The fame between the Leopards and StormBlitz came to an end, setting the score to 1-3 in StormBlitz’s favor. If this were a best-of-five match, the Leopards would had lht here and now. They would have been thhly defeated by a pack of greenhorns. For a team of seniors, that fact was nothing short of a disgrace. Jennifer had no idea how to face her teammates.

  A deafening silence desded on the Leopards. Nobody uttered a word even though it’s break time. Actually, nobody eveheir chairs. They all just sat there, repying the events of the previous game in their heads.

  Jennifer bmed the team’s defeat on her poor performance, but she’s not the only one; everybody felt the same. Every member of the Leopards thought ba their mistakes, on what they could have done differently and how they could have brought the team closer to victory with better pys.

  Even Alex was in that crew, despite his attempts to wave everything off. He stared at his own hands in disbelief. Whose hands were those? Had he always beeype to make so many errors in a sich?

  Multiple times throughout the match, he kly what had to be done amidst a difficult situation, but his fingers refused to cooperate. Oime, he directed his Thundercp blink in the wrong dire while hurrying to flee. Aime, he mispced Thuorm when trying to hit the elusive Trickshooter.

  The errors piled up, to the point Alex couldn’t excuse them anymore, not even to himself. Even if he called them “misclicks”, they occurred far too frequently for somebody who pyed for the Leaopards’ sed string. Frankly, it was a disgraceful performance.

  This doom and gloom mood is a no-no. Jennifer pursed her lips and ched her fists. I have to say something. She was the captain, it was her job to pull the team through such difficult times. , stand up! She anded her legs, but she couldn’t pump up any energy.

  What was she supposed to say to the team? They’re as good as defeated and there’s only one more match left. It was all fun and games calling StormBlitz “scrubs” at first, but somehow it ended with the Leopards having their asses hao them by these “scrubs”. She had to admit, the enemy... Yeah, they were strong. Especially, that No-Fucks-Given-Trickshooter.

  What should have been an emergency substitution for the eurned out to be a huge blow for the Leopards. That damn Trickshooter... Gunz, he was a tough oppo. He ossibly the most meically skilled oppo she ever faced, save for Fenrir, the first string’s captain.

  The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. Stop thinking about stupid crap and stand up already! She had to get up and act like her usual fident self, to pull the team forward. But, her body refused to cooperate. She just wao sit here like a scarecrow and mop.

  BAM!

  Gah! My ears! The stage thundered! Everybody felt like a bomb went off iheir eardrums.

  Ugh, so Coach came to talk after all... Jennifer gulped. This was terrible. She gonhe scolding of her lifetime. The whole team will get lectured into another pne of existence.

  After all, they ehe match with a surrehey gave up and quit, instead of fighting to the bitter end. They were supposed to be petitive pyers, a...

  “Heads up, everybody.” Ruez delivered another EAR-SHATTERING CLAP, powerful enough to wake up a person from a a. “You don’t dwell on your defeats when you still have games to py. I believe I taught you that.”

  “Yeah...” Jennifer mumbled and corrected her slumped posture. It table for others to act weak at times, but Jennifer had to retain her dignity regardless of the circumstances. After all, she’s the captain.

  The others followed her example and raised their heads too. Everybody looked a little less dead now. Good, zombie apocalypse averted.

  The only exception was Alex, who looked depressed by the mere fact he was on this stage right now. Well, nothihere.

  “That’s better,” Ruez nodded. “Now, let’s talk about how you pyed, shall we?”

  “What I say?” Jennifer forced a smile. “I pyed like shit, haha...” The sooner she admitted it, the better. But, Coach ignored her fession.

  “First, there’s the drafting phase,” Ruez said. “You pushed your Mid Laner pick to the very end, whiabled postponing the decision of whether to go for a mixup. Who came up with this?”

  “This guy over here,” Jennifer poi Alex. “What a shitty call. I knew we better go with mixup. It worked so damhe game before. If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.”

  “Hmph.” Alex scoffed and turned away.

