“Ugh.” Yuel bit his lip. This is going nowhere, I know that. I uand that in my head, but...

  He couldn’t just throw iowel, not yet. His stubbornness stopped him from calling it quits.

  The Leopards were clearly toying with them. They have been avoiding checkmate for over 10 minutes now. It was so easy for them to the game at this point, yet they insisted to stall.

  As such, there was still a ce to turn this around. A flimsy, seemingly impossible ce. But, it existed! Therefore, Yuel wao seize it.

  I know this is all probably just a part of Cato’s ploy, but...! Yuel couldn’t back off. He tinued monit the map and issuing orders. He was deadset on blog off all ining attacks while searg for that elusive opportunity to mount a terattabsp;

  Against oppos like that, we have to seize every opportunity they give us. Yuel thought. If we want t their Koreao the stage, then we have to get enough wins. So, I ’t just give up like this.

  The iruggle was eating away at him, but Yuel heless tinued making calls for the eeam.

  “Vi and Kai, rotate to Bot. Lars, e with me to Top.”

  “What about the Vanishing Phantom?” Vi inquired.

  “Ah, right...” Yuel almost fot about the elusive girl. She wasn’t tributing mu her sleepy state but she was heless a member of the team, another pie the board.

  So far, Nia was doing a passable job on the defense. As such, Yuel had to put her to good use as well.

  I ’t believe she actually slipped my mind for a moment. Yuel shook his head. I o keep this together.

  “Nia, join them in Bot.”

  “Ok...” Nia answered weakly.

  Even after ing this far in the game, her sleepiness still refused to lift. And, the fact she hadn’t executed any big pys probably tributed to that. The game was dragging on in a b fashion, so it was only natural for sleepio still haunt Nia.

  In a simir fashion, frustration was eating away at the rest of the team. Nobody was enjoying the current situation.

  And, looks like I’m also getting affected. Yuel sighed.

  It was on for people tet that ed, but not for Yuel. No matter the circumstances, he was always able to keep that phantom in mind.

  Am I losing tration? Yuel frowned. Focus. I have to e up with a eback while we’re defending. There’s no pce for error here. I have to turn this around somehow...!

  “Dude, it’s enough already,” Lars cut in. “We’ve waited long enough for an opportunity, doncha think?”

  “Yes, we definitely have been waiting for a long time. But, I still haven’t found any good openings, so I have to keep searg.”

  “Ya just stressing yourself out. Gotta rex, yo.”

  “Rex? How I rex!? We’re in this situation because of my bad shot-calls! So, while our oppos are still toying with us, I have to find an opening-”

  “Why, tho?” Lars asked pinly.

  “Huh...?” Yuel paused. “What do you mean ‘why’? We’re here to win.”

  “Well, duh. Of course we gotta win. But, why are we all sittiurtling while you aloressing yourself out? Didn’t ya say we ‘experiment’ more in this game?”

  “Ah, right. I did say that...” Yuel almost fot.

  This first game was supposed to involve a higher degree of experimentation, Yuel said so himself before the match.

  For example, Lars ying Pirate instead of Elf in order to test the waters against the Leopards’ stro fighters. Simirly, Kai was using Bomber to see how far she’ll get with it in the petitive se even though it was far from her best css.

  These were two handicaps Yuel approved of before starting the game. But, why did he allow these suboptimal picks in the first pce? Because this opening game was a good opportunity to test out hings against the region’s most powerful oppos.

  No, that’s just half the reason. Yuel recalled. There was more to it inally.

  The whole thing he said about “experimenting” was, in part, just an excuse. Even though Yuel was really ied iing out hings, he didn’t actually believe it was a good idea to sacrifice a whole game on things like that.

  Using sedary csses against strong oppos is definitely going to give us valuable data, but that alone isn’t worth losing a game for.

  There was another reason why Yuel chose to “experiment” during the first game. It was a reason that was best left undisclosed despite how important it was.

  I wao make sure we don’t burn ourselves out too early.

  Even before Yuel learhat the Leopards’ captain was Cato, it was already clear that the Leopards enjoyed dragging games out. Therefore, Yuel prepared for this accly.

  At first g looked as if the Leopards just enjoyed pying with their food. However, upon closer iion, there was more to it.

  The Leopards didn’t do this for fun, at least irely. It also doubled as a long-term strategy for wearing down the eeam.

  That much became apparent when the Leopards suddenly quied their pace after the first game. They struck hard while the enemy was mentally exhausted, which was a very effit strategy.

  Of course, from just two scrimmages, it was hard to say for sure whether this was going to be their regur strategy. heless, to be on the safe side, Yuel decided it was best to approach the first game more “off-handedly” than usual.

  That’s why I said we should use it for “experimentation”. But, it looks like somewhere along the way I fot the inal purpose of this idea...

  After learning about the Korean pyer and that Rook was her than Cato, it was hard for Yuel to approach the first game “off-handedly” anymore. Especially, not after he reviewed how his chess match with Cato pyed out.

  In the end, I guess I did want to pay him back for that game. Yuel smiled wryly. And, then there’s Howard with his stories about the secret Korean pyer.

  All these faade Yuel thirst harder for victory. So, even though he told everybody that they were free to “experiment” in this game, Yuel himself was tryharding as usual. As a result, he fell prey to Cato’s aggravating strategy.

  This is not good. Yuel realized his cheeks were a little hot. The mome the brakes and took a moment to reevaluate his own state, it became clear he was overexerting. His temples drummed and his cheeks burned.

  Drat, I o calm down. Yuel took a deep breath. He had to rex. At this rate, he was bound to self-destrctuct before they even reach the sed game.

  “Yes, you’re right,” Yuel respoo Lars. “Thanks for reminding me. I almost fot.”

  “No problem, dude!” Lars gave a thumbs up. “Also, are ya okay? You look a little weird.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” Well, not really, but I’ll live. I just o take things easy for the rest of the game a some rest during the break.

  With that decided, Yuel reevaluated the board state.

  There was little to no hope of winning this game by defending, so the team had to go on the offensive. With that said, the Leopards will shoot down any half-baked offense on the spot.

  We o go for something big. An “all-or-nothing” kind of attack. Yuel thought. We either win on the spot or we lose on spot. Either result will release us from this frustrating game.

  It was for the best to this game quickly. However, that didn’t mean Yuel had any iion of throwing the game, not all.

  Therefore, he insisted to e up with an offehat had a realistic ce of w out, even if it was a low ce. And, he found one.

  “Okay,” Yuel started. “You want to un attack, right? So, here’s how we should do it…”

  And so, he id out the details of his very questionable pn.

  “Yo, so we’re going out with a bang!?” Lars fshed his teeth. “I like that!”

  “It sounds like suicide to me,” Kai ented. “But, it’s still better than sitting here and defending all day, so I’m in.”

  “It appears that a unanimous agreement has been reached.” Vi nodded. “Very well! I shall support this decision with every fiber of my existence! In order to back up this ultimate offense, I shall transform into a wall of unbreakable defense!”

  “The’s start,” Yuel said. “They’re rotating to push Top, so this is our ce.”

  “Alright, I’m on it.” Kai purchased a Checkpoint Ward ao clear the ining minions in Bot. Meanwhile, Yuel and Lars purchased Teleport and rotated to defend Top.

  The preparations were set. The pieces were on their way to their designated positions. And soon, the game’s final offense will begin!

  DarkestCymore