Monday afternoon, the Karasuno volleyball gym rang with the sharp squeak of shoes against the floor. The air was thick with the smell of antiperspirant and teenage sweat—a scent that set every sports anime fan's blood racing, but made Lu Ren's liver tremble.
During a lull before practice began, Sawamura Daichi stared blankly at a notebook in his hands.
"This is..."
Sawamura turned a page, his brows furrowing. The sheets were densely packed with data, from the setter's habits when setting the ball to the Wing Spiker's approach routes. They even included notes on how the opposing team used their gaze to misdirect during serves. The handwriting was elegant, and simple tactical diagrams accompanied the notes. It was as professional as an official RPG strategy guide.
"An analysis of Aoba Johsai's starting setter, Oikawa Tōru, along with estimated stats for some of their regular players."
Kiyosawa Mashiba stood nearby, twirling a pen in her hand. Her tone was as casual as if she were discussing what to have for dinner. "I only watched half a match, so the sample size isn't huge, but the core mechanics should all be in here."
Sugawara Kōshi leaned in for a look and sucked in a sharp breath. "This is way too detailed... You'd normally have to record a match in person and analyze it over and over to get intel like this, wouldn't you? Mashiba, where did you get it?"
"Yesterday afternoon, Lu Ren and I went to the municipal gym." Mashiba pointed at Lu Ren, who was stretching his legs nearby. "We were just going to grind some Experience Points, but we happened to run into a pickup team from there. Lu Ren joined them and played a match."
"Huh?!"
Everyone's gaze immediately turned to Lu Ren.
Lu Ren had his face buried against his knees, pretending to be dead. Feeling the heat of everyone's stares, he could only awkwardly lift his head. "Um... It was totally an accident. The system matched us at random."
"Nice one, Lu Ren!" Tanaka Ryūnosuke smacked him on the back so hard he nearly injured him. "You actually had the guts to take on Aoba Johsai all by yourself! Is this what a man's courage looks like?!"
"No, actually..." Lu Ren tried to explain that he hadn't even known who they were at the time.
"And to keep his identity under wraps, he even used a fake name." Mashiba dealt a finishing blow from the sidelines, grinning like she was enjoying the show. "He claimed to be a first-year at Shiratorizawa named 'Baki Hanma.'"
"Pfft—" Sugawara couldn't hold back a laugh.
Tanaka laughed so hard he pounded the floor. "Baki Hanma? Hahahaha! The protagonist from that fighting manga? Lu Ren, you're a genius! You used a fake name, so even if you crushed them, they'd never find you! That's what they mean by 'get the job done, then vanish without a trace,' right?!"
Lu Ren tugged at the corner of his mouth as he looked at Tanaka's thumbs-up. It sounded cool, but somehow, something about it felt off.
The logic of "if I change my avatar, you won't recognize me" really did work in games. After all, if you changed your ID and made a new face, who would know you were the red-name player the whole server had been hunting yesterday?
But the real world didn't have a character-creation system.
"Um..."
A voice from nearby cut through the excitement, calm to the point of being a buzzkill. Tsukishima Kei adjusted his glasses and looked up from the notebook at Lu Ren, his gaze carrying three parts mockery and seven parts pity.
"I hate to interrupt your self-congratulation, but aren't we playing a practice match against Aoba Johsai this Saturday?"
The air suddenly went still.
Tanaka's boisterous laughter cut off. Sawamura and Sugawara froze.
The expression on Lu Ren's face stiffened, as if the game had suddenly frozen and dropped to zero frames per second.
Tsukishima's lips curled into a malicious smile as he continued. "When the two teams line up to shake hands, Oikawa Tōru will see 'Baki Hanma' standing across from him in a Karasuno uniform... I'm sure that'll be quite a sight."
"..."
Lu Ren's brain overloaded in an instant.
It was over.
He'd forgotten this fatal bug.
This wasn't a problem he could solve by switching servers. In a few days, he'd have to meet them face-to-face. Just imagine the look on Oikawa Tōru's face when he saw him...
He'd probably stare for a moment, then laugh until he was doubled over, and finally point at him and say, "Oh my, isn't that the Shiratorizawa fighter? What are you doing transferring to Karasuno to play volleyball?"
Social death.
Absolute, inescapable social death.
Lu Ren clutched his head in agony, wishing he could crawl into a crack in the floor right then and there—or just reload his save and start over.
"Okay, okay." Sawamura Daichi found it funny too, but as captain, he dutifully brought the conversation back on track. "Whatever the case, this information is invaluable. Now that we have the strategy guide, we can't let it go to waste. Lu Ren."
"Yeah..." Lu Ren replied listlessly.
"After practice, give everyone a detailed rundown of how it felt to play against them and Oikawa's setting style." Sawamura tapped the notebook in his hand, his eyes sharpening. "Since you experienced it firsthand, your account is the best intel we could ask for."
"Got it." Lu Ren sighed and accepted his fate.
Since social death was inevitable, all he could do was strip the other team bare before then and do his best to settle the score on the court.
Before you continue