As the school year ended, summer vacation began. This was Yuel’s second summer since he started playing Classmancers.

Last summer, he and Lars spent the whole time playing together to climb the ladder in Ranked. That was their best indication of improving at the game. But this summer, they had a concrete goal in mind: surpassing Howard and Ellen. The goal was huge and stared them right in the face, but they weren’t sure how to actually reach it.

Unlike ranking up in Ranked, there was no linear progression toward this goal. How will they know if they’re getting any closer to beating Howard and Ellen? Was there any specific training regime they could use to get there faster? Unfortunately, Yuel didn’t have an answer and Lars didn’t even bother thinking much.

“Don’t worry, yo.” Lars always said. “Let’s just keep playing and climb these ranks! We’re just two ranks below them, so we gonna beat them in no time!”

“Online rank doesn’t decide everything, you know.” Yuel always retorted. They were at “Diamond I” right now, whereas Howard and Ellen were at “Challenger IV”. They were indeed only two ranks apart. Though, in Diamond and Challenger, even a single rank required tons of grinding.

Still, in theory, they could eventually catch up with Howard and Ellen if they grind a whole lot. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean anything for their position in the club. Clubmates had a certain amount of respect toward online ranking, but it couldn’t single-handedly decide who’ll play on the first string. There were many other factors involved.

For one, there’s each player’s “main role”. Even though Yuel and Lars had the highest online ranks after Howard, Ellen and Roi, it didn’t mean they could just take the 4th and 5th spots on the team. Their main roles were Support and Carry, which were already taken by Howard and Ellen. So, there weren’t any open spots to claim.

So, how about Lars’s suggestion of beating Howard and Ellen’s ranks? Well, Howard was new captain so he decided the roster. Beating his online rank won’t be enough to make him surrender his spot. The only true way to force Howard to step down was by making him admit defeat. In other words, making him admit Yuel was the superior Support and that the team would have a higher chance of winning with Yuel on the team

So, while beating Howard’s online rank could be a good first step, it’s far from enough. Yuel had to do more, to aim higher. But, he had no idea where exactly he should aim or how high he should get.

In the end, all he could do was spend the summer practicing, just like last time. Lars dropped by every day and they played Classmancers from morning to evening. Lars even slept over a few times so they could play some more.

Julia also tagged along. She didn’t visit every day like Lars and she vehemently refused to sleep over, but she also poured hours upon hours into the game. This was also the same as last summer, except for her big shift in attitude compared to last year.

Julia firstmost came over because of Lars, no question about it. However, she also displayed a much more genuine desire to better herself.

“Hey, you,” Julia called out. “Take a look at this.” She shoved her tablet into Yuel’s face. “How should I’ve played here? This guy mopped the floor with me.”

“Let’s see,” Yuel grabbed the tablet before it smashed his nose. “For starters, you pushed too hard here. Aeromancer is good for defending, so random aggression won’t get you far.”

“Yeah, I know that stuff.” Julia glared at him as if he was making a fool of her. “But, the heck was I supposed to do instead then? The guy was hugging his tower all day like it’s his baby.”

“One idea is to bait them outside.” Yuel slid his finger across the screen, drawing paths from Mid Lane to the neutral Griffin Camps and the enemy Hyena Camps. “Pretend you’re going for one of their camps while they’re turtling. It won’t work on everybody, but some may be tempted to chase you. That’s when you catch them off guard and finish them off.”

“Oh, that’s an idea!” Julia nodded, then shifted her eyes aside. “But of course I already knew that. Hmph.”

“Sure.” Yuel rolled his eyes. Even though Julia changed her attitude toward the game, her attitude toward Yuel remained the same. Oh well.

Over the year, Julia greatly improved her defense and offense. Her tight defense was no longer as wasteful as before because she developed the confidence to not ward every single pixel on the mini-map. Her offense was also fiercer thanks to her secret training with Ellen, or so Yuel heard. He barely got any chances to see it in action because Julia refused to use it in front of Lars.

Julia didn’t admit it, but she was also chasing a rival. Gilbert was assuredly going to be StormBlitz’s new Mid Laner next year, so Julia had to surpass him to get a chance to play competitively. Just like Yuel and Lars, she also lagged behind her rival by two ranks. Julia was at Diamond III, whereas Gilbert was in Diamond I.

