As they switched sides, a strangely cheerful atmosphere still hung in the air.
It felt like when the rookie who always messed up in a team raid finally wiped the whole party once, and everyone actually felt relieved. The worst that could happen was having to repair their gear. Since the wipe had already happened, they could focus on taking down the boss without any distractions.
Hinata Shoyo was still rubbing his palm, apparently not yet over the feel of that "Killer move: Back of the Head Destruction Cannon." Kageyama Tobio was walking ahead of him, a red patch on the back of his head like a glaring weak-point marker. But his aura had already shifted from "I'm going to kill someone" to "I'm going to win," and the change made the air around them a little warmer.
Everyone across the net was another matter.
"Hey, shorty."
Hinata jumped and immediately stood at attention. "Yes!"
"That move just now..." Kindaichi pointed at the back of his own head, his eyes carrying an unmistakable hint of mockery. "How'd you do that? Hitting that spot must take some amazing ball control. Is it some kind of secret signal play?"
Hinata's mouth fell open, and his face flushed bright red. "N-no... I mean..."
"I'd kind of like to learn it too."
A lazy voice came from beside them. Tsukishima Kei had appeared at some point and pushed up his glasses, a mocking smile on his lips that made you want to punch him. "A serve that can precisely target your teammate's brain center? If I learned that, our scrimmages would be a lot more fun. Please teach me, 'Master' Hinata."
"Tsukishima, you jerk!" Hinata jumped up and down angrily. "It was a mistake! A mistake!"
"Okay, enough talking. The match is starting."
Like an exasperated father who had his hands full, Sawamura Daichi ushered the two rookies, who were about to start bickering again, back to their positions.
Karasuno had the serve to start the second set.
Lu Ren took the ball to the baseline. He took a deep breath, feeling the rough texture of the volleyball against his palm.
Although they had lost the first round badly, Lu Ren had plenty of PVE experience. He knew the first round had been for learning the boss's attack patterns and skill cooldowns. Now that he'd gathered the data and finished the trial-and-error phase, it was time to start the real strategy.
He looked across the net.
Aoba Johsai's formation was solid. Iwaizumi Hajime stood in the back row, watching them intently. Their libero, Watari Shinji, was constantly adjusting his position too.
If conventional methods get blocked, Lu Ren thought, opening his skill menu, then let's try something unconventional.
Instead of using his usual Powerful jump serve, he stepped back with his right leg and leaned forward slightly, gently tossing the ball into the air with his left hand.
He didn't toss it forward. He tossed it straight up, head bowed.
Very high.
Lu Ren's body twisted sharply. Rather than swinging down on the ball, he sliced up underneath it with his right hand, like a golfer taking a shot.
"Here we go!"
The volleyball spun violently backward, like an intercontinental missile being launched, and shot straight up into the gym's lights.
The spectators' eyes followed the ball upward almost involuntarily.
It flew so high that it disappeared into the blinding glare of the ceiling lights. For the receivers, it was a complete visual nightmare. The white volleyball blended into the white glare, and by the time you saw it again, it was usually already hurtling into your face under Gravitational acceleration.
This was the move Lu Ren had used at the municipal gym: the Ceiling serve.
"Same move again."
Iwaizumi Hajime pursed his lips. He didn't even look up to track the ball that had vanished into the glare.
A few days earlier, at a pickup game in the municipal gym, that guy who called himself "Baki Hanma" had used this move to torment the adult teams. That serve had gone out of bounds.
As Aoba Johsai's most reliable shield, Iwaizumi had seen the move before, so it wouldn't work on him.
He calmly took two steps back, bent his knees, lowered his center of gravity, and fixed his gaze on the area where the ball might land.
"Don't stare at the lights! Watch where it's going!" Iwaizumi shouted to his teammates.
The ball dropped out of the glare at high speed, with an unsettling rush of air.
But just before it hit the floor, Iwaizumi's arms had already snapped together like a pair of iron clamps.
"Thump!"
A dull impact rang out.
The ball was received cleanly, its spin perfectly neutralized, and floated lightly toward the setter.
"Tch, he saw through it?" Lu Ren clicked his tongue and immediately ran onto the court to get ready to defend. "Figures. Elite Monsters can learn."
Aoba Johsai's counterattack came quickly.
Their substitute setter, Yahaba Shigeru, didn't have Oikawa Tōru's monstrous ability to control the game, but his fundamentals were rock-solid. He quickly moved beneath the ball and pushed it up with both hands.
"Kunimi!"
The ball flew toward the right wing.
Kunimi Akira, who always looked half-asleep, now showed impressive speed on the court. He made no unnecessary movements: he jumped and swung.
At the net, Sawamura Daichi and Hinata Shoyo jumped up together to block.
"Too green." Kunimi Akira flicked his wrist without changing expression.
Before you continue