  “A 'shitty call’? Not at all.” Ruez shook his head. “It was good thinking. This team only got a partial mixup, because some of you have been sg on their mixup practices.” He shot two gres, making the criminals shake like little bunnies. “But, even with this handicap, what you did during drafti your oppo guessing until the very end, almost as if you had a full mixup avaible. Good job, Alex.”

  “Oh,” Alex blinked. “Thanks, I guess.” This was rare. He was usually on the receiving end of criticism, not praise.

  “The one beef I got with your drafting,” Ruez tinued. “Was Jenny pig Pyromancer first. What was that about?”

  “Geh.” Jennifer made a face. Yeah, that was hel dumb. She gered when the enemy banned Alex’s Warlod not her Pyromancer. It’s like they thought Alex was more threatening than her! What’s with that!?

  Yeaaaah, looking ba it, it’s hel embarrassing. She deserved to be smacked for that shit. But, Coach just went on.

  “Beside that,” Ruez tinued. “The drafti in your favor overall. You ter-picked their Aeromancer with Eleancer and made them pick Beastmaster. I believe pig Aero a was their idea of tering Jenny in Mid, so having her py Carry instead defihrew them for a loop.”

  sidering the team’s overwhelmi, Ruez’s words were retively soft. And, that’s the entire point. Before dropping any bombs, he pointed out the brighter sides of their performance.

  Matches weren’t bd white, there’s more to their oute than just victory or defeat. The kids were defeated quite decisively, they eveed to surrendering, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t made any good pys that match.

  Unfortunately, they were too hung up on their “terrible defeat”. Therefore, the first step was to make them realize they made some det pys too. Only after that, they’d be willing to absorb Ruez’s criticism.

  “With all that said, you didn't haheir Beastmaster right.” Ruez tinued. “You deal with a Beastmaster with aggressive ter-jungling, I believe I taught you that.”

  “Yeah...”

  “I just didn’t have any good opportunities...”

  They all mumbled. To ter a Beastmaster, they had to periodically ihe Beastmaster’s side of the jungle and steal their camps. It was suon knowledge even casuals were familiar with it. Yet, the team failed spectacurly.

  “To be fair, some of the bme lies with me,” Ruez admitted. “I didn’t insist you practice many real matches against a Beastmaster. So, I’ll cram that in your training schedule. Be ready to stay for even more after hours.”

  “Eeeeeh? Seriously?” This se was echoed by all members, save for one.

  “Please do!” Jennifer nodded.

  “You see?” Ruez smirked while pointing at Jennifer. “That’s how you're all supposed to embrace this happy news. Take an example from Jenny, boys.”

  “Hmph,” Alex shrugged. “She’s just sug up, as usual.”

  “Or,” Jennifer retorted. “Maybe I really think we need more training. Thought about that-”

  BAM! A loud explosion put ao the bickering. Coach’s booming cps were so cool, yet so terrifying too. Jennifer felt like she’ll lose her hearing if she’s hit with another one of these bombs, so she fell silent right away.

  “Enough is enough,” Ruez said. “Keep your quarrels for ter. We got a strategy meeting to finish here.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Whatever.”

  “Now, where were we?” Ruez tinued. “Right, your early game. You had some problems at the start. The new pyer they subbed in, Gunz. He sure has been giving you trouble from the momeepped on the ne. He even killed Jenny.”

  “Nah, that’s...” Jewisted her lips. “He’s nothing special. There were just some crappy calls on my end. My bad.”

  “Not quite true.” Ruez shook his head. “Gunz turned out to be very skilled and he pys abnormally aggressive, in a way many would sider suicidal. All of that was very uable, so it wasn’t a mistake on your end. You learned your lesson and pyed more safely afterwards, that’s what matters. o beat yourself over it, at least not over your first death. You did make some mistakes ter down the road, but I’ll return to that ter.”

  “Okay.” Jennifer wasirely satisfied, but she nodded for now.

