Fatal Hesitation

For Julia, everything about today's match was a mess. She promised to do her absolute best today, yet she has been putting on a crappy performance so far. Likewise, she promised herself to go on the offensive and in the third game, yet she was stuck being on the defensive as usual.

[Gilbert plays a Pyro, for god's sake!] Julia ranted to herself. [I should be able to beat him with my range. Goddammit.]

As a Pyromancer, Gilbert had a more restricted attack range than Julia. Therefore, if Julia goes on the offensive, she should have been able to pressure Gilbert and draw him away. The only factor playing against her was that Pyromancer had a faster lane clearing speed than Aeromancer. Nevertheless, Julia should have been able to zone Gilbert out with her range and prevent him from coming close.

Alas, Julia didn't do any of that. In her head, she understood what should be done, yet her fingers refused to move. It was one thing to figure out the right line of play and another thing to commit to it. There were simply too many risks involved in that play.

To properly zone Gilbert out, Julia had to advance to the frontline and put herself in danger. There was no telling when that dumbass, Taison, will decide to show up in Mid to gank her, so she couldn't advance carelessly. Danger loomed nearby at all times.

Not to mention, she has already suffered a horrible death last game when she tried going on the offensive. In her head, Julia understood that she died back then due to her indecisiveness and not because she was trying to go on the offensive. Nevertheless, she couldn't forget the bad taste that left.

[So, that's how it is? I'm only good at talking big? Is that it?] Julia pursed her lips. In the end, she couldn't follow up on any of her promises, not even on the promise she made to herself. She was a complete failure. A deadweight for the team.

[I can't keep playing like this. I have to...] Julia trembled. She had to... what? How should she start changing things up?

She has already fixed the issue of spending too much gold on wards, for the most part. She still purchased a large number of wards that some would consider too high, but it was just a part of her careful playstyle; she wasn't acting like a paranoid.

Buying this many wards wasn't optimal, but having many wards around helped Julia feel at ease. She couldn't concentrate on the lane without being reassured that nobody was going to sneak up to her from the jungle. Therefore, this amount of wards was justified. Probably.

Anyway, what Julia had left to adjust now was the way she farmed on the lane. That's where things were getting ugly. In her head, she understood she had to go out of her way to pressure Gilbert's Pyromancer. Yuel told her this numerous times: "A Pyromancer you don't pressure in lane is like an S+ tier class."

Pyromancer was an extremely powerful mage and apparently, it was totally broken upon release. Even after ClassSoft bombarded it with nerfs, Pyromancer remained a strong pick and could easily get out of hand if not dealt with correctly.

So, if Julia continues being wishy-washy, she'll let Gilbert grow into a terrible threat for the entire team. At this rate, everybody will lose because of her! [God, just make me disappear and never hear about Mancers again...]

No matter how hard her brain implored her to take action, her body refused to budge. Julia kept playing it safe from the backline and didn't come out of her shell to seize the initiative. As a result, Gilbert strutted all over the lane like a king and Julia didn't do anything to kick him off the high horse.

From time to time, Gilbert even had the nerve to leave the lane and go farm some jungle camps. While Julia was busy clearing the remaining minions, Gilbert was working on out-leveling her via extra farm. That guy didn't even see Julia as a threat. Her countless wards captured his crimes in action, so she could easily head over there to assault him.

But, she didn't. The jungle was a dangerous place. If she gets ganked by Taison...

[There he goes again.] Julia sighed. Gilbert ventured into the jungle once again, most likely to farm. One of Julia's wards captured the criminal hanging around the Griffin camp, so that was probably his goal.

The Mid Laners were normally responsible for contesting Griffins, but Julia couldn't leave the lane while there were still minions here. This entire thing sucked. Couldn't just somebody go there and gank Gilbert for her? Why did Dan have to be on the opposite side of the map right now? Sigh.

Seriously, what was Julia supposed to do with this situation? She knew she had to turn more aggressive in some way, but all her ideas sounded risky and uncertain. On top of that, if she does somehow manage to draw out her aggressive side, she might lose something very important as a result. [Just kill me.] Julia sighed for the hundredth time today.

