Testing the Captain’s Mental Fortitude

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! Thunderous applause roared from the audience.

"Whoa, this is harsh, haha..." Ronald cracked a dry laugh as he glanced at the audience. "I mean, I know that most of these guys are probably not here to watch us win, but damn. I thought we were more popular than that, haha..."

"Hmph." William scoffed. "They're just celebrating the fact the underdog won, nothing more. It's not like they're happy about our defeat per se."

"Yet, they do scorn us indirectly," Sonya said. "Essentially, they're saying it was a miraculous win by Stratus and that we, as the supposed regional champions, messed up big time."

"Hmph. You're free to interpret it in any way you want," William said. "I wouldn't take it so seriously, personally."

He said that yet his fists were clenched underneath the table. Even though he understood that the applause was primarily aimed at Stratus and that it didn't intend to attack the Leopards, it didn't make him feel any less irritated by the situation.

[So, this is how applause sounds to the top dog when they lose, huh.]

Until today, William had never experienced such a situation. In most tennis tournaments he found himself as an underdog, so there wasn't much reason to clap for the winner when Willaim lost.

However, every once in a while, he successfully toppled the crowd favorite contrary to everybody's expectations. Sometimes this earned him loud applause, celebrating that his hard work bore fruit. Frankly, moments like that felt great for him as the underdog.

But, what about the crowd favorite who lost the match? How did he feel about that applause? William never bothered asking such questions because it wasn't his concern.

But this time, he found himself on the opposite side of this scenario. His team was the crowd favorite and yet they lost terribly to a barely functional meme team. And so, the crowd's loud applause no longer invoked any positive feelings.

On the contrary, it felt as if everybody was sneering at the "champions" who couldn't even defeat the "weakest team in the region". It was a truly aggravating experience, so much so that it felt reasonable to outright ban this kind of behavior during competitions.

[Well, I personally can handle this, but I'm not so sure about the others.] William glanced at his teammates in order. [They're not looking good. This might affect our morale for the upcoming games.]

The applause washed over everybody like a destructive tsunami. Nobody could possibly stay indifferent to it.

Ronald was forcing himself to maintain a smile but that smile was fragile. As much as he claimed that he enjoyed the thrill of this challenge, he definitely didn't imagine the team could possibly lose any games here today. That surely must have changed his entire perception from "fun" to "aggravating".

Unlike him, Sonya didn't even try to hide her displeasure. She knotted her brows and wore a stern expression. ["I can't believe we've actually lost to this game"] was written all over her face

Much of what transpired in this game must have gone against Sonya's understanding of proper game theory. This game denied many of the things that Sonya believed were absolute about Classmancers.

As for Matthew, it was difficult to tell what he was thinking about this turn of events. He rarely expressed any emotions beyond calling things a "drag", so if he had any strong feelings about this defeat, then he was bottling them very convincingly.

And then, finally, there was Cato. As the captain of the team, he must've felt the blow stronger than anybody. Especially, considering he promised the team an overwhelming victory in this second game.

And, he probably meant every word of it. Cato really planned to go against his usual twisted nature and wrap up this game properly without dragging things out.

It was a serious promise that lifted everybody's spirits after the previous game. It reassured them that Stratus only came close to winning the first game due to Cato's unnecessary stalling.

And, this second game was supposed to prove that. By winning convincingly without any stalling, the Leopards should have proven to everyone that Stratus was no match for them.

[It was reassuring at first, but now it's coming back to bite us.] William frowned. [I'd be lying if I said I'm completely unaffected by any of this. We came into this game with high morale and a lot of conviction, so that's why this result hurts as much as it does.]

To add insult to injury, their opponents were using an extremely off-meta lineup, almost a laughable meme. Yet, Stratus utilized these unconventional tools almost perfectly, kicking the Leopards off the high horse.

And boy, what a high horse it was. Falling to the ground from that height almost crushed their souls. Yes, it was that painful, even for William.

And, these were just the members' feelings. How did Cato, the captain, feel about all this? How was he going to deal with this depressing outcome?

[I have to say, I don't envy him even one bit right now.] William thought. [It's during situations like this that I'm reminded of why I passed on the opportunity to become the captain. I wouldn't have wanted to be in his shoes right now.]

Was Cato strong enough of a man to withstand this pressure? Or, will he crumble along with the rest of the team?

The fate of today's scrimmage might as well be resting on his shoulders right now. If he succumbs to despair like the rest of the team, then he'll drag down the morale along with him. The team will start underperforming left and right, leading to terrible results.

[Well, I suppose that subbing Jin in would save our arses if push comes to shove.] William thought. [But, I'm sure nobody wants things to reach that point.]

Adding Young-Jin to the roster was as good as admitting defeat. It was a last resort that should only be employed against the strongest of teams, in situations where victory wasn't assured. It's not something that's supposed to happen against a team like Stratus.

Alas, at this rate, the chances of Young-Jin subbing in were only increasing. In fact, the guy will surely voice his displeasure with the team's performance once they come off the stage. He had an almost religious obsession with "saving face", so he probably saw this defeat as an absolute disgrace.