Phew, okay. Yuel sighed in relief after seeing Vincent return to the base without accident. With that, the worst-case scenario was averted.

Honestly, I'm surprised Challenger chose to join the fight instead of pushing the lane. That was very unexpected.

It was more logical for Challenger to stay on the lane and push while Vincent was absent. The guy could’ve dealt substantial damage to the tower if he pushed it in Berserk mode along with a full minion squad.

But instead, Challenger left the lane right after Vincent and joined the fight. That gave the minions enough time to duke it out among themselves and eliminate each other, leaving the lane barren.

And, what did the enemy gain for giving up this opportunity? They managed to secure a kill on Luke, but that’s pretty much it. Of course, Luke’s death was a painful outcome for Stratus, but not nearly as much as the hypothetical push on Top would’ve been.

Did Cato approve of this decision? In fact, did he approve of ANYTHING that had just happened there? It sure doesn't feel like it.

That entire play felt like something that Winner and Challenger came up with on their own. They must’ve completely disregarded Cato's opinion on anything here.

In fact, even back in the replays, many of the duo’s joint plays felt like they went against Cato’s methodology. Those two often strayed from the Leopards' ever-defensive playstyle.

I should’ve taken a better note of this. Yuel thought. This means two things. First, I should expect this duo to go for plays that Cato would never approve of. Second, because such plays aren’t carefully planned by Cato, it means there might be some glaring openings in them.

That was very important to keep in mind, but realizing that now probably won't help in this particular game. The current board position looked almost unsalvageable.

Of course, Yuel continued to issue shot-calls as usual in an attempt to turn things around. He ordered Luke to switch to a defensive build, and he started roaming around to help create opportunities on lanes.

Alas, it was to no avail. The team failed to bust through the enemy's tight defenses in Mid and Bot. Only Top had some occasional holes to exploit, but the enemy had too much momentum there.

『An ally has been killed!』

"Baaaaakana!" Vincent held his head dramatically. "A thousand apologies, Chessmaster! I underestimated my foe but for a fleeting moment, yet this is the outcome."

"Challenger capitalized well on that opportunity,” Yuel said. “In general, he’s getting a little out of control.”

The more Challenger widened the exp gap between him and Vincent, the fiercer the guy’s offense grew. He frequently pushed Vincent back and dominated the lane via brute strength.

In turn, Vincent was forced to retreat more often and play safer, which made him miss on some precious farm in the process. That only further widened the power gap between them. As a result, Challenger kept growing stronger while Vincent was becoming weaker and weaker.

Normally, it was the Jungler’s job to put an end to such a vicious cycle. Alas, Luke couldn't do much on that front, not after shifting to a defensive build.

Of course, Luke rotated to Top as often as he could to provide backup, but that backup did precious little for overturning the situation. It just barely delayed the inevitable.

『DEFEAT』

Until the very end, Yuel was unable to turn the situation around. He focused on taking down Challenger, who had the most openings among the Leopards, but all his schemes fell through.

Yuel even went through trials and tribulations in order to arrange a duel between Challenger and Lars, but even that wasn’t enough to stop Challenger’s snowballing momentum. Since Challenger was so much ahead in terms of farm, that duel ended in a draw.

As I thought, the Dark Knight rerun didn't work out. Yuel sighed on his way down the stage. This was the outcome he predicted long before this game even started, yet it still frustrated him nonetheless.

We have to get a second win as fast as we can to force out their Korean player. Yuel thought. We don't have time to waste on experiments with Luke's memes.

Down to it, the DK meme was the main source of their problems in this game. If only Luke was willing to play a proper aggressive class that wasn’t so fragile, then the team would’ve still had a chance to turn the game around at any point in the game.

Even though Nia is also a troublemaker in her own right, I so wish she was playing instead. Yuel sighed. Seriously, why do our Junglers have to be so problematic? He sighed once more.

"Hey, why are ya sighing like an old man, dude?" Lars massaged Yuel's shoulders. "You're taking this too hard, yo. Gotta loosen up a bit."

