Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 2

Vol.9 Ch.7: Nerves Before the First Match

"Hmph, as long as you understand," Ms. Stone scoffed and entered ProCenter. She strode with a confident posture across the various halls, as if she knew the place like the back of her hand.

Ironically, this non-gamer woman was more familiar with this gaming center than the team. She has been supervising the Classmancers club for years now, so she got to visit this place at least thrice a year. Therefore, unlike the awe-struck team members, Ms. Stone quickly traversed the entire place, taking the shortest routes and making zero stops to look around.

"Oh, behold!" Vincent pointed at some arcade machines. "They even got Dekken 8 and King of Warriors 15! Truly, ProCenter is the one and only multi-purpose gaming center!"

"Actually, they got a bunch of those nowadays," Yuel corrected. With the rise of esports, competitive gaming almost became commonplace. To one degree or another, everybody gamed nowadays. Be it video games, mobile games, board games, or even chess.

Yes, ProCenter even had a hall for playing chess. It was smaller compared to many other sections, but it existed and could house at least twenty matches at once. Not too shabby.

Multi-purpose gaming centers like this have been popping up around the country in recent years. Apparently, it was an eastern trend that has been slowly creeping its way to the west. It was the same with how Classmancers was first accepted in schools in the east, only much later made its way to western schools.

Still, little by little, things were progressing. In a couple of years, there were probably be more gaming centers like that in the region. Then, hopefully, teams won't have to ride for nearly two hours in order to hold a scrimmage.

"It's here," Ms. Stone finally stopped and opened a big door. It revealed an empty stadium, with a big stage in the back. It was one of the smaller stadiums in ProCenter, definitely not on par with the ones they used for pro matches. Nevertheless, it was a serious stadium that was used for professional gaming.

Finally, Yuel and Lars climbed all the way up here. This time, they weren't here as the second-string. No, they were the first-string, the main fighting force. And, for all intents and purposes, this scrimmage served as the prelims for the regionals. The fight for the top started here!

"We did it, we got here, yo!" