After eliminating Freezer, their greatest obstacle in team fights, StormBlitz pushed Mid Lah full force. With the Overlord’s buff providing defense and regeion to the whole team, they were unstoppable.

  “Man, they’re so persistent!” Jennifer clicked her tongue. Due to that stupid Overlord buff, her bo burst couldn’t wreemies as quickly as before. It was still explosive enough to wipe out squishy targets, like the enemy Ranger aromancer, but that pesky Druid got in the way.

  Somehow, that damn Druid alut a shield on Jennifer’s arget, right as she was about to start her bo. The heck with that perfect timing? It’s hard to believe a freshman could make such smooth pys. “Dang it, must be beginner's luck. We’re so getting styled ht now.”

  Despite the overwhelming disadvahe Leopards did a good job proteg their Mid Golem. They body-blocked many of the Ranger’s shots, giving up their lives for this noble cause.

  An ally has been killed!

  You have killed an enemy!

  An ally has been killed!

  You have killed an enemy!

  An ally has been killed!

  After a grindy battle, only Jennifer was left to guard the Golem. But, she was gonna pull through! The Leopards’ super minions pushed Top this whole time, they were about to ihe enemy’s base. The eeam was running out of time, they’d have to retreat if Jennifer were to stall them just a little longer.

  No matter what, Jennifer was gonna make sure this defense operation was a success. Albert, Cody and Joey - their deaths won’t in vain! Alex’s didn’t t though, that idiot got himself killed first like some Bronze V scrub.

  Unfortunately, the enemy still had their Ranger, Knight and Druid, That sucked. Hard. The good news: these three were running low on HP and the Druid just retly used Gaia’s Prote, so no more pesky shields for at least 15 seds.

  Jennifer’s ult was about to e online, so she’d be in a great position to finish off these dying scrubs. This match wasn’t decided yet! She was gonroy these cucklords!

  “What we gonna, man?” Trever asked. “She’s zoning us real hard.”

  “This is rough.” Yuel bit his lip. “I didn’t expect such tight defehout the Warlock. That was a miscalcution on my part.”

  The team was stu an aosition. The enemy Golem was down to 20% HP, an amount Trever could wipe out in a matter of seds. However, they exhausted a lot of resources to get this far, including their HP. Normally, this te into the game, Druid and Knight could tank the Golem long enough for Trever to seal the deal. However, her Yuel not Roi had enough HP to pull that ht now. The enemy insisted to stall StormBlitz’s push at any cost, so they didn’t pull any punches even against tanks.

  The enemy showed uiermination and perseverahat was the core of Yuel’s miscalcution. Based on the individual performance of eaemy so far, Yuel estimated there’s a high ce StormBlitz would successfully push through. However, the enemy pyers shattered this predi to pieces. It’s like the idea of losing didn’t even cross their minds, they gave their all until the bitter end.

  In fact, the Leopards eve on the offensive a couple of times during their defehat put immense pressure on StormBlitz. The ti mispy could result in the enemy stealing the initiative. StormBlitz were supposed to be the predators in this situatioheir prey was ready to pou them at the first opportunity.

  That’s how Dan and Gilbert were eliminated. Even though Yuel alredicted who boBreaker gunned for, he failed to keep his allies alive. With Breaker as the vanguard, the enemy dispyed relentless retaliation. Yuel never faced such overwhelming aggression from a ered enemy before.

  Sutensity, such strength. So, this is how a real petitive match felt like. It was so thrilling! Even after he analyzed and destructed every oppo, the enemy tio surprise him and overwhelm StormBlitz. Holy, he probably wasn’t even going to feel too bad about losing to such strong oppos.

  heless, his brain didn’t stop rag. After ing this far, he wao win. There had to be a way! The enemy only had one defender left!

  Option 1: Yuel and Roi would occupy Breaker, while Trever would destroy the Golem. At best, Yuel and Roi would be exged folem. Trever might ht not escape alive.

  A bad idea. There were more enemies who died before StormBlitz’s pyers, so they were going to respawn first. sidering how long the respawn times were at this point, the respawned enemies would easily push all the way to the Colossus before StormBlitz regroup, especially with Breaker still in the game.

