The Aftermath of Defeat

Tad.

Tad.

Tad.

Up and down. The sound of Lars's basketball jumping up and down was the only thing to fill the silence in the living room.

Lars was laying on the sofa and threw the ball toward the ceiling, then caught it and threw it again. As usual, he had perfect mastery over- wham! The ball crashed on his face!

The ball rolled downwards and fell off the sofa but Lars didn't bother getting it. He just kept staring at the ceiling as if nothing happened. The ball jumped a few more times on the floor and rolled toward Yuel.

"Here," Yuel picked the ball and tossed it over. Uh-oh. The ball went in a completely different direction roe some reason. 10/10 accuracy.

WHAM! The ball crashed into a shelf and rocked it. One book slipped off the edge and dove straight toward the floor. Next, a few of its neighbors followed suit and committed suicide as well.

"I-I aimed there," Yuel jumped from the chair and hurried to clean the mess.

"Haha..." Lars laughed weakly. "Nothing is going our way today, huh."

"You can say that again." Yuel stared at the pile of scattered books. The ball kicked them off the high ground and they fell to oblivious, just like Yuel and Lars.

They lost their chance. After an entire year of training and improving themselves, Yuel and Lars lost against Howard and Ellen. They should have had an advantage thanks to having Roi and Dan on the team, but they still lost. It was a decisive defeat.

If only Yuel could go back in time and fix the numerous mistakes he made today. His shot-calling was beyond atrocious. It was full of risks and gambles all over the place even when those were completely unnecessary.

Especially, in the last portion of the third game, Yuel messed up multiple times in a row. First, he allowed Lars to chase Ellen because he couldn't imagine what sort of bait Ellen had in store. Unfortunately, that's how Ellen "trained" him to think throughout the match.

She seeded the expectation that each of her escapes had to lead into a gank from another player because she wasn't strong enough to handle Lars herself. Yet, at the very end, she subverted that pattern by fighting back on her own. Yuel and Lars's awareness of Ellen's repeating trap pattern was a trap in its own right, as expected from that fox.

That's strike one. Next, Julia saved the game by killing Ellen but Yuel didn't order her to retreat right away. Instead, he told Julia to get the red buff first because that'd help the team's next push. That was greedy and led to a gank from Taison.

That's strike two. Lastly, Yuel failed to order Julia to retreat against Taison. He did order a retreat at the beginning but, apparently, Julia wasn't able to switch from Attack Mode to Defense Mode in that situation. So, her defense was flimsy and she claimed it was better for her to stand her ground and fight back.

Yuel didn't have enough match experience with Julia's Attack Mode, so he chose to trust her judgment. Even now, it was harder to tell whether that decision was a mistake. But, even if it was, Yuel simply didn't have the necessary data to work with so it wasn't his fault.

His real mess up was not telling Julia to retreat after she gained the upper hand against Taison. At that moment in time, it should have been possible to disengage peacefully. The overall state of the game was a 1v2 at the time, so Yuel should have known that things could easily go south at any moment if they don't proceed carefully.

Yet, he chose to be greedy and prioritized getting a kill on Taison. The gamble almost paid but not thanks to Yuel. It's Julia who was amazing. She got Taison down to 2% HP and even fired the decisive shot. For all intents and purposes, she won that 1v1.

But, then Howard happened. Yet again, the impenetrable defense exhibited its strength. Even though Howard's shot-calling seemed sluggish during the late-game, his defense was still airtight when he was the one doing the defending.

In the final decisive moment, right before Julia sealed the deal, Howard turned the entire situation on its head. Yuel should have been wary of this development, but he chose to gamble on Julia's strength. And... he lost.

That's three strikes; shot-caller out. But, that wasn't the end of it. After going over the game time and again in his head, these were far from the only mistakes Yuel committed.

There was also that unfortunate 2v2 between Yuel and Lars vs. Taison and Gregory. Yuel was overconfident about beating that duo, so he insisted to keep fighting despite the rocky start. Nothing was stopping Yuel and Lars from disengaging to regroup elsewhere but no, Yuel refused to do so. He saw an opportunity to get kills that'll crack the enemy's impenetrable defense, so he leaped on the opportunity like a hungry beast.

It's not like Yuel's estimation was wrong. He and Lars eventually gained the upper hand in that fight and were about to kill Taison. However, then Howard happened. Again. The impenetrable Aegis was everywhere, shutting down every angle of attack.

