As the match went on, Yuel improved at managing the risks of his tactics. Even though each and every one of his plans was shut down by Aegis, the team didn’t receive harsh punishment.

In addition, following Aron’s advice, everybody added their own twists on Yuel’s plans, making them even more failsafe. All his teammates were skilled and experienced, with their own ideas and playstyles. Therefore, there was no need to babysit them or worry about their performance. It was amazing, Yuel had never played on such a high level team.

Since everybody was able to care for themselves, Yuel challenged Aegis over and over without fearing the consequences. Even if he was playing chess against a superior opponent, nothing was going to change unless he made the next move, and the following move and the move after that. No matter how many times he was countered, he kept pushing forward, one step at a time. Frustrating as it was, that’s the only way he could win this chess match.

Despite the lead his team gained during the early game, they had a hard time sealing the game due to Aegis’s defense. To make things worse, the team started losing its advantage as the match approached late game. Once all players finished their item builds, any early game advantage was going to be rendered null.

To prevent that from happening, Yuel’s team had to push through, right here and now. Out of the myriad of options, he picked the most unconventional attack plan he could come up with, while staying cautious of possible backfire. After tackling Aegis so many times, he was definitely getting closer to cracking Howard’s defenses.

He was certain that, with the next play, he’d finally get through Aegis. After countless defeats, he’d claim victory!

“Trever, go push Bot.” Yuel said.

“You don’t need me in the team fight?” Trever was taken aback. “If I join ya, we can steamroll these scrubs!”

“I don’t believe that’d happen. Don’t forget we’re playing against Aegis, I’m sure they’ll retreat before you even get there.”

“Heh, that’s fair.” Trever shrugged. “So Bot Lane, right? On it!”

“Oh, and buy a Checkpoint Ward.” Yuel added. “Place it as close as you can to their Golem, somewhere around here.” He pinged the map.

“Oh? Oh!? Sounds like another crazy plan is on!” Trever grinned. “Honestly, your shot-calls have been kinda conservative lately, but now you sound like you’re ready to give a real fight! Gotcha, a Checkpoint Ward it is!”

“You sure look confident.” Aron said. “Found a weakness in their defense?”

“I won’t go as far as call it a ‘weakness’, but I believe I found a way to break through.” Yuel nodded. “Aegis definitely provides solid defense, but that makes him predictable at times. With the next move, we should be able to break through the defenses he’s going to set up.”

Yuel shared the gist of the plan with Aron and Trever, making sure they were in the loop. As Trever guessed, it was indeed an ambitious plan. Nevertheless, both seniors approved it.

While Trever was heading to Bot, the rest of the team was locked in a 4v4 fight. To divert the enemy’s attention from Trever, the team pressued the enemy as hard as they could. In particular, Aron’s Lionfolk did a splendid job disrupting the enemy's formation by leaping on squishy targets and shooking enemies with roars.

Bot? Trever isn’t joining the fight? Despite the diversion, Howard didn’t fail catching wind of the enemy’s movements. Even though he was locked in an intense team fight, which even forced him to use Justice Strike and Aegis to keep the team alive, he still noticed Trever advancing through the jungle toward Bot Lane.

Split pushing with a Ranger in this situation? Heh. they’re really desperate, aren’t they? Howard sneered. “Mark, defend Bot as soon as you respawn. Their Ranger is going for the Golem.”

“Got it!” Mark answered.

Just as Howard predicted, Trever arrived at the Bot Golem along with the next minion wave and attempted destroying it. However, with Mark guarding the spot, it was impossible for a Ranger to pull off this split push. Even though Trever had a full Carry build at this point, Ranger lacked the necessary DPS to quickly finish off the Golem. That split push was a dead end.

So, he sent the Pirate to defend. As expected. Yuel nodded to himself. “Trever, place the Checkpoint Ward. I’ll be right there.”

“Roger!”

The second phase of the plan started. Once the Checkpoint Ward was placed, Yuel retreated from the team fight. He purposely soaked a lot of damage for the team, so it didn’t seem odd to return to base with such low HP.

