Each Girl's Drive

Lars and Julia's exam was long and tiring, but it approached its conclusion. It was already the late game, all players were Lv.20 with full item builds, except for Trever. Golems crumbled all over the place and super minions dominated lanes, so it wasn't going to be long before the victor is decided. The first team to gain momentum now would undoubtedly emerge victorious.

However, both teams refused to yield. They bashed heads over and over, but none of the team fights had a decisive result. Julia killed two enemies, then died. Lars rampaged and dealt a shit-ton of damage to the whole enemy team, but then got shot down.

Julia and Lars were the game's DPS tycoons right now, so whoever of them survives a team fight was going to gain momentum for the team. However, they were methodically focused on and eliminated. They both played too recklessly, painting a target on their backs. They never faced such experienced opponents before, so they had no idea how to deal with being marked like this.

"Die! Die! Ahaha!" Julia, in particular, disregarded defense and recklessly charged at every enemy. She simply didn't care, she was gonna quit Classmancers anyway.

Due to Trever's poor performance, Julia was forced to play two roles: wave clearer and Carry. Thankfully, Pyromancer was a rare mage breed with the power to carry via fast basic attack, it was even a niche Carry pick for Bot Lane in the pro scene. With Julia's hybrid build, which combined magical power with attack speed, she demolished structures nearly as fast as a real Carry during the late game.

However, Julia didn't pay much heed to how important her role was for the team. Instead of prioritizing her survival so she could keep carrying the team, she recklessly charged in to score kills and secure objectives. Basically, she just wanted to murder some tards and blow shit up. She played without a single care in the world, which was the source of her strength as much as it was her Achilles heel.

"Everybody, keep our cute rookie alive at all cost." Ellen ordered. Putting this much responsibility on a rookie wasn't exactly fair, but there was no other choice if they wanted win this 4v5 match. With that trash tier Pirate being dysfunctional, only Julia could carry right now.

Ellen played Ranger, so in theory she could also double as a Carry. However, her early item slots were filled with lifesteal and regeneration, whereas the rest was geared toward a Jungler build. There wasn't nearly enough power in her build to even consider carrying, simple as that. If the game were to drag for like 20 more minutes, Ellen might earn enough gold to overhaul her build and become a Carry herself, but that's unlikely.

In the end, everything was riding on Julia. It's a lot of pressure, but it's also a great opportunity for her. If she were to prove herself in this clutch situation, she'd leave a much better impression on Aron. Sadly. as things stood, Julia's exam evaluation was worrisome. Even though she made some great plays, she also made many terrible mistakes, Aron wasn't nice enough to let these slide.

[We got a glimpse of her potential, but it hasn't bloomed yet.] Ellen wore a wry smile. [Aron hates reckless plays more than anything. That Trickshooter brat may get away with it thanks to his alien tier mechanical skill, but dear July doesn't have the same excuse. My, I can already see Aron tearing her apart during the evaluation, even putting on puppy-dog eyes won't help me persuade him.]

During the early game, Julia pressured her lane opponent via matchup advantage. She outfarmed the Beastmaster and protected herself from ganks with excessive warding. Then, during the mid game, she became a berserker and ripped enemies apart with her superior stats and unconventional Teleport tactics. It was called "Blitz Pyromancer" or something? Ellen was sure she heard of it before...

Anyway, there was a huge contrast between the playstyle Julia showed in the early game and the one she was using right now. It's like Julia had two polar opposites living inside her: a cold and calculated Julia versus a blazing and reckless Julia.

Both the calculated Julia and the reckless Julia delivered some great results in their own ways, but each of them alone was half-baked. The calculated Julia played too safely and failed to grasp opportunities, whereas the reckless Julia disregarded everything around her and overextended while chasing objectives. The ice and fire inside her were both impressive, but the ice was too cold and the fire was too hot.

Nevertheless, it didn't change the fact she had both ice and fire inside her. If she were to find the right balance and combine these two polar opposites into one, she would develop a strong and dynamic playstyle. How long was it going to that take mastering that, though? Would Aron welcome her into the club while her two playstyles were still so flawed and so far apart from each other?

