It was time for the fifth and final game of the day.

  Everybody walked onto the stage with their hearts steeled for the uping battle. However, one of them was dragging her feet as she walked. It was Kai.

  "Is she okay?" Yuel whispered.

  "Hmm, I think she is?" Lars twisted his lips. "I told her she’s an awesome pyer and that everybody got their bad days. But, I’ll be real. I don’t think it reached her."

  "That doesn't sound reassuring."

  "Right? Haha..." Lars ughed awkwardly. "But hey, it gonna be A-Okay! She's not the type to lose to some small stuff like that. No matter how depressed she looks, she always fights back, right?"

  "I suppose," Yuel agreed with that assessment.

  Even during training, there were times when Kai became incredibly frustrated about losing to some oppo. Sometimes, she evehe entire day sulking about it.

  heless, even in that state, Kai always tinued pying. She often underperformed because of it, but she rarely ever itted any terrible mistakes. At the very least, she almost never fed the enemy.

  I have a feeliate is more extreme than usual this time around. Yuel frowned. But, she should be fine. Worst case, Lars and I rotate to Mid to help her out.

  With the worries still abound, the drafting phase began.

  Yuel's ideal lineup involved Trickshooter, Aquamancer, Eleancer, Knight, and Viking. However, the enemy had no iion of making it easy for him.

  "I sider banning Trickshooter," Raymond shared his thoughts.

  Mid Trickshooter wasn't supposed to be a practical pick, but Gunz made it look broken. It's as if Gunz’s skill was on a pletely different level when piloting Trickshooter.

  "Do we really have to ban Shooter?" Jaiden asked. "I mean, he retty good, but we whooped him in the end, right?"

  "Yeah, that scrub was ez!" Nash gave a thumbs up.

  "Even though you died against him,” Rio added quietly.

  "I-I didn't die!" Nash insisted. "I knew ya gonna revive me, so I kept that extra HP in mind! Yea, that's how good I am."

  "Sure." Rio rolled his eyes.

  These guys... Jaiden made a face. I 't tell if they’re helping my case or making things worse. All I want is to let Gunz have his Trickshain. This time, I'll get to fight him in Bot. I'm feeling it.

  It had to be the case. After Jaiden thhly destroyed Beat in the previous game, the girl will surely surrehe Carry role to Gunz.

  Beat’s sore faly served as further evidehere wasn’t a lick of fighting spirit in her expression. She must’ve been drowning in self-pity.

  It wasn't cool to bully girls, but that's what Beat deserved for biting more than she could chew. She was the one pretending she could carry the eeam, so she had to own up to it.

  But, instead, she got mopped. Jaiden snickered. So, all I have to say is “QQ, scrub.”

  Gunz will py Bot this time, he had to. And, it'd be the most fun to challehe monster's stro on, his Trickshooter.

  Only by defeating Gunz’s Trickshooter, Jaiden will be able to say he triumphed unz and Chessmaster iruest sense. Ahan that could be dismissed with an excuse like "It wasn’t even Gunz’s final form!” or such.

  That won’t do. Jaiden had to defeat Gunz while that monster was at his stro! But, unfortunately, the captain didn’t share the same enthusiasm.

  "I don't uand why we should allow them to pick Trickshooter." Raymond frowned. "We successfully dealt with it st game, but that doesn't ge the fact it's dangerous. This time, we might fail to subdue it."

  "Well,” Jaiden started. “If we know they gonna pick Shooter for sure, n around it. Like, ter-pid stuff."

  "How do you suggest we ter-pick it?"

  “We pick Lion, I guess?" Jaiden didn't think that ohrough. He just spouted the first thing that came to mind.

  "Lionfolk is already banned."

  "Oh, shoot." Jaiden ughed awkwardly. Of course, the obvious ter gon banned. I bet it was Chessmaster pulling the strings on that one.

  What other csses were decisive ters against Trickshooter? There weren’t many, holy. Trickshooter was a rather well-rounded css, so Jaiden was drawing a bnk.

  Damn, boss is being such a tough cookie. Jaiden pouted. How do I vince him to leave Shooter alone?

  "I also don't like leaving Shooter open," Rio admitted quietly, making sure Raymond didn’t catch it. "Holy, I think you're being unreasonable. When you know one of the enemy’s best csses, you ban it. That’s the rule."

  "Yeah, but..." Jaiden stumbled over his words. Man, even Rio is chewi on it? Well, it makes se IS pretty dumb, I know that too. But...

  Despite all that, Jaiden wao face the Trickshooter. He wao defeat Gunz and Chessmaster while they were at their top form. Only this way, Jaiden will be able to prove that StormBlitz itted a terrible mistake when they disqualified him.

