The second day of the entry exam’s final round was about to begin. Lars and Julia were scheduled to be tested on this day, but the examiners ran into a problem.

“My, how bothersome.” Ellen ran her fingers along her hair. “And I begged you so much to not get me involved in this.”

“Believe me, I didn’t want you to take part in this either.” Aron said. “But, Howard is staying home today and you’re the only replacement we have.”

“My, he’s skipping school? What a bad bad boy.” Ellen giggled.

“He said he’s feeling under the weather, probably a cold.”

“Poor Wardy. That’s what happens when you push people too hard, you evil slave driver you.”

“Hmph.” Aron shrugged. “If he wants to be the captain next year, he must be able to deal with this much. Besides, I’m pretty sure it’s not due to overwork.”

“Hmm~? You know something?”

“... not really.”

“My, how suspicious~ I heard people complained about his performance yesterday, I wonder if that’s related.”

“Ask him yourself.” Aron cleared his throat. “Anyway, let’s get down to business. I won’t ask you to do much during the exams, just play the game... casually.”

“Sugarcoating doesn’t suit you, darling.” Ellen giggled. “Just say it straight: you’re afraid I’ll break our promising rookies.”

“As long as you understand.”

“No worries, Ronron. I’ll be a good girl and only toy with the rest of you.” Ellen smiled like an angel. “You went out of your way to drag me here, on a day I didn’t even plan visiting the club. So don’t worry, I’ll make sure you all have a f~u~n time today~”

“... great.” Aron sighed. “Anyway, here’s the briefing of the first match. The rookie on your side is Lars, a Carry player.”

“Like I care.” Ellen shrugged. “Just tell me who’s the poor guy on the other team, so I won’t bully him.”

“The rookie on my team is Julia, playing Mid.”

“Oh, my!” Ellen covered her mouth. “Julia? A girl?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’ve never met a boy named Julia. Yes, it’s a girl.”

“My, a girl actually survived the first two rounds? So, it means she isn’t a chub and she knows a thing or two about Classmancers., what a delightful surprise~ Wait, don’t tell me there are even more girls who made it?”

“No, she’s the only one. There were three more girls initially, but they were eliminated in the earlier rounds.”

“How tragic.” Ellen shook her head. “This entry exam is so mean to us girls. Most girls only start playing Classmancers around my age, no way they can pass this Spartan exam on the first year. And. I don’t even want to touch on how they must physically compete against boys in the first round. Did you ever see what PE lessons girls get? It’s like they’re designed for 80 year old hags.”

“You’re welcome to become the next captain and change the rules as you see fit.”

“Nah, I’ll leave that hassle to Wardy.” Ellen crossed her arms. “Alright, I decided. Let me on girl’s team, I’ll examine her.”

“Excuse me?” Aron raised an eyebrow.

“My, suffering from hearing loss at your age? I said I’ll test the girl.”

“What game are you trying to play here?” Aron frowned. “Plan to cheat her through the exam?”

“Heh, as if.” Ellen smirked. “Honesty, I do think you could just let the gal join after she’ve come this far. But, I’m not gonna bother working for that, I’m not that sweet of a person.”

“Then what’s your interest?”

“I just wanna check her out, as a fellow girl who went through this circus you call ‘exam’. You’ve already dragged me into this nonsense, so the least you can do is let me have some fun.”

“Sorry, can’t do.” Aron declared. “I’ve been adjusting the teams the whole day due to Howard’s absence. The lineups finally look balanced, so I’m not changing them.”

“My, how deligent you are, cap.” Ellen clapped her hands and smiled. “But, please change it. Like, right now. Or, maybe I’ll also feel ‘under the weather’, teehee~”

“You’re insufferable sometimes, you know that?”

“You know you love it, sweetie.”

“You really put me on the spot here.” Aron sighed deeply as he checked his notes. “Hrm, maybe I can trade you for Trever and have you play Carry on the girl’s team.”

“Nope, rejected.” Ellen crossed her arms. “I told you already, I don’t wanna play Carry if Wardy isn’t supporting. Keep me a Jungler, ok thanks.”

“You’re sure making this difficult.”

“A difficult woman is a good woman, remember that.” Ellen smiled. “Also, I like it how you’re fine trading me for someone like Trever, but you won’t trade places with me yourself. You’re playing Jungler on that team, aren’t you?”

