Orbital Kinetic Weapon, Universal Starting Stance, and a Late Recruitment Letter

Lu Ren stood at the baseline.

He looked up at the gymnasium's dome. It was much higher than Karasuno's Second Gymnasium. The rows of high-hanging incandescent lights resembled a giant net of light. For ordinary people, this would be a glaring distraction, but for players who had already constructed a spatial model in their minds, it was an excellent reference coordinate system.

"Hoo..."

There were no extra ball-tapping motions, and Lu Ren didn't even retreat for a running start like a normal serve. He simply turned sideways, his left foot stepping back half a pace, his center of gravity lowered, his entire body coiling like a taut bow.

The volleyball in his hand was tossed lightly, very low, not even reaching above his head.

But the moment the ball began to fall, Lu Ren's body sprang up violently. His waist and abdomen propelled his right arm, and in an extremely awkward yet explosive posture, he struck the very bottom of the volleyball with the heel of his palm.

"Here goes."

A muffled thud.

The volleyball didn't fly forward; instead, it shot straight up into the air, almost bowing its head. It spun violently, instantly piercing through the layer of glaring lights, and continued to ascend until it shrunk into a tiny black dot in everyone's vision, as if it were about to bore through the ceiling.

The people on the court were stunned.

"What... what is that?" Kindaichi tilted his head back, his mouth slightly agape.

"A ceiling serve?" Oikawa Tōru narrowed his eyes, his gaze locked onto the black dot that had disappeared into the halo of light.

This kind of serve was extremely rare in official matches because it had demanding height requirements and was prone to going out of bounds. But in an indoor stadium with complex lighting like this, it was a "flashbang" with a physical blinding effect.

The ball paused at its apex for a moment before beginning its descent.

Gravitational potential energy converted into kinetic energy. The volleyball, carrying the sound of falling wind, picked up speed. As it passed through the layers of lights, the drastic alternation of light and dark prevented the receiver's pupils from adjusting their focus in time.

The adult group on the other side clearly hadn't seen such a wild move. The uncle in the back row squinted, trying to judge the landing spot, but the black dot flickered left and right in the light's afterimage, like a texture map with rendering errors from a graphics card.

"I got it!" The uncle gritted his teeth and took a step forward, bringing his hands together.

However, he clearly lacked reverence for the physical concept of "gravitational acceleration."

"Bang!"

The sound of the ball hitting the floor was excessively crisp.

It didn't hit an arm, but the wooden floor outside the boundary line.

It was about ten centimeters from the baseline.

The referee (a hastily recruited passerby) raised his flag: Out of bounds.

Lu Ren maintained his finishing arm swing posture, a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"Tch."

The power check wasn't calibrated correctly; he had used a few percent too much force. Such a high-difficulty maneuver really shouldn't be used randomly without proficiency. If he had accidentally hit someone, it wouldn't be called a serve; it would be intentional injury.

"What a shame." Oikawa Tōru said this, but the light in his eyes was frighteningly bright.

This approach of resorting to any means to win, even willing to try such a circus-like technique, suited him perfectly.

What kind of strange tactics were rattling around in this kid's head?

The serve changed hands.

The adult group on the other side was clearly provoked. The uncle who had been blocked earlier walked to the service line with a dark expression and slammed the ball down twice forcefully.

Toss, run-up, jump, powerful spike.

A standard jump serve.

The ball was fast, carrying the heavy sense of power unique to adults, heading straight for the back corner.

Lu Ren rolled his eyes internally.

What's going on? Is the powerful jump serve a basic skill granted by the Novice Village these days? Why does every villainous NPC know this move? Did only I miss out on the system gift package?

"Kindaichi!" Iwaizumi Hajime called out.

Kindaichi Yutaro reacted a beat too slow. The ball's spin was stronger than expected, causing a weird sideways bounce when it hit his arm.

"Sorry!"

The ball didn't fly towards the setter's position but directly toward the side of the net, and it lacked sufficient height.

It was a typical bad pass.

Oikawa Tōru was about to move to save it, but the distance was too great, and Kunimi Akira, who was retreating, was blocking the path.

"Can't cover it," Oikawa Tōru judged instantly.

The ball traced an awkward arc through the air, looking like it would land within the 3-meter line.

Just then, a figure darted out from the side.

It was Lu Ren.

He had been in the right wing defense position and, seeing the ball flying over, cut into the setter's position almost instinctively.

"I got it!"

Lu Ren shouted, his feet screeching to a halt on the floor.

The ball arrived.

The position was awkward, his body not yet fully turned. If he were a proper Set, he might have chosen a bump set or adjusted to a closer attacker at this point.

But Lu Ren wasn't a Set. He was a player.

In a player's eyes, there were only the "Optimal solution" and "Easy points."

His peripheral vision caught sight of the left side. There, Iwaizumi Hajime had already started his approach. No matter how bad the set was, Iwaizumi Hajime, as the Ace, would definitely jump.

This was trust, or rather, this was the AI logic of a top-tier NPC.

Lu Ren didn't hesitate. He forcibly twisted his torso, raising his hands in front of his forehead.