[Poor girl. It's so annoying when you have the talent but nobody recognizes it unless you show results right away. ]Was Ellen still talking about Julia? She wasn't even sure anymore.

Anyway, all Ellen could do right now was cover up Julia's weak points and set her up for some impressive plays. Honestly, this match was pretty much lost, but Julia still had a way to turn this around. That is, if the rest of the team could hold the enemies down long enough.

"July, dear, go for the Overlord." Ellen said. "That's our only chance at this point."

"Alright, got it." Julia nodded and headed deep into the jungle. She never faced the Overlord all by herself like this, but she felt unstoppable today! [C'mon, emo scum! I'mma blow you to bits!]

With the Pyromancer's late game strength, accompanied by the Cleric's heals, taking out the Overlord was possible... probably, she had no idea actually. She just trusted Ellen on this and really wanted to give it a shot, because it sounded like fun.

Defeating the Overlord was going to grant a powerful buff to the whole team, allowing them to push all the way to victory. Dead teammates were rewarded with immediate revival instead of a buff, which was no less impactful. In short, defeating the Overlord had huge benefits all across the board.

However, the Overlord was a tough cookie. It was going to take some time to defeat him, especially with just one person's worth of damage. The Cleric couldn't hit for shit, so it was all up to Julia.

While she was busy fighting the Overlord, Ellen and the rest had to keep the enemy occupied.

『An ally has been killed!』

『An ally has been killed!』

『DOUBLE KILL』

Frustratingly, there was one untamed beast on the enemy team who refused to be stopped. Even fighting that beast in a 2v1, Roi and Trever were swiftly eliminated. Well, to be fair it was more like a 1v1, Trever was just a useless feeder at this point. Anyway, nobody could hold down the Trickshooter.

"Man, that guy means business. Sorry about that." Roi sighed. "He's down to about 40%, though."

After clearing the super minions at Top Lane, it was clear the Trickshooter was heading to the Overlord next. He had to be stopped. Like, right here and now. Otherwise, he'd deny them the Overlord buff and shut the only ray of hope they still had.

Stopping the Trickshooter was of utmost importance, but the team's last line of defense was... Ellen. Only Ellen.

[My, how troublesome. ]Ellen frowned. She killed that Trickshooter three times so far, but it was always through indirect tactics. Not even once did she fight him face to face from start to end, she knew she wouldn't win.

However, that applied only during the early/mid game. Players were judged by many different criteria: mechanical skill, decision-making, game knowledge, teamwork and so on. But, there's one criteria often forgotten: adaptability. What separated a strong competitive player from a weak one, was their ability to adapt to their opponents and to difficult situations.

Perhaps adaptability didn't get much attention because it was such a "basic" skill. All humans were naturally adaptive to one degree or another, that's what allowed humanity to progress so far. While beasts had superior strength, agility and stamina, humans possessed the ability to study their adversaries and adapt.

Mechanical skill, decision-making, game knowledge, teamwork... Ellen was decent in all these categories. However, adaptability was the one department where she truly shined.

She poked the Trickshooter countless times throughout this match. It wasn't just for pressure and shaving HP, she also studied her prey with every exchange. How he reacted to ganks, how hard he chased enemies, how well he fought at various distances - she needed to know anything and everything. The more information she had, the better she could adapt to that beast.

Truth to be told, that rookie was a typhoon of raw talent. However, everybody had weaknesses and he was no exception. After exchanging countless blows with him, Ellen picked up his tendencies and patterns. He was strong, even powerful, but not invincible.

"His ult is down?" Ellen asked.

"Yep, we baited that much outta him at least." Roi replied. "I believe his Cleanse is also down. He hasn't leveled it, so it has a long cooldown."

"Good. I'm off to finish him then."

"You sure? You don't have your ult either and you're injured pretty hard. That guy is nothing to sneeze at."