“That I do.”

“So what, that’s your way of saying I’m not your match as a fellow Jungler?”

“There’s a reason I’m the team’s Jungler, you know.”

“Yeah, of course there is.” Ellen nodded. “It’s because you’re the captain and decide everything. Oh, and because all our Carries are trash, so I’m stuck playing Carry to make up for it.”

“Hey now.” Aron frowned. “Trever is a better Carry than you when he’s at his best.”

“Yeah, sure. And he’s worse than a Bronze V at his worst, please Ronron.” Ellen shook her head. “Oh, now I get it! You’re abusing your authority to hit on younger girls, aren’t you? That’s why you want to play on the girl’s team so badly, how shrewd~”

“I have no interest in that...” Aron started developing a headache.

“Right, of course you don’t. For a serious guy like you, about the only girlfriend you’d ever have is Trever.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t swing that way.” Aron sighed deeply. “Alright already, I’ll switch places with you.”

“My, aren’t you a charmer. Thanks, darling~” Ellen blew him a kiss.

“You better take this seriously, the girl’s fate is in your hands now.”

“Yes, sir.” Ellen saluted . With this, it was decided Ellen and Trever were going to supervise Julia, whereas Aron and Gilbert were going to supervise Lars.

A short while later, Lars and Julia learned their exams were scheduled for the exact same time. To be more precise: they were going to face each other as enemies!

“What we gonna do? This is the worst.” Julia hung her head.

“Nah, don’t worry, dude.” Lars shrugged. “According to Yuel, it’s not about winning. We just gotta do our best and it gonna be A-okay!”

“I sure hope so.” Julia bit her nails. How could this happen? Of all the opponents that were left, they just had to pit her against Lars. How could she play her best now? If she were to get in Lars’s way during the match, it might result in him failing the exam. He’d never forgive her for that, it’d be the end! Game over! AGH!

“My, what’s going on here? Enemies exchanging information? Suspicious~”

“E-Eh!?”

“Whoa! Where did ya come from!?”

Lars and Julia jumped when a girl popped up beside them.

“My, treating me like a ghost? How rude.” The girl made an offended face, but quickly switched to a playful smile. “July? I can call you July, right?”

“Um, sure.” Julia instinctively took a step back. What’s with this girl?

“Nice to meet you, I’m Ellen.” The girl, Ellen, grabbed Julia’s hand and shook it, Julia didn’t even have a chance to resist. “I’m in charge of your exam, so let’s get along~”

“Oh, o-okay.” Julia nodded like a robot. It was hard to believe this weirdo was gonna be the examiner, but Julia tensed up regardless. She had no idea what was going on, but for now she had to stay on Ellen’s good side.

“Sorry, but I’ll be stealing your girlfriend for a while~” Ellen winked at Lars as she casually placed a hand on Julia’s shoulder.

“A-Ah, w-w-we aren’t really d-dating or anything.” Julia trembled and her cheeks burned.

“Is that so? My bad, teehee.” Ellen playfully stuck out her tongue.

“Is Lars here?” A senior peeked out of a nearby room.

“Coming!” Lars turned around and lightly jogged toward the senior. “Good luck, July!”

“Y-You too!” Julia did her best to muster a smile, despite being overrun by dread. Oh god, she SO didn’t want to take this exam! Until the very last moment, she hoped somebody would pop up and say the schedule changed, so she wouldn’t have to play against Lars. Alas, reality was a cruel bitch.

Once the door closed and Lars disappeared from view, Ellen turned to Julia with a gleeful smile. “You’re head over heels for him, aren’t you?”

“T-That’s not your business, hmph.” Julia turned away and crossed her arms.

“My, so once your boyfriend is gone, you stop acting like a good girl? How cute~”

“Just what’s your deal anyway?” Julia shot a glare.

“How aggressive~ Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to pick a fight.” Ellen clapped her hands. “Finding a girl who plays Classmancers at your age is harder than finding a unicorn, so let’s get along, as fellow Classmancer Girls.”

“That sure has a sad ring to it.”

“I know, right? Imagine this: I was the only girl in the club during my first year, the other fourteen were all guys.”

