“Phew, finally...” Yuel sighed as he dropped on a chair. His muscles were legit dead right now. However, the torture was finally over; they finished ing up the clubroom.

  “Okay!” Lars umped a fist, still full of energy as ever. “Now, let's 2v2!”

  “Eh,” Kai made a face. “Don't you want to rest first?”

  “Nah, rest is for the weak! Let's go go go! Or, wait, are you guys tired?”

  “Eh?” Kai frowned. “N-Not really, not me. I just thought the others might be. No way this much would tire me. It was like a brief workout, nothing more.”

  “Okay, the's do it!”

  “A moment, please,” Vi's voice resounded from somewhere but he was o be found. “Don't know about you, but I o take five. Or fifty, even.”

  “... why are you lying on the floor?” Kai raised an eyebrow.

  “This may look like the floor to you, but it’s actually a bed. I dub it the Makeshift Floor Bed!”

  “You're literally just lying on the floor.”

  “It's the Ultimate Makeshift Floor Bed!”

  “You gon yourself dirty.”

  “Nah, we just wiped it , remember? Therefore, it’s the Ultimate Sparkling Makeshift Floor Bed!”

  “Whatever,” Kai shrugged. “If you need a rest so hard, then we should take a break.”

  “Yep, let's take a huge break,” Vi said. “Like, for an hour or two.”

  “Just how tired are you?”

  “Imagine I'm a Warlock who ran out of MP early on and tinued spamming spells all day long at the cost of my HP. That's how tired I am. I'm literally dying over here.”

  “Seriously,” Kai shook her head. “Aren't you supposed to be a boy? Get a grip.”

  “I identify as the Digital Boy css. I got high INT but low STAMINA.”

  I guess I belong to that css too. Yuel silently nodded. He also needed some rest for his sore muscles, but thankfully he didn't have to admit it. I'll let Vi look like the only unfit guy in here. Fwless strategy.

  “Okay,” Lars sat down. “Tell me when you dudes are ready to go.”

  Everybody sat down, except for Vi who insisted to keep pnking on the floor like a noodle. It's like he was making a public statement against the atrocity that was ing.

  Nobody was busy right now, so it was a great opportunity to make some small talk ao know the other members. As, Yuel hasn’t ied any SP into his “Small Talk” skill, so it was unusable. Oher hand, Lars had that skill as a passive ability he was born with.

  “So,” Lars started. “Where's the rest of the club? You're not the only ones here, right?”

  “There are two more,” Kai said. “Luke made an excuse to ditch ing, as expected. Ben was supposed to e, but I guess his... Eh, his ‘friends’ probably dragged him somewhere again.”

  The other members sound like a bunch of troublemakers. Yuel thought. He hoped a small club like this would be a house for a few but very petent individuals, but that impression has been shattering with every passing moment. And, it didn’t help that the school was treating the club like dirt, which probably further disced udents from joining.

  It felt like a catch-22. The school didn't think highly of a club dedicated to a video game, so it treated the club like a nuisance. As a result, the club got a barely funal clubroom that was hidden deep in the basement and was allowed to recruit only a small number of students. As a result, the club performed poorly in tours and the school got another reason to cut the club's numbers. It's a vicious cycle.

  Not to mention, any sensible student who learns the grave circumstances surrounding this small club would be disced from joining. Even the non-petitive pyers, who'd normally jump on any opportunity to be in a “video gaming club”, will steer clear of a club like this. So, it was expected that the skill of club members would be all over the pbsp;

  “What ranks are you two?” Yuel asked.

  “... Diamond V,” Kai answered with a pause. It was a det rank for a middle schooler, so it was unclear why she sounded unfortable saying it out loud.

  “Yeah,” Kai clicked her tongue. “I know what you're thinking. pared to Challenger V, Diamond V must be looking like shit to you, huh?”

  “I didn't say anything,” Yuel answered pinly. “Diamond V is det.”

  “I don't need your sympathy.”

  “Um, sure,” Yuel didn't know how to hahis one so he just let the topic die out on its own. “What about you?” He turo Vi.

  “I'm still Ptinum IV. Gotta be ho, the grind is real in Ptinum. It's the Grind of a Thousand Years.”

  “I see,” Yuel said. At one point in time, he also thought that the grind in Ptinum was rather absurd. But, after he passed that, he thought the grind in Diamond was way more absurd. And then, he reached Challenger and... well.

  So, at this point, the grind in Ptinum felt like a child’s py. In fact, Yuel and Lars already hit Ptinum II by the time they got to middle school. Ptinum was definitely not the kind of league a petitive pyer should be stuck at, especially not a senior in middle school.

