Team Carry

From the first time Lars touched a basketball he got hooked on the sport. Learning how to dribble, breaking through defenders and scoring goals were the most exciting times of his early childhood. He picked up the basics way faster than other kids and always established himself as the best player on any team.

"Haha, you like it?" His dad grinned while showing some cool dribbling moves. "I used to play basketball back at school, we even went to nationals! Think you got what it takes to beat me, young man?!"

"Heh, I won't lose to some old dude!" Lars grinned and charged at his dad. He had always stolen the ball without breaking a sweat against other kids, so he was clearly the best player in the world! He wouldn't lose against any- "Gah!?"

"Haha, too slow, kid!" His dad dodged without any trouble. He dribbled the ball from side to side to keep it out of Lars's reach. "What's wrong? That's all you got?"

"Just you wait!" Lars charged again, but his fingers didn't even touch the ball. He tried over and over, but the result was the same. How the heck was that possible!? That's not the basketball he knew! He was supposed to be awesome at this sport, but he was so lame right now.

"Need a break?" His dad asked.

"Hah, ugh, no..." Lars panted. He was about to collapse any moment now. yet he was smiling and his eyes were locked on the ball. Despite how many times he was beaten, he wanted to fight some more! His dad looked way too cool right now, so he had to become even cooler! "Just a little more! I almost got you!"

"Good, that's my boy!"

They kept playing until Lars could barely stand on his feet anymore. He wobbled all the way home, but he was grinning. Even if it was a fluke, he did it. Just once, he stole the ball from his dad! "Next time I'mma get the ball on the first try!"

"Haha, I'd like to see that, young man!"

Since then, Lars played basketball every day. He played with his classmates during school time and practiced with his dad in the afternoon. His dad also taught him various advanced techniques, which he absorbed like a sponge.

Before long, he became an unbeatable ace. No matter what team he played on, his teammates always relied on his strength. Their job was to pass him the ball and his responsibility was to score goals. Once the ball was in his possession, he blasted through enemy defenses like an typhoon.

"Great pass there, dude!" Lars gave a thumb up after scoring a goal.

"Cool shot!"

"Good work, as always."

His teammates smiled and it felt awesome. They fulfilled their part by getting the ball to him and he carried them to victory with his own two hands. Basketball was a blast when the whole team came together for a common goal like that!

The more Lars played with his dad, the more used he became to the physical abilities of adults. He always pushed himself beyond his limits to match his dad's swift moves. Even though he never truly matched his dad's sick skills, he came closer and closer with every passing month.

His agility, reaction speed and coordination evolved far beyond that of an average grade student. That became especially clear when he tried out other sports at school. In soccer, his tricky yet accurate shots always caught the enemy goalkeeper off guard. In volleyball, his powerful spikes broke through the enemy's wall of defense.

Everybody praised him as an insane beast in every sport, he was the ace in all of them. As such, it became his role to carry the team in whichever sport he played. It was a duty he was expected to fulfil at any cost.

But, Lars wasn't the only one growing up. As the years passed by, his classmates also showed great progress. Once they began grasping more advanced team strategies, they developed ways to pressure Lars.

"No way!" Lars was sure only two opponents marked him, but once he broke through them... a third blocker appeared! He wasn't fast enough to react to this unexpected development and lost the ball. From there, the enemy team delivered a fast attack and scored a goal.

"Gah, my bad." Lars smacked himself on the forehead. That was so lame! It all happened because he failed to break through the enemy defenders, the blame for these scored points fully laid with him. Gah!

"You should have passed to me instead of trying to break through all these guys."

"Yeah, I was open too. They all marking you, so it was suicide to charge in. Even you can't get through that many blockers."

"Nah, don't worry!" Lars waved his hand. "I was just a little careless. Next time I'll break through for sure!"

"Just remember that we're here."

"Got it!" Lars gave them a thumb up. That stolen ball was just a tiny careless mistake, he was sure he could even break through the whole enemy team if he had to. It was just a fluke! Yeah, a mistake that wouldn't happen again! This time, he was going to break through-

"Gah!?" He failed again. Just when he thought he was safe after passing three enemies, a wild fourth blocker appeared! The heck was going on!? Hard as he tried, he couldn't protect the ball against so many people. It was bonkers, yo!

[You can't stop me! ]Lars tried again. And again. And again. Each time he successfully broke through, he was blocked during the next two attempts. One step forward and two steps back. Gah!