“My condolences.” Julia lowered her arms. Ellen was an oddball, but it didn’t seem like she meant any harm.

“As your senior in life, I’ll give you one tip: don’t suck up to the man you wanna get. Play hard to get and make him beg for your attention.”

“Uh-huh...” Julia made a face. What “senior in life”? Aren’t you like a year or two older than me?

“Now that I think about it,” Ellen placed a finger on her lip. “You’re going up against your boyfriend in the exam, aren’t you? Talking about bad luck, you’re like Romeo and Juliet.”

“D-Don’t jinx it please!” Just when Julia finally managed to forget about that dreadful fact, it got shoved into her face all over again. “Just to make sure: losing the match doesn’t mean failing the exam, right? Please tell me it doesn’t!”

“My, what a worrywart.” Ellen giggled. “Relax, winning and losing don’t matter, you just gotta put on a good show. If you both do well, you and your boyfriend can pass the exam together.”

“Thank goodness.” Julia sighed in relief. “Also, I told you he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Not your boyfriend yet, right?”

“Heh, well.” Julia smiled.

“My, you finally smiled.” Ellen smiled from ear to ear. “I was wondering what kind of weird girl plays Classmancers seriously at your age, but turns out she’s quite a catch. A maiden in love is a truly beautiful thing.”

“Heh, would you stop teasing me already?” Even though Julia said that, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling along. Something about Ellen’s feisty attitude was infectious.

“Alright, alright.” Ellen winked. “Let’s get started with the exam before they yell at me~”

Ellen led the way to the examination room. Three boys waited for them there. According to Ellen, they were members of the Classmancers club and were going to be Julia’s teammates. As she feared, they were going to play a match against Lars’s team. Brrr.

“Hey there, I’m Trever.” The boy sitting besides Julia stretched a hand. “I’m in charge of your exam together with Ellen.”

“You can just call him Trash.” Ellen added with a shrug “Also, hands off.” She slapped his hand. “She already got a boyfriend, so go dig somewhere else, loser.”

“Ahaha, our goddess is as lovely as ever...” Trever smiled awkwardly. “I didn’t mean anything by it, really. Was just trying to help the rookie relax.”

“How about you help her relax by shutting your mouth?” Ellen smiled like an angel.

Holy shit, that’s harsh. Julia gulped. Note to self: never get on Ellen’s bad side.

“The banning started.” A teammate announced.

“My, already?” Ellen gasped. “July dear, do you have any idea how the drafting system works?”

“Of course.” Julia nodded. “The teams take turns banning and picking classes.”

“My, you sure know your Classmancers!” Ellen smiled. “You play Ranked?”

“Yeah, I’m Plat-” Julia stopped herself. Should she spill the beans about being Platinum IV? Platinum was considered a pretty high rank for somebody her age, so it’d tell everybody she had quite the experience and they might expect the world from her. If she failed to live up to these high expectations, that’d reflect poorly on her score.

“Obviously Yuel and Lars carried her, even a monkey can get to Platinum that way.” Gregory’s mocking words ate away at her. As strongly as she wanted to deny them, deep down she was worried. Without Lars and Yuel beside her, was she really a Platinum player in her own right? She never played Ranked alone, so she had no idea how she compared to other Platinum players.

“I played Ranked a little.” Julia averted her eyes as she answered Ellen. It was best to play safe here, there was no reason to blurt unnecessary things.

“My, how impressive. This makes things easier.” Ellen took out a checklist for the exam. “Let’s see, let’s see. You can take charge of the banning to earn some points, or you can leave everything to me. What do you say?”

“Do I lose points if I ban poorly?”

“Yes, you do, my dear.” Ellen answered. “In case you decide to take over the reins, I’ll have no choice but to grade you for it. If you aren’t up for the challenge, you can always leave it to me.”

“Can I take a moment to think about it?”

“Of course, take your time. There’s no rush.”

“Thanks.” Julia took a deep breath. Banning, huh?

While playing Classmancers with the boys throughout the summer, Yuel always handled the banning for them. He was the most knowledgeable in the group, so they left everything to him, he sometimes even picked their classes for them. Thus, Julia never had a chance to ban anything herself.

