"So," Yuel started. "If Challenger really pys better based on how 'strong' he believes his oppoo be, does that mean he'll revert back to normal in the game? After all, if we’re being brutally ho for a moment, the game was a very decisive one-sided massacre."

  "Hmm." Vi crossed his arms. "I'm afraid that making this kind of predi is outside my area of expertise. clusions such as these are not present in the archives of the Akashic Records, at least not in the segments I'm permitted to access."

  "But, there is a ce of that happening, right?"

  "I suppose so. At the very least, a behavior pattern like that would be in lih how the Threat Overthrower trait works. If there’s no threat present, then there’s nothing to overthrow, simple as that."

  "Okay, that's good enough to know."

  Nothing was ever guaranteed when dealing with moody pyers whose performance swung drastically from one game to the . So, Yuel had to make an educated guess here based on Vi’s dubious-sounding, yet often accurate, intel.

  "If this analysis is on point, then it sounds like Ben is the perfect ter to Challenger," Yuel said. "He's an expert at looking non-threatening."

  "My thoughts exactly!" Vi rongly. "Perhaps I will also be able to utilize my superb ag skills to fool Challenger into l his guard, but for Ben, that sort of trickery es naturally!"

  "T-Trickery?" Ben fidgeted. "I'm n to triybody..."

  "Exactly, that's what makes it most beautiful! Other pyers would have to go out of their way to vihe ehat they weren’t a real threat, but not you. For you, looking i is as natural as breathing!"

  "T-Thanks, I guess..." Ben wasn't even sure whether that was a good thing or not, but it was sorta true. Most of his oppos didn’t seem to think much of his skill, so they didn’t boing toainst him. It robably thanks to his defensive pystyle that disced flict.

  I’ve always thought this is a bad thing I have to fix. Ben introspected. But, if it help the team in this game, then maybe it's not such a bad thing, after all...

  And so, it was decided. Ben will take Vi's pce fame 4. Not only will it reinforce the team’s defense in Top, but it should also serve as an additional ter against Challenger.

  I actually wonder how low Challenger’s skill level fall. Yuel thought. In the first two games, he made a bunch of careless mistakes as a Support, so robably expect him to be about as careless in Top as well. That might make him an eveer target fanks than he already was.

  With Nia now ba service, surprise ganks were oable again. So, in case Challenger shows any signs of being careless, he might bee a great gank target for Nia.

  Bot and Mid have airtight defenses, but we might be able to bust through Top. Though of course, I don’t want to put all the eggs in one basket.

  Yuel had already crafted multiple pns for bating the Leopards' new lineup, but it was going to be a rough fight no matter what. Especially because fighting against Cato and Merlin in Bot strongly resembled the feeling of fag Howard and Ellen. Both pairs excelled at stalling and baiting, making them tricky oppos to submit.

  Holy, I'm not sure we’re equipped to deal with something like this right now. Yuel frowned as soon as he drew the analogy with StormBlitz. The memory of that crushi against Howard was still fresh in his mind. To this day, Yuel wasn’t able to fully overe that frustration, and Lars robably in the same boat.

  That oeful defeat cost them the opportunity to py on the petitive stage as part of StormBlitz. If they hadn’t defected to Stratus, then how would they have spent this year instead?

  I would’ve spent the whole year spying oeams and colleg data for Howard’s first-string. Yuel was sure about it because he had already done some of that work back when he was a freshman. It was a worthwhile job in its ht, but it didn't even begin to pare to the experience of pying on the first-string himself.

  During the first few months, a part of me regretted leaving StormBlitz. Yuel admitted. Even now, whenever I have to deal with troublemakers like Nia and Luke, I 't help but wonder how muicer it would have been to only have high-caliber pyers oeam. But, I feel like it doesn’t bother me nearly as muymore.

  Yes, Luke roblematic memer brat, Nia was an unreliable sleepyhead, Kai was a moody pyer, and Vi sometimes fell short pared to the petition. Clearly, this team had no she of fws. If Yuel were their oppo in a match, then he'd e up with tless ways to exploit their weaknesses and run them into the ground.

  heless, this “fwed team” was on the petitive stage right now, putting on a fight against the stro pyers this region had to offer. Yes, despite Stratus’ many fws, they were very much capable of stumping the Leopards and even winning some games.

  So, all in all, I'm gd I left Storm and came here. Yuel smiled wryly. Then again, it wasly my decision alone. If anything, it was inally HIS idea.

  "Say," Yuel whispered on the way to the stage. "How do you feel about leaving StormBlitz to join Stratus? As?"

  "Hm?” Lars cocked his head. “Where did that e from?"

  "Just w."

  "Hmm. Welp, it's sad that we had to leave July behind and all that."

  "True."

  "And well, Roi and Dan were cool dudes, too. I liked pying with them."

  "Right."

  "But, I ain't regretting nothing!" Lars decred. "I mean, staying in Storm would've meant skipping on all these awesome games we’re having, right? So, no way I'd ever choose to stay there. Stratus is the pce to be, yo!"

  "Agreed." Yuel nodded.

  This underdog team, with its fair colle of questioeam members, was the pce where Yuel and Lars belonged nht now, Stratus was a far cry from a prestigious team like StormBlitz and the Leopards, so their ces of winning the regionals were equally slimmer. But, Yuel and Lars will make it work.

  "Let's win this one."

  "Yeah, we got this, believe it!"

  With somewhat revived fideratus headed into the fame of the day.

  In a way, this was the decisive game of the day. Not only because the Leopards will be ed the winners of the scrim if they win this one, but also because this was Stratus' st ce t the mysterious Koreao the stage.

  But, we worry about that part ter. Yuel thought. Sorry Howard, but I'm not going to dao your tuhe entire day. I agree that it's important for us to fight the Korean pyer as soon as possible, but I shouldn’t prioritize that over everything else.

  A scrimmage was a where pyers got to test their mettle against other strong petitors. The goal was to see how far the team could go, as well as what worked and what didn’t. Winning or losing was just the e. It's the process that mattered the most.

  But of course, I'll still do everything in my power to ehat we win. Yuel asserted. I won't be satisfied with redug this entire game to a practice session for Ben and Nia. Sure, this is teically a practice game, but it's a serious game all the same!

  With these renewed realizations and vis, Yuel and the team headed into the fame!

  DarkestCymore