Playing Online

Ever since the first Classmancers lesson, Yuel became obsessed with the game. He wasn't much of a gamer before, but now he spent all his free time playing Classmancers. He practiced many different classes, studied items and experimented how various effects interacted. As a result, his game knowledge quickly surpassed the material taught in class.

As the other kids learned more about Classmancers and its classes, Rogue became an infamous pick due to its notorious Stealth ability. It allowed the Rogue to turn invisible and sneak up to enemies. To make things worse, Rogue's passive, Backstabber, made its basic attacks deal extra damage from behind. Combined with its high attack power as an assassin class, Rogue could murder any squishy target with a just few stabs in the back

Most of the time, the Rogue's prey was dead before it even got to react. None of the kids had any idea how to deal with this cancer class, so many of them picked the class to wreck their opponents. When the final Classmancers lesson came around and a 3v3 competition was announced in the class, almost every team had a dedicated Rogue player.

However, Yuel's team didn't have a Rogue. He advised John and Jim against playing Rogue, for it was a "weak class". Yes, despite how highly everybody regarded Rogue, Yuel claimed it was weak. Even though they didn't share Yuel's opinion, John and Jim followed the advice and played the classes they were most comfortable with: Archer and Viking.

Already In the first match of the competition, Yuel's team played against a team with a Rogue in it. John thought they were screwed for sure, but things didn't quite turn out as he expected.

"Huh? How come we can see their Rogue?" John raised an eyebrow. For some reason, his mini-map showed the stealthed enemy Rogue sneaking through the jungle. There was an allied Ward placed in the jungle, a deployable which granted vision to the whole team for limited time. However, that didn't explain the current situation. "I thought Wards don't show Rogue when he's stealthed?"

"That's a Stealth Ward." Yuel explained. "It's the same as a normal Ward, except it also exposes stealthed enemies. It costs more and doesn't last as long, but it's great when you play against a Rogue."

"Oh, cool, I didn't even know that kind of thing existed. I wonder how I missed that during lessons."

"It wasn't covered in the lessons." Yuel said. "We only learned about normal Wards."

After learning of the incoming attack, Yuel's team ambushed the Rogue and eliminated him. Rogue was indeed strong when he had the element of surprise, but he was an easy kill without it. By using Stealth Wards, Yuel shut down the Rogue of every team and effectively turned every match into a 3v2.

"And we have our winners!" The teacher announced the end of the class competition. "Good job! These game controllers are for you. Now, you can keep playing Classmancers even from your tablet!"

With that, the final Classmancers lesson came to an end. As the members of the "best team" in class, Yuel, John and Jim received game controllers as a prize. Like most kids these days, Yuel owned a tablet. So, now that he also had a controller, he could play Classmancers anywhere and anytime.

Lunch breaks lasted an hour at his school, so some kids gathered to play Classmancers after eating. Despite the special lessons, only seven classmates expressed interest in playing Classmancers. Most kids found the game slow, confusing or unrewarding. They preferred playing soccer or braindead video games.

Out of the seven interested kids, only five had controllers. Classmancers was a 5v5 team sport, but it was impossible to host a real match with the numbers they had. Not to mention that, even among these kids, many considered the 5v5 mode slow and complicated. In the end, they only played 3v3.

Yuel found this arrangement disappointing, because he was interested in Classmancers as a team sport. Nonetheless, he wanted to make the most out of it and always played Classmancers with others during lunch breaks. After all, it was like a dream that came true. He could finally play a team sport in which he wasn't a weak player.

In fact, he was the ace. Every classmate came to the same conclusion after playing on Yuel's team: Yuel was the strongest Classmancers player in class. Each and every victory was earned thanks to Yuel's tactics and plays.

"John, buy Teleport and use it on the Ward I placed here." Yuel pinged the location on the mini-map.

"Huh? Since when I can teleport to Wards?"

"It's a Checkpoint Ward, so you can."

"Oh, cool." John complied without any further questions and purchased the utility skill Teleport. After channeling it for two seconds, he instantly teleported from the base to the other side of the map. He had no idea what he was supposed to do there at first, but it soon became apparent.