Julia wasn't the only one having a rough time today. While she was mulling over her options, another teammate was struggling with his motivation and performance.

[Shake it off!] Roi shook his head. [C'mon, brain! Do a restart already. In case you haven't noticed, I'm in a serious match right now. Stop thinking about dumb stuff.]

Alas, the conversation with Howard kept bugging him. In this match, Howard pretty much had his future on the line and that wasn't even exaggeration. Of course, it wasn't like Howard won't get into Grandview High for sure if he loses here today, but it'll definitely make things much harder for him.

Sometimes, missing just one opportunity decided everything. As a former baseballer, Roi understood the stakes better than anybody. A single miss could be the whole difference between winning and losing a match.

Because Roi related so much, this situation weighed heavily on him. He should be putting his everything into this match because that's what proper sportsmanship dictated, but was that the really the right thing to do?

If he defeats Gregory on lane and hat opens a path for the team's victory, then Howard's defeat will be on Roi's hands. Roi will have to live with the fact he might have killed off Howard's chances of pursuing his dream.

[Unlike me, Howard can still aim for the top.] Roi tapped with his leg. This stupid leg killed his chances of ever playing competitively, Or rather, it was Roi who killed his own chances by being stubborn. Either way, the fact was simple: Roi couldn't hope to play baseball seriously ever again. His dream of becoming a Major Leaguer was utterly crushed.

But, Howard still had his dream and it was very much within reach. His path was clear: he had to win this selection match, lead the first-string to nationals, join Utopia and get scouted for becoming a pro. It was a straightforward and clear road that started right here from this very match. A match in which, unfortunately, Roi had to be a villain who stood in the way of Howard's ambitions.

[Damn, why it gotta be like this? Ack!] Roi got launched into the air! Gregory must have been feeling himself if he thought he could advance to the frontline like this without any consequences. If Roi really wanted, he'd whoop Gregory's ass right here and now. While playing Knight, Roi's power level was over 9000!

But, Roi couldn't bring himself to do it. Destroying Gregory like that might give the team too much momentum and snowball into a victory. So, Roi chose to be a little lax and trust the enemy will be smart enough to know when to retreat. [C'mon GG, quit it while you're still alive. Don't stay here with such low HP. C'mon, man.]

But, GG gotta be GG and keep messing with Roi. Where was Howard at right now? He'd normally instruct his teammates to play safe and all that. Howard should put GG on a leash before Roi turns this brat into a steak that'll feed the team for days.

While dragging out this silly situation, Roi was gradually losing HP. Gregory was down to 30% HP and Roi dropped to 50%. At this rate, Roi will fall into dangerous territory and will have to consider retreating himself. Now THAT would be an unacceptable performance from Roi.

So far, Roi could still kinda justify his passiveness as being "cautious" or whatever. This was an important match and going on the offensive always harbored risks, so it wasn't too strange to play a little safer than usual.

But, outright losing the lane to Gregory? Now THAT would be disgraceful. Putting aside that Yuel would nag about it to no end, there was also Roi's pride to consider. He was the first string's Top Laner, so he couldn't lose the lane to some overconfident snotty brat. That just ain't happening.

[COME. ON. GG. Recall already.] Roi sighed. He has already struck Gregory a few times to put the guy at 20% but Gregory STILL remained on the lane. [What's your problem, man? Take a hint already and get outta here before I whoop your ass.]

This situation sucked. Roi fell down to 40% HP while trying hit that damn GG without going overboard. Seriously, it was harder to NOT kill the guy than it was to poke him while keeping him alive. This was turning into such a pain...

All Roi wanted was to give Howard's team the fair chance they deserved. The two teams weren't balanced in the slightest, so by dumbing himself down to GG's, Roi actually made this game fairer. But, there was a limit to how long Roi could keep this nonsense going.