  "I think you're being silly," Rio repeated. "But, I uand what you're hoping for. So, I'll help."

  "Really!?" Jaiden jumped. "Man, you're the best!" He squeezed Rio tightly.

  "ha!?" Rio shook. His face burned. "A-A-Ah, um, I..." He lost all his verbal funs like a short-circuiting robot.

  "A-Ahem, anyway." Rio turned away to hide his tomato fad spoke from there. "pared to a mage, Shooter isn't that good at clearing minions during to te-game. So, they'll be sacrifig a lot by pig it for Mid."

  "That’s true,” Raymond agreed. “But, st game, they elimihis issue by adding a Pyromancer.”

  "But, Pyro isn’t a good Jungler. If they pick it again, their ganking potential will be promised."

  “That might be true, but...” Raymond frowned. He wasn’t sure how to proceed from here. Am I the one in the wrong here...?

  Heh. Jaiden smiled proudly. Leave it to Rio to pull ving arguments out of thin air. I feel like we almost got him. Ray needs just one more push.

  “I totally agree with Rio,” Jaiden spoke up. “They’ll dig their own grave if they pick Shooter with Pyro again, so let them do it.”

  “Yep, yep.” Nash didn’t even uand half the argument, but he agreed anyway. Bring that Shain. I’mma take you on, Gunz! Ya ain’t gonna kill me again, fam!

  They’re pushing really hard for this. Raymond couldn’t his head around it.

  Rio’s argument was the most reasonable one so far, but it was still far from ving. Oher hand, Jaiden and Nash sounded like brats who just wao take on a difficult challehere was little to no logic to anything they’ve said.

  heless, three teammates were arguing against banning Trickshooter, it was a majority vote. As the captain, wasn’t it Raymond’s job to heed his teammates’ opinions and act accly?

  The banning timer was about to run out. Raymond had to submit something now. So, he settled on Monk for now

  “Thanks, cap!” Jaiden smiled.

  “I’m not vinced yet,” Raymoed. There was still one more ba. A voi his head was telling him to ban Trickshooter despite everything.

  But, everybody seems to be against it. Raymond frowned. “Zeph, what do you think?”

  “I dunno.” Zeph shrugged. “I haven’t really fought that Shooter much st game. But, I saw he gave you the business. So, if I were in your shoes, I’d ban his ass food. I wouldn’t wanna deal with that kind of shit again unless you figured how to beat him.”

  “No, ’t say I have,” Raymond admitted. Even now, after the game was over and they emerged victoriously, he still feared that Trickshooter. That beast was on a pletely different level from anybody else here. Raymond’s gut feeling was whispering that he won’t be beating Gunz’s Trickshooter today.

  So, I better ban it. But, the juniors wouldn’t like it... Raymond frowned.

  If he were making this decision all by himself, he wouldn’t even have to think twice about it. However, with three teammates practically pleading him to let Trickshooter be, it turned into a serious dilemma.

  As the captain, Raymond was supposed to keep the team unified and satisfied. As such, he should leave the Trickshooter be, right? That’s what he believed until today.

  From the beginning of the year and until now, he has been trying to be a “good captain”, one who respected the majority’s opinion. Even when a clubmate itted a deed that Raymond didn’t agree with, he let it slide as long as the majority willed it. In short, he believed in democracy.

  But, where did that mentality get him? To the current miserable state of the club. It was a club overrun by Brud his thugs, while all other seniors turned into ghost members. Such was the oute of giving free rein to the most vocal members of the club.

  Bruce’s gang came just a little short from terrorizing the club, of course Raymond uood that. However, every time he wao step in and stop Bruce, he found himself bag away.

  Why? Was he scared of fronting those delis? No, that wasn’t the problem.

  The problem was Bruce’s loud group of supporters. Bryan, Dyn, and eveer. They were a big vocal group, almost big enough to form a majority. No other such group existed among the seniors, so nobody could outnumber Burce’s dominant gang.

  Therefore, Raymond couldn’t bring himself to interfere. Was he scared? Perhaps a little. But, above anything else, he simply didn't believe he had the right to say anything.

  Even though he was the "captain" in name, he uood little of what that title entailed. The seniors from st year didn't coach him mud practically left him with "You’ll figure it out.” It was a little irresponsible. In fact, it was INCREDIBLY irresponsible.

  Due to these circumstances, Raymond had no choice but to e up with his own interpretation of the captain role.

  I suppose my job will be to listen to the majority’s wants and make sure the team stays uhat was the gist of what he came up with. It became his mantra for the job.

  Following that mentality, it seemed wrong to get in the way of Bruce's gang. After all, the gang had the most numbers, so it was a majority of sorts.