  Option 2: Retreat and wait for the team troup, then try settling the match with one final 5v5. Better than option 1, but still shaky. Judging by how much trouble they had pushing Mid with 5v4 and an Overlord buff, they were going to lose that 5v5. Not to mention, the enemy was going troup faster thanks to their earlier respawn, so StormBlitz would start the fight at a disadvantage.

  Option 3...

  Option 4...

  ...

  Option 27...

  Think! Think! There has to be something! He searched and searched, simuting tless sarios in his head. The best ideas led to fag Breaker here and now, but how could he break through her? Was there anything she cked? Anything she was bad at? No matter how many times he went over the data in his head, he pictured Breaker as a bulletproof pyer with abundance of skill and experience.

  In fact, thanks to Breaker pying so optimally, Yuel successfully tered a few of her assaults in the ret fight. She gunned hard for Trever and Gilbert, the two damage dealers. That’s the optimal tacti virtually any team fight, so Yuel always withheld Gaia’s Prote until Breaker made her move, then tered her.

  Repeating this routine, he successfully kept Trever alive. However, he wasn’t as lucky with Gilbert, who got rushed down by the eeam after Breaker injured him. So, even when Yuel knew how Breaker was going to py, it wasn’t possible to thwart her pns 100% of the time.

  The same applied to the current situation. Even though he had a good idea how Breaker was going to py against each option Yuel came up with, that didn’t help him find a decisive move to strike her down with. If such a checkmate existed, he wasn’t able to read the necessary moves toward it.

  “Lemme hahis chick.” Roi said. “I’mma send her balls flying all the way to the stand!”

  “You want to parry her attacks?” Yuel was taken aback, surprised both by Roi’s sudden suggestion and by the fact he somehow uood Roi’s nonsensical baseball lingo.

  “Yeah, lemme at her. You two focus the Golem, I’mma cover your asses.”

  “ you actually hit her basics, though?” Gilbert asked. “You better not be making things up, this is a critical moment.”

  “Heh, who do you think you’re talking trinned. “I’m the up hitter! There’s no ball I ’t hit!”

  “Yeah, very ving from someone who couldn’t parry a siack the whole match.” Gilbert made a face. “You think I didn’t see you try? Your swings missed beautifully.”

  “T-That was just warm up! Don’t worry, man! I got a good feel for her timing, so I’mma hit her pitches when it ts!”

  “’t say I’m vinced.” Gilbert shrugged. “But, at the same time, I don’t see what else we got. What do you think, Yuel?”

  “Eh? Me?” Yuel blinked.

  “Yes, you. You’re the shot-caller right now, remember? I’ve run out of ideas a long time ago. Their Top minions almost reached our base, so we don’t have much time. If you got anything good, you better speak up. Now. ”

  “I... don’t have anything at the moment.” Yuel admitted.

  “That’s sad, we came so far too.” Gilbert sighed. “Alright, then what do you say about entrusting the match to this baseball geek? I’m not a fan, personally. I think our best bet is to retreat and regroup. The odds won’t be in our favor, but we may have a ce to beat them in one final 5v5.”

  “I... I need a moment to think.” Yuel requested a timeout. Roi’s suggestion threw him for a loop, he needed a moment to process this new data. The tless tactics he crafted so far didn’t factor this new input, so he had to put them aside for a moment ahink everything from scratch.

  Roi was amazing at parrying. Yuel khat first-hand, since he learhe art from the guy himself. While Yuel couldn’t even dream of parrying a siack from Breaker with his current skill, Roi might actually pull it off. If so, it’d be a huge py for the team. But, what if he were to fail?

  That didn’t matter, since all of Yuel’s ideas so far involved risk. There’s no dodging risk while aggressively pushing from behind, so, there’s no point w about the “worst case” sario. No matter which tactic he was going to pick, its “worst case” wasn’t going to look pretty.

  Therefore, he only had to sider the “average” and “best” cases. Suppose Roi was going to parry at least some of Breaker’s shots, what new doors would that open? What kind of new py could be born from there?

  Judging by all the skills currently cooldown, sidering Breaker’s optimal pys, taking into at the Golem’s remaining HP and..

