Friday arrived and the match for deg the new first string on them.

  “We'll use the puter rooms,” Howard handed Yuel a key.

  “How did you get the keys?” Yuel asked.

  “Let's just say I borrowed them, alright?”

  Borrowed. Even though we're supposed to keep a low profile about being at school without our advisor. Sure. Yuel wao retort, but that didn't really matter. Horobably knew where to get the keys because StormBlitz held their entrance exams in these puter rooms. That’s where Yuel met and fought Howard for the first time. And now, yet again, they'll be g with each other in these same rooms.

  “Good luck,” Howard smiled and stretched his hand.

  “You too,” Yuel accepted the handshake with a smile, but immediately applied some force behind it because Howard did the same. The handshake and smiles were just a sportsmanship formality. In truth, they both wished for the other to crash and burn in the uping mateither of them was allowed to lose today.

  After a tug of war that felt like it sted five minutes, her of them mao crush the other's hand and they let go. That's it. From this moment on, they were sworn enemies. No pity and no mercy. They silently approached their respective doors a inside.

  The two puter rooms were adjat to each other, a single wall separated between them. Perhaps the two rooms were a single one in the past and were separated to make it look like this school had two puter rooms. That’d expin why ea was too small to house a whole css and students had to work in duos and trios.

  Whatever the case, this arra of two rooms was ve for them today. There were even five monitors already lined up in a row, just waiting to be used for a Cssmancers match. Everything looked exactly the same as during the entrance exam.

  Yuel booted the five puters and opened Cssmancers on all of them. He and Howard anized everything by entering all game ts into the same room. Physically, each team was going to be in a separate room, but virtually, ihe game, they were all packed together into one spaothing new about that cept, but it felt funny somehow.

  Before long, the other team members arrived. Howard and Yuel arrived early to set everything up but everybody was told to get here at 9 am.

  “Yo,” Lars greeted everybody by fshing his teeth. “Ready to rek these dudes?” He raised his hand.

  “Of course,” Yuel also raised his hand for a high-five. They were born ready for this.

  “I'm going to py my best too,” Julia interjected.

  “Look who’s all ya fired up,” Lars grinned and huddled both of them. “We gonna do this, yo!”

  “Definitely.” “We got this.”

  Roi and Dan shortly joihem. Dan barely made it in time, whereas Roi was te by three mihere always had to be that one kid who es te, right?

  Anyway, everybody was here now. The stage was set. The match was about to begin!

  “About the first game,” Howard addressed his team. “We might lose because I pn to let them use Trickshooter.”

  “Kek,” Gregory adjusted his gsses. “I see you like to live dangerously.”

  “Sounds like an unnecessary gamble,” Gilbert said. “Reason?”

  “Simple,” Howard said. “We all agree their team gon its peak if Lars gets Trickshooter, right? Which means: if we beat them in that dition, it's as good as winning the ech right there. Think of the mental blow that'd deliver.”

  “Evil,”. Gregory smirked, his eyes full of respect. He must have been takial notes about this tactic.

  “But,” Gilbert objected. “If we lose, they'll be one game away from winning. You sure that's worth it? I hought you, of all people, would ever suggest taking such a big risk.”

  “Sometimes, you have to take a calcuted risk to increase your ces of winning.”

  “Sounds like something Yuel would say,” Gilbert raised an eyebrow. “But, if you're sure...”

  There were no further objes. Calling this idea “bizarre” didn't do it justice, but everybody trusted Howard's judgment. Over the past week, he has dispyed an unrivaled ability tarengthen ahe team. He paid attention to the smallest quirks of each teammate and advised them how to cover their oints, how to py without dying in difficult situations and even which csses suited them best in different team positions.

  Howard's way of doing things oftehe team to victory in Ranked, even against strong pre-made teams filled with “golden names”. These guys were either active/former petitive students or maybe eve pros. Even so, with Howard holding the reins, the team felt strong and successfully ground most oppos into submission.

  Therefore, even though nobody quite uood why the ever-careful Howard would go for such a dangerous gamble, everybody was going to follow his lead.

  Nobody seems too ed. Alright. Howard o himself. As long as this pn wasn't going to cause distrust, it was worth a shot. It's alright that nobody uood the full scope of Howard's iions this time. In fact, it’s better this way.

  “Something Yuel would suggest”, huh. Howard smiled meaningfully. At first ghe idea of taking a big gamble to potentially reap huge bes was very Yuel-like. In fact, maybe Yuel really inspired this line of thinking in Howard.

