"Dan, jump out of there!" That timely order saved the team's Jungler in the nick of time. If not for that warning, then Hawk would have surely killed Average.

  It was an impressive read. Jin had to give credit where it was due. Even I didn't read the situation that far ahead. Hawk must've been sitting on that “pn B” for quite some time.

  It was quite ued. Jin was certain the enemy will prioritize him above anything else, but Hawk was quick to shift gears and target the Jungler who came there to help Jin.

  If Average died there, then it would have been my fault. Jin reasoned.

  Even if nobody else directly associated that mistake with him, Jin would have still treated it as his fault. That uation was his problem, and the Jungler only rotated there to help.

  I accepted the help, so it artially my responsibility to look out for him. So, the moment I safely got away, I should've properly sidered how dangerous the situation was. I should’ve been the oo tell him to run away.

  As, Jin failed at this job as a teammate. It was rather frustrating.

  Of course, he didn’t particurly care about Average. This urely about Jin’s personal skill as a pyer. Being a “good teammate” art of what made somebody good at Cssmancers, and Jin pletely blundered back there.

  I'm sure I would've realized Hawk’s iions as well if I had a few more seds. But, it would have been too te at that point...

  Against pros, fast deaking was crucial. Falling behind by even a single sed could make all the differeween life ah.

  I was at the se, yet I missed it. But, the captain didn't. Jin thought. Even though he's all the way oher side of the ne, Aegis still mao issue such a timely call. And, the Jungler responded instantly, without asking any questions. I had to admit, when it es to defehis team really deliver results.

  A perfectly timed shot-call like that was impressive, even by Jin's standards. There was no doubt that, out of everybody in StormBlitz, the captain was the closest oo pro level.

  Under Aegis’s lead, StormBlitz's defense was good enough to fend off pros. As such, this team will surely be a formidable oppo for the Leopards this year.

  But, that's not my business. Jin pushed such thoughts to the back of his head. I'm here today in order to graduate from that mediocre petition. I have to get into the pro se as soon as possible. It must be done.

  His thoughts were growing frantic. At the back of his head, Jin already realized the truth: he butchered his st ce to leave a good impression.

  The way he cleared Ignis's minions from disadvantage was good, but then Ignis turhe tables on him. On top of that, he chose a bad dire to escape to, which allowed Hawk to easily block his path. That whole se was bound to leave a bad impression on the audience.

  And, I also have to recall now. Jin frowned as he looked at his remaining HP. The entire exge brought this health dangerously low. So, even though he escaped alive, he surrendered a lot of ne trol to his oppo.

  The minion wave was about to arrive, and Jin wouldn’t be there to greet it. In other words, Ignis will get a free opportunity to push his tower.

  I'll have to ride back to h my ult. Jin cluded. That was the only thing he could do in order to not lose his eower.

  As, the enemy had every iion to make it as difficult as possible for him.

  "Hey Hawk," Ignis started. "Since you failed to caty of the kids, you better stay here and help me push."

  "Sure." Hawk shrugged and flew over the jungle wall once more. Irospect, he did nothing but waste his time wheried to chase Average across the wall. His ult was utterly wasted here.

  With nothier to do, Hawk had no objes to helping Ignis on ne. With the eop Laner forced to retreat, this was a great opportunity for them to demolish the tower.

  When the minion wave arrived, the two of them swept through it and gained overwhelming ne trol. If the eeam doesn't make a move here, theop Turret would be lost.

  "Average," Jin called out. " you please defend Top? I try to get back as soon as possible."

  "No problem," Average agreed. "I was already on my way there anyway." True to his words, he was in the middle of rotating to the Top Turret from the back of the jungle. "And I already told ya, the name’s Dan."

  "Right. Thanks, Dan."

  "You wele!"

  Thanks to Average's efforts, the worst-case sario was averted. The enemy failed to demolish the Top Turret, but they still reduced its HP to 60% by the time Jiurn. This oute definitely didn’t give him any credit points.

  Still, this is a huimes better than losing the whole tower. Jin thought.

  If not for Average, the examiners would have probably disqualified Jin on the spot for losing his tower before mid-game. It was fortuhat even a subpar pyer like Average wasirely useless when fighting pros.

  The match shortly transitioned into mid-game, the team-fighting phase. As estimated, Jin didn't get any more opportuo show off his skill.

  The Sweepers stuck together as they ducted their operations. As such, there were no more ces to strike any isoted targets.

  Actually, that’s irely true. Jin thought. I spot Esmeralda alone every now and then. But, I suspect these are all baits.

  Esmeralda wasn’t a typical pyer, so her pys shouldn’t be analyzed by normal logic. She was arguably a yer, yet a very shrewd one.

  When it came to Esmeralda’s pys, it was impossible to tell what was a mispy and what was bait. She was a great actress if nothing else.