  It’s possible. Yuel o himself. A lot was going to ride on Roi’s ability to hold his ground against Breaker for at least a couple of seds. But, if successful, there were multiple sequences of py which would led to Breaker’s defeat. Despite the many uainties, it was most likely the best py they had avaible right now. At least, the best out of everything he could e up with on the spot.

  “Let’s do it.” Yuel said.

  “You see a victory beyond that? Just curious.” Gilbert asked.

  “Yes, it get us all the way to the Colossus.” Yuel nodded. “But, everything is riding on Roi’s ability to parry at least some of these fireballs.”

  “Leave it to me!” Roi gave a thumb up.

  “I really hope he’s not making shit up.” Gilbert sighed. “Anyway, if you really believe this vert into a victory, then I got nothing to say. We’ve already done crazier stuff under your lead, no point stopping now.”

  “Let’s stay crazy until the end, guys!” (Trever)

  “Yeah! Let’s goooo! I’mma show that er she got nothing on my batting!” (Roi)

  “You better score a home run here. Focus oter, Sir up.” (Dan)

  “We’ll probably lose if you screw this up,” Gilbert said. “But, we’ll definitely lose if you don’t even try. So, good luck.”

  It was a critical moment, the py was going to make or break the game. The pressure should had been maddening, yet Yuel felt strangely calm. The two loud goofs shouted all sorts of encing nonsense, while Gilbert and Dan bahem out with rationality. Yuel was surrounded by strong and reliable teammates, they knew how to maintain a high morale at all situations. No matter how much they struggled this match, they refused to give up. That’s what it meant to be a petitive pyer.

  “Before we begin, I need a trap.” Yuel addressed Trever.

  “Hm?” Trever tilted his head. “Who do you expect to step on it? Meh, screw logic. Where do you want it?”

  “Around here.” Yuel pihe map.

  “Wut? This close to the Golem? Dunno what you got in mind, but sounds spicy. Here ya go.”

  With this, preparations were set. Yuel, Trever and Roi ihe Golem’s range, opening StormBlitz’s final attack. Yuel and Trever stopped shortly in front of the Golem and started attag right away. Meanwhile, Roi proceeded ahead, c them front the frontline

  If you wanna touch mah bois, first you gotta gh me! Roi faced Breaker head on. This was it. The other team was in the lead and it was the bottom of the ninth inning. With two outs and no runners on bases, the up hitter ehe batting box!

  These pumping clutch situations, whehing came down to wire, were Roi’s favorite stuff about sports. The whole team’s fate was riding on his bat, he had to pull this shit off! After taking a deep breath, he filtered out the noise around him. Only the pitcher in front of him mattered.

  “So, they finally came to die. Heh.” Jennifer licked her lips. She thought their makeshift team was filled with nobodies, but they sure knew how to make thiing. They had been making oeresting py after another and this attack was no different. She was sure the Druid and Knight were going to rush her, buying time for the Rao destroy the Golem. So, she already mentally prepared to blink through them and bo the shit outta the Ranger, winning the game on the spot.

  But, only the Knight rushed her. The Ranger and Druid stayed behind and focused the Golem.... Wait. the Knight also stopped? He just stood there, a little ahead of his pals, as if saying “e at me, bro!”. What the actual heck? Was it some desperate dumb move?

  Wait, no. She thought the same about their st couple of pys as well, until they worked out in ways she couldn’t even fathom. Was it yet another one of these freakish pys? What were they going for here?

  “Don’t think too hard, it won’t do you any good anyway.” Coach often told her that, basically calling her dumb. “Focus ouation and on what you have to do.”

  Right, it didn’t matter. Thinking too hard about these things was never Jennifer’s forte anyway. She simply couldn’t bihinking and ag into one package, maybe she was really a little dumb or something.

  Anyway, it wasn’t all bad. bo pyers needed pitch-perfect execution to do their job, which required unbreakable tration. She wasn’t good at thinking and ag at the same time, but as a result - she excelled at separating the two and trating 100% o a time. This granted her fwless bo execution, which many tried and failed to achieve.

  There robably something hiding in the enemy’s py, but so what? She’d simply crush them through sheer strength! That’s how she pyed until now and that’s how she gonna keep pying!

  First, she’d weaken the Knight with her basic attacks, to set him up for an easy kill. , she’d finish off the remaining scrubs with her ult. Simple, strong and effective. That’s all her pns ever had to be.

