The score was 19-17. Lars's team was one 2-pointer away from driving it home and teag the bullies a lesson. However...

  "By the way," Mike spoke up. "Do you know there's a special rule about winning in a 3v3 game?"

  "What rule?" Kai borrowed her eyes.

  "You 't win the game with a 2-pointer," Mike expined. "The final point has to be a 1-pointer."

  "Huh." Kai frowned. So me. He feels ered so he’s grasping at anything he to get an advantage.

  Unfortunately, the rule he talked about really existed. It wasn't used in all variations of 3v3, but it opur in some. It was an odd rule that Kai never paid much heed to before, but right now it was critical.

  At 19 points, a 2-pointer was exactly what the team o win. On top of that, they had the right man for the job, the godlike basket sniper. As, Mike was trying to deny that easy winning option. What a scumbag.

  "You should've mentio earlier," Kai argued. "It's me to start ging rules now."

  "I'm not ging anything,” Mike insisted. “We never said we’re not using that rule. At least, on our side, we khat rule was in pce all along, right guys?”

  "Yep!" James nodded.

  "Totally," Larry agreed.

  Their ag is so bad... Kai made a face. It was clear those two never gave this rule any thought until now. It was all Mike's doing, but of course, the goons supported the godfather.

  This is unfair. Kai ranted. Who does he think he is, ing up with new rules on the fly? There should be a limit to how much of a scumbag you be. I won't stand for this!

  "Okay," Lars agreed without hesitation.

  "Wha!?” Kai jumped. “Wait, what are you-"

  "So," Lars tinued. "If I score from afar now, what gonna happen? Will it t as one point?"

  "No, you won't get anything," Mike stated matter-of-factly.

  "Say what?" Kai objected. "That's pin dumb."

  "There are many variations to this rule, but I like this ohe best. It forces the end-game to be close to the basket. That's the more fun, don't you think?"

  "More ‘fun’? You’re just trying to make things easier for yourself, aren’t you?”

  "Hmph." Mike ighe ent with a sneer. He clearly had no iion of discussing this with Kai. His gaze was wholly trated on Lars, demanding a reply from the team’s true leader.

  He doesn't eveer me. Kai clicked her tongue. Her fists itched to punch the hell outta that bastard, but this wasn't the time to lose her cool. That'll just be pying into the bastard’s hand.

  Instead uing with the ing bastard, it was best to vihe "captain" of the team to reject that rule. "Lars, we shouldn't agree to-"

  "Okay," Lars accepted without hesitation.

  "Wha-!?" Kai jumped. "Wait, but...!"

  "It's okay." Lars fshed his teeth. "The rule gonna apply to them too, so it's all fair."

  "Yeah, but still...!" Don't you get it!? It'll put us at more disadvantage! No, of course he gets it. But then, why is he smiling like it's nothing!?

  There was only one expnation: Lars was fident. Even with his 2-pointers sealed, he was fident about beating Mike's team.

  That fidence is sure on another level. These guys arely pushovers. Kai sighed. Okay, fine. Let's roll with it. We got the lead right now so we just have to score two more times. We win this.

  "So," Lars verified o time. "We only score from inside, yeah?"

  "Right." Mike nodded. "Of course, the same will apply to us once we get that many points."

  "Nah, don't worry. It won't apply to you."

  "What?" Mike raised an eyebrow.

  "Because your points won't get that far, yo!"

  "Hmph." Mike gred at the grinning fool. "We'll see about that."

  That brief exge made everything clear to Kai.

  Of course. Kai nodded. Lars isn't happy about this rule either, but he's maintaining that smile to not show any of it. He doesn't want to give Mike the satisfa of ing on top. Meanwhile, I... Well...

  In short, she has been overreag to every little thing Mike threw her way. That bastard robably having the time of his life when messing with her.

  It's not good. I better learn a thing or two from how Lars acts. Kai smiled wryly. Huh, I never imagined I’d ever think of doing anything like this.

  "Don't worry." Lars tapped on Kai's shoulder. "Let 'em set the rules. We just gotta beat ‘em at their own game, that's all. The more trol they got over the rules, the more embarrassing it gonna be when they lose."