However, he had no intention returning to base. Once he entered the jungle to escape the enemy’s vision, he activated the utility skill Teleport. He wasn’t teleporting back to base, but rather to the Checkpoint Ward set up by Trever!

“Alright, that pesky Druid finally returned to base.” Gilbert sighed in relief. “With their Ranger at Bot Lane, this is now a 4v3. I know me and Roi are running low, but I think we should get aggressive with them here.”

“Yeah! Let’s do it!”

“We can make a comeback here!”

Weird, why hasn’t Trever retreated yet? Howard frowned as he examined Bot Lane on the mini-map. Trever’s split pushing attempt should had been shut down the moment Mark stepped in to defend the Golem. Yet, Trever was still there, fruitlessly trying to push the lane. It was as if he was waiting for something to happen.

Actually, since when they had a Ward all the way out there? Howard noticed a stray enemy Ward placed right outside their base. It was only barely caught in the line of sight of an allied Sentry Ward, which he placed there to counter enemy teleportation attempts.

And, it’s a Checkpoint Ward too. Did Trever place it there? Don’t tell me they’re going to...! Howard flinched and scouted the area, verifying that the Druid was nowhere to be found. Did the Druid really return to base? Dammit, there was no way to confirm it!

And, their next minion wave is about to arrive too. Dammit, the timing is way too perfect. Howard would had told Mark to retreat to be on the safe said, but that was impossible. The moment Mark was going stepped down from his post, Trever would easily erase the remaining 20% HP of the Bot Golem. Howard’s hands were tied.

There was a crack, Howard felt it forming in his absolute defense. If the enemy was really going for the elaborate play he had in mind, the result would be disastrous. He’d normally dismiss such a far stretched idea, but he couldn’t put anything past that irritating rookie.

I won’t let them! Howard gritted his teeth and retreated from the team fight. “Gil, handle the rest from here. I have to return to base.”

“Eh? But we have the advantage here-”

“They’re going to take Bot at this rate!” Howard barked. There was no time to explain! He had to act fast, he had to act right now!

He began recalling to base, it was the longest three seconds of his life. Could he make it in time? The Teleport utility skill took five seconds to cast, so he had an advantage of two seconds over his opponent. He had to make it, no matter what!

“Mark, make sure you move all over the place!” Howard ordered. “They probably gonna pull you through the wall. Since you can’t retreat right now, at least make their lives harder. Spam that WASD like your life depends on it!”

“Eh? G-Got it!” Mark nodded.

Heh. Haha. Hahaha! This is rich! Howard wore a crazed smile, his heart raced. Who would have thought a fight against a mere rookie could excite him this much? For him, who played Classmancers longer than anybody here and even practiced with pros, such an exhausting clash of decision-making was a rare occurrence when he played with others his age.

And, precisely because of that, he couldn't bear to lose, not to some random rookie! Even though he shut down each and every tactic Yuel tried so far, it wasn’t over yet. Until the very last second of the match, Howard wasn’t going to let even a single attack through! Against a rookie, he wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than a perfect shutdown!

“Oh, snap! Howard returned to base!” Trever announced.

Amazing, he figured it out so quickly. Yuel’s hands trembled, not from fear, but from excitement. Indeed, his opponent had an unbreakable defense. However, right here and now, he was going to pierce through it!

“It doesn’t matter, he won’t make it.” Yuel claimed with confidence. Paladin had no way to boost his movement speed. So, despite how quickly Howard got back to the base, he had no means to cover the necessary distance in such a short time span. It was settled.

Ugh, stop moving so much! Yuel carefully aimed his Nature’s Grasp at the zigzagging Pirate. It felt like the Pirate was mashing the WASD buttons at random, so locking on him was a pain. Was this also part of Aegis’s defense?

Nevertheless, that much wasn’t enough to foil Yuel’s plan. Even if the Pirate thought he was pressing buttons at random, they still had a distinct pattern. By taking a second to analyze the Pirate’s moves, Yuel predicted the next one.

Caught you. It’s over. Yuel shot his branches through the wall. They were going to hit for sure, nothing could stop them now. Aegis’s absolute defense was about to crumble.

