And the First String Goes To...!

Taison was at 2% HP. A single basic attack from Julia was enough to seal the deal.

"Die!" Julia fired the decisive shot. It flew straight at Taison without (flattering). With how slow Taison was right now, hitting him with a basic shot was a no-brainer. She had this in the bag!

"No fuckin' way!" Taison jumped aside. [Dodge Roll, bitch!] He still had that ace up his sleeve! "Miss me with that shit, yo!"

"Just die already!" Julia didn't let go. Another shot! The next one will seal the deal for sure. No more bullshit. It gonna be ABSOLUTE AND TOTAL DEATH!!!

"Keh, this is it..." Taison clicked his tongue. He saw the wind blast fly in his direction, but he couldn't do shit about it. He felt like a racer who was forced to drop out in the middle of the competition even though he could still run. If he just wasn't slowed down by all this shit, he would have mopped the floor with Julia. [Man, fuck this game.]

The wind blast flew straight at Taison. There was nothing in its way and it wasn't going to miss. This fight was decided. That's what everybody believed during that breath-taking decisive moment.

WHOOSH. The wind struck against Taison. The shot definitely connect. Yet, no message popped up. The attack dealt zero damage.

Taison was frozen solid in place. It was Cryo-Freeze, Cryomancer's ult. Howard emerged from within the jungle's shadows!

"W-Wha...!?" Julia's lips trembled. Just a little more. She was a single step away from winning this entire thing but now...

"Get out of there!" Yuel ordered.

"R-Right!" Julia smacked herself on the face. This was no time to mope over her failure. She barely had any HP left and it was impossible to kill Taison anymore, so she had to get away. Retreat! Defend! Now!

Julia turned around and darted toward the allied side of the jungle. She should be faster than Howard thanks to her speed buff so, from this distance, he shouldn't be able catch up- an ice wall appeared! It blocked her best escape route!

[No way...] Julia's ray of hope was cast into the darkness. If this route is closed, how realistic was it for her to get out of this situation? There was no way...

"Don't stop!" Lars shouted. "Try going around!" His voice sounded desperate.

"R-Right!" Julia turned around and ran toward the nearby corner. I-It wasn't over yet! It couldn't end like this! She had to get the heck outta here, or else...!

"You aren't getting away." Howard caught up the distance cast Icicle Rain. With Julia fully concerted on fleeing, she had no chance of dodging anything that flew her way. She fought well until this point, but...

『You have been killed!』

"Ah..." Julia opened and closed her mouth. She couldn't even bring herself to make up an excuse. The reality of the situation still hasn't sunk in. One moment, she was on a roll and about grasp victory, but the next moment... this.

[This is my fault.] Yuel bit his lip and hung his head. For a moment, it seemed to him like Julia might win against Taison. As a result, Yuel gave up on trying to make her retreat. He completely neglected to consider the fact Howard was still alive and chose to play along with Julia's aggressive play. Even though he should have known that Julia wasn't in the best state of mind to make that kind of judgment, Yuel let her go along with it.

Back when Julia gained the upper hand for the first time, Yuel should have ordered her to disengage. At that moment in time, before Taison regained his fighting spirit, they could've disengaged peacefully. Retreating wasn't Taison's cup of tea, but Howard most likely would have enforced it. At the point in time, it didn't look like the odds were in Taison's favor at all, so Howard would have gladly bailed out of that risky situation if Julia were to disengage first.

But no, Yuel didn't say anything at that point. He allowed this lottery to go on. It was an insanely high-risk gamble, even for him. He effectively gambled the entire game on this fight, with his and Lars's ticket to the first string at stake. And, he lost the gamble.

"Gah!" Julia jumped from her chair and dashed toward the door. "I-I'll be right back!"

"..." Yuel couldn't tell for sure because of how fast it happened, but it looked like Julia was tearing up as she left.

"July..." Lars stretched a hand toward her departing figure but gave up. His hand dropped. The weak smile on his face had "defeat" written all over it. At this point, everybody could tell this was over. The enemy's next move will most likely be...

