Name Your Salary?

Friday came and Saturday passed. The group buried their attention to practice the game. They experimented with a lot of different skill set combos.

"If I use my assassin's skill to silence the opponent, and Clark would follow through my attack then use his mage's skill to stun the target, that combo would leave no escape! A sure kill!" Claire discussed.

"True. Silenced + Stunned. It's a one of a fatal combo as long as your actions are synchronized." Joey nodded several times.

"It's a good combo to kill an opponent if the map is the usual 5 members against 5 opponents. But for the elimination round, there are 35 enemies... we can't execute the combo," Sofia was also restless. She had been telling her members everything that she could picture out to happen during the elimination round.

"The last possibility that could happen in this 40 - Player - Map is that our squad will be facing against the 7 others. 1 vs 7. All of them will target us first. We have no gaming records or any reputation. We are newbies, so, it's natural that they would think that it is easy for our squad to get eliminated first."

Claire felt the hair on her neck stood straight! Clark's face turned sour! Stephen and Joey gasped an air!

If all the squads would target them first, the situation would be very difficult! 7 squads meant it would be 35 players vs 5 of them! How are they going to survive?

Even if they would burn incense in all temples around district 7 for them to gather huge luck, would it be enough? Can they win if they would really face 35 players?

The four members went silent. They don't need to ask how Sofia came up with the possibility. They were all gamers. It was easy for them to imagine pseudo-alliance. Even in other games that hosted cross-server guild wars, such alliances already exist!

All of them were waiting for Sofia to talk further. To give the group some directions. Since she opened the possibility, there should be a plan on how to escape defeat!

Of course, everything was already prepared by Sofia. This was the reason why she was sleepless. With the pen in her hand, she carefully pointed one bigger circle on her note and underline three smaller circles.

"One base, three towers... these are all the defense that the game would provide for us. Creeps for the offense. But creeps movements are not controlled by players. These small soldiers would just stay few distances away from the tower to attack an opponent within their range. To say, they act like the tower guardians. They won't move forward for there are too many bases. It could be also the limitation of the game for having so many squads clashing on one map. Now, if all the 7 squads would attack us, our priority is to protect the towers. If one tower would collapse, we will be invaded easily. It is already good as defeat."

The four of them nodded. They were listening intently while Sofia is pointing to her sketch with circles and labels.

"All of you must secure your character's HP, thus each one of you must need a shield. A defensive item. An armor or anything that could absorb damage. Just one item. The rest, I will take it all the defense. To counter their damage, we also need to regenerate. The best strategy is to abandon the fighter and we will switch to support. By abandoning the fighter, we have to avoid clashing against them. For the support, we need healer type that could boost our HP."

"I can be the support user, but how can we maximize our damage if there is no fighter? If we take a defensive item, our damage would also be lower than several points!" Joey asked.

Among them, Joey could play any role in the game. He had vast experience in gaming as he was also playing other similar real-time strategic games. He was aware that if one offensive item will be substituted with a defense one, the character may increase its resistance to incoming attacks but it also meant that the character's damage when casting counter-attacks would decrease!

Sofia also knew his worries. She gently waved her hand to quickly stop the boy from his concern.

"It's fine. I will maximize our damage."

Joey wanted to ask if how could Sofia use her tank to maximize damage? But he zipped his mouth and did not question her. He knew she had made a consideration for her plans. A consideration that he was confident would work for them!

Sofia continued explaining, "The best thing about this 40 - Player - Map is that... it does not have a respawn command. I have read it in the rules of the elimination round. Players can no longer come back after dying once. They can only wait for a complete victory or defeat of their squad. If the player is killed, the squad would become crippled. This is how we fight them. We will take advantage of the no respawn rule. Claire, you are the assassin user, make sure to kill as many players as you can!"

Kill as many as you can! An order of complete rampage!

"A bloodbath..." Clark absentmindedly whispered.

"Yes, a bloodbath. Hide and kill. Try to sneak into the enemy's territory and gather their gold by killing their creeps. That would be your strategy, Claire. An assassin's mastery is not just to eliminate but to annihilate." Sofia looked up. Her phone was vibrating but she did not mind picking the device.

It's just that she was in the middle of her explanation! She can't afford to be disturbed by whoever was calling or texting her.

"Now, for the marksman, deal maximum damage. If I signal a launch attack, do not hold back and use all the available skills you have. When there are no more skills to use, give me a signal of retreat." Sofia looked up and met Stephen's eyes. The latter nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"Clark, you are a mage. You don't need to fight in close combat. So, just stay on the base. You can summon three elements and use them. Wind, fire, and water. If you see many players are going towards us, just cast your fire and burn them. If the fire is not available, then, use the water to drown them. If the two are still in cooldown, knocked them using the wind. Your skill is very useful against many enemies. And if you die, we may lose our chance to win." Sofia declared.