  She took a deep breath, filtering out the world around her. For the first step, only the Knight in front of her mattered. Equipped with the mental image of her iable victory, she fired basic attacks at the Knight.

  Here es the first pitch! Roi ched his mouse. This was the decisive moment, here and now! He already faced Breaker’s pitches before, but he was always struck out. However, thanks to these bitter experiences, he picked up on Breaker’s pitg style. Always right in middle, it gonna be a meatball for sure!

  Roi swung his bde and... it ected! The parry was a success! It insta-celled his attack, allowing him to swing at Breaker’s sed fireball right away, despite her superior attack speed. The sed swing made tact too, destroying the fireball! Two home runs in a row!

  “Eat that, lol!” Roi grinned. Finally, he also tributed something valuable to the team. Trever was the team’s pusher, Gilbert handled shot-calling throughout most of the match, Yuel came up with crazy pns and Dan made a sick kamikaze py.

  pared to these fine pys, what cool stuff did Roi achieve this game? None, really. But, now was his time to shine! His parries were about to make the whole differeween winning and losing the match!

  In a world separate from the rest, he faced the enemy pitcher as a batter. All his attention was trated on her moves, on her reas. Thanks to watg her so closely, he parried the third shot as well. Ez, lol.

  Holy, it’s not like Breaker’s shots were bad or anything like that. On the trary, she aimed right in the middle of his character model, making her shots as difficult as possible to dodge. However, when it came to batting, there’s nothing easier than a meatball!

  “A parry pyer!?” Jennifer excimed. What were the odds!? Nobody bothered learning parrying in Cssmancers! It was a meme, dang it!

  “Heh, seems like they also got a memer on their side.”

  “Must be your soulmate, Jenny. Haha.”

  “Oh shut up.” Jennifer gritted her teeth. Parries were the bane of bo builds which relied on basic attacks, such as her bo Pyromancer which relied on the debuff from Demonic Arm. Nobody took parrying seriously in her club, so she didn’t have much experience fag it. heless...!

  Don’t uimate me, damn memer! Jennifer roared internally and altered the angle of her attack. It’s true she didn’t have experience fighting a real parry pyer, but she studied ters and practiced them on other club members. No matter how niche parrying was, it’s still the bane of her pystyle, so she couldn’t possibly igs existence. Being prepared to every situation, no matter how unlikely, was the only way bo pyers could thrive otlefield!

  “Whoa! A breaking ball!?” Roi swung his bat against the usual meatball, but his sword sliced through empty air. Breaker slightly altered the angle of her shht before firing, it was just enough to throw off Roi’s timing. The fireball hit his shoulder, which spelled doom.

  “Shit! Sorry, I done goofed.” Roi already knew what was ing. The Pyromancer’s attack speed was leagues ahead of his, so without insta-celling - his bat couldn’t keep up with her pitches anymore. There’s no sed ce for him, it was a strikeout.

  Yes! That’s it! Jennifer grinned. Her first face-off against a parry pyer and she won! Hell yeah! Her training wasn’t in vain!

  Her first hit followed up by three more hits, which the Knight wasn’t even fast enough to challenge. After four full hits, Demonic Arm’s defense debuff was in full effeow, she just had to bo the Knight and Rao death and it’d be over.

  Taking into at the skill’s casting speed, she started off with Bze of Inferno. She drew a trail of fire leading from the Knight to the Ranger, ready to unleash a bze on both of them.

  But first, she had to proc the effect of Spellbook of Doom. Before Bze of Inferno actually started hitting the targets, she scorched the ground underh them with Pilr of Fire. The timing was just right. As soon as Pilr of Fire proc’d Spellbook of Doom, the fmes of Inferno emerged from thin air to burn her oppos.

  The follow up was instantaneous, leaving her enough time to blink and add Fme Wave to the bo. That’s gonle the matd for all!

  “Right!”

  “Left!”

  Trever and Roi shouted, firming they were going to dodge in opposite dires like they pnned. Yuel already foresaw Breaker’s most likely py for this situation, so the team was well prepared.

  With Trever and Roi dodging in opposite dires, they put Breaker on the spot. She had to decide which them she was going after, sihe range of Fme Wave wasn’t enough to reach them both. At least, not with ease.