The heck was he doing!? His buddies worked so hard to secure the ball for him, yet he gave it up so easily. That was beyond lame, yo!

He was the strongest player on court and his teammates trusted him to carry. Alas, he betrayed their trust by surrendering the ball they worked so hard to secure. And with each attempt to make up for his past mistakes, he ended up making things ever worse. Gaaaah! It was maddening!

"Lars! Over here!"

"I'm open too!"

His teammates waved for a pass. Yet again, the whole enemy team ganged up on him. Jeez, these guys were sure fun.

As much as he wanted to believe in his strength and that this time he'd make it through, he had to admit... it'd hard. Like, super duper freakin' hard. He'd most likely lose the ball again if he charged in. Gah.

[Should I... pass? ]He gritted his teeth. Passing was a super important aspect of the game, he understood that much. And it's not like he sucked at passing or anything, his passing technique was top-notch like the rest of his basketball skills. When there was no good opportunity to score a goal, he'd pass the ball to others like any other player.

But this situation was different, it was a great opportunity to score, Lars merely had to defeat the blockers in front of him. Just a little further and he'd score for sure! Passing to somebody else meant giving up on this golden opportunity.

What would happen after the pass? Would the next dude be able to keep the ball safe? Would he get the team closer to scoring? It's not like Lars didn't trust his teammates, it's just that he wasn't as confident about their ability as he was about his own. He had a 200% chance of scoring a goal from this position, but there was no telling what'd happen if he ran away from the challenge and opted for a pass.

No, there was no way in hell he'd pass here. He was the ace, the one carrying the team. He had to settle this with his own strength, or otherwise he was meaningless.

[If I can't break through, then I'll shoot from here! ]Lars raised the ball over his head and aimed at the basket. He was standing behind the 3-point line, attempting a 3-pointer shot.

The basket was far, too freakin' far. For most kids his age, that kind of shot would be impossible. He only ever saw high schoolers and adults pulling it off reliably.

Nevertheless, he had to do it. Right here, right now. He carefully took his aim and threw the ball.

The blockers were all fazed by this development, none of them reacted in time to the ballsy throw. The throw was untouched, so it'd land inside the basket for sure!

... but it didn't. The ball didn't even reach the basket, as if this throw wasn't a shot attempt at all. What a joke, Lars missed yet another great opportunity. Yet again he failed to score for the team and put their hard work to waste.

Luckily, one of his teammates caught this random ball and finished the job. Lars's team won by a mere 1 point thanks to that final goal. It was a close call, but the whole team celebrated the victory all the same... except for one player who just stood there petrified.

"Man, that pass was slick!" The scoring boy gave Lars a thumb up.

"Huh? Pass...?"

"Yeah, you totally fooled them into thinking you were going for a 3-pointer! But then it was like 'You got pranked, yo! It was a pass all along!' Haha!"

"Ah, haha... I told you I'll find a way to break through." Lars forced a smile and hid his trembling fists.

Pass? What freakin' pass!? There was no pass. He just failed, miserably so. He couldn't carry the team at all. Rather, he only dragged it down. He had never felt so useless in a match before.

But, nobody blamed him. They kept trusting their "ace" to the very end, even after he had failed them so many times. As such, he had neither the time nor the right to sulk. As the ace, he had to keep doing his best and live up to their expectations. Even though he fared poorly in this one match, next time he'd surely make up for it!

Alas, similar incidents kept happening and not only in basketball. Whether it was soccer or volleyball, the defenders focused on Lars and blocked his attempts to score. He couldn't single-handedly break through the enemy defenses anymore. His status as the all-powerful ace was crumbling apart.

"Gah, give me a break already, will ya?" Lars slowed down in front of the enemy defenders to keep the soccer ball out of their reach. Damn, it was bad. These scums had blocked him countless times today. Just thinking back on all the golden opportunities he had missed gave him a headache.

Breaking through them was as likely as winning the lottery. Shooting toward the goal was pointless too, the goalkeeper would easily block it from this distance. Everything was hopeless, he couldn't do shit here.

[There's no other way, is there? ]Lars clenched his fists and glanced to his left. There were two teammates he could pass to, both of them were left unmarked. Passing to them would be easy. So easy. Yeah, easy. He just needed to pass and they should be able to score, probably.