Yuel insisted to partake in that drawn-out 2v2 and, as a result, he wound up dead while Lars barely escaped at the cost of his ult. Thinking of it, maybe that's where the third game's entire disaster started. After Yuel died in that fight, he was no longer around to keep Lars safe and that's how Ellen lured Lars into that accursed 1v1.

It almost felt like the enemy's goal with that 2v2 was to get at least one kill, no matter whether it was on Yuel or Lars. Of course, Lars was their top priority for obvious reasons, but the enemy seemed satisfied with taking Yuel down. Was that their plan? To get one kill by putting Taison and Gregory's lives on the line?

It didn't sound like something Howard would go for. But, if it were Ellen...

"Okay..." Yuel finished returning the books to the shelf. Good thing he didn't break anything valuable with his crappy pass.

"Here," Yuel dropped the ball on Lars.

"....." Lars caught the ball by instinct alone. His empty gaze was still directed toward the ceiling. "Say..."

"Yes?"

"What we gonna do now?"

"Is there anything we even CAN do?" Yuel dropped on the sofa chair.

"C'mon, dude. You're the one who got the brains here. Ain't ya got any cool Einstein shenanigans that'll let us get into the first-string?"

"What the heck Einstein got to do with any of this?" Yuel chuckled. "Actually, I heard if you can move faster than the speed of light then you can go back in time."

"Sign me up, yo. I'mma go practice my light speed running right away!" Lars tried to laugh but it came out as a cough instead.

This was frustrating. Lars hated everything about it. Howard and Ellen were some serious pain in the butt for standing in Lars and Yuel's paths.

Thinking of it, this must have been the first time Lars felt this way about his own teammates. Back when he played basketball, it was unthinkable for him to not be on the first string. Everybody regarded him as Michael Jordan Jr. and he always made it into the opening roster.

Therefore, this felt so wrong. What did it even mean to be on the bench? Why he couldn't compete in serious matches? During the first year, he was a scrub compared to the seniors so it was fine to stay on the bench.

But, this was already his second year. He improved a ton since he joined and gonna improve even more throughout the year, so he was totally ready to face the world, yo!

But, he couldn't. Because he lost. Because he and Yuel lost. That one match sealed their fate for the entire year.

At the back of his head, Lars understood that not everybody could always make it in. Even back in basketball, he had pals who attended the club for years but never made it into the main team. Especially, when it was their last year of grade school, some of these dudes were real mad.

There was Kevin, who bickered a lot with the basketball coach over the starter position and eventually stopped showing up to practice. On the other hand, there was Derek who poured many hours into training after school. Dude was real diligent and kept working toward a starter position the entire year.

[I remember Derek looked like he was about to cry when he got the bad news.] Lars jerked. It was so unfair. [I hope he properly got into the main team in middle school. Dude really deserved it.]

There were many other such instances. Even Taison has been throwing a tantrum quite often, but at least he made it into the first string on the last year so he had nothing to really complain about.

Each and every one of these players was really talented. Lars knew that first-hand because he played with them every day. But, there were only five spots on the main team while the club had like thirty students. Kevin and Derek simply didn't cut it and even Taison only got there on his last year. So, they were stuck on the bench throughout the majority of grade school.

At the time, Lars thought he sympathized with them. What did he tell them, again? Stuff like "Keep trying!" or "You gonna make it next time for sure!"

Lars thought he understood their frustration, but now he learned - he knew absolutely nothing about how they felt. Somebody like him, who passed all the selection tests with a breeze and spent the entirety of grade school playing on the main team, couldn't possibly understand how it felt to be left behind.

This was the first time somebody forced him to sit on the bench like this and for an entire year too. It felt like a truck ran over him. Suddenly, all the encouraging words he gave to Kevin and Derek sounded like total bullshit right now.

"Keep trying"? "You gonna make it for sure"? It was all bullshit. Yuel and Lars lost the selection match. They won't get a second chance from Howard. It was game over.

And, it was all Lars's fault. Why did he chase Ellen every time? He knew that witch always had something up her sleeve, yet every time a tasty opportunity presented itself - he couldn't help but charge in. He wanted to get these kill so hard like they were worth millions or something.

Every time, it led to a disaster. How many times did he run into somebody and got his ass whooped? It's like he smacked himself in the face, realized that it hurt and then proceeded to smack himself again anyway. What kind of idiot would do that? This idiot right here.

On top of that, why did he keep losing to Taison in the first place? When the heck did Taison become stronger in 1v1? They have been training together almost the entire year, so they should have gained the same amount of experience.

Yet, Taison was clearly stronger. Even when Lars was using Trickshooter, Taison almost kicked his butt. What an insane beast.