  It ossible on paper, but she had only about a sed to make her move. Could she find the best spot to blink to? In such a small window of time?

  “Tch, don’t mess with me!” Jennifer roared. Her earted rolling in opposite dires, trying to throw her off. Thanks to the slowdown from Pilr of Fire, it was like her prey moved in slow motion. She could see every move! They weren’t getting away!

  Rolling in opposite dires was a natural ter for such situations, so of course Jennifer knew about it. To bee a petitive level bo pyer, she had to study not only the optimal bo pys, but also their best ters. She practiced tless series with her teammates, imprinting all the optimal responses onto her brain.

  Therefore, her body reacted without even thinking. It didn’t matter she had only one sed, her body was wired to make the optimal py in every situation. There was ation or calcution, simply a.

  She blinked forward, pg herself diagonally to both targets. From this position, with this angle - she could destroy them both! It was the only spot from which Fme Wave had enough rao hit both the Knight and Ranger. Yeah, it was the stuff! Her body reacted perfectly!

  “Ah!?” She gasped. Her fingers already inputted and for Fme Wave, everythi smoothly. But. But. But, there were branches. Branches. Branches! BRANCHES!? They were getting closer and closer, about to devour her.

  “N-No! No way!!!”

  Indeed, she made the optimal py. She blio the best spot for hitting both her targets, the ONLY spot avaible for that. But, precisely because it was the one and only optimal move for her - it redictable.

  Thank you for pying your best even in this tough situation. Yuel smiled. Truly, Breaker deserved respect. She reacted to everything with speed and efficy, always aiming for the best pys.

  And, because of how highly he regarded Breaker, he put his faith in her in this critical situatiorusted her to move to the best location avaible, which is why he fidently fired Nature’s Grasp toward that spot ahead of time.

  Nature’s Grasp was a thin skillshot, so nding it quickly on a blinking enemy was nigh impossible, especially for a meical scrub like Yuel. But, since he perfectly predicted her position after the blink - he made perfect tact! The tree branches reached Breaker and pulled her toward him, before she even got the ce to fire Fme Wave.

  At his feet id a Beartrap, which he asked Trever to set up. Breaker ulled right into it, getting sturever seized this opportunity, switg his focus from the Golem to Breaker. It was over.

  An enemy has been killed!

  An enemy Golem has beeroyed!

  From there, the push was smooth. They ihe enemy base and fought the Colossus, destroying it before the eeam got to respawn.

  VICTORY

  “Yeah! We did it!” Roi pumped a fist.

  “That pull was hot, kid!” Trever rubbed Yuel’s hair, which was annoying to say the least. But, Yuel couldn’t bring himself to say anything back. His heart still raced from the events of the past minute. Everything happened so quickly, as if in a fsh.

  “We really did it, huh.” Gilbert took a deep sigh of relief, still processing the VICTORY on the s.

  “Heh,” Dan chuckled “Turns out Suicide Lancer is the new meta, guys.”

  It was just the first match out of five, but they celebrated as if they already woire thing. Hard to bme them, sidering how impossible eback they made against such a strong team. Evearted losing hope toward the end, until Roi suggested that brilliant parrying idea. If not for that, there’s no telling how the match would had turned out..

  While everybody rejoiced they won this impossible match, Yuel also celebrated a personal victory. It’s the first time his skills were put to test in a petitive matd they passed with flying colors. Fag strong oppos like Howard and Ellen on a daily basis made him questions the limits of his tactics, but they proved themselves plenty effective even on the real stage. Of course, this was still just a sed string match, but it was a huge achievement heless.

  After each game, the teams were given a 10 minutes break. Everybody left their chairs at once, joking about “Dan the Kamikaze God” and what not. However, Gilbert stayed behind, still staring at the match’s statistics.

  “Is something wrong?” Yuel asked.

  “We really won this, huh.” Gilbert still couldn't quite e to terms with this reality. “When I made you the shot-caller, I was sure we’re already doomed. I’ve been making the best calls I could e up with, but it didn’t get us anywhere. So, I pretty much gave up.”

  “You didn’t make any mistakes, at least not from what I tell.” Yuel said. “Your calls were solid, it’s thanks to them that we sted for so long.”