  I probably defeat her if I get a proper ce to fight. But, I don’t want to risk it.

  Many fools uimated Esmeralda in the past, flying right into her spider web like careless flies. Jin had seen tless examples of such victims when he analyzed the Sweepers’ footage.

  I’m not going to join their ranks. Jin had no iion of being misled by this witch.

  Still, time and again, Esmeralda tried to bait people into thinking she was isoted. Thankfully, nobody in StormBlitz fell for it, aher did Jin.

  Looks like I’m not getting any more duel opportuhis match, after all. Jin had no choice but to e to terms with that fact. In that case, I’ll have to prove my worth in team fights, as hard as that sounds.

  It was going to be harsh, but not impossible. At least, that’s what Jin told himself in order to keep moving forward.

  Remember, it’s all over the moment you lose your motivation. Jin reminded himself. As long as there’s a ce - I have to keep trying.

  And so, Jin forfeited any delusions about finding a duel opportunity. Instead, he focused on cooperating with the rest of the team.

  He tried his best to find 2v2 situations, which was as close as he could get to a 1v1. Unfortunately, StormBlitz was too defensive of a team for that.

  Under Aegis’s leadership, everybody’s positions were carefully arranged and monitored across the entire map. The team was at a disadvantage in terms of map trol, and they were weaker than the Sweepers in general, so Aegis apparently inte the game out via turtling.

  This anized defense is solid. Jin admitted. But, is there really any hope of winning like this? Against pros, I don’t see how this approach is ever going to pay off.

  With that said, Ji his skepticism to himself. As an outsider who joihis well-aeam for the first time, he was in no position to criticize their questionable philosophies.

  Instead of bickering with his teammates aing on the captain’s bad side, Jin focused on cooperating with the team to the best of his ability. As unfortunate as it was, he had to borrow their help to get anything do this stage of the game. As…

  This isn’t going anywhere. Jin shook his head. Despite his best efforts, the team didn’t perform well. That was only natural, given his ck of experience pying with them.

  No matter how well oiled of a mae StormBlitz was, a single ky gear could throw the entire system awry. And, in this case, Jin happeo be that defective gear. He was a f in this system, so no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t achieve perfect harmony with his unfamiliar teammates.

  On his end, Jin did his best to follow up oeam's defeactics. Despite his disagreement with the captain’s approach, he adjusted to StormBlitz’s game pn for the most part.

  But, that's as far as he went. He merely pyed along with the team’s strategy, which was fwed from its iion.

  We're not going to win by defending all day, not against pros. Jin ranted internally.

  Unfortunately, he was in the minority here. All his teammates were on board with this deferategy. Therefore, there was no way he'll be able to sway their opinions oter in the heat of battle. And, attempting to do so might even backfire at him.

  They're det pyers on defense for the most part, but I'm not sure how good they are on the offense. Jin thought. And, judging by how adamant they are about defending, I better assume the worst about their offensive capabilities.

  With all of that in mind, Jin had no choice but to tinue following the defensive game pn. He joined in during the 2v2 and 3v3 fights as much as possible, trying to earn as many credit points as possible during bat.

  As, that was easier said than done. With his teammates stantly dragging him down, Jin often found himself c for their mistakes or resg them from trouble. He had no time to put on an impressive performao earn any favors with the crowd.

  Eventually, after a long struggle that st over 30 minutes, StormBlitz's Colossus finally crumbled.

  DEFEAT

  It redictable clusion. Nobody eveertaihe possibility that this game would end in any other way.

  It’s not possible, not with this level gap. Jin thought. With such low-level teammates, he had no hope of ever besting pro pyers, not eveern ones.

  As I thought, duels are my best ce to prove my worth. Jin reasoned. I need aname. ime, I'll go even harder on the offense early on.

  On that he first game cluded.

  "Bravo, bravo!" Ro cpped repeatedly, with the usual pstic smile on his face. "That was a marvelous performance from the ese Wonderboy! Frankly, I'm deeply impressed. Yes, very, very, impressed!"

  The old man hyped up Jin's performand praised it to no end, but that wasn't proof of anything. It seemed Ro always hyped up anything that moved. His opinions were often exaggerated, so it was hard to take him seriously.

  The ones I really have to impress are the Sweepers and their coach. Jin thought. Still, impressing this old man is important too. He is the owner of the team, after all.

  "So, how was he?" Ro directed the question to Ignis and Hawk. "You two fought the Wonderboy the most, so what do you have to say?"

  "Hah." Ignis crossed her arms and lifted his . "He's a total scrub. It wasn’t a challe all."

  Say WHAT!? Jin almost exploded. There's no way that's true! I gave her a good fight. She has to evaluate me higher than that…!

  But no, Ignis tinued proteg her ego, g that Jin was just a cocky brat who chewed more than he could bite. Acc to her, she stomped Jin without breaking a sweat. Such btant lies!