  "That's true," Kai agreed. The harder they shatter the enemy’s pride, the more ving their victory is going to look.

  From the summary Kai received, the spark for this entire basketball nonsense was that the delis insulted the Cssmancers club, calling them "fake athletes". Therefore, mopping these bastards on their own turf, uheir house rules, would be the most fatal blow ever.

  And so, the game went on. The enemy opened with atad Larry received the opening pass.

  No, you don’t! Kai failed to intercept the pass but she didn’t give up there. She thrust her hand toward the ball immediately!

  As, her hand only touched empty air.

  “Shit!” Kai grit her teeth.

  "Payback time, baby!" Larry smoothly maneuvered around Kai’s predictable attack. She was far too eager to get the ball.

  “You little…! Tch.” Kai stopped herself there and took a deep breath. She couldn’t allow herself to be triggered by such small things, it’d be detrimental tamepy.

  I'll get him ime. Kai vinced herself to think this way. There was no poiing agitated every time she lost a duel. I o get used to taking an L every now and then.

  Of course, deep down, it was infuriating. She didn't want to submit to these wrong-doers. But, they were the ones who pyed basketball on a regur basis, it was their sport. So, as douchy as these bastards were, they were bound to be at least semi-det at the game. There was no point denying that much.

  Mike was somewhat strohan Kai and Larry seemed close to her level. These were simple truths that Kai couldn't overwrite, no matter how much they frustrated her. Therefore, there was no reason to lose her head over every single defeat against them. She just had to adapt and move on.

  The score was 19-18. Lars’s team attacked . As usual, the offearted with Ben passing to Kai.

  Phew. Kai let a breath of relief. Larry almost intercepted the pass with his needlessly long arms, but the ball safely got to Kai in the end. It was her turn to attack.

  "Ready for a payback for your payback?" Kai dribbled the ball from side to side.

  "e at me, baby." Larry grinned fidently.

  This time, I’ll get past you! Kai drove to the right!

  "No, you don't!" Larry dashed in to block the path! But, he soon realized his mistake. Even though the oppo was running in one dire, her hands were moving the ball to the opposite side!

  Fell for it. Kai passed the ball to the left. I really wao pay him bad drive past him, but…

  It was unnecessarily risky. But, it’s not like she couldn’t do it or anything, okay? She was definitely capable of driving the ball past this bastard. Easy.

  But, the risk was there and it was undeniable. Therefore, carelessly challenging this bastard for the sake of a petty vea in dumb. It might cost points and put the eeam in jeopardy.

  So, instead of fronting that bastard, Kai opted to pass the ball. "Ben!"

  "O-Okay!" Ben caught the pass.

  "Shoot, dude!" Lars enced.

  "Y-Yeah!" Ben aimed at the basket and-

  "SURPRISE MOTHAFUCKA!" James jumped in to block! But, he was one breath too te. "Craaaaap!"

  The ball uoward the basket but not all was lost. Perhaps James failed to block the shooting course, but it seemed his yell startled Ben more than enough. The aim was off.

  It's going to rebound! Kai dised at a gnd darted toward the basket. Unfortunately, her rival noticed it as well.

  “Mine!” Larry caught up to her and jumped to grab the rebound too. Even though Kai jumped first, that bastard beat her in terms of reach.

  Damn, these long arms...! Kai lost the air battle. Their speed and jumping ability were roughly the same, but Larry had these long snake arms that stretched to infinity. He snatched the rebound and passed the ball to Mike.

  Wasting no time, Mike aimed at the basket from his current position. However! A wild Lars appeared and smacked the ball away!

  The ball hopped and hopped until it rolled out of the half-court. As a result, the ball went to the enemy's possession.

  If only I scored back there... Ben bit his lip. This entire sequence of events started with him. It was his fault.

  Kai properly passed him the ball, yet Ben pletely messed up the opportunity. As a result, the team lost possession and the enemy got another ce to attack.

  "One point," Yuel announced. 19-19. The enemy caught up and it was all because of Ben.

