Yuel took most of the bme upon himself for the situation in Top, but the others didn't quite agree.

  Nia shifted her eyes from side to side. Should I say something? I feel like I should, but I don’t know what…

  After all, Nia wasn't an alien robot with 200 IQ, so she didn't fully uand all the siderations Yuel had to take for that shot-call even after he tried to expin them. heless, there was ohing she DID know for sure.

  I almost had that scary Orc. If I just did everything in the right order, then I should've gotten the kill. Yeah, I'm almost sure of it.

  She felt like she was just as responsible as Yuel about this failure, if not more. But of course, it wasn't something she wao admit. Not openly, at least.

  I'll just make up for it by killing the Orext time. Nia decided. H-He's super scary, but I’ll pull it off! Probably. Yeah…

  Apprentece was the most terrifying adversary Nia had faced to date. A, more than being scared, she was determio sy this monster.

  What is this weird feeling, I wonder? Nia had no idea how to expin any of this illogical stuff. Even though she should’ve been scared shitless, she found herself surprisingly gung-ho about taking Appre.

  Is this why people enjoy pying petitively? So they hunt monsters?

  Until now, this whole premise of having schools pete with each other didn’t really make much seo Nia. She didn’t uand what was the point anizing such a bloody petition for a video game that could be pyed online.

  Like, seriously. Bringing pyers onto the stage and pg them in front of an audience, all seemed excessive. What was the point of it even?

  But today, Nia finally started feeling like maybe there’s a point to it, after all. Bringing all these talented pyers onto oage invoked war between the biggest monsters of the region.

  These guys were uo run into each other in Ranked. And even if they did, the stakes wouldn’t be the same. There wouldn’t be as much tension in the air.

  So, scrims must’ve existed te such monster vs. monster matchups. Such fights were as scary as they were entig.

  Until now, I thought I wanted nothing to do with any of this. But, this Orc…

  Holy, this Apprentece guy was kinda triggering. Not only did this guy ter Nia's sneaky gank, but he even turhe tables on her when she DID mao sneak up on him. And, that happened uhe tower, where Nia should’ve had an absolute advantage.

  Seriously, that was hax. A pyer like that was not allowed to exist, especially not at a middle school level.

  Everybody agrees, right? Nia thought. The eeam thinks this guy is a cheat. A monster like that shouldn't be legal. It's too scary.

  Nia had the habit of calling many things "scary", but this time it wasn't just about her. The eeam would easily agree that Apprentece was just too scary to be real.

  I don't like that. Not o. Nia grumped. tering my stealth is a no-no. I have to make it work on him, at least once...!

  Despite just being killed by a monster. Nia couldn't wait to jump bato the fray and gank this scary guy agaiime, it'll work for sure...!

  Actually, the sed attempt almost worked, too. Nia thought. So, I really don't get why Yuel is bming himself so hard here. His shot-call was fine. I could've fihe guy off if I pyed a little better, I think.

  Nia really wao object to the way Yuel self-deprecated himself but she failed to find the right words. Mainly because the only words of encement she could think of involved owning up to her own mistakes. Gufu...

  "I, um, well..." Nia opened and closed her mouth. She had a broad idea of what she wao say, but she couldn't string any words together. "... anyway, I think your shot-call was ok."

  "How so?" Yuel asked.

  "Well, I almost killed the guy, right? It was real close and stuff."

  "It looked close, yes. But, in the end, it wasn't enough. My shot-call almost gave the enemy a double kill."

  "Well, yeah, true, I guess..." Nia twisted her lips. It felt like anything she said would ricochet back at her.

  Wasn't there anythier she could say? Something that even a smartass like Yuel wouldn’t be able to ter?

  Well, there is that ohing, but... Nia cmmed up. Maybe I should just say it. Ben admitted to what he thinks he did wrong, so...

  It was tough. Nia sidered herself an expert at running away from criticism, but now she was about to i upon herself. Masochism much?

  "I... I messed up a little," Nia admitted. "Just a little, ok? I should've picked my shots better against that dang Orc. I could've killed him, I think. Yeah."

  There, she said it. She finally admitted out loud that much of the fault y with her execution! Gulp.

  "............" Yuel said nothing. He just stared bnkly at the weird creature speaking to him.

  "W-What?"

  "Who are you and what did you do to Nia?"

  "Eh?” Nia blinked in fusion and checked around her. “Did I get abducted by aliens and repced? Scary."

  "I have no other expnation," Yuel said. "The Nia I know wouldn't admit to something like that unless I pressure her into it."

  "Well, that Apprentece guy just triggers me outta my mind." Nia puffed her little cheeks. "So, I’m saying I almost got him this time because ime I’m going to get him for sure! Probably."

  "Even though you keep saying he’s 'scary'?"

  "Yeah, even though he's super scary and stuff.” Nia nodded. “So, if ye anood opportunity like that, I'm sure I ...!"

  The words just flowed out of her mouth. Blood must've rushed to her head because she had no idea how she was brave enough to spout suonsense.

  aitwait! Nia froze. D-Did I really just say all of that out loud!? Gufu! I, um, well...

  It was too te. She had already uttered all that stuff out loud and Yuel heard it. Yikes!

  It took Yuel a moment to respond to this. "I'm surprised you feel sly about this.”

  "Well, that's..." Nia shifted her eyes away. Her embarrassment level was over 9000! "I'm just a bit salty that he tered my first gank, ok? So, lemme have revenge."

  "I see. Very well." Yuel nodded. "I'll try te anank opportunity for you, if possible. And, this time, it'll be a good one, I promise."

  "Ok, deal."

  But, will I even be able te su opportunity? Yuel wohis game is about to bee very one-sided...

