The closer Yuel and Lars drew to Lv.50, the harder the matches became. To ba their party, they were matched against strong pairs and trios. There were even times when the whole eeam remade, meaning all the enemies were coordinated.

  To maintain a good win ratio at this high level, Yuel and Lars had to execute finer pys than ever.

  “Let’s go, dude!” Lars charged toward the enemy. His HP was low, but he trusted his parto follow up with the appropriate CC.

  “Eh!? W-Wait!” Yuel flinched. Weren’t they going to retreat!? Sure, the enemy Pirate was fleeing, but he was healthy with 50% HP. Lars barely had 10% HP, there was no way he’d survive more than two hits from the Pirate. Attag was suicide!

  Wait, I think I see it. Yuel took a moment to analyze the ret events. The Pirate had just used Backfire on, which meant he didn’t have any escapes right now. The a which he fired the on was far from optimal, so for a brief moment he found himself in a bad position. If Yuel took a couple of steps forward and froze the Pirate with Ice Coffin, then Lars could barrage the frozen Pirate to death. They’d make a huge eba the match!

  As, by the time Yuel finished processing all of that - it was too te. He missed the brief opportunity for exeg that py and couldn’t keep up with Lars’s pace. In other words: Lars was charging aloo his death! Ugh!

  If he dies here it’s all over for us...! Yuel had to prevent the worst case sario by all means! Therefore, he froze Lars with Cryo-Freeze. Lars was rooted in pce, uo pursue the enemy any further. But, at least he was alive.

  “Gah, he got away!” Lars pouted.

  “My bad.” Yuel apologized. “I figured out what you were going for, but I didn’t make it in time. You made the right py there.”

  This wasn’t the first time it happened. By pying with Yuel every day, Lars also learned how to punish enemies’ mistakes. On the rge scale, his ability to punish mistakes paled pared to Yuel’s. However, when it came to small fights, he could make amazing split-sed decisions which even Yuel missed.

  In the end, they lost that match. If Yuel acted faster, they could had taken out the Pirate and would had swung the mat their favor. He truly missed a golden opportunity there.

  “Sorry, I don’t know how I missed that py.” Yuel bit his lip. Even though nobody bmed him, knowing that the team lost because of his mispy was depressing.

  “Hey, look over here for a sed.” Lars said.

  “Hm? Wha- AH!?” Yuel flinched. A fist! A fist came flying straight into his face!

  He raised his arms areated, nearly falling off his chair. He closed his eyes and braced himself for a strong impact... whiever came.

  “Eh?”

  “So slow, dude!” Lars’s punch stopped right in front of Yuel’s nose. “If I tried to hit ya for real, your nose would be inside yo brain by now.”

  “What was that for?” Yuel frowned.

  “Just testing your rea time. You’re real slow as hell, yo.”

  “Sorry for not practig self-defense.” Yuel made a face. “But I admit, reag quickly isly my stro point. Everybody have a weakness or two.”

  “Tch, it must be because you’re too used to chess. They give you like 5 years to make a single move, right?”

  “No, there’s actually a time lim-”

  “And what’s with all these games?” Lars flipped through Yuel’s drawer as if he owhe pce. “Almost everything you got is turn-based! Don’t you have any a games? Where are your shooters, dude?”

  “I don’t py shooters.”

  “Huh? Why’s that?”

  “Because... I always die without achieving much.” Yuel averted his eyes.

  “Heh, lemme guess: You’re one of ‘em noobs who spray bullets all over the pce they run into somebody, right?”

  “Yeah, my aim isn’t that good.”

  “Dude, please. That’s not a problem of aiming, you’re just startled and don’t react fast enough. It’s like how you took a freakin’ millennium to reay punch just now. I could have scored like fifty headshots in that time.”

  “Isn’t it on seo be surprised by an ued attack?”

  “Sure, but you’re supposed to brace yourself before the attack hits you, not after.”

  “Well sorry, but that punch was too fast for me.”

  “Nah, I’m tellin’ ya it’s your rea that’s slow. Hmm.” Lars crossed his arms. “Oh, I know! It must be because you’re holed up at home the whole day!”