"Let's take the Overlord," Howard said. "Gil, get a Sentry Ward and rotate there as soon as you respawn."

Howard and Taison arrived at the Overlord and attacked the giant super boss, with Howard tanking on the front. Gilbert joined them shortly and provided the much-needed DPS for taking down the big enemy.

Gilbert has been struggling today as a Pyromancer because it required him to play outside his element, but right now Howard was thankful for this pick. Pyromancer delivered high burst damage via spells and also had consistent DPS via basic attacks. The Overlord's HP plummeted in a blink of an eye.

"You have to steal the Overlord," Yuel told Dan, the only one who was currently alive on the team.

Dan revived a little ahead of Gilbert and also headed toward the Overlord, but he couldn't carelessly aggress on the enemy during their fight with the Overlord. If he attacks, the enemy would simply shift their focus to him and that'll put him in a nasty 1v2.

Therefore, Dan had no choice but roam around the Overlord's area and wait for the right moment. Eventually, Gilbert grouped up with his teammates and the Overlord started going down fast.

Gilbert also brought a Sentry Ward with him, so he took out Yuel's Ward in the Overlord's area. As a result, Dan could no longer tell what was the Overlord's situation.

"Man," Dan shook his head. "How am I supposed to know when to jump on the Overlord? I can't see shit."

"I suppose we'll have to guess," Yuel said.

"Hey now, what's with that weak answer?" Dan asked. "You sound like you already gave up."

"No, I just..." Yuel chewed his lips but couldn't think of anything to say. Honestly, he was already convinced: they lost. Stealing the Overlord in the last moment via last-hitting was a desperate maneuver that rarely worked even on low-levels of play, let alone in a competitive environment. But, that's all the hope they had left right now.

"C'mon, dude," Lars said. "We still got a chance. Let's steal the Overlord and turn this whole thing around." He was saying the usual encouraging words but they lacked a punch.

No matter how positive Lars tried to act, it's clear he thought the same way as Yuel: they've lost. At the very end, Ellen defeated Lars and Howard outplayed Yuel. It was a complete and utter defeat.

[But, even so...!] Yuel gritted his teeth and slammed on the table. A shockwave of pain traveled through his palms and woke him up. No matter how difficult it was to steal the Overlord and how unlikely their chances were, it was still an opportunity to turn things around. They... They still had a chance!

Therefore, Yuel had to do everything in his power to seize it. As the shot-caller, he had to make the right judgment regarding this objective-stealing operation. Dan couldn't estimate the Overlord's state from the data so far but Yuel had a rough idea.

The Overlord was at around 70% HP when the Sentry Ward went down. With Gilbert joining the fight, the Overlord should be falling into a critical condition right about...

"Now," Yuel said. "Jump it!"

"Okay, you got it!" Dan leaped across the wall that surrounded the Overlord's area. He didn't know the Overlord's exact location, so he took a safe bet and jumped toward the center, which was the area in which the Overlord originally spawned.

Alas, Dan landed on nothing but flat ground. The enemy team dragged the Overlord as far away as possible from the center of the camp. Dang it, these guys were prepared!

"No matter," Yuel said. "It's still alive, so go for it!"

"Roger!" Dan dashed toward the Overlord. The giant boss was at his last breath, but he was still kicking. If Dan just sneaks the last hit on him- ah! Dang it!

[You won't pass.] Gilbert blocked the path and opened an attack on Dan.

[Well played, dang it.] Dan smiled wryly. Gilbert shifted from offense to defense at lightning speed. What a guy.

Dan had no time to waste on fighting Gilbert. He had to break through and reach the Overlord as quickly as possible. Alas, Gilbert did a hella great job blocking him out. In the meantime...

『An enemy defeated the Overlord!』

It was over. Howard, Taison, and Gilbert all gained the powerful Overlord Buff. On top of that, the dead Ellen and Gregory instantly revived. It became a 1v5 situation.

『An ally has been killed!』

『ANNIHILATION』

Now, it became a 0v5. The enemy ran over Dan in a 1v3, pretty much what Yuel expected to happen in case of a failure. This game was through.