  “Oher hand,” Ruez tinued. “There’s definitely somebody here who should be ashamed of the first time they died to Gunz. Anybody wants to take a guess who that is?”

  Everybody exged gnces. Was it them? Or, the guy o them? Oh boy, please don’t let it be them! When Coach asked this kind of question, 9 out of 10 times it was going to be followed by harsh criticism. A bomb was about to be dropped and it was of the ype.

  Jennifer was already excused from this suspi, so she only looked at others. Rather, she looked at one specific pyer. No, she GLARED at him, as if drilling a hole through his skull.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Alex spoke up. “It’s me, isn’t it?”

  “So, you’re aware,” Ruez nodded. “Jenny is excused because she didn’t know how aggressively Gunz pys. But, you already saw her die, so you had the information. Not to mention, you had Thundercp to safely disengage. What’s your excuse?”

  “I... I misclicked. happen to anybody.”

  “Misclicked, huh. That’s one way to make the mistake sound i.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Alex frowned.

  “Do you recall that 4v3 situatiohe end?” Ruez answered with a question. ”You didn’t reach Gunz with your Thuorm, missing a great opportunity to turables. Another misclick?”

  “Yeah, basically,” Alex said. “He surprised me by suddenly ging dires, so I didn’t cast Thuorm in the best spot.”

  “But, you knew how you had to respond in that situatiht? A, you failed to act accly. I wonder, why?”

  “Just a mispy. Happens.”

  “Yes, happens. Happens quite often. Specifically to you, it seems. Again, why?”

  “Bad luck.”

  “Luck, huh.” Ruez sighed. “How about you face the facts for a ge?”

  “What facts?”

  “That you’ve degeed as a pyer. You’re pying even worse than back when you were a rookie.”

  “Guh!” Alex trembled, barely holding himself from leaping off his chair. That nosy coach! He just had to go ahead and say that kind of crap!

  “Admit it, you're rusty.” Ruez tinued without budging. “Remind me, when was the st time you pyed Eleancer?”

  “Kh, hell if I remember.” Alex turned away. “Probably a couple of weeks.”

  “Be more specific. When?”

  “I dunno, okay!?” Alex barked. “It’s recorded in my match history. Why should I bother remembering that kind of thing?”

  “Yes, you’re right. So, dig it up from that history.”

  “Eh?” Alex turned pale. “What, now?”

  “Yes, ght ahead. I’ll wait.”

  “Ah, uh...” Alex’s lips trembled. He had a bad feeling about this. A VERY bad feeling. “G-Got it. I’ll search it up.”

  “Good.” Ruez nodded. “Meanwhile, Jenny,” He turo the captain. “Let’s discuss your real faults in that match, shall we?”

  “Geh, already my turn?” Jennifer made a face. So much for “returnio her. That “ter” came after like five seds! Dang it.

  “Well then,” Ruez said. “You’re a dummy, but you’re a smart girl.”

  How does that even work?

  “So, let’s hear it. What do you think were ygest mess ups this match?”

  “Um, well.” One idea was at the tip of her tongue, but she refused to share it. She felt like a part of her would be destroyed if she were to say it out loud. “I... I pyed too defensively, I guess?”

  “Not a bad observation,” Ruez nodded. “During the mid game you were gging behind, so you did well to py defense. However, you never verted your defense pys into offense. I believe I taught you turtling only get you into te game, not win it.”

  “Yeah...” Jennifer nodded, along with everybody else Ruez addressed with his eyes. Jennifer wasn’t the only one who tensed up in that matd overpensated for dying with extreme turtling.

  “Frankly,” Ruez said. “I was surprised. You always fight to the bitter end, no matter how bad things get. What happeo your mental image?”

  “I... It got foggy halfway through,” Jennifer lowered her head. “I couldn’t see us winning anymore.”

  “Iing. And why is that?”

  “I guess... Well, that Gunz dude was kinda strong, He started to snowball, so I couldn’t see us stopping him anymore.”

