Physics Lesson on the Ceiling and the Emperor's New Clothes

It was Lu Ren's turn to serve.

He stood behind the baseline, spinning the volleyball in his hands. He didn't retreat several meters for a running start like last time. The tendon on the back of his right thigh didn't hurt anymore, but the terrifying sensation of it nearly snapping still lingered in his mind. Although his HP bar was full now, the psychological shadow was probably as large as half the court.

"Not doing a jump serve?"

Tanaka Ryūnosuke on the other side saw Lu Ren standing still and instinctively took two steps forward, positioning himself near the three-meter line. Kageyama Tobio also moved up, clearly both of them believing that Lu Ren, being a novice, would choose the most conservative Underhand Serve after his painful lesson last time.

In other words, the so-called "point-giving ball."

Lu Ren looked at their positions on the opposite side, a smirk barely contained.

They guessed right, it is an Underhand Serve, Lu Ren muttered inwardly. But who says an Underhand Serve has to be a soft ball over the net?

He looked up at the gymnasium's ceiling. Although Karasuno's gym was old, the ceiling height was impressive. The rows of large lights were at least ten meters off the ground.

For gamers, utilizing the map environment was basic operation. Since he couldn't compete in speed on a flat plane, he decided to change dimensions.

Lu Ren turned sideways, tossing the ball lightly with his left hand, not much higher than his head. The moment the ball began to fall, he suddenly sank his body, clenched his right fist, and using the rotational force of his waist and abdomen, struck the bottom of the ball fiercely, like an uppercut.

"Bang!"

A muffled sound.

This wasn't the sound of hitting the ball's sweet spot, but pure, violent upward force.

The volleyball seemed to have a vertical thruster installed. It had no forward arc, shooting straight towards the ceiling.

"Huh? Did he hit it out?" Tanaka blinked, tilting his head up.

The ball flew higher and higher, directly into the glare of the bright lights, disappearing from everyone's sight for a second.

"No, it's still in bounds!" Sawamura Daichi shouted from the sidelines.

After reaching its apex, the ball finally began to descend.

Because it was so high, its falling speed increased under the acceleration of gravity. Furthermore, because Lu Ren's contact with the ball was uneven, it spun with an eerie rotation.

Tanaka Ryūnosuke stood near the landing spot, his head tilted up. His vision was momentarily blinded by the lights overhead. By the time he refocused on the ball, it was already descending like a meteorite.

"I got it!"

Tanaka shouted, bringing his hands together, ready to receive the ball. In his mind, this kind of straight-up-and-down ball was the easiest to receive; he just had to wait for it to fall.

But he overlooked one thing.

An object falling from tens of meters in the air travels much faster than the human eye can anticipate as it approaches the ground. Moreover, when looking up at a falling object, one's sense of balance and distance becomes severely distorted.

The ball came.

Tanaka confidently reached out his hands.

"Swoosh--"

The volleyball grazed his fingertips, accompanied by a gust of wind, and slipped directly between his hands.

"Thwack!"

The ball hit the floor heavily, less than five centimeters behind Tanaka's heels.

The entire court fell silent.

Tanaka remained in his receiving stance, frozen in place like a character model stuck in lag.

"Out? No... it's in." Kageyama Tobio stared at the landing spot, his expression grim.

The scoreboard flipped. 6:1.

"Nice!!"

Lu Ren jumped excitedly at the baseline, pumping his fist. "The physics engine doesn't lie! Throwing things high is indeed a great weapon!"

He had seen this "High Serve" in highlight reels from the Spring High tournament. He thought it was tailor-made for lazy people who didn't want to run, requiring no effortful approach while using the stadium lights to inflict a "blinding" debuff on the opponent.

He never expected his first attempt to be a critical hit.

Is this what they call 'if you've seen enough guides, no boss is unbeatable'?" Lu Ren looked at his fist, feeling like he had opened a new world.

On the sidelines, Sawamura Daichi stroked his chin, his eyes deepening.

"This kid..." Sugawara Kōshi standing beside him couldn't help but sigh. "His movements are awkward, all rough and unrefined, but he seems to instinctively know how to make people uncomfortable. That kind of serve, if I saw it for the first time, I might have misjudged it too."

"The key is, he dared to use it," Sawamura Daichi said gravely. "A normal novice at this point would be panicking and just trying to get the ball over the net. But he's thinking about how to use the lights and height to trick his opponent. His head isn't filled with volleyball, it's filled with a tactical board."

In the subsequent match, the momentum completely shifted to Team B.

Although Lu Ren's Stamina was lacking, he knew his role. In this Instance, he didn't need to be the main DPS; he just needed to be a support who didn't make mistakes and occasionally throw some debuffs at the enemy.

And the true main DPS was Tsukishima Kei.

Despite the tall, bespectacled player's unpleasant personality, his talent for blocking was practically enviable.

"Ouch (touch)!"

Tsukishima once again accurately predicted Kageyama's set intention, his fingers brushing Tanaka Ryūnosuke's spike. The ball's speed slowed, and it was barely dug up by Yamaguchi Tadashi from the back row.