  “Excuse me? We both spend most our time on Cssmancers.”

  “Yeah, but I work out in the ms and evenings.”

  “Seriously?” Yuel was taken aback. “I thought you’re pying Cssmancers first thing in the m.”

  “Nah, I begin my ms by jogging two kilometers.”

  “Is that so. Well, you’re a basketball ace, after all.” Yuel o himself. ”Of course you’d keep yourself in shape.”

  “Nah, that’s not it.” Lars shook his head. “We didn’t even jog in the club, we always sprinted like crazy. The coach even told us to not jog too much because it develops the wrong muscles or some shit.”

  “Guess that makes sense.” Yuel vaguely remembered reading something like that while researg basketball. “So why jog then?”

  “It’s a good way to keep myself in shape. And when you’re in shape, you do literally everythier. You eve to punches faster, yo! You should totally try jogging too!”

  “I’ll pass. I’m not athletiough for that.” Yuel had enough bitter memories fr sports at school. Now that he had Cssmancers, he didn’t want anything to do with physical exercise ever again. He ying an esport, not a sport.

  “Don’t worry! Jogging is easy! You did that in PE, right?”

  “You mean walking? Sure did.”

  “Geh, you’re on of these zy bums, aren’t ya?” Lars made a disappointed face. “Betcha didn’t even try running.”

  “I tried a few times. Always ran out of breath and almost colpsed.”

  “Lame! So me! And you call yourself a man!?”

  “You know, being a boy doesn’t immediately turo a Hercules like you.”

  “Pft, haha! At least the rea speed of your tongue is pretty good!” Lars took a deep breath after ughing for a whole minute. “Anyway, remember that pro match you showed me the other day? Remember that cool py by the Carry and Support? The one you said lit-sed decision.”

  “Yes, of course.” Yuel nodded. It was a brilliant py which was stu both of their heads.

  The Carry and Support, Elf and Knight, were running away with low HP. But then, they noticed how the Warlock pursuing them got a little too close. It was just for a moment that the Warlock’s positioning oor, he was definitely going to correct that right away. It was just a matter of a couple timeters, really.

  heless, the Elf and Knight immediately turned around to punish that tiny error. The Knight used Blink to instantly teleport behind the Warlock, which was only possible thanks to the Warlock’s slightly poor position. If the Warlock were just two steps behind, Blink’s range wouldn’t had reached all the way behind his back.

  Right after telep, the Knight activated Shield Bash without giving the Warloy time to react. He rammed his shield into the Warlock’s back, stunning and pushing the Warlock closer to the Elf.

  Oher side, the Elf was already prepared with Elven Sight, a skill which ged his POV to first person. It granted him a zoom in aehe range of his shots just enough to hit the pushed Warlock.

  This otentially game swinging moment, so the camera switched to the Elf’s first person view for extra drama. Needless to say, the entators and the audience were going wild.

  To take down the Warlock, the Elf had to quickly nd 5 shots. Was that even feasible sidering the retively short stun of Shield Bash? The Elf didn’t waste a single moment! He fired the first arrow while the Warlock was sill in the middle of being pushed.

  The first arrow hit. The sed arrow also hit. The third hit. The fourth hit as well! That was it! One more arrow and the Elf would finish it! He he arrow and was about to draw-

  The Warlock broke free of the stun and rolled toward the Elf! He performed that roll the very instant the stun ended, he undoubtedly spammed that and the whole time he was stuhis roll was a smart py which threw a wren the Elf’s pns!

  Knowing that he had no ce of esg, the Warlock chose to roll straight toward the enemy. The Elf was so low on HP that a single basic attack would prove fatal. If the Elf’s arrow missed, the Warlock would be able to nd the finishing blow! It’d be over!

  After firing four arrows in a row into the same exact spot, would the Elf it the mistake of firing the fifth arrow to the same pce?! With the arrow already nocked while the Warlock was rolling, nobody could tell how this fight would end!

