"Same as with Chess, we have footage from both years about Gunz," Sonya expined. "Let's go over them first, to make sure everybody is on the same page."

  "Oh boy!" Ronald swung bad forth on his chair. "Too bad I didn't bring pop. This gonna be wild!'

  Roles: Carry/MidCss Variety: Low(?)

  Meical Skill: 10/10Deaking: 6/10Game Knowledge: 6/10

  Pystyle: A strong meical pyer with det enough fuals. In 1v1s, he’s strong enough to turn mispys int pys via brute force.

  The dispyed stats made more than a few of them cock their heads in fusion.

  “Wait, what?” Ronald asked. “Aren’t these stats too low? I think you did my guy dirty there.”

  “No, that’s my ho evaluation of his ability,” Sonya said. “His meical skill is indeed impressive, but the rest is just passable.”

  “No way! Bruh literally DESTROYED people! How he bad this weak!? I think even I got better stats than that. What the heck.”

  “Yes, your deaking and game knowledge are a little better, at least the way I see it. Gunz is rougher around the ers, albeit this year he showed plenty of improvement pared to st year, so maybe 6/10 is too harsh.”

  “Defioo harsh,” Ronald insisted. “This bruh is supposed to look like a BEAST! These stats don’t do him justio all. Nada.”

  “It seems like you don’t uand what these stats are meant to represent,” Sonya said. “They’re supposed to give us an idea of how the pyer performs on average, across a myriad of different situations they enter during a match.”

  “And you’re saying my guy is that bad on average? No way! I’ve seen him mop the floor with people like there’s no tomorrow!”

  “Yes, you’re right. He does excel in battles, especially in 1v1 and 2v2 situations. But, if you think ba all the battle examples you saw, what’s the main stat that helped him emerge victorious?”

  “His sick meical skill, duh.”

  “And, did his deaking ame knowledge impress you any?”

  “Eeeeh, hard to say. Like, how do you even gauge somebody’s game knowledge from a repy?”

  “We already established that’s a challenge, so let’s ighat for now. How about his deaking?”

  “Hmm. Hmmmmmmm.” Ronald crossed his arms. “Dang, asking them trick questions.”

  “It’s a pretty straightforward question, I believe,” Sonya said matter-of-factly.

  “About other types of situation I could answer probably, but when it es to 1v1s? And even 2v2s for that matter. It’s hard to say what ts as ‘deaking’ and what’s aension of that guy’s awesome meical skill. The more skilled you are, the easier it is to react to stuff without thinking and all that.”

  “Exactly,” Sonya affirmed. “So, what did you just prove here? That his deaking and game knowledge didn’t leave much of an impression on you.”

  “Oh. You got a point there.” It finally dawned on him. It was really all meical skill. The rest of Gunz’s stats weren’t necessarily that high, if at all.

  “But, I still don’t like that,” Ronald argued. “Like, what’s the point of showing these stats as the ‘big three’ if they don’t even give a proper representation of the pyer’s skill? I mean, Gunz is a BEAST, nobody gonna argue against that, right?”

  He checked everybody’s reas and they all seemed to side with him on this ohere was no denying that everybody in the room sidered Gunz a serious threat, even Matthew who finally unglued his eyes from his phone for once. Everybody was focused to the max wheopic switched to Gunz, indig just how big of a deal this guy was.

  “You’re running too far ahead,” Sonya said. “For now, I only showed his average stats. As for his bat capabilities and the threat he poses with them, it’s something we’re going to discuss iail soon.”

  “Oh, is that so? Okay then.” Ronald nodded. “I hope you do my guy justice real soon then.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not pnning to belittle him if that’s what you’re worried about. He’s undoubtedly one of the biggest threats in the region.”

  “Heck yeah! That’s what I wao hear.”

  With Ronald finally vihat his homie was going to get the proper treatment, the meeting moved on to showing clips of Gunz’s best pys. As Sonya foreshadowed, most of them were either 1v1 situations or 2v2s alongside Chessmaster.

