5 The Hidden Intentions Behind the Actions

The following day, Sofia received another message from FAB_Gamers WINS. The squad leader sent her that list of the party members that would be fighting against her squad for their practice match.

She looked at their names in delight and told the squad members about the arrangement.

"No way!!! You have an affiliation with the FAB_Gamers squad? Man, they are famous! They live in district 6 and their members are treated like gods in this game!" Joey exclaimed out of excitement.

The group were hanging out in her small apartment and were waiting for their opponents to go online.

"Not really, we just talked last night and their leader agreed of a practice match arrangement today..." Sofia told him with her casual tone. Although she had spent time playing, she was not so familiar with who was famous in the game.

"Guys, let's take a picture!" Claire interrupted and all of them paused before smiling in front of her camera.

"What?! Are you sure? Their leader is the guy with the in-game name WINS. Is it really him?" Clark also joined their hype. He was an avid fan of the FAB_Gamers squad and he almost knew all their members.

"It's like this. Stephen and I played a random match last night. It turns out that one of our allies was a streamer and our gameplay was streamed live on his social media. It was a quick match but their leader saw it. So he agreed to have a practice match with our squad." Sofia explained without thinking too much about it.

"Oh, boy!!! We are so lucky! To think that it is the Fab_Gamers squad that has agreed to practice with us. This is too unrealistic!" Clark eyed Joey as he grinned from ear to ear.

"Wait, you played last night without inviting me? That is so unfair! You should have included me, right?" Claire questioned with a domineering tone. She did not even bother to conceal the jealousy in her voice.

"Well, I was already asleep when Stephen texted me to play. It's just one match." Sofia patted her head and smiled apologetically.

"Who is your best friend now? Since when are you so close with that Stephen?" Claire dramatically looked down.

The man in question just chuckled and did not say anything.

"Eh? We are in one team now. Don't be jealous." Clark stated.

"Yes, Clark is right. Don't be jealous, Claire." Joey grinned.

"Alright, guys, their lineup is already complete. Let's go to the lobby and wait for the invite. Be sure to learn from this practice." Sofia instructed and the group turned their attention to their phone.

The match invite was quick and all their opponents were silent. Their character quickly appeared on their base.

Joey moved his character to the top lane while Clark went to the middle lane. Claire started to farm in the jungle. Sofia and Stephen went towards the bottom lane to clear the wave of enemy creeps.

On their opponent's side, nobody was handling the middle lane. Their assassin was also farming in the jungle while the mage was facing against Joey. Their fighter was on Stephen and Sofia's lane. The marksman and tank were missing.

"Be careful of an ambush!" Claire was the first to notice that the marksman and tank were missing.

Just as she clicked her warning, the notification of first blood followed to show up on their screen. Their mage was killed by the FAB_Gamers marksman and tank within the first minute of the match!

"Sorry." Clark could only mumble while waiting for his character to be resurrected.

"It's okay." His teammates said in chorus.

"OH DARN!" Claire gritted her teeth when the jungle monster that she was trying to kill got last hit by the opponent's marksman! On top of that, her HP was almost gone. With the single hit from the opponent's tank, her character was also slain!

2-0

The difference between their gold and exp from their enemy made a huge gap. The two deaths quickly placed them on the disadvantage.

"They are good! Really good!" Claire gulped and joined Joey on the top lane.

Another wave of creeps was spawned and Clark attempted to push the middle lane to destroy the initial tower.

But their enemy was quick! The moment their creeps were cleared by Clark's mage, they would appear and attack the mage.

As minutes passed, Sofia quietly observed their situation. The towers were still even but the gap in their gold was too concerning. Their score was already 4-0. One death from their assassin and three deaths from their mage.

"Don't die." She softly mumbled towards Stephen before her tank left their lane and hurriedly went to the middle lane.

Stephen nodded his head and understood what she meant. She will be guarding their mage instead of his marksman!

Clark continued to pursue his lane despite the number of his deaths. Although he felt the burden on his shoulder every time the enemy kills his character. He does not know where else to go.

~

In the FAB_ Gamers Training room, the players started to complain.

"This match is too boring! Why did WINS hook us up with these noobs?" the marksman of their team groaned.

"Didn't you see the live stream last night? That CEO UNRIVALED player tank was quite good!" Their mage spoke softly.

"Ah, I was asleep last night! Let me test if this enemy tank is really worthy to be our opponent," the marksman quickly moved towards the middle lane without waiting for their tank.

His fingers were about to click his skills and launch a sneak attack but the button suddenly turned gray! His character was silenced!

Before he could recover, the resurrecting countdown already appeared on his screen.

"What?!!" he stared blankly at his phone. He could not comprehend how his character died. The marksman was killed by Clark's mage!

His ally mage shook his head and whispered, "WINS did warn us to be careful in jungle stealing and ganking."

Ganking! The dumbfounded marksman finally understood what happened. He had assumed that their enemy mage and tank were on the middle lane. But in fact, there were not only two players on the mid. The moment CEO UNRIVALED started her rotation, the assassin also followed! This is why his character was silenced and was stunned successively. Then the mage activated his ultimate to finish his HP!