Lars should've trained harder. He should have been stronger. If he just were a little better in combat, he would have destroyed Taison every single time in 1v1s. That would have smashed all of Ellen's pesky traps.

But, Lars couldn't do it. He lost every single time. Damn it. He wasn't good enough, so he and Yuel got screwed.

"I ran into Howard after the match," Yuel smiled wryly. "Even though we lost, he said we were difficult opponents to deal with. He also said that, if you and I played for any other school, we would have been on the first-string for sure."

"How nice of him."

"I know, right?" Yuel chuckled. Such what-ifs were pointless. They were part of StormBlitz and they were denied from entering the first string.

Perhaps Howard intended to encourage by saying these words, but to Yuel they sounded like nothing more than sarcasm. What did it matter that Yuel could become a first-string player on some other unknown middle school team? He wanted to play and compete with the best. StormBlitz wasn't even as renown as the Leopards, yet Yuel didn't make the cut even here. He stood way too far from the top of the competition. Dammit.

"Wait," Lars jumped from the sofa. "Another school? You think we would have made it in another school?"

"Yeah, most likely. Aside from StormBlitz and the Leopards, I doubt any other team in the region has enough high-level players to form a full team. Based on the level of Bot Laners from last year, I believe we'd rank somewhere among top three duos in the region. So, yes, we're quite likely to make it into the first string in other schools."

Yuel's conviction wasn't based on arrogance, he had the data. Last year, he helped the first-string with gathering data on enemy teams. He also often participated in the first-string's strategy meetings. Thus, he had a good idea what other schools in the region had to offer.

The Leopards were the strongest and most prestige team in the region, no question about it. Their school had a huge Classmancers club which allowed many members and they even had a personal coach. In fact, it was the only middle school in the region with a coach and that coach was no pushover.

So, it's no surprise the Leopards have been taking the regionals every year. Their player lineup last year was crazy, especially their captain and Jungler, Fenrir. That monster seized control of the entire match by himself the moment the enemy showed the slightest sign of hesitation.

All these strong players were seniors last year, so they graduated. However, with such a big club, there was no doubt a new powerful lineup of players will come forth to replace them this year. Therefore, there was no doubt that the Leopards will have some of the strongest Support & Carry duos in the region this year as well.

Next, the second-best team in the region was actually StormBlitz. Being restricted to a maximum of only 15 club members sounded harsh at first, but turned out it was among the more luxurious deals out there. Most other Classmancer clubs in the region typically allowed up to 12 members.

There was also Stratus, a team whose club couldn't have more than nine members. Yes, just nine. It was absurd.

In short, StormBlitz and Leopards had the number advantage and will likely boast the strongest lineups this year as well, including the strongest Bot Laners. As frustrating as it was to admit, Yuel and Lars were still inferior to Howard and Ellen at the moment, if only by a little bit.

But, the good news was that Howard and Ellen will surely be among the top players in the region this year. So, being a little below them meant that Yuel and Lars would have also ranked among the best. Most likely, among the top three or top five Bot duos in the region.

Therefore, just like Howard said, Yuel and Lars assuredly would have made it into the first-string in any other school. Worst case, even if they somehow failed to claim their main roles, Yuel was also strong in Top and Lars was great in Mid. So, they would have gotten at least SOMETHING. There was no doubt they would've competed in the tournament along with the strongest players the region had to offer and would have made a name for themselves.

Alas, their defeat in today's selection match guaranteed that nobody will know Yuel and Lars next year. They'll spend the entire next year as nameless benchwarmers who won't get to participate in a single match.

Worst of all, Yuel had nobody but himself to blame. He was the one who insisted to attend Riverstock Junior High because he heard good things about StormBlitz. But, he failed to account for the fierce competition he and Lars would have to face in a strong club. So, maybe attending a school with a weaker team would have been better...

"Then," Lars jumped restlessly in place. "Why don't we try it? Let's play on a different team!"

"Huh?" Yuel blinked. "And how do you suggest we do that? We're students of Riverstock and only one team is allowed to represent the school."

"My dude, you ever heard of transferring schools? I reckon that's a thing, haha."

"Transfer..." Yuel mumbled. This idea was so sudden and so unconventional that it required time to process "You're suggesting to leave our current school to go play elsewhere?"

"Yep, why not? It's a bummer we'll have to leave our dudes behind, but I wanna play competitively together with ya. We gonna rock the pro scene together, yo!"

"You rather play on a weaker team just to be in the tournament?" Yuel asked. "It'd be like we're running away from the challenge, running away from facing Howard and Ellen."

