On top of extending the training hours in the clubroom, Kai also joined Yuel and Lars in their after-school practice. She started by joining them only on the days that club activity was off, but it gradually became an everyday routine.

  "You two are really addicted to Mancers, huh," Kai shook her head. "It's already seven and you're still pying."

  "Gotta train, yo," Lars said. "ime, I gonrever! Just ya watch."

  "I prefer to use the word 'serious' over 'addicted'," Yuel corrected. "We want to py the game professionally, so we have to start w toward that goal as early as possible."

  "Yep!” Lars nodded. “Early bird catches the steak, yo!"

  "Yeah, something like that."

  "Pros, huh," Kai smiled wryly. Even though she just called them “addicts”, Kai herself was also still here, still pying Cssmancers. She was quite the addict herself, holy.

  But, the two boys trained way more than here. Even after she left, she kept training. And, even on the days Kai took a break and didn’t joihose two were still training. They worked so hard it felt more serious than a job. If Luke saw this, he'd call the poli them for promoting child bor.

  And still, despite how much Yuel and Lars traihere were pyers out there who posed a challeo these guys. In fact, such pyers existed in this very region, like the high schoolers they fought in the 3v3.

  And, this wasn’t just restricted to high schoolers. Even among middle schoolers, there were surely pyers from the Leopards and StormBlitz who were equals to Yuel and Lars. Therefore, the two had to stantly train aer themselves, or else they’d drop off from the top of the petition. It was rough.

  Even though Kai was also training way harder than any middle schooler should, she didn't hold a dle to the efforts of these two. Occasionally, the thought of training more crossed her mind. But, she always turned zy in the end. She couldn’t bee like these two fanatics, she needed her breaks. Some days were better spent listening to music, pying rhythm games, and practig guitar.

  Csssmancers was undeniably a big part of her life, but it was only one part. And, it ossibly a temporary ohere was no telling whether she'll still be pying the game three or five years from now. Maybe she will, maybe she won't.

  Unlike Yuel and Lars, she didn't have a clear goal in mind like being a pro pyer. She was thinking of maybe being a guitarist, but who knew what the future held. She loved music, but produg it sometimes felt like a chore. Pying guitar wasn’t a child's py, she learhat on her own flesh, quite literally. Her fingers had lots of blisters.

  So yeah, I have no reason to sve away for this game like the boys. Kai cluded. She was the captain of the club and she had to level up in order to pay back to that ne freezing bastard, so for she had to work hard. But, not THAT hard, not to the point of making her entire life revolve around the game.

  I’m gd for their hard work, though. It makes matches that much easier.

  When Yuel and Lars were in charge of Bot, they were responsible for carrying the team to victory. Kai usually wasn't a fan of leaving this important role to others, but this duo made her feel at ease. Between how hard they’ve been training and how strong they pyed, it felt fio leave this critical role to them.

  When Kai queued into Ranked only with Yuel and Lars, the caliber of their oppos was pletely different. The guys were Challenger V and she supplemehat with a Diamond V, so the matchmaking had no reservations about pitting them against strong oppos.

  Throughout many such fierce matches, there were occasions when even Yuel and Lars couldn't carry the game to victory. For example, when they ran into familiar faces...

  "Oh snap, it's Trever and Aron!" Lars excimed. "We gon our revech right here and now, yooooo!"

  "Freezer is here too," Kai's eyes glinted like a polished bde. "Let's get them."

  "I wouldn't say this ts as a real revech," Yuel noted. "We're both pying with randoms, so anything happen. But yeah, let's get them for sure."

  Damn, why does that bastard have to py Support this match? Kai ranted about Freezer's position. Instead of being Mid like he should, the guy ying Support for WildDragon, the guy rever, if memory served.

  He’s totally dodging the fight. He even picked Warlod everything. Wuss. Kai scoffed.

  “Heh, look,” Trever chuckled. “It’s our bois! And that chick, too. Are we gonna give them a rerun of st time?”