[We're going to blow this game if I don't do it now... ]He hit the ball and hung his head. There was no need to watch, really. With his coordination, he was 200% sure the pass would reach its destination.

Based on the cheers that followed, the pass led to a goal. It seemed like Taison got the job done, or maybe he passed to somebody else along the way. Whatever.

"Yeah, we tied it up!"

"We can still win this one!"

[Yay, we scored... ]While everybody rejoiced, Lars just stood there with his head hanging. His time had stopped. From the moment he passed the ball, he was completely disconnected from the game. He was unnecessary, there was nothing else for him to do once he let go of the ball.

It's not like he insisted to score each and every goal. Sure, that was his favorite part of every sport, but he was fine with helping his teammates to score. But not like this, not when he should had been able to get the job done himself. Making that pass was as good as admitting defeat.

Why did it have to be this way? When Lars faced the defenders, why couldn't his teammates help him somehow? Why couldn't they distract the defenders? Or stun them? Or blast them away? Or temporarily buff Lars so he could break through?

All these cool things were possible in video games, but not in any of the real life sports he played. When he played shooters with his dudes, everybody stayed active throughout the whole match. When Lars charged into a swarm of enemies, he knew his teammates could support him. They'd either provide cover or flank the enemies.

Granted, most of his dudes were uncoordinated derps and weren't around when he needed them the most. He often died from taking on multiple enemies alone and looked like a reckless idiot, but that's beside the point. At the very least, his teammates always had a way to help him and he had a way to help them. Everybody maintained an active role throughout the match.

Compared to that, all the sports he played had only one ball. The only player who mattered at any given time was the one holding the ball, as only he could score points. It was like only one player on the field carried a gun, so only he could shoot. If he couldn't shoot down the objective, he had to toss the gun to a teammate before it got stolen.

Basically, sports were like some sort Gun Tossing Online nonsense. Once you tossed your gun, you were left empty-handed. You had nothing. It was freakin' annoying.

Lars was forced to accept this reality for soccer and volleyball and started passing around more often. However, in basketball he refused to give in. It was the first sport he had gotten into and the one he had played the most. If only in basketball, he desired the strength to pull through any situation no matter what.

[I'll get as far as I can and then shoot. It's just you and me, basket! 1v1 me, bro! ]Lars raised the ball and threw it from the 3-point line. He missed. He threw again. He missed. He threw. He missed. Threw. Missed. Threw. Missed.

"Yes! Nailed... it..." He raised his fist in triumph, then his body buckled over. At some point it became night time. Just how long had he been at it anyway? He started right after school ended and had been throwing since then without rest.

Well, who cared. There was only one important fact: he did it! He actually scored five 3-pointers in a row! He started getting the hang of it!

The euphoria robbed him of all his strength. His stomach rumbled like a freakin' helicopter on steroids. Gah, maybe it was a good time to head home. He somehow got up and dragged himself all the way home.

That was just the beginning. After practicing 3-pointers from different positions, he simulated real game scenarios. He asked some dudes to act like blockers while he tried to score 3-pointers through them.

He maintained this intense training regime for over a week, without taking a single day off. By the end of it, he was a master of 3-pointers.

"Heh, try to stop that, dudes!" Lars grinned in front of the enemy blockers. He couldn't possibly break through them, but what of it? Before any of them could attempt a steal, he threw the ball toward the basket

It smoothly went in. Woohoo, three points! A piece of cake! These defenders were nothing!

"You kidding me..."

"Khaha, what a lucky shot..."

"Heh, lucky shot you say?" Lars smiled. "Okay, okay. Keep thinking of it as a lucky shot while I score three million points of ya!"

They soon realized it wasn't a joke. The 3-pointers kept coming without end. For the rest of the match, Lars trampled all over the enemy blockers with flawless 3-pointers. There was nothing they could do against that sick stuff!

The unstoppable ace was back! No matter how many defenders marked him, his 3-pointers pierced though. Nobody in class, or even in the whole freakin' school, was a match for him.

With Lars's strength, the school's basketball team made it all the way to the finals of the elementary school regionals. But, that was the end of the road.

"Are these dudes even the same age as us...?" Lars's smile twitched. Most of the enemy lineup was filled with absurdly tall black players. These dudes could easily pass for high schoolers, yo! This match was bonkers!

