After being coached by Yuel, Julia became a Mid Laner. She learned when and where to pce wards, which css matchups were favorable, when to rotate to other nes and much more.

  She also left Yuel in the dust when it came to jogging. After her embarrassing injury on the first day, she started from slow jogs and gradually raised the pace. By the end of the summer, she could jog at Lars’s pace for one kilometer.

  trary to her, Yuel didn’t feel his fitness improved much after the first couple of weeks. His stamina definitely increased over time, but he was still a ughably slow runner. He was definitely a turtle in his previous life.

  heless, maintaining a jogging routine sharpened his senses and improved his rea speed. He eveo enjoy shooters somewhat, as he learo not freak out during teuations. That was an important skill which carried into Cssmancers as well, allowing him to stay posed when ganked and amidst chaotic team fights.

  As for Lars, he absorbed lots of wisdom from Yuel throughout the summer. His game knowledge and deaking skills reached a det level, but he eventually hit a wall. It’s not like he reached a very high level, especially not in the game knowledge department, but he didn’t show much growth from there. That must had been the current limit of this muscle brain goof.

  Ranked mode had a “draft system”, which allowed pyers to ban csses during the css sele phase. After the first time Trickshooter was banned by the enemy, Lars realized he couldn’t py any other Carry css on the same level. Therefore, instead of studying the game, he practiced many different csses.

  With his meical skill, he was naturally good with every css he picked. However, “good” was far from “godlike”, which best described Lars’s insane mastery over Trickshooter.

  Yuel was secretly relieved, since he finally discovered something sensible in Lars’s superhuman skill. Even somebody as talented as Lars ime to master new csses, just like any other human being. That proved Lars wasn’t some alien from p GodlikeSkills.

  However, it was still mind boggling how quickly Lars produced results. He practiced, practiced, practiced and then practiced some more. He learo perfectly nd headshots with Headhuo rapidly sargets with Elf and to deliver timely ters with Punisher. Even though he picked csses which demanded acute meical fio be effective - he mastered all of them.

  By the time summer break was over, Yuel, Lars and Julia were all Ptinum tier in Ranked mode. Julia gged behind them by two ranks, being Ptinum IV, but she was reized as a strong member of the team all the same.

  When the new school year began, the three of them attended Riverstock Junih. Yuel and Lars were set on joining the Cssmancers club, but Julia was relut. None of her girl friends were ied in Cssmancers.

  “But yood at Cssmancers! You should totally do it!”

  “Um, t-then I’ll give it a shot...”

  In the end, Julia couldn’t resist Lars’s overflowing passion. She came this far already, so she decided to go all the way.

  And so, the three of them attehe entry exam for the Cssmancers club. Based on the number of kids who took Cssmancers seriously back at grade school, Yuel didn’t expect mupetition. He was wrong, pletely wrong.

  Where did all these guys e from? Yuel looked around in disbelief. The hall was stuffed with over 50 freshmen, all eager to join the Cssmancers club. The vast majority were boys, but, to Julia’s relief, there were some girls as well.

  “Yo, yo, yo! Who do we have here?” Taison emerged from the crowd and strode toward Lars. He came dangerously close, but didn’t slow down in the slightest.

  “Long time no see, dude! Heh!” Lars met his pal head on, literally. The two baheir foreheads, like bulls locked in a duel. Everybody was startled by this act of violence, but it was like a handshake for these muscleheads. Yuel suspected they both became idiots after receiving serious brain damage from repeated headbutts.

  “So? Did ya ever reach Ranked, scrub?” Taison wore a smug. “Me and Greg got to Gold!”

  “Pft, me! All three of us are Ptinum, yo!”

  “Wha!? Even Julia!?” Taison’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

  “Obviously.” Julia crossed her arms and lifted her . “Don’t pare me to losers like you. Gold? That’s so yesterday.”

  “The heck? You don’t even like the game, yo!”

  “Hmph. Who are you to tell me what I like and what I don’t, dumbface?”

  “Tch, you’re as cute as always.”

