An allied Turret has beeroyed!

  I messed up. Jin grit his teeth. This has to be my biggest mispy today.

  It was such a blunder. Why didn't he sider the possibility of Hawk invading the ne while it was undefended!?

  No, I did sider that. Jin remembered. But, I didn’t see any signs of Hawk targeting Top. He must’ve set this pn in motion quite a while ago, while I was still wrestling with Ignis. Damn.

  Irospect, this should’ve been such a predictable py. A Jungler Beastmaster could only justify this off-meta pick by exploiting opportunities like this. For him, an undefended ne was like a gold mine,

  But, Jin didn't pay it enough heed. At a g seemed unlikely for Hawk to make it all the way to Top in time.

  Though, I did sider what will happen if he shows up right as I leave. Jin had all possibilities covered in his head, that’s what he thought at the time. I cluded that, by himself, Hawk won’t be able to erase more than 30% of the tower’s HP.

  Jied that possibility as an unavoidable price he had to pay in exge for driving Ignis out of the would have been an unfortue that’d certainly make Jin lose some credit points, but it wasn’t so bad.

  But, all of that assuming Hawk will push alone, which he didn’t...

  That’s where all of Jin’s analysis crumbled apart. Ignis pyed him for a fiddle back then. She probably escaped into the juer Jin saw the start of her Recall animation.

  Jin was busy retreating from the the time, so he couldn’t watch the entire Recall animation through. At some point, he had to turn his back to the enemy, and Ignis exploited that moment to roll into the jungle.

  Jin couldn’t see what was happening behind him, aher could he hear Ignis’s movements from that distance, so he had no way of knowing what she actually did. All he knew was that, wheurned around again, Ignis was already gone.

  I did think she finished recalling a little too fast. Jin remembered. But, I didn’t take it seriously enough. I was sure she recalled to base.

  As, it was just an eborate trick. In truth, Ignis was hiding in the shadows the eime, waiting for her opportunity to strike.

  She pyed me for a fool. Jin grimaced. I wasn't ready for such a gimmick, especially not from her. In fact, I have a hard time believing she came up with that herself. I am sure Hawk pyed a big role in the pnning process.

  Regardless, none of that mattered now. The fact remaihat Jin lost his tower five minutes into the game

  To make it worse, he let that disaster happen against a hyper early-game css like Orc. That was as good as dooming the entire game food.

  They got me good. Jin sighed i. Now, I uand why they asked the owo give me another ce. They were pnning t my reputation through mud all along.

  In a way, it was impressive that a middle schooler like him maer pros to this extent. That stood testament to how skilled he erhaps, he’ll be able to use this argument to earn himself some credit points.

  But, I'm not satisfied with this. Jin thought. I don't want to just be a "middle schooler who trigger pros". I want to properly defeat them, to show that I’m their equal.

  But maybe, just maybe, Jin was shooting too high here. Even though the western petitive se was nothing pared to Korea's, the pros here were still pros. They possessed more than double the experience Jin had, so it was only natural they'll be able to defeat him ohey got serious.

  But, I don’t think I'm THAT far from their skill level. Besides, they’re B-Leaguers. If I bee a pro, I’d have to start from C-League like everybody else, so the entry bar should be lower than this.

  And so, Jin tinued holding onto hope as he fought hard to overturn the desperate situation he created with his mispy.

  With Jin’s Top Turret gone, Ignis had the leeway to rotate out of the ne as she pleased. And, an early-game Orc with the freedom to rotate applied immense pressure on the rest of the map.

  Everybody in StormBlitz had to carefully sider their moves ten times over. A single misstep could cost them their lives.

  There's not much I do to remedy this situation. Especially, not with this team. Jin thought ba the peers he used to py with ba Korea.

  It'd be a stretch to call them "friends", as all of them were rivals peting for their positions in the club. But, precisely because they were all molded together within the same harsh enviro, they were all extremely trustworthy panions in battle.

  Everybody there fought as if their lives were on the line, drawing out 120% of their power at all times. With teammates like that, defeating the Sweepers would have been a very real possibility.

  It's hopeless. Jin sighed i. I 't anize a single good attack with this team. For once, I have to agree with the captain that pying defense is the best move here.

  Of course, even on the defense, Jin was a great help to this subpar team. No matter how well-traihe pyers were is of defehe skill gap between them and the pros made that almost irrelevant.

  Though, the captain's shot-calls are often on point. Jin admitted. Most likely, even I would have missed some of these openings if I were the shot-caller. But, his high-level calls are wasted on a team that 't pete with pros in the slightest.

  Evehe captain discovered a potential hole ieam's formation and asked his teammates to cover it, the result wasn't always on point. Sometimes, the pros uhe predictable attack regardless and got away with it.