  Throughout the ech, Ben hadn’t scored a single shot. He had multiple opportunities but the ball never went in. The only thing he did somewhat reliably was to get passes across to his teammates, though even that didn’t always go smoothly.

  But, that's all I do. Ben hung his head. I 't help the team in any other way, so my job is to get passes across. But, anybody do something as simple as that.

  In practice, Ben was just dragging this team down. He didn't possess even half the skill his teammates possessed. her his speed nor his accuracy was anything to write home about. Mike must’ve forced Ben to participate in this match to be nothing more than a handicap for Lars's team.

  If we lose, it'll be my fault. It wasn't just his usual pessimism speaking for him. It was an undeniable truth. He was the one who couldn't keep up with the rest of the team.

  Even though this euation is my fault, I'm being pletely useless here... The sense of guilt was eating away at him. He was the one who allowed all of this to happen. His clubmates ged into this mess because he wasn't decisive enough.

  I should've quit the club earlier. Ben thought. A cheater like me didn't even deserve to join the club in the first pce.

  Yes, cheater. Ben ractically that. It was shameful trickery that got him into the club, not his actual skill. It just so happehat he was the only one in the group to resort to such measures, so that’s why he got in while Mike, Larry, and James had to stay behind.

  Back then, the four of them used to py together. They queued into Ranked as a premade team aroyed the petition together. These were the fun times, back when everybody was still friends.

  They pyed together on a daily basis and ranked up a lot. By the time they entered middle school and applied to the Cssmancers club, all of them were at Gold III. These were probably the happiest day of Ben’s life, though a couple of caveats were present even then.

  For one, his friends always made him py Support. It was the role nobody ever wao py but it was crucial for somebody to pick it.

  With a 4-man party, at least one of them always had to py in Bot. So, to enable smooth cooperation in the ne, his friends insisted that two of them had to popute Bot. That approach made a lot of sense and that’s why Ben never openly pined about being stuck as the Support.

  In truth, Ben didn't even dislike the role. Helping his teammates and keeping them safe generally felt good. Especially, when things were going well, his friends even praised him for it.

  "Yo, you totally saved my ass there!"

  "Niitiation."

  Moments like that were some of Ben's fo memories. Most likely, they were the very reason Ben fell in love with the game. For an unathletic boy like him, Cssmancers was the first team game in which he was actually helpful for the team. It felt great!

  In fact, Mike probably introduced the game to the group with that very i. He didn't say it out loud, but it seemed he wanted Ben to join in on the fun when everybody pyed together. It was something Ben couldn’t do that well with real-life sports, so Cssmancers was the best thing.

  Mike is a nice guy. At least, he used to be. These were Ben's ho feelings.

  Mike alrotected Ben from bullies with his mere presence. As long as Ben hung out with Mike, nobody dared to y a finger on him. It was like an unwritten rule in the css.

  For an obese boy like Ben, who was ner to being targeted by bullies, Mike and Co. were like saviors of sorts. Therefore, Ben was gd to repay them by pying Support all the time.

  heless, there was a little fri in Ben's heart. He didn’t dislike Support, he really didn't. A, over time, he found himself yearning to py other roles as well.

  Perhaps it was an overdose of pying the same role all the time. Or, maybe he just felt like rebelling a little because the role ractically forced on him.

  And, on top of all that, there was the occasional toxicity he found himself surrounded by. It started happening more and more as they climbed up the ranks. From the moment they hit Gold V, there were more pints than praises.

  ", Ben! You should've saved me there! It's your fault I died!"

  "Why are did you retreat so early? We died because of you."

  When things went wrong, they usually bmed Ben first. No matter who was truly at fault there, it was always somehow Ben's fault too.

  As hard as Ben tried to pretend he didn’t care, it actually hurt him deeply. He was their Support, the one who was helping them out by pying a role they didn’t want to touch. Ahey repaid him with nothing but rants.

  Not to mention, it seeded doubt in his heart. Even though he was 90% vihat none of it was really his fault, the remaining 10% haunted him. “But, what if I really did something wrong? Maybe I could’ve done somethier?”

