The sed day of the entry exam’s final round was about to begin. Lars and Julia were scheduled to be tested on this day, but the examiners ran into a problem.

  “My, how bothersome.” Ellen ran her fingers along her hair. “And I begged you so much to not get me involved in this.”

  “Believe me, I didn’t want you to take part in this either.” Aron said. “But, Howard is staying home today and you’re the only rept we have.”

  “My, he’s skipping school? What a bad bad boy.” Ellen giggled.

  “He said he’s feeling uhe weather, probably a cold.”

  “Poor Wardy. That’s what happens when you push people too hard, you evil sve driver you.”

  “Hmph.” Aron shrugged. “If he wants to be the captai year, he must be able to deal with this much. Besides, I’m pretty sure it’s not due to overwork.”

  “Hmm~? You know something?”

  “... not really.”

  “My, how suspicious~ I heard people pined about his performance yesterday, I wonder if that’s reted.”

  “Ask him yourself.” Aron cleared his throat. “Anyway, let’s get down to business. I won’t ask you to do much during the exams, just py the game... casually.”

  “Sugarcoating doesn’t suit you, darling.” Ellen giggled. “Just say it straight: you’re afraid I’ll break our promising rookies.”

  “As long as you uand.”

  “No worries, Ronron. I’ll be a good girl and only toy with the rest of you.” Ellen smiled like an angel. “You went out of your way t me here, on a day I didn’t even pn visiting the club. So don’t worry, I’ll make sure you all have a f~u~n time today~”

  “... great.” Aron sighed. “Anyway, here’s the briefing of the first match. The rookie on your side is Lars, a Carry pyer.”

  “Like I care.” Ellen shrugged. “Just tell me who’s the puy oher team, so I won’t bully him.”

  “The rookie on my team is Julia, pying Mid.”

  “Oh, my!” Ellen covered her mouth. “Julia? A girl?”

  “I don’t know about you, but I’ve never met a boy named Julia. Yes, it’s a girl.”

  “My, a girl actually survived the first two rounds? So, it means she isn’t a chub and she knows a thing or two about Cssmancers., what a delightful surprise~ Wait, don’t tell me there are even mirls who made it?”

  “No, she’s the only ohere were three mirls initially, but they were eliminated in the earlier rounds.”

  “Hic.” Ellen shook her head. “This entry exam is so mean to us girls. Most girls only start pying Cssmancers around my age, no way they pass this Spartan exam on the first year. And. I don’t even want to tou how they must physically pete against boys in the first round. Did you ever see E lessons girls get? It’s like they’re designed for 80 year old hags.”

  “You’re wele to bee the captain and ge the rules as you see fit.”

  “Nah, I’ll leave that hassle to Wardy.” Ellen crossed her arms. “Alright, I decided. Let me on girl’s team, I’ll examine her.”

  “Excuse me?” Aron raised an eyebrow.

  “My, suffering from hearing loss at ye? I said I’ll test the girl.”

  “What game are y to py here?” Aron frowned. “Pn to cheat her through the exam?”

  “Heh, as if.” Ellen smirked. “Hoy, I do think you could just let the gal join after she’ve e this far. But, I’m not gonna bother w for that, I’m not that sweet of a person.”

  “Then what’s your i?”

  “I just wanna check her out, as a fellow girl who went through this circus you call ‘exam’. You’ve already dragged me into this nonsense, so the least you do is let me have some fun.”

  “Sorry, ’t do.” Aron decred. “I’ve been adjusting the teams the whole day due to Howard’s absehe lineups finally look banced, so I’m not ging them.”

  “My, how deligent you are, cap.” Ellen cpped her hands and smiled. “But, please ge it. Like, right now. Or, maybe I’ll also feel ‘uhe weather’, teehee~”

  “You’re insufferable sometimes, you know that?”

  “You know you love it, sweetie.”

  “You really put me on the spot here.” Aron sighed deeply as he checked his notes. “Hrm, maybe I trade you for Trever and have you py Carry on the girl’s team.”

  “Nope, rejected.” Ellen crossed her arms. “I told you already, I don’t y Carry if Wardy isn’t supp. Keep me a Jungler, ok thanks.”

  “You’re sure making this difficult.”