Despite their size, they were unbelievably agile as well. Breaking through even a single blocker was freakin' hard even for Lars. He had to rely on his 3-pointers more than ever.

Alas, even that didn't quite work against these titans. Combining their height and agility, they blocked over half of his throws. It was like trying to throw a 3-pointer over the freakin' Everest.

What the actual heck? All the matches he had at school looked like toddler league compared to this. These dudes were on a whole different level, yo!

Still, Lars was probably a little better than most of them. With just a little bit of help, he could break through their defenses and score his prized 3-pointers. Alas, such help was nowhere to be found. HIs buddies had their hands full with just getting the ball to him.

Once Lars got the ball, it was him alone against a gang of giants. If only somebody could shrink them a little, or slow them, or blast them away. But no such magic existed on the basketball court. He had to face all of them by himself. No matter how much he perfected his 3-pointers, it was impossible to do shit when he was cornered by this many giants.

In the end, his team was stomped 21-86. Could he had played that match better? If he passed the ball instead of going for desperate 3-pointers, would his team had scored more points? Nobody knew and so the questions kept eating away at him.

Ever since that defeat, Lars stopped his one-man show. No matter how much he itched to take on the enemy defenders, he passed the ball instead of facing multiple defenders.

However, at the same time he also started drifting away from basketball. It was no longer the same. He was no longer the undefeatable ace who could carry a team, he was just a nobody.

Instead, he got more and more into video games, mainly the action-packed ones like shooters. His good muscle memory, quick reaction speed and pinpoint aim all shined in these games. Same as in sports, he was a wild beast in shooters.

『TRIPLE KILL!』

"Whoa, you seriously took them all out!?"

"Holy moly, that was a 1v3 there!"

"Haha, these guys are nothing!" Lars grinned. "We got this game in the bag, yo!"

Video games somewhat filled the void left by basketball. He pwned enemies nonstop, without ever letting go of his gun. There was no "ball" to pass around between teammates. They all actively fought toward the same goal and everybody stayed relevant throughout the whole match. That's how he wanted all games to be.

Alas, none of these games lasted long for him. Once he mastered all the mechanical depth a shooter had to offer, there wasn't much for him to do there. He became so powerful he could stomp literally anybody, but that's all. There wasn't anything else there, it felt hollow.

"Gah! C'mon dudes, where are you at?" Lars facepalmed after getting killed. He faced multiple enemies believing his friends would cover him, but somehow each of these derps was on a completely different part of the map. Gathering ammo, chasing a low HP enemy and etc. They were painfully far from an organized team.

That didn't really surprise, since most of them got into these games via the solo mode. Playing solo geared them to think only about themselves. Everybody just wanted to do sick plays and score a shit ton of kills, that's where the fun was at.

Therefore, they had no idea how to really play as a team. Even though Lars understood all of that, he had no idea how to organize his teammates. He wasn't much of a strategic. Down to it, he was one of them dudes who just enjoyed shooting enemies.

These games were sure fun, but they weren't real "team games" for him. That's probably the only reason he kept playing seriously in the basketball club. It was the only place where he could get his "team game" fix.

[Can't some game just force us to play like a team?] He tried a couple recommendations, mainly MOBA games, but he a hard time getting into them. He had no idea how the heck to play these games.

Killing enemy players should had been the key to victory like in any other game, but chasing them down in a MOBA only got Lars killed by Turrets. Grinding exp in the jungle seemed important, but meanwhile his lane got overtaken. Regaining control over his lane was his job, but meanwhile the rest of his team was eliminated on the other side of the map.

No matter what he did, it was wrong and screwed his whole team. None of his buddies wanted to play such punishing games, so he had nobody to learn with. These MOBAs had the potential to be some sick team games, but they were literally unplayable for him.

That changed when his class went through special Classmancers lessons. Not only did they teach the overall strategy of the game, but they also covered the game's meta and objectives. Finally, Lars felt like he had some idea how to play MOBAs. Classmancers was a fun and interesting game, designed purely as a team game. That's exactly what he wanted!

The lessons exposed everybody to Classmancers, so Lars found some dudes to play with. Now that they all understood the basics, MOBAs didn't look as scary anymore. It'd be the blast of his life! He'd finally get to play a team sport which had the sick features of a video game! ... or so he thought.