  Every time it happened, a new dark memory formed in his head and tormented him for hours, sometimes days. It sucked out a lot of the fun from this otherwise amazing game.

  That’s why, sometimes, Be off some steam by pying alone in solo queue. It was a pletely different experience, one which didn’t reward him with the joy of helping his best friends. But, on the flip side, it gave him the freedom to py any role he wanted and he wasn’t bmed for mistakes he didn’t it.

  ... okay, that was a little lie. He met many toxic people in solo queue. They usually bmed the Support, but sometimes they targeted other roles too. But, it was easy enough to ighem because Ben didn’t know them personally. It had a different impact from when his best friends bmed him for something.

  All in all, solo queue was a liberating experience for the most part. Nobody forced him to py any specific role, so Ben could be anything he waop, Mid, or Jungler. He pyed all these roles to his heart’s tent while taking a break from supp.

  Carry was the only role he always avoided. It was meically demanding and often required the pyer to initiate pushes, something Ben wasn’t too fond of doing himself. It was far more fortable to follow the team’s lead from behind, that’s how he alyed.

  Aside from Carry, the rest of the roles were all fun. Especially, Top Laner appealed to him the most. Its csses usually had defeilities like Supports did, and some of the csses even really doubled as viable Supports. Ahe game pn in Top was very different from Bot.

  In Top, it was just Ben fighting against one oppo. He didn’t have to live up to the expectations of a ne partner and nobody bmed him for every little thing that went wrong in the game. It was a chill role in which Ben could take it easy and enjoy the slow development of the game.

  It robably extra chill because he queued into Casual mode. He tried solo Ranked a couple of times but it was too toxic to his taste. In addition, he didn’t want to actally rack up too many points and surpass his friends’ ranks.

  None of them really talked about it, but there was something of an unwritten rule between them. It stated that everybody had to stay at the same rank, which was Gold III at the time. Of course, Ben had every iion to stick to that rule as well, at least at first.

  Then, middle school happened. As regur tryhards in Rahe group was ied in joining the Cssmancers club.

  “Too bad they don’t have enough open spots for us,” Mike said. “But, let’s apply anyway. They said there are two spots, so at least two of us make it.”

  And so, the entire group applied for the Cssmancers club. From what they heard, the sele process rimarily based on rank. The pyers with the highest ranks and impressive match histories were prioritized over everybody else.

  But, we’re all the same rank... Ben thought. How are they going to pick between us?

  It was worrisome. Ben wao get into the club and find more people to py with. It was the only team game in which he ever felt useful, so he wao go further and py with more people so he could feel even more useful.

  Of course, it was still the most fun to py with Mike, Larry, and James. But, beyond just pying with friends, Ben also genuinely ehe game in general. The games in Casual as a Top Laner were really fun too. So, he wao experience more the game, to go further, to improve.

  “Let’s grind Rahis week,” Mike said. “We’re pretty far from Gold II but we might make it in time if we win enough.”

  That was a great suggestion. Ben wholeheartedly agreed with this ch time idea. The higher they climb, the more likely it was for the Cssmancers club to accept them.

  But, is it enough? Ben couldn’t help but worry. I don’t think we rank up in a week. Also, if we all rank up together, we’ll still be tied for the rank...

  In other words, Ben’s ces of getting into the club will barely improve, if at all. He’ll still be peting against all his friends.

  But, he had to get in! This was the club he wao spend his middle school years in, he was 100% vinced of that.

  Maybe I should grind Ranked a little in solo queue too. It was this i idea that gave birth to a disaster. A devil must have whispered that idea into his ear, tempting him to it this betrayal.

  But, Ben ighe tingling sense of guilt. He pretended he was just going to work a little harder than the rest, fooling himself regarding the true meaning of what he was about to do.

  I he extra points to keep up as a Support. Ben excused himself.

  As the Support, his KDA and other stats were often inferior to his teammates’, so the system sometimes awarded him with fewer points. As a result, he was always gging a little behind his friends.