"I can handle it." Ellen declared. So, it was her 60% HP vs. his 40% HP, huh. Based on their previous exchanges, she was going to die for sure. However, by playing her very best and utilizing all the information she gathered - she had a shot at victory. That was her verdict as the one worthy of being called Athena, goddess of war.

Ellen couldn't keep running away from that monster, not after Julia bravely confronted her adversaries and showed such strong fighting spirit. Now, it was Ellen's turn to fight. It was time to teach that Trickshooter brat what it took to be a strong competitive player! If he thought Ellen was a fragile flower who couldn't hold her own, that insolent brat had another thing coming!

She intercepted the Trickshooter on his way to the Overlord's camp and a fight broke out immediately. This was it, the fight that could very well decide the fate of this whole match! No pressure! None at all!

Throughout the match, Ellen gradually raised her skill level to throw the Trickshooter off. Every time they exchanged blows she played little bit better than before, forcing him to adapt to her anew. However, this time, she no longer held anything back. She absolutely had to squeeze every last ounce of skill to overtake this beast. It was the grand finale, there wasn't going to be a next time!

Her shots had peak accuracy and her dodges were nimbler than ever, that was the full extent of her mechanical skill. She swiftly dodged to the right, fired back, sidestepped to the right, fired, dodged, fired and the cycle repeated itself, with some fakes and cancels thrown into the mix.

Ellen poured her everything into the fight and held her ground... nevertheless, she was overwhelmed by the Trickshooter. He dodged more shots than her and landed more hits than her. He was like a rampaging typhoon, there was no way to pin him down.

[Tch, is this kid for real? ]Ellen clicked her tongue. Even when she fought her absolute best, that brat was still a level above her. But, she already knew that. She didn't come here just to complain.

[There! Didn't see that coming, did you? ]Ellen smirked and activated Wolf Companion, setting the Trickshooter as the target. She caught him in the middle of a predictable roll, an aggressive roll he occasionally performed to pressure the opponent. He surely knew the risk of this play and was prepared to be hit by once or twice by Ellen's basic attacks, which didn't dish out the scary damage one would normally expect from an assassin Jungler.

But, he certainly didn't expect to be assaulted by a wolf, did he? Against this infuriating brat, Ellen only ever used Wolf Companion to summon a mount. It was always an escape tool, nothing more. After the two of them exchanged so many blows this game, the Trickshooter was bound to treat her Wolf Companion as a last resort she used for disengaging, despite its other functions.

For this last fight, Ellen took advantage of the false impression she seeded into his mind. It was a trap she had been setting up for a while and it finally paid off! Her wolf leapt on the easy prey and pinned the Trickshooter to the ground! The intellectual overtook the brute!

"Gah! No way!" Lars exclaimed. "Is she gonna finish me with her ult!? Crap!"

"No, her ult should be down." Dan pointed out. "She used it less than a minute ago against me."

"You serious?" Lars blinked. Then... what? Athena didn't have her ult to finish him off and she just spent her one and only escape tool. Sure, being pinned to the ground and receiving shots to the face hurt like hell, but he was gonna live through it.

Was it really happening? Was Athena finally gonna fight him to the death!? This was sick! "Yeah, that's more like it! Let's rock then!"

Once the annoying wolf disappeared, Lars jumped on his feet and resumed the duel. Athena was pretty damn strong, he had to hand it her. The way she fought now was completely different from how she fought in the early game, she no longer was a disappointment. A Platinum player... no, maybe even Diamond? Anyway, she was just strong!

But, even with just 15% HP, he was gonna smack her from 30% HP to -200% HP! He was the stronger one, yo!

[Geh, this is more clutch that I thought. ]His grin twitched. They both ran low on health, everything came down to one decisive shot. Whoever was going to land the next shot would be the winner. That was some intense stuff, yo!

But, he was gonna win. He already saw it in his mind: himself standing over Athena's collapsed body. After she played him for a fool time and again throughout the match, it was finally payback time!