None of his dudes actually understood the game's tactics. Well, he was no different himself. They picked up the basics from the lessons, but these basics mostly covered the first part of the match, known as the Laning Phase. Once the match got to mid game, it transitioned into its Team Fighting Phase and that's where everything started falling apart.

Same as in all previous games, they were hilariously uncoordinated. They were destroyed like a bunch of scrubs when they played online. After giving Classmancers a few shots, most dudes gave up on this harsh game.

Nevertheless, Lars believed they'd figure things out... eventually. Someday. Hopefully. Anyway, he kept playing Classmancers whenever he could. He spent all his lunch breaks playing with friends, mainly with Taison, Gregory and Julia.

Taison was actually a hella smooth player, probably because his bro was a competitive Classmancers player at high school. He hanged out a lot with Gregory, so Gregory also picked up some stuff from him. They were really good, but even they didn't play online much. Guess they had more fun stomping classmates than they had getting rekt online.

Julia was the only one willing to consistently play online with Lars, but she was... welp, anyway he played online alone most of the time. It was a rough experience, but things should get smoother in Ranked mode. Classmancers was the one game he didn't want to give up on.

But, everybody had a limit and he was no exception. The more he played online, the more it wore him out. He reached all the way to Lv.26,, but the people he played were still terrible. Instead of working together, they found it more fun to blame each other for random crap. Where was their sportsmanship? Where was their burning desire for winning the match!?

[Meh, maybe that's as far as these video games get. ]He had to admit that the much simpler ball games made it easier for the team to come together. Taking possession of the ball and scoring a goal were intuitive plays to understand. Only one player at a time could do any of that, so everybody knew where to focus on.

That was a whole world apart from a complex game like Classmancers, where each player had his own lane and everybody worked simultaneously across the map. There was never telling where the next center of attention would be, where the team should focus pushing or even where they should group up. It's like each of them possessed a piece of the ball and they had to combine these pieces to form the real ball that could score goals.

That was as far as he saw himself getting. He had mostly stopped playing online and only dueled with classmates from time to time. He was about to give up on the game altogether... until he met Yuel.

"Woohoo! We did it! You're awesome Support, dude!" Lars shook Yuel like crazy. They did it! They actually freakin' did it! It was bonkers how easily they won that team fight, yo!

Taison and Gregory were the strongest players in class, yet Yuel completely shut them down. And it wasn't like he showcased any pro techniques. He didn't execute any cool dodges or landed any sick shots.

Nah, it wasn't anything fancy like that. Dude just played them for fools with some genius plays. It was awesome!

"Haha, we sure owned them! Let's push Golem while we have the chance!"

"No. It's too early for that. Let's take the power buff instead."

"Sounds good! Let's go!" Lads followed the order like a good soldier. It was clear that Yuel knew the game way better than him. He was the type to charge at the first shiny opportunity that presented itself, so it was great Yuel could stop him from derping.

Yuel also methodically lowered the HP of enemy minions, so that Lars could easily secure last hits with a single Trickshot. On top of that, Yuel persistently body blocked shots to deny the Pirate's farm. And if all that wasn't enough, Yuel countered each and every enemy skill: Aegis against Kraken, Justice Strike against Arise and Divine Shield against Backfire Cannon.

In short, dude took care of all the pesky stuff that got in Lars's way before. Lars felt as if the perfect stage was prepared for him. The enemy no longer held any advantage over him in terms of numbers or synergy.

He only had to fight his best to secure kills, that was his job this match. There was no need to worry about secondary stuff anymore. He charged in and annihilated his enemies with his polished shooting skills!

『DOUBLE KILL』

"Woohoo!" It was a freakin' blast! That's exactly what he had been missing all this time! With this sick support, he could break through any defense!

『VICTORY』

Classmancers was a sick game after all! He loved every part of it! He decided, he'd keep playing it until he became the best!

"Yo, dude! You and me!" Lars grinned and pointed at Yuel. "Let's conquer the world of Classmancers together! We'll form the strongest Carry and Support duo!"

"Quite the ambition for somebody who still uses Auto-Buy." Yuel shrugged and averted his eyes. He refused to admit it, but he was overwhelmed by Lars's enthusiasm. He also wanted to play more with Lars, that guy was the god of mechanical skill. With such a powerful Carry by his side, Yuel was sure he would play his best Support ever.

"There's still a lot you need to learn, but fine Let's do it, heh." Yuel ended up showing a smile. That day, a terrifying Classmancers duo was born.