Tch, run faster! Howard gritted his teeth as he dashed toward Mark. His Paladin was slow, way too slow. Without any movement speed buffs, he couldn’t close the necessary distance in time by foot. The Druid’s branches already pierced through the wall, but Howard was nowhere close enough.

What a frustratingly delightful play. Even though his shield was supposed to be impenetrable, he felt Yuel’s attack breaking in through the tiniest of cracks. Any other day, this level of play could had screwed Howard. But not today, not in this match!

Not under my watch, rookie! Howard poured his everything into countering Yuel, nothing else mattered. He couldn’t lose here, even if he had to outdo himself! In this match, in this very instant, he was going to surpass himself!

Sure, Paladin was a slow tank with no mobility boosts, but that didn't stop Howard. Just as Nature’s Grasp was about to grab Mark, Howard blitzed forward. He closed the distance in a blink of an eye and activated Divine Shield, deflecting the branches.

“Yes!” Howard couldn’t contain himself. He couldn’t believe he just executed such an absurd play, but he did it! He shut down Yuel yet again!

“Wow! You saw that!?” Trever’s jaw dropped. “I’m clipping that shit! It’s gonna go into Top 5 Plays for sure!”

Blink? But that’s... Yuel bit his lip. It was impossible. It was absurd.

Howard used Blink to close that distance in an instant. It was a utility skill, which allowed a player to instantly teleport a short distance forward. Being a utility skill, it was available to every class, so it wasn’t unthinkable for a Paladin to use Blink. Except, Howard didn’t have Blink until now.

He... He bought Blink as soon as he returned to base. He realized right away that he wouldn’t make it, so he bought Blink on the spot. That’s just... Yuel hung his head. To think Howard could make such a split-second decision to invest gold into a costly utility skill, just so he could block Yuel’s play. It was brilliant defense, Yuel was thoroughly crushed yet again.

“Focus! It’s not over yet.”

“Eh...?”

“Tank the Golem.” Aron ordered.

“Eh? Ah, sure...” Yuel acted on instinct and stepped into the Golem’s area. He made sure to cast Gaia’s Protection on himself, to mitigate the incoming damage.

“Now, Trever. Finish off the Pirate.”

“What about the Paladin’s ult?” Trever asked.

“It’s on cooldown. I made sure to bait it out in the previous team fight.”

“Sweet, okay then!” Trever grinned. “Too bad Aegis can’t use his Aegis, haha!”

“But even without his ult, they still got the advantage here...” Yuel mumbled. What was even going on? What was Trever trying to do? They failed to make this push, they got thoroughly shut down by Aegis. There was nothing else for them to do here, they just failed hard and that’s all. Yuel’s careful planning resulted in nothing more than an embarrassing blunder.

“Wha!?” Yuel gasped at what unfolded next. While he was drawing the Golem’s attention, Trever fearlessly rolled into the Golem’s area! It was so reckless! Yuel had no tools to support such an aggressive right now, so Trever literally leapt into the lion's den!

Before his opponents got the chance to react, Trever performed a quick roll cancel and activated Wolf Companion, sending his wolf to knock down the Pirate. While the target was rendered immobile, Trever followed up with his ult, The Hunt is On, marking the Pirate as his “prey”. Now, each of Trever’s attacks was going to deal huge damage to the floored Pirate.

“Dammit!” Howard cursed. Of course! They could easily get away with such a straightforward power play while Howard’s ult was down! Considering the skill difference between Mark and Trever, it was an obvious play! How did he miss it!?

That damn Aron, he pressured me into using both Justice Strike and Aegis in the last fight. Was it all for this play!? Howard gritted his teeth and charged at Trever.

While The Hunt is On was active, all of Trever’s shots pierced through enemies. Therefore, Howard couldn’t even body block the arrows to save Mark. The most he could do in the meantime was striking Trever as much as possible, drawing the intruder away.

“You little!” However, even that option was denied to Howard. The enemy Druid stepped in front of Trever, blocking Howard’s path. That Druid. That damn Druid! Everything was falling apart because of him! Howard’s perfect defense was shattered in the most pitiful of ways!

