Just making Taison understand his responsibility as the Jungler didn’t stop him from hungering for kills. After failing to save Gil, Taison will now surely pay more attention to such situations and will prioritize helping his teammates instead of chasing kills. However, there was another type of situation which posed a big problem: a situation in which an enemy was pushing a lane alone.

“Yo!” Taison called out. “Lars is alone in Bot, so I’mma gank his ass.”

“Wait, he still got his ult-” Howard stopped mid-sentence. Maybe this was a good chance, Lars had Trickshow available, so normally Howard would do anything to stop Taison from going 1v1.

However, the purpose of this first game wasn’t to win. Of course, a win will be more than welcome but, with a Dark Knight claiming a second kill this early, this game was clearly heading in a bad direction. So, there was no need to try too hard anymore. This has officially become a throwaway game and he’ll use it to educate the rascals of his team.

“You sure you can handle Lars in a 1v1?” Howard asked.

“Easy! I’mma wreck that dude!”

“Then, go for it.” Howard nodded. Go for it and fail, that’ll be the best outcome. This is also a good chance to see the effectiveness of the “Lars Killer” in action.

“Okay, I’m ganking Bot then!” Taison announced as he dashed through the Jungle. Awesome! A chance to 1v1 Lars! Taison will whoop that loser’s ass and prove everybody he’s number one!

Taison leaped with Lunge and activated Gae Bolg while still air-bound. This gave him extra hang time to aim the deadly spear attack at Lars.

“GAE BOLG!” A thundering roar.

“Wha-!?” Lars stopped shooting. Some shit was coming, yo! There were wards all around the jungle, but none of them spotted anybody. So, where was his enemy coming from!?

Crap! From above! Lars rolled out of the Turret’s range.

Shit! Taison’s lance came down crashing but it hit nothing but the ground. Lars slipped away just in the nick of time.

But, that’s to be expected. Lars wasn’t some noob who’d get owned by simple shit like that. That’s what made him a worthy opponent to tear apart!

Taison didn’t waste a moment and swept his lance through Lars. The Gae Bolg was just a feint. This was the real shit, yo! Yeah!

This ain’t good, yo! Lars frowned. He spent his dodge-roll on the deadly ult, so he had no choice but to eat that sweep attack in the face. On top of dealing damage, the sweep also lowered Lars’s defense and slowed him down. Yikes.

Taison was already a tough enough opponent to take down, so all these extra disadvantages were bad news. Like, REALLY bad news. But, Lars had Trickshow, so everything gonna a-okay!

“It’s time for a trick show!” Lars’s limiters were removed. You wanna go? Let’s do it!

Right as Taison’s next attack was about to connect, Lars slid aside. Easy dodge-

Gotcha! Taison grinned as his lance pierced through Lars in the middle of the slide. Ha! Maybe this lame sliding dodge works on some scrubs, but not on Taison!

Geh! He can keep up. Lars grinned. Taison struck at lightning speed, accurately and decisively. His attacks easily caught up with Lars’s quick Trickslides. Part of it was because Lars was slowed down and therefore his slides were a bit slower, but this was still some pro level stuff right there!

Sick! Nice going there, Tai! Lars got shivers. This gonna be rough. Sick! That’s how real fights gotta be! Not like that poking clown fiesta with Ellen.

Taison’s attacks were cool and all, but Lars had no intention of staying on the receiving end. He fired a Trickshot during a Trickslide, aiming for a bouncing shot. This gonna deal a crapton of damage! It’ll make things even-

No chance! Taison saw that shot coming. First, the shot gonna travel to the nearby wall, then it’ll bounce and, finally, it’ll fly toward Taison. He had all the time in the world to react, yo!

Taison rolled forward and dodged the bouncing Trickshot. As soon as he recovered, he thrust his lance at Lars again. Bullseye!

This ain’t good! Lars found himself on the defensive even though he was in the middle of a Trickshow. Unlike most opponents, Taison wasn’t the type to be overwhelmed by fast movements and attacks, so bouncing shots were a no-no. Taison was fast enough to react to them, so Lars had to fall back to straightforward Trickshots.

“You need to retreat,” Yule argued.

“Yeah, probably,” Lars forced an awkward smile. “I don’t think he gonna let me, though.”

“Just retreat as far as you can. I’ll try to get there.”

“Okay- ack!” Another stab! Dang it, Taison was on a roll today! Lars finally started landing some shots after giving up on bounces, but Taison didn’t let him rest for a moment. Dude dished out one lightning speed strike after another!

