Competitive Nicknames

Soon after Yuel joined the Classmancers club, people pushed all sorts of menial tasks on him. Or, rather, he always somehow found himself volunteering after learning the circumstances. Watching others do things inefficiently or struggle with something that's so easy to resolve - it's aggravating, he couldn't stay put.

Thus, he methodically and thoroughly resolved every request to the best of his ability. He opened up the dysfunctional computers in the club and cleaned their fans, resolving the overheating issue. In addition, he edited the Classmancers config file on all computers, lowering the quality of graphics in favor of better performance, something these potato PCs really needed. On top of that, he installed a newer unofficial version of Classmancer Trainer, which worked on the older OS of these computers.

It came as no surprise everybody started treating him as the "technician". Whenever they faced a technical problem or question, no matter how small, they always turned to him first. Even when it had absolutely nothing to do Classmancers, they still turned to him. Ugh.

"Say, Yuyu." Ellen creeped up behind him. "How can you record videos on PC?"

"Videos? What kind of videos?"

"You know, game footage and stuff."

"Not sure, there are probably some programs for that. You should google it."

"My, you really don't know?" Ellen whimpered like an abused puppy. "Or, you just don't want to help lil' ol' me?"

"Ugh, alright I'll look into it."

"My, aren't you a doll~"

[And aren't you a snake.] Yuel sighed, but accepted the job anyway. With each passing day, the amount of random tasks thrown his way seemed to increase. It came to the point he helped others install, update and fix random smartphone apps. None of that had anything to do with him or Classmancers! It was a huge pain, but feeling useful wasn't all too bad.

When he wasn't providing technical support, he played practice matches with the other members, grinded rank points online in a party, theorycrafted, discussed the meta and basically participated in whatever the club felt like doing at the moment. The daily schedule Aron printed was very specific, but the atmosphere in the club was more laid back than expected. It wasn't uncommon for a large portion of the club to just do whatever they wanted and drag the rest into that activity, regardless of what was written in Aron's schedule. Naturally, Aron frowned upon that, but then just sighed and played along.

The training regime was a bit lacking too. They only played and discussed Classmancers for about three hours a day, they didn't even exercise to stay in shape. Compared to how intense was the entry exam, the club's regime was very casual.

Nevertheless, it contributed immensely to the members' growth as players. Everybody on the team were skilled players, so playing with them and against them was an efficient way to improve. There's no comparing that to playing Ranked with only Lars and Julia, which is how Yuel trained throughout the summer. Even with this casual regime, just by being around these high level players - he was going to improve immensely.

Still, not being given any specific challenges to overcome was a bit disappointing for a rookie. The greatest "challenge" freshmen faced early on was deciding on their competitive IGNs. They were going to carry these names all the way to the pro scene, so it's an important and difficult decision. At least, for some...

"I'mma go with Gunz." Lars said.

"Let's see if it's available." Howard typed "Gunz" into the textbox. "Seems good. You sure you don't want more time to think?"

"Yep, 200% sure." Lars gave a thumb up. So, why did he pick "Gunz"? Simple, he just loved playing first person shooters, there's no deeper meaning to it. He literally went with the first thing that crossed his mind, as expected of the goof.

"Alright. It's simple, but effective. Actually, I should give you all a little advice." Howard addressed the rest of the newbies. "It's best to keep your nick at one or two simple words. Just think about the poor commentators who'll have to pronounce your names in the middle of a team fight. You don't want them go 'And now, watch Mr.CoolShadowKnightTopPlayer go for the kill!'. Sounds silly, right? It should be obvious, but pick a name you won't be embarrassed to be called by."

That was valuable advice, Yuel didn't even take commentators into account during his brainstorming. Some of his ideas contained uncommon words that sounded intelligent, such as PerfunctoryAid, ScintillatingTactic and QuintessentialVictory. The image of a commentator going "And now, QuintessentialVictory goes for the kill!" was hilariously sad.

Reaffirming Howard's advice, the nicknames of senior members were indeed simple and concise. Howard was Aegis, Ellen was Athena, Aron was Frown and Trever was WildDragon. In that sense, "Gunz" was a decent name as well, even though zero thought was put into it.