  “Don’t get so worked up, Tai.” Gregory appeared behind Taison. At first g looked like he wao put out the fire, but Yuel knew better than believe that. “Obviously Yuel and Lars carried her, even a monkey get to Ptinum that way.”

  “Khahaha! Yeah!” Taison burst into ughter.

  “What did you just say, four-eyes!?” Julia’s eyes emitted a murderous glint.

  “, we all know the truth.” Gregory smirked while toug his gsses. “Admit it, you’re just a third wheel for these two. The sooner you face the truth, the better.”

  “Big words for somebody who leeches off Taison’s skill.” Yuel couldn’t stand this anymore. In the past month, he watched Julia’s hard work and growth more than anybody. Perhaps she wasn’t on par with Yuel and Lars yet, but she wasn’t weak and she definitely wasn’t a third wheel.

  “Now, now. Let’s py nice, my dudes.” Lars ed his arm around Gregory’s shoulder in an overly friendly manner. “We gonna have a Cssmancers exam or something, right? Let’s settle it there.”

  “Heh, sure. Let’s do that.” Gregory shook off Lars’s arm. “That is, if you guys pull through this exam. It’s going to be quite different from what you expect, kek.”

  “Hoh? You know something about this exam?”

  “Who knows.” Gregory shrugged. “Here’s my predi though: Yuel will be eliminated in the first round and you’ll be eliminated in the sed.”

  “Heh, sounds like fun!” Lars grinned. “We’ll see about that.”

  Their chit-chat was eventually interrupted when Howard, the vice-captain of the Cssmancers club, took the stage. He and the captain briefly introduced themselves, then he proceeded to talk about the entry exam.

  “I know what some of you are thinking.” Howard smiled. “You want to join the Cssmancers club because it sounds like a fun pce where you py video games, right? Haha.”

  Some of the audience ughed along with Howard. The school demanded all students to join a club, so it was clear some applied to the Cssmancers club to dodge that obligation. As long as they were gamers, pying a video game for club activities sounded like easy life even if they weren’t genuinely ied in Cssmancers.

  “For those who are thinking that way, the door is over there.” Hoierced the audieh a sharp gre. “Like it or not, but our Cssmancers club is strictly petitive. The school allows the club only 15 members in total. To be fair about it, we always maintain 5 members from each year. You see where I’m going with this, yes?”

  In other words, out of the 50+ freshmen gathered in this hall, only five would be admitted into the club. The shog reveal invoked excmations and whispers throughout the crowd. Everybody began realizing that the Cssmancers club wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

  “Iing.” Yuel smiled. “We may be in for some real challenge, like Gregory said.”

  “Heh, that’s how it gotta be!” Lars grinned. His rea stood in plete opposite to everybody around him.

  “Seriously, you boys.” Julia threw a look at Yuel and Lars, who were both pumped for the this dumb challenge. Sigh, what a pain.

  “The entry exam will have three rounds.” Howard expined. “In the first round, we’ll test how serious you are about Cssmancers. We’ll have you run five kilometers.”

  “Eeeeh!?”

  “F-Five kilometers!?”

  The crowd was in an uproar.

  Five!? How exactly is that a Cssmancers exam!? Yuel turned pale. He barely sted two kilometers even after all the training he had during summer break! It was insane!

  “Yes, yes.” Howard nodded. “I know what you’re all w: ‘How the heck is this a Cssmancers exam!?’ After all, most of you are here because you hate physical exercise, right? Haha.”

  “But, too bad.” Howard’s voice turned cold. “We’ll have you run. Even if you ’t jog the whole way through, you always walk. Crawl for all I care. If you don’t reach the finish line, you’re out. If you’re i 15, you’re out. If you have any medical certificates which forbid you to jog, bring them ter and we’ll figure something out.”

  “This is dumb!”

  “I’m not doing this shit!”

  A few students left the hall and Yuel almost wanted joining them. As much as he wao py petitive Cssmancers, running 5 kilometers was insanity.

  “Somebody shaking in his boots?” Gregory wore a smug. “You better quit before you die out there, kek.”

  “I-I’m fine.” Yuel tried to vince himself. “As long as there are less than 15 people here who run all the way, I pass this round by walking.”