  And, it’s not like I py Support all the time because I want to. Ben pined. I keep doing it because of Mike and the others. I give them what they want, so it should be fine if sometimes I do what -I- want, right?

  After ing up with many justifications for his as, Ben started grinding Ranked in solo queue. He focused on pying Top and Mid, the two chill roles in which he didn’t have to report to anybody. It was a simple, sistent experience.

  Time flew in a blink of an eye. Before long, it was time to apply for the Cssmancers club.

  And, as Ben initially feared, they didn’t make it to Gold II in time. Everybody had to apply for the club as Gold III pyers... except for him.

  Yes, Ben made it. The night before the application process, he hit Gold II. His ces of getting into the club skyrocketed!

  “When did you get to Gold II?” Mike demanded.

  “Um, I just pyed a little in solo queue...” Ben cmmed up. He made a few excuses to defend himself but all of them were met with a frown. That’s when the fra betweearted to form.

  As expected, Ben’s superior rank made the Cssmancers club prioritize him over his friends. To add insult to injury, he was the only of the group to make it in the club.

  The other spot was taken by a fellow Gold II pyer - Luke. Surprisingly, despite the guy’s frequent memeing, he grinded lots of Ra the time. His natural skill carried him far enough even with his questionable picks.

  But, that was a story for another day. The biggest shock was that only Ben made it.

  Only me...? Ben stiffened as he learhe news. That was bad. His pn was to only increase his ces of getting in. He definitely didn’t expect to be the ONLY oo make it. Now, it looked like a plete betrayal...

  “You sure pulled a fast one on us, meatball,” Larry criticized.

  “That was a low blow, man,” James agreed. “I thought we were buddies.”

  “..........” Ben couldn’t say anything back. What could he say? He practically cheated his way into the club. It was a scumbag move; a plete betrayal.

  From that day on, their friendship became rocky. The other three stantly reminded Ben of his betrayal and forced him to run errands for him. Before long, the situatioed into something akin to bullying.

  But, it wasn’t just some unjustified harassment. His friends were angry about his betrayal so they were punishing him.

  Yes, it’s just punishment, not bullying. Ben vinced himself. I totally deserve this. If only I didn’t try so hard to cut in ahead...

  Ben had to own up to his crimes. The punishment ainful but it won’t go on forever, so he just had to endure and wait. Surely, before long, the four of them will return to bei friends. At least, that’s what he thought...

  When will this end? There was no end in sight. If anything, the punishment was only turning fiercer and fiercer as time went on. How long will it take them tive me? I know I’ve done something bad, but aren’t we friends? They should be able tive me after this long...

  As, even a year ter, there was no sign of the situation improving. Ben was still on the receiving end of his friends’ “punishment”. It started looking like pin bullying and his clubmates definitely believed that to be the case.

  That’s what led to the current situation, to this basketball match between Mike’s group and the Cssmancers club. Everything started from a sin Ben itted. He was responsible for this euation.

  But, wasn’t it enough already? Hasn’t he repented enough?

  I ’t take it anymore. Ben ched his fists. They trembled in an uncharacteristiner.

  Staying calm was one of the few things he believed he was good at. Log his feelings away was one of the few skills he possessed. He believed that’s an important skill all humans should learn, it’ll surely bring the world oep closer toeace.

  But, right now? Ben was mad. No matter how hard he tried to justify his friends’ as, he couldn’t vince himself he deserved that treatment.

  Yes, I betrayed them back then. Ben admitted. But, I just really wao py Mancers. I was trying to get into a petitive club for a petitive espame. So, it made sense for me to grind as much as possible in order to get in, right?

  Enough was enough. This situation has gone on for far too long. No matter what the result might be, Ben wao drive this situation to closure.

  And, the first step toward achieving that was to win this basketball match. Hopefully, it’ll prove to Mike that the Cssmancers club was a very petitive pd that Ben had every iion to work hard there.

  He didn’t work so hard and outranked his friends out of spite. He genuinely loved the game and wao go as far as he could with it.

  To that end, Ben will do everything in his power to help to achieve victory in this decisive match...!

  DarkestCymore