  Gunz overpowered everybody in this year’s scrimmage. Even Nirvana, the skilled captain of Taurus, folded against Gunz's Trickshooter. The two of them fought a lot in Mid and were mostly even, but then Gunz picked Trickshooter and it became airely different story.

  "Trickshooter seems to be his best css," Sonya expined. She backed up her argument by showing footage from st year’s scrimmage. There, Gunz also pyed Trickshooter during his debut.

  It was unpleasant to see these events again, but Sonya had no choice but to present the evideo the court. Everybody had to uand the extent of Gunz’s strength, even if it meant showing examples of Jennifer’s team being stomped.

  “I’d like to crify that these are handpicked examples,” Sonya said. “They show Gunz at his stro in that scrimmage, which is why these pys may seem very one-sided. It’s not like the entire scrimmage was like that, not even close.”

  “The is strong with this one.” Ronald chuckled.

  “ANYWAY, here are the examples.”

  Sonya pyed the clips from st year’s scrimmage. There, Gunz dunked on his foes with Trickshooter.

  It was hard to believe these fights were between a freshman and the Leopards’ seniors. Sed-string or not, Jennifer’s team was filled with skilled seniors. A...

  "Yikes." Ronald smiled wryly. "It's even wilder than I remembered. The sed-string was no pushover, that's for sure. But, this guy..."

  “Moving on,” Sonya tinued. “It seems Mid is his sedary role. At least, so far, he oablished himself as a threat when pying Carry. And, based oa from both years, it seems there's a big gap between his mastery of Trickshooter and other marksmen."

  "Hey," Ronald interjected. "His Slinger is hel dope too! Did you see all these headshots? Dude is wild!"

  "Yes, of course I saw." Sonya nodded. "There's only one game showing him py Gunslinger so far, but his performance was very ving. My impression is that his Gunslinger is about as good as his Trickshooter."

  "Nice!" Ronald rubbed his hands. "Finally, a worthy oppo! 't wait to take on his Shooter and Slinger!"

  "My, in that case," Cato said. "You'll be waiting for a long, long time."

  "Yeah, we still got a week until the match, right?"

  "That's not what I meant. Even during the scrimmage itself, you won't get to py against his Shooter or Slinger."

  "Excuse me what?" Ronald cocked his head.

  "We're obviously going to ban them.”

  "Wha-!?” Ronald jumped. “an! Until we finally get a fun oppo, you not even gon us fight him!?"

  "If he’s only strong with specific csses, then why should we let him py those? The banning phase exists for situations like this."

  "Yeah, I know, but..." Ronald twisted his lips.

  "Let’s just hope he got other tricks up his sleeve," William said. "If he's the kind of pyer who only py two csses, then that's all there is to him."

  "Yeah, guess that's true." Ronald nodded. "So, Sonya, how are his other csses?"

  "Insuffit data," Sonya said. "Last year, only his Trickshooter stood out. But, sidering he was just a freshman and a lot of time has passed, he probably leveled up some other csses by now. The Gunslinger is evidence of that."

  "Heck yeah!" Ronald grinned. "I hope he mastered at least four csses!"

  "Let's hope he didn't," Cato objected. "It'll make it much harder to ban all his options."

  "Man, what a buzz killer. That's why everybody says you're b."

  "I prefer to be b and win than be 'iing' and lose. If you prefer to lose, then you're free to step down from your position. There are many who'd gdly take your pce."

  "Heh, just you watch. I gonh iing AND win!"

  "Sure, sure." Cated.

  , they discussed a few more aspects of Gunz's pystyle, primarily his offense and defense.

  “Last year,” Sonya started. “His offense was exceptional but his defense was g. So much, that I wouldn’t have sidered him a serious threat if that remaihe case”

  “But, he leveled up sihen, right? Right?” Ronald asked.

  “Yes, he did,” Sonya firmed. “His solo performan Mid was quite stable. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that his defense is anything special, but his fuals are much better than before.”

  “Alrighty, let’s goooo! Bruh means business!”

  “I suppose he does.” Sonya frowhis is fine by me. He’s strohan he was st year, but I’m still going to take revenge on him. I hope Jenny will e to watch this game.

  After some more analysis, the discussion about Gunz came to an end. But, one big question remained.

  "So," William started. "Out of all the strong pyers in the region, how high is Gunz on your list?"

  "That's..." Sonya chewed her lips and gnced away.

  There it es. Cato has been waiting for this.

  Even though Sonya tried her best to avoid toug on the subject, it was only natural for William to ask. After all, the guy held great pride in his prestigious position on Sonya’s vaguely defined "power ranking" list.

  She doesn't want to say it. Cato knew about it before the meeting. Sonya looked troubled when she delivered this information to him a few days ago.

  The girl had a hobby of rating and ranking things. So, she started up a list of "power ranking” among the pyers in the region. An i idea, but it soon turned into a big topice the brot caught wind of it.

  William trusted Sonya’s analysis on most things, and Ronald trusted his older brother’s perspective on most things. As a result, the two got ied in their rankings on said list; they wao know how they pared to other pyers in the region. Naturally, they both wao be as close as possible to the top.

  Since William cared so much about his rank, Sonya now felt unfortable sharing her new findings with him. There were multiple reasons for that, but the specifics weren't Cato's business.

  The point is, she doesn’t want to be the one who says it. Cato thought. I told her she just dodge the topic but looks like she didn't like that advice. Well, of course she didn't.

  As somebody who prided herself in delivering robust analysis, omitting any information from her teammates was like betraying her own beliefs. No matter how unpleasant the facts were, she had to suck it up and keep sharing the information, that's what she believed.

  Well then, I py the vilin here. Cato already prepared a line against this sario.

  "Sonya and I talked a lot about where to pce Gunz on that list," Cato said. "In the end, it seems she’s not too sure where to pce him."

  "Is that so." William looked at Sonya for firmation.

  "Yes, that's true..." Sonya mumbled. Failing to rank a pyer on her list was embarrassing to admit, but at least it wasn't as bad as serving the facts raw to William.

  "That's rare." William was visibly disappointed. Judging by his rea, it looked like he'd press Sonya on this topiore in the uping days.

  Looks like I have to casually spill the beans. Cato cluded. Well, I really wao say this anyway, so it's all good. Hehe~

  "You 't really bme her," Cato said. "Gunz is a wildcard. Sometimes he's incredibly strong, other times he shows gring weaknesses. Not to mention, he seems overly reliant on his main csses."

  "That's true," William agreed. "But, there should still be a way to rate somebody like that. I expected Sonya to be able to."

  "Well, it sounds like she needs more data," Cato lied. "But, I'm fih giving you my own verdict based on what we’ve discussed so far, if you really want to hear it. I've analyzed plenty of pyers with her, so I'm usually pretty on spot with my predis."

  "Huh." William carefully judged the smiling guy in front of him. "Alright, where would you pce Gunz on the list?"

  "If I had to say," or rather, if Sonya had to say, "then Gunz is the sed stro pyer in the region in terms of raw strength."

  "......................"

  Silence.

  Everybody simply stared at Cato for what he had just uttered. Even though he wasn't the official maintainer of the ranking list, there was still weight to his words, especially when he dared to cim something eous like that.

  "Do you agree with that?" William asked Sonya. His voice was calm, but there was a hint of venom in it.

  "There's not enough data to say for sure." Sonya used the rescue wheel Cato prepared for her.

  "But, you're not denying the possibility."

  "Right..." Sonya gnced aside.

  "Hmph, I see." William scoffed. "Then, looks like it's up to me to provide data that'll tradict this evaluation. Very well." His outward demeanor seemed calm, but a storm was raging inside his stomach right now. He was like a shaking volo, ready to explode without warning.