Even though it was pointless, Howard bashed the Druid with his blade. Over and over, unleashing all his pent up frustration. How could a mere rookie push him this far!? It was unacceptable! Senseless! Ridiculous!

“Look at that brat throwing a tantrum.” Aron sneered and turned to Yuel. “So much for his ‘absolute defense’. As you can see, as long as you keep struggling, you can get results even against the most impossible odds.”

“But, I didn’t really...” Yuel bit his lip. Even though they ultimately gained the upper hand in Bot Lane thanks to Yuel’s teleportation plan, it wasn’t truly his achievement. Diving under the Golem to kill the Pirate wasn’t part of his script, and it wasn’t him who baited Justice Strike and Aegis out of Howard in the previous team fight. In the end, Yuel just lost to Howard yet again.

“You two are so similar it’s almost sickening.” Aron spat a sigh. “Get off the high horse, rookie. You think you’re playing this game alone?”

“Eh? No, I...”

“I told you to keep challenging Aegis, but when did I say it’s your responsibility to beat him? The two of you became so engrossed in your little back and forth that you’ve completely lost track of the match. You both knew how Trever’s skill compared to the Pirate’s, but, for some reason, neither of you saw the tower dive play.”

“That’s...” Yuel had nothing to retort with. Seriously, how did he miss such a straightforward play? Earlier this match, he even used Trever’s superior strength as a supporting argument for some of his plans. Yet, at some point, he grew so obsessed with exploiting the enemy’s weaknesses that he forgot all about this advantage. It was such an embarrassing blunder.

“You have four other members on the team, remember that.” Aron said. “I admit, you and Howard see the game differently and come up with great strategies. But, we’re all players here, we’re not just pawns for your little chess game. Trever is skilled enough to beat a rookie under tower and I can come up with a strategy or two myself. Or what, you thought my captain title is just for show? Know your place, runt.”

“Hey, hey! Hold your horses!” Trever intervened with an awkward smile. “No need to be that harsh with a rookie, is there?”

“Keep your babysitter mentality out of this. I’m saying this for his own good.”

“C’mon, you’re totally being an ass-”

“No, it’s fine.” Yuel shook his head. “Aron is right. I... I disregarded the team while trying to beat Aegis. That was wrong of me.”

That’s right, Classmancers wasn’t chess. It was a team sport, with five players on both sides. It didn’t just mean there five enemies, it also meant Yuel had four allies. Whenever he made a mistake or couldn’t beat a tough enemy on his own, the rest of the team could pick up the slack. He was so used to playing with weaker players that, at some point, he stopped relying on his teammates. Lars was the only skilled player he wholly trusted until now.

However, in this match, all his teammates were strong. They were all competitive players, with way more experience than him. Even if they couldn’t directly touch the “chessboard” Yuel and Howard played on, they could still polish every move Yuel suggested. With Aron’s help, Yuel’s tactic even broke through Aegis’s defense. It was amazing, he truly wasn’t fighting alone.

“You’ll do well to remember this feeling.” Aron said.

“Well, guess there was no reason to worry.” Trever shrugged and focused on the match. Soon after the Pirate was killed, the Bot Lane Golem followed suit.

『An enemy has been killed!』

『An enemy Golem has been destroyed!』

With the Golem’s fall, Yuel’s team now spawned super minions in Bot. They were already spawning super minions in Mid, so now they dominated two out of three lanes. However, their advantage didn’t end there.

Soon after the Golem’s collapse, an unexpected message popped up on Howard’s screen.

『An ally has been killed!』

“Wha?! Who!?” Howard jumped. Mark already died a few seconds ago, so who else could die right now!?

“Sorry, we couldn’t handle them.” Gilbert averted his eyes. While Howard and Mark intercepted Trever in Bot, the remaining members attempted to 3v3 the enemy team. Alas, they were crushed and forced to flee.

“Idiot, you should have retreated as soon as I left!” Howard roared. Just what the heck was everybody doing!? First that useless rookie got himself killed again, now Gilbert messed up big time. Was he playing with Bronze players or something!?