  “A difficult woman is a good woman, remember that.” Ellen smiled. “Also, I like it how you’re firading me for someone like Trever, but you won’t trade pces with me yourself. You’re pying Jungler on that team, aren’t you?”

  “That I do.”

  “So what, that’s your way of saying I’m not your match as a fellow Jungler?”

  “There’s a reason I’m the team’s Jungler, you know.”

  “Yeah, of course there is.” Ellen nodded. “It’s because you’re the captain and decide everything. Oh, and because all our Carries are trash, so I’m stuck pying Carry to make up for it.”

  “Hey now.” Aron frowned. “Trever is a better Carry than you when he’s at his best.”

  “Yeah, sure. And he’s worse than a Bronze V at his worst, please Ronron.” Ellen shook her head. “Oh, now I get it! You’re abusing your authority to hit on younger girls, aren’t you? That’s why you want to py on the girl’s team so badly, how shrewd~”

  “I have no i in that...” Aron started developing a headache.

  “Right, of course you don’t. For a serious guy like you, about the only girlfriend you’d ever have is Trever.”

  “Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t swing that way.” Aron sighed deeply. “Alright already, I’ll switch pces with you.”

  “My, aren’t you a charmer. Thanks, darling~” Ellen blew him a kiss.

  “You better take this seriously, the girl’s fate is in your hands now.”

  “Yes, sir.” Ellen saluted . With this, it was decided Ellen and Trever were going to supervise Julia, whereas Aron and Gilbert were going to supervise Lars.

  A short while ter, Lars and Julia learheir exams were scheduled for the exact same time. To be more precise: they were going to face each other as enemies!

  “What we gonna do? This is the worst.” Julia hung her head.

  “Nah, don’t worry, dude.” Lars shrugged. “Acc to Yuel, it’s not about winning. We just gotta do our best and it gonna be A-okay!”

  “I sure hope so.” Julia bit her nails. How could this happen? Of all the oppos that were left, they just had to pit her against Lars. How could she py her best now? If she were to get in Lars’s way during the match, it might result in him failing the exam. He’d never five her for that, it’d be the end! Game H!

  “My, what’s going on here? Enemies exging information? Suspicious~”

  “E-Eh!?”

  “Whoa! Where did ya e from!?”

  Lars and Julia jumped when a girl popped up beside them.

  “My, treating me like a ghost? How rude.” The girl made an offended face, but quickly switched to a pyful smile. “July? I call you July, right?”

  “Um, sure.” Julia instinctively took a step back. What’s with this girl?

  “o meet you, I’m Ellen.” The girl, Ellen, grabbed Julia’s hand and shook it, Julia didn’t even have a ce to resist. “I’m in charge of your exam, so let’s get along~”

  “Oh, o-okay.” Julia nodded like a robot. It was hard to believe this weirdo was gonhe examiner, but Julia tensed up regardless. She had no idea what was going on, but for now she had to stay on Ellen’s good side.

  “Sorry, but I’ll be stealing yirlfriend for a while~” Ellen wi Lars as she casually pced a hand on Julia’s shoulder.

  “A-Ah, e aren’t really d-dating or anything.” Julia trembled and her cheeks burned.

  “Is that so? My bad, teehee.” Ellen pyfully stuck out her tongue.

  “Is Lars here?” A senior peeked out of a nearby room.

  “ing!” Lars turned around and lightly jogged toward the seniood luck, July!”

  “Y-You too!” Julia did her best to muster a smile, despite being overrun by dread. Oh god, she SO didn’t want to take this exam! Until the very st moment, she hoped somebody would pop up and say the schedule ged, so she wouldn’t have to py against Lars. As, reality was a cruel bitch.

  Ohe door closed and Lars disappeared from view, Ellen turo Julia with a gleeful smile. “You’re head over heels for him, aren’t you?”

  “T-That’s not your business, hmph.” Julia turned away and crossed her arms.

  “My, so once your boyfriend is gone, you stop ag like a good girl? How cute~”

  “Just what’s your deal anyway?” Julia shot a gre.

  “How aggressive~ Don’t get me wrong, I’m n to pick a fight.” Ellen cpped her hands. “Finding a girl who pys Cssmancers at ye is harder than finding a uni, so let’s get along, as fellow Cssmancer Girls.”

  “That sure has a sad ring to it.”

  “I knht? Imagihis: I was the only girl in the club during my first year, the other fourteen were all guys.”