  "With that said," Ignis tinued. "I kinda see what's all the fuss about. For a kid, he's not half-bad. Like, he's almost as good as my dear Wardy, so that's not too shabby."

  “Almost” as good? Jin threw a g StormBlitz’s captain, who was listening to the analysis with visible amusement. I'll admit this guy is cut above the rest within his team. But, is he better than me? Definitely not.

  That was surely Ignis's bias as a sister speaking for her. In fact, her entire analysis reeked of unparallel bias.

  Most likely, this proud woman hated how Jin forced her into unfortable situations during the game. So, she was getting back at him by downpying him in front of Ro. So mature...

  To add insult to injury, Hawk's opinion reeked of simir bias.

  "The kid is pretty good at fighting," Hawk said. "But, he's way too cocky. I caught him overextending way too many times."

  "True, true," Ro agreed with everything he was fed without objeg. Did this geezer have no opinion of his own? He just smiled and everything, even as the two pros btantly lied in his face.

  "But hey." Ignis grinned. "I'm down for another mock game. I bet it wasn't clear enough how big of a gap there is between us and the kid, so we do one more."

  "Yeah," Hawk agreed. "I mean, we were mostly testing the waters against each other in the first game. So, in Game 2, we show off how much we've learned and adapted."

  "Oh! I see, I see." Ro nodded in agreement, as he always did.

  Wait, why are they helpi all of a sudden? Jin was taken aback. They were salty enough to unjustly bash me in front of the team owner, but now they're asking to give me another ce? What’s their agenda?

  Ignis and Hawk didn't e across as the types to help Jin in any way. On the trary, so far, they have been doing everything in their powers to sabotage him.

  So, they probably sought revehey believed that, in the sed game, they'll be able to run all over Jin.

  And, unfortunately, that was very much possible, given how well they adapted to his Korean cel throughout the game. So, fame 2, Jin won't have that element of surprise anymore.

  But, a sed game is a great e too. Jin thought. I'll have more opportuo duel and show what I do when I'm ned down by mediocre pyers. Sardless of their real iions, their request pys in my favor.

  The suggestion to hold a sed game excited Ro. So, without further ado, he asked for everybody's opinions.

  "I think that's only fair," IronWall said. "Adaptation is one of the most important qualities of a pro pyer, so we better test that, too."

  "It’s, in fact, the most important quality~" Esmeralda interjected as she wioward Jin. "I'm sure Jinjin show us an even more spectacur performan the seatch, am I right?"

  "Definitely," Jin responded without hesitation. He had been waiting food opportunity to i himself into this versation, and finally, Esmeralda gave him that ce. Is she helpi? I have no idea what she's thinking. She's as weird as her pystyle.

  "Good, good." Ro nodded, smiling as usual. "So, everybody agrees to a rematch, yes?"

  "I'll never refuse an opportunity to scrim with pros," Howard said.

  "Very good, very good." Ro csped both hands together. "Looks like both sides are on the same page, how wonderful! Well then, Berny, what do you say?" He addressed the Sweepers' coach. " they get another round?"

  "Alright." The stoic coach replied without letting his feelings show. Did he actually want to see aname? Or, has he already lost i in Jin at this point? It was impossible to tell.

  Out of everybody here, this coach will probably have the biggest say iher I passed the exam. Jin reasoned.

  While Ro was higher on the food , it was clear the guy didn’t know left frht when it came to Cssmancers. Therefore, the coach's opinion will probably decide Ro's opinion as well.

  "This is a good sign," Ruez whispered to Jin. "Bern is very peculiar about his pyers’ time. So, he wouldn't let them py again unless he wao see more of your performance."

  "I see." Jin nodded.

  As it turned out, there was some light at the end of the tunnel. Even though Jin put on a mediocre performan the first game, he now had another ce to prove himself. This was a rare opportunity, something that shouldn’t be taken franted.

  Ba Korea, there were many times when a single failure could doom the entire career of the pyer. Coaches demoted pyers without mercy over a single mistake, f them to practice with the “less aplished” pyers.

  Sinobody expected anything from that “failure” group, the coag they received was less professional as well. It was like falling into Bronze rank and trying to crawl your way out while being surrounded by terrible pyers who only drag you down. It was a terrifying hellhole.

  The fear of falling into that group erhaps the stro motivator for everybody to do their best during practid exams. Jin experienced a fair share of such terror as well. Every time he got demoted over a mistake, he had to pray he won’t fall to the very bottom.

  Fortunately, the western was more le when it came to such matters. That’s why the pros granted Jin another opportunity without dissing him for his mistakes. This erhaps the first time he was thankful for the western se being more x and fiving.

  I still make it. Jin asserted. In this sed game, I’ll make the necessary impact to vihem I py at “pro-level” in this se!

  DarkestCymore