This can actually work. Howard nodded in amazement while following the development of the 1v1. Lars’s Trickshow overwhelmed most people, but not Taison. Miraculously, Taison kept up with Lars’s fast pace and reacted in time to both the Trickslides and the Trickshots.

Part of it was because these two has been fighting each other on a daily basis at the club. They and Trever spent way too much time duking it out in 1v1s and 1v1v1s. As a result, they got used to each other’s tricks and learned how to handle each other in a 1v1.

But, that’s not all. Among the trio, Taison was especially strong in 1v1. During the second half of the year, Taison even beat Trever’s 1v1 win ratio, which was already higher than Lars’s. Nobody ever realized this fact, because the three clowns only ever compared their win ratios across the entire year. In that statistic, Trever was always on top thanks to the big lead he got at the beginning of the year.

However, after Howard examined the most recent statistics, he could claim beyond a shadow of a doubt: by the end of the year, Taison surpassed Trever in 1v1! But, for some reason, Taison’s performance was the worst in 1v1v1. And, in general, he didn’t impress much in team fights. In fact, even in advantageous 2v1 situations, it often felt like Taison’s wasn’t nearly as amazing as Lars and Trever.

Fortunately, the current situation was a pure 1v1 and Taison was quite possibly the strongest club member in that area. At this rate, he might even beat Lars’s Trickshooter!

Just like the data says. Yuel nodded to himself as he watched the 1v1 through Lars’s monitor. Taison was very strong in 1v1, that’s what the most recent statistics claimed. Yuel noticed this troubling fact while preparing for today’s match. Statistics claimed that among the “Three Goofs” Taison was currently the strongest in 1v1. However, he was strong ONLY in 1v1. Therefore...!

Geh! This is it. Lars gulped. One more hit and he’s a goner. Thankfully, Trickshow was still on, so he could slide to dodge. But, where should he slide? To the right? To the left? It felt like Taison would hit him no matter where he goes. Dude was on fire today! There were no openings!

It’s over! Taison finally cornered Lars. One more strike and that scrub was done for! Taison gonna prove he’s number one, right here and now! I gonna kick yo- huh!?

BAM! A bomb went off and flames broke out on the lane! What the hell!? Wait, the fire was actually pretty far away from Taison. Huh? What gives?

Heh, he came to the rescue? Taison sneered as he spotted Yuel from the corner of his eye. Too late, slowpoke! I’mma finish this right here and- bah! Where did that mofo go!?

In the split second Taison took his eyes off his prey - Lars vanished! Shit shit shit! Where did that shithead go!? Taison had to win here and prove he’s da best!

A shot pierced Taison from the right, revealing Lars’s current location. Instead of running away, Lars rolled to Taison’s side and fired a Trickshot. Did that mofo think he still had a chance or something?

Idiot! You should have gotten away while you had the chance! You’re dead meat now, khaha! Taison turned around and thrust his spear. It’s over, yoooooooo!

Did you know, Tai? Lars smiled as he watched the deadly spear approach. If you shoot a Trickshot in 90 degrees, it’s like dribbling a basketball - it comes right back at ya!

The Trickshot that hit Taison from point-blank continued flying forward and hit the wall behind. Then, it bounced back with an almost perfect 90 degrees angle! The bullet pierced Taison’s back for double damage!

Wha?! No fucking way! The tip of Taison’s spear reached all the way to Lars’s chest... then his Lancer collapsed.

『You have been killed!』

“Noooooooooo!” Taison flew from his chair and held his head. “Fuuuuuuuuuuck! How!? SHIT! FUCK!” He kicked a chair, sending it flying across the room. “I was SO close!’

“You played well,” Howard said.

“‘Well’? What part of it was ‘well’?! I fucking blew it! Fuck this game!”

“You did something nobody else here can do,” Howard continued in a chill voice. “You actually went toe-to-toe with Lars’s Trickshow.”

“Hey,” Ellen puffed her cheeks. “I can totally do that too-”

“Not now, Elly.”

“Aya!” Ellen jumped from being pinched.

“You almost killed Lars,” Howard continued. “That was plenty impressive.”

“Yeah, almost killed,” Taison ranted as he walked back to his chair. “But in the end, I didn’t kill shit, yo!”

“You were distracted at the end there, right?”

“Gah, I guess...” Taison sighed. Really, it was all because of that stupid Yuel and his stupid ass bomb. Why the flying fuck did that mofo even throw a bomb all the way out there? The fire didn’t even do shit, it was like twenty miles away from where Taison and Lars were fighting. It must have been a weird misplay.

“That bomb was no accident,” Howard smiled meaningfully. “Yuel did it on purpose.”

“Huuuh?”

