Coming Out of the Shell

[What a monster.] Nia thought. That Pirate was something else. He thoroughly destroyed her without batting an eye. Could she even do anything against that guy? No way...

『Your Golem has been destroyed!』

[Great. Even lost my Golem. I'm through.]

This was just one of these times, wasn't it? From time to time, she ran into Platinum ranked opponents who clearly weren't Platinum. They were either Grandmaster smurfs or future Grandmasters who haven't earned enough points yet. These guys had tech that was outta this world.

Every time Nia run into one of those, they mopped the floor with her as if she was a scrub who picked the game just the other day. These were painful games. Nia even sometimes felt like dropping Classmancers for good after these.

Judging by the way this Pirate was playing, he was clearly a Grandmaster-in-training as well. No normal person could possibly dodge Izuna Drop so quickly while being surprised by a back-attack. It was simply impossible; it definitely went against the laws of physics and all that.

[What do I do?] Nia curled into a ball as she waited for her respawn. Her sneak attack plan backfired in the worst way possible. For the rest of this match, she couldn't rely on this setup anymore. The Imperial Spear into Izuna Drop was no longer a viable combo.

But, Nia's entire game plan for this match relied on pulling off that combo; she even bought that Imperial Spear specifically for it. The spear greatly boosted the physical damage of her next ability after landing a successful basic attack so it was supposed to power up the follow-up Izuna Drop from dangerous to deadly.

But, that Grandmaster level Pirate could dodge this setup. It should have been an unreactable transition from one move into another, yet that Pirate could interrupt it with a Dodge Roll.

Was there any chance that one dodge was a fluke? No way. It was impossible to dodge like that through sheer luck. This Pirate was definitely a monster with the inhuman reaction neccessary for thwarting Nia's setup. Scary.

Not to mention, once Nia's surprise attack failed, the Pirate counterattacked right away without wasting a moment. In a blink of an eye, Nia turned from the predator into the prey. It was terrifying.

[I heard them say this player is good, but this is...] Nia shuddered. What was she even supposed to do against this? She couldn't possibly beat such a Grandmaster level opponent.

This, right here, wasn't an entrance exam; it was bullying. They set Nia up against a terrifying opponent just so they could laugh at how badly she was about to lose. Maybe she shouldn't have applied to this club, after all...

[I should just go home. Nobody will notice anyway.] Nia brought her feet down to the floor and clenched her controller.

[Yeah, I'll just stand up and walk away. No point staying here just to be bullied like this.]

Despite these thoughts, Nia didn't budge. She remained frozen in place. Her Ninja has already revived but she just stared at it blankly.

Was she going to run away again? Despite everything, this was a rare opportunity. For the first time in forever, somebody actually noticed her and invited her to join a club. She won't get many other chances like this.

On top of that, it was a club for a game she liked. Admittedly, its MOBA mode was quite a pain because everybody always blamed her for everything. But, Duel was fun. Sneaking up to unsuspecting opponents and taking them down in one-shot was the best.

In addition, the club was small so she won't have to be around too many people. Also, this basement room was nice. It felt like she could easily hide here from the rest of the world whenever she needed to. Playing here felt almost as safe as locking herself away in her room.

[But, I gonna lose...] Nia jerked. [That monster is going to walk all over me. Everybody will think I'm the worst player ever. They'll laugh at me and kick me out. I...]

『SURRENDER』

Nia put down her controller. This was for the best. If she was going to embarrass herself like that in front of a crowd, she might as well quit before things got ugly.

"Huh?" Kai blinked. "A surrender?"

"Heh, looks like she is shook," Luke chuckled.

"It was just one death," Yuel said. "The match barely started so she had plenty of time to make a comeback. Can't say I'm a fan of this quit."

"Did I go too far?" Lars scratched the back of his head. "She almost got me back there so I went all serious on her."

"You did fine," Yuel said. "I didn't suggest you as her opponent just so you let her win. I wanted to see a proper game in which the examiner doesn't make an amateur mistake that gets them killed."

"Hey, hey, hey," Vincent exclaimed. "I made no such mistake. I'm telling you, it's all the Vanishing Phantom! She erased her presence from my mind and snuck up to me!"

