Rushdown Plan

"About our strategy for the next game," Yuel started. "I was thinking about going with early-game aggression."

"Oh! We gonna rush them down!?" Lars jumped in excitement.

"Yes, I'd like to try rushing them down," Yuel already prepared some arguments for this seemingly random decision. "According to my analysis, the players from Taurus aren't that high level. Vincent's brief report about their abilities only further reinforces that notion. So, I say we should go all out and finish them quickly."

"But, won't that be incredibly risky?" Vincent asked. "I'm not sure how aggressive we're talking about here. But, if it's the kind of rushdown that requires an astronomical early-game lead, we might get severely punished for it. We can get away with things like that in Ranked, but do you believe we stand a chance in a competitive match?"

"I also didn't think it'd be viable against a competitive team," Yuel admitted. "But, after playing Taurus, I changed my mind. Against a team of this level, we can pull it off. And, since we can, we better do it. The faster we finish this, the less information spies can gather on us. And, it might even spread some misinformation."

"Misinformation?" Vincent was instantly intrigued. "Oh, I see! This is the Playstyle Misinformation strategy, isn't it!? We will fool spies into thinking that our preferred playstyle is aggressive, even though it's not!"

"Heh, that's smart," Luke grinned. "We'll make them study the wrong stuff about us. Them scrubs gonna come at us unprepared. Ez wins. I like that."

"Indeed, it's brilliant!" Vincent exclaimed. "I'm in. Let us unleash the most devastating rushdown strategy the world has ever seen!"

"Yeah, let's go!" Luke pumped a fist. "They tried to rush us down last game, so now's our turn. Let's knock their socks off!"

"An eye for an eye, huh," Kai smiled dangerously. There was a sharp glint in her eyes. "Sure, let's teach them a lesson for underestimating us. Nia, are you okay with that... huh."

"Zzz..." Nia was curled up on the sofa chair like a cat. She knocked herself out as soon as they returned to the room. The pressure of the first game must have drained her out.

"Her game plan won't change much anyway," Yuel said. "So, it seems we're all in agreement. Here's what I got." He laid out the aggressive game plans he came up with after Julia's visit.

No, that wasn't quite true. Yuel didn't come up with those ideas on the spot just now. All these options were sitting at the back of his head for a while now, but he didn't dare to let them out.

In truth, he prepared various aggressive team compositions ahead of time. Even though he knew the team will stick with a more balanced game plan, he still wanted to have some rushdown options at the ready, just in case. What kind of case? He couldn't even tell.

[I guess a part of me still wanted to play rushdown today.] Yuel smiled wryly. It was exactly as Julia said. His favorite playstyle was rushdown, the early-game aggression that took advantage of the enemy's weaknesses and struck at them swiftly to deliver maximum damage. In his mind, it was the ultimate strategy. It was simple but effective, just the way all strategies should strive to be.

"No much time left," Vincent interrupted.

"Okay, we'll discuss the rest on stage," Yuel nodded. "Let's go."

"Watcha gonna do about Sleeping Beauty over there?" Luke pointed at Nia, who was still fast asleep. Her breathing was so faint that one could mistake her for a corpse.

"I can always sub in, just so you know," Luke winked.

"Hey, Nia," Kai shook Nia's shoulder, but there was no response. That was some high-level sleeping tech right there.

"She must have slipped into another dimension, no doubt!" Vincent nodded to himself, as if the nonsense he just blurted made perfect sense. "From this day forth, she shall be known as Vanishing Sleeper!"

Unfortunately, even Vincent's loudness didn't make a dent in Nia's uninterruptable slumber. It really felt like she was in another dimension.

"Should I carry her to the stage?" Lars suggested. He already showed he had no trouble carrying Nia, so he could easily do that again.

"No need," Yuel opened a very specific pocket in Nia's backpack and searched through it. "There we go." He took out a bar of chocolate and unwrapped it. Then, he brought it close to Nia's nose.

"Um? Hm..." Nia's nose twitched. She was like a hungry puppy reacting to the smell of food.

"Am!" Nia bit the chocolate, with her eyes still closed. Nom nom nom. She drilled the chocolate with her teeth like a hamster. In a matter of seconds, the entire bar was gone.

"Hm..." Nia's eyes remained shut. The girl just ate an entire bar of chocolate. In her sleep. Without blinking.

[So, one isn't enough today.] Yuel wasn't concerned. He has witnessed this peculiar phenomenon before. Nia was very much capable of eating two bars of chocolate in a row without waking up. Eating snacks was as natural as breathing for her.

"Here's another one," Yuel brought a second chocolate bar toward Nia's lips. She considered the foreign object for a moment, then gave a bite. Then another. And another. Soon, the entire bar was gone.

However, there was still no sign of Nia waking up. Even two bars weren't enough! This was new. The girl must have wanted to escape reality that badly.

But, there was no reason for concern. Nia was properly reacting to the chocolate, same as always. There was still hope. Yuel just had to improve his tactic.

[Very well. I accept the challenge.] Yuel was determined to destroy this curse of sleepiness. The better he becomes at this, the easier it'll be to train Nia in the future. Therefore, he'll absolutely overcome this ordeal!

[This is a little cruel, but let's give it a shot.] Yuel pressed another bar of chocolate against Nia's lips. Naturally, the girl wanted to bite it. But, here came the twist! The moment Nia was about to take her next bite, Yuel pulled the chocolate away from her.

"Ah?" Nia cocked her head. There should have been more chocolate there, she understood that even in her sleep. Nevertheless, her teeth hit nothing. How come? Maybe she already ate the whole thing and simply forgot? In that case, it was time to go back to sleep...

[So, that's how you're going to play.] Yuel nodded. It was a strong move by his opponent. As expected, this match won't be easy.

However! He no intention of giving up. He was prepared to repeat this process as many times as it takes.

[Here you go.] Yuel brought the chocolate closer again and let Nia take a bite, but only one. Then, he pulled the chocolate away again.

"Hrm...!" Nia was visibly unpleased by this. She grumped for a moment, then her facial expression relaxed and she returned to sleep.

But, Yuel refused to give up. He was confident in his newly devised strategy. He just had to push until his opponent folds.

[Here it is again. Now it's gone. Now it's there. Now it's not.] Yuel kept moving the chocolate back and forth. The sleepyhead won't get to eat in peace at this rate.

Nia could give up on this obnoxious snack, but she didn't. She kept trying to bite it and got frustrated every time anew. Eventually, she got fed up with it.

"Gimme!" Nia grabbed Yuel's arm and held it still. Now, she could enjoy the chocolate in peace. But, it only took her a few moments to realize her fatal mistake...

[I won.] Yuel smirked. In order to grab Yuel, Nia had no choice but to wake up. Finally, the sleeping princess was up!

"What was that?" Kai made a face. "Is she your pet or something?" Everybody was curiously watching the entire exchange. They had no idea how to comment on it.

"I-I just did what I had to do," Yuel coughed. "Anyway, wake up, Nia. The next game is about to start."

"Game...?" Nia tilted her head, still half-asleep. "Where are we? Ah, right. Competitive match..." she mumbled, about to drift back into slumber.

"C'mon, let's go," Yuel pulled her up from the sofa.

"Ok..." Nia nodded vaguely and slowly stood on her feet. It seemed like she hasn't retrieved all her brain functions from the Slumber Dimension yet. But, she'll be fine. Probably.

Finally, everybody was up and ready. And so, Stratus headed into the second game. They were about to unleash some rushdown finesse on Taurus!