Fortunately for her, gaps within Diamond division were much easier to close than the gap between Diamond I and Challenger IV. So, she actually had the highest chance to catch up to her target this summer. Who knows, she might even become a starter before Yuel and Lars. That is, if she were as passionate as them.

“I’m pooped,” Julia sighed as she dropped on the sofa. “Say, don’t you guys wanna do something else for a change?” She made it sound like she’s asking both of them, but her eyes were locked on Lars. “It’s summer and stuff. We could go to the beach or just hang out at the mall. We didn’t get to do anything fun last summer. I don’t wanna spend another summer cramped in this room.”

“Hey now,” Lars said. “We went to the beach once, remember?”

“Oh yes, of course I remember.” Julia’s eyes turned sharp like knives. “You mean that one time when I thought we’re going to have fun at the beach, but turned you were talking about doing a flipping marathon aaaaall the way to the beach and back!”

“Nah, that’s no marathon. It was just like five kilometers.”

“That’s marathon enough for me!” Julia hissed. “Anyway, I’m talking about hanging out for real, not working out or playing Mancers.”

“Well,” Yuel said. “You have girl friends you can go with, right?”

“You don’t get it, do you? Dumbass” Julia puffed her cheeks. “I wanna go to the beach with-” She paused and threw a glance at Lars, then turned away with a tint of blush on her cheeks. “Nevermind, forget it.” She dropped again on the sofa. “Guess we’ll just rot in this boring room the whole summer. Great.”

“Welp,” Lars scratched his head. “I kinda get it. Playing at the same place with the same people kinda burns you out. I wanna keep playing Mancers, but maybe we can make things more fun somehow?”

“More fun?” Yuel asked.

“Ya know, revolutionize stuff. Change the atmosphere. Do some cooler stuff..”

“Hmm,” Yuel pondered. So, Lars meant to keep playing Classmancers but to do so with a novel approach or in a different environment. That’s indeed a good way to combat burnout.

Admittedly, Yuel was also getting a little sluggish during this routine. It didn’t bother him at all last summer, probably because Classmancers was still new for him. But after spending a whole year playing Classmancers seriously in a club, the game lost most of its novelty.

Interestingly, Yuel didn’t feel that way during the year. Everybody had been practicing every day in the clubroom, yet every time felt fresh and new in its own way. Sure, there was some repetition, but it didn’t feel this bad.

What was the difference? Why was practicing in the club usually fun, whereas meeting up in Yuel’s room was burning them out? It’s probably the number of people. They had 15 members in the club, so there was a lot of variety. Team lineups and compositions varied wildly during practice matches and even the roles people played were different. Yuel usually played Support, but sometimes he was had to fill in as a Top Laner or Jungler.

This variety and flexibility of club practice was something this room severely lacked. It’s only the three of them here, which wasn’t even enough to complete a full team. The only “variety” they had was when their online teammates stole their main roles, so they had to adapt. But, that always felt like nothing more than an inconvenience.

Another factor that played a role in the burnout was the location itself. Even though the clubroom sometimes felt stuffed because of all the computers, it was rather big and offered a lot of space. Compared to that, Yuel’s room felt jail; tiny and restricting.

There was the option of playing in the living room, but he wanted them to take turns playing on his computer so they don’t become overused to tablets. Sadly, his computer was in his room. He suggested temporarily moving it to the living room for the summer, but his mom rejected the idea.

So, whoever was going to play from the computer had to stay in Yuel’s room, while the rest could play from the living room. Lars said that’s silly and beats the entire point of gathering together, and Yuel agreed. Thus, there’s no choice but to play together in Yuel’s room. Ugh, it’s really cramped.

The third factor of note was that there’s only one PC here. Lars didn’t like playing on tablet because apparently, it’s harder to execute his superhuman shots there. So, he brought over a laptop whenever he could. It wasn’t exactly optimal because there wasn’t much space for a laptop with a mouse, but Lars preferred that over a tablet.

So, most of the time Yuel and Julia took turns playing on Yuel’s PC. Julia actually liked playing on tablet and argued she’s fine with Yuel always staying on PC, but Yuel objected. Playing on a tablet was a different experience from playing on PC, so it might create some bad habits. Competitors played on PCs during tournaments, so it’s important to hone mechanical skill on PC.

