"Putting all that ‘meme research’ talk aside," Kai said. "What are we gonna do about the next game? It sounds like Luke doesn't have a strong alternative to DK and Yuel doesn't have any alternative plans for a DK. So, where do we go from here?"

“Oh, right.” Yuel shook his head and recollected his thoughts “This was the original topic before the conversation got derailed.".

The whole meme talk threw him off balance and made him stray from the important topics at hand.

"Since Luke doesn't have anything else,” Yuel said. “I was wondering whether subbing him for Vincent or Ben would be a good idea."

"Hey, hold it right there!" Luke exclaimed. "What do ya mean I don't have anything else? Bruh, I've got a billion memes under my belt!"

"The quantity doesn't matter when their quality is so low."

"Whoa, throwing shade, are we." Luke made a face. "I'd like to remind ya that my memes did just fine against Taurus. Remember that shit?"

"Are we really going to go over this again?" Yuel sighed. “Against Taurus, the only thing you did right was avoid any big blunders. That’s the only reason why you did a 'passable' job there. It was still a far cry from what an adequate Jungler should be able to achieve."

"There's just no pleasing this guy, is there?" Luke shook his head. "Like, I'm working my ass off to bring in the results, but this bruh be like 'Nah, it doesn't count cuz it’s memes'. What's with this shit treatment? Like, I'm still the best Jungler we’ve got, ain't I?"

"That's... unfortunately true, I suppose." Yuel bit his lip. He couldn't believe he was giving his approval to a memer but he had to concede that this was the truth. Despite the suboptimal meme picks, Luke was still mechanically the best Jungler they had on the team.

"After Nia," Kai corrected.

"That's just your opinion," Luke argued. "But well, it doesn't matter anyway because the girl knocked herself out. Who knows when she gonna be able to play."

"Right." Kai conceded on that point. She was visibly displeased with Luke sticking to his memes during this important match, but she couldn’t argue that Luke ultimately was the best Jungler they had available on hand.

"Y'all agree I’m the best too, right?" Luke turned to Vincent and Ben, the two “competitors” nominated to replace him. "Like, you guys know I gonna do a better job out there as a Jungler, right?"

"I concur," Vincent said. "Even with more meta-oriented class picks, we mortals stand no chance against the Meme Jedi and his Meme Force."

"Yeah." Ben nodded. "I don't think I'm good enough to sub in as Jungler..."

"Hey, dude!" Lars interjected. "Don't say depressing stuff like that!"

SMACK

"Agh!" Ben's spine almost got dislocated from the "friendly" slam on the back. This was the infamous “Trever Special” that Lars channeled every now and then.

"Ya gotta believe in yourself, dude!” Lars said. “It's fine to tell Luke that ya think he's a cool dude, but ya gotta make sure he knows there’s strong competition around. Tell him straight that you gonna replace his ass if he messes up.”

“Whoa, whoa!” Luke exclaimed. “What’s with this betrayal, man!? I thought you were in my camp!”

“I am,” Lars assured. “Your memes are sick and all. But, this scrim we got here is no joke. Our opponents are packing a real punch, we all felt it real good in the first game. So, we can’t take this match lightly.”

“I ain’t taking anything lightly if that’s what you’re implying.”

“I’m not saying you are, dude. I’m just making sure that you stay on your toes,” Lars explained. “I mean, once you start thinking that you’re the team’s only option, then you gonna start getting lazy and stuff. So, it’s better if ya feel like somebody is breathing down yo neck, somebody who is ready to step in and replace ya at any moment.”

“Dang, that sounds like a lot of unnecessary pressure to me.” Luke laughed dryly. “Why do you hate me so much, man? I don’t deserve dis!”

“I ain’t hatin’, dude. A rivalry like that is important” Lars insisted. “I saw dudes who got lazy like that in the basketball club before. It wasn’t pretty, yo.”

These players deflected all the criticism that came their way by using 200 IQ arguments such as “Well, if you think I’m not training hard enough, then find somebody who is better than me!”

Their precious position on the first-string became an excuse for them to slack around, even though they surely worked so hard before to get this position in the first place. It was one heck of a tragic downfall for these dudes.

“To make things even worse,” Lars continued. “Some of these dudes turned hella toxic toward anybody who dared who compete for the same position.”

As the solitary kings of their positions, these dudes made sure to discourage anybody from shooting for the same role. They kept spouting nonsense like “Clearly, I’m the best man for the job, so you go play a different position. Got it, dude? Don’t make me come over there.”

“Dang, that’s one downer story,” Luke said. “So, that’s how you see me, huh. A toxic slacker.”

“Not at all, dude!” Lars reassured. “I know you’re way above that lame stuff. But, I’mma be real: what you just said to Vince and Ben to discourage them from trying Jungler sounded a little like what dudes often said, so it got me worried.”

