The third game between Stratus and Taurus began.

The opening proceeded smoothly without any unexpected developments. The enemy team didn't invade and Yuel advised his team against invading as well. It was better to play it safe until they get more intel on their new opponents

For this team composition, the early-game was everything. Failing an early invade would doom them for the rest of the game. The risk was too high. So, they didn’t do that.

Yuel finished clearing the Wraiths and Wolves together with Nia, then proceeded to his lane. And so, his battle with DragonMaster began.

So, how do you plan to come at me this time? Yuel brimmed with anticipation.

DragonMaster didn't give up on his Dragonborn despite suffering a devastating defeat last game. So, he must’ve had some sort of plan. What challenges will he throw at Yuel this time? Yuel braced himself for impact.

Alas, all that followed was a disappointment. DragonMaster didn't try anything special. In fact, he hasn't done much at all. He simply turtled, making it clear he was still wary of Yuel's Dark Knight.

So, he gave up? Yuel had a hard time believing that. DragonMaster struck him as the type who hated losing. Players like that would keep searching for ways to win until the bitter end. More than anything, the fact he stuck with Dragonborn implied the guy came up with something.

But, what could it possibly be? Maybe it'll only come into play later down the road?

Maybe he's waiting for me to wear myself out, then he’ll start an attack with his ult. Out of all the possibilities, Yuel could come up with, that one seemed the most sensible. Frankly, he didn't have enough information to work with. All he could do was speculate based on what little data he had on his hands at the moment.

I better dial down my aggression once my HP falls down to 50%. Yuel nodded to himself.

For a while, he has been unleashing devastating attacks on the enemy minions, as any Dark Knight player should. Unfortunately, repeated uses of Dark Blast drained his HP. Therefore, he had to slow down over time.

But, even as Yuel hit 50%, DragonMaster showed no signs of attacking. The enemy’s new Jungler, StormMonster, ganked the lane a couple of times, but Yuel elegantly disengaged every time. In the end, there wasn’t much development in Top.

Meanwhile, Bot Lane had sparks flying all around it. The situation was quite charged. Even though they were fighting inside a video game, the animosity in the air managed to invade that virtual world. Vincent could feel it with every bone in his body.

They're like mad dogs who aim for each other's neck. Vincent gulped. This situation was like a ticking bomb.

How did things come to this? Dr. Blackhole shall explain.

The enemy's first direct strike at Kai actually happened before the game loaded, back when they banned the Impaler. It was obvious Taurus targeted Kai with that ban. That incident ticked her off a little, but it was alright. She had no qualms about playing Pirate.

That ban alone was no more than throwing a pebble into the water. It created small ripples, but it wasn't enough to generate a real wave. It merely planted a little bit of irritation in Kai’s mind, nothing more.

The real offense came after that. The enemy Carry, one Mr. Renegade, has been disrespecting Kai from the moment the game began. He was playing Gunslinger, a class that barely had any options under its belt until mid-game. By all accounts, a Gunslinger player should be wary of a Pirate during the early-game.

But, not this Gunslinger, not Renegade. He seized every little opportunity to fire shots at Kai. Needless to say, Kai wasn't thrilled about this in the slightest. 

"Damn!" Kai cursed as a bullet pierced her arm. She tried to sidestep the incoming shot, but she was half a beat too late. Somehow, that Gunslinger’s shots always connected. What the hell was going on!?

"Heh, just like I thought," Jaiden reported to his partner. "She's good at dodging consecutive shots, but she often gets hit by the first shot. She's pretty good at predicting."

"I see," Rio nodded. "So, we better poke her to death." 

"Yep, exactly," Jaiden grinned proudly, satisfied with his scouting work. Beat’s dodges were a mystery that has been weighing on Jaiden’s mind ever since he saw Bruce fighting Beat.

Bruce had many flaws, but he wasn’t a weak fighter. He wouldn't let some girl kick his ass for no good reason. Therefore, there has to be some sort of trick to Beat’s timely evasion.

Jaiden couldn't tell how Beat predicted shots, but at least he verified that her method didn't work on the very first shot. She had to be shot multiple times in a row before she could start dodging. So, Jaiden simply denied her such opportunities. He fired one bullet at a time, without any immediate follow-ups

Every time a new minion wave arrived, Jaiden first focused on clearing it. He booted Fan the Hammer and landed critical headshots on the minions. It was tricky to nail all these headshots even against such predictable targets, but Jaiden has practiced enough to pull it off.

Right before Jaiden completely annihilated the enemy wave, he searched for an opportunity to deliver an attack. Beat was busy clearing minions, so she had to let down her guard a little while she was concentrated on the task.

Especially, there was a brief moment during which players often became vulnerable without noticing. It happened right before the minion wave was completely gone. The player always developed the "I'm almost done with this wave!" feeling. It clouded their judgment for just a moment, but it was more than enough to give Jaiden the opening he was searching for.

As expected, Beat was no exception to that rule. Maybe she knew a thing or two about the game, but she wasn't competitive material, let alone captain material. She was ez.

I'll make her understand through this match. Jaiden promised as he fired another bullet BAM.

"Again!?" Kai didn't even get a chance to sidestep this one. Even though she was on guard against these loose shots, another one snuck under the radar and pierced her stomach.

What's the timing on this shit!? Kai bit her lip. This was annoying.

The enemy fired only two bullets a minute, one bullet for each wave. Kai couldn't grasp a pattern from that. For all she knew, there was none. Renegade randomly shot her whenever he felt like it and his shots magically connected every time. All these random shots have already brought her down to 80% HP. Dammit!

"Hey Vince, can't you do something about this?" Kai demanded.