"Gotcha!" John shot down an injured enemy, who was in the middle of recalling back to base. Next, he effortlessly flanked two injured enemies who fled in his direction.

『ANNIHILATION』

He got a whooping Triple Kill. All enemy players were dead.

"Yo! Cool play, bro!" Jim praised his pal for the amazing achievement.

"Haha, yeah we got this now..." John smiled wryly. "Cool play", huh. Just whose play was it, really?

If not for Yuel, John wouldn't had teleported to that Checkpoint Ward. If not for Yuel, he wouldn't had found himself in that convenient position. If not for Yuel, he wouldn't had scored all these kills so easily.

Sure, John finished off the enemies with his own attacks, but said attacks were just a part of Yuel's plan. John merely danced to Yuel's tune. The Triple Kill was handed to him on a silver platter.

How did Yuel know anything and everything about the countless skills and items in this game? How was he so sure that the injured enemies would flee in John's direction? Why did he place an expensive Checkpoint Ward instead of a normal Ward? Was it all for this play? Just how many moves ahead could he see!?

"You're really scary sometimes..." John mumbled.

"Hm? You said something?"

"No, it's nothing." John shook his head and focused on destroying the enemy Golem. Shortly afterwards, this push led to victory. The Triple Kill arranged by Yuel was the checkmate of this match. Everything played out exactly as he planned.

Even though none of them voiced it, everybody felt like pawns whenever they played with Yuel. He gave them instructions which didn't make sense at first, yet somehow always led to victory. Thus, even if they didn't understand, they complied because they wanted to win.

As the one who played with Yuel the most, John was the first to become fed up with this routine.

"Yeah! We got this!" Both of Yuel's teammates rejoiced after the team assignments were decided by random rolls. John found himself on the opposing team for a change, forced to play against an unbeatable enemy.

"On second thought, I'll pass." John stood up. "I feel like playing soccer today."

"But you're the one who called us here" Yuel said.

"Meh, not feeling it anymore. Besides, we all know how it gonna end."

"What do you mean?"

"You're really asking?" John rolled his eyes. "As if any of us can win against you."

"What kind of logic is that?" Yuel frowned. "I know some of you consider me the best player, but I'm just one person. Classmancers isn't chess, it's a team vs. team game."

"Heh, 'isn't chess'? Right back at you." John sneered.

"What does that mean?"

"Forget it." John shrugged and left. The way he acted was far from admirable, but the other kids shared his sentiments.

Ever since John expressed his dissatisfaction, others started following his example. When they weren't teamed with Yuel, they quit. It became harder and harder to host a 3v3 match during lunch break. Eventually, they stopped playing altogether.

Yuel had mixed feelings about this development. Local multiplayer, with real humans right beside him, was a fun way to play Classmancers. Players rejoiced whenever they made a strong play and ranted whenever they got punished for a mistake. As the tactician who arranged such scenarios, Yuel enjoyed watching others' reactions. It recreated the feeling of a real team sport, in which he played important role for a change.

However, he wasn't quite satisfied with the 3v3 matches. He avoided saying that to their faces, but the rest of the kids he played with were lacking. They saw Classmancers as a way to pass lunch break, nothing more and nothing less. They didn't care for mastering the game or polishing their technical skill. They just wanted a quick and rewarding fix. Once the game stopped being rewarding, they lost interest.

[Seems like I'll have to play online.] Yuel concluded. He occasionally played the 5v5 mode via online multiplayer and even got his account to Lv.10, However, he hadn't invested much time into it until now, because it lacked the "team sport" feeling that local multiplayer provided.

There was barely any interaction between Yuel and his online teammates. Each player did their own thing without paying attention to the rest of the map. This led to many frustrating matches.

Sometimes, Yuel pinged an objective on the map and told his allies to secure it via in-game voice commands, only to find himself alone once he got there. Other times, he asked his teammates to group up and push a lane to victory, but they all thought it was the right time to farm jungle camps.

Reaching Lv.50 with his account would unlock Ranked, a mode in which players supposedly played Classmancers more competitively and actually cooperated with each other. He had no choice but to trust that information, as Ranked sounded like he only place where he'd be able play meaningful Classmancers matches. Thus, he grinded exp every chance he had, both at school and at home.