"Okay, I decided on mine too!" Taison announced. "It's DaBestBro!"

"... did you even hear anything I just said about two to three words?" Howard frowned.

"Who cares about that crap, yo. This is da best nick, bro! They can just call me 'DaBest' for short, khaha!"

"Alright, it seems available. You sure about it?"

"Totally."

"Here, done. Just don't come crying to me later when commentators gonna make it sound silly." Howard shrugged. "You'll receive a notification inside the game in a few hours, so make sure to open it and confirm,."

"Roger."

"Got it."

"Now, that leaves the three of you." Howard turned to Yuel, Julia and Gregory. "You still have until tomorrow to think about it, but make up your minds already. If you don't, we gonna pick something silly for you. I heard that's how Aron got stuck with 'Frown'. You don't want that, do you? Especially since we got Ellen, the number one 'Terrible Name Generator' in the world."

"U-Understood." Yuel answered with a shaky voice, the Ellen threat was surprisingly terrifying. After Gregory was reduced to GG, there's no telling what else that girl could pull out of her deviant mind. Gulp.

Theoretically, they were given more than enough time to decide on something like a nickname for a video game. However, in truth, they didn't have any time at all! A week was too short!

Especially, for Yuel this was a huge decision. He wasn't just deciding on some arbitrary name he could change later, the IGN was going to stick with him all the way to the pro scene. Therefore, this decision was as critical as naming a newborn. His parents said they spent months brainstorming ideas for his name, yet now he had to decide something of the same importance in less than a week! Ugh!

"My, why not just go with Yuyu? A cute and simple name~" Ellen giggled.

"No thank you." Yuel retorted.

"And what about you, July?" Ellen asked. "If you need help, you can always consult your sis~"

"Sorry, but I'm a single child." Julia said.

"My, how cold~" Ellen wrapped herself around Julia and snuggled her. "Let's see, what name will suit a cute girl like you? Oh, I know! How about MaidenInLove?"

"W-Wah!?" Julia jumped out of Ellen's embrace and scanned the room. Phew, Lars already went to play. "W-Who would go with such a dumb name!? Idiot!"

"My, how adorable~" Ellen smiled fuzzily, as if watching a barking puppy. "Then, how about Aphrodite, the goddess of love? Or, maybe Venus?"

"Venus doesn't sound too bad, actually." Julia pondered.

"Okay, it's decided then: VenusInLove!"

"Go die in a hole!" Julia roared. "But well, I guess Venus is kinda dope. I was waiting for Lars to pick something first, but 'Gunz' is... like..."

"Oh, you wanted to match his name? How cute."

"M-Mind your own business, hmph." Julia crossed her arms and turned away.

"Then 'Venus' it is." Howard submitted the name application. "It always amazes me how these simple names aren't in-use already. Kinda makes you feel like the competitive scene hasn't spread around enough yet. Sad."

With Julia's name decided, only Yuel and Gregory were left. Perhaps they were overthinking this, but they just really wanted to come up with the right names. By the end of the day, Gregory finally decided on something. "I'll go with DaBestSupport, kek."

"You too with this nonsense?" Howard sighed. "You better consider this carefully, who knows if you keep playing Support your whole career."

"I'm sure I will. I'll prove that by beating you scrubs first, kek." Gregory touched his glasses as he challenged both Yuel and Howard.

"Well, whatever. As long as you're happy with it. Four down, you're the only one left."

"I... still need more time." Yuel mumbled. He already got a few solid idea in mind, such as 'Rook' and 'Bishop', but Gregory's nickname threw him off.

[DaBestBro and DaBestSupport, huh. ]Yuel had complicated feelings about that. It's like the two of them were announcing to the entire world: "We're going to be the best duo in the world!". Wasn't that what Yuel and Lars promised to become? And yet, Lars went ahead and picked a stupid nickname like 'Gunz' without waiting for Yuel.