  “My dolences.” Julia lowered her arms. Ellen was an oddball, but it didn’t seem like she meant any harm.

  “As your senior in life, I’ll give you oip: don’t suck up to the man you wan. Py hard to get and make him beg for your attention.”

  “Uh-huh...” Julia made a face. What “senior in life”? Aren’t you like a year or two older than me?

  “Now that I think about it,” Ellen pced a finger on her lip. “Yoing up against your boyfriend in the exam, aren’t you? Talking about bad luck, you’re like Romeo and Juliet.”

  “D-Don’t jinx it please!” Just when Julia finally maet about that dreadful fact, it got shoved into her face all ain. “Just to make sure: losing the match doesn’t mean failing the exam, right? Please tell me it doesn’t!”

  “My, what a worrywart.” Ellen giggled. “Rex, winning and losing don’t matter, you just gotta put on a good show. If you both do well, you and your boyfriend pass the exam together.”

  “Thank goodness.” Julia sighed in relief. “Also, I told you he’s not my boyfriend.”

  “Not your boyfrie, right?”

  “Heh, well.” Julia smiled.

  “My, you finally smiled.” Ellen smiled from ear to ear. “I was w what kind of weird girl pys Cssmancers seriously at ye, but turns out she’s quite a catch. A maiden in love is a truly beautiful thing.”

  “Heh, would you stop teasing me already?” Even though Julia said that, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling along. Something about Ellen’s feisty attitude was iious.

  “Alright, alright.” Ellen winked. “Let’s get started with the exam before they yell at me~”

  Ellehe way to the examination room. Three boys waited for them there. Acc to Ellen, they were members of the Cssmancers club and were going to be Julia’s teammates. As she feared, they were going to py a match against Lars’s team. Brrr.

  “Hey there, I’m Trever.” The boy sitting besides Julia stretched a hand. “I’m in charge of your exam together with Ellen.”

  “You just call him Trash.” Ellen added with a shrug “Also, hands off.” She spped his hand. “She already got a boyfriend, so go dig somewhere else, loser.”

  “Ahaha, oddess is as lovely as ever...” Trever smiled awkwardly. “I didn’t mean anything by it, really. Was just trying to help the rookie rex.”

  “How about you help her rex by shutting your mouth?” Ellen smiled like an angel.

  Holy shit, that’s harsh. Julia gulped. o self: never get on Ellen’s bad side.

  “The banning started.” A teammate announced.

  “My, already?” Ellen gasped. “July dear, do you have any idea how the drafting system works?”

  “Of course.” Julia nodded. “The teams take turns banning and pig csses.”

  “My, you sure know your Cssmancers!” Ellen smiled. “You py Ranked?”

  “Yeah, I’m Pt-” Julia stopped herself. Should she spill the beans about being Ptinum IV? Ptinum was sidered a pretty high rank for somebody her age, so it’d tell everybody she had quite the experiend they might expect the world from her. If she failed to live up to these high expectations, that’d reflect poorly on her score.

  “Obviously Yuel and Lars carried her, even a monkey get to Ptinum that way.” Gregory’s mog words ate away at her. As strongly as she wao deny them, deep down she was worried. Without Lars and Yuel beside her, was she really a Ptinum pyer in her ht? She never pyed Ranked alone, so she had no idea how she pared to other Ptinum pyers.

  “I pyed Ranked a little.” Julia averted her eyes as she answered Ellen. It was best to py safe here, there was no reason to blurt unnecessary things.

  “My, how impressive. This makes things easier.” Ellen took out a checklist for the exam. “Let’s see, let’s see. You take charge of the banning to earn some points, or you leave everything to me. What do you say?”

  “Do I lose points if I ban poorly?”

  “Yes, you do, my dear.” Ellen answered. “In case you decide to take over the reins, I’ll have no choice but to grade you for it. If you aren’t up for the challenge, you always leave it to me.”

  “ I take a moment to think about it?”

  “Of course, take your time. There’s no rush.”

  “Thanks.” Julia took a deep breath. Banning, huh?

  While pying Cssmancers with the boys throughout the summer, Yuel always hahe banning for them. He was the most knowledgeable in the group, so they left everything to him, he sometimes even picked their csses for them. Thus, Julia never had a ce to ban anything herself.