Athena took three steps back, so a roll to the left was coming for sure. She was a skilled fighter, but she had one glaring flaw even Lars noticed: whenever she rolled, it was always to the left side. Throughout their many battles, not even once did she roll or sidestep to the right.

Therefore, this time too, she was going left or sure! 200%! Lars aimed his pistol to the left without thinking twice, there was no time to hesitate. He fired the final shot, bringing down the curtain on their duel. He was gonna win this!

Indeed, across their many battles, Ellen always dodged in one direction. Each and every time, without fail, she dodged to her right side, which was left for her opponent. She always rolled and sidestepped to the right, so obviously that even a brainless brat would notice it.

Truly, adapting to opponents was an important skill for competitive players. The way the Trickshooter fired to Ellen's right without hesitation proved how well he adapted to her movements. She had to admit, he had the makings of a strong competitive player. However...

[Thank you for being as strong as I hoped~ ]Ellen smiled while dodging. Being a master of adaptation didn't only mean she was good at adapting to her opponents, she also understood how her opponents adapted to her. Every player, no matter how strong, had quirks and weaknesses their opponent could learn to exploit, especially when those were very obvious. But, what happened when said quirks and weaknesses were artificially planted by the player?

From their very first fight, Ellen recognized Lars as a dangerous beast. Therefore, each time they clashed, she tamed him bit by bit. She repeatedly showed him how well she dodged to her right, forcing the beast to be conscious of that quirk. It was like teaching a circus trick, except it was actually a carefully laid out trap. Because now, during their very final confrontation, Ellen dodged... to her left!

"Gah!?" Lars jumped, it's like the ground collapsed from under him. It couldn't be! Why!? Why did she dodge to the other side!? Suddenly, everything he was confident about was flipped on its head! Every time he thought cornered Athena, she found a way to turn the tables on him! What the actual heck!?!?!?!

[I won't make it. I won't... I won't make it!. ]Lars's eyes darted from side to side, jumping back and forth between his Trickshooter and the enemy Ranger. To catch up with Athena, he had to make a sharp turn to the right and immediately fire a bullet. However, he was in the process of missing a shot, so his Trickshooter was locked in a recovery animation which couldn't be attack cancelled. And, once he can shoot again, it'd be too late! He'd be already dead, yo!

He was suffocated. The more he fought Athena, the further he drowned into a bottomless ocean. She applied insane pressure on him at all times, forcing him to carefully consider his moves instead of acting on instinct. It's like he danced to her tune the whole time.

Every time he thought he figured something out, it got subverted. Every time he thought he overwhelmed her, she activated some trap card. The harder he tried, the more he got wrapped around her little finger. Ah, how easy would it be to just give up and bow down before this goddess.

[No! Not yet! ]Lars gritted his teeth. He wouldn't yield! No matter how deep he was inside the suffocating waters, he was gonna swim toward the surface! No matter how many times his struggles were gonna end in vain, he wasn't gonna quit! Every time he failed, he had to believe that next time he'd succeed!

[I can't attack, but how about dodging!? ]Attack cancel was impossible, but roll cancel worked! Instead of turning toward the Ranger, he turned aside and rolled as far away as he could.

[S-So fast! ]A jolt ran through Ellen. That roll cancel happened right after the Trickshooter fired the missing bullet, it was inhuman reaction speed! Time and again, this rookie showcased absolute superiority in terms of mechanical skill.

However, as infuriating as it was, Ellen expected it to happen. It was so tempting to fire her finishing shot right away, to steal victory as soon as possible. But she didn't give in, she knew her opponent was a beast in human's clothing. She had to retain her patience until the very end if she wanted to outplay this Trickshooter.

After finishing her dodge roll, she took a moment to adjust her aim. Without rushing, without panicking and without being greedy. The Trickshooter executed an inhumanly fast emergency roll, but it was a hasty and sloppy one. As long as Ellen was focused, it's an easy shot to land.

『You have killed an enemy!』

『SHUT DOWN』

"Goodnight." Ellen sent a flying kiss toward her screen. Ah, she did it. She actually did it! Through patience and perseverance, she triumphed over a beast way stronger than her. And, this time, the beast she defeated was the real deal, not some trash tier loser who only knew how to show off.

No matter how many times she was called weak or incompetent, here and now she proved her ability. She didn't have the mechanical skill or reaction speed of the likes of Lars and Trever, but she had her own weapons. Using her own playstyle, she stomped on those who were "stronger" than her! It was so electrifying~!

"Damn..." Lars slumped on his chair, all his strength drained. In the end, he couldn't reach the surface. He kept drowning and drowning and drowning, until he died. But he had no regrets, because he fought his best until the bitter end.

Athena was an annoying opponent because she employed all sorts of alien tactics. Building Devourer's Mask on Ranger? The heck yo, it was bananas. Even after she killed Lars three times in a row, he still refused to accept her as a strong opponent. None of these kills resulted from a fair face-to-face duel, she always used some underhanded trick to take him out.

However, this last kill was different. Athena finally honored him with a real duel to the death and... he fudged it up. She was strong and... yeah, she was also cool as heck, yo! Was this the level of the opponents awaiting him in the competitive scene!? He couldn't wait to beat the heck outta them, yo!

[Well, I did all I can. ]Ellen sighed in relief and recalled back to base. The only enemy player currently alive was Aron, but he respawned only a couple of seconds ago. Even if he were to dash straight to the Overlord, he wouldn't get there in time before Julia finishes-

"Ah!?" Ellen gasped. She was wrong! Aron was already there! He closed the distance from his base to the middle of the map in seconds!

[He bought Teleport for this, huh. Smart bastard. ]Ellen twisted her lips. Even after players finished their item builds, it's not like they stopped earning gold. It was common to buy utility skills and potions with that extra gold, exactly what Aron did by purchasing Teleport.

[Just when did they place a Checkpoint Ward there? We even have two Sentry Wards around the Overlord. ]There's no doubt, that Checkpoint Ward was strategically placed ahead of time. It was somewhere close enough to the Overlord, yet far enough from the the Sentry Wards. It was definitely prepared to counter an attempt on the Overlord, in other words: to counter this exact situation! This had to be Aron's work, that smartass.

"Agh! Shit!" Julia cursed as the Lionfolk leapt on her outta nowhere across a wall. Where did that dumbass even come from!? Freakin' degenerate! [You want a piece of me!? Die!]

Julia unleashed Flame Wave on the Lionfolk, but her screen trembled and her Pyromancer wobbled. As a result, her spell missed its target. [Agh! How I hate that stupid roar! He just had to use it right when I'm casting! Die, retard!]

Julia's partner, the Cleric, tanked the Overlord this whole time. Therefore, he ran low on HP, low enough to proc the Lionfolk's passive: Superiority. It granted the Lionfolk's skills additional effects against prey with low HP, allowing the lion to feast on the weak.

While Julia was only lightly CC'd by the Lionfolk's Mighty Roar, the Cleric's fate was much more brutal. With the effect of Superiority, Might Roar terrorized the Cleric with a "fear" state, forcing him to uncontrollably ran away. He couldn't do anything against this sudden attack, the Lionfolk swiftly executed him without even giving him a chance to retaliate.

『An ally has been killed!』

Then, the Lionfolk turned his attention to Julia. God, it was the worst! She almost finished the Overlord, but now she had to deal with this lion idiot instead! And, the Overlord just had to switch his focus from the dead Cleric to Julia, how great! No no, it was great! Really! [Sure, why not! Everybody should just come here to bully me! No balls to fight me fair and square, is that it!? Die, loser!]

"Retreat from the Overlord." Ellen said.

"I know, dammit!" Julia gritted her teeth and did as ordered. She really didn't want to waste all the hard work she poured into lowering the Overlord's HP, but there was no other choice. There's no way to deal that stupid Lionfolk while being bombarded by the Overlord's beams.

"Agh! Shit! No no no!" Just as Julia was about to step out of the Overlord Camp, lions leapt on her face outta nowhere! She found herself surrounded by a pack lions from all side, with no way to escape.