"Yeah, sure." Yuel rolled his eyes. "Frankly, I also wanted to test how Nia handled stressful situations. As we all know, fighting Lars can be rather discouraging. So, I wanted to see how that goes.���

"That's cruel," Kai said. "It's like you threw her to the wolves on purpose. I knew I should've stopped this shit. What if she leaves because of this? Actually, where did she even go?"

"She's gone," Luke scanned the room with hand-binoculars. "Her tablet isn't there either."

"Oh! She must have vanished from this realm!" Vincent made noise. "As expected from the one and only Vanishing Phantom! She can completely erase her existence, both inside and outside the game!"

"What if she left?" Kai shot a glare at Yuel. "It'd be your fault."

"She didn't leave," Yuel replied calmly. "She's hiding behind me." He turned around and exposed the sneaky mouse.

"H-How?" Nia trembled. "You got eyes on your back too?"

"I saw you sneaking in this direction."

"Tch, failed. What a tough 'it'."

[When did this become a game of hide-and-seek?] Yuel narrowed his eyes.

"Phew, good thing you didn't leave," Kai hurried to Nia's side. "Sorry about that match. That guy is too strong so pitting you against him was a mistake." Kai gave Yuel the evil eye while explaining the situation.

"I see," Nia nodded and sheepily peeked at Yuel through her long bangs. "He's the bully."

"All I want is to hold a proper exam," Yuel sighed. It felt like anything he says will be used against him. It was easier to just take the hit here and let them see him as the villain of this story. After all, he was the "Chessmaster" so it was only fitting.

"I say we had enough," Kai put down her foot as the captain. "We saw Nia play well against Vincent earlier. It should be enough to convince anybody of her skill in Duel." She addressed everybody in the room but her eyes lingered on Yuel the most. After all, he was the "troublemaker" around here.

"Alright, fine," Yuel wasn't satisfied with the outcome but at least this match proved one thing: Vincent didn't mess up on purpose or by accident. Nia truly had a knack for lowering her opponent's guard and sneaking up to them undetected. If not for Lars's quick reaction, he might have also lost the duel.

For now, that was enough to prove that Nia wasn't a complete amateur. The items she built, the way she farmed, and her sneaky playstyle were all decent enough for a freshman. However, Duel alone wasn't a good indication of whether a player was fit to play Classmancers. After all, it was a team game.

"Then, let's move on to the main MOBA mode," Yuel said. "That'll be the true test. She proved she can play Duel but we need to make sure she can play MOBA too."

"Yeah," Kai agreed this time. "So, let's..." She paused and looked around. "Huh? Where did she go?"

"Behind you," Yuel pointed.

"Huh? No way. She was over there just a moment ago- Whoa!" Kai jumped after turning around. Nia was really standing behind her! When did that happen!?

"Ahem," Kai was quick to compose herself. "We want to test how you play in MOBA mode as well. Is that alright?"

["Is that alright?"] Yuel raised an eyebrow. [Aren't the examiners supposed to dictate what's going to be on the test?]

"MOBA..." Nia mumbled and glanced downwards. "I, um, kinda tired after the previous matches..."

"You only played two Duels," Yuel said. "And, you forfeited almost immediately in the second game."

"Um, yeah, but, err..."

"It gotta be test anxiety or some shit," Kai said. "Even a basic match can drain you when you know you're being tested."

"Y-Yeah! That." Nia nodded repeatedly and her spaghetti hair flailed like tentacle arms.

[This girl seems nice.] Nia nodded to herself as she stared at Kai's back. [If I stay behind her, I won't get bullied as much. Especially, by that main bully over there.] She stared at Yuel with narrow eyes. [That guy must be the ringleader of all the bullies. Scary.]

[She has only played two matches and she's already tired? Seriously?] Yuel wondered. Exam or not, two Duel matches should be nothing for somebody who played the mode regularly. [I sure hope she's not trying to avoid the MOBA exam.]

"Cut her some slack, dude," Lars said. "She played slick for a rookie. She even almost got a kill on me. Can ya believe that?"

"No, to be honest, I still find that hard to believe. You were careless back there. I'd never think you're almost a Challenger in Duel when you play sloppy like this."

"Ouch, haha," Lars laughed it off and turned to Nia. "GG there. But, why did ya quit? You still had a chance."

"I lost," Nia mumbled. "You're too strong. You must be a Grandmaster."

"Yep, I'm a Grandmaster! Just haven't grinded up there yet. But, in terms of skill? I'm totally up there."

"Of course you are," Kai rolled her eyes.

"Believe it, yo. Wanna 1v1 me?"

"I'm down. Let's get it down after the exam."

"You got it! First to ten let's go!" Lars turned to Nia again. "You totally should've kept fighting. You could've gotten me."

"I don't think so." Nia averted her eyes.

"Yo ninja skills are top-level, I'm tellin' ya. That sneak attack was the real shit. I somehow dodged it but I was legit worried how I gonna deal with it next time. Really wanted to keep playing against ya and see where it goes. You're hella good, yo!"

"T-Thanks," Nia felt her cheeks heating up. Even though that guy was a total duel monster who thoroughly destroyed her in that 1v1, he actually seemed like a nice person.

Maybe Nia really should have tried harder. Even though her sneak tactic failed the first time, she was actually kinda close. If she just went for the Izuna Drop right away from stealth, she could've taken about half the enemy's HP. So, she should've tried that attack at least one more time before quitting.

[I ran away. Like always.] Nia slumped. That's how it was every time for her. Every time she sensed trouble, she ran away and hid. That was so much safer and easier than confronting stuff.

But, where did all that running bring her? Nowhere. She became a phantom. One of the boys here called her such and he on point. Nia was the elusive phantom who always ran away when things turned rough.

So, was she going to ran away from this club too? Honestly, the upcoming MOBA exam sounded scary. Whenever she played online, everybody always blamed her for every little thing she did. Even something as simple as breathing was a sin somehow. It was awful.

Even after she muted the chat, she could still hear their voices in her head.

『jungler is brain dead』

『yeah jungler is a troll』

『Jungler uninstall game ktnx』

It has been a long time since she turned off the chat option entirely. And yet, these insults have been eating away at her to this day. Was she really that bad? Was she making her teammates' lives miserable? Was it better if she didn't exist?

Nevertheless, she kept playing because Classmancers was otherwise a fun game. Though, already back then, she has been gradually shifting toward Duel mode. Fighting 1v1 was just way more relaxing. There was no chance of disappointing any teammates and she was the only one who could blame herself.

But, grinding levels through Duel took long because the mode gave less player exp. So, Nia kept playing MOBA as well. She globally muted her teammates for all games and kept grinding to Lv. 50.

At Lv.50, Ranked mode got unlocked. That was supposed to be proof that Nia finally became decent at the game. Surely, her teammates in Ranked would recognize her skill.

So, Nia unmuted the chat for the Ranked qualifier. After all, when properly utilized, the chat and the pings were useful tools that helped teamwork. So, for important qualifier matches, Nia hoped the team would use the chat to great effect.

Alas, it was a mistake. The complaints and slurring were more severe than ever.

『omg jungler kys』

『jungler go play pacman』

『tnx for putting us in bronze』

Nia quit the qualifier after just two games. It was horrible.

Why did everybody have to be like that? It wasn't even like Nia did poorly in these two games. As long she got to play Jungler, her KDA was generally positive. She finished most games without dying much and with a bunch of kills on her record. So, she generally did just fine as a Jungler.

The same couldn't be said for playing other roles so maybe the complaints were warranted there. But, as a Jungler? Nia was actually doing great. Or, at least she thought she was. Her teammates seemed to disagree.

After suffering two toxic qualifier matches like that - she quit. She didn't touch Classmancers for two weeks after that. At the time, she thought she was done with this toxic game.

However, after trying out some other PvP video games, she found herself playing Classmancers again. Why? She couldn't tell for sure. Most likely, because it felt like a waste to drop the game after pouring so many hours into it.

In every new game she picked up, she had to learn the characters, abilities, and meta from scratch. It was such a chore. Every time she performed poorly and her team lost, she couldn't shake the feeling she would've easily turned things around if only this was Classmancers.

Not to mention, other online games weren't any better in terms of toxicity. Everybody was usually quiet during the first couple of levels of the game. But, once her account leveled up a little, complaints started pouring like a waterfall. Sometimes the toxicity was directed at her, sometimes at other teammates; it was such a disgusting environment.

Worst of all, Nia felt like she was becoming one of these toxic players too. These environments were drawing the worst out of her.