  “But, they were nowhere near good enough.” Gilbert shook his head. “I was sure the only we win is by pying defensively and waiting for the eo mess up. But then, you came around and turned everything on its head, starting with Dan’s kamikaze. That suicide py was so mind-boggling, I could never e up with something like that. Seriously, just what are your and Howard’s brains made of?”

  “Well...” What could Yuel possibly say? It’s not the first time he’s told by others they couldn’t uand how he came up with his strategies, and it surely wasn’t the st. Even after ing all the way to the petitive se, he still couldn’t escape this curse. So annoying.

  “Well, whatever.” Gilbert shrugged and stood up. “You’ve proved yourself this match, so be ready - you’re the shot-caller game too.”

  “R-Really!?”

  “Of course, why the surprise? You totally owhe te game. Everybody will agree you’re the better shot-caller.”

  “But, you also did a good-”

  “No, no need for that.” Gilbert tapped on Yuel’s shoulder and smiled wryly. “I’ve been hanging long enough around Howard to realize I’m nothing special. If handing you the shot-caller role is going to increase our ces of winning, I’m fih that. I’ll do what I do best, so you do what you do best. Simple as that.”

  “I uand.” Yuel nodded. “I’ll make sure to not disappoint.”

  “No big deal, I’ll just take the role back if you mess up.” Gilbert chuckled. Was it just a joke? Or, perhaps what he truly wished to happen? After all, despite everything Yuel said to sole Gilbert, he actually wao hold onto the shot-caller role and never let go of it. Their feelings must had been mutual oter, but Gilbert was mature enough to surrehe role for the sake of the team.

  Just half a year ago, Yuel was a mere examinee applying for the Cssmancers club. Sihen, he climbed all the way to the sed string and became its shot-caller. It was arguably the highest position on the sed string, right beside the captain. In a sense, he was closer to the first string than anybody else here. Soon, he’d definitely climb to the first string and take Howard’s position for himself! The closer he got to his goal, the stronger his spirit burned!

  But, before any of that, there was still a long fight awaiting him in the sed string.

  “You gotta be shitting me...” Jennifer just sat there, staring bnkly at her s. How? Why? Didn’t she make the best moves avaible for her? Didn’t she py that st move perfectly?

  “Man, ’t believe we lost this...”

  “These guys are actually pretty strong, dang it.”

  The morale of the Leopards was at an all time low. They domihe whole game! They were going to win for sure! These fident thoughts blew up in their faces, delivering a heavy blow to their high spirits. Only one pyer escaped that, since he was at low spirits in the first pce.

  “Well,” Alex shrugged. “They got us the moment they took the Overlord.”

  “That’s bullshit!” Jennifer smmed oable. “You gave up, didn’t you? I saw that shit! You stood there like a damn scarecrow when the Druid pulled you! We could’ve won if you just got your ass outta there in time!”

  “Big words for someone who also lost by being pulled.” Alex sneered. “Very captain-like of you to shift all the bme on your teammate.”

  “You little shit...!” Jennifer’s fists trembled, she ached to leap on that zy idiot and tear him apart. But, she knew he had a point.

  The momentum really shifted in the enemy’s favor after they took the Overlord. That was a huge ht on her side, Alex even warned her about that possibility. It didn’t excuse him from being a quitter, but it proved she shared some of the bme too.

  “Alright, no big deal!” Jennifer produced a loud cp, eg throughout the hall. “They caught us a little off guard in the end there, but we’ve been kig their asses the whole game. So, we’re clearly better than these scrubs. ge gears and be ready to get revenge, boys!”

  “Yeah!”

  “They won’t get luext time!”

  The whole team syched. Despite the devastati, not a single member of the Leopards thought they were going to lose again today. The captaihusiasm spread throughout the team like an iion, even Alex wasirely ued.

  Heh. She has the brains of a monkey, but at least she talk big. Alex shat’s literally the only reason Coach made her the captain. As long as the enemy don’t break her, everybody gonna keep fighting hard. Sigh, what a drag.

  After tasti in the first round, the Leopards were more pumped thahey gonna pay back the favor game! The StormBlitz vs. Leopards scrimmage was just getting started!