“Yuel did it to throw you off because he figured you’re not good at analyzing multiple things at once. That’s why you’re only so good at 1v1s - you got attention span issues.”

“I’m telling ya, I got none of that shit, yo!”

“Sound really convincing after you lost the way you did.”

“Gah...” Taison gritted his teeth but had nothing to retort with. That flippin’ bomb really threw him off at the end there. It distracted him just for a split second, it wasn’t even anything special. And yet, somehow, that was enough to give Lars the opportunity he needed. Fuck this game.

“On high levels of play,” Howard continued. “Split second distractions can prove fatal and you just experienced a taste of it. There’s nothing to feel embarrassed about, everybody got weaknesses. It’s all about knowing how to cover them up.”

“Yeah...”

“Remember the training you did to block out the noise around you? Next time, try using some of what you practiced.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Taison sighed.

Alright, seems like he cooled down. Howard nodded to himself. Thankfully, the entire incident was wrapped up nicely.

Yuel did a great job figuring out Taison’s weakness, but that much was within Howard’s expectations. Yuel was meticulous about match preparation, so there was no chance he wouldn’t notice Taison’s abnormal 1v1 win ratio. From there, it wasn’t a huge leap to figure out that Taison underperformed whenever he was confronted with too many elements.

Yuel’s “bomb distraction” was like an experiment to verify the theory about Taison’s weakness. With how successful it turned out, Yuel now knew how to effectively counter Taison’s ganks. It was unfortunate, but it was bound to happen at some point today.

After seeing how strong Taison was in 1v1, Yuel will surely advise his teammates to avoid 1v1s at all cost. But, Howard anticipated this sequence of developments and prepared a tactic which will bait enemies into 1v1s against Taison. It was a necessary plan for this team because pretty much all of Taison’s worth came down to his 1v1 skill. If they can’t abuse that advantage, the team will become too underpowered.

“From now on,” Howard said. “Don’t rush into 1v1s unless I approve of them. Even if it looks like a good opportunity, it can always be a trap. You know how Yuel likes setting traps.”

“Yeah,” Taison rolled his eyes. “That mofo sure likes messing with people.”

“So, make sure you play like we practiced this week. Elly, you’re up.”

“Got it~” Ellen winked. “Just follow my lead, Taitai. I’ll arrange some ni~ce 1v1s for you~”

“Sure, I’m game.” Taison nodded. He didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the idea yet, but he’ll change his mind after scoring the first kill via this tactic. Especially, after scoring a kill on Lars.

“But, no need to do any of that this game,” Howard said. “Leave the ‘Lars Killing’ for the next game. We’ll surprise them then.”

“Roger~” Ellen saluted.

With both Roi and Lars at 2 kills this early, this game became an official throwaway game. There may still be a chance for a comeback, but it was very unlikely and everybody will have to expend lots of energy in an attempt to make that happen. No point wasting energy on a lost game.

“Alright, listen, guys,” Howard addressed everybody. “I’ll be honest, this game is probably lost. But, no need to feel bad about it. I warned you at the beginning, right? Leaving Trickshooter open was a gamble I took and it backfired, so I’m the only one to blame for this situation.”

“Yep,” Taison laughed. “You’re the drafting pro, fam. Khaha,”

“It was a really bad idea,” Gilbert nodded.

“So,” Gregory smirked. “I can get killed 10 times now and blame it all on you? Topkek.”

Chuckles and laughter spread across the team. Howard’s words relieved some of the pressure the teammates have been experiencing. Players always built up negative feelings whenever they were in a losing position and these may carry over to the next game, so Howard had to dispel them right here and now.

One solution was to surrender. That would immediately cut down the negative momentum of the game and would allow the players to walk away with minimal salt. But, there was an even better way to handle this.

“Just take it easy for the rest of the game,” Howard said. “If you see an opportunity then take it, but don’t push too hard to get a win here. Just play casually and make our opponents the tryhards. Make them burn out.”

“Kek, that’s evil,” Gregory smirked. “I like it.”

“Then,” Taison grinned. “Can I just 1v1 anybody I catch?”

“If that’s how you like it, sure,” Howard nodded. “Just don’t try too hard. Remember, the goal is to wear down our opponents, not ourselves. Let’s see how long it gonna take them to win.”

After Howard issued this order, everybody breathed in relief. He gave permission, so they messed around without fearing the consequences. That should help them feel refreshed before the next game even after they lose.

As Howard feared, the first game ended up as a throwaway. However, it was a good educational experience. Gregory was convinced to play defense and Taison agreed to cooperate when ganking. With that, the two troublemakers of the team have been dealt with.

In the next game, Howard will show what he really cooked up for today!