  "Yeah, you show 'em, bro!" Ronald cheered. "There's no way that dude is better than you!"

  Being No. 2 on Sonya's list had heavy implications. Especially for William, it was a big deal.

  The pyer who held No. 1 on the list was far beyond their level. William khat for a fact because he tried to topple that rival many times, enough to clude that he stood no ce right now. Therefore, there was no question about who deserved to be No. 1 on the list.

  Then, who was in line? Until now, it was her than William himself. He held the prestigious spot of No. 2.

  Indeed, Sonya deemed William the stro middle schooler in the region, sed only to the monster whose skill level couldn’t be judged by middle school standards anyway. Therefore, being No. 2 on the list was a highly regarded position, one deserving of everybody’s respect.

  But, now Cato was trying to cause a coup d'etat. He was suggesting that Gunz was the rightful heir to the position and that William should be dethroned. Suonsense.

  "Keep in mind," Cato said. "The idea that Gunz might deserve the No. 2 spot only applies to when he’s pying Trickshooter unslinger. It's unclear what his rank would be otherwise. William might be stronger in those cases."

  "Hmph. I don’t need a sotion prize." William scoffed. "After we get three wins from them, I say let Gunz pick Shooter and Slinger. I’ll make sure to take him down"

  "Very well," Cato said. "We'll need Coach to approve first, but I'm sure I vince him."

  Despite everything he said about Gunz being “the No. 2 of the region”, Cato wasirely vinced either. Ultimately, it was mostly Sonya’s clusion. Just like William, Cato also trusted that robot’s analysis on matters such as this.

  But, was it really true? Was Gunz s he could rival the stro member of the Leopards? It’ll be iing to see for sure.

  And, if Gunz was really that strong, would other members of the team be able to handle him at all?

  "Matt, what do you think?" Cato asked. " you nullify Gunz's offense if you fight him?"

  "Hard to say," Matthew answered. "I'll have to run some simutions to uand his pystyle better."

  "I see." Cato nodded. "I'm sure Sonya help you with that. She gathered lots of data on Gunz, right?"

  "Of course." Sonya nodded. "In terms of raw bat potential, he’s the No. 1 threat on the eeam. So, we need all the data we get on him."

  Sonya shared where to find additional notes and clips she made about Gunz. From the sheer amount of data she gathered, the girl almost came across as a stalker.

  She must really want to avenge Jenny~ iled meaningfully. Personally, I think Yuel will be reatest problem in this match. Gunz is like a big on, but Yuel is the one who decides when to fire it. Even st year, Jenny owned most of her defeat to Yuel, not to Gunz.

  "Alright,” Cato tinued. “Now that we’re familiar with our oppos, it’s time to discuss their tactics a little."

  This was always the part where most of the audience lost their i. Matthew returo his mobile gaming, Ronald nodded off, and William yawned, just barely keeping himself together.

  Well, I 't bme them. Cato thought.

  Uhe process of destrug specific pyers, tactid strategy were far more abstract. They were difficult to fully prehend, let alone remember.

  heless, the topic was very important to cover in this case, so Cato and Sonya pressed ardless. They did their best to apany their expnations with iing footage that showcased Chessmaster’s irregur shot-calling in a. Some of the pys mao impress the audience, while others were too dubious to be taken seriously.

  "Are you sure that one was intended?" William asked. "To me, it looks like the Lancer just happeo run into Jennifer."

  "That's the beauty of it all," Cato sang praises. "Even when you analyze this py from the side, it's not obvious whether it was calcuted bait or a happy act. But, even if you want to disregard all these examples as 'happy acts’, you have to agree there are far too many of them in one scrimmage, right?"

  "I suppose." William remained unvinced. He probably won't be entirely on board until he experiences Yuel's shot-calling firsthand on stage.