  If there was a united force that stood up to Bruce's gang, then Raymond would have gained legitimization to step in and do something about it. However, in the face of Bruce's terror, all the other smaller groups scattered apart. Nobody dared to stand against the tyrant.

  And so, Raymo like he couldn't interveher. The rest of the club didn't express any desire to stop Bruce, so the captain had nht to act upon his own sense of justice. If he were to front Bruce of his own accord without anybody bag him up, he'd be ag like a viginte, not a captain.

  A, I probably should’ve doly that. Raymond thought. Today, he learned a valuable lesson that flipped all his beliefs on their heads.

  There must have been a strong will in the club to oppose Bruce’s acts of terror. However, everybody was scared of banding together. Most likely, they were all silently waiting for Raymond, the "big strong guy", to step in and intimidate the rascals.

  Perhaps, Raymond icked as a captain for that very reason. A year ago, the seniors have already tagged Bruce’s gang as troublemakers. Therefore, the top priority for pig Raymond as the captain might’ve been to ensure he had the authority to stop Bruce.

  However, Raymond was too slow to realize any of that. He ran away from this challenge just because there was nobody to back him up. He was a coward.

  No more of that. Raymond swore. The captain didn't o to echo the opinions of the majority. From here on out, he'll think for himself and make his own decisions too!

  Of course, he'd still do his best to minimize flict among clubmates, and he'll defiake all their inputs into sideration. However, before anything else, he'll share his own opinion with the rest and will stand by it.

  If the others fail to ge his mind, Raymond will simply push his decision through, even if it goes against the majority. After all, the majority wasn’t always right, as proven by the situation with Bruce's gang.

  "I'm sorry," Raymond apologized to Jaiden's group. "But, I still feel that banning Trickshooter is the right move. So, that's what I pn to do unless you have any more ving arguments."

  "Oh, um..." Jaiden was taken aback by this bold assertion. Since when Raymond was this pushy? Normally, it was easy to vihe guy of anything by ganging up on him, but this time the big guy stood his ground. He was ag like a real fident captain for a ge. Somehow, I don't think like we'll be ging his mind on this one...

  The trio fell silent. There was a heavy atmosphere surrounding their captain. If they toss any silly protests at him, he’ll crush them on the spot. He was in no mood for jokes or any adventurous idea. Raymond was dead set on winning this game, nothing more and nothing less.

  The captain transformed into a pletely different person at this moment. He wasn’t a “tyrant” by any means, but he was no lohe goody-two-shoes "nice guy" captain. Raymond thhly seized the authority that beloo him all along. He will not tolerate any of that nonsense Jaiden was trying to feed him.

  Dang, looks like that ship has sailed. Jaiden sighed i.

  It was obvious all along that his suggestiarding the Trickshooter served only his own self-satisfa. So, he couldn't really bme Raymond here. The captain made the decision that was best for the team as a whole, and the ohat should increase their ces of winning. There was no fault to be found there.

  And so, Taurus' third ban became her than Trickshooter. That threw a wret the lineup Yuel envisioned.

  "Yo! They took my Shooter!" Lars excimed.

  "Yes, they did." Yuel nodded. "Maybe it was a mistake to show them your Trickshooter."

  "Looks like I scared them, haha." Lars scratched his head. "So, what's ? Am I going Gunslinger? Or, is it time for my improved Elf to debut!?"

  "Your Elf isn't ready yet," Yuel argued. "So, Gunsli is. But, we'll have to grab it fast because Renegade pys it too. For our first pick, we’ll get Knight for Luke before the eakes it. Then, we ght funslinger."

  "Okey-dokey."

  With that decided, the drafting phase started with Stratus pig Knight.

  "Heh, look at these guys." Zeph sneered. "First they ban my Dragon, now they take my Knight. Freakin' assholes."

  "Is there anything you'd like to pistead?" Raymond asked.

  "Berserker, I guess." Zeph shrugged. "If I 't py Dragon and Knight, might as well rampage on their asses."

  "Just make sure you don't aggress too hard," Raymond warned. "Chessmaster is a tough oppo. He’ll turables on you if you overextend."

  "Yeah, I know that all too well by now." Zeph smiled wryly.

  Even though Taurus domihe st two games, Zeph himself has barely aplished anything of note. He always joihe party after the team has already developed unstoppable momentum.

  It was all the fault of that damn Chessmaster and his pro-level skill. Even after fames, Zeph still couldn't find a method to crush that nerd.

  So, if there was one lesson Zeph definitely learoday, it was to not push his luck against Chessmaster. Even the slightest mistake could lead to disaster against that ruthless guy.

  As such, despite pig an aggressive css like Berserker, he wasn't going to go too wild on the ne. He’ll save the aggression for the ter parts of the game. Hopefully, with an aggressive css, he’ll score a lot of kills there.