  “That’s nonsense and you know it. You’re the type who’d seriously believe she beat an Lv.20 with a full build as a naked Lv.1. Gunz was definitely strong and snowballed, but you faced tougher situations. So, what really threw you out of your rhythm?”

  “I...” Jennifer averted her eyes. “Err, guess I was salty I lost to a scrub who may be a rookie.”

  “That’s what you want to keep telling yourself? I believe I taught you to ho during matalysis, for your own sake. Dodging around your worries will only stifle yrowth as a pyer.”

  “Yeah,” Jennifer raised her head. “The truth is, I felt like insisting to py bo against Gunz was... a mistake.” She did it. She finally breathed these accursed words. Her iwisted with every word, with every letter, uttered.

  ”Go on,” Ruez urged. “Why did you think so?”

  “Well, I fell behind after dying the first time, right? So, to stay relevant as a bo pyer, I rushed Spellbook. That was kinda risky and didn’t pay off like I hoped. I mean, I had a feeling it’d be hard to fight that crazy Shooter with bo, but...”

  “You still went for it.”

  “Yeaaah, haha...” Jennifer scratched her forehead.

  “Why didn’t you build a standard DPS Pyromancer?”

  “Um, well...”

  “I’m sure you thought that’s the 'correct’ move, right?”

  “That’s...” A part of her agreed, but another part of her threw a fit. Jennifer? Give up on pying bo? No way, she could never possibly do that. But...

  “Here, I found it.” Alex announced loudly, interrupting the ongoing interrogation. He couldn’t stand listening to this any longer for some reason. But, now the attention switched to him. Great, now he’ll be on the receiving end of Coach’s criticism. Why did he speak up again? Sigh.

  “Let’s hear it,” Ruez said. “When was the st time you py Electro?”

  “It was...” A chill ran down Alex’s spine. “Almost four months ago.” He was tempted to make it one month or at worst two months, but he felt like lying wouldn’t do him any favors here.

  “Hmm, four months.” Ruez stopped pressuring Jennifer for now and shifted all his focus to Alex. “So, four months without pying one of your main csses and almost two years without properly attending practice. And, you still holy think you’re a good pyer?”

  “Well, I’m here, right?” Alex argued. “I’m on the sed string and pying in an official scrimmage. I’m even the vice-captain, in case you fot. That’s gotta worth something.”

  “You’re only here because I put you here.”

  “Huh?”

  “You’re here to receiving a beating, so you finally realize how pathetic of a pyer you’ve bee.”

  “Eh? Huh?” Alex froze. The floor underh him trembled as if about to colpse and swallow him whole.

  “The Alex I weled into the club was a hardw boy who seriously wao be a petitive pyer. He wasn’t the type to ditch practice, make excuses and drag down his whole team.”

  Stop...

  “He didn’t sweep his mistakes uhe rug. He always learned from them and improved..”

  Stop.

  “And, he definitely wasn’t the type to hide behind excuses like 'misclig’. If he wasn’t in top shape, he’d admit so and try to remedy that.”

  STOP!!! Alex smmed oable. His gritted teeth barely held him from shouting. Who the fuck that coach thought he was!? Who gave him the right to say all this trash!?

  “Just so you know,” Ruez tinued as if nothing happened. “I received a lot of backsh for putting you on the sed string.”

  “What backsh?” Alex frowned.

  “Many voiced their objes to this decision. After all, how could I piebody who’s effectively a ghost member?”

  “But, nobody said anything...” Alex mumbled. The only one who ever expressed her dissatisfa was Jennifer, so he assumed everybody else was fih this.

  “They’re good kids, they didn't want to pick a fight. But, they voiced their objes to me clear as day.”

  So, even on this team, everybody probably thinks... Alex felt a rift f between himself the rest. All this time, he thought everybody here saw him as an equal. But, did they actually all want to kick him out? What the...

  Of course, there’s Jennifer who hated his guts and probably dreamed about murdering him in his sleep. But, the others too? Alex didn’t make it into the first string, so he thought at least being in the sed string was some sort of achievement. But...