With the Overlord buff and a huge number advantage, the enemy pushed Mid all the way to the Colossus. Yuel respawned right before the enemy destroyed the Colossus, but he was powerless alone. All he could do was shoot from afar because, if he came closer, the enemy would gang on him and rip him apart.

It was hopeless. There was nothing Yuel's team could do. Absolutely nothing.

『DEFEAT』

It was over. The battle for the first string ended in a devastating defeat. Even after coming this far, Yuel and Lars still couldn't beat Howard and Ellen. Even with the advantage of first-string players like Roi and Dan on his team, Yuel couldn't still lead this team to victory.

He has made numerous mistakes today, especially toward the end. He thought his late-game shot-calling was solid but he was naive. Against an experienced opponent like Howard who specialized in the late-game, Yuel was bound to commit more mistakes Damn...

"Phew," Howard exhaled in relief. Finally, this darn thing was over. Today's matches sucked out so much outta him that he felt like he could collapse any moment. Maybe he should really consider working out a little. Maybe.

"Yay! Wardy, we won!" Ellen jumped on Howard and hugged him.

"Yeah, yeah," Howard chuckled. Normally, he'd dodge Ellen, but he was just so tired right now. [I'll let her do whatever she wants for now. She deserves it. Without that last kill she pulled on Lars, I'm not sure how we could've won this.]

"Yeaaaah, boi!" Taison jumped from the chair and pumped a fist. "We did it, yo! Ez game!"

"Kek, ez you say," Gregory high-fived Taison. "Good game there. I told ya, you should really consider playing Jungler more."

"Heh, thanks," Taison shrugged. "You kinda sucked as Top tho, khaha!"

"Ha ha, hilarious." Gregory made a face. It stung because it was true. Despite Gregory's secret training and all the research he did on Roi, his performance as Solo today was lackluster.

It was a tough lesson and Gregory will have to figure out what to do from here on out. Should he keep trying to play Solo? Maybe, For now, he was just happy with shutting down Yuel's chance of getting into the first string. [Eat shit, Yuel! Rot in the second string like the trash you are! Kek.]

"Good game, everybody," Howard finally pulled himself up from the chair. "This match meant a lot to me, so thanks for coming through. As promised, the pizza is on me. Let's go, you're free to order whatever you want."

"Hell yeah!" Taison pumped a fist. "The shit, yo!"

"Anybody wants salt on their pizza?" Gregory smirked. "I'm sure we can get some from the other team, kek."

"My, salt on a pizza?" Ellen covered her mouth. "What kind of fetish is that?"

Everybody laughed. There was a merry atmosphere in the room as everybody celebrated the victory, except for one teammate.

"Good job protecting the Overlord against Dan," Howard approached Gilbert. "What's wrong? You're awfully quiet. You wanna skip the pizza?"

"No, I'm totally in. It's just..." Gilbert made a difficult expression as he flipped through the stats of the last two games.

"I get it," Howard tapped on Gilbert's shoulder. "But, let's leave the match review for later. For now, let's celebrate that we pulled through this."

"Yeah, you're right." Gilbert nodded and stood up.

[So, he's concerned about it. That's good.] Howard nodded to himself. Gilbert's performance today was lackluster at best, so it was a good thing he wasn't satisfied with himself. In fact, Howard had some harsh words to say about it as well but now wasn't the time or place. They'll review everything in detail at a later date.

[Man, I'm so done.] Howard tripped and caught himself in the last second. He rubbed his unfocused eyes and leaned against the cold wall. Frankly, he'd gladly drop into a bed right now and take a nap for an hour or five. Well, maybe the pizza will refresh him.

"Wait for me at the gate," Howard told everybody. "I still need to lock up the classrooms and return the keys."

"Gotcha!" Taison saluted and darted out of the room. "Pizza, here comes Taison!"

"Shut up, kek." Gregory chuckled as he followed with a light jog.

[They still got that much energy? How nice it is to be young.] Howard chuckled. The hell was he even talking about? These brats were just one year younger than him. Was he really that unfit? Nah, that couldn't be the case because he wasn't obese or anything. He was exhausted because he had to use much more brain juice than the others, that's all.