  However, there was one fual differeween Howard’s idea and Yuel’s tactics. What Howard was trying to achieve here was radically different from gaining “a better position” in a game. Yuel probably couldn’t think in such a way yet because he was still a greenhor came to petitive experience.

  “Tai,” Hoatted Taison’s shoulder. “Your ability to 1v1 Lars is going to py a huge role this game. Think you handle his Trickshooter?”

  “Kahaha, no problem!” Taison pumped a fist. “I'm the 1v1 champ! I beat scrubs a da pizza!”

  “A very questioivation, but good enough for me.” Howard nodded. Let's see how far he go. I'm not going to t on it, but if he beat Lars in 1v1 that'd give us a real ce to win this gamble. If he loses, that's good in its own way too.

  “S,” Howard turory. “Do you feel like pying hardcore defense?”

  “Eh, do I have to?” Gregory made a face. “I mean, if you tell me to, I’ll do it, but...”

  “Nah, that’s alright. Py what you think works.”

  “Sweet! I wanna go for something more banced, like Knight.”

  “No problem.” This first game will ge your mind, then. Howard left it at that. F a difficult brat like Gregory py something he didn’t like was only going to put a damper on his motivation and will create a rift ieam. It’ll be a huimes better when Gregory chooses to turtle of his own accord. That’s one be to reap from this crucial first game.

  After Howard addressed each member, nobody was ed about the Trickshamble anymore.... save for Howard himself. No matter how he twisted it, this pn still harbored huge risks. Losing a game in a best-of-three match was like putting one foot in the grave.

  Even if they lose, they’ll gain many bes. Ultimately, they should win more than they lost. In the long run, it’ll be the superior strategy... it had to be.

  This isn’t good for my health. Howard sighed. Evei risk could prove fatal, and failure was absolutely not an option today.

  “My,” Ellen leaned on Howard’s back. “You’re such a worrywart.”

  “I’m not worried.”

  “Oh, is that so? Then, pray tell, why are you tapping your foot as if you’re trying to break the floor?”

  “Tch,” Howard looked away. His right leg was really restless, he didn't even notice.

  “You’re not the only one who is good at notig stuff, you know.” Ellely ed her hand around his. “It’s okay, we got this. We’ve been discussing that idea the whole week, remember?”

  “Since when it’s your job to e?”

  “Hehe, what I say? I’m a woman of many talents~” Ellen pyfully rubbed her nose against his arm.

  “And here I thought you’ll be the most worried about this first game. You’re probably going to be a primary target. Sure you survive his Trickshooter?”

  “I have absolute faith my dear knight will protect me~”

  “You gonna make it my responsibility?” Howard sighed with a chuckle. “Alright, let’s begin. No use w about it. We won’t know the result until we py them.”

  With everybody vinced, or at least not ht opposed, Howard’s pn was set in motion.

  “Hey, look!” Lars shoved his finger into Yuel’s monitor. “They left Shooter open!”

  “I see that.” Yuel frowhe first banning phase was over, yet Trickshooter was still avaible and it was Yuel’s turn to pick a css for the team.

  “, dude! Let’s grab it!”

  “Hrm.” Yuel crossed his arms. Why? Why didn’t Howard ban Trickshooter? Everybody knew Lars was expoially stronger when pying Trickshooter. There was no ceivable reason to allow Lars to py Trickshooter.

  Was it some sort of trap? If so, Howard was way too obvious about it. A, it was a very alluring trap, the kind you ’t help but walk into even though you know it’s risky.

  “My, Yuyu is pretty shaken~” Ellen covered her lips as if to muffle ughter.

  “He must be pretty shocked” Howard smiled to himself. So, you hesitate even though I gave you such a great opportunity. Alright, we’re off to a good start.

  Pig Trickshooter should have been a no-brainer for Yuel, yet he took his time. Sure, standard theory cimed that taking Carry as the first pick wasn’t advised and yadda yadda yadda, but that theory didn’t hold to this situation. Lars’s godlike skill with Trickshooter transded any reasic.

  heless, Yuel hesitated. He was wary of what Howard could possibly have in mind to allow this. Yuel will probably still go for Trickshooter in the end, but this hesitation was huge. Howard’s presence already started weighing on Yuel’s mind and that weight will only bee heavier as the game goes on. This was bound to impair Yuel’s judgment at some point.

  I ’t figure it out. Yuel sighed. There were multiple ways to deal with a Trickshooter o none of them was effective enough to hold down a beast like Lars. Maybe Howard and Ellen uimated Lars’s skill? Or rather, they uimated Yuel and Lars as a Bot duo? Perhaps it was Howard’s way of saying “We’ll beat you even with this handicap.”

