Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.15 Ch.1: The Reason for Dragging the Game

"Ouch, haha..." Cato produced a dry laugh. "I suppose I deserve it."

"You totally do, man." Ronald nodded. "If bro didn't make the call back there, we'd still be stuck deciding what to do with the enemy's backdoor. Seriously, that's why I always say bro should be the captain. He's the best at this stuff, word."

"Is that so." Cato trembled. Can I punch this guy? Just once? Pretty please?

"Well," Matthew started. "It's not like William's decisions were necessarily the best options either way."

"Well excuse me, but at least I made some sort of decision." William shot a glare at the complainer.

"Guys, guys. Please." Cato clapped once. He tried to make the clap as loud as possible, but the volume paled in comparison to Rodriguez's thunderclap technique

Nonetheless, even this shallow imitation of the coach's technique got the job done. Everybody paused and turned their eyes on Cato.

"There's no need to bicker over that right now, is there? Coach is going to chew us out more than plenty in a few seconds, so let's reserve our energy, alright?"

"True."

"Yeah."

Slowly but surely, everybody left their seats and headed toward the waiting room. There, Rodriguez was waiting for them with his arms crossed.

He's not amused! The entire team shuddered at the realization. The coach's frown was visible from a mile away. Gulp.

"So," Rodriguez started. "I see you've finally gathered the courage to come here, that's already a good start. For a moment, I thought I'd have to go up there and fetch you."

".........." Everybody kept their mouths shut and avoided eye contact. Somebody's gulp echoed loudly in this deafening silence, making the others' throats feel dry all of a sudden.

Amidst the silence, they exchanged awkward glances with each other. Clearly, everybody was curious who'll be brave enough to step forth and face the coach's whip.

Eventually, everybody's eyes laid on Cato. As the captain, they expected him to serve as the meat shield for the rest of the team, especially considering how much of the fault lay with him.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Cato smiled wryly. I'm the sacrificial lamb here. Fine, I'll do my job. He stepped forth. "We really messed up at the end there, didn't we? There, I said it."

"At the end?" Rodriguez blinked. "Hmm. I'd say you played reasonably well there, given the circumstances."

"Oh, did we?" Cato was taken aback for a moment. This didn't sound like something Rodriguez would say while wearing such a frowny expression. That fact alone was enough to send a chill down Cato's spine.

"Surely," Rodriguez continued. "You understand that your problem started way before you go to that point?"

"Well..." Cato more or less imagined in what direction this lecture was going to go. Everything is going to fall on me, isn't it? Curses...

"Well?" Rodriguez eyed each and every player in order, not just Cato. "Does anybody volunteer to answer? Tell me, where did your biggest problem start in this game?"

"When we started needlessly dragging out the game, obviously," Sonya answered, mercilessly throwing Cato under the bus.

"Good answer." Rodriguez nodded.

"Just to be clear, I was against this idea," Sonya stressed.

Oh, but you didn't resist much, did you? You shrewd little traitor. Cato wanted to retort but he shut his mouth. Then again, I did my best to pressure her into this, so that's also partially on me. Ehe~