How was he even supposed to find something that matched 'Gunz'? Should he call himself Sword? Shotgun? Sniper Rifle? Impulse Grenade? Ugh, so stupid! He now understood why Julia was so irritated about that name. To make things worse, Lars already confirmed the name in his account, so there's no going back. [Seriously, that brainless goof...]

On the way home, Yuel developed an unstoppable urge to lash at Lars about the topic.

"Did you hear what name Gregory picked?" Yuel asked.

"Yeah, DaBestSupport or something." Lars replied.

"So, now Taison is DaBestBro and Gregory is DaBestSupport."

"Haha, these dudes really think they're all that. Welp, we gonna show them who's ready 'da best' around here, yo."

"That's not my point." Yuel sighed. Being roundabout never worked with Lars, he was too dense to read between the lines. "They picked names that synergize with each other. It's like they're declaring they'll become the best duo in the world."

"Yeah, these dudes sure dream big, haha."

[Says the guy who made me pursue the exact same dream!!!] Yuel was at his wits' end. He had come out and say it straight, didn't he!? Goddammit, that dense goof! "We could've done something like that too, come up with names that work with each other."

"Heh, yeah that'd be cool." Lars nodded.

"Yes, it sure would've been. But, a certain goof came up with a stupid name nobody can follow up on."

"Hey, how was I supposed to guess? You didn't tell me you wanted to do that kind of stuff, dude. I just wanted to get it over with. "

"Well, that's true." Yuel mumbled. He was mad at Lars the whole time, but it's also his fault for thinking of this idea only now.

"Besides, Greg's name feels like he's just copying Tai." Lars shrugged. "You don't wanna use a name like 'Gunz' just because it sounds cool to me, right? I also don't wanna be named after some chess piece or some stupid complicated word like ama-gama-something-something."

"It's 'amalgamation' and it's a cool word."

"Yeah, whatever." Lars waved his hand. "Anyway, Greg's name sounds like he's just stalking Tai and hoping Tai gonna carry him into becoming 'da best' duo. Is that what you want, dude? To be in the strongest duo just because I'm a sick player?"

"Of course not."

"Right? Before we become 'da best duo', I first gotta become da best Carry and you gotta become da best Support."

"You're right." Yuel realized he was too hasty. Lars was right, they first had to hone their individual skills before they could dream of becoming a powerful duo. Their experiences in the entry exam made that clear.

Right now, Yuel's tactics couldn't beat Howard and Lars's power couldn't win against Ellen. Therefore, even when banded together, they couldn't beat the duo of Howard and Ellen. First, each of them had to get as close as possible to beating their respective rival.

"Yeah!" Lars exclaimed. "Then, together, we gonna be da super ultimate bestest duo, yo!"

"Heh, didn't you just say Gregory is 'dreaming big'? Your dream is even crazier."

"Haha, I said he's dreaming big, but I never said that's bad! We just gotta dream even bigger to beat them, yo!" Lars grinned and stretched a fist. "Let's do it, dude! If they gonna be da best, then we gonna be da best of da best, yo!"

"I'm already sick of this 'da best' nonsense." Yuel sighed and bumped fists with Lars. Things were fine this way, there's no need to force himself into pickiing a matching name with Lars's. Yuel would first focus on bettering himself as an individual player, then he'll band with Lars to form the ultimate duo.

"I decided on a name." Yuel announced the next day. "I'll go with Rook."

"Short and classy, alright." Howard nodded and inputted the name.

『Error: The name is already in use.』

"Eh?" Yuel blinked. "Then, Bishop, maybe?"

"Worth a shot."

『Error: You can't use the name of a class from the game.』

"Excuse me?" Yuel couldn't process the nonsense happening right now. Bishop was indeed a class in the game, but that wasn't what Yuel tried to reference. Besides, what's with this discrimination? "They allow you to use Aegis, even though it's also Paladin's ult, but not Bishop? Seriously?"

"Go figure how these things work." Howard shrugged. "You should spice up the names a little. Say, how about DaBestRook?"

"I'd rather die."

"Haha, figured." Howard laughed. "What else do you have?"

"Err, I'll have to think about it all over again..."

"Hey now, I warned: you only got until today. Seems like I need come up with something myself."