[Damn, man. At this point, I got no choice, right?] Roi sighed. He has been dragging this for way too long. Gregory had plenty of chances to fall back and Howard had all the time in the world to order a retreat, yet nothing happened. [Welp, sorry but this is no longer my fault. You gonna get rekt, GG.]

First, Shield Bash. Roi charged forward and slammed his shield into Gregory. Normally, this the impact would cause a pushback but the big guy didn't budge. Of course he didn't, because Vanguard's passive, Immovable Object, negated any form of soft CC that moved the Vanguard around. As a result, the stun part of Shield Bash didn't kick in either because it was directly tied to the success of the pushback CC. The pushback had no effect, therefore no stun.

But, that's fine. Roi didn't expect any CC outta this anyway. His main goal was to get close and follow up with Blade Swing!

[Kek, gotcha.] Gregory activated Provoke.

"Come at me, bro!" The Vanguard shouted. This meme voice pack for Vanguard was worth every penny, kek.

[Tch, this sucks.] Roi frowned. Instead of slashing the Vanguard with Blade Swing, he was forced to use basic attacks due to that damn taunt effect. But, no matter. Gregory was already down to 15% HP, so this will be over soon- wha!? A ring of fire formed under Roi's feet!

[When the hell did Gil get here!?] Roi turned aside to confirm the identity of the aggressor: it was Gilbert! He rotated from Mid to Top at some point! [Where was the missing call!? Damn!]

It was a pincher! Gregory from the front and Gilbert from behind! This was hella bad news. Roi had to get outta here! [I can't die here, dang it!]

All Roi wanted was to make this match a bit fairer. By not utterly destroying Gregory, he was giving the enemy a chance to settle everything during the team-fighting phase. However, dying here wasn't part of the plan! Dammit, now it gonna look like he's really throwing the game! Shit!

[How these two are planning to wreck me?] Roi shifted his eyes between the Vanguard and the Pyromancer. [So, GG gonna CC me and Gil gonna hit me with his ult. Something like that? In that case...!] Roi rolled the heck outta there!

[Shit!] Gregory exclaimed. His Vanguard has already raised his foot and was gonna stomp on the ground with all his strength. The idea was to knock Roi up so he becomes an easy target for Gilbert, but Roi slipped outta range!

The most annoying thing was that Vanguard's Heavy Stomp couldn't be canceled. So, Gregory had to go through with the stomp he started even though it was pointless. What a waste of skill, MP and time.

[Okay, that's one.] Roi recovered from the roll and broke into a dash. With Gregory not longer posing any CC threats, Roi had a good chance to flee the scene. At least, that's what he hoped. Unfortunately, his Knight was moving at a snail's pace.

[Ah, shit. The slowdown.] Roi clicked his tongue. The Pillar of Fire, which Gilbert used to open this attack, applied multiple ticks of slowdown due to the Chains of Infinity in his build.

[Damn, I won't be able to get away on foot. Better bring out the horse... ah.] Roi paused. He didn't have enough MP, so he couldn't cast Noble Steed. Daaaaaaaamn! When did he burn so much MP? Or rather, why wasn't he more careful about maintaining enough MP for an emergency like happens!? [Damn! I'm an idiot!]

Damn, there was no time to mull over his mistake. How Roi gonna turn this around? Escaping seemed unlikely. Running away at a turtle's pace only gonna make him a perfect target for Gilbert's Blaze of Inferno. So, in that case...!

[They say offense is the best defense!] Roi dashed straight at Gilbert! The guy had 40% HP left and he was a squishy mage, so Roi might get this kill!

[Frontal attack!?] Gilbert jumped. That wasn't part of the plan! The simple elegant gank he envisioned turned into a complete mess.

[So, I'll have to kill him in a straight fight.] Gilbert shook his head to recollect his thoughts. The situation was a mess, but that didn't give him an excuse to just stand there and whine. He had to act. Now.

Gilbert started drawing a line for Blaze of Inferno around the approaching foe. Even though Roi was a moving target, the guy was moving like a snail thanks to Gilbert's slowdowns. Therefore, it was a no-brainer to hit Roi with every tick of Blaze of-

[You ain't casting that!] Roi burned what little MP he had on Honorable Duel, Knight's aggro ability.