All the brats left the room with hungry eyes. Only Ellen stayed behind.

"My, are you alright?" Ellen asked. "You look like a zombie."

"Just a little tired," Howard sighed.

"Bad boy, Wardy. That's what happens when you don't exercise: you don't have enough brain juice to last the entire match."

"It's only when I play against Yuel," Howard smiled wryly. Only against Yuel, he felt it was absolutely necessary to put on a 100% flawless defense 24/7. There was never telling where Yuel will strike from because he'd turn even the smallest weakness into a great opportunity.

"I just need to practice more under these sorts of intense circumstances," Howard said. "Then, I'll have no problem- whoa!" He tripped and dived toward the floor.

"My, Wardy is such a klutz~" Ellen jumped forward to catch him.

"Thanks..." Howard regained his balance but remained crooked. [Ah, it's so soft. Like a pillow.] He didn't feel like opening his eyes. His head landed on something soft and he just wanted to fall asleep on it.

"H-How long are you going to stay like this? Y-You're kinda heavy, you know. And, um..."

"Hm? What's wrong? Oh," Howard finally opened his eyes. No wonder it felt so soft and comfy. His head fall landed on Ellen's chest! Whoops.

"Ahem," Ellen cleared her throat, her face was a little red. "So, you remember you promised me a reward, right?"

"Oh, yeah..." Howard also cleared his throat and straightened his back. [Right, that thing...]

Weren't they a little too young for that? Then again, it shouldn't be a big deal, right? Not to mention, Ellen definitely deserved any reward in the world right now. The team managed to turn the tables around only thanks to her crafty ideas during the late-game.

"Alright," Howard placed his hands on Ellen's shoulders.

"E-Eh?" Ellen jumped like a kitten. "M-My, you're really going for it? What a Casanova, h-haha." Her face turned redder by the moment. How cute.

"Thanks for everything," Howard said as he brought his face closer. "I couldn't have done this without you."

"M-My, you flatter me." Ellen stiffened like a statue.

"We won this. Together." Howard placed his lips to hers. It was a brief, sweet moment.

Meanwhile, in the adjacent room, the atmosphere couldn't be farther away from feisty.

"Dude."

"......"

"Hey, dude." Lars shook Yuel's shoulder. "C'mon, everybody left."

"Ah, oh..." Yuel made some weak sounds as he looked around. Roi and Dan left at some point and Julia never came back. Only Yuel and Lars remained in the classroom.

"Okay," Yuel pushed himself off the chair and tried to balance himself on his shaky feet. "We need to turn off the PCs..."

"Already did," Lars gave a thumb up.

"Oh, thanks..." Yuel wobbled toward the door. "Then, guess we're done here."

"Yep," Lars followed quietly. Even though he retained a smile on his face it felt forced. "I'mma go wash my face."

"Okay, I'll wait by the stairs." Yuel headed toward the other classroom. And, he ran into the last person he wanted to see right now...

"All done over there?" Howard asked.

"Yeah, we turned everything off. You can lock up." Yuel avoided eye contact and tried to quickly pass by.

"Alright," Howard also proceeded along the hallway. As they crossed by, Howard spoke again. "Your team put on a decent fight. You should lift your head."

"Decent or not, we lost."

"That's true. But, I'm not gonna lie - you gave me a run for my money a few times there. If you played in any other school, I'm sure you would have easily made it into the first-string with your current skill. And Lars too, of course. Sucks that you're stuck in the same club as me, right? Haha."

[Yeah, it sure does suck.] Yuel pursed his lips. Everything about this situation sucked. Not just the fact he had to compete for a starter position against such a strong rival, but also that Yuel simply couldn't win against Howard. Even one whole year after their first meeting, Yuel was still chasing Howard's shadow. Was it even possible to catch up...?

With this defeat, Yuel and Lars's fates were sealed. They'll be nothing more than benchwarmers for the entirety of the second year. The competitive scene was out of their reach.

Was that really the end? Wasn't there anything they could do about this? Yuel asked over and over but couldn't come up with any answers...