Sadly, he had to queue into matches alone. None of his classmates were interested in the 5v5 mode, especially now that they no longer played Classmancers during lunch breaks. Winning multiple matches in a row granted bonus exp, but it was impossible to do with an uncoordinated teams. As a result, Yuel's grind was slow, painfully slow.

The 5v5 map was much larger than the 3v3 map. It had three lanes: Top Lane, Middle lane and Bottom lane. They were usually abbreviated to simply Top, Mid and Bot. Minion waves spawned on all three lanes simultaneously and each lane had its own defensive structures: a Turret and a Golem. All the lanes connected the allied base to the enemy base, so it was possible to push any of the lanes all the way to victory.

Big jungles spread between the lanes: a Top Jungle below Top Lane and a Bot Jungle above Bot Lane. These jungles were much wider than the ones in the 3v3 map and had many camps with neutral monsters. They also had two "boss" monsters, which granted huge benefits to the whole team upon being defeated: Dragon and Overlord.

With five players on the team, it wasn't immediately clear where everybody should go. Who should go to which lane, how many teammates should be on each lane, when to clear jungle camps and so forth. As a result, many of Yuel's teams were as organized as a bunch of headless chicken. He did his best to teach them the general strategy he learned at school, but it was a miracle when somebody actually listened to him.

As he leveled up his account and got matched with more experienced players, he met more people familiar with Classmancers' "metagame", or "meta" for short. Like in any other team sport, there were recommended team formations used by pros. The existence of a meta greatly improved Yuel's online experience, as it dictated which roles the team needed and where each role should go. It was far from enough to make the teams "cooperative", but it was better than nothing.

For Top Lane, the player usually had to pick a bruiser or tank type of class, such as Warrior, Knight and Viking. Both types were hard to kill due to their high defense, but in exchange they were slow at clearing minion waves. Therefore, Top Lane was the slowest lane in the game and the Top Laner was usually stuck there alone until halfway through the match.

Yuel excelled in Top Lane due to its prolonged 1v1 nature. He had more than enough time to study his lane opponent and figure out their weaknesses. In addition, he had better game knowledge than the average newbie, so he farmed exp and gold more effectively than his opponents and built items which countered them. This often allowed Yuel to dominate the lane. If he also managed to get a few kills on his opponent and snowball from there with a bruiser class, he could single-handedly carry the team to victory against disorganized enemies.

Mid Lane was also a 1v1 lane, but it much more hectic. It was the shortest lane, which meant it was the easiest lane to push all the way to enemy base. As such, it was always highly contested. To effectively control Mid, the Mid Laner had to play a mage class with fast wave clear, such as Wizard, Pyromancer and Warlock.

Yuel was decent at this role. He wasn't the best at landing his spells during chaotic team fights, but he made up for it with his great map awareness. Mages were squishy and Mid Lane was surrounded by jungles from both sides, making it prone to flank attacks. To stay alive in Mid, it was mandatory to place Wards in strategic locations and predict incoming flanks. Unlike most newbies, Yuel was an expert with Wards and purchased them every time he returned to base. Sometimes he even bought too many and had nowhere to place them.

According to the meta, one team member had to be the Jungler. This was the only role without a lane of its own. As the name implied, the jungler's domain was the jungle and he primarily farmed exp and gold via clearing jungle camps. He also roamed across the map to flank enemies and set up ganks (gang kills). Classes for this role were usually bruisers or assassins with the ability to lock down enemies and quickly execute them, such as Rogue, Werewolf and Shadow Walker.

This was another role Yuel excelled with, for it required a combination of game knowledge, map awareness and exploiting enemies' weaknesses. He memorized the respawn times of all jungle camps and maximized his farm by taking optimal routes through the jungle, often outleveling the enemy Jungler. He wasn't mechanically skilled enough to flawlessly execute ganks on the spot, but he made up for it by carefully studying his opponents and striking them at right time.

The last two roles, Carry and Support, had to start off together in Bot Lane. Carry classes were long-ranged damage dealers with consistent high DPS (Damage Per Second), such as Archer, Trickshooter and Headhunter. Their main role was to quickly demolish enemy structures with their basic attacks. They started out weak, but transformed into powerhouses around mid game. For that reason, the Support player was assigned to "babysit" the Carry during the early game.