"Let us fight honorably!" The Knight shouted. The taunt interrupted Gilbert's casting and forced Gilbert to use basic attacks. So, instead of a hellish firestorm, a single fireball flew Roi.

[Ez parry!] Roi swung his blade in the middle of running and sliced the fireball into two. He won't die here! He wasn't allowed to!

This entire situation was Roi's fault. From dragging the fight against Gregory and up to not keeping mana for Noble Steed 0 everything was on Roi. Therefore, he had to clean up his own mess by winning this fight!

Roi swung his blade at the enemy and it struck home. Gilbert's Pyromancer was still controlled by the taunt, so he had no control over his movements; dodging attacks was impossible.

However, the taunt was short-lived. Now, things will get interesting.

[How Gil gonna move?] Roi eyed his prey like a predator. [I bet he gonna start by creating some space.]

[First, I have to create some distance between us.] Gilbert rolled aside to get as far away as possible from Roi's reach. [Alright, now to- Wha!? He's already here!?]

[Lololol, I knew it!] Roi slashed through Gilbert again! [Too predictable, man!]

Retreating toward the jungle was the natural instinct when a player was caught in a sticky situation on the enemy's side of the lane. Therefore, Roi ran toward the jungle as soon as Gilbert started the roll and caught up in no time! [Worst case, if my guess had been wrong, I could have escaped through the jungle myself from that position. 200 IQ play!]

[There's no choice,] Gilbert frowned. [I have to take him head-on.] He unleashed Flame Wave right at Roi's face. With how wide the burst of fire was, there was no dodging the attack from this range.

[Welp, nothing I can do about this one.] Roi ate the fire damage in the face like a man. Instead of wasting time trying to dodge the Impossible, he slashed Gilbert again without wasting any time.

It was almost over. Gilbert only had about 25% HP left. Just three more slashes and Roi will redeem himself!

So, the first swing! Ez homerun! Alas, the attack didn't deal as much damage as Roi hoped. [Damn, GG is still here? Go home already, kid!]

Gregory, the absolute mad lad, approached the battlefield and booted his ultimate: "Hold the Line!" It spread a big aura around him which extended all the way to Gilbert. The aura negated some of the damage dealt to Gil by transferring a portion of the damage to Gregory.

[Damn, what a pain in the ass.] Roi clicked his tongue. Because of this shit, it gonna take like twice the time to kill Gilbert, This ain't good! Roi had to win this fight no matter what! [Maybe I should switch to killing GG first? No, then Gil will run all over me off from behind. What a damn situation. REEEEEEEEEEEEE!]

Everything was Roi's own damn fault. If he hadn't messed around with GG and took this seriously from the start, GG would have been dead by now. But, because Roi has been taking it slow like an indecisive scrub, he found himself in this gank.

Was there even a "missing" call from Mid about Gilbert's rotation? Damn, it felt like everything was out to get him right now. This situation royally sucked in every way possible!

Roi tried his best to score at least one kill in this desperate situation, but Gregory and Gilbert ganged on him from both sides. Roi simply didn't have enough damage to get a fast kill here. GG was tanky as heck, so bringing him down required some time. On the other hand, Gilbert was squishy but any damage Roi dealt him was almost halved by Gregory's ult.

Thus, it was impossible to quickly kill any of these guys. And, escaping wasn't an option either with all these slowdowns stacked on Roi...

『You have been killed!』

[Fuck.] That's all Roi had to say on the matter. From start to end, he has been fucking shit up. This wasn't how this game was supposed to go. All Roi wanted was to even out the odds of this game a little, not to get wrecked like a pleb and give the enemy an easy lead.

He wasn't supposed to be throwing the game! He wasn't doing it! He just...

Together with Yuel's earlier death, the team was losing 0-2 while the game was transitioning into the mid-game. Will they be able to recover from this? [Dammit, I gotta make up for this shit somehow...]