"I sincerely apologize for my lack of support," Vincent replied. He wanted to help, but there was a problem. Paladin was a melee Support, so Vincent constantly had to retreat from the frontline before all the ranged attackers concentrated their fire on him. As such, he never had an opportunity to do anything for Kai.

Of course, he could do something random like fire a Justice Strike at Renegade. But, a Gunslinger didn't rely much on skills aside from Fan the Hammer, and Renegade always stayed out of range before casting it. So, hitting that fellow with Justice Strike will earn them nothing. It’ll merely trigger the enemy minions and make Vincent lose a lot of HP.

What should one do in such a predicament? Vincent asked himself time and again. He had little experience against bold opponents who focused on the Carry this hard. Most opponents targeted Vincent when he stepped onto the frontline, but not Renegade. This guy was dead set on hitting Beat and nobody else.

"O, great Chessmaster," Vincent summoned the evil god of tactical knowledge. "Please advise this little lost lamb."

"Hmm," Yuel carefully considered the situation after getting all the details. It would have been best to observe the situation from up close, but that was impossible to do from the opposite side of the map. So, he had to fully trust Vincent's description of the situation.

The gist of the issue was the Carry’s focused aggression on Kai. It was rare to see this approach at this level of play. It was a risky game plan. And, a cocky one, too. It implied Renegade had full confidence about winning these exchanges. He wasn’t scared of Kai in the slightest.

Against a game plan like this, a melee Support like Paladin indeed had trouble helping out. But, there were some methods. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough data to work with. Yuel couldn’t make an educated decision.

It called for experimentation. Vincent will have to stick out his neck in front of the guillotine to test the enemy out. Their response will give Yuel more valuable data to work with.

“So, I have to research our foes?” Vincent sounded excited. “Leave it to me! Information gathering is as natural as breathing for the Information Blackhole!”

“Are you even gonna find anything?” Kai made a face. Somehow, she didn’t see it happening. Vincent was great at gathering intel, that much was true. But, his intel usually praised players instead of exposing their weaknesses.

In a situation like this, Yuel would have been a much more dependable Support. If only the guy wasn’t stubborn about playing Support for Lars...

It’s like he’s also looking down on me. Kai clenched her mouse, threatening to crush it. It was obvious that Yuel didn’t want to play Support for Kai because he didn’t find her worthy to be the team’s Carry. He didn’t want to waste his efforts on somebody like her.

And, that Renegade bastard was thinking along the same lines. He was aggressing on Kai without a single care in the world, as if she was a Bronze rank scrub compared to him. Unforgivable!

You wanna go? Then let's go! Kai roared internally and stepped forward. She gonna drill a thousand bullets into that bastard!

"Wait, that's-" Vincent's plea was overshadowed by the loud sound of gunfire.

BAM! Kai fired! However, her bullet failed to graze her target.

"So it begins," Jaiden smiled meaningfully. "Rio, you ready? I'll try luring her."

"Go for it," Rio nodded.

"Let's see what she got," Jaiden took a fighting stance. He has been waiting for this moment all this time. Ever since he learned that Stratus had a girl for a captain, he had the urge to give her a good beating.

BAM! Jaiden fired back. A clean hit.

"Geh, you little...!" Kai stepped in even further and fired.

"Whoa, dangerous!" Jaiden sidestepped the attack. He was maintaining the maximal distance between them to give himself enough time to react. That allowed him to dodge the girl's incoming shots.

As soon as the enemy's shot whiffed, Jaiden fired back. 

I got it this time! Kai sidestepped the incoming shot. It was a quick counter, the likes only skilled players could deliver. Kai accumulated plenty of experience with those from sparring with Lars, so she was ready.

"Whoopsie," Jaiden realized his mistake too late. He fired that quick counter like a robot. It was a swift shot, arguably the most optimal counter the world has ever witnessed! But, it was predictable.

There weren't that many players out there who could read shots like this and react to them in time, but some existed. Jaiden has met some before, especially in the Challenger division.

Against opponents like that, it was best to mix up the shots. It meant sacrificing some attack speed, but a delayed shot had a much higher chance of hitting opponents who based their dodges on prediction. A delayed shot had an unpredictable timing, so it made living hell for these guys.

BAM! A bullet dug into Jaiden's side. It was punishment for the shot he has just whiffed.

Yep, I deserved that. Jaiden nodded to himself. He took a deep breath, waited for a moment, then pulled the- Oh, look. She's already moving. Heh, just like I thought.

Jaiden adjusted his aim a little to catch his sidestepping target. BAM! Perfect hit!

"Wha-!?" Kai grimaced. Did she mistime the sidestep? No, she should've moved with the exact same timing as last time. Then, maybe I didn’t have the timing right all along? Maybe the previous dodge was a fluke. Anyway, I gotta tune myself fast.

Now that Kai ate a shot, it was time to counter. She fired back as soon as she collected herself. Unfortunately, the shock she received from being hit slowed her down just enough to give the enemy time to sidestep the counter.

Nice shot, but a little too slow. Jaiden effortlessly sidestepped the delayed shot. This girl isn’t terrible. She got some stuff going for her. But, captain? Please. I’ll put you right in your place!

Beat wasn't the girl who cheated her way into StormBlitz at his expense. Jaiden knew that. This wasn’t the girl the one who robbed him of his important opportunity.

But, there was no doubt that Beat acquired her captain position through similar trickery. She must have used the excuse of being a “female senior” to get the sympathy of the boys or something like that. Despicable. 

If you think you deserve to be the captain, then prove it to me. Jaiden demanded. Show me you can get things done. Try to me! I dare you. 

And so, the two haters crossed blades. Kai, who hated any guy who looked down on her for being a girl, and Jaiden, who hated any girl who pretended to be a big shot. Will their hatred lend them strength? Or, will it cloud their judgment?