So, what can I do with this? Yuel wanted to convert his observations into a solution. First, the number of players. The most straightforward approach was to call other club members and play together with them. Especially, Roi and Dan would be great additions because they’d fill in the missing Top Laner and Jungler roles. Playing as a full premade team would also allow them to climb ranks faster, so it’s a win-win for everybody.

But, Yuel couldn’t possibly call them over. The room was already cramped, so shoving more people in here would make pack them like sardines.

“So,” Lars said. “How about we play at the club?”

“At the club?” Yuel blinked. “But it’s summer vacation. The school is closed.”

“Is it though? Some srs bsns sports clubs practice during the summer, so don’t see why we can’t. My basketball club did that in grade school.”

“Hmm, I suspect that’ll require getting Burton involved,” Yuel said. For starters, they probably had to get permission from their club supervisor, Mr. Burton. There’s a chance Burton will have to be physically present at school to permit this activity, in which case there’s no chance. He didn’t care about Classmancers or the club. The supervisor role was forced on him and he wasn’t particularly thrilled about it.

“Ask him then.” Lars pushed.

“No, he may suspect something. I’ll talk to Howard and Aron first. I’m sure they know.”

“You do that,” Lars nodded and clenched a fist. “Worst case, we’ll bust our way in!”

“Yeah, no.” Yuel shook his head. “You don’t want the club to get into trouble, do you?”

“Meh, what they gonna do about it? Probably just scold us or something.”

“You talk like you’re a veteran at getting scolded by teachers. Not surprising, with your grades.”

“Weeeeelp, haha.”

Later that day, Yuel called Howard about this topic.

“You want to practice at the club room?” Howard asked. “Alright, go ahead. You haven't lost the key I gave you, did you?”

“Of course not. Getting in isn’t the problem. You sure it’s alright? We don’t need Burton’s permission or anything?”

“Yeah, according to the rules you need him at school to ‘supervise’ you.”

“Figured...”

“But who cares, right?” Howard chuckled.

“Huh?” Yuel raised an eyebrow.

“Just do it.”

“You telling me to break the rules? Nice start, new cap.”

“Nobody gonna give a shit. Just don’t wander around the school too much and you’ll be fine. If they question you, tell them you forgot something in the clubroom and came to fetch it. A no-brainer.”

“Can’t believe I’m hearing this from the captain. If it were Aron, he’d object for sure.”

“Yeah, he was reluctant at first too,” Howard said. “But we applied peer pressure on him so he gave in, haha. He agreed to us use the clubroom as long as he’s there to supervise us. Treating us like a bunch of brats, heh.”

“Definitely sounds like Aron,” Yuel nodded, but still had trouble believing it. A strict and by-the-book captain like Aron agreed to sneak into the club room during the summer? It’s hard to imagine, but the part about peer pressure sounded believable enough. Won’t be surprised if it’s Howard who organized that peer pressure.

“Let’s be real here,” Howard said. “Burton not gonna bother coming to school for you. And, he not gonna stick out his neck to give us special permission in his absence. If you want to use the club room, gotta break a rule or two.”

“Yeah...” Yuel wasn’t too happy about this, but it’s true. Talking to Burton was a lost cause, it’ll only alert him of the club’s intentions. Maybe it was really necessary to sneak around the rules here...

“Well,” Yuel said. “Worst case if they catch us, you’ll defend us, right cap? After all, you’re Aegis. Your defense is unbeatable.”

“Heh, sure. Tell them I gave permission if they catch you. I’ll take the hit.”

“Huh? You’re actually fine with that?”

“It’ll look even worse if they think you’re acting without the captain’s permission. It’ll make the club look like a bunch of rascals and the school will blame Burton for that. He won't get off our cases for a while.”

He sure put some thought into that. Yuel just listened, absorbing every word. These sort of school politics were beyond him. How did Howard know all of that so well? Because he spent more time at the club? Yuel would eventually become a captain too, so he had to get on Howard’s level as soon as possible.

“Anyway,” Howard said. “Have fun there.”

“Hm? You’re not joining?”

“Nah. I may drop by from time to time, but don’t expect me to stick around. It’s summer break, after all. It’s silly to go to school during a vacation, right? Haha.”