"Okay, I will stay in the base. I don't want to die also," Clark scratched his head and smiled shyly. Mages were the weakest character and could easily die in a gank. And Clark's mastery was not as good as the other members yet.

"Joey, playing the support role will not be easy in a chaotic battle. You need to time the heal perfectly. One mistake could cost death." Sofia glanced at Joey.

"I know, I will pay attention and focus on all of our HP," Joey answered.

"Good! For our gameplay formation, I will take the top lane tower, marksman and support in the middle lane, our assassin in the bottom lane, lastly, the mage in the base. This is the full defense formation. We will not play aggressively. We will wait for them to initiate an attack on us." Sofia finished. She suddenly felt thirsty after talking too much.

Talking and giving commands, these things were not new to her. When she was the CEO Lisa, it was a part of her daily routine. Investor meetings and client conferences were part of her daily calendar.

Sofia absentmindedly licked her dry lips and brushed her short hair with her hand.

One pair of eyes sitting opposite her gulped and secretly stared at her face. No, a particular region on her face. Yet, Sofia was oblivious of this prying gaze.

"Okay, this should be exciting. Don't be nervous, guys, The purpose of this game is to enjoy. Of course, with the awaiting prize, it would be a more competitive and thrilling experience. Let's do our best!" Stephen grinned.

Everyone smiled. They had been spending time in Sofia's unit. The group even cooked food and had felt at home.

Sofia did not mind them also. Normally, there should be one place for them to stay. Pro players were like that. They owned one facility just for them. The training area, gaming room, veterans, and newbie lounges... But right now, it was too far for their team.

Despite Clark's riches, he also managed to mingle them like siblings. His personal driver had also stopped waiting for him in the car.

Sofia let the driver wait for Clark inside her unit. Now there were six of them hanging out together.

Clark's driver became their instant personal timekeeper. He would remind them of the time while watching the zeal and burning passion of the youth in the game. Something he could relate to during the days of his youth. Those were the times when one was not aware of how cruel the real world is.

On Sunday afternoon, while they were still having a discussion about their strategies, a stranger came to the reception of the building, looking for Sofia.

The reception lady quickly informed her that she had a visitor waiting.

Their group meeting finally paused as she went outside to meet the stranger. When Sofia arrived at the reception area, she looked confused. There was only a woman, about the same age as her, drinking tea.

The woman saw her and was smiling from ear to ear. Sofia waved her hand and joined on her table.

"You were looking for me?" Sofia asked directly.

"Yes, my squad leader sent me here to hire you. Join our squad? We are competing on the 14th ---" the lady spoke but Sofia raised her hand to stop her.

"I am also competing on the 1st Online Tournament in our district. We might meet in there." Sofia interrupted sparing the woman the effort to explain to her.

"Oh... hehe well, this is awkward! My squad leader sent me last week but I have colds and so, it's only today that I came to you. I am not also paying attention to the participants," the woman scratched her head and looked apologetic.

Sofia tilted her head and was in deep thought. In her mind, if the lady went to her a week early, the original Sofia would definitely agree to join her squad. Things would have been very different!

The woman suddenly looked determined, "My squad leader is very interested in you. He believes that your gaming skills deserved to be paid with appropriate money. This kind of skill should belong to the best squad. Is there a way for me to let you agree in joining us? You can name your salary."

Name your salary! This type of persuasion, the 24-year old soul within Sofia completely recognized its intention. The woman wanted to poach her!

The woman did not think of anything and directly offer money to Sofia. For her, no one could reject an offer when a big money is at stake!

Unfortunately, the woman failed to calculate the overall situation. Sofia was not into getting cash. Receiving cash from an employer would never satisfy a soul born for business. Her aim was to gain profits without being bound by somebody else.

"You have misunderstood," Lisa stated and clasped her fingers.

"Huh?" the woman asked in bewilderment.

"From your offer, I assume that you are thinking that I am joining a squad, am I correct?" Sofia's tone resembled a degree of professionalism that the woman felt tense after hearing the question.

"Isn't that what you had just told me? If you are not in the squad, then, why did you tell me that you will be participating in the tournament?" the woman argued. There was a slight tremor in her voice that even she could not explain why she felt nervous.

"I will be participating, but I did not join a squad. I created one." Sofia met her gaze and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

"Ohhh..." for a long time, the woman was speechless. She did not think about it. Now that Sofia corrected her assumption, she felt embarrassed.

"Who is your squad leader?" Sofia curiously asked.

"Brent Lee. He is the successor of his father's series of enterprises in the district. But he also likes to play the game, so he formed a squad. The Lee Gaming Squad," the woman answered.