  Getting to Diamond V like Kai and being stuck there for a while table, especially without a stroo help carrying you. But, being stu Ptinum? Please.

  Well, maybe I'm exaggerating. Yuel stopped himself before drowning in the ivity. Kai was Diamond V, which was det. Vi tinum II, which should be easy to vert to Diamond V with Yuel and Lars's oeam. That is, provided that Vi was at least a semi-det pyer.

  In clusion, by the time the regionals hit, there was a good ce four out of five pyers on the main team will be of Diamond quality her. Not too shabby.

  But, before all that, there was the 2v2. Online rank alone wasn't nearly enough to determine a pyer’s real skill level, so it’ll be iing to see how well Kai and Vi perform in practievertheless, Yuel was ined to believe that a duo of Challenger V would stomp a duo of Diamond V + Ptinum II.

  Kai might be an oppoo look out for, but Vi was most likely g in some areas at the moment. He'll be the weakest link in the enemy duo, so Yuel and Lars should focus on outpying that . Even though normally it wasn’t the best idea to focus the Support, here it sounded like the best pn.

  “So, about the 2v2,” Yuel said. “When are we doing it?”

  “Wait, we're really doing it today?” Vi asked with a long face. “, guys. We just finished ing our super secret base. I'm dead tired.”

  “I’m also a little tired,” Yuel admitted. “But, let's just py a friendly match.”

  “These aren't the eyes of somebody who wants a friendly match,” Vi smiled wryly. “You look like a hound who craves to devour the gods.”

  “That's just my normal look,” Yuel said. He's sharp. I have a feeling I shouldn't disregard him based on rank alone. He might be the type whose strength lies in strategizing.

  If that’s the case, then Vi’s rank might not represent his true skill. There was no telling how far Yuel would’ve gotten in Ranked on his own without Lars’s overwhelming carrying strength. Yuel’s forte id in tactid strategies, which were difficult to utilize with limited team unication. Online pyers rarely agreed to follow the advice of some random oer.

  Perhaps Vi, just like Yuel, excelled in those areas more. After all, despite Vi being such a , the club entrusted him with scouting st year and Kai wanted him as her Support. So, Vi might hold great value when he pys in a strong aeam.

  “,” Lars urged. “Let's rock, my dudes!”

  “I'm down,” Kai nodded and gave Vi a look.

  “Oh ,” Vi sighed. “You guys have to make me out like some kind of party popper, don’t you? Alright, fine. Let's do that 2v2.”

  Everybody was on board now. The only things left to discuss were the rules of the matd how they’ll py. From what Yuel could tell, the room only had two puters. So, it was impossible for all four of them to py on puters.

  “Are we going to py on tablets?” Yuel asked.

  “You py on the PC if you prefer,” Kai said as she pulled out a troller. “I’ll stick with tablet.”

  “Yeah, I also prefer the tablet,” Viook out his troller.

  They’re way too nont about it. Yuel frowned. If it were him, he’d do anything in his power to py on Pstead of a tablet. It was the superior ptform for this sort of game.

  Was it possible these two were more fortable pying on a tablet? That’d be unusual because PC was the popur ptform that gave pyers an edge. If they really felt more fortable on a tablet, that might be a bad habit that required fixing ASAP.

  “Okay,” Lars nodded. “The's use the PC!”

  “No,” Yuel objected. “It'll give us an unfair advantage, so let's use tablets too.”

  “Welp, okay,” Lars twisted his lips but obediently took out his tablet. He was very much a PC pyer, so his performan tablet paled pared to how strong he pyed on Pder any other circumstances, Yuel would make Lars py on PC for sure.

  However, in this 2v2, the goal was to prove they were better fit to py Bot than Kai and Vi. Therefore, pying with a PC advantage would defeat the entire purpose. They had to py on even grounds with their oppos aroy their oppos fair and square.

  “Are we doing banning?” Vi asked.

  “We really have to?” Kai made a face. “I thought this was a friendly match. We should just go with blind picks.”

  “Friendly match, huh,” Vi smiled wryly. Apparently, he was the only one in that camp who uood Yuel and Lars’s iion with this match. “How about we do a short banning phase? Say, just ban three csses and that’s it.”

  “Fine by me,” Yuel said.

  “Geh,” Lars pouted. “We gonna waste time on that stuff? Let's just py already, yo!”

  “It sounds unnecessary,” Kai shrugged. “But, I’m fih a quick ban.”

  “Alrighty,” Vi nodded. “We’re all set then. Oh, wait. We o open the door.” He dashed to the metal door and ope wide.