Therefore, she dropped team-based games altogether and focused on 1v1 modes. That's how she came to main Duel in Classmancers. It wasn't quite as diverse and interesting as the MOBA mode but it was fun in its own way. Besides, sneaking up to opponents and striking them before they realized what happened was just the same in Duel as it was in MOBA. That was the most fun part of Classmancers.

Best of all, there was nobody there to rant about her performance or insult her. She alone composed the entire team and was the only one who could criticize herself. So, instead of playing the Ranked MOBA mode she unlocked at Lv.50, she instead focused on the Ranked Duel mode that was unlocked at the same time

It was rough climbing the ranks with just assassin classes but she made it all the way to Platinum. She actually achieved something; it was fun. Nobody could deny her achievement or say she was terrible at the game.

In fact, nobody could say anything because there was literally nobody else there. Nia played all by herself. In every match, there was only her and her opponent. Some opponents sent her hatemail but that's about it.

『go play assassins creed you cheap sneaky bastard』

��must be fun playing like a rat』

『i swear imma find you irl and stab yo ***』

[Some of these people are insane. Scary.] Nia always made sure to report any player who talked like this. It always creeped her out even though she knew these people will never find her in real life. After all, sometimes people didn't notice her even while standing right in front of her. She was that sneaky. Nin nin.

Still, she occasionally picked out of the window to make sure nobody was coming. It was scary.

However, as for the insults themselves, they were just lame. These were the words of salty scrubs who got whooped hard. They should just go cry in a corner.

"You asking if it's fun being sneaky like this?" Nia smirked. "Of course it is. QQ noob."

It was awesome. Every time she snuck up to an unsuspecting opponent and cut them down - it was the best thing in the world! She could do that all day. Well, at least until she got tired and needed a nap.

Still, despite how fun Duel was, occasionally she couldn���t help but think back on the team-based MOBA mode. Toxicity aside, there were a bunch of fun moments she experienced there which Duel couldn't offer. For example, highlights like ganking an opponent with a pincer together allies. Or, friendly interactions like rescuing an ally by ganking their lane.

Moments like these were rare but they made Nia feel like she mattered, like she changed somebody's day for the better and that they were grateful to her. It was like somebody actually noticed and acknowledged her presence.

None of that was possible in Duel. The only emotion she could spark in this mode was the hatred of her defeated opponent. That was also a form of acknowledgment but it wasn't the positive type. It was more like Nia fighting against the world all by herself. Sigh.

How great it'd be if she could play the MOBA mode in a more positive environment. If only she wasn't always surrounded by a bunch of randoms who always claimed they knew better than her and thought it was alright to threaten people over the internet. Seriously, the FBI should monitor the game and put people like that in jail.

Once in a while, Nia gave the MOBA mode another shot. However, she only played in Casual and always kept the chat muted. Her teammates probably always blamed her for everything but she didn't see the complaints so she didn't care.

Okay, maybe she cared a little. Even without seeing the messages, she felt like they were insulting and blaming her. Sometimes, not knowing what they were saying about her felt even worse. She couldn't help but imagine the worst.

Still, Nia didn't dare to unmute the chat. She kept it off and avoided all interaction with her teammates. She only used pings to announce where she was rotating and when she was about to gank a lane. That was more than enough.

Or, was it? Wouldn't it be better if she properly communicated with her teammates and they planned things together? After all, it was a team game. They should all be playing the game together.

But, instead, Nia was playing by herself. Without any communication, her teammates were as real as bots. If only she could unmute the chat and talk to them, plan with them, and celebrate victory with them. Maybe she could even make some friends this way.

Alas, it was impossible. Everybody acted like a toxic scum online so she avoided them like the plague.

But, perhaps in this club, she'll be able to get that dream realized. There was that girl with the black cap and the smiling blonde guy. They seemed nice. At the very least, they weren't bullies.

The others also seemed fine for the most part. There was that one bully who always criticized Nia for every little thing she did but the others kept him in check.

That's why, instead of running away like Nia has been doing her entire life...

"O-Okay," Nia spoke up. "I can do the MOBA test. I just need a few minutes to recharge."

And so, Nia took the first step. This was a rare opportunity that could only occur once in a millennium. She had to seize it. She'll pass the exam and join a real club for the first time in her life! Hopefully, the MOBA exam won't be scary...