The Star's Shadow

The entry exam for the Classmancers club was about to begin. Everybody gathered in front of the building as instructed. They had to run one lap around the campus, which covered about 1 kilometer according to Howard.

"Welp, I'mma go full gas to win that first place." Lars declared.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can do it." Julia smiled. "No way anybody here is as fast as you."

"Hah, I beg to differ." Taison approached Lars and stood shoulder to shoulder with him, full intent on winning the race.

"Pft, are you serious?" Julia sneered. "What a second-grade basketball player got on Lars?"

"Keh, second grade?" Taison's face contorted. "Tch, we'll see about that."

"Welp, good luck, dude." Lars said.

"You too, bro. You'll need it."

Once the race began, Lars and Taison darted like bullets ahead of the pack. A few runners tried to keep up with them, but soon fell short. By the time Lars and Taison finished half of the track, there was nobody nearby. It was clear the winner would be one of them.

"You're really keeping up, yo!" Lars grinned. "Sure you don't need a break?"

"Right back at ya." Taison grinned as well. "Aren't ya pushing yourself?"

"Nah, it's easy peasy! I can keep going like this for twenty more laps!" Though Lars claimed so, he actually pushed himself to his limit. He sprinted at full speed, as if this was a 100 meters race. But, this track was 10 times longer than that.

"Oh? What's that?" Taison sneered as he looked behind him. "Someone's running out of fuel?"

"H-Heh, no idea what you're on about!" Lars forced a smile, but his breathing became noticeably ragged. His body wasn't trained to sprint over such long distances, so his legs and lungs complained without end. The distance between Lars and Taison grew bigger and bigger with every passing second.

"So much for getting first place, khaha!" Taison got farther and farther away and his fast pace didn't drop at all. How? Why? When did Taison become such an amazing runner?

"Just... Just what kinda crazy training you've been doing?" Lars forced the question through his labored breaths.

"What was that? Can't hear ya, bro. You're too far, khaha." Taison looked over his shoulder with a cocky smile. The image of Lars panting and struggling to keep up was delightful. [Serves you right, bro!]

Same as Lars, Taison was on the basketball club in grade school. He was a key player on the team and an accomplished athlete in general, but nobody took notice of him. He, and pretty much everybody else, were overshadowed by Lars.

The "basketball" his team played was a joke, it was basically Lars's one-man show. No matter how much Taison practiced, his role on the team never changed. All team members existed for the sole purpose of passing the ball to Lars.

That's why he rebelled. He gathered bros who shared his frustration and practiced defense with them. Even though the cool part of basketball was scoring points, Taison sucked it up and trained as a blocker.

The results started showing themselves after a month of training. Taison and his bros finally shut Lars down. They surrounded and cornered Lars, making it impossible for him to charge through all the defenders. Finally, they kicked him off the high horse... or so they thought.

A week later, Lars overcame that hurdle. Taison and his crew locked him down as usual, but he didn't care. They didn't let him get any closer to the basket, so he shot from where he could. In just a week, Lars mastered throwing 3-pointers.

How was it possible? Taison and his crew trained for a whole month to be able to block Lars, yet Lars overcame them in a single week. That bro had an Olympic level talent, yo! Nobody could rival Lars at basketball anymore, there was no point even trying.

So, instead of wasting his time on basketball, Taison played Classmancers. His older brother played on the Classmancers team at Ivy High, so Taison learned a lot about the game. There weren't many classmates who played Classmancers, and even less who played it well, so it was easy for Taison to stand out.

"So you're good at some video game. So what?" Julia lifted her chin. "Is that what you wanted me to watch? It's boring."

"It's not just any video game, yo!" Taison insisted. "It's a game that's officially recognized as a sport in schools and stuff!"

"Sure, sure."

Sadly, there weren't many who appreciated Taison's skill and he failed to impress the ones he wanted to impress the most. Any scrub who stood out even a bit in basketball or soccer was insta-cool, while Taison didn't get attention no matter how strong he became at Classmancers.

One day, special Classmancers lessons were announced for their class. Awesome, yo! Finally all these scrubs would get into the game and realize how amazing Taison really was! He could already imagine the future where he was the topdog!

But, in the end, not that many got hooked on Classmancers. Freakin' casuals. Still, there were a few bros who played with Taison. For some reason, one of them was Lars.

"Khaha! You suck, bro!" Taison laughed after crushing Lars's team. It felt soooo damn good, yo! Taison released all his pent up frustration by beating the shit outta Lars at Classmancers. He finally stood above Lars! He was the king! Khaha!

But, turned out Lars's hax talent wasn't restricted to basketball. Even though Taison was the king of the hill, Lars grew stronger and stronger with every defeat. What a freak, dang it. And that wasn't even the most irritating thing about Lars.

"Let me play too." Julia requested.

"Huh? You?" Taison blinked. "Didn't you say it's boring?"

"What, I can't change my mind? I played it a little when we had these lessons and it's alright."

"Khaha, so you realized how amazing Classmancers is? Sure, join in!" Taison's heart raced. At long last, it was happening! He was going to show off his skill for real!