"How can I ‘loosen up’ after a game like this? They showed us they have no problem adapting to Luke's DK and that's the only aggressive option he has at the moment. Now, I have to find a way to make Setup Junglers work against that tight defense..."

"But hey, at least Nia woke up."

"Oh!"

Indeed, Nia was there, sitting on the sofa and munching one of Ben's sandwiches like a hamster. She was takings bites so small that it felt like it’ll take her an hour to finish the whole thing.

But, that was beside the point. She was finally up, that was the most important part! At long last, Yuel was starting to see the light at the end of this dark tunnel.

"So, are you really awake now?" Yuel asked.

"Hmm." Nia pinched her own cheek. "It doesn't look like I'm dreaming, so I'd say so." She averted her eyes soon after. "Sorry for falling asleep like that..."

"It's fine," Yuel said. The relief of having Nia back triumphed over his reason, but only for a moment. "Actually, no, it's NOT fine. You really have to fix this bad habit of yours."

"Gufu..."

"But, this isn't the time to chew you out on this. We'll have a LONG discussion about this after the scrim."

"Please kill me now..."

With Nia back in commission, it meant the memer could finally be relieved of his duty.

"I propose to sub Nia back in," Yuel said. "Any objections?"

"I'm all for it," Kai said. "She's way better than a certain memer who ruins all our chances."

"Huh? What was that?" Luke's face contorted. There was no trace of his usual laid-back attitude. "For the record, I dominated these scrubs pretty hard in the second game, in case you forgot."

"Oh, I remember that fluke. The Leopards let their guard down, but it won't happen again. They’ve proved as much with this game."

"Fluke, you say..." Luke clenched his fists, but he failed to channel any power into them.

A fluke. Right. Maybe it was just a fluke.

For just one game, Luke was at the top of the world, but it was probably only because his opponents underestimated him and allowed him to snowball. This won't happen ever again, that's the message the Leopards sent in the third game.

This time, they were fully on guard against Luke's Dark Knight. They shut him down in a methodical manner, not allowing him to achieve anything at all. It was pure cyberbullying.

So yeah, Luke won't be dunking on these guys again today, not with DK and probably not with any other meme. #MemerLyfe.

"Meh, whatever." Luke shrugged. "If you think that sleepy chick is gonna do the job better, then go ahead and sub her in."

Luke gave up on everything. He dropped onto the sofa and grabbed one of the many remaining sandwiches.

MUNCH. MUNCH. MUNCH. He stuffed his mouth to the point his cheeks threatened to explode, but he didn't care.

"Um, I don't think you should eat so much at once..." Ben commented.

Oh, shut up. Leave me alone. Luke shooed the guy away with his hand. He was in no mood to talk to anybody. All he wanted right now was to drown this frustration in some way.

If he were an adult, he’d probably go for alcohol right now, that’s apparently what all the cool grownups did when they were depressed. Alas, Luke didn’t have that option, so he had to get drunk on… sandwiches, or something. Anything worked as long as it distracted him from the negative thoughts swirling inside him.

It was ironic. Luke chose to become a memer to escape the frustration that came with tryharding and meta-slaving. And yet, right now, that very same decision was tormenting him in a very similar fashion, if not more.

Maybe things would’ve been better if I could actually play a meta class or two when it was absolutely necessary... Such a dreadful thought invaded his mind for a moment.

Nope, nope, nope! That's SO not me! I'm not thinking straight right now. Luke grabbed another sandwich and MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH. He drowned all these stupid thoughts in the sandwich.

Damn, these sandwiches taste like paper all of a sudden. Luke grimaced. Weren't they hella tasty earlier? Why do they feel so dry now…?

Or, maybe the problem wasn’t with the sandwiches themselves? Maybe Luke’s sense of taste just decided to stop working all of a sudden? It seemed like his brain was messed up for real.

Why? Why can't I just laugh this off? Why!? His eyes were turning moist, which prompted him to turn away from everybody. Fortunately, they were busy discussing the next game, so they didn’t notice how Luke was breaking apart at the corner there.