  The enemy cimed Top Turret so early into the game, and Apprentece gaions of momentum as an Orc. So, Stratus was currently headed toward severe beatdown.

  we still achieve anything here? Anything at all? Yuel felt his fighting spirit slipping away. Even though normally he was the type to fight his hardest until the bitter end, this one game just seemed beyond hopeless.

  "Rex, my dude," Lars spoke out of nowhere. "You look like you're dying inside, haha."

  "And how does that look, exactly?"

  "Ya all frowning and l yo head and stuff. That ain’t good, yo! Ya gotta look these dudes straight in the eye because ain't over yet!"

  "It’s not?" Yuel blurted. Oh, I wasn't supposed to say that...

  "... wait, wut?” Lars had a pause. “Did you seriously give up or something?"

  "No, I..." Yuel averted his eyes. "It’s just that this game seems almost hopeless, that's all."

  "Dang, so it's that bad, huh." Lars smiled wryly. "Welp, I don't uand all them plicated strats and whatnot, but even I tell that things ain't looking good. Like, Orc + Momentum = Bad News. This is math that even I uand."

  "Correct."

  "So yep, the situation sounds real rough. But, who cares?"

  "... excuse me?"

  "None of it really matters, right?” Lars cimed. “This is just a scrim, after all. I mean, I also wanna win and stuff, but we ain't gonna lose the regionals over this."

  "Well, losing this scrim will hurt our seeding," Yuel said. "But no, it won’t single-handedly determine how we’ll fare at the regionals."

  "Right? So, there ain't no reason to mop about it, yo! Even if we end up losing in the end, for now, we still have time to get back at that Orc dude and show him that we ain't pushovers!"

  "True," Yuel agreed.

  "Right?” Lars nodded repeatedly. “I really wanna fight that dude at least once before the game is over, and even Nia is saying she wants to throw hands. We’ve still got the rest of the game to keep challenging that ese pro dude!"

  "He's Korean."

  "Oh yeah, right. Isn't that part of a, tho?"

  "... no, it's in a pletely different part of Asia. Who taught you geography?"

  "I dunno dude, all that 'Asia' pce sounds like fi to me, to be ho. Never saw it with my own two eyes, haha."

  "Seriously…?" Yuel made a face. Just when I thought he was saying something uedly smart for a ge… now he's back to being the usual goof. Oh well.

  All in all, Lars made a good point. This was ultimately just a scrimmage, therefore losing won't be the end of the world. In fact, most teams in the region would sider 2-3 a great achievement against the Leopards.

  Of course, we're aiming higher than that, but that's for the regionals. All in all, I believe we’ve pyed detly today.

  Before today's scrim, Stratus was just an underdog team. Nobody expected them to put up such a fight against the regional champions, let alone er the champions into a 2-2 situation. It was a great achievement, all things sidered.

  We even forced them t out their ace. Yuel thought. So, now that we have a rare opportunity to spar with this Korean prodigy, we should focus on taking him down.

  Figuring out a way to defeat Appretnece might even be more important for Stratus than g victory in this particur practice game. Learning the enemy’s weaknesses will serve them well during the real match at the regionals.

  This might also be the st time he makes an appearan the stage before the regionals. Yuel reasoned. Not all teams will be able to force him to take the stage.

  For years now, the entire petitive se in the region was dominated by the Leopards and StormBlitz, with Taurus being a frequent runner-up. There weren't any other capable middle school teams in this region.

  I suppose today’s result actually puts us iop 3 of the region. Yuel realized. Nobody will treat us as an underdog after this match.

  Naturally, this kind of promotion came with its own share of trouble. This meant that future oppos would research Stratus’ pystyle more extehan before, making it harder than ever for the team to reach the finals.

  But, that’s a small price to pay. From the get-go, Lars and I have been pnning to turn this underdog team into the stro in the region, and we’re almost there already.

  With Taurus already defeated, only twiants stood in Strauts’ path to the top: StormBlitz and the Leopards. And, at least against the Leopards, Stratus had already proven that they could fight toe-to-toe. As such, winning the regionals was no longer a dream at this point.

  That’s all great news, but this isn’t what we're here for today. Yuel reminded himself. This isn't the regionals, it's just a scrim. So, as much as I'd like to win, as Lars said, winning isn't everything here. Firstmost, oal should be to improve as pyers and to study our oppos as much as possible.

  So yes, perhaps this match was lost as a whole, but it didn't mean Stratus suddenly became powerless. They were still very much capable of taking dorentece!

  Lars is still eager to keep fighting, and even Nia is the same, as uncharacteristic as that is. So, I 't be the oo throw the towel here. Yuel o himself. For starters, I’ll find a way to slow down their momentum in order to give us more time to try things. Who knows, we might even turables on them in the process.

  Yuel took a deep breath and focused on his job as the shot-caller. There were still many unfihings to be done here, so this wasn't over, not yet!

  So, now that you've takeop Turret, what will be your move, "pro"? Yuel posed the question to Apprehe ever-looming threat of this entire game.

  For norentece had no choice but to recall to base. The injuries he sustained during Nia's attack were surely too much to write off as a flesh wound, even for him.

  The real question was: where will Apprentece head ? With Top being pletely under his dominion, there was no guarantee he’d returhere right way.

  What would I’ve done in his shoes? Yuel wondered. Given the board state, I probably would've made rotated to Mid or Bot. Maybe even both, oer another.

  With Orc's damage output, Apprentece could test Mid all by himself even against a mage. If he opts to do so, then that would give Theorist the opportunity to recall to the base.

  After doing that, Apprentece might try a simir tacti Bot. These will be very strong pys that will allow the Leopards to turn their overwhelming advantage even more stable.

  But, rehe type of pyer who’d “waste” his own time to help out his teammates? That was something only the guy himself will be able to answer with his py...

  DarkestCymore