Lars scored three headshots in a row with Fan the Hammer after doing a Combat Roll. The third shot stunned Trever in place.

I knew this won't end well. Alex sighed. Time to rescue the idiot.

He returned to the lane from the jungle and booted Eldritch Nightmare. The dark magic painted the entire area pitch black.

"Wha-!?" Lars exclaimed as the target in front of him vanished. He couldn't see shit in this darkness, yo! "I thought the Warlock wasn't coming yet. What gives!?"

"He shouldn't be here yet," Yuel frowned and checked the Warlock's status. There was no sign of Teleport, so the Warlock didn't cheat his way back to lane by teleporting to a Checkpoint Ward. Then, how did he make it back so fast?

Did he hide in the jungle this entire time? Yuel glanced at the Warlock's remaining HP. Or rather, the value Lars saw moments before his screen went black. The Warlock only had measly 22% HP, which meant he never recalled. In order words, Freezer was laying in wait for nearly a minute, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Were we too obvious for him? Yuel couldn't believe it. Nobody on the enemy team should've been aware of Lars's Gunslinger skills, yet Freezer was prepared for it. Somehow.

Oh, right. Aron watched the replays of the selection match. Yuel smacked his forehead. He completely forgot that critical detail. Good thing Trever still underestimated Lars’s Gunslinger, or else this entire plan would have blown up in their faces.

"Retr- Yeah, good," Yuel didn't even need to say anything. Lars canceled Fan the Hammer and pulled out of there as soon as the darkness coated the area. The goof's defensive plays were becoming better by the day.

With that, the two sides disengaged. The three hits Lars landed brought Trever all the way down to 30% HP, so he had to consider recalling. Meanwhile, Lars was still at 60% after eating damage from Trever's shots, so he could still remain on lane and keep pushing. In the end, despite the unexpected developments, the lane advantage tilted in Lars's favor after this exchange.

"Damn, the hell was that shit?" Trever ranted. "You saw that shit? Three headshots in a row! Three! I was moving, too! What's wrong with this kid?"

“I told you,” Aron said.

“Hey, you didn’t tell me he could literally triple headshot me in a 1v1!” Trever ranted.

"I also warned you things seemed fishy," Alex added.

"Heh, you and your sixth sense shenanigans. Thanks for the save, bro."

"You're welcome,” Alex nodded. “I say you better recall."

"What, and hand the lane over on a silver platter? Uh-uh, not happening."

"Well, I'm recalling," Alex started up the effect. "If you want to stay and get headshot to death, that's your thing."

"Damn, guess I have to recall?"

"Yes, you have to," Aron said matter-of-factly. "I'll defend against the next wave."

"Thanks, bro."

The Bot laners left and Aron came in to replace them. It was good fortune that Lancer was a jungler who was rather adept at clearing minion waves. Also, Gunslinger's clearing speed was on the slower side during the early-game, so Aron successfully minimized the enemy’s advance.

"Dang, sorry," Lars apologized. "Didn't get to push much."

"It's fine," Yuel said. "I'm about to get there, so we can start pushing together before the enemy regroup.”

"Okey-dokey."

The unexpected Gunslinger play caught the enemy off guard and almost made them lose lane advantage, but it also exposed Lars's secret weapon. Even the ever-proud Trever had to admit that Lar had some mad headshooting skills. Trever will definitely play more cautiously from now on.

"This is Shooter all over again," Trever shook his head. "This kid picks random ass classes and turns them into S tier. What's next? He gonna make Archer look broken? Jesus."

It was annoying, but Lars's Gunslinger required the same amount of caution as his Trickshooter right now. In other words, playing the patience game and avoiding confrontations without a life lead or other big advantages.

With Alex already playing safe before any of this even started, the lane became frozen. No matter how hard Yuel tried to arrange a fight, the enemy duo rejected the baits.

Damn, the hell are these guys doing over there? Kai ranted internally. Yuel and Lars had such a great opportunity to pay back these high-schoolers for the embarrassing 3v3, yet they weren’t making any progress.

There was that one impressive barrage of headshots from Lars which seemed promising at first, but Freezer shut it down at the last moment. Nothing of note happened ever since.

As it stood, Yuel and Lars couldn’t gain the upper hand in the lane by themselves. To make things worse, the enemy Jungler closely cooperated with Bot. Meanwhile, the random Jungler on Kai’s team wasn’t paying much attention to Bot.

Looks like it’s up to me to go over there and trash these guys. Kai concluded. Especially, that Freezer bastard. Gonna wreck him good.

Her lane opponent, an Aeromancer, was just a boring turtle. The guy didn’t dare to contest her and only farmed from afar. He was probably waiting for Kai to get angsty and overextend.

Sorry to break it to you, but I’m not that kind of scrub. Kai retorted. As an Electromancer, she had the upper hand in terms of farming speed, so she held the lane advantage the entire time. There was no reason for her to be frustrated by the situation.