"Not bad..." The player using the FAB_Gamers marksman muttered and his face turned serious. With his death, their initial middle tower was also destroyed!

One single death but it was crucial for the entire team. The Chronos squad managed to turn over their gold earnings as the enemy jungle was also stolen by them.

"You are too reckless!" The tank beside him murmured coldly after noticing that their jungle monsters were gone.

Just as the marksman was about to speak his response, their mage was also slain by the Chronos mage.

"They are on the top lane!" the player of the mage quickly announced but it was too late. Their initial tower on the top lane was also destroyed!

"Our gold is already behind!" their assassin prompted.

It was 4-2. But because of the loss of their towers, the gold gap was completely overturned.

"AHhh! Help me in the bottom lane!" the FAB_Gamers fighter quickly retreated. He urged his allies after seeing that the Chronos tank and assassin were joining the marksman ganking against him.

Another minute passed and all the initial towers of FAB_Gamers were destroyed. They started to feel panic after realizing that the Chronos squad was getting an upper hand against them.

"Which lane are they pushing?" the fighter asked. He was confused since all their initial tower was gone. He was not sure which lane he should focus on guarding.

"Their rotation is abnormal! Wait, they are back in the middle lane! Come!" the marksman immediately called.

His character stood behind the tower while waiting for his allies. But CEO UNRIVALED dashed inside the tower and Claire's assassin suddenly leaped towards him to snatched him out. As the FAB_Gamers' marksman was suspended in the air, the arrows of the Chronos marksman quickly followed and drained his HP for the second time.

The overall score became 4-3. One more kill from the Chronos and it would be a tie. But the match is not about the scoring of kills. It is about who could destroy their base. And it is too early to conclude who would be the victor of their match!

"AHH... you guys are too slow to respond!" the player of the marksman snarled after his character died.

"GG!" the tank player sarcastically responded at him.

"Guys, this is embarrassing. The squad that we are fighting is not even as famous as we are. Yet, you are arguing because of them," their assassin scowled at their behavior.

"Let's attack together and push in their middle lane," their fighter suggested.

Soon, their character quickly cleared the creeps of the Chronos team. But before they could destroy the initial tower, their opponent had already pushed their bottom lane.

They suddenly become conflicted about whether to protect their secondary tower or destroy the initial tower to the enemy.

"Push!" their mage proposed.

As they managed to destroy the initial tower, the Chronos was already attacking the final defense in their bottom lane!

"AHH... retreat!" the fighter ordered and they quickly returned to protect their tower.

Their tank leaped towards the enemies and the rest of them followed to throw their attacks. However, the Fab_Gamers failed to realize that their pieces of equipment were not sufficient to kill their enemies.

CEO UNRIVALED received all of the damage and also managed to survive. Her allies quicly retaliated and throw their attacks too. As the clash of different skills became chaotic, the FAB_Gamers were slain one after another.

Wiped Out!

The screen quickly showed the notification after the entire enemy was annihilated. The leading score drastically changed. 4-8

"It's over." The FAB_Gamers mage player scratched his head. He assumed that the Chronos would quickly end their match.

But to his surprise, their entire team went back to their base to recover their HP and MP. This action left him speechless.

"HAHAHA They are really noobs! They could have destroyed our base, but they did not! What a great mistake!" the laughter from the player who was using the marksman role echoed to the entire training room. His allies were also smiling after knowing that the Chronos was not pushing anymore. They could still win!

Meanwhile, in the office of the leader of the FAB_Gamers squad, a man drank his tea silently. He was secretly using a spectator's mode and watched the match.

A cold smile formed on his lips after observing the Chronos members not pursuing in destroying their base. To a gamer, it could mean that the opponent was just an amateur and lacked experience. But to his perspective as the leader of their squad, it was a gesture of mercy and respect!

It was clear that the Chronos squad deliberately retreated to maintain a harmonious connection and avoid hatred from their group. This was not because they were noobs. Even noobs understood the clear opportunity to gain victory. But the opponent chose to recover their HP instead.

"After all, we are strangers and our relationship is still fragile." WINS muffled a laugh and placed the cup of tea back on his table.

He understood the hidden intention of his opponent's action. The man clicked on his chatbox and looked at the first message of CEO UNRIVALED. It contained an attachment proposal. As he reviewed the file, he subconsciously placed a hand on his mouth and pondered deeply.

'This CEO UNRIVALED, is this person a real CEO?' He became suspicious as the content of the proposal was neatly written and the context was explained in a concise and precise manner. And now, as he saw that the Chronos wanted to maintain a good connection with his squad, his suspicion also increased. Only those who had experienced in business field truly could comprehend the importance of connections!

'I hope we could meet in person,' he mentally said and composed another chat message.

FAB_Gamer WINS: Ah, there is no need to show mercy. xD

After sending his message, he stood from his seat and walked towards the training room.

The match was already ended as his squad made their comeback and defeated the Chronos. He sighed and pursed his lips tightly as his squad members were rejoicing at their victory. He stayed silent and did not want to spoil their happiness.