The Leopards came to terms with the crushi and were ready to move on, but one member of the club was far from satisfied.

  “Isn’t it best to let me py?” Jin asked in a strong to wasn’t so much a question as it was an assertion. “I don’t think you want to lose any more face than you already have.”

  “Hmm.” Ruez pondered. “Yes, you’re right, it’s unbeing ional champions’ to lose like that, especially not against a team that reviously regarded as the ‘weakest’.”

  “It’s not only this defeat,” Jin added. “Even in the first game, there were horrible mispys. That game was dragged out too long and they almost lost during st push. It looked bad.”

  These words came as a sp to the face, especially when the Leopards were just getting ba their feet. The harsh criticism threateo knock them down to the ground all ain.

  Even though they came to terms with the fact they have been uimating Stratus, Jin made them realize that this issue didn’t start only in the sed game. It started all the way ba the first game, where they just barely squeezed out a victory in the ee dominating the entire game.

  Cato wrote that off as “his mistake” at the time, but Ruez lectured them about how the eeam was responsible for allowing it. But, in the first pce, why did they let Cato get away with such btantly fwed shot-calling?

  Because somewhere, at the back of their heads, they were already uimating Stratus back then. They didn’t bother stopping Cato because they were sure they’ll win no matter what happened.

  In fact, even after losing so terribly in the sed game, deep dowill believed that they were far superior to their oppos. They only lost that game because they “lowered their guard” and the enemy exploited that to unch a devastating surprise attack.

  In other words, as long as the Leopards take their oppos seriously, then their victory was guarahat’s what they believed.

  But, wasn’t that a form of uimating as well? In the end, even after processing everything Ruez said, it was impossible for the team to do a 180 on their opinion of Stratus.

  As such, Jin had every reason to be ed about the team further embarrassing itself in the few games.

  Not to mention, these amateurs have already tarhe reputation of the "regional champions" with so many mispys. This was almost irreversible.

  Even if the Leopards win every game from here onward, it won’t necessarily be enough to save face. Their ckluster performance has already pnted an image of weakness in the audience’s heads, so it won’t be so easy to remove it now.

  "I 't watch this," Jin said. "I o sub in and ensure we win decisively, or else the team will look like a joke that loses to memes."

  "Right, reputation is important," Ruez agreed. "But, there’s o go that far quite yet. I believe everybody has learned a hard lesson from this game, am I right?"

  "Yes, sir!" Everybody answered in unison, like a squad of trained soldiers.

  All of them came together as oo reject Jin's suggestion. They didn't want this desding pro-level pyer to shove his o their business.

  The game was their opportunity to prove that they’d learheir lesson, that they were capable of defeating Stratus properly as long as they pyed 100% seriously. But, having Jin joieam would trivialize all of that.

  "Jin, I uand where you’re ing from," Ruez reassured. "It’s bad for the team’s image when the ‘champion’ loses to a ‘dark horse’. So don’t worry, I’ve already prepared a handful of lectures for them on this topid we’ll start going through them tomorrow.”

  “Geh...” The team respoo the threat with a mixture of sighs and gulps. Everybody could already imagihemselves sitting in the clubroom for 24 hours straight, listening nonstop to Ruez’s lectures.

  Furthermore, if they lose any mames today, then Ruez will likely lecture them 24/7 for aire week. Therefore, they absolutely weren’t allowed to lose anymore or else they’ll find themselves in hell.

  "All of that aside," Ruez tinued. "There's no denying that Stratus is a strohis year. They’ve already defeated Taurus, and now they even took a game from us. So, I'm sure the audience's opinion of them is gradually shifting for the better. In fact, they might very well be the stroeam we’ll face after StormBlitz this year."

  It was still too early to say for sure, seeing as the Leopards haven't faced every team in the regio. Not to mention, Stratus wasly the most "stable" team out there. They had many highs but also just as many lows.

  heless, the potential was defihere. With a little more polish, Stratus will definitely bee a force to be reed with.

