Based on Vi’s analysis, Kai wasn’t very likely to py aggressively in Mid so long as her oppo was a fellow female pyer. That was unfortunate, but it still wasn’t nearly as troublesome as the situation in Top.

  In fact, Top was the very hrough which the enemy paved their path to victory. Challenger domihe h his skillful aggression, and together with Wihey pletely ripped the ne apart.

  Therefore, if nothing ges in Top for the game, then the same sario will repeat itself again.

  As for why things turned out that way... Yuel frowhis isn’t going to be a pleasant topic to discuss.

  Of course, a big part of the bme y with Luke and with his inability to prank the ne. But, the very fact the ne needed so much help was already a problem in its ht.

  I think Vi 't handle Challenger, not when the guy is pying so aggressively.

  Vi was a versatile pyer who could py offense, defense, and anything iween. He always adjusted his approach based on the oppo and on Yuel’s instrus. In that sense, he was a very dynamic soldier with a vast array of uses, but that versatility came with a cost.

  To put it simply, Vi was a jack of all trades but a master of none. His offense wasn't strong enough to bust through Theorist's defense, and his defense wasn’t bulletproof enough to deflect Challenger's offense. In other words, Vi’s performance suffered greatly agairemists who were fully dedicated to either offense or defense.

  So, it might be a good idea to switch him with Ben. Yuel pondered. Ben is too defensive for his own good, but that's exactly what we need right now against Challenger.

  Stratus didn't have the option of fighting fire with fire in Top, so their best option was to extinguish Challenger’s fme with a strong defeo that end, there was nobody better for the job than Ben, but…

  That’ll be his debut game. Yuel thought. Not to mention, we're losing right now, so he’ll probably feel extra pressure to help the team win. Will he be able to hahat?

  Ben was already g in the self-fidence department in general, so throwing him into this difficult situation sounded like a recipe for disaster. There was a very high ce he'll perform poorly, which will miss the whole point of subbing him in.

  On paper, this is ae ao Challenger's offense, but I don't know if we should take a risk like that here. Yuel frowned. We have to win the game, no matter what. This is our st ce to force the Korean pyer oage.

  If the Leopards win the game, then they'll be at 3-1. At that point, they’ll secure overall victory, so there won’t be ao sub in the Koreahat's a sario Yuel had to prevent, no matter what.

  I don't want to wait until the regionals to face that guy. Yuel thought. We have to see what he's made so we start colleg data on him as soon as possible.

  "Dude, everything okay?" Lars asked. "You keep making this scary face as if the fate of the world is at stake or something."

  "Everything is... not okay, holy."

  "Haha. Yep, we're in a tough spot, aren’t we?" Lars nodded. "But, it gonna be okay! We just gotta win the game and even out the score! Easiest thing ever, believe it!"

  "Yeah, 'easy', right..." Yuel smiled wryly.

  "Welp, I dunno what kinda plicated stuff you be thinking about. It gotta be some rocket sce that I'll never uand. But, there’s ohing even I know: you totally look on edge today."

  "Do I?"

  "Yeah, it’s like you're super worried about something,” Lars said. “And like, I dunno what’s b you or how plicated it is, but I bet you’re overthinking something as always, haha."

  "In fact," Vi interjected. "I’ve had the same impression this ech. You appear mitated than usual today, o wise Chessmaster."

  "Am I?" Yuel didn't feel like he was any different than usual, but maybe the topic of the Korean pyer weighed on him more than he realized.

  "Please, Chessmaster, do not fet that today's battlefield is naught but testing grounds for future battles,” Vi said. “What matters most is that we seriously csh with our oppos and learn valuable lessons along the way. Achieving victory is but a byproduct of our efforts. It's the jourhat matters, not the e."

  "That's... right, actually." Something clicked inside Yuel’s head thanks to these words.

  On paper, nothing that Lars and Vi said was new or revolutionary. These were all things that Yuel erfectly aware of himself. heless, somewhere along the way, his priorities got muddled without him notig.

  They’re right, I was thinking too hard about winning. Yuel realized. Even though my main goal was to gain practical experience against the Korean pyer and not just win per se, I’ve bee a little too obsessed with getting us there.

  Instead of fog on gaining experience against the Leopard as a whole, Yuel reoccupied with bringing the Koreao the stage. As a result, at some point, he started thinking only about winning to make that happen.

  Sure, getting practical experience against the Korean pyer is very important, no doubt about it. But, there are many other things to be gained from today's scrimmage.

  The Korean pyer might be the stro member of the Leopards, but the other members were no pushovers either. On the trary, they had some of the best pyers this region had to offer. Therefore, every single game against them was a valuable experien its ht.