"W-Wait, I-"

"What, you rather leave it to Ellen? Hey, Ell-"

"Please no! Anything but that!" Yuel begged. Any name was going to be better than whatever Ellen would pick!

"Alright, then how about Chessboy? Sounds professional."

"You're messing with me, aren't you?"

"Oh, you figured?" Howard chuckled. "Actually, I have a decent one. How about Chessmaster?"

"That sounds a bit... pretentious, I think" Yuel mumbled, unable to fully dismiss the suggestion. It indeed sounded cool, he had to admit. Not to mention, he already considered Chessmaster during brainstorming, Howard probably knew that.

However, despite all that, Yuel felt reluctant picking Chessmaster. It sounded so pretentious, as if claiming he's smarter than everybody else.

"Pretentious? Suits you perfectly then." Howard sneered. "You always act like some know-it-all, pulling ideas out of your ass while pretending they make perfect sense."

"Well, that's..." Yuel frowned. Pretentious? Was he? Really? He crafted his tactics based on data and the situation at hand, that's just the natural thing to do. But, for some reason, the tactics that came naturally to him were sometimes difficult for others to grasp.

Even so, it was never his intention to pretend he was smarter than his peers. He merely suggested the tactics he deemed best, regardless of others' opinions. Though, admittedly, he found some joy in making his plan work when nobody else believed in it. Ugh, was he a little pretentious after all?

"Look, the name's available too." Howard said. "We gonna go with Chessmaster then, like it or not. Unless you prefer Chessboy, haha."

"No chance." Yuel made a face. "I don't particularly hate Chessmaster, but it sounds so... bombastic."

"Heh, me and Elly went with mythological names and they sound fine, right? I'm the shield of gods and she's the goddess of war. Actually, putting it like that is kinda embarrassing, isn't it? Haha."

"It sure is." Yuel nodded, but he didn't feel like laughing at these names. Back during the entry exam, Howard was indeed the "shield of gods". No matter how many times Yuel tried piercing through Howard's defenses - it never worked out. The name Aegis might had sounded a bit cheesy, but Howard's skill lived up to the grand expectations set by that name.

The same applied to Ellen. According to Lars, she always came on top whenever they fought. No matter how close he got to killing her or how many fights he won against her - she ultimately won the war. Truly, the goddess of war in the flesh. In the few practice matches Yuel played with her over the week, he was deeply impressed by the craftiness of her tactics.

Then, what about Yuel himself? Wasn't he also capable of feats that could live up to a bombastic nickname? He had the ability to analyze his opponents, discover their weaknesses and prepare the worst possible situations for them. That's the skill which discouraged others from playing with him in grade school, but it's also the skill which allowed him to pass the club's entry exam.

"Do really think Chessmaster suits me?" Yuel asked with a serious expression, leaving no place for jokes.

"Nah, it's obviously too good for you. Chessboy suits you way better." Howard joked anyway.

"Ugh..."

"At least, for now." Howard smirked. "Last time we played seriously, I shut you down for good. But I'll be honest, it wasn't exactly a walk in the park. There were a few times, like really few, when I actually felt pressured by your pesky offense. If you improve even more, then who knows? Maybe one day I'll consider you worthy of a name like Chessmaster."

"Then I'll go with that." Yuel said. "Consider it my declaration: I'll become much better and find a way to break through your shield of gods."

"Heh, I'm amazed you can spout such nonsense with a straight face." Howard sneered, then his eyes turned cold. "Don't get carried away, kiddo. If you think you're the only one who gonna improve, you have another thing coming. It's not like I gonna sit on my ass do nothing. If you think you can catch up with me, think again."

"Even so, I'll definitely do it." Yuel insisted.

"Heh. Anyway, here you go." Howard finished submitting the nickname. "I hope you'll live up to your name, Chessmaster."

And so, the first week of club activity came to an end, with all freshmen obtaining competitive names. The next step was debuting in the competitive scene and spreading these names far and wide across the Classmancers community!

Yuel - Chessmaster

Lars - Gunz

Julia - Venus

Taison - DaBestBro

Gregory - DaBestSupport