  “You? Pass? And here I thought you were a realist.” Gregory shook his head. “But surely you’re quitting, right July?”

  “Sounds rough.” Julia cocked her head and turo Lars. “You think I run it?”

  “Easy!” Lars gave her a thumb up. “Remember that time we jogged to the bead back? That was about five kilometers.”

  “Ouch, that was a harsh run. But I survived it, so guess I pull it off and stuff?”

  “You run five kilometers...?” Gregory’s gsses almost slipped down his nose.

  “I guess? Anyway, what about you, four-eyes?” Julia lifted her . “Gonna crawl your way to the finish line?”

  “Kek, don’t think I’m the same as before.” Gregory adjusted his gsses. “I trained quite a lot during the summer. Look, I even built some muscles.”

  “You trained? Iing.” Yuel eyed Gregory. “Were you preparing for this very exam, perce?”

  “Who knows.” Gregory dodged the question.

  “Very well.” Howard tinued after everybody made up their minds. “Rejoice, those who left also t toward the 15 dropouts. Thanks to them, only seven of you fail the first round now. How nice of them, right? Haha.”

  My ces went up a little. Yuel o himself. Now, he only had to outpace seven petitors. Five kilometers was a huge deal, but he had a det ce.

  “Oh, and I joked.” Hrinned. “Don’t worry, we won’t make you run that much. We’re not the track club, yes? Haha. One kilometer will suffice, but the rest is still effect. Fail to reach the finish line and you’re out. Finish among the st seven and you’re out.”

  Howard called it a joke, but 8 students actually left after hearing about the 5 kilometers. Was that part of the test? If so, it was definitely effective at eliminating weak-willed pyers, even though it didn’t quite feel fair. Good thing Yuel didn’t take the bait.

  “There are also some good o hype you up.” Howard announced. “If you finish the ra first pce, you’ll be excused from the rest of the exam. You bee a club member right away.”

  “Oh! Cool!” Lars grinned. “Welp, this gonna end on the first round for me. Good luck at the rest of the exam, my dudes!”

  “Tch, aren’t ya a modest oaisoed. “Don’t fet I'm also here. If ya think this gonna be a shink again.”

  “Oh? You trained during the summer or something? Because I don’t remember you ever beati sprinting.”

  “This time will be different, mark my words.”

  “Looking forward to it!”

  The two sports maniacs eyed each other, both fident in their uping victory. Uhem, Yuel wasn’t as enthusiastic about this annou.

  He raised his hand and posed a question to Howard. “Is it really a good idea to select a Cssmancers pyer based on nothing but their running speed? I thought the club was geared toward winning petitions.”

  “A good question.” Howard nodded. “I’m sure at least half the audience shares your se. Tell me, you have any athletic pals who py Cssmancers?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are they any good at Cssmancers?”

  “Yes, they are.” Yuel had to admit. Lars was a god and Taison was quite skilled as well.

  “And what do you think makes them so good?”

  “They’re meically skilled, for one.” Yuel took a moment to think about it. “They’re also used to practig and pying as a team, sihey were in a sport club before.”

  “A full marks answer.” Howard cpped once. “It’s exactly as you said, the athletic fellows usually e from sport clubs. They’re used to training and maybe even pyed on a team. So, whoever wins the race may not be an amazing Cssmancers pyer right now, but they should have a solid foundation to molded into one.”

  “I see.” Yuel frowned. He essentially answered his owion via Howard’s lead. Howard definitely already had the answer ready when he annouhat rule, Yuel felt like he was baited into asking about it. Ugh.

  “If that’s all, you have half an hour to gather at the building's entrance.” Howard announced. “If you o warm up or ge into a PE uniform, do so now.”

  The crowd dispersed. Yuel and Lars headed outside, but Julia first went to get her PE uniform. “No way I’m sweating in these clothes.”

  And so, the entry exam was about to begin. The opportunity to py in the petitive se was right in front of them, they just had to grasp it. The junih petitive se wasn’t nearly as popur as that of high schools, but it was the first step. Before advang ter ses, they first had to quer the junih petitive se!