"Alright then." Julia sat down... opposite of Taison. She sat beside Lars. Beside Lars. Beside... Eh? Huh? What?

"Khaha... there's an available seat right here, ya know?"

"I learned to play Support, so I'll team with Lars."

"Huh?" Taison blacked out for a moment. With Lars? Why? Why the freakin' hell!? Taison was the strongest Classmancers player in class! Everybody wanted to be on his team! Why Lars!? Why was he more popular again!? Why!?!?!?!?

"B-But Lars is weak, ya know?" Taison's lips trembled. "You better play on my team, yo."

"You already have Greg for Support." Julia shrugged.

"It's okay! You can take his place! Right, Greg?" Taison smiled toward Gregory.

"... sure." Gregory nodded.

"You see? No problem! So come over here and I'll carry you to victory!"

"Don't wanna." Julia crossed her arms. "I'll play with Lars and help him beat you, it'll be more fun this way."

Until the very end, Julia didn't budge. Keh, what a stubborn chick!

It was Lars. Even though Taison was the stronger player, it was Lars. Even though Julia finally expressed some interest in Classmancers, it was Lars.

"Help me destroy them, bro." Taison requested.

"Huh? Bro?" Gregory snorted. "Weren't you ready to throw me away like yesterday's trash a moment ago?"

"Ah, about that..."

"Kek, just kidding." Gregory slapped Taison's shoulder. "I think you're wasting your time with that girl, but I'll help as much as I can"

"Thanks, bro! You're the best!"

"Just don't fall for me."

"I love ya bro, no homo!"

As Taison requested, that 2v2 match was entirely one-sided. Julia knew the basics of the game, she had no idea how to play Support and left everything to Lars. It was so damn easy to crush them.

Yet, no matter how thoroughly Taison destroyed Lars, Julia refused to switch sides. It didn't even look like she was interested in winning, she just wanted to play with Lars. With Lars. With Lars! Dammit!

Okay. It was okay, Taison was still at the best Classmancers player in class. With time, he'd convince Julia that he was the amazing one. At least when it came for Classmancers, Taison would forever stand above a loser like Lars... or so he thought.

"Frankly, that Cryomancer played terribly." Everything went downhill when that guy, Yuel, showed up. He kicked Julia out of the picture and replaced her as Lars's Support. And his Support was some scary stuff, yo! There was no better way to describe that shit!

Taison felt like he was naked when he played against Yuel. All his flaws and weaknesses were exposed. It was some serious shit, dang it!

Until that point, Taison and Gregory had been stomping Lars with their superior game knowledge and decision-making skills. Lars had the mechanical skills of a beast, but he was one hell of an idiot. And that's coming from Taison, whose grades never pass the 50 points mark. Really, it was so laughably easy to beat Lars when Taison and Gregory coopearted against him.

But, Yuel single-handedly put an end to that with his Paladin. During the first team fight, he shut down both Taison and Gregory, leaving them to be ripped apart by Lars. It was one hell of a tilting experience, yo! That scrub really did it, dang it!

Even so, Taison and Gregory thought they figured out how to combat that pesky Paladin after their first defeat. But they were wrong as hell. Yuel knew exactly what they expected from him and changed his tactics for the second team fight.

Yuel started the second team fight by hitting Taison with Justice Strike outta nowhere. Taison couldn't do shit while silenced, neither escape with Backfire Cannon nor unleash the Kraken. Lars immediately followed up on that by activating the Trickshooter's ult: Trickshow. Even though it was Gregory's job to support Taison, he couldn't do anything against this sudden development. Taison was forced to fight against Lars's Trickshow all by himself.

Trickshow sounded like a pretty damn weak ult on paper. For three seconds, it reduced the cooldown durations of Trickshot and Trickslide to absolute zero, allowing the Trickshooter to spam them nonstop. It was cool and all, but it was just three seconds, yo. Taison never got to do any cool plays with that shit.

But Lars was different. In his hands, Trickshow was the most OP broken hax ult in existence. Taison couldn't land a single damn hit. Lars spammed Trickslide nonstop to blitz from side to side like a bullet, all the while firing Trickshots. And they were all hella accurate too.

A Trickshot straight in the face, a Trickshot in the shoulder from a bounce, a Trickshot straight in the back, a Trickshot in the face from a bounce. There was no damn end to them! Taison was locked in a cage of flying bullets and he couldn't do shit!

Taison was proud of his mechanical skill. Even his brother, a competitive high school player, told him he had da skills. But, even so, Lars mopped the floor with him like it was nobody's business! What the actual hell!? How was Lars so damn strong!?

Facing Lars's Trickshow all by himself for the first time, Taison had to admit the truth. It was frustrating, so damn frustrating, but it was true: Lars was getting stronger than him in Classmancers. Needless to say, Taison and Gregory lost the second team fight as well. Shortly afterwards, they lost the whole match.

Ever since that day, the power balance in class had gradually changed. Lars evolved with every passing day by playing with Yuel. Before long, he became a monster who stood a league above Taison.