As a Carry, Yuel was... alright. It was the role which demanded the most mechanical skill, as it was critical for the Carry to land each of his basic attacks. Many Carries also had kits which required high skill, such as skillshots which demanded scoring a headshot, bullets which ricocheted off walls and many other absurd things. No matter how much he practiced, he couldn't pull of such stunts in the heat of battle. Therefore, whenever he was stuck playing a Carry, he always picked an easy one like Archer.

Overall, no matter which role he had to play, Yuel performed decently. He preferred certain roles over others, but he was fine with all of them. That is, except for Support. He hated that role.

Supports were all about protecting allies and hindering enemies. They were usually either fortliner tanks like Paladin, or backline mages with heals or CC (Crowd Control), such as Cleric and Cryomancer. After babysitting the Carry in early game, the Support roamed around the map to set up ganks with hard CC like stun. The Support usually lacked the means to deal damage, so he had to rely on his teammates to finish off a stunned enemy.

Support was a complicated role which required a combination of vast game knowledge and fast decision-making. The Support had to initiate team fights, save his allies from pursuers, ward around the map, build the right support items against the enemy team and much more. Yuel really... hated that role.

Yes, it was a terrible role! The absolute worst! Support classes were "weak", they could hardly do anything on their own. They didn't have any damage to speak of, so they couldn't kill enemies, clear minion waves or destroy Turrets. No matter how good the Support player was, he had no way to carry the team on his own.

Whenever he played Support, he felt like he returned to the soccer field. He was the "weak player" who had to rely on his teammates to carry the team. No matter how much he learned about the game or how much he polished his decision-making skills - it was pointless when nobody listened to him. He was a useless team member all over again.

When he told the Carry to retreat, the Carry thought it was smart to chase the enemy all the way to the Turret and get killed. When Yuel had his CC ultimate ability ready and told the Carry to attack so they could get an easy kill, the Carry instead returned to base for no reason.

The same miscommunication problems occured in team fights as well, with even severer consequences. Yuel initiated a team fight when his side had the advantage, only to lose the fight thanks to a scaredy-cat ally who ran away. As a result, four out of five team members were annihilated and the game was pretty much over.

As Yuel was matched against higher level players, communication became noticeably more frequent. However, it... wasn't the kind of communication he was looking for.

『OMG NOOB QQ』

『Stop ***ing feeding!』

『suka blyat pidaras』

『you're so bad. uninstall game』

The community was filled with toxicity. Players flamed whenever things went south, blaming each other for the team's downfall. Yuel also came under fire from time to time, as nobody was immune to having a bad game.

[Relax. Focus on the game. We can still win this.] Yuel took a deep breath whenever he was flamed. It was easy to give in to the temptation and argue back. In fact, he had committed that mistake a few times before. However, he soon realized that bickering only dragged the team down and destroyed its already low chances of winning.

『Please focus on the match instead of flaming』 He tried to wrap things up as politely as he could, regardless of who was flamed. It was the best he could do to stop the team from falling apart, but it rarely worked. Most of the time, the flamers just started attacking him as well if they weren't already.

The toxicity was twice as harsh against whoever played Support. The Carry died while chasing a kill under an enemy Turret? The Support's fault. An ally was ganked from an unwarded region of the map? Obviously the Support's fault.

No matter how well Yuel played Support, he was hit by criticism due to others' mistakes. It was even worse than when he played soccer, as there everybody ignored him and treated him as irrelevant. Nobody expected anything from him, so they weren't angry when he messed up.

But, when he played Support, people expected the world from him and blamed him for their own stupidity. Every little mistake his teammates made was somehow his fault. It was a thoroughly frustrating role to play.

[If only I had people to play with... ]Yuel sighed. The more he played online, the more he appreciated the times when he played with his classmates during lunch breaks. None of them was a particularly strong player, but at least they communicated like rational human beings and listened to Yuel's advice.

But, in the online world he was alone. None of his classmates wanted to play with him and he had to suffer through one toxic team after another. How could he change this depressing reality? He kept thinking and thinking, all the while grinding more exp for his account and hoping that Ranked mode would be filled with more reasonable players.