“Damn!” Roi spshed his face at the sink. He was totally out of tu game. His parries didn't ect, he died numerous times and he hasn't scored a single kill. It was like he was some Bronze pyer. Damn it!

  “So much for ‘we ain’t throw the game’, heh.” Dan shook his head.

  “It's not like I was messing up on purpose,” Roi frowned. “My bat just didn't ed I couldn't get anything going, whily got me more triggered and distracted. You remember that feeling from baseball, right? When you're out of tune and miss literally every swing.”

  “Yeah, my entire baseball career in a nutshell.”

  “Lol, that's not true,” Roi chuckled. “Anyway, don't know about you, but I wasn't trying to throw the game”

  “Hey, I pyed alright too,” Dan said. “I messed up here and there, but it’s far from my wame.”

  “Gonna make excuses, huh. I know you py way better than that.”

  “I think so too, but it is what it is. Hoacked some serious formation this time and I kept running into his traps.”

  “Really now,” Roi narrowed his eyes. “You gonna say every time you messed up it was some 200 IQ trap? Like, when you ganked Gil without asking whether he had his blink on?”

  “Welp,” Dan twisted his lips. “Guess I was a little distracted. But again, nothing out of the norm. I've screwed worse in Ranked before.”

  “You really insist on that point as if it matters. This is a serious game with lives oake. You 't just say it's alright to screw up.”

  “Heh, ‘lives on the line’,” Dan chuckled. “Now that's melodramatic.”

  “It's kinda true, though. For Yuel and Lars, this game gonna decide the uping year. Who knows, if they debut as juniors a far in the regionals, they might get some sweet pro offers ter down the line.”

  “Heh, always dreaming about these sweet pro offers. I remember how you used to say that by being the up batter of our team you took a step closer to the Major League.”

  “Still think that’s true. You ain’t gon far if you aren’t aiming far.”

  “Fair enough,” Dan smiled wryly. He uood the reasoning, but for him, these were just empty words. How the heck being the up batter of some grade school team gono the Major League? How winning the nationals during junih team will lead to getting pro offers? It was all silly talk.

  “Anyway,” Roi tinued. “You really better start shaping up game.”

  “Right back at ya.”

  “No kidding. I o sort myself out-” Roi paused. An ued visitor ehe restroom - Howard.

  Welp, this is kinda awkward. Roi put on a dumb smile. Until the end of the match, Roi and Howard were like mortal ehere had to be a way to break the iehow. “Hey look, it's the Big Shield Dude.”

  “Heh, is that how you call me during strategy meetings too?” Howard chuckled but afterward, silence desded again. Roi and Dan threw g each other as if urging each other to say something.

  “What’s with the difficult faces?” Howard asked.

  “Nothing big, you know,” Roi replied with a forced grin. “It’s just we’re kinda on opposite sides right now, so it feels weird.”

  “Rex, it’s just a game.”

  “You really think that way?”

  “Of course not,” Howard’s eyes turned sharp as he passed by them. “For me, this is an important match with huge implications. But, for you two? It’s just a game. Your positions on the first string are pretty much guaranteed, so there’s o stress over it, is there?”

  “Well, that may be true, but...” Roi couldn’t find the right words to express his mixed feelings about this entire arra. This match was messed up, pin and straight.

  Why were Roi and Dan on Yuel’s team? They gave the team too huge of an advantage, which made them look like bullies. It was hel hard to py their best in this enviro. And not to mention, sider what was at stake on this match’s oute... damn it all.

  “You said the match has ‘huge implications’ for you,” Dan addressed Howard. “You mean, like not being able to py iourhis year?”

  “It’s more than that,” Howard expined. “Not sure if I mentioned, but I’m aiming frandview year.”

  “Huh?” Roi cocked his head. “The heck is that? The name sounds kinda familiar.”

  “Isn’t that the high school where Utopia pys?” Dan asked.

  “Oh!” Roi excimed. “Utopia!? For real?!” He turo Howard with a loose jaw. “Aren’t they like the top dogs of the high school se!?”

  “Yes, that Utopia,” Howard firmed. “I applied for the team and they said my ces depend on my tour results this year. Getting to nationals is the bare minimum and winning it will pretty much guarantee a schorship and everything.”

  “Damn, son!” Roi nodded with respect. “You’re shooting high, huh.”