  The Elf didn’t misfire. Even under such pressure, he wasn’t tempted to release the winning arrow too soon. He carefully watched the Warlock’s movements and shot down the Warlo the middle of the roll. In such a tight spot, the Elf and Knight turhe situation around and swang the game ieam’s favor!

  Lars shouted like a fanboy during the Elf’s st shot, but Yuel was more impressed by the how this whole e started. The Knight’s decision to teleport behind the Warlock was simply genius. It lit-sed py which required an inhumaion speed. It was also extremely risky, as evei mistake would had offered the enemy a double kill on a silver ptter. All these factors bio create a breathtaking high-risk high-rey.

  “Doesn’t that kinda remind you the py I tried this match?” Lars asked.

  “That’s true, I guess.” Yuel averted his eyes. Even though the circumstances were quite different, Lars also attempted a high-risk high-rey which was based on the enemy’s mispositioning. I see, so that’s where he got the idea for that risky py.

  Even though Yuel also watched the same pro py and even analyzed it iail, he failed to execute a simir py himself. It wasn’t like he cked the game knowledge to notice that py. No, he did in faotice the py. But, unlike Lars, he wasn’t fast enough to execute it.

  “Now tell me for real.” Lars stared deep into Yuel’s eyes. “Think you could ever pull such a sick py the way you’re now?”

  “Who knows. These pros are adults with lots of experience. Once I get that far, then surely...”

  “Really? Even though you said that py requires ‘inhumaion speed’?”

  “Practid experience help with exeg pys faster.”

  “You really think they practiced this one super specific sario? Dude, please.”

  “That’s...” Yuel bit his lip. More experience would definitely help him execute on pys faster, but it wouldn’t help with crazy pys which were born in the heat of the moment. That kind of brilliant py might had been forever impossible for Yuel.

  “Remember I told you how Tai’s brother pys Cssmancers petitively in high school?” Lars asked. “You know Ivy High, right? It has the stro high school team in the region. I actually heard a little about their training regime from Tai.”

  “Oh?” Yuel’s eyes lit up. “They do anything special?”

  “They jog, among things.”

  “Eh?”

  “They must work urly to stay in shape, yo. They even have two coaches: a Cssmancers coad a fitness coach.”

  “You’re kidding...” Yuel thought he left physical exerg behind when he discovered Cssmancers, but it returo haunt him again in the worst ossible. Ugh.

  “For the dudes on the main roster the training is like seriously strict, yo.” Lars expined. “They gotta jog at least two kilometers every day.”

  “Oh, so that’s why you...”

  “Yup.” Lars grinned. “I wanna joiroeam when I get to high school, so I’m getting ready for that day!”

  “Is that so.” Yuel hung his head, uo handle how dazzling Lars looked right now. While Yuel was busy leveling up his at the whole day just to get into Ranked, Lars was thinking far beyond and reparing himself for the petitive se. Yuel felt pletely beaten.

  “If the best team values exerg so much, then it must be truly important...” Yuel mumbled. “But, unlike you, I’ve always been bad at sports.”

  “Bad at sports? And who exactly decided that? Anybody jog.”

  “Did you ever see my PE grades? They’re abysmal.”

  “And what exactly did you do about it, yo?” Lars sneered. “Lemme guess: You read some dumb manuals to make up for brawn with brains, right?”

  “I... yeah.” Yuel hung his head. That’s exactly right. Whenever he faced a difficulty with sports, he sulted books and oicles. After running out of breath during a jog, he studied how to improve his running form and how to breathe correctly. When he performed poorly at soccer, he researched positions, roles and team strategies.

  “That’s all shit, yo! You gotta exercise if you was! You think I was born holding a basketball or something!?” Lars grabbed Yuel’s colr. “Just look at me! I bet you thought I’d never learn how to py smart in Cssmancers, right? But I kept pying and pying and pying, always listening to your freakin’ advice! I may not be smartest dude in the world, but even an idiot learn stuff if you drill it into him!”

  “That’s true...” Yuel bit his lip. Indeed, Lars barely made any gring mistakes these days. He built the right items, retreated when necessary and sometimes even made sophisticated pys. He was a pletely different person pared to the Lars from one month ago.

