On top of extending the training hours in the clubroom, Kai also joined Yuel and Lars in their after-school practice. She started by joining them only on the days that club activity was off, but it gradually became an everyday routine.

"You two are really addicted to Mancers, huh," Kai shook her head. "It's already seven and you're still playing."

"Gotta train, yo," Lars said. "Next time, I gonna rek Trever! Just ya watch."

"I prefer to use the word 'serious' over 'addicted'," Yuel corrected. "We want to play the game professionally, so we have to start working toward that goal as early as possible."

"Yep!” Lars nodded. “Early bird catches the steak, yo!"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Pros, huh," Kai smiled wryly. Even though she just called them “addicts”, Kai herself was also still here, still playing Classmancers. She was quite the addict herself, honestly.

But, the two boys trained way more than here. Even after she left, she kept training. And, even on the days Kai took a break and didn’t join them, those two were still training. They worked so hard it felt more serious than a job. If Luke saw this, he'd call the police on them for promoting child labor.

And still, despite how much Yuel and Lars trained, there were players out there who posed a challenge to these guys. In fact, such players existed in this very region, like the high schoolers they fought in the 3v3.

And, this wasn’t just restricted to high schoolers. Even among middle schoolers, there were surely players from the Leopards and StormBlitz who were equals to Yuel and Lars. Therefore, the two had to constantly train and better themselves, or else they’d drop off from the top of the competition. It was rough.

Even though Kai was also training way harder than any middle schooler should, she didn't hold a candle to the efforts of these two. Occasionally, the thought of training more crossed her mind. But, she always turned lazy in the end. She couldn’t become like these two fanatics, she needed her breaks. Some days were better spent listening to music, playing rhythm games, and practicing guitar.

Classsmancers was undeniably a big part of her life, but it was only one part. And, it was possibly a temporary one. There was no telling whether she'll still be playing the game three or five years from now. Maybe she will, maybe she won't.

Unlike Yuel and Lars, she didn't have a clear goal in mind like becoming a pro player. She was thinking of maybe becoming a guitarist, but who knew what the future held. She loved music, but producing it sometimes felt like a chore. Playing guitar wasn’t a child's play, she learned that on her own flesh, quite literally. Her fingers had lots of blisters.

So yeah, I have no reason to slave away for this game like the boys. Kai concluded. She was the captain of the club and she had to level up in order to pay back to that lane freezing bastard, so for she had to work hard. But, not THAT hard, not to the point of making her entire life revolve around the game.

I’m glad for their hard work, though. It makes matches that much easier.

When Yuel and Lars were in charge of Bot, they were responsible for carrying the team to victory. Kai usually wasn't a fan of leaving this important role to others, but this duo made her feel at ease. Between how hard they’ve been training and how strong they played, it felt fine to leave this critical role to them.

When Kai queued into Ranked only with Yuel and Lars, the caliber of their opponents was completely different. The guys were Challenger V and she supplemented that with a Diamond V, so the matchmaking had no reservations about pitting them against strong opponents.

Throughout many such fierce matches, there were occasions when even Yuel and Lars couldn't carry the game to victory. For example, when they ran into familiar faces...

"Oh snap, it's Trever and Aron!" Lars exclaimed. "We gonna get our revenge match right here and now, yooooo!"

"Freezer is here too," Kai's eyes glinted like a polished blade. "Let's get them."

"I wouldn't say this counts as a real revenge match," Yuel noted. "We're both playing with randoms, so anything can happen. But yeah, let's get them for sure."

Damn, why does that bastard have to play Support this match? Kai ranted about Freezer's position. Instead of being Mid like he should, the guy was playing Support for WildDragon, the guy named Trever, if memory served.

He’s totally dodging the fight. He even picked Warlock and everything. Wuss. Kai scoffed.

“Heh, look,” Trever chuckled. “It’s our bois! And that chick, too. Are we gonna give them a rerun of last time?”

“A rerun? That’ll be hard to do, given our different positions,” Aron noted.

“Oh c’mon, details. I mean, we gonna whoop their asses, right?”

“I don’t mind waiting for them to self-destruct like last time,” Alex shrugged.

“Goddammit, you two!” Trever waved an angry fist. “Where’s the hype? Where’s the fighting spirit!?”

“We just have to win, that’s all,” Aron said.

“Yeah, they’re just another enemy to beat,” Alex shrugged. “Can’t say they impressed me much in our last fight. I’m not expecting much.”

“Yeah, I feel you,” Trever nodded. “They fought real lame last time. And, Lars is on Gunslinger this time, so no Trickshooter again. This gonna be ezpz.”

“Say, about your Gunslinger,” Yuel started. “You haven’t shown Trever yet how much you improved it, right?”

“Nah, don’t think I did,” Lars said. “Maybe I mentioned that my Slinger became dope, but that’s about it. He probably ain’t seen it.”

“So, Trever will underestimate it,” Yuel deduced. “We can use it our advantage. Can you lay low during the early game? Don’t do anything too high-level. Just play your Gunslinger on the same level you play most Carries.”

“Eh, the same level as others...” Lars tilted his head. “Not sure how I’mma do that, but I’ll try. Basically, you wanna make sure he doesn’t notice my Slinger is awesome, right?”

“Yes, that’s the plan. We can catch him off guard later.”

“Hehe, being smart and all. I like it! Okay, let’s do this thing!”

Yet, as soon as the match started, Lars has already shown off his godly Gunslinger skills. He landed a headshot on every single enemy minion in the wave, clearing the minions way faster than one would normally expect from a Gunslinger.

Is that what you call “lying low”? Yuel made a face. Then again, is there even a Carry class with which Lars doesn’t pull off amazing feats? I hope Terver will write it off as #JustLarsThings.

“Damn, son,” Trever grinned awkwardly. “Are you seeing all these headshots?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” Alex agreed.

“Pretty good? Pretty good!? You try pulling that shit this consistently, I challenge you.”

“Never implied I can do it,” Alex shrugged. “Anyway, seems like his Slinger will be a problem after all.”

“Nah, that’s just Lars for ya,” Trever nodded proudly. “The brat plays all his stuff at this level. I admit his head-shooting accuracy skyrocketed since the last time I’ve seen his Slinger, but it’s not that different from his other classes. He ain’t got nothing on me!”

“You sure about that?” Alex asked. “I get the feeling these headshots aren’t where it ends. What if he can also nail headshots like this while fanning the hammer?”

“Pft, yeah, right,” Trever waved his hand. “Ain’t nobody can land these shots consistently. Even pros struggle against that shit.”

“He can, actually,” Aron stated matter-of-factly. “I remember seeing him land many headshots during Fan the Hammer in the selection match.”

“For real?” Trever blinked multiple times. “Nah, no way. He was probably lucky. Or, I dunno, maybe he chugged on a bucket of coffee or something, haha.”

“If you say so,” Alex was way more convinced by Aron’s input. I better be on the lookout for when this Slinger decides to go on the offensive.

The laning phase proceeded without any major incidents. Trever and Lars exchanged blows here and there, but so far Lars hasn't pulled anything that was out of this world. It appeared as if the two were evenly matched. In fact, on the surface, it even felt like Trever had the edge. However...

I haven't seen him use Fan the Hammer even once in a fight. Alex knotted his brows. This was peculiar. Gunslinger's biggest strength was his ability to barrage the opponent and kill them within a matter of seconds. Yet, Lars has been avoiding that line of play for some reason, he only occasionally used Fan the Hammer to clear minions.

"What did I tell you?" Trever wrote it off. "He can't use that Gatling gun in a real high-level fight. That nasty recoil would make him miss everything. You probably saw him score that kind of stuff on some scrubs.”

“I wouldn’t call Ellen a ‘scrub’, but sure,” Aron gave it a rest. There was no point arguing about this. If Lars has the ability to pull off such stunts, he’ll do it sooner or later. The only question was: what was Lars waiting for? Why didn’t he go for the aggressive Fan the Hammer right away? Perhaps it was a bait of some sort.

"We’ll see how it goes," Alex still had his doubts. To be on the safe side, he stuck to Trever like gumshoe, ready to protect the Carry as needed.

However, maintaining this formation proved difficult. The enemy Paladin went on some aggressive sprees, many of which involved hitting Alex. It felt like this Paladin was trying to get Alex out of the lane. This was a red flag. Something was afoot.

Alright, show me your true face. Alex decided to give the enemy what they wanted by retreating into the jungle, pretending he was going to recall. His HP was at 20%, so it'd be wise to recall in this situation, especially since it seemed like Trever was holding the upper hand in the fights against the Gunslinger.

However, there was a chance this was merely a false impression the enemy planted into his mind. So, by pretending he was going to recall, Alex will force their lane opponents to show what was their hidden agenda.

The enemy Paladin saw Alex retreating, so he retreated as well. In order to bring Alex down to 20%, the Paladin had to aggress multiple times with Justice Strike, which caught the attention of nearby minions and made them retaliate hard at the offender. As such, after repeating this aggression over and over, the Paladin was down to 15% HP by now.

It's like he’s sacrificing himself in order to take me out. Alex thought. Knowing who was controlling that Paladin, it was very much possible that’s exactly the case. For Chessmaster, their exchanges might have looked like nothing more than a favorable trade of pieces.

"Okay, you're good to go," Yuel said while recalling. "There's time before the Warlock returns, so you can duel Trever."

"Hell yeah, about time!" Lars's eyes lit up. "Time to show this dude what a real Slinger pro can do!"

"You wanna go, kid?" Trever licked his lips. "Let's do this shit!"

As soon as the two minion waves were gone, Trever opened his attack. Lars dodged the first bolt with Dodge Roll, but he didn't roll just to escape. No, he actually drew closer! The brat was in full battle mode!

This is how it outta be! Trever grinned. No more of that lame turtling business. Let's fight like real men! Come at me!

Before Lars even recovered from the roll, Trever followed up with Wolf Companion. He ordered his trusty wolf to jump on Lars! If the wolf pins Lars to the ground here, the fight will be as good as over.

Game over, kid. Trever grinned. But, c’mon. I wanna see you dodge this shit. Let’s see what you can do without your roll.

Easy! Lars rolled again right away! This time, he used Combat Roll, Gunslinger's personal rolling skill.

Ack, right. He had that. Trever was a tad too hasty with his wolf. No matter. You got this close to a Ranger, so prepare for some heat, boy!

Let's get the show started! Time to rock it! Lars spun the hammer of his revolver and started shooting. Bam! Headshot!

"Whoa! Lucky brat," Trever was taken aback for a moment, but this was no time to be impressed. Landing the first shot was the easy part of Fan the Hammer. It's the follow-up shots that were a problem, thanks to the nasty recoil.

Heh, no problem. Trever was assured. I just gotta keep my feet moving as I shoot. This way, there’s no way he - BAM! Another headshot!

"Say what!?" Trever jumped so hard he almost slipped off the chair. A second headshot in a row? Right away!? What kind of luck was that!? Damn, this was bad. These shots were no joke. Each dealt over 20% HP. They were more like bombs than bullets. Damn it!

No, relax. Trever took a deep breath and resumed his offense. It was just a fluke. He just happened to land two headshots, that’s all. He can't possibly get another one- BAM! A third headshot!

"WHAT THE FLYING FUCK!?" Trever yelled at the screen. "That's a nice aimbot you got there, kid...!"

The third hit in a row stunned Trever in place thanks to the effect Combat Roll. With this, he became a sitting duck for Lars! The fight was a wrap... or was it?