Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.17 Ch.18: The Carry Without Self Assertiveness

Looks like I haven't accomplished my mission. Yuel concluded after seeing that Nia's expression was still tense. I thought that what I told her was very reassuring, but maybe I should've sugar-coated it more? Or, maybe I should've praised her more? I can't tell...

"Dude," Lars interjected. "Why can't ya just be more straightforward there?"

"What do you mean?" Yuel asked.

"Like, I know ya like keeping things as 'objective' as possible and whatnot. But, doncha see Nia is still nervous and stuff?"

"Yes, I do see that."

"Then, why not just address that problem directly?"

"How, exactly?"

"Easy, yo! Like this." Lars cleared his throat. "Hey, Nia, awesome gank there!"

"Eh? Um, thanks?" Nia was taken aback for a moment.

"You totally gave these dudes a run for their money, didncha? They didn't see that gank coming at all!"

"Yeah, they sure didn't."

"So, how did it feel putting the champs on the spot like that?"

"It was... pretty cool, actually." Nia shivered for a moment as she thought back on that situation with this new perspective. Her heart pounded as she remembered the rush of adrenaline she experienced at that moment.

Thinking about it, Stratus was playing against the regional champions here. And, according to Yuel's evaluation, Nia was actually applying pressure on these top dogs the entire game.

On top of that, Nia successfully delivered a gank that these champions failed to foresee. Sure, it was a rash gank that didn't achieve all that much in the end, but it nonetheless went through the champions' defenses and spooked them hard.

In other words, Nia was actually capable of stumping the best players in the region. Wasn't that kind of amazing!?

"Ya totally made them sweat, yo!" Lars dialed up the positivity. "So yeah, like Yuel said, no need to rush anything. You proved you can totally bust through their defenses like a pro. So, relax, yo. You're doing fine."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks." Nia took a deep breath. At long last, her tense expression vanished completely. One could even rename her VanishingAnexity.

"Welp, that's that." Lars nodded in satisfaction. "This is how I meant ya should do it, dude."

"I see..." Yuel sighed in resignation. "Unfortunately, I can't hype things up like this."

"Nah, ya totally can," Lars insisted. "Like, did I even say anything wrong there? I bet you agree with most of it."

"... I suppose I do, to an extent."

Lars painted Nia's achievements in an overwhelmingly positive light, but he didn't say anything wrong per se. There was no denying that Nia was indeed performing well against the regional champions.

The main difference here was that Lars glossed over all of Nia's faults when he delivered his narrative. He didn't blame the girl for rushing her gank or anything of the sort. Instead, he concluded his hype speech with the message "There's no need to rush", which delivered the same message overall but with much less hostility.

That's the one thing I always struggle to do. Yuel criticized himself. If I see a problem or a mistake, I just have to point it out. Otherwise, it'll keep eating away at me.

As somebody who excelled at finding others' faults, it was impossible for Yuel to stop himself from pointing fingers at others' issues. This talent was like a blessing and a curse at the same time.