  However, that wasn’t to say she was clueless about banning. She always closely watched Yuel’s banning and asked questions when something didn’t sit right. She even swallowed her pride and asked him to coach her about drafting, all for the sake of eventually surpassing him and being Lars’s main partner in Cssmancers.

  Thus, she had robust theoretical knowledge about banning, but zero practical experience. Was that enough to take the risk and try her hand at banning in this exam? There was the danger of losing some points, but she should be able to deliver an “alright” impression at least, especially sihe examiners had no idea she tinum pyer. To pass this final round, she desperately had to get her hands on any points avaible.

  Only three didates were going be selected from the final round. There was no hell they’d pick her over Lars or Yuel, so, in truth, there was only one spot left for her. There were like 20 other didates and she had to beat them all. Was she really going to surpass them by merely showing her skill ich?

  On top of sg points via smart banning, there was another point of i. The point of the match wasn’t to win, it was to “put on a good show”, as Ellen put it. By taking charge of the banning, Julia could ban all the pesky csses she had trouble dealing with, thus increasing her ces of having a smoame. In addition, she’d be able to ily help Lars, by not banning his best Carry csses. That’d give him maximum flexibility in his picks and allow him to py his best.

  “My, o worry your pretty little head so much about it. Just leave it to-”

  “I’ll do it.” Julia stated. “Please let me do it.”

  “Hmm.” Ellen examined Julia for a moment. “Alright, sweetie. You look fident, so go ahead.”

  Julia started by banning Shadow Walker, the most dangerous assassin css in the game. From there, she tinued by banning mage csses she had no iion of pig herself. She focused on the Mid Lane mages who had no obvious ters she was aware of. Her goal was to er the enemy Mid Laner into pig a css she knew how to ter, so she could pick said ter and do well against them in ne.

  Making bans which beed only her robably going to make things harder for the rest of the team, but she couldn’t care less. This exam wasn’t about winning as a team, but about Julia’s ability as an individual pyer. Besides, they were all club members, right? So, they were way more experiehan her and should be able to deal with it. In fact, she was the only one oeam with a huge disadvantage, since her ne oppo was most likely going be a superior petitive pyer. She hese calcuted bans if she wao have any ce at all.

  “Hmm~ I see what you’re doing there, girl.” Ellen giggled. “You’re only banning Mid csses to get an edge on your ne oppo, right?”

  “Eh!?” Julia gasped. Oh god, her pn was pletely exposed! “Um, t-that’s...”

  “Atta girl!”

  “Eh?”

  “You know that your enemy is going to be strong, so you outsmart them. That’s a smart girl.” Ellen smiled and patted Julia’s head.

  “T-Thanks.” Julia smiled awkwardly. Phew, she was safe. In a real petitive match, this sort of banning robably going be frowned upon, but Ellen was very supportive. Ellen gave the impression she was a big shot in the club, so having her as an ally was very reassuring.

  Eventually, Julia’s ne oppo picked Beastmaster. It was a quirky css, which relied on spawning minions instead of using high damage spells. By applying the knowledge she absorbed from Yuel, she easily tered Beastmaster by pig Pyromancer.

  “My, you picked it without batting an eye.” Ellen blinked. “Why Pyromancer?”

  “Pyromaruggles against css that e it, but otherwise it has some of the stro spells in the game.” Julia expined matter-of-factly. “Beastmaster doesn’t have any ged damage or zoning tools, so Pyromancer is a safe pick here. Also, our Carry picked Pirate, an ability-based Carry who takes lohan most to start doing some real carrying. So, Pyromancer help in that department if I i a little into attack speed.”

  “Su eborate expnation, it’s like you were reading from a textbook.”

  “Haha, thanks...” Holy, it stung. Julia knew all too well she just parroted information she received from Yuel. Yeah, she used a textbook answer alright. But, was that bad? Everybody had to start somewhere. Right now, the best she could was to to parrot Yuel, but one day she’d be able to e up with her own answers.

  Focus, focus! She shook her head. She couldn’t let small things like that distract her right now, she was in the middle of an important exam. All that mattered was that she got an edge over her oppo, regardless of the means she used. To beat the other 20 didates, she had to put on her absolute best performand awe all her seniors.

  Once all the csses had beeed, the match which was going to decide Julia’s and Lars’s fates was about to begin.