Yet again, something was stolen from Taison. First basketball, then Julia and now Classmancers. And it was always Lars, always that same scum! Goddammit! Why was he getting in Taison's way all the time!?

That's why Taison swore to get revenge. He was gonna reclaim everything he had lost to Lars!

He worked out throughout the whole summer vacation. Every day, without fail. He sprinted one kilometer every morning and every evening, for the sole purpose of building his body for this one important race. Everything was for the sake of this entry exam at Riverstock Junior High, the same middle school his brother attended before.

By beating Lars in this race, Taison would reclaim everything! He'd secure his spot in the Classmancers club and show that he's more athletic than Lars! Even Julia would have to admit he's better than Lars in every way!

A dumbass like Lars was gonna fail the second round of the exam for sure. Therefore, he'd never debut in Classmancers' competitive scene during middle school. And, he wouldn't get in Taison's way for the next three years.

He'd be a nobody by the time he reached high school, a point at which competitive Classmancers was taken seriously enough to be noticed by pros. Lars was doomed for- HUH!?

"W-What!?" Taison nearly tripped, but managed to balance himself in the last second.

"Don't... Don't think you've won just yet!" Lars was there. He was right there, running beside Taison! How the hell!? He was lagging behind by two meters the last time Taison checked!

[The hell!? Wasn't he running at full speed until now!? No way! ]Taison was running at his top speed, yet Lars caught up to him! It was bonkers, yo!

Lars was pushing it, there was no question about it. He panted like crazy and every step he took ripped his muscles apart. Yet, he wore a smile.

What's oxygen? What's pain? Who needed these stupid things? Winning the race was all that mattered, yo!

Compared to him, Taison's face contorted. He had his hands full with just maintaining his current speed. It was the speed he gained after training for two damn months, for the sole purpose of beating Lars in this race. Yet, he was gradually falling behind.

"Agh! Shit!" Taison cursed. Pain shot through his body each time he stepped on his right foot. Did he twist his ankle? Now, of all times!? It probably had happened when he nearly tripped a few seconds ago. Shit!

No matter how much strength he pumped into his legs, the pain forced him to slow down. Meanwhile, Lars got farther and farther ahead.

The finish line was less than a hundred meters away. It was over. With this leg, Taison couldn't run anymore.

[Is that all I'm worth? ]Taison gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. So what if he trained hard every day? Did he really think he'd easily defeat a beast like Lars with just that? Bullshit.

He knew better than anybody how Lars overcame every hurdle. Even now, with his body on the brink of falling apart, Lars pushed forward in full throttle with a smile on his face. The ecstasy of the competition allowed him to surpass all his limits.

It was the difference in willpower. Lars put his everything on the line to win this race, while Taison expected to be carried to victory with just the results of his training. As soon as Taison injured his leg, he gave up and started crying like some chick. It was so damn pathetic.

[Keh! T-This shit doesn't hurt at all! ]Taison refused to let things end like this! He didn't train so hard just to be beaten here! Who gave a shit about some pain, yo!

If anything, that injury was great! Only like this he could defeat Lars in the truest sense. A victory received on a silver platter was no victory at all. This was a real clash between men, a clash between fighting spirits! He had to prove that his determination didn't lose to Lars's! He'd win this race and secure his spot in the Classmancers club!

In the last 50 meters of the track, Taison and Lars sprinted toward the goal shoulder to shoulder. Both of them panted and were about to break down, but both of them smiled. Nothing mattered but the goal in front of them, yo!

"Gah... haah... shit..."

"Heh... hah... yo..."

Both of them were floored and couldn't move a single muscle. The race was over. The winner was... Taison.

[Yeah! Eat shit, yo! ]Taison wanted to laugh, but his lungs hurt like hell. This was the moment he dreamed about! At long last, he defeated Lars! [How does it feel, bro? How does it feel, yo!? Taste the same despair I've been experiencing for years!]

But, there was no despair or frustration on Lars's face. Instead, he turned toward Taison with a smile and raised his fist. "Heh, good race, dude. Let's do it again sometime. I won't lose again!"

"... heh, we'll see about that, scrub." Taison snorted and locked his fist with Lars's. Yeah, what was he thinking? The word "despair" didn't exist in Lars's dictionary. No matter whether Lars won or lost, he always remained the same upbeat idiot. That's why he was so popular with everybody.

And that's why Taison too... yeah, it was frustrating to admit, but he also admired Lars. He looked up to Lars just as strongly as he hated him. In truth, despite how damn salty he always got from losing to Lars, he always wanted to challenge Lars over and over again.

When Taison was the strongest and nobody was there to rival him, it was the best feeling ever. But, it got boring fast. If Lars didn't appear to kick Taison's ass, Taison might had quit Classmancers by now. It was thanks to their rivalry that Taison remained so passionate about Classmancers all this time.

By winning the race, Taison successfully secured his spot on the Classmancers club. However, by pushing himself beyond his limit to defeat Lars, he felt like he earned something way more valuable that day.