  “A rerun? That’ll be hard to do, given our different positions,” Aron noted.

  “Oh , details. I mean, we gonna whoop their asses, right?”

  “I don’t mind waiting for them to self-destruct like st time,” Alex shrugged.

  “Goddammit, you two!” Trever waved an angry fist. “Where’s the hype? Where’s the fighting spirit!?”

  “We just have to win, that’s all,” Aron said.

  “Yeah, they’re just another eo beat,” Alex shrugged. “’t say they impressed me mu our st fight. I’m not expeg much.”

  “Yeah, I feel you,” Trever nodded. “They fought real me st time. And, Lars is on Gunslihis time, so no Trickshain. This gonna be ezpz.”

  “Say, about yunslinger,” Yuel started. “You haven’t shown Trever yet how muproved it, right?”

  “Nah, don’t think I did,” Lars said. “Maybe I mentiohat my Slinger became dope, but that’s about it. He probably ain’t seen it.”

  “So, Trever will uimate it,” Yuel deduced. “We use it our advantage. you y low during the early game? Don’t do anything too high-level. Just py yunslinger on the same level you py most Carries.”

  “Eh, the same level as others...” Lars tilted his head. “Not sure how I’mma do that, but I’ll try. Basically, you wanna make sure he doesn’t notice my Slinger is awesome, right?”

  “Yes, that’s the pn. We catch him off guard ter.”

  “Hehe, being smart and all. I like it! Okay, let’s do this thing!”

  Yet, as soon as the match started, Lars has already shown off his godly Gunslinger skills. He nded a headshot on every single enemy minion in the wave, clearing the minions way faster than one would normally expect from a Gunslinger.

  Is that what you call “lying low”? Yuel made a face. Then again, is there even a Carry css with which Lars doesn’t pull off amazis? I hope Terver will write it off as #JustLarsThings.

  “Damn, son,” Trever grinned awkwardly. “Are you seeing all these headshots?”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty good,” Alex agreed.

  “Pretty good? Pretty good!? You try pulling that shit this sistently, I challenge you.”

  “Never implied I do it,” Alex shrugged. “Anyway, seems like his Slinger will be a problem after all.”

  “Nah, that’s just Lars for ya,” Trever nodded proudly. “The brat pys all his stuff at this level. I admit his head-shooting accuracy skyrocketed sihe st time I’ve seen his Slinger, but it’s not that different from his other csses. He ain’t got nothing on me!”

  “You sure about that?” Alex asked. “I get the feeling these headshots aren’t where it ends. What if he also nail headshots like this while fanning the hammer?”

  “Pft, yeah, right,” Trever waved his hand. “Ain’t nobody d these shots sistently. Even pros struggle against that shit.”

  “He , actually,” Aron stated matter-of-factly. “I remember seeing him nd many headshots during Fan the Hammer in the seleatch.”

  “For real?” Trever blinked multiple times. “Nah, no way. He robably lucky. Or, I dunno, maybe he chugged on a bucket of coffee or something, haha.”

  “If you say so,” Alex was way more vinced by Aron’s input. I better be on the lookout for when this Slinger decides to go on the offensive.

  The ning phase proceeded without any major is. Trever and Lars exged blows here and there, but so far Lars hasn't pulled anything that was out of this world. It appeared as if the two were evenly matched. In fact, on the surface, it eve like Trever had the edge. However...

  I haven't seen him use Fan the Hammer even on a fight. Alex knotted his brows. This eculiar. Gunslinger's biggest strength was his ability te the oppo and kill them within a matter of seds. Yet, Lars has been avoiding that line of py for some reason, he only occasionally used Fan the Hammer to clear minions.

  "What did I tell you?" Trever wrote it off. "He 't use that Gatling gun in a real high-level fight. That nasty recoil would make him miss everything. You probably saw him score that kind of stuff on some scrubs.”