  “With all said and done,” Ruez tinued. “Many of them still remember you as the golden rookie you were two years ago. They all know you’re just a shell of your former self now, but they decided to not say anything in front of you.”

  So, that’s how it is. Alex hung his head. His arms went limp, like those of a puppet whose strings were cut. From being the stro rookie, he fell all the way down here, even lower than the level of the sed string. He was a nobody. He’s just some random kid, who pretended he pyed petitively because he was in a club.

  Deep down, he had been aware of this for a long time. “When was the st time he pyed Eleancer?” Wrong question. More like: “When was the st time he pyed anything other than Warlock? Or a mode other than Casual?” Only pying Ranked wasly the best practice for petitive pyers, but it’s still useful for staying in shape. It’s the least he could have done as somebody who didn’t show up for practice, yet he didn’t even bother doing that.

  His eyes naturally gravitated toward Jennifer. She was like the other side of the , the struggling rookie who climbed her way to the top, despite pying her meme tier bo.

  During the first year, they walked side by side as fellow rookies who trained harder than anybody- no, not really side by side. Alex was way ahead and Jennifer chased his back with everything she had. He was the golden rookie and she was the memer newbie.

  But, before he realized, everything flipped on its head. Now, he was the o behind, chasing her bao, he didn’t even chase. He just let her walk ahead without giving a damn. Her back had long since vanished from his sight.

  Despite pying with a huge handicap that was bo ae beiedly told she’d never make it into the first string like that - she never gave up. And, her hard work paid off. She came this far.

  If only Alex also had that level of determination, who knew where he’d be by notain of the first string? Or, at least the vice-captain? Definitely possible.

  Still, even Jennifer couldn’t escape criticism after the ret match. Coach made it clear he was going to criticize her build choid her decision to stick with bo. Stop. Don’t tarnish it.

  It’s not like Alex cared about her. That loud and bad-tempered girl could go fuck herself for all he cared. But, she was a hard worker, just like Alex a long time ago. After so much sweat and blood, she had to succeed. He wanted her to succeed.

  It’s Alex who was the vilin here. It’s him who gave up ohing and became a ghost member. He’s the one who stopped trying and dragged the team down. Everything should just be pinned on him.

  “Heh. Haha.” He produced dry ughter. “I see how it is now. You’re right. You’re all absolutely right.” He looked at each of his teammates in order. There’s no doubt at least some of them ned him and they had every right to do so.

  “I’ve been dragging the team down this whole time, I see that now.” Alex wore a self-sing smile. “Our previous losses and this ohey’re all my fault.” He stared ily at the coach. “It’s all my fault. I should be the only one criticized here.”

  “Hoh,” Ruez paused at this ued outburst. “So, you’re saying you should be held atable for everything? How admirable.”

  “Yeah, it’s all me. All me. Just me. Heh.” Alex chuckled and threw a g Jennifer. Heh, her stoned expression riceless. But, he wasn’t doing this shock her. He only wao vey a message: Don’t turn out like me. That’s all he was asking for.

  “I’ll just leave,” Alex hung his head, a broken smile still pstered on his face. “I’m sure anybody repce me.”

  “Indeed,” Ruez said matter-of-factly. “There are plenty substitutes waiting for a ce to get on stage.”

  “Right.” Alex walked dowage, avoiding eye tact with everybody else. He wasn’t somebody who deserved to stand on this stage, the realization finally sunk in. Only pyers who worked hard for the past three years had a right to be here, and he wasn’t one of them.

  Ruez found himself dumbstruck by this development, but not because it was pletely ued. It’s the development he wished for, but not the oruly believed would e to pass.

  Alex ing to terms with his mistakes, embrag his fws and admitting he had nht to be here - it’s impossible to ask for a better oute. Thanks to that, the kid will now be able to move forward.

  But, this meeting wasn’t over yet. After all, there was another kid here who had to face her fws. Now. that one problem kid was dealt with, Ruez could focus on Jennifer.