  With all of that in mind, the fact that Ben didn’t have any prior experieh pying on the petitive stage wasn’t a good reason to disregard him. On the trary, this was a great opportunity to throw him into the heat of a difficult battle ahe experieo him. After going through su intense scrim, he’ll be ready for anything that es iure.

  "I suggest we sub Ben in," Yuel said.

  "M-Me?" Ben jumped.

  "Yes. I believe your defense is exactly what we o fight off Challenger’s aggression. Vi, what do you think?"

  "I wholeheartedly agree." Vi nodded. "Truth be told, I was waiting to suggest this idea myself, but I'm gd you're the one whht it up first."

  "Why?"

  "Because, by making this risky suggestion, it seems to me that you have recimed yourself,” Vi expined. “You're now once again the Chessmaster we know and love, the one who’s willing to take risks even in the famense danger!"

  "Is that so." Yuel smiled wryly. "Just to be clear, I'm suggesting this substitution to increase our ces of winning."

  "But of course, that's a given.” Vi nodded. “heless, this is ahat harbors many risks and unknowns, given Ben's inexperieh the petitive stage. As such, it requires taking a gamble that not just anybody would be willing to take."

  "I think you're exaggerating, but okay." Yuel couldn't argue back because he really almost gave up on this idea because of the risk involved. "So, ba topiobody has any no problems with this sub, right?"

  “I wholeheartedly support this decision,” Vi procimed once again. “It’s a tad embarrassing to admit, but it appears I’m incapable of stopping the raging force of nature that is AbsoluteChallenger. His offense is legendary tier.”

  “Yes, he was surprisingly strong,” Yuel admitted. “In that game, it felt like he was strohan we’ve ever seen him before. My clusion is that he’s an insistent pyer who has high highs and lohich make it difficult to ascertain his true skill level.”

  “And, I might have unveiled the reason for it!” Vi announced. “It’s something I’ve been keeping at a specution level until now, but after the st game, it finally became a vi! I fought the man face-to-face, so now I know for sure that he is… the Threat Overthrower!”

  “Which means what, exactly?” Kai asked.

  “To put it simply, his power level goes up and down based ohreat level that his oppos pose. His skill takes a nosedive through the ground against inferior foes, but it skyrockets past the sor system against strong petition! Just as his name implies, he is ihe Absolute Challenger!”

  “So,” Kai started. “Are you saying he sidered you a ‘big threat’? Is that why he mopped you so hard?”

  “Haha, I see the Amazon is as harsh as ever.”

  “Well, I’ll be lying if I said I’m in a good mood. That game was a total flop,” Kai said. “But, at least Mid and Bot stayed on even ground for the most part. It’s only Top where we pletely lost trol, and I’m trying to uand why the hell that happened.”

  “Mhm, that’s uandable.” Vi nodded.

  “If you’re trying to say that Challenger pyed ‘better than usual’ against you because he registered you as a ‘threat’, then sorry, but I’m not so sure I’m buying that just yet.”

  “Indeed, you shouldn’t buy it,” Vi nodded. “That’d be a terrible purchase to make.”

  “Huh?”

  “I’m afraid you are operating under a misception there.”

  “Say what?”

  “I did say Challenger outperformed himself because he sensed a threat,” Vi expined. “However, I never cimed that the threat iion was myself. The real threat that got his attention was… our team as a whole! Yes, that’s right. The crushi the Leopards suffered in Game 2 made Challenger register our eeam as one giant powerful foe!”

  “Huh, I see. That makes more sense.” Kai nodded. “So, the reason he pyed ‘better than ever’ was that we’re the first team to actually stump the Leopards this year. Nice.”

  “Indeed, we are the pioneers in the field!” Vi nodded repeatedly. “That outust’ve e as a shock for the Leopards, sidering they cruised through the previous two scrims with little effort. Therefore, this ued developme off Challenger’s arms in a big way.”

  Vi’s hyperbolic expnation made everybody realize yet again just how much they shattered everybody’s expectatiooday. Stratus was supposed to be the dark horse of the regio right now they were posing an actual challeo the regional champions. Yes, Stratus was s, that the Leopards had no choice but tister it as a top-level threat.

  For most of the team, this realization alone was already enough to inspire them with tons of fidence. However, not all of them were satisfied with just that.

  That's the bare minimum we have to be able to do in order t the Koreao the stage. Yuel thought. After that, the real hurdle will be to beat the Leopards in their final form.

  The goal was right in front of them, they were just oep away. Will they be able to seize victory in the uping game and finally force the phantom Koreao appear oage!?

  DarkestCymore