  "I'm sure they'll put on a strong performahis year,” Ruez said. “So, in time, people will e to accept that Stratus is a petent team and that's why they were able to win one game off you. Frankly, a part of me is gd that things have turned out the way they did."

  "Gd...?" Jin frowned. "You're happy the team lost?"

  "I wouldn’t say 'happy', per se. That's to of a word here. It’s just that it’s a bit of a relief."

  "Why? I don’t uand."

  "You see, as the regional champions, this team doesn't get to lose very often."

  "Good. That's how it should be."

  "Indeed." Ruez nodded. "But, it’s also a problem. You're all so young, you still have plenty of room frowth. And, there's er catalyst frowth than fag defeat."

  "Catalyst...?"

  "A motivator. Something that ences rapid growth."

  "You're saying that losing does that?" Jin cocked his head.

  "Do you not agree?” Reuz asked. “Doesn't the frustration of defeat give you the stro desire to improve? To make sure it won't ever happen again?"

  "Hm. Yes, I suppose."

  "That's why defeats are so valuable," Ruez expined. "Letting you kids face strong oppos a roughed up in matches is the best way to help you develop. That's a big reason why I always arrange a few matches against pros for you."

  Any powerful team that reigned supreme by default was bound to staghout suffit petition. Athletes always need a challenge, a catalyst to push them to train harder, and to bee stronger. As long as they felt like they had a goal to chase, they'll work hard and improve.

  As, the untested regional champions often didn't have such rivals. The Leopards were the only middle school team in the region that had a coad their Cssmancers facilities were far superior to those of the other teams.

  Not to mention, the team had a reputation that attracted all the best pyers this little region had to offer. Therefore, the club was both big and brimming with talented kids.

  With all these factors bihe Leopards were bound tn supreme among their peers. The team was always far ahead of the petition. Sometimes, it wasn’t toe for them to ht fot that the word "defeat" exists in the diary.

  "Some of my previous teams haven't lost a single game in the region, not even during scrimmages.”

  Everybody in the Leopards lowered their heads nced away awkwardly upon hearing these words.

  Until now, they were fident that they'll also bee one sudefeated team. As, the defeat in the sed game became a bck stain on their perfect record. They have failed their predecessors.

  "Such a stainless win record is very impressive and I'm proud of what these kids aplished,” Ruez said. “But, that doesn’t meahing was sunshine and rainbows for those teams. After all, the regionals aren't the entire petitive se.”

  “My, are you saying they fared poorly at the nationals?” Cato asked.

  “Yes. The nationals were the pce where the petition became harsh for the first time. And unfortunately, the kids who never suffered an official defeat before weren't mentally prepared for it.”

  A team that had never faced a defeat against anybody in the same age group naturally became a legend, but it was a short-lived one. Soon after, the team tackled far stronger oppos at the nationals and crumbled after losing just one game. These kids didn't develop the necessary mental fortitude to bounce back after falling off the high horse.

  "That's why you should cherish experiences like this,” Ruez said. “Losing to pros or in oches 't begin to pare to the frustration of losing in an official match like this, right?"

  The kids gave him vague nods. They were definitely frustrated by how things went down, to the point it surprised them just how strongly they felt about it.

  It’s not like this was the first time the Leopards had ever suffered a defeat as a team. They have lost to pros before, as well as in some rare oches against other premade teams.

  So, they definitely knew how defeat tasted in general. A, losioday, on this petitive stage, felt very different from all of that. It was a much harder blow than they expected.

  One moment, the Leopards were at the top of the world, on their way to being the "untested champions" of the region. Then, the moment, they found themselves defeated by the most ued of oppos.

  "Savor this feeling and turn it into motivation. For every defeat you overe, you'll emerge that much stronger in the following game. That's the natural way in which progress happens in the petitive se."

  The words lit a light in everybody’s eyes. It was only burning faintly like a dle right now, but in time, it'll transform into an inferno that'll help the Leopards to devour their oppos.

  This lecture vihe team beyond a shadow of a doubt that they had to overe this defeat by themselves without relying on “supernatural aid” like Jin. Even during petitive games, some things were more important than simply attaining victory.