  "Well, o worry your pretty little heads over this right now," Cato said. "Just remember that their shot-caller leans tgressive shot-calls and he likes unventional pys. So, make sure you question things. Don't take anything franted."

  "Heh." Ronald produced a dry ugh. "Sounds like you're asking us to be paranoid."

  "Not paranoid, but vigint,” Cato crified. “Of course, I'm not telling you to be cautious to the point it'll ively affect your performance. In the end, it's primarily the shot-caller’s role to outpy the enemy shot-caller."

  "Heh, too bad our team doesn't have a shot-caller." Ronald snickered.

  "Kid, it really sounds like you want to be kicked out of the team."

  "Haha, I'm just saying, man."

  "Well, he is right," William interjected. "This team doesn't have a shot-caller. That's the narrative, at least."

  "Fair enough." Cato nodded. "Anyway, I'll make sure to e up with termeasures for Yu- Ahem. I mean, termeasures for Chessmaster's shot-calling. You just focus on studying the pyers and thinking on how yoing to beat them."

  Everybody nodded in approval.

  "As for our lineups," Cato said. "I was thinking of opening with lineup A. As you all hopefully uand by now, it's important for us to assess Gunz's current skill level as soon as possible so we decide how to deal with him. And, there's no oer than Matt for this detective job."

  "I do it too," William said. "I want to start with lineup B. Let me fight Gunz."

  "Wait, we do better!" Ronald interjected. "Let's start with lineup C! It's the best formation!"

  "Lineup C does," Cato said.

  ", it's totally real!" Ronald pouted. "It's like B, except I'm the Carry! Lemme at Gunz! I'll prove you he's NOT No. 2. That spot belongs to my bro."

  "I appreciate the se," William said. "But, I handle him myself."

  "Yeah, I'm sure you , no doubt about that." Ronald nodded. "I'm just saying dude isn't worth your time, bro. I wreck him real quick for ya."

  "Sure, sure." William rolled his eyes. "You want to fight him, I get it. Maybe after I trash him hard enough, I let you py Carry for one game."

  "Really!?" Ronald jumped. "You're the best, bro!"

  The brothers reached an agreement without even sulting the captain.

  My minions are revolting against me! Sob. Cato wiped a ent tear. Well, it’s alright. It's just a scrim anyway, so I eain them for now. If I let them do whatever they want and they end up losing, they'll be more obedient iure. Kukuku, it's the ultimate subje pn!

  "Alright," Cato said. "ech with lineup B."

  "Are we really doing this?" Sonya frowned. "That wasn't the plined."

  "I know, but real life doesn’t always go as pnned. For the better and the worse, we have to sider the quirks of our teammates."

  "Hah." Sonya sighed i. It was one of these irrational topics she wasn't good with.

  As far as TheTheorist was ed, stig to the optimal game pn was always the best move. It made no sense whatsoever to bend the knee for somebody's illogical caprices. A, Cato artaking in that very foolishness.

  “Fine.” Sonya surrendered. “Just don’t e g to me if it doesn’t work.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

  After discussing a few more details, the meeting came to an end. Everybody kly what they had to focus on in the uping days.

  "As usual, there’ll be another review meeting with the Coa two days," Cato informed. "Make sure you have something good to report. And please, for the love of God, don't fet the key details we discussed today. Coach is going to question you about them for sure.”

  “Geeeeh.” Ronald made face.

  “I know, I know. Tests aren’t ever fun, but it is what it is. So, make sure you’re prepared. I suggest you review Sonya’s notes a day before to refresh yourselves.”

  “Yes, you better do,” Sonya said. “It might be an exam, but you pretty much have all the answers at your disposal. It’s just a question of memorizing them.”

  “Right.” Cato nodded. “I know it’s a little tiresome, but keep in mind that you make the eeam look bad when you 't answer a question. So, make sure you do it.”

  "No problem!" Ronald saluted with a smile. If only his promise was at st half as ving as his fident expression...

  DarkestCymore