“I take it you have some other training plan?”

“Training plan? C’mon, it’s summer. Gotta relax sometimes.”

“Huh...” Is he serious? Yuel paused for a moment. Howard wasn’t going to practice much during the summer? Really? Was he that confident in his skill?

Honestly, it’s disappointing. Yuel expected more from the rival he was trying to surpass.

“Fine,” Yuel said. “You’re free to spend the summer as you wish.”

“Damn right, son.”

“But, I’m going to keep improving myself. Once school starts, don’t be surprised if I take your spot on the team.”

“You wish,” Howard sneered. “Don’t forget I’m the captain. I make the calls.”

“Ugh.” Yuel bit his lip. That’s right, Howard’s position as the captain was the final obstacle in Yuel’s path. No matter how much Yuel improves, Howard will have the final say about who makes it into the first string. To snatch a spot on the team, Yuel will have to beat Howard so hard that it’ll make Howard recognize Yuel’s skill and admit defeat. Easier said than done.

“Well,” Howard said. “We’ll see what happens. You’re still Diamond I, right? If you catch up with me, I’ll take you more seriously.”

“Ah.” Yuel’s hand trembled, almost losing grip of his phone. There it was! The next goal! Yuel could see it clearly now. He was already planning to beat Howard’s rank anyway, but now he had every reason to pursue that objective. He was going to do it! Challenger IV in two months! Easy. No sweat.

“Just to make sure,” Yuel said. “This also applies to Lars, right?”

“Sure. I mean, if you’re supporting then it’s stupid to not make Lars carry, and vice-versa. You know I can’t deal with him on lane. You’re the only one he listens to.”

“Yeah, I feel you.” Yuel nodded. Even after spending a whole year in the club, Lars remained one heck of a brat. He didn’t like Howard’s defensive shot-calls, so he often rebelled by going on the offensive anyway. Sometimes it worked and scored a kill, other times it got Lars killed. Either way, Howard wasn’t amused. The two of them just didn’t mesh together as a Bot duo.

The same could be said about Yuel and Ellen but from a different angle. Ellen had her own unique playstyle and her own ways to exploit enemy weaknesses. Yuel had trouble integrating such an unusual chess piece into his tactics. Ellen was like a wild card who changed properties on the fly to mess around with her opponents, but in the process that made it difficult to form a consistent strategy around her.

Perhaps it wasn’t necessary to do so since she was arguably better than Yuel at striking enemy weaknesses by herself. However, having one less piece to command greatly restricted Yuel’s strategic options. So, rather than not meshing together, it’s more that Yuel and Ellen just didn’t quite complement each other as a pair.

With all of this in mind, it’s easy to see why StormBlitz’s Bot duo could only be either Yuel & Lars or Howard & Ellen. Therefore, it won’t be enough just for Yuel to beat Howard or for Lars to beat Ellen. Howard most likely won’t admit defeat unless “Yuel & Lars” defeat “Howard & Ellen”. It had to be a joint victory.

“Fine by me,” Yuel said. “Have fun during your ‘vacation’. Meanwhile, Lars and I will use the clubroom to grind all the way to Master and beat you and Ellen.”

“Heh, have fun.”

With that, it was decided Yuel and the rest could use the clubroom throughout the summer. He, Lars and Julia went to school on the following day, dressed in school uniforms. The guard at the gate didn’t ask them anything, so they cleared the first stage. Phew, they got inside without alerting anybody.

“Really,” Julia pouted as she stared at her t-shirt. “Can’t believe I’m wearing a uniform during summer break. It’s like school never ended.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Yuel retorted. The guard at the gate seemed more lenient than usual, so maybe they could’ve gotten inside without uniforms. But, it’s better to wear them just in case. Howard agreed too.

Even so, this whole situation was bad for his heart. His eyes darted from side to side as he walked, searching for openings in the teachers’ positions to avoid their eyes.

Judging by the activities around, all the students here belonged to sports clubs. Some dribbled a basketball, others took turns shooting a soccer ball into the goal. They sure worked hard.