  I just wanna feel like I’m actually tributing. Zeph thought. Otherwise, what am I even here for? Just to follow others’ lead? I’m sick of that shit.

  After the Berserker pick, Rio picked Cleric.

  The enemy didn’t get to ban the css, probably because there weren’t enough banning slots during the first banning phase. It seemed like Rio’s ancer left a greater impression on the enemy, so they preferred to ban it over Cleric.

  I was hoping my Cleric’s performance will unlock Cryo. Rio pouted. His master phrough. The enemy seemed to have figured that ancer was his best css. Did they clude that after just one game? Impressive.

  It was Stratus' turn to pick csses. Their pick was rather ued. It was Gunslinger.

  "Say what!?" Jaiden excimed.

  "Haha, the freak?" Nash ughed. "These bruhs be stealing our shit. First Knight, now Slinger. Do they thinking we've been winning because of these csses or something?"

  "I doubt it," Rio said. "This might be aension’ of the banning phase. They banned some of our best csses, and now they’re taking some of our best sedary options. Maybe they're betting on our third best options being weak."

  "Heh, they're sure hen." Nash grinned. "Who the hell do they think we are? We're pros, man! Each of us py like a hundred csses!!"

  "You really do that?" Raymond asked.

  "Y-Yeah, sure! Ez."

  "That's impressive," Raymond nodded. "Before the club meeting, I'd like you to write down a list of all those hundred csses you py. It's important for me to know which csses everybody py."

  "Eeeeeeeeeh," Nash shrunk. He was regretting his big mouth now.

  "Heh, just kidding," Raymond smirked.

  "Wha-!?" Nash was taken aback, and he wasn't the only one. "Y-Yo, my guys,” he whispered. “Did cap just crack a joke on me?"

  "Yeah, sounds like it..." Jaiden was equally bewildered.

  It felt as if their captain evolved somewhat, like a butterfly bursting out of a co. Perhaps, in this game, they'll be witnessing their captain’s full potential.

  It gonna be sick! Jaiden grinned. But, I hope he leaves Gunz and Chessmaster to me and the boys. We’ll be the oo take out these powerhouses! They better be pying Bot this game.

  The enemy's pick was Aquamancer, most likely the Support. It was a css Taurus haven't pyed against today, so nobody knew what to make out of it.

  , the ball was ba Taurus' cain. It was their st pick before the sed banning phase.

  They haven't banned Aeromahis time. Raymond thought. They've been banning it every game sihe first, but not this time. Why? Are they trying to bait me?

  Part of it was defihe limited number of bans they had during the first banning phase. But, on top of that, they might have been baiting Raymond here. They were luring him into pig Aeromancer in order to ter him with aromancer pibsp;

  If that was their pn, then this was the perfect time to throw a wrento it.

  "They left Aeromancer open, so I'm taking it," Raymond shared his thoughts. "And, they probably hope to ter it with Eleancer, so I'll be banning it."

  "Heh, what a smooth criminal." Zeph smirked.

  Raymond grabbed Aeromahen eliminated Eleancer from the picture. It was an effective blow.

  So, they caught on. Yuel frowned. He left the Aeromancer open as bait, hoping to make the most out of the Eleancer pick he has already decided on for Kai. As, the enemy was smarter than expected. They grabbed the Aeromancer but also sealed the Eleancer. Instead of making the most out of Eleancer, now Stratus couldn’t use it at all. Great

  What a blunder. I was a bit too greedy on that one. Yuel was forced to adjust the lineup for the sed time now.

  It's not like he didn't think of alternatives ahead of time, but this development really hit them hard. Eleancer was one of the few mages with a good escape tool. The only other one of this caliber was Lumimancer, but it was a wonky piid.

  "Kai, ge of pns," Yuel expined. "Eleancer is a no-go, so how do you feel about Sorcerer? It doesn't have escape tools but it ge, so you focus on farming from afar."

  "Sure," Kai replied with an indifferent tone. Even though the topic was the css she was going to py, she didn't sound very involved in the whole affair.

  Well... Yuel thought. I know she py Sorcerer, so it should be okay.

  And so, after the banning phase, Stratus picked Sorcerer for Kai. The final liurned into:

  Chessmaster (Yuel): Aquamancer

  Gunz (Lars): Gunslinger

  LegendaryMemer (Luke): Knight

  Beat (Kai): Sorcerer

  InformationBckhole (Vi): Viking

  Renegade (Jaiden): Pirate

  Lapce (Rio): Cleric

  StormMonster (Nash): Lancer

  Nirvana (Raymond): Aeromancer

  DragonMaster (Zeph): Berserker