I don't get it, I really don't. Why can't I just laugh this off like usual? Luke gritted his teeth. C’mon, I should be "Haha! At least I spooked these scrubs with my meme for one game! Huge success!"

That was his usual response when he lost in Ranked. Sure, losing was always a little frustrating, but usually, Luke was satisfied as long as his meme brought in some results.

But, not this time. The fact the team lost that important game, and that Luke failed to achieve anything of substance there… it just hurts, man.

I really don't understand why I care so much all of a sudden, tho. Luke wondered. Is it because we won the second game? Is that why I'm feeling so salty right now?

In the second game, Luke experienced something unexpected: success. And, not just any success. It was a huge ass success! His DK performed so well on the competitive scene, utterly crushing the strongest competitors this region had to offer. It was awesome!

It finally felt like Luke’s efforts paid off. He was destined to make it big on the competitive scene with his memes!

But, that clearly didn't happen. It was but a fleeting dream that vanished into nothingness. All it left behind were regrets and frustration.

So basically, what I’m getting is that if I practiced this much but with a meta class, this is how well I could’ve performed. I could’ve totally stomped the regional champions with my supreme skill, haha! Haha, ha…

But no, he didn’t do that. Instead, he chose to spend his free time practicing DK.

Sure, the class was hella strong, but its performance was a coin-flip clown fiesta by design. This wasn’t the kind of class that could promise consistent performance, no matter how much of a god Luke becomes with the class.

Ugh, just thinking about it depresses me... Luke shook his head. He wasn't allowed to think like that. That train of thought denied everything he stood for as a player.

Luke was supposed to be the No. 1 meta denier. He was all about rejecting tryharding and embracing memes and fun!

But ironically, his strong denial of tryharding ultimately pushed him to tryhard from a different angle, just to remain relevant for the competitive stage. He became the very thing he swore to destroy!

You either die a memer, or you live long enough to see yourself become a tryhard. Luke looked at his palms. Maybe I am a tryhard. Trust nobody, not even yourself.

A flurry of random memes fired off in his head like fireworks. They tried to numb his brain and distract him from the painful dilemma he found himself in.

Who knew that the competitive stage, the goal Luke was looking forward to ever since his soccer days, was a swingy place like this? One moment, he felt like a big brain that stood at the top of the universe, then the next moment he fell flat on his face like some scrub. It felt like shit.

“Compete with other schools,” they said, “it’ll be fun,” they said. Bullshit. Luke cursed. This whole thing is like torture in disguise. Mfs are making kids work hard like pro athletes, but they ain’t paying us shit smh.

There was no end to the amount of salt pouring out of his brain. His own thoughts made no sense to him anymore at this point.

Nonetheless, there was one thing he understood beyond a shadow of a doubt: things couldn't stay this way. This wishy-washy state of half-memer half-tryhard had to be resolved in one way or another. This dilemma wasn’t good for his mental health.

But, what should he do? Abandon his status as a memer and become an actual tryhard? That'd go against everything he stood for. It'd be the same as denying himself.

Then, should he stay a memer? That also sounded wonky. It meant Luke will remain a substitute for the rest of middle school while Nia will be hogging the main stage.

Even now, the only reason Luke was allowed onto the stage was that the girl needed her regular beauty sleep. In other words, if Nia ever fixes that bad habit of hers, then Luke will have no place in the competitive scene at all...

Man, this is such a shitty situation. Luke sighed. I have no idea what I should do here...

While he was wrestling with these thoughts, the rest of the team moved on toward the fourth game of the day. Unlike Luke, the others saw this substitution in a positive light. For them, this was an improvement.

With Nia replacing Luke, the team was no longer “handicapped by a memer”. But, was that really enough to make all the difference? Surely, Luke wasn't the only reason Stratus lost that game.

There was yet another issue with the team’s lineup that had to be addressed, which was rather complicated and difficult to resolve. As such, at the moment, only Yuel was fully aware of this particular problem.

I do have one solution in mind, but it’s very experimental... Yuel grimaced.

Did Stratus have the luxury to experiment like that in this difficult scrimmage? Especially, in this critical 1-2 situation...?