It felt like a long time ago now, but just a year ago Yuel also yearned to be a part of this. He tried many different sports at school, but nothing ever went his way. No matter how hard he studied the sport and its theories, he always messed up in practice. At one point, he even considered giving up on sports entirely and sticking with chess all the way, maybe even becoming a pro.

But, that’s history now. While Classmancers wasn’t exactly what most would consider a “real sport”, in Yuel’s book it was a sport in every sense of the word., Having teammates with a variety of skills, using team strategies to defeat the opposition and participating in competitions against other schools. It had everything a team sport needed.

And just like these hardworking sports clubs in front of him, Yuel and Co. also came here today to hone their skills at a sport. It’s just the three of them here today, but if this infiltration mission succeeds then he’ll to invite the others too. Maybe they’ll even recreate the same environment they had throughout the year, minus the seniors who graduated.

But first of all, they had to safely reach the clubroom. They almost ran into some teachers along the way, but Yuel maneuvered around them through safe paths. The team rotated from lane to lane, dodging enemy gankers.

They ended up going in a roundabout route, but that should let them avoid all dangers. As long as they don’t attract anybody’s attention, they should be fine. Except, that’s easier said than done...

Julia fidged as she walked, throwing glances all over the place. Yuel was nervous too, but Julia was overdoing it. She looked like a thief who snuck into a house and worried the residents may wake up any moment.

“You know,” Yuel said. “You look suspicious staring at everything like that. Are you that worried?”

“H-Huh? Of course not, dumbass! I’m just... Err, looking around! Yeah! Because the school looks so different when nobody is around!”

“Looks the same to me.”

“Hmph, you must be blind then.” Julia turned her face away. “But serious talk: what do we say if a teacher catches us?”

“Relax, July.” Lars chuckled and tapped on her shoulder. “If somebody stops us, we just do the obvious: DASH THE HECK OUTTA HERE FULL GAS, YO!”

“Like hell we will,” Yuel made a face. “We’ll say we’re from the Classmancers club and that we came here to pick up our controllers. We only now realized we forgot them back at school, because we usually play on PCs at home. Got it?”

“Hmm,” Julia cocked her head. “Not the best excuse ever. I’ll give it like 4/10. But, it should do.”

“But, but,” Lars insisted. “Running away like assassins is so much cooler! Then we’ll have to slip by the guard and-”

“You. Forgot. A controller. Got it?” Yuel shot a sharp look.

“Okay, okay. Just don’t kill me, haha.”

After what felt like an hour, they finally reached the clubroom. Once they went in, Yuel immediately closed the door and locked it. That’s it. They made it. Mission accomplished! They infiltrated the clubroom without any incidents!

“Dude!” Lars spread his arms wide as if to embrace the whole room. “Now we’re talking! This is a whole different level of space.” He ran around the clubroom in an airplane pose, something he definitely wouldn’t be able to do in Yuel’s room.

“Gotta agree,” Julia nodded. “Like, I’m not a fan of spending my summer at school, but at least it’s better than that cramped room.”

“Well,” Yuel frowned. “Excuse me for not hosting a five-star hotel in my room.” These ungrateful rascals.

Still, they were right. Even though it was the three of them like always, the atmosphere here felt a world apart. The room was larger, PCs were available for everybody and various training notes were posted around, mostly Aron’s prints. This was a proper training room designed for improving at Classmancers. Just breathing the air of this room already made them feel like slightly better players.

“C’mon, yo!” Lars waved at them, already seated at his favorite spot at the PC closest to the window. It’s one of the two PCs which were clogged at the beginning of the year. Yuel shaped them up, but they still weren’t in best form compared to the other PCs here. Yuel recommended using one of the better comps, but Lars insisted this one was the best.

“Let’s go, my dudes!”

“Coming,” Yuel joined in.

Meanwhile, Julia was torn between her options. On one hand, she wanted to sit near Lars. But on the other hand, she wanted to stay far away from the noisiest PCs. In the end, she sucked it up and took a seat beside Lars. But of course, she didn’t dare to pick the other defective PC.

With that, their summer training began. Yuel relayed Howard’s words to Lars: “You’re still Diamond I, right? If you catch up with me, I’ll take you more seriously.”

They agreed this was the first goal on their way to the first string. They had to catch up to Challenger IV, then challenge Aegis and Athena for the starter positions.

With that determination, they spent every day practicing at the club.