  “Is there a reason for doing that?” Yuel asked.

  “Indeed,” Vi nodded. “There’s a big, deep and sophisticated reason for this ritual. From the beginning of time, humans have worshipped the sun as a god and-”

  “A real reason?” Yuel asked again.

  “It’s to help the wifi,” Vi dropped the act. “Even though we’re ected to the school wifi, it doesn’t reach that well down here. Sometimes we get g spikes and disects. So, by busting this door open and exposing our clubroom to the sun, our wifi e gets a goldy boost!”

  “I see,” Yuel wasirely vinced but it seemed reaso was on to lose reception iunnels, so perhaps this bunker room had the same signal blog capabilities.

  I only get four bars down here. Yuel checked the wifi signal on his phone. He has been maintaining solid five bars throughout the day at the school, so this basement was truly an exception.

  “With the door closed, no signal could ever hope to pee these walls!” Vi started his nonsense again. “Even the FBI wouldn’t be able to spy on us in this secret Anti-Signal base!”

  Why would the FBI want to spy on a lowly Mancers club like this? Yuel retorted mentally.

  “I like this,” Lars gave a thumbs up. “Keep the door open so we get at least some sunlight. Not gonna lie, this pce is dark as heck. We need some sun energy, yo!”

  “Oh, I see you’re a follower of the Sun Order,” Vi nodded repeatedly. “I see, I see. So, the secret to your power must be the sun! Wait, don’t tell me! Are you perhaps the Sun Messiah prophesied to save Stratus from the bottom of the petition!?”

  “Yep, that’s me. The one and only, Gunz the Sun Dude, yo!”

  “ we move on to the match already?” Kai asked right before Yuel brought it up. Ninja’d by a split sed.

  “Yes,” Yuel followed up on her words. “Let’s start already.”

  The two pairs split up ao opposite sides of the room to set up their tablets. This ste room didn’t have many puters, but at least it had desks and chairs for days. This robably the pce where they stored reserves for s. And, apparently also where they dumped the old, barely funal ones...

  “W-Whoa!” Yuel slid off the chair and dived into the floor.

  “Pft, haha,” Lars offered a hand. “You okay, dude?”

  “Y-Yeah,” Yuel’s cheeks felt a little hot. “Who put these broken chairs in here?” He shot a gre at the stupid chair. One of the chair’s legs was didn’t reach the floor properly, so the entire chair tilted to the side wheried sitting on it. “We gotta be careful with what we pick.”

  “Yep,” Lars he nearby table. “This dude right here also sretty hard. Gonna be a pain to py on.”

  After dug a careful iion, Yuel and Lars finally found a stable table and a safe pair of chairs. Now, they were ready for battle!

  “You ready over there?” Vi shouted from the other side of the room.

  “Yeah!” Lars replied with a shout.

  “Alright, only took you guys a year!”

  Well, excuse me for being new here. Yuel grumped. As expected, the veterans found funal desks and chairs instantly because they knew what’s up. So, everybody was waiting for Yuel and Lars.

  But, everything was set now. They were ready to duke it out in a 2v2.

  Holy, this arra wasn’t ideal because both pairs were in the same room and there was a ce they’ll overhear each other’s pns and shot-calls. However, it seemed difficult to hear anything unless somebody was literally shouting, so it should be fine.

  “These guys are out for blood,” Vi whispered to Kai.

  “Huh? What's that supposed to mean?”

  “Just warning you that these guys will be pying seriously,” Vi expined. “They got no chill. They're like hungry hounds.”

  Especially, Vihought. Because they want to prove they're the stro duo around here. Which, to be fair, is probably the case.

  However, that blockhead Kai didn't realize any of this. She probably saw this as nothing more than an opportunity to fight Challenger V oppos and to pare her skill against theirs. She was simple-minded like that.

  Unlike Kai, Vi wasn't particurly attached to pying in Bot. Pying Top was usually more fuo its 1v1 nature. Studying one oppo at a time was the best.

  heless, Vi wao take this match as seriously as possible. Based on the scrimmage with the Leopards, Gunz and Chessmaster were absolute mad ds; they were most likely going to wreck Vi and Kai. Therefore, there was no reason to hold anything back.

  “What's with that face?” Kai asked. “You look like you've accepted defeat.”

  “Nah. But, I know they’re super mega ultra good,” Vi admitted. “They were the hidden Golden Duo of StormBlitz’s sed string. If not fis and Athena being such a strong duo in the first-string, I’m sure these two would have pyed on the main team.”

  “Then,” Kai started. “You say they're at least as good as the average first-string middle schooler?”

