himself, waving his arm.

"Snapped!"

The volleyball passed through the blocker and left a huge gap, then slammed heavily onto the Date Industrial court.

25: 15.

competition is over.

Karasuno won the first game.

"Yay—!!" Hinata and Tanaka excitedly rushed over to celebrate.

Lu Ren lowered his hand and turned to look at Tsukishima, who was rubbing his wrist after landing.

"Hey, how was that ball? Although it doesn't have the auto-navigation function of Kageyama, it's still a top-notch manual transmission, right?" Lu Ren raised an eyebrow, his face full of smug satisfaction, begging for praise.

Tsukishima adjusted his glasses, his cold gaze sweeping over Lu Ren's face: "Couldn't you have given a signal before passing the ball? If I had jumped just now, the ball would have crossed the net immediately, resulting in a violation."

"Huh? Didn't I just glance at you?" Lu Ren said matter-of-factly. "That was the signal, 'I'm sending it, you figure it out yourself.' We're both pro players, don't we even have that much awareness?"

"Who says you're a pro?" Tsukishima muttered as he wiped his sweat with a towel. "That kind of reckless passing... it's even more infuriating than playing as a pro."

"Hey! Glasses, you've gone too far!" Lu Ren pointed at Tsukishima's back. "I only sent it with your permission! That eye contact just now was the scene of the electronic agreement signing!"

Kageyama Tobio, who was drinking water, froze for a moment, turned his head with a dark face, and stared intently at the two people.

"I heard that too." Kageyama squeezed the kettle so hard it made a cracking sound. "I don't know what you guys are talking about, but why am I being used as a negative example again?"

Sawamura Daichi walked over and patted someone on the back.

"Alright, stop joking around. We've only won one game. The other side is Date Kogyo. They'll definitely fix their weaknesses in the second game."

Lu Ren shrugged, looking at the Date Industries team opposite him who were being lectured by their coach.

"Yes, the BOSS has entered its second phase of berserk mode," he said in a low voice, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes. "But that's what makes this strategy worthwhile, isn't it?"