  “, dude!” Lars insisted. “Gimme a Trickshooter already.” He pretended like he was going to snatch Yuel’s mouse, which made Yuel instinctively grab the mouse.

  Due to the way this mat was set, Yuel had plete authority over the drafting phase. He was the one who’ll pick csses for everybody, so the decision id with him. So, Trickshooter or no Trickshooter?

  “Just to make sure,” Yuel turo Lars. “You py Trickshooter, right? I pretty much banned you from pying it the whole week because I was sure it’ll be banned every game.”

  “No problem,” Lars grinned. “You didn’t let me py it in Ranked, but I still practiced it at home every day.”

  “Seriously?” Yuel blinked. Even though they traiogether from early in the m until te into the night every day, Lars still found time to work on his Trickshooter? Heh, what a guy.

  “Okay, let’s do it then.” Yuel locked-irickshooter. If they think they beat me and Lars with this handicap, be my guests. Surprise me, maybe there’s a ter I haven’t thought of.

  But, there was nothing that resembled a hard ter in the enemy’s picks. Howard's first two picks were Padin and Knight, their Support and Top. Padin was a det ter because he could shut down Trickshooter’s ult with Justice Strike, but it wasn’t the most reliable tactic, especially not against Lars’s inhuman twitch reflexes.

  Afterward, Hoicked Pirate for Carry. Again, nothing unusual and nothing that directly tered Trickshooter.

  Maybe there’s ser strategy in store? Yuel couldn't help but wohere had to be something to it because Howard would ake such a risk for no reason. But, no matter how hard Yuel pondered, it felt like banging his head against a wall. Howard's pn was shroud in mystery.

  Before long, the drafting phase approached its end. Both sides had only one more css to pick, which happeo be the Jungler for both teams.

  Leaving Jungler for st was a calcuted choice by Yuel. With Dan's versatility, it was best to push the Jungler pick to the very end and pick a css which tered the enemy p the best. Oher hand, in Taison's case, there robably no special reason to leave him to st. As a Jungler, low versatility was one of Taison’s most gring fws. He only ever pyed bruisers and never pyed assassins. Therefore, Yuel could pick a Jungler with the assumption that Taison will pick a bruiser.

  “Venomancer seems good here,” Yuel addressed Dan. “What do you think?”

  “Sounds good,” Dan smirked. “If Taison picks a bruiser, they gonna have a pretty tanky p, so taking them down with pertage damage gonna be fun.”

  “Indeed.” Yuel hey have already discussed Venomancer as one of the likely picks for this match. The enemy already had a Padin and a Knight, so together with Taison's bruiser - they'll have three tanky csses. Venomancer was one of the most effective ways to deal with those.

  So, he went for it. Howard smiled wryly. That Venomancer pick clearly factored Taison's tendency to py bruisers. Howard left Taison’s pick for st in hope Yuel wouldn't sider this line of attack, but Yuel gotta be Yuel. Sneaking somebody’s weakness past Yuel was impossible.

  But, you fell into my trap! Howard smirked. I also kaison's weakness, so I made him practice assassins! ...I wish it was like that. He sighed. It's something he really wao do, but it was impossible to pull off, especially not over the span of a single week.

  Taison's love for 1v1 fights caused his fixation on bruisers. Sneaking behind eo burst them down wasn't his style. Instead, he wao fight his enemies face-to-fad take them down via a dispy of strength. As a result, even when he agreed to py assassio Howard's request, Taisoaihe same gung-ho mentality and challenged his eo 1v1s. Needless to say, that didn't turn out well for him.

  To fix Taison's weakness, it was first necessary to ge his mihat was too great of a challenge for Howard, especially with the time limit of a single week. Not to mention that f Taison to practiething he didn't enjoy was only going to hurt his motivation. Howard's hands were tied on that matter.

  “What you want to pick?” Howard asked.

  “Lancer looking hht now,” Taison said without the slightest hint of . So what if pig a busier will py right into the enemy's Venomancer pick? Taison just gonna wree scrubs as usual!

  “Alright,” Howard nodded with a small sigh on the side. This was his team right now, so he had to deal with it. He was the one who came up with this arra in the first pce, so there's nobody else to bme but him. He’ll have to make the best out the hand he dealt himself and to push toward victory despite the odds.

  With the Lancer pick, the drafting phase came to an end. The starter seleatch was about to begin!

  Picks:

  Yuel: Alchemist

  Lars: Trickshooter

  Julia: Eleancer

  Dan: Venomancer

  Roi: Dark Knight

  Howard: Padin

  Ellen: Pirate

  Gilbert: Warlock

  Taison: Lancer

  Gregory: Knight