  “Impressive...” Dan wasn’t sure what else to say. This was a grand ambition but also a very down-to-earth one. “Isn’t Grandview pretty far from here, though?”

  “Yeah, I pn to live in the dorms. That’s why I really hat sports schorship they offer for Mancers.”

  “I see, sounds tough. Good luck with that.” Dan smiled wryly and averted his gaze. Great, this match has just bee a huimes heavier.

  For Howard, winning this match was the first step tetting into Utopia, the pinnacle of the try’s high school petitive se. Utopia was known as a powerhouse that produced many pro pyers, so for Howard, today’s match was like a step toward the pro se. This was serious business a here Dan ying on the opposite team aing in Howard’s way...

  “Alrighty,” Howard finished his business. “Good luext game. Just don’t sweat it and everything will be fine.”

  “Haha, sure.”

  “Good luck, too.”

  On that note, Howard left the restroom. As soon as he exited, a smirk surfaced on his face. As he thought, Roi and Dan were rattled. If things keep going this way, they’ll keep underperf and it’ll be an easy victory for Howard. The game was in the bag.

  At around the same time, at the girls’ restroom...

  It's because of me. Julia finished washing her fad stared at the mirror. All it reflected was the sight of a useless girl who achieved absolutely nothing in the past two games. After she talked big about how she'll fight her best today, she ended up putting on an embarrassing performance.

  Was that the extent of her skill? No, no way. Julia knew how to py mgressively and score kills, she just couldn't bring out these teiques in front of Lars.

  When Julia ying Ranked, it was usually enough for her to stick to defense and wait for the oppoo it a mistake. Then, she’d punish that idiot and win the ne.

  Unfortunately, Gilbert was no idiot. He kly how far away he had to stay while pushing and he didn’t leave any openings even when he aggressed on Julia. In the sed game, Gilbert was always on the offensive a Julia couldn't kill him anyway.

  Even with a gank, they failed to kill Gilbert. Though, if Julia just went all out with offe the time... Bleh, I gotta stop thinking about this before it depresses me to death.

  Bottom line: Julia sucked in both games. The team somehow pulled through in the first game, but the sed game was much harder. And, as much as Julia wao deny it, much of the fault for the team’s defeat id with her. Not only did she fail to initiate anything and score any kills, she even ended up dying and losing Mid. Like, these were the worst things a Mid Laner could do EVER.

  Yuel drilled this knowledge into her on a regur basis: “No matter how badly a Mid Laner performs, they must prevent the enemy from peing Mid at all costs.” How many times has he repeated that?

  Every time Julia lost trol in Mid, Yuel lectured her about how she put the eeam at a disadvantage. Eae was like a pilr that supported the team's defense and Mid was the most vulnerable of them all. tless games have been won with a team just pushing all the way through Mid without b with other nes.

  So, as a Mid Laner, Julia had just one job. ONE! Was it that hard? Was it!? Yeah, it sure was.

  sidering the importanid, everybody was eying it like hungry wolves. A single misstep would give these wolves the cue to leap on Julia and tear her apart. That's why she had to fortify her defense as much as possible.

  But, pying defensively wasn't enough here. Even though the eeam was filled with hungry wolves, they were smart wolves who didn't overextend while targeting Mid. To turables on them and to truly crush their assault, Julia had to get out there and fight them face-to-face. But, the problem with that was...

  “Gah!” Julia spshed her face. Her thoughts were swirling and swirling and swirling to no end. Jesus, it was depressing. Why was she even putting herself through all this crap? She just wao go hide under a rock...

  “My, what a surprise,” Ellen waltzed into the restroom. Great, what a pleasant surprise...

  “Um...” Julia didn't know how to respond, so she just silently approved of Ellen's preseh a nod.

  “How cold~” Ellen pouted and quickly closed the distance.

  “Wha-!?” Before Julia realized it, she was ed from all sides. Oh god, the snake caught her!

  “o be like that,” Ellen rubbed herself against Julia. “We may be enemies in the game right now, but we're still best pals, right~?”

  I don't remember ever being your “pal”. Julia retorted mentally while trying to shake off Ellen's embrace. Dang it, Ellen literally glued herself to Julia. This was her the time nor pce for these buddy-buddy gestures, they were in the middle of a world war.

  “Would you let go already?”

