“Dang, I didn’t think this through!” Lars held his head.

  “You sure didn’t,” Yuel criticized. “But, I don’t think you turn baow.”

  “I sure as heck ’t.” Lars gulped. “Look at ‘em dudes. They be gring daggers at me for all the stuff I said. They wanna kick my ass real bad. If I tell them I quit, they never gonna take me or the club seriously.”

  “Yeah,” Yuel agreed. “If you forfeit, we’ll lose this entire argument on the spot. They’ll probably not listen to a single word we say from that point onward. Ben’s situation will remain unresolved forever.”

  “Gaaaaah! I messed up big time!” Lars facepalmed with both hands. It almost looked as if he was m.

  But then, the very moment, he jumped straight up as if nothing happened. “Oh, I know! I just gotta ask for a 1v1 again! If it’s one-on-one, I ain’t gonna lose to anybody, yo!”

  “I doubt that’ll work.” Yuel threw a cautious g Mike. “He refused your challenge for a reason.”

  “Reason? What reason?”

  “I’m not sure,” Yuel said. “Maybe he’s not fident in his own skill. Or, maybe he’s just being cautious against an oppo he never pyed before. He ’t embarrass himself here, especially not in front of his gang.”

  “So, are you saying he’s shook?” Lars grinned. “Looks like he uands he’s dealing with a pro here, hehe.”

  “Is this really the time for jokes?” Yuel made a face. “What are you pnning to do about this mess?”

  “Welp. Hmm. Umm. Geh. Agh. Gaaaaah...!” Lars scratched his head. He dug his own grave here, no two ways about it. He accepted a challehat was far beyond his level and he couldn't back out. Basically, he pyed right into Mike’s trap. It was a dead-end!

  “Looks like we have no choice,” Yuel said. “They got three pyers, so we’ll have to use three pyers too.”

  “Wut? What three pyers?” Lars looked around. “Ya mean, me, you, and Vince?”

  “Yes, that’s all we got.” Yuel wore a difficult expression. “I’m not sure how good Ben is but he looks exhausted, so I don’t think it’s a good idea to let him py either way. So, the three of us should hahis.”

  “Are you sure, dude?” Lars asked. “I’m the one who jumped the gun and accepted that derpy challenge. I don’t wanna drag you guys into this mess.”

  “It’s too te frets. Besides, we all came here together so we’re already involved. We started this, so we better see this through. I’m sure Vi will agree.”

  “Okay, gotcha.” Lars nodded. “Then, it's gonna be a 3v3! We gonna win ezpz! Actually, this is eveer than my 1v1 idea. The more dudes from our club participate, the harder it’ll prove that we’re all serious pyers. We ain’t no frauds, yo!”

  “Except, Mike isirely wrong. Most of us who py Cssmancers are not very athletic.”

  “What do you mean? I’m fit as heck, yo!”

  “Yes, you. But, you’re the exception here. Meanwhile, Vi and I aren’t couldn’t be farther away from ‘athletic.”

  “But, you also exercise and stuff.”

  “True, but that doesn’t turo an aplished athlete. I only do it to stay in shape. So, I’m sorry to say, but this match will be rough. Even though having us oeam would teically turn it into a 3v3, you’ll still have to pull most of the weight.”

  “That’s okay, I’m used to it.” Lars nodded. “And hey, I dunno about Vince, but you’re not too shabby at basketball. You showed me some nasty tricks the st time we pyed. The only thing is, your aiming skills are kinda...”

  “They’re atrocious, yes.” Yuel nodded. Ba grade school, wheried to fit in with the other kids by pying sports, two obstacles stood in his way: his ent stamina and his terrible coordination.

  After Yuel started exerg on a regur basis, he overcame the first problem for the most part. He was by no means a paragon of vitality, but he could at least survive through a sports match as long as he didn’t push himself too hard.

  However, the sed problem remained unresolved to this day. Yuel’s coordination was still terrible when it came to handling the ball. Everything from his passes to his shots obeyed some alien ws of physics that should. It’s as if it hysically impossible for the ball to reach its destination when Yuel was involved. That must have beeon’s Fourth Law.

  I wonder how much I would’ve improved if I practiced regurly. Yuel smiled wryly.

  His coordination problems extended beyond sports and affected his performan Cssmancers as well. However, in Cssmancers, Yuel became better aer over time via practice. He was no sharpshooter by any means, but he could reliably nd shots. Sometimes, he could even go for quick shots and nd a few of these in a row as well.

  If he practiced basketball as much as he practiced his aim in Cssmancers, could his poor coordination improve as well? Maybe, just maybe, he would’ve been able to execute proper passes and to score some goals. That would’ve bee.

  Well, this isn’t the time tret my life choices. Yuel shook his head. He couldn’t travel ba time and start practig basketball now. There was no choice but to front the challenge in front of him with his poor skill. Lars will have to pull most of the weight in this match.

  “Are you girls done whispering?” Mike demanded. “So? What it gonna be? Are you gonna 1v3 us, you jackass?”

  “Yeaaaah, about that...” Lars smiled at Mike’s provocation without batting an eye. “My bad, I got carried away there. No way I win a 1v3. I mean, ya guys must be hel good and all. You even stay after school to practice. Mad respect for that.”

  “Heh, this guy gets it.” James nodded.

  “Yeah, looks like he’s smarter than he looks,” Larry agreed. “He knows he’s dealing with pros over here, haha.”

  “So?” Mike asked again and gred at Lars. “Are you quitting? I thought you were gonna prove how ‘serious’ you nerdy ass club is.”