  “No, my scouter says their power level is even beyond that,” Vi grinned. “I bet you they’re going to be among the top ten pyers in the region this year. Maybe even top five.”

  “So, their Challenger rank isn't just for show,” Kai nodded. “That's all the better. If we want to take the regionals this year, we have to be able to win against pyers of this level.”

  “Yeah,” Vi gnced away. But, I have a feeling we're going to get destroyed. Well, it doesn't mean we 't try.

  Vi brought up his super secret notes oablet. It had records about all the notable pyers from the region, including Gunz and Chessmaster.

  “For the banning phase,” Vi said. “We have to ban Trickshooter. It seems to be Gunz’s stro css.”

  “The him try it,” Kai scoffed. “I'll beat him.”

  “You don't get it,” Vi shook his head. “Remember I said he might be one of the top five middle schoolers in ion? Well, that’s when he doesn’t py Trickshooter. But, whe his hands on Trickshooter he bees the god of destru! An unstoppable killing mae!”

  “Please,” Kai narrowed her eyes. “As if I'm going to buy any of these exaggerations.”

  “The's put it in perspective,” Vi said. “Remember Fenrir, the captain of the Leopards st year? You agreed with me that that little wolf was a monster.”

  “Yeah, the guy was nuts.”

  “Well, I'm sure Gunz give him a run for his money with Trickshooter.”

  “Seriously?” Kai frowned. “Okay, maybe Trickshooter o go after all. I'll beat him in his weaker form first, then I'll destroy his final form.”

  “Sounds good,” Vi hough, no offense, but I have a feeling you're the one who'll be destroyed first, even by his “weaker form”.

  During the StormBlitz vs. Leopards scrimmage, Vi was sitting on the front row and saw everything up close. Iwo matches Gunz pyed, he wrecked the Leopards’ members left and right even without Trickshooter. That guy was the Insa of the Apocalypse!

  However, Gunz alone wasn't the biggest threat ever. He was undeniably powerful, but he seemed to the deakiment. However, when somebody led Gunz into the right situations, he shined brightly like the Sun Messiah and delivered godlike results.

  Of course, Gunz’s shepherd had to be her than Chessmaster. It was always difficult to analyze shot-callers from simply watg a match, but Vi was vinced of ohing: Chessmaster had the Mystic Eyes of Weakness Perception. That guy always found weaknesses in the enemy's positioning and struck where it hurt.

  Going for the enemy's weakness was the most basic tactic, but Chessmaster polished into art. He employed superb tactics to foremies into bad positions and crush them like bugs. So, there was no doubt Chessmaster will dispy the full strength of his Mystic Eyes in this match as well.

  What weakness would Chessmaster target? Most likely, he'll go after Vi first. Based on Chessmaster’s rea to Vi's Ptinum rank, it was clear Chessmaster disregarded Vi as the weakest link. It was the logical clusion to draw and it was true to some degree. Vi really wasn't as strong as Kai, especially not on his own.

  With that in mind, Vi will probably have to defend himself a lot this match. Therefore, a tanky css with solid escape options should work well. Knight sounded like one solid option for that. Its primary escapes were the forward dash from Shield Bash and the eed ult.

  Unfortunately, both of these were retively slow escapes. If Vi wao escape from the clutches of a beast like Gunz, he needed something more immediate. It already sounded like he’d have to purchase Blink at game start, but he needed backup options in his kit because Blink’s cooldown was quite notorious.

  Lumimancer port css that had a blink effe its kit, but it wasn't a tanky css. Eleancer also had Thundercp, but it wasn't even a Support css.

  Wasn't there anything else? Vi frowned as he scrolled down the list of csses. Tanky characters were rarely fast, which made sense from a design perspective. Most of the beefy characters with good movement were bruisers designed for either Top or Jungler, not for Support.

  For example, Viking had great mobility via Axe Blitz, whistantly ed him to the location of his axe. However, Viking was a rather selfish frontliner who was mostly ied in going iing some damage done in aing out. It wasn’t the type of css that cared too much about creating opportunities for its teammates.

  “Say,” Vi started. “You know any tanky Support csses with good escapes?”

  “Eh, Knight?”

  “Figured,” Vi sighed. “I'll go with Knight then.”

  The banning phase of the game began. As Vi and Kai agreed, the first css they banned was a Trickshooter. Then, as if in direct retaliation, the enemy banned... Knight.

  Here e the Mystic Eyes of Weaknesses Perception! Vi grinned like a mad stist. The Chessmaster is already onto me! We're super screwed, hahahaha!

  With that, the “friendly” match started off!