“Hey, I was just spitting facts there,” Luke said. “The fact is, these bros can’t jungle as well as I do.”

“That may be true, but you shouldn’t assume that you’re irreplaceable,” Lars insisted. “You're a super-duper important part of the team, dude. The Jungler interacts with everybody and their moms, so if you play badly it might screw the entire team. No pressure, haha."

"Yeah, totally no pressure. None at all." Luke smiled wryly.

"Anyway, the bottom line is, we're counting on ya, dude!" SMACK!

"AGH!" Luke felt a whole damn tank rammed into his back at 300 kph, but he sucked it up like a man. Unlike the weakos who complained about this friendly gesture, Luke’s spine developed resistance to it… after being broken a few times, probably.

Lars’s smack was heavy, but that's why it conveyed Lars's feeling better than words ever could. The guy packed all his thoughts into physical form and rammed everything into Luke. So, it made sense for it to hurt a little. After all, the topic at hand was pretty dang heavy.

So, you say I might “screw the entire team” if I don’t play well, huh. Luke examined his own palms.

What power did these hands possess? Not that much, usually. He wasn't a martial artist or anything like that, so his hands weren't that special.

However, in Classmancers, these hands controlled an entire character. Movement, attacks, skills - Luke piloted all of these with his own two hands.

Furthermore, he was the Jungler, the most dynamic role in the game. He had the ability, as well as the responsibility, to interact with every lane and help everybody get closer to victory.

They expect stuff from me. They depend on me. Luke gulped as he glanced at the numerous eyes focused on him. All of them were placing responsibility on him, demanding he do his absolute best to secure the team's victory.

"Lars is right," Kai said. "Do you remember what we promised at the beginning of the year as a team?"

"I didn't promise anything," Luke said. "It's only you guys who talked about winning the regionals and other impossible shit like that. I didn't believe any of that for a moment, and I still don't."

"Such blasphemous words!" Vincent exclaimed. "I struggle to believe that these words are being uttered by the same master who had vanquished the Leopards just a few moments ago! If that's not proof enough of our ability to conquer the regionals, then what is!?"

"That's... true, I guess." Luke hasn’t given it enough thought until now, but it was really some srs bsns.

Today, Stratus was competing against the highest rank of this region. They were up against the crowned regional champions who went undefeated for so many years.

And, they just smoked these guys. Luke's hilarious meme mopped the floor with these scrubs. So yes, they actually won! They defeated the final boss!

Well, not really. Luke stopped himself right there. I bet they’re gonna come back with a vengeance, so it ain't over yet. But still, we sure gave them the business. It's almost as if we got an actual shot at winning this year’s regionals...

It was a scary thought. Stratus was supposed to be a casual club with barely any talent in it. The school even mistreated the club for how useless it was in competitions.

But, this year was different. Unlike all previous seniors, Kai and Vincent had their heads in the cloud, daydreaming about winning the regionals. Furthermore, two ultimate tryhards joined the club this year, too.

Together, all of that transformed this pitiful team into something that vaguely resembled a powerhouse.

Actually, maybe we already ARE a powerhouse at this point. Luke gulped. I mean, we mopped Taurus and we got a game off the Leopards. We're kinda on a roll! Haha...

But, where was Luke's place in all of this? Currently, he was walking the nonexistent fine line between memeing and playing competitively. These were two roads that were never meant to intersect.

I mean, there ARE a couple of memers in pro league. Luke thought. But, most of them are just popular with the crowd, not necessarily that good. Well, I guess DimensionShift is pretty good, but Combo Mid isn't really a meme. It’s just a niche difficult playstyle.

There were a few other exceptions as well, but at large, it was clear that memers weren't at the top of the food chain. And, that was fine. The whole point of memeing was to play by your own rules and look cool while doing so. Getting wins was just a bonus.

But, I'm in an awkward spot here. Luke gulped. My team doesn’t care about any of that. They're a bunch of tryhards through and through. They wanna win no matter what, and they want me to play an important role in all that. Yes, they want me, a memer, to tryhard. Funny that this shit is happening now, in this club of all places...

Back in grade school, when Luke was in the soccer club, he could only dream about reaching the competitive stage. He took soccer super seriously and trained very hard, but he never made it into the first-string. There were always some other mofos who'd steal all the available spots. Pain.

That’s the whole reason I’ve been trying to steer clear of all that competitive shit. Luke reminded himself. I joined this Mancers club because it was supposed to be a casual, chill club. There wasn't supposed to be any tryhard talk like winning the regionals in this club. Smh.

Yet, the tryhard atmosphere engulfed the club at this point. Luke was surrounded by a bunch of lunatics who intended to transform this meme team into top tier. This gotta be the joke of the year, yet these guys were dead serious.

Worst of all, they insisted to drag Luke into all that nonsense. It was the kind of toxic competitiveness that he has been desperately trying to get away from, yet here it was again, trying to drag him back into tryhard zone...