  “Nah, ain’t nobody quitting, dude,” Lars respoo Mike’s gre with an unwavering gaze. “Let’s do this thing, but let’s do it fair. Ya got three dudes, so we’ll als three dudes. That’s fair, right?”

  “Hm, I see.” Mike shot a gre at Yuel, sizing the guy from head to toe.

  “Ugh...” Yuel instinctively backed away. That gaze pierced him like a bde. He was like a helpless rabbit eyed by a ruthless hawk.

  heless, Yuel stood his ground. They’ve e this far, so they couldn’t give up here. Even though their ces looked grim at best, they had to give it a shot. This was their best shot at resolving Ben’s flict peacefully.

  Since Yuel signed up to this madness, he had to do everything in this power to secure victory for the team. He didn’t possess even half the physical skills Lars had, so he had to make up for it with mental finesse.

  “ we please use standard 3v3 rules?” Yuel asked.

  “Meaning?” Mike raised an eyebrow. “There are tons of variations.”

  “I believe the most popur variation is pyed on a half-court until oeam scores 21 points.”

  “Yeah, sounds abht.”

  “In this variation, a normal shot scores one point instead of two, whereas a ‘’three-pointer’ scores two points. Is that fine?”

  “Geh.” James made a face. “What’s with that bullshit? I remember pying a game like that before and it’s fusing as fuck.”

  “Git gud at math, bro.” Larry ughed.

  “Hmm.” Mike eyed Yuel ily, trying to ihe guy’s real iions. Is he really just verifying the rules? It feels like this smarty-pants is pnning something...

  Was there anything disadvantageous for Mike’s gang in these rules? Pying a 3v3 on a half-court was on practid pying until 21 points was on as well. Likewise, the aforementioned sg rules were widely used in 3v3.

  Therefore, at face value, there was nothing wrong with the rules the guy presented, was there? These were all standard rules, so they shouldn’t be the enemy in any way.

  Meh, I’m probably overthinking it. Mike cluded. “Sure, let’s roll with these rules,”

  Good. Yuel o himself. It was a small thing, but it heless increased the team’s ces of winning.

  With Lars oeam, the alternative sg rules pyed to their advantage. But of course, the enemy had no way of knowing that sihey haven’t seen Lars in a yet.

  “Okay, it’s on!” Lars pumped a fist. “Our team gonna be me, Yuel, and Vince.”

  “Wait,” Mike interrupted the early celebration. “sidering you’ve been droning about how ‘important’ Ben is for your little club, I say it’s only fair to have him represent the club in the game, don’t you think?”

  “Eh?” Lars bnked out for a moment. “Why, tho?”

  “If you wanna vince us your club is some serious shit and that Ben is peting there in a ‘real sport’, then I say he should show his determination on the court. Don’t you agree, guys?”

  “Totes, haha.”

  “Yeah, make him run.”

  The subroutines wholly supported their leader. Just like that, Mike gained a majority in this discussion for a random suggestion he came up with on the spot.

  This smartass...! Yuel grimaced. Their side was already at a grave disadvantage, yet Mike was trying to boost the delis’ odds even further. This godfather was going to pull every dirty tri the book to secure the gang’s victory.

  “But, Ben is tried,” Yuel argued.

  “The him rest a little.” Mike shrugged as if it had nothing to do with him. “We’ll give you ten mio prepare. Aren’t we just the ?”

  “I don’t think ten minutes is enough to rest up...”

  “That’s not my problem,” Mike asserted. “It’s Ben’s own fault for being such a fatass. He should’ve exercised more if pig balls tire him so much.”

  “Yep.” James nodded. “Bruh be ag like he finished a whole marathon or something, haha.”

  “Lame,” Larry added. “He should be thankful we’re wasting our precious time to help him get in shape, seriously.”

  “Ugh...” Yuel couldn’t e up with a retainst any of that nonsehe trio atting each other on back, pretending their lies were the absolute truth. It was impossible to tackle them.

  “Okay, no problem,” Lars spoke up all of a sudden. “We’ll have Ben py.”

  “What...?” Yuel could swear his ears were pying tricks on him. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, no problem.” Lars gave a thumbs up. “It’d still be a 3v3, so we gonna win ez. Besides, they make a good point. If Ben pys for our team and we win, that outta vihem even harder that our club means business.”

  “I suppose that’s true, but...” Yuel frowned. “Did you see Ben’s dition? He barely stand. I don’t think he py very well. Besides, he is...”

  Yuel didn’t want to e off as insulting, but he had to be realistic here. Ben was quite obese for his age, so he most likely wasn’t very athletibined with how exhausted he looked when they came to the gym, it was clear as day that Ben wouldn’t be able to tribute mu this game.

  And, I’m ly a great pyer myself… Yuel shook his head. Add us up together and we’re probably worth less than one half-det pyer. At this rate, this game will be a 2v3 at best, maybe even a 1.5v3.

  “Don’t worry, dude.” Lars fshed his teeth, wearing his usual fident grin. “I know Ben looks half-dead over there, so we just gotta carry the team together. Besides, if Ben always hangs out with these basketball dudes, he might’ve picked a thing or two. Don’t write him off just yet, yo.”

  “Sounds like wishful thinking to me.” Yuel frowned.

  Unfortunately, it was too te tue about this. Lars has already accepted Mike’s unfair dition, there was n back at this point. They had to win this 3v3 with Ben oeam, such were the ditions.

  Will this makeshift team be able to pete against three members of the basketball club...?

  DarkestCymore