  Even though this team was carrying the heavy responsibility of being the “regional champions” and they had to “save face” as Jin called it, in the end, the members of the Leopards were also humans who had to grow and develop. As such, at times, losing a game table as long as the Leopards made sure to learn from their mistakes and grow stronger for the future.

  With that said, even though the main team was vinced, what did the Korean boy think about all of this? How different were his standards on this topic?

  “Did you uand all of that, Jin?” Ruez asked.

  “I… uood, yes.” Jin’s slow reply didn’t instill much fidence.

  On the surface level, he definitely uood every single word Ruez said. There wasn’t a nguage barrier in the way or anything of the sort. The only word that caught him off guard earlier was “catalyst”, which he never heard before and sounded like some niche word anyway.

  But, Jin could only fidently cim that he uood the words aehemselves, not the philosophical meaning behind them. In that department, the coach’s words made very little sense.

  What is going on? Jin failed to process. The team has just lost. This is a “prestigious team” as far as this region is ed, so they’re supposed to be the most ed with saving face. Ahe Coach is saying that this is “fine”...?

  It was unfathomable. If this happened ba Korea, it wouldn’t be odd for the coach tate some of the members back to the sed-string as punishment.

  The pyers responsible for the loss would be thrown all the way back to the bottom and would have to climb their all ain. That’s what real sequences looked like.

  Yet, there was none of that with Ruez, not eveely close. On the trary, the man said he was “gd” that the team lost. It made no sense.

  As the coa charge of this “prestigious team”, Ruez had to save face more than anybody else. After all, every time the team underperformed, it stained Ruez’s reputation, making him look inpetent.

  In turn, Ruez was supposed to sh out at the team and punish them for making him look bad. That was the natural order of things. Or at least, that's how it always worked with the coaches ba Korea.

  Yet, Ruez didn’t eve angry with the team. Why?

  It's as if he doesn’t care about saving face at all. Jin thought. Isn’t his reputation important to him? Stains like this easily affect his sary and various other opportunities. So, how he not care? Is this some western mi in py here?

  This wasn't the first time Jin entered this sort of dissonance. Even though western pyers clearly cared about their reputations as any reasonable person should, they seemed to care far less overall about saving face.

  As a result, they were very fiving about certain things that made them look bad. It was rather bizarre.

  But, if this really doesn't bother the coach much, then maybe I'm stepping out of line here. Jin cluded. But, that doesn't ge it also affects me wheeam’s reputation is tarnished like this. I might not be pying in all the games, but this is still “my team”, so to speak.

  Running the Leopards' reputation into the ground will subsequently ruin the reputation of every team member, including Jin. The damage might not be as big for him because he wasn't physically present in the game, but heless, some damage will be doo him as well.

  Iure, once Jin reveals himself as part of the first-string to the masses, everybody will surely associate him with the “bad team that lost to Stratus's memes". He couldn't let that stand.

  "Alright, I uand," Jin said. "I won't ask to take the stage right now. But, if you lose aname, then I sub in."

  "It's a deal," Cato promised. "But, don't worry. It won't happen. We'll be taking this scrim 100% seriously now."

  "You should have dohat from the start."

  "Touche."

  "What?"

  "Oh, of course. 'Touche' means that I cede and that you're right."

  "Alright." Jin nodded in satisfa. This was good enough for now.

  He'll permit this prestigious team to misstep once, but only ohey won’t get off the hook a sed time.

  O could still be sidered a fluke, but two defeats will start f a pattern. That’s the ohing Jin absolutely couldn’t allow, no matter what the coach says.

  But for now, it was decided that the Leopards will tinue using their regur lineup. They’ll only switch their formation from B to A, which was the superior formation against Stratus acc to Cato and Sonya's analysis.

  All of them were still the same pyers, but sing their positions was going to greatly alter the team’s dynamic. Such was the nature of the “Mixup” that Ruez forced all his teams to learn.

  With all these factors bihe game was going to be nothing like the previous two. This time, the Leopards will live up to the title of the regional champions and will demolish the opposition without fail!

  DarkestCymore