"C'mon, don't say it like that," Lars smiled wryly. "I like competition, I really do. As much as I hate Ellen, I also really love her. She's a great rival! A super mega ultra annoying one, but a good one. She forces me to improve and everything."

"Howard is the same for me," Yuel admitted. Normally, he'd rather choke than say this out loud, but indeed Howard was a great rival for him.

Aegis was the ultimate form of defense. It canceled all of Yuel's offensive tactics. By clashing with Howard time and again, Yuel improved tremendously.

Deep down, Yuel wanted to keep challenging Howard. He wanted to keep chasing Howard's shadow, to catch up to it and to finally surpass by it. One day, Yuel will surely find a way to break through that impenetrable defense. As long as he keeps trying, he'll find a way.

"So, if we both feel the same way," Yuel said. "You should understand what I'm saying. Leaving the club just because we can't beat them right now is like running away from the fight."

"Nah, it's backwards," Lars said. "I wanna keep improving so I can beat Ellen and take the Carry spot on the team. But, that's no longer possible."

"Right, because we lost the selection match..."

"Yeah, exactly," Lars nodded. "Howard said it clearly: if they win, they gonna be on the first-string while we gonna rot on the bench. There's no competition anymore. No matter what we do, we can't get into the first-string this year. We're screwed."

"Well, we can try challenging them again later down the line," Yuel was fully aware he was talking nonsense. There was no way Howard would go back on his word.

The only way to change Howard's mind was to defeat him thoroughly on a rematch. However, unless Yuel and Lars come across a magical artifact that grants them a miraculous power-up, there was no way they'll be able to create the necessary skill gap. They might surpass Howard and Ellen during the upcoming year, but they won't be able to get a level where they can mop the floor with Howard and Ellen.

"That's what I'm saying, dude," Lars nodded repeatedly while Yuel was sharing his thoughts. "We're screwed at this point. No matter how hard we try to beat them, we ain't getting to play. If we gonna lose before even trying, what's the point? Dunno about you, but I know I won't be motivated to train hard like this."

"You make a good point," Yuel said. "Losing to rivals is supposed to motivate you to improve. But, when you know you can't get anywhere no matter how much you improve... yeah. That makes it hard to keep caring about the rivalry."

"Totally," Lars nodded. "Besides, this year is our last chance to beat them. They gonna graduate after that, so we gonna have to wait till high school if we wanna fight them again. So, we gotta beat them this year! I figured if we transfer schools, we can actually play them in the tournament and stuff. It gonna be the best stage for a rematch, yo!"

"You're right about that," Yuel lowered his head. "But, transferring schools because of this sounds a little extreme."

"Hm? What's the problem with it? Wait, don't tell me you're actually fine with sitting on the bench next year? You don't care if you don't get to play competitively?"

"Of course not," Yuel shook his head. "I also want to play competitively, but..."

It wasn't that simple. True, it was technically possible to transfer to another school and try to get into the first-string there. However, this was a huge and sudden move.

First, his mom will kill him if he tells her he wants to transfer. He already begged her last year to let him attend Riverstock even though she wanted him to attend another school. So, asking her to transfer again was a bit too much.

"Don't worry, yo," Lars thumped on his chest. "I'mma talk to yo mom and convince her!"

"Please don't." They both laughed at the image. Yuel's mom was a serious woman who didn't exactly appreciate goofs like Lars, so that would be the disaster of the century. Yuel would have to talk with her himself, no two ways about it. That'd be one hell of a challenge.

But, even Yuel convinces his mom, there was another issue: he was StormBlitz's vice-captain. He had responsibilities on his shoulder and he was expected to lead the team after Howard graduates. Abandoning the team like that was really irresponsible. Honestly, it was kind of a dick move.

"I get what you're saying," Lars nodded. "But, you know, ya don't own anything to anybody. You don't even have any freshmen under you yet. You literally became the vice-cap before summer break, and school year hasn't started yet, so it's like you haven't even gotten around to be being a vice-cap at all."

"Well, that's not exactly true, but..." It wasn't entirely wrong either. Yuel has been preparing for the upcoming year together with Howard and even improved the formula of StormBlitz's entrance exam. He has been working for a while now under the assumption he'll be the team's vice-captain next year and Howard had expectations for him.

However, it's also true that Yuel didn't have that many responsibilities as a vice-captain yet. There weren't any younger members for him to lead, so it's not like leaving the team would hurt anybody. Well, except for Howard who'll have to find a new vice-captain to dump the work on.