  That shouldn’t happen, not in a real game. A predictable attack should be swiftly tered.

  So, it was truly embarrassing. The superb shot-calls should have turhe team’s defeo imperable, yet the soldiers couldn’t live up to the expectations. Even if they deflected some hits, they could never unch a proper terattack to capitalize on their advantage.

  I 't let that stand. Jin asserted. Even if the rest of the team was too weak to take advantage of their defensive moves, then Jin definitely wasn't.

  "I blink in and throw Hawk here," Jin informed as he hurled his axe at Hawk, nding a perfect shot. , he blinked in and tackled the guy with Takedown, tossing Hawk into the Golem's range.

  "My, nice moves there~" The Ranger, who was Jin's partner on the defense, followed up on his py with Wolf panion.

  A white wolf emerged out of thin air and pinned Hawk to the ground, right ihe Golem’s area. Needless to say, it was the end for him.

  An enemy has been killed!

  Athena was the one who actually scored the kill, but surely everybody will appreciate Jin’s assertive py that made it possible in the first pce. That should earn him some credit points, even though it probably didn’t look nearly as impressive as the times he weo-neck with Ignis.

  As, that’s the kind of breadcrumbs Jin had to collect right now. It was impossible to uny decisive attacks on the enemy, so Jin had to search for the rare opportunities in which he could turables on the assaints.

  Even theill often found himself at the mercy of his teammates. These subpar pyers had to be able to follow up on Jin’s quick terattacks, which didn’t always go well.

  Though I have to admit, Athena does a passable job at that. Jin thought. She’s the fastest oo adapt to my pys. She’s eveer than the captain at this.

  Athena was an oddball pyer. She didn't e across as particurly talented, yet she delivered impressive results every now and then.

  Her pystyle was rather flexible. She was good at adapting to both her allies and her oppos, which wasn't a trivial trait for pyers at this level.

  pared to her, Average and Adapting weren't nearly as good. They respooo slowly to Jin’s pys, and from there the entire terattack fell apart.

  Though, to Adapting’s defehe guy was at least good at adapting to the enemy's movements. Without that, his IGN would have been a total lie.

  At the bare minimum, Adapting knew how to respond to the enemy’s advances in an effit mahough the guy's mediocre skill hampered his ability to properly terattack, at least his foundation was solid. So, at the very least, he wasirely useless as a defense panion.

  I wonder, when did I start paying so much attention to all these pyers? Jin frowned.

  Perhaps somewhere, at the far back of his head, Jin had already e to terms with the fact he probably won't pass today's exam. This sed game was most likely the st ce to prove himself today, and he royally blew it.

  As such, Jin will most likely have to keep pying as part of the Leopards for a while longer. If so, then StormBlitz, his current allies, will bee his greatest rivals at the regionals.

  The moment that realization sunk in, the gears in his brain started turning on their owarted paying closer attention to the strengths and weaknesses of each teammate, destrug their efficy at attag, defending, and adapting.

  As it stands, I do not see myself losing to them. Jin asserted. They're about as good as the Leopards, so it might be a atch if I don’t participate. But, with me there, the Leopards would win with ease.

  StormBlitz wasn't a threat, not at their current state. Most of their pyers had a solid foundation and could perhaps develop into good pyers with time, but for now, they were nothing special. That was the only relief Jin had in this otherwise depressing situation.

  DEFEAT

  The oute was all but expected. From the moment Jin allowed Ignis and Hawk to parade on his ne aroy his tower, there were no opportunities for a ebaot with su inferior team.

  Allowing a hyper-aggressive css like Orc to gain early momentum was one of the worst mistakes a team could it. In the hands of a skilled pyer, Orc ractically unstoppable when it had early momentum.

  And, it will be sidered my fault. Jin accepted the bme. I should've heeded the captain's advid waited a bit longer before bringing my ult to battle.

  Even though Ignis thhly domihe the time, Jin's ult served as a gatekeeper of sorts. As long as his ult was avaible, Ignis couldn't push the oo freely. She stantly had to respect the possibility of being surrounded by a gang of strong vikings who'll rend her asunder.

  Therefore, the moment Ji his ult, he opehe gates wide open. He granted Ignis free entrao his side of the ne.

  Ohere was nothing to stop her, Ignis bsted through the h Hawk's help. From there onward, she became unstoppable and steamrolled the entire game.

  I feel she was trying harder than usual to things up. Jin thought. It’s almost like she was rubbing my mistake in my face. I'm sure the bystanders would attribute her snowballing to my mistake, which would make me look even worse.

  Iionally or not, but thanks to Ignis’s great efforts, Jin’s score for this exam was going to be beyond terrible...

  DarkestCymore