  “I wouldn’t call Ellen a ‘scrub’, but sure,” Aron gave it a rest. There was no point arguing about this. If Lars has the ability to pull off such stunts, he’ll do it sooner or ter. The only question was: what was Lars waiting for? Why didn’t he go for the aggressive Fan the Hammer right aerhaps it was a bait of some sort.

  "We’ll see how it goes," Alex still had his doubts. To be on the safe side, he stuck to Trever like gumshoe, ready to protect the Carry as needed.

  However, maintaining this formation proved difficult. The enemy Padi on some aggressive sprees, many of whivolved hitting Alex. It felt like this Padin was trying to get Alex out of the his was a red fg. Something was afoot.

  Alright, show me your true face. Alex decided to give the enemy what they wanted by retreating into the jungle, pretending he was going to recall. His HP was at 20%, so it'd be wise to recall in this situation, especially si seemed like Trever was holding the upper hand in the fights against the Gunslinger.

  However, there was a ce this was merely a false impression the enemy pnted into his mind. So, by pretending he was going to recall, Alex will force their ne oppos to show what was their hidden agenda.

  The enemy Padin saw Alex retreating, so he retreated as well. In order t Alex down to 20%, the Padin had to aggress multiple times with Justice Strike, which caught the attention of nearby minions and made them retaliate hard at the offender. As such, after repeating this aggression over and over, the Padin was down to 15% HP by now.

  It's like he’s sacrifig himself in order to take me out. Alex thought. Knowing who was trolling that Padin, it was very much possible that’s exactly the case. For Chessmaster, their exges might have looked like nothing more than a favorable trade of pieces.

  "Okay, yood to go," Yuel said while recalling. "There's time before the Warlock returns, so you duel Trever."

  "Hell yeah, about time!" Lars's eyes lit up. "Time to show this dude what a real Slinger pro do!"

  "You wanna go, kid?" Trever licked his lips. "Let's do this shit!"

  As soon as the two minion waves were gorever opened his attack. Lars dodged the first bolt with Dodge Roll, but he didn't roll just to escape. No, he actually drew closer! The brat was in full battle mode!

  This is how it outta be! Trever grinned. No more of that me turtling business. Let's fight like real men! e at me!

  Before Lars even recovered from the roll, Trever followed up with Wolf panion. He ordered his trusty wolf to jump on Lars! If the wolf pins Lars to the ground here, the fight will be as good as over.

  Game over, kid. Trever grinned. But, . I wanna see you dodge this shit. Let’s see what you do without your roll.

  Easy! Lars rolled again right away! This time, he used bat Roll, Gunslinger's personal rolling skill.

  Ack, right. He had that. Trever was a tad too hasty with his wolf. No matter. You got this close ter, so prepare for some heat, boy!

  Let's get the show started! Time to rock it! Lars spun the hammer of his revolver and started shooting. Bam! Headshot!

  "Whoa! Lucky brat," Trever was taken aback for a moment, but this was no time to be impressed. Landing the first shot was the easy part of Fan the Hammer. It's the follow-up shots that were a problem, thanks to the nasty recoil.

  Heh, no problem. Trever was assured. I just gotta keep my feet moving as I shoot. This way, there’s no way he - BAM! Another headshot!

  "Say what!?" Trever jumped so hard he almost slipped off the chair. A sed headshot in a rht away!? What kind of luck was that!? Damn, this was bad. These shots were no joke. Each dealt over 20% HP. They were more like bombs than bullets. Damn it!

  No, rex. Trever took a deep breath and resumed his offe was just a fluke. He just happeo nd two headshots, that’s all. He 't possibly get another one- BAM! A third headshot!

  "WHAT THE FLYING FUCK!?" Trever yelled at the s. "That's a nice aimbot you got there, kid...!"

  The third hit in a row sturever ihanks to the effebat Roll. With this, he became a sitting duck for Lars! The fight was a ... or was it?

  DarkestCymore