The moment the whistle blew, the oppressive heaviness in the air vanished, replaced by a tension that made his scalp tingle.
Kageyama Tobio stood on the baseline, spinning the yellow-and-blue volleyball in his hand. He wasn't looking this way; his gaze was fixed on the ball, and the aura he gave off was just like that of a gatekeeping boss with a skull icon beside its health bar.
Here it comes.
Lu Ren murmured to himself, and a red warning frame seemed to load automatically across his retinas.
These past few days, he hadn't just been doing physical training. Every time he passed the gym—even when Kiyosawa Mashiba dragged him off for "Body Modification"—he had been observing. He watched the height of Kageyama's toss, the path of his arm swing, and the angle at which his wrist snapped down at the instant he hit the ball.
For a Hardcore Player, a boss's Skill Pre-animation was the best Strategy Guide there was.
Kageyama tossed the ball.
He ran up.
He jumped.
The sequence flowed as smoothly as a meticulously rendered CG animation. He stretched to his full extent in the air, then his arm came whipping down like a lash.
"Bang!"
A sharp crack rang out.
The ball shot forward at a speed almost impossible to follow with the naked eye, like a Cruise Missile blasting toward the backcourt.
It was a skill only High-level Accounts like Sawamura Daichi and Tanaka Ryūnosuke could handle. For a Novice Village Character, it was enough to land a Fatal Critical Hit.
Yet a split second before the ball hit the ground, a figure appeared at the landing point with startling abruptness.
Lu Ren spread his feet, lowered his center of gravity, and locked his arms together. He didn't chase after the ball. Like a Prescient Cheater, he had positioned himself there a second early—that was the Guaranteed Hit Zone he had calculated through countless mental simulations.
"Receive Attack Check: Success."
"Smack!"
The volleyball slammed into Lu Ren's forearms.
For an instant, Lu Ren felt as if his forearm bones had been struck hard with a hammer. Pain signals raced along his nerves and flooded his brain. It was as if the system were shrieking in his ear: [Armor Value -50, Arm Durability decreased, Debuff: Paralysis acquired].
That hit was even harder than Captain Daichi's serve! What was this, if not a Battering Ram?
The ball bounced high into the air. Insufficient Force Dissipation made its arc too high, but it stayed in bounds and drifted unsteadily toward the net.
The whole court fell silent for a moment.
Even Kageyama's landing faltered. For the first time, clear astonishment flashed in those sharp eyes.
"Yamaguchi! Set!" Lu Ren shouted through gritted teeth, shaking his arm, which was almost numb with pain.
Yamaguchi Tadashi came to his senses and hurried toward the ball's landing point. "Y-yes!"
As a beginner who had never played as a setter, Yamaguchi's set was pretty awful. The ball was too close to the net and not high enough. But for Tsukishima Kei, who had already been ready, it was more than enough.
The Ill-tempered Glasses Guy might have had a sharp tongue, but his reactions were lightning-fast. He used his height to jump straight up and spiked the ball over before Hinata Shoyo and Tanaka Ryūnosuke on the other side could organize an effective block.
The ball passed through the gap between the two defenders and landed in bounds on the opposite side.
Sawamura Daichi paused, then flipped the scoreboard.
1:0.
"He actually received it..." Tanaka Ryūnosuke stared wide-eyed at Lu Ren, who was rubbing his wrist. "That was Kageyama's killer serve!"
Tsukishima Kei pushed up his glasses and glanced back at Lu Ren. The mocking curve of his lips softened a little. "Pretty lucky, Theory Master. But if your next set's off, don't expect me to attack."
"Shut up. That was a read," Lu Ren shot back. "Get back on defense. The boss is entering his Rage Phase."
It was Yamaguchi Tadashi's turn to serve.
The kid looked so nervous he was about to throw up, and the ball trembled in his hands. He took a few deep breaths, then served the most basic Underhand Serve.
The ball floated limply over the net, posing no threat whatsoever.
"Opportunity Ball!"
Tanaka Ryūnosuke shouted and easily bumped it up. The ball traced a perfect arc, landing precisely where Kageyama Tobio stood.
Lu Ren's pupils contracted sharply.
Here it comes.
Kageyama stood at the net with both hands raised. Behind him, Hinata Shoyo suddenly sprang into action.
His speed made no sense at all. It was like an Assassin Character with Max Agility activating Sprint Skill in a game. The shorty with orange hair dashed to the net in an instant, pushed off with both feet, and shot up like he had springs attached to him.
"So fast!" Yamaguchi Tadashi cried out.
That was nothing like the Explosive Power of a normal human being.
Lu Ren's brain was blaring alarms. If they let Hinata land this hit, the Morale Blow would be devastating.
"Block!"
Lu Ren roared and instinctively charged toward the net, jumping alongside Tsukishima Kei.
The three of them met in the air.
Hinata Shoyo leaped incredibly high, his eyes glittering with thrilling excitement. His right arm was already raised high, swinging hard at the volleyball in midair.
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