“Heh, haha...” Howard’s arms dropped. Who was he kidding? Keeping track of all these things and guaranteeing his teammates’ safety was his job. Yet, this whole time, he had his hands full with just deflecting Yuel’s attacks.

At some point along the way, he completely lost track of his teammates and focused solely on whatever bullshit Yuel was going to pull next. “My bad, I did us in with that last play. Good game, everybody.”

The match came to a swift end. Tried as he might, Howard couldn’t stop the enemy’s advance on his own. All the teammates he was supposed to protect were dead, only he remained standing. Some amazing shield he was.

『VICTORY』

“Yeah! We did it!” Trever grinned and smacked Yuel on the back.

“Ugh, yeah.” Yuel forced himself to smile. Was this really a victory, though? Howard didn’t take the match seriously during the first half, which is how Yuel’s team gained early game advantage. If not for that, could they had won?

On top of that, Yuel felt like he didn’t settle the score with Howard yet. Despite what Aron said about teamwork, Yuel still wanted to defeat Aegis with his own two hands at least once. Next time, he was going to win for sure...!

“So, what are my chances to pass?” Yuel asked once they got out of the examination room.

“Hmm, let’s see.” Aron pondered. “You couldn’t beat Aegis even once, even though you disregarded everything else and focused solely only on that. In addition, you tried playing the game all by yourself without relying on your teammates. Quite the trash tier player, if you ask me.”

“Ugh, I see...”

“All in all, one day you may get somewhere in the competitive scene.” Aron turned around and left.

“Eh...?” Yuel was puzzled. “Does that mean I have a good chance?”

“Haha! You betcha, kid!” Trever rubbed Yuel’s hair.

“Would you mind not treating me like a kid?” Yuel pouted.

“Anyway, Aron is treating ya like shit because he really likes ya. That’s how he is with everybody, he’s like that with me as well, haha.”

Are you sure he doesn’t just hate your guts?

“We gotta see the other candidates first, but I’ll be damned if we find somebody better than you.”

“I see.” Yuel sighed in relief. He was worried his weak performance during the late game completely overshadowed the positive impression he created earlier, but apparently everything was going to be fine.

As for the other candidates, I guarantee there’s at least one who’ll amaze you even more than I did. Yuel smiled to himself as he left.

On his way to the stairs, he ran into Howard.

“...”

“...”

They just stood there, staring at each other in silence. Just a few seconds ago, they were sworn enemies who poured their everything into crushing each other. They clashed using their ideal playstyles, each trying to prove his was superior. It was a conceptual battle, in which they tried to vehemently deny each other.

What kind of conversation could they possibly hold after going through something like that? Howard was the first to break the standstill. He walked toward Yuel, wearing a fierce look. He was one year older and quite taller, which made Yuel flinch. W-Was he going to get hit or yelled at!?

“Heh, good game.” Howard smirked and stretched his hand.

“L-Likewise.” Yuel sighed in relief and mustered a weak smile.

“Where did you learn to play like this? Got any pros in your family?”

“I wish.” Yuel smiled wryly as he shook Howard’s hand. “I just research the game a lot and play daily with friends.”

“So, you’re saying it’s all self-study?”

“How curious.” Howard squinted his eyes. “You sure gave a good a fight.”

“Ugh! Wha!?” Pain shot through Yuel’s fingers. His hand was being crushed!

“But, don’t get carried away, rookie.” Howard glared at Yuel. “A toddler like you can’t break through my defense. You’re one year too young to even try!”

“Ugh, just you wait.” Yuel ignored the pain and glared back. “Next time, I’ll leave your precious defense in the dust.”

“Heh, that’s the spirit.” Howard grinned and finally released Yuel. “It may be a bit premature, but welcome to the Classmancers club. I’m expecting great things from you.” He turned around and left.

Next time I’ll get him for sure. Yuel promised himself. Neither of them got the closure they desired from this match, so they yearned for another opportunity to settle things.

Was such opportunity going to present itself while they’re in the same club? Nobody could tell. But it’d definitely come, someday, somewhere.