Honestly? Yuel didn't feel as bad as he should've about that part. Howard was mature enough to handle that kind of problem. Perhaps that didn't make the act of abandoning the vice-captain responsibilities look any better, but at least it won't be a disaster for the team.

Yuel started feeling a little better about the idea of transferring schools but it was still a huge risk. In StormBlitz, Yuel and Lars were pretty much guaranteed to become first-string members during their last year. However, in a new school, they'll have to go through the process of applying to the Classmancers club all over again and there was a chance they won't make it for some random reason. So, instead of losing just one year of competitive play, they might lose TWO years!

"Yeah, that'd suck," Lars nodded. "But, didn't ya say we're like da best duo in the region and stuff?"

"[Among] the best, yes."

"Then, we gonna get in for sure! Ain't nobody gonna stop us, yo!"

"I wish I knew where you draw your baseless conclusions from," Yuel sighed. "Do you even understand the risk? We may be stuck as benchwarmers for the [entirety] of middle school."

"Yeah, that'll suck alright. Welp, maybe we can just transfer back if things don't work out? The ultimate switcheroo!"

"That'll be hella awkward. I'm sure Howard would make us retake the entrance exam just to spite."

"Haha, no kidding," Lars chuckled. "But hey, we'll blast through it again without a problem!"

"That's true," Yuel nodded. There was no telling what everybody's reaction would be if Yuel and Lars transfer away and then transfer back, but at least it was a safety net that existed for them. Though, Yuel's mom would eat him alive if he pulls that kind of stun...

"Okay," Yuel concluded. "That's definitely an idea we can try. Howard said he'll hold a meeting tomorrow to announce the starters, so let's wait and see what he has to say first. I'm sure we're not going to make it in, but let's be sure about it before we make any rash decisions."

"Meh, to be honest, I don't think I even wanna go." Lars twisted his lips. "It gonna be sad to stand there and wait till our names are called. Because it never gonna happen."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But, I'm still the vice-captain for now, so I have to be present."

"You do what ya gotta do. I'm gonna talk to my folks about the transfer in the meantime."

"I see you're really pumped up for it."

"You bet I am!" Lars pumped a fist. "It's our last chance to play like pros and get revenge on Ellen in a serious match! Heck, maybe I even gonna get a chance to pay Taison back if he plays."

"That's unlikely, but you're right about the rest. If we join a team and keep winning, we'll eventually face Howard and Ellen again." Yuel clenched his fists. Despite his uncertainty, his heart raced. This transfer idea was sounding better and better by the moment! Yuel and Lars will transfer to another school, get into the first string and have their revenge match against Howard! And, this time, they'll win!

"Oh," Lars paused. "What about July, though? We better tell her about this. Maybe she'll want to join us."

"Did you hear anything from her after the match?"

"Nope, total radio silence. Guess she's depressed because we lost."

"Yeah, she took it pretty hard," Yuel nodded.

Julia vanished right after the match and hasn't contacted them since. Lars tried calling her but there was no response. It's like the girl went into hiding.

"Maybe she'll be at the meeting tomorrow," Yuel said. "Unlike us, she still got a chance to get into the first string."

"Yeah," Lars agreed. "July played like a beast in the last parts of the game."

"If I run into her, I'll talk to her about the school transfer idea."

"Then, maybe I should come too after all." Lars pondered.

"Actually, it might make things more awkward for her."

"How come?"

"Well..." How should Yuel explain it to this ignorant goof without spilling the beans? The person Julia wanted to see the least right now was definitely Lars. More than anything, Julia must have been devastated by the fact she failed to get Lars into the first-string. She might be thinking her defeat in the last part of the game was the reason the team lost, so it's like she was responsible for ruining Lars's chances of playing competitively.

"Let's just say," Yuel chose his words carefully. "If she sees both of us there, she may feel uncomfortable being there. She seems to blame herself for our defeat."

"But, it's not her fault at all. She played solid."

"I know," Yuel nodded. In fact, the team put on such a strong fight during the third game largely thanks to Julia's offense. Roi and Dan weren't performing well that game, so Julia's Attack Mode gave the team the edge they needed to pressure the enemy. If not for Julia's bold offense, there was no telling whether Yuel could figure a way to gain the upper hand and maintain an advantage for so long.

"Welp, guess I'll skip the meeting after all," Lars shrugged. "If July comes, make sure to tell her it wasn't her fault."

"Of course."

Tomorrow, Howard will announce first-string's lineup. Who'll make it in? Neither Yuel nor Lars, that's for sure...