  “Only if you show me your cute smile,” Ellen stuck out her tongue. “You look waaaay too seriht now. No boy would approach you from one kilometer with this face, especially Larsy.”

  “Mind your own business,” Julia scoffed off. Smile? What was there to smile about? She felt more like g. “Let go already.”

  “Alright, alright,” Ellen unlocked the hugging cage and slithered away. “You just looked so depressed that I felt you need a hug. Wanna talk about it?”

  “No.”

  “, I'll listen.”

  “I said no.” 't she ever mind her own business?

  “It looks like you're bming yourself too hard,” Ellen proceeded to talk some crap anyway. Great.

  I just leave? Please? Julia sighed because she already khere was no shaking Ellen off once she tches onto you.

  “You actually pyed both games pretty well,” Ellen tinued.

  “Is that supposed to be sarcasm?”

  “Nope, I mean it. Sure, you didn't get many kills, but your defense was on par with The Pentagon. That ult py you did i team fight retty cute too.”

  Now, that's definitely sarcasm. Julia ched her fists so hard her nails dug into her skin. The brief pain reminded her of the bullshit she had to gh in that py. Yuel promised “everything will be okay”, so Julia went ahead and charged Hurrie. Needless to say, it was a recipe for disaster.

  “It’ll be okay” my ass. Julia felt like tossing that idiot of a cliff. While she was charging her ult: the stupid Kraken knocked her down, that dumbass Druid pulled her into eerritory and the damn Pirate skewered her to death. That Hurrie py was total bullshit.

  “I see,” Ellen smiled meaningfully. “You probably think that py was terrible because you died, right?”

  “Well, duh. It was terrible.”

  “And here I thought it was good bait.”

  “A bait...?”

  “Yep,” Ellen nodded. “You became a must-target because Aero's ult is nasty in team fights. So, you forced our hand and we had to strike first, so your team capitalized on that. Thanks to that bait, you guys almost turhe tables on us. Good thing we're alrepared for anything~”

  “Huh,” Julia scoffed. “You say it was good bait even though I died?”

  “Yeah, it was a small sacrifice for the huge payoff you almost got. Or wait, did I get it wrong? You didn’t pn to be a sacrifice bait there?”

  “Y-Yeah, of course, that was the pn. I was just impressed by how well you saw through it. You're really sharp, huh.”

  “I sure am~”

  “Haha...” Julia shifted her eyes away. Was the bait py really that helpful for the team? Even though it led to Julia’s swift death? Maybe her well-being was never a priority in the first pce, so Yuel used her like a disposable pawn. That’s just... haha... ha... goddammit.

  “Oh, lookie, you’re finally smiling. Not your cutest smile ever, but it's a start.”

  “Heh...” Yes, Julia smiled. She smiled because of how useless she was. Yuel discarded her like a pawn in that py without even inf her. That dumbass po sacrifice her from the very beginning!

  “Anyway,” Ellen patted Julia's shoulder. “I know you're trying your best to help Lars win so he get into the first string, but o push yourself to the point of depression. As long as you py well, Lars won't bme you if you lose.”

  “That's not...” Julia's words trailed off. What was this bullcrap? Sure, Julia wao help Lars get into the first string, but she also...

  “Good luext game~”

  “Yeah, you too.” Julia left the restroom with quick strides. Once she got outside, she threw quices around the hallway. Okay, nobody was here.

  “GAAAAAAAH!” Julia roared. What the actual fuck!? A sacrifice bait!? Was that all Julia was worth for Yuel!? Was she just some paw to be discarded!? Don't you fuck with me, you dumbass! I do way more than that! I ...! I...!

  Sure, Julia was her an amazing pyer like Lars nor a first-string member like Roi and Dan. And sure, she had all sorts of fws. But! She yer too! She wasn't some dead weight that dragged the team down, right? Right!?

  Maybe she didn't have as much at stake this matpared to Lars and Yuel, but that didn't mean she was taking this match lightly. Helping Lars was an important goal, but even beyond that, she wao....! Goddammit!

  Just you wait! game, I'll show you what I do! I'll go so hard on the offense you'll be beggio stop killing so much! I'll murder everybody! Every st one of these shitheads! I'll do it, goddammit!

  With this determination, Julia headed into the final game. Will she be able to draw out her aggressive side once she’s ich? There were no guarantees, but she'll do it! She’ll do it, goddammit!