That was the Lionfolk's ultimate: The King's Dominion, a prison with lions as walls. Getting close to the edges made the lions claw the prisoners. The only way to pass them was via jumping over them with a leap skill, which the Pyromancer didn't have.

It was possible to kill a few lions to create a hole in the cage, but they were sturdy beasts with high HP. Julia needed Flame Wave to deal with them, but it was still on cooldown after her unsuccessful attempt to hit the Lionfolk.

So, Julia had no choice but to fight the Lionfolk inside the Overlord's area, with the Overlord craving her death. Goddammit, could this situation get any worse!? That Lionfolk royally screwed her!

"Die! Die!" She roared as she shot fireballs at the Lionfolk. She set up Pillar of Fire underneath her feet, to boost her magical power and draw the Lionfolk away. If he wanted to get closer and hit her, he'd have step on the burning ground. Her one and only advantage in this fight was her range, so she had to utilize it as much-

"W-Wah! Shit!" Julia cursed as the Lionfolk leapt on her and knocked her away. Shit! Majestic Leap normally didn't have a knockup CC, but the Lionfolk's Superiority was now in effect against Julia too, after the Overlord shaved off nearly half her HP.

She was forced out of her Pillar of Fire and bumped into one of the lions, earning a claw in the back. Gah! Shit! Damn! Couldn't they just leave her alone and all die!?

[Damn, that scum is strong- wah! ]She didn't even have time to recollect herself! The Lionfolk instantly closed the gap between them and slashed her with his claws. It was bad. Like, real freakin' bad!!!

Each of the Lionfolk's attacks hit like a truck due to Superiority. As long as his HP percentage was much higher than Julia's, all his attacks dealt additional damage. On top of that, while inside this lion cage, the Lionfolk benefited from increased power, speed, defense and even CC immunity.

[Gaaaaah! Screw that bastard! ]Julia fired left and right, trying to land as many hits as possible on that bastard. God, he was so damn fast! Slash, slash, slash. He maneuvered around her while clawing her from every possible direction! [Gah! Just die already!]

Why couldn't she land half her hits!? How was she supposed to deal with this shit!? No idea! Did she ever practice close combat with Yuel before as Pyromancer? Slash, slash, slash. Ugh, she couldn't concentrate while that retard assaulted her from every side!

Unable to focus her thoughts, Julia kept attacked blindly, praying her fireballs would connect. Her HP was almost entirely deleted, but there were finally some good news: her Flame Wave came out of cooldown!

[About damn time! Alright, now that Flame Wave is up- agh! ]Her screen shook as she started casting Flame Wave. It was Mighty Roar again, empowered by Superiority! How was that shit already up again!?

[Damn, right! It has shorter cooldown when it hits low HP targets! It's all because he hit that stupid Cleric last time! Grrrr! ]Julia hissed. The Mighty Roar cancelled the casting of her Flame Wave and instilled the Pyromancer with fear, making her uncontrollably run away, Julia couldn't do shit anymore. God, Lionfolk was so bullshit...

[My, this is painful to watch. ]Ellen shook her head. Between being sniped by the Overlord and getting overwhelmed by Aron, Julia was clearly doomed. Her miserable attempts to retaliate resembled a child throwing a tantrum.

Julia exhibited some interesting fighting techniques earlier, but now it was clear they were specific plays she practiced before. She probably spent most of her time playing as the "careul Julia", so the "reckless Julia" had little to no practical combat experience. That made itself clear from the clumsy way she handled an aggressive melee opponent. Instead of creating distance between herself and Aron, she tried to match his pace and hit him with basic attacks from melee range. Foolish, to say the least.

[So that's your verdict, Ronron? How sad. ]Ellen sighed. Aron must had realized the "reckless Julia" didn't yet possess the necessary experience to back up her aggressive playstyle. His dismiss of Julia's playstyle could be felt in every slash he lashed at her. He was merciless with the pressure he applied, leaving Julia no openings at all.