Sure, it was a little annoying that she couldn’t find any opportunities to strike down that damn turtle, but it was alright. If the Aeromancer keeps playing passively like this, Kai will eventually out-farm him and steamroll his ass. So, no need to push it.

Instead, Kai could make use of her lane advantage to rotate to other lanes. Namely, rotate to Bot. She’ll go in there and gank these bastards! They’ll never see it coming!

Alright, this is a good opportunity. She wiped out the minion wave before the Aeromancer even batted an eye. Now, she had the luxury of rotating to Bot and ganking the guys over there.

“You plan to rotate over here?” Yuel asked.

“Yeah, that’s the idea,” Kai said. “Somebody gotta help you out with a gank or two, seeing as you’re making zero progress.”

“It would’ve been great if you discussed it with us first.”

“Well, I am now.”

Will she ever learn to not make solo plays without warning? Yuel made a face. Then again, the mere fact she was considering ganking of her own volition was a big step forward. It meant she trusted Yuel and Lars to seal the deal with the help of her gank. She trusted her teammates to do a thing! Woohooo!

Seriously, good thing I got used to keeping tabs on her. Yuel returned to earth. If he didn’t catch this rotation in time, it would’ve ended in a disaster. It would have been a repeat of Kai’s reckless play from the 3v3, a play Yuel should’ve stopped before it was conceived.

“I appreciate your intention to help,” Yuel said. “But, don’t do it now. Their Lancer is still loitering nearby. I think he’s waiting for this rotation.”

“Seriously?” Kai backed away from the jungle. “What’s with these guys? Sometimes, it feels like their reads are straight from the pro league.”

“Actually, the skill gap between the best high-schoolers and C-League pros isn’t that big. And, there’s no question we’re facing some of the best high schoolers from our region, even though they’re just freshmen. That’s the level we’ll have to be able to beat if we want to take the regionals.”

“So, what do we do?” Kai asked. “You guys are pretty much stuck over there.”

“As much as I’d like to beat them head-on, I don’t think that’s happening this game. We’ll have to play around them and strike the weaker links of their team. Namely, the Aeromancer and the Viking.”

“Feeding on the weaker prey, huh,” Kai smiled wryly. “Sure, that works. So, do I start pressuring this Aero?”

“Actually, I was thinking of making you gank Top.”

“Really? We practically got two players sitting on that lane. You want me to go there too? Sounds like a waste.”

“Yes, it’s precisely because it’s a waste that I want you to go over there,” Yuel explained. “Our Top and Jungler are stalling the Viking, but they’re not gaining much from this stalemate. So, our Jungler is just wasting time over there.”

“You can say that again,” Kai nodded. “I’m surprised you haven’t told him to rotate outta there.”

“I’d gladly do so, but our Vanguard is struggling against that Viking by himself. He needs somebody to help him out and the Vampire is doing a passable work, but it’s not going anywhere. That’s why, it’d be great if you rotate over there and help them score a kill.”

“I see how you think,” Kai nodded. “You want to ‘waste’ even more manpower on Top to finally get things moving and free the Vampire from babysitting the lane.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Okay, I’m game.”

And so, Kai headed toward Top.

The girl is rotating to Top in the end? Aron frowned when a ward exposed the enemy Electromancer passing through Top Jungle. This wasn’t quite how he envisioned things going down.

For a while now, it was looking as if the Electromancer has been meaning to rotate to Bot. Given how she recklessly charged at Alex back in the 3v3, Aron assumed she was going to do something dumb like that again. After all, the conditions were quite similar.

In fact, at one point, the girl indeed started rotating toward Bot. Aron was convinced he scored jackpot at that point and prepared to intercept the fool. However, the girl aborted her rotation midway and returned to base instead. What a shame.

Nevertheless, it was a good sign. It meant Aron's analysis was on point: the girl was burning with revenge and wanted to shake things up in Bot. And so, confident in his analysis, Aron hanged around Bot Jungle to intercept the Electromancer’s next attempt.

Yet, instead of rotating to Bot, the Electromancer suddenly decided to head to Top. Why? Nothing of note was happening in Top. The lane situation over there remained as stale as before.

Did Yuel make her change her priorities? Aron wondered. Knowing that smarty pants, it’s possible all of the Electromancer’s previous "rotation attempts" toward Bot were just for show. They planted a false idea in Aron's mind and made him stick with a bad play.

They got me. Aron admitted silently.

The Viking in Top has been holding his ground against the enemy Vanguard and Vampire, but he won't last if the Electromancer is added into the mix. So, retreat was the only option.

『Retreat top lane!』 Aron ordered via a macro.

"Go around their Wolf Camp," Yuel advised. "He has already realized you're coming, so you have to catch him during his retreat."