However, that wasn’t to say she was clueless about banning. She always closely watched Yuel’s banning and asked questions when something didn’t sit right. She even swallowed her pride and asked him to coach her about drafting, all for the sake of eventually surpassing him and becoming Lars’s main partner in Classmancers.

Thus, she had robust theoretical knowledge about banning, but zero practical experience. Was that enough to take the risk and try her hand at banning in this exam? There was the danger of losing some points, but she should be able to deliver an “alright” impression at least, especially since the examiners had no idea she was a Platinum player. To pass this final round, she desperately had to get her hands on any points available.

Only three candidates were going be selected from the final round. There was no chance in hell they’d pick her over Lars or Yuel, so, in truth, there was only one spot left for her. There were like 20 other candidates and she had to beat them all. Was she really going to surpass them by merely showing her skill in the match?

On top of scoring points via smart banning, there was another point of interest. The point of the match wasn’t to win, it was to “put on a good show”, as Ellen put it. By taking charge of the banning, Julia could ban all the pesky classes she had trouble dealing with, thus increasing her chances of having a smoother game. In addition, she’d be able to indirectly help Lars, by not banning his best Carry classes. That’d give him maximum flexibility in his picks and allow him to play his best.

“My, no need to worry your pretty little head so much about it. Just leave it to-”

“I’ll do it.” Julia stated. “Please let me do it.”

“Hmm.” Ellen examined Julia for a moment. “Alright, sweetie. You look confident, so go ahead.”

Julia started by banning Shadow Walker, the most dangerous assassin class in the game. From there, she continued by banning mage classes she had no intention of picking herself. She focused on the Mid Lane mages who had no obvious counters she was aware of. Her goal was to corner the enemy Mid Laner into picking a class she knew how to counter, so she could pick said counter and do well against them in lane.

Making bans which benefited only her was probably going to make things harder for the rest of the team, but she couldn’t care less. This exam wasn’t about winning as a team, but about Julia’s ability as an individual player. Besides, they were all club members, right? So, they were way more experienced than her and should be able to deal with it. In fact, she was the only one on the team with a huge disadvantage, since her lane opponent was most likely going be a superior competitive player. She needed these calculated bans if she wanted to have any chance at all.

“Hmm~ I see what you’re doing there, girl.” Ellen giggled. “You’re only banning Mid classes to get an edge on your lane opponent, right?”

“Eh!?” Julia gasped. Oh god, her plan was completely exposed! “Um, t-that’s...”

“Atta girl!”

“Eh?”

“You know that your enemy is going to be strong, so you outsmart them. That’s a smart girl.” Ellen smiled and patted Julia’s head.

“T-Thanks.” Julia smiled awkwardly. Phew, she was safe. In a real competitive match, this sort of banning was probably going be frowned upon, but Ellen was very supportive. Ellen gave the impression she was a big shot in the club, so having her as an ally was very reassuring.

Eventually, Julia’s lane opponent picked Beastmaster. It was a quirky class, which relied on spawning minions instead of using high damage spells. By applying the knowledge she absorbed from Yuel, she easily countered Beastmaster by picking Pyromancer.

“My, you picked it without batting an eye.” Ellen blinked. “Why Pyromancer?”

“Pyromancer struggles against class that can outrange it, but otherwise it has some of the strongest spells in the game.” Julia explained matter-of-factly. “Beastmaster doesn’t have any good ranged damage or zoning tools, so Pyromancer is a safe pick here. Also, our Carry picked Pirate, an ability-based Carry who takes longer than most to start doing some real carrying. So, Pyromancer can help in that department if I invest a little into attack speed.”

“Such an elaborate explanation, it’s like you were reading from a textbook.”

“Haha, thanks...” Honestly, it stung. Julia knew all too well she just parroted information she received from Yuel. Yeah, she used a textbook answer alright. But, was that bad? Everybody had to start somewhere. Right now, the best she could was to to parrot Yuel, but one day she’d be able to come up with her own answers.

Focus, focus! She shook her head. She couldn’t let small things like that distract her right now, she was in the middle of an important exam. All that mattered was that she got an edge over her opponent, regardless of the means she used. To beat the other 20 candidates, she had to put on her absolute best performance and awe all her seniors.

Once all the classes had been selected, the match which was going to decide Julia’s and Lars’s fates was about to begin.