[My, what a blunder. ]Ellen shook her head. [I should've realized we won't get away with an Overlord against a late game Aron. ]

During the early/mid game, Aron was just a methodical and consistent player. He played decently, without really standing out. However, once the late game hit, he suddenly transformed into a terminator. After collecting enemy data throughout the match, during the late game he finally finished compiling it and started using it against his foes.

The current situation stood testament to Aron's strong late game, he crafted everything about it. He placed a sneaky Checkpoint Ward ahead of time, teleported to it at the worst timing possible, swiftly executed their Support and caged Julia inside the Overlord's area. From beginning to end, Aron made one flawless play after another, leaving his enemies zero openings.

That's the kind of scary player Aron was in late game, it completely escaped Ellen's mind until now. As a fellow player excelling at adaptation, Ellen recognized him as a strong competitive player. Therefore, she could tell: Julia didn't stand a chance at this point.

"Gah! So close!" Julia gritted her teeth. She almost figured how to handle that rampaging cat man, but her HP ran out.

『You have been killed!』

"Shit! Couldn't you just die, dumbface!? I'll get you next time!" It was so damn infuriating! If she had just a little more time, she'd figure out how to deal with that bullshit! [Just you watch! Next time I won't lose!]

"Next time? My, didn't you say this is going to be your last match?"

"Huh? Yeah, what of it?"

"Heehee~" Ellen giggled. "For somebody who claims she hates the game, you sure seem to be enjoying yourself."

"Huh? What are you... talking... about..." Julia blinked. Huh? It was weird. Her right hand clenched the mouse, while her left hand restlessly danced on top of the keyboard. Not to mention, her head was filled to the brim with thoughts about getting revenge on that Lionfolk idiot. Right now, at this very moment, what she desired more than anything was to respawn and return to these thrilling fights...!

"In the last ten minutes or so, you haven't been playing to woo some guy. You played purely for yourself."

"For myself...?" Julia was speechless. True, she completely forgot about looking good in front of Lars and all that crap. Hell, she even murdered him! Holy moly, that was some extreme shit right there!

"If you insist you hate Classmancers, then you're lying to yourself, girl" Ellen smiled meaningfully. "You wouldn't have gotten this strong if you really hated the game. Maybe it didn't grab your heart right away, but at this point you're a total Classmancers geek."

"I... not really..." Julia trembled. She couldn't deny it, this match wasn't exactly boring. She died a lot, but she also killed a lot. The fights were packed with all sorts of thrills and they... they were fun! Classmancers... was actually fun!

"Aw, you're such a cute crybaby~"

"W-Who's crying!?" Julia wiped her eyes and averted her red face.

"Ah~ Please, someone! Kill me so I can snuggle this cute little kitten~"

"S-Stay away and focus on the damn game! You gotta defend until I respawn!"

"Aye aye, Ms. Classmancers Geek."

"Shut up! Hmph. Pft, hahaha!" Julia couldn't hold it back, she laughed to the point of tears.

"Teehee." Ellen stuck out her tongue. "Don't quit Classmancers. You clearly like the game and got more than enough talent."

"Hmph, I'll think about it." Julia shrugged, but a soft smile formed on her lips. She already realized the truth: she couldn't quit after coming this far, it just wouldn't feel right.

When she picked up Classmancers, her sole goal was getting closer to Lars. However, that's not the only thing that kept her going. The frustration she experienced after losing her Support spot to Yuel, the challenges she endured to keep up with Lars and the secret training she undergone to achieve her current level. All these defeats, struggles and victories were what pushed her to keep playing Classmancers.

She wasn't going to quit, not like this. Of course, her main goal remained the same: show her good side to Lars and kick Yuel out of the picture to become Lars's Support. But, on top of that, she just wanted to keep playing this dumb game, which grew on her at some point.

Despite Ellen's best efforts, the team lost their Mid Golem and their Colossus collapsed soon afterwards. The long match finally came to an end, and with it Lars and Julia's entry exam.