  “So don’t give me that shit, yo! Don’t just give up without trying anything!” Lars shook Yuel. “I y oro high school team. But, even more than that, I y on that team with YOU!”

  “With me...?” Yuel’s eyes went wide.

  “Yeah, dude! We gonna form the stro duo! The stro bo of Carry and Support, yo!”

  “Ah.” Yuel trembled. Why? How was he supposed to react? Something about Lars’s words set his insides on fire. “But why? Why me?”

  “Huh? Isn’t that obvious?” Lars smiled. “Your Support is sid you taught me tons of stuff about the game. But most importantly: we’re friends!”

  “Friends...” Yuel stared at Lars with a dumb face. “Friends”? What exactly were “friends”? He realized the word felt alien to him.

  Was there ever anybody Yuel truly called a “friend”? There was none. Nobody at all. He wasly a loner, but he was alone.

  He talked to some of his cssmates from time to time, they even pyed Cssmaogether. But were they friends? No really. In the end, they gave up on him and he gave up on them.

  He always thought they’d bee friends by pying a team sport together. Right, he... he wished for that, that’s why he was so drawn toward team sports. Even more so than peting against others or outwitting them, what he really wished for was to py with other kids, to py with friends.

  That’s why he felt so terrible when John gave up on Cssmancers because of him. He pyed lots of Cssmancers with John and they shared some hobbies. He was sure they could bee friends, but John gave up on him. Everybody gave up on him.

  But Lars was different. Even when Yuel was trying to run away, Lars didn’t give up on him. Lars kept reag out, no matter what excuses Yuel gave. A true friend, huh. Perhaps.

  “Whoa, what’s with the silent treatment?” Lars blinked. “Don’t tell me I’m the only who thought we’re friends!?”

  “H-Heh, who knows.” Yuel forced a sarcastic smile while averting his eyes. His heart squeezed and his eyes turned gssy.

  “Hey, are ya g, dude? Sorry if I yelled too much...” Lars scratched his head.

  “No, it’s not that.” Yuel covered his eyes. “I was just thinking of the hell awaiting me.”

  “What hell?”

  “The hell that is exerg.” Yuel smiled. “I don’t promise anything, but I’ll give it a shot.”

  “Really!? Cool! Let’s run two kilometers right away!”

  “Wha-!? W-Wait!” Yuel was dragged outside. Two kilometers!? Is he trying to kill me!?

  It was absurd! Even so, Yuel secretly smiled because he wasn’t alone anymore. With such a trusty friend by his side, he’d surely be able to endure anything... or so he thought.

  “Haa... ugh... I’m... I’m dying.” Yuel panted and wobbled as he tried to run. All his muscles screamed from pain.

  “What the heck? We barely covered 400 meters, yo! Lame!”

  “That... That’s it... I’m done for... Ah!” Yuel’s shaky legs gave in.

  “The heck ya doing, dude?” Lars grabbed Yuel’s shoulder before Yuel crashed into the ground. Phew, that was close.

  “Haa... I... I ’t keep up with this pace...” Yuel was about to pass out. “I ’t do this after all. I quit.”

  “Hey, you just started! You gonna run away again!?”

  “Heh, just kidding.” Yuel smiled. “I just o lower the pace because I’m not a sports beast like you. But I’ll do it properly... starting tomorrow.” He added after barely getting bae by leaning on Lars’s shoulder.

  Exerg was going to be hell, but he promised to stick with it. He, too, wao attend Ivy High and py oro high school team in the region. And more than that, he wao py on that team together with Lars. He couldn’t allow himself to fall behind.

  For the first time, he felt like he was w hard for more than just his own sake. He had a friend with whom he shared the dream of climbing to the top of Cssmancers. If they kept w hard, they’d surely reach the high school petitive se and the pro se that id beyond it.

  One day, they might even bee the kind of pros who made breathtaking pys and inspired younger geions. But until that day, Yuel first had to defeat his greatest enemy yet: jogging! Ugh.