Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 2

Vol.12 Ch.1: Stratus Is Different This Year

The members of Stratus returned to their room to gather their things. Everybody was still hyper about their victory, except for the one girl lying on the sofa.

"Man, she's still sleeping?" Luke made a face. "Hey! Nia! Wakey-wakey!"

"Mmm...?" Nia slowly opened her eyes.

"C'mon, wake up." Kai gently shook Nia's shoulder. "We're going home."

"Ah, it's over?" Nia looked around in a daze. Her senses slowly left the Slumber Dimension and descended back to reality. "Did we win?"

"Yeah, we sure did." Kai nodded. "It was a close one, but we won 3-to-2."

"Oh!" Nia's eyes shot open. "We actually won against them in the end. Amazing."

"Yep." Luke nodded and pointed at himself. "All thanks to my pro-level memeing."

Actually, it's the other way around. Yuel objected. We only struggled as much as we did because Luke refused to pick a good Jungler. Things would've been much easier if I didn't have to build our game plan around a clunky Jungler like Knight. But, I'll leave that discussion for later. I don't want to ruin the atmosphere.

"Then," Nia started. "Sounds like it's a good thing I went to sleep and let you sub in."

"Yep, you got that one right."

"Hey," Kai interjected. "Luke, stop spouting nonsense. Don't worry, Nia. That idiot didn't do anything notable."

"Wow, wow, wow!" Luke jumped. "Excuse me? Did you forget that sick fight I had against their Lancer? Shit was intense as heck!"

"Indeed." Vincent nodded. "It was the fight of the eons! Luke shattered the Storm Chaser's unstoppable chasing technique by choosing 'fight' over 'flight'! It prolonged his life just long enough for rescue to arrive!"

"Yeah, that was well done." Kai had to admit. "Good work there, Luke."

"Heh, I saw what you did there, cap." Luke snickered. "You later stole my tech and also did the same thing to that Lancer."

"Actually," Yuel said. "I believe that was originally my idea."

"Nah, I totally came up with it myself," Luke paused. "Or wait, did I? Anyway, stuff was intense, man! I memed the crap outta that boi, heh."

They all look happy. Nia thought. Sounds like they had fun while I was sleeping.

There was a little sting of regret, just a little. Even though the team suffered a devastating defeat in the third game, everybody was smiling in the end.

Maybe, just maybe, Nia should've tried a little harder to stay awake for one more game. If she tried her best, she could've braved through another difficult game, even with the audience's gazes judging her...

On second thought, good thing I went to sleep. Nia repeatedly nodded to herself.

The enormous stage and the packed audience flashed in her mind. It was a scary experience. She'll never get used to playing there.

Are they going to make me play here in the next scrimmage too? Scary. She gulped. But, compared to her...

"Man, when are we playing here again?" Luke asked. "I wanna go back in there and kick some serious ass!"

"Aren't you tired at all?" Kai asked. The fatigue was visible on her face. Her stoic expression looked worn out.

And, the same applied to the majority of the team. Yuel was wobbling a little and Vincent wasn't as vocal as usual. Though, Lars was still as upbeat as ever.