"Already way ahead of you," Kai shifted her destination as soon as the Viking showed signs of backing away. She won't be able to catch him before he gets to the tower, but she might catch him behind the tower, provided the Vanguard and Vampire do their job and pressure the Viking hard enough to scare him away.

I don't trust them for shit, though. Kai thought. She'll probably have to spook the Viking from behind and land some damaging hits on him. Then, retreat as fast as possible. That’s probably the best she’ll get out of that situation. After all, there was no way the Vanguard and Vampire will properly pressure the Viking out of the tower the way Kai needed them to do. Oh well.

『Attack top lane!』 Yuel pinged the map multiple times in succession in order to draw a path from the Vanguard and Vampire to the enemy tower.

『Okay!』『I’ll attack!』Two macros came in response. Following on their promise, the Vanguard and Vampire advanced to pressure the Viking under tower. They seemed to understand exactly what Yuel was asking them to do, even though they haven't exchanged a single real word.

Did he really just make some randoms do his bidding? Kai blinked. Then again, these are high ranked matches. So, of course, players here would be more reasonable than usual. Still, I feel like Yuel has been getting better at making people do his bidding recently. Maybe just my imagination.

The Vanguard invaded the tower and tanked the shots. Meanwhile, the Vampire dived under tower and assaulted the Viking. This was a play those two could've executed ages ago, but it wouldn't have borne much fruit by itself. It was too easy for the Viking to leave the tower and retreat deeper into his territory.

However, this time, somebody was there to intercept the Viking behind the tower. Kai was lying in wait at the jungle entrance behind Top Tower, waiting for the prey to arrive. It was a pincer!

The Viking has already spent his Axe Blitz earlier to get away from the Vampire, so he couldn't blink past her. Kai unleashed Thunderstorm and the rest of her kit on the fleeing foe. It was over in a matter of seconds.

『An enemy has been killed!』

From there, they were in a great position to push Top together.

『An enemy Turret has been destroyed!』

They had to end the attack there, but this opening they created in Top was huge.

Kai also eventually outfarmed the Aeromancer in Mid and sized lane advantage, further boosting the team’s momentum. By that point, the team held the upper hand in 2/3 of the map. Even though Yuel and Lars couldn't quite win against Trever and Alex, the rest of the team generated an advantage on other lanes. In the end, that's what counted more.

『VICTORY』

"Yes!" Kai pumped a fist, a rare occurrence. "We showed them."

"Yeah, we rekt 'em, yo!" Lars gave thumbs up. "Even though I didn't really get to rek Trever."

"He was very cautious of your Gunslinger, that's a win in its own right," Yuel said. "It stopped him from playing wild and forced him to be too defensive even when he had to push. I took advantage of that multiple times throughout the match, in case you haven't noticed."

"Oh yeah, of course I saw it!" Lars nodded. "Stuff was wild!"

"You really saw it?” Yuel blinked. “Can you give an example of where I took advantage of Trever's passiveness?"

"Sure can! So, like, there was that one time when... No idea! Haha."

"Figured," Yuel sighed. This topic was still too advanced for the goof. Well, at least Yuel knew what he did and it paid off in the end. How's my team management now, Aron?

"Dang, they got us good," Trever smacked his knee. "Their team felt so organized. Are they a party?"

"No, they're not," Alex said after running a quick check. "Only the three familiar faces were in a party."

"Really? So, we were stuck with the worse randoms, huh. That blows."

"It’s a little more complicated than that," Aron said. The random players on both sides were slightly weaker than the trios. However, Yuel utilized his teammates to great effect this match, more so than usual.

He didn't go for any of his usual big risk plays, but he still went on the offensive when he had a good opportunity. He’s already looking better than the overly defensive Yuel we fought two weeks ago Aron nodded in approval. It seemed like the 3v3 served as a good wake up call.

Also, seems like Yuel got the girl under control. She's hasn't done anything reckless this time around. Aron smiled dangerously. I feel our rematch might turn out to be interesting, after all.

『GG Chessmaster』 Aron wrote in the after-match lobby.

『GG』 Yuel smiled meaningfully. Aron gave his stamp of approval on this match. This meant Yuel was heading in the right direction. If keeping the team under control and utilizing teammates better was what stood between him and beating Howard, Yuel shall polish those skills to perfection.

After he reviewed the selection match yet again, Yuel realized he owned much of their defeat to how unorganized the team was. On the surface, everything was well-planned and they operated smoothly. However, underneath this illusion, there were numerous cracks he didn’t notice at the time

To prevent such a disaster from striking ever again, Yuel had to get rid of this weakness and improve his team management skills. He had to go beyond merely supplying his teammates with good shot-calls. He had to carefully pay attention to them, figure their quirks, and instruct them efficiently based on all these additional factors.

It was easier said than done, but it had to be done. Howard was superior in this area at the moment, but that had to change.

I'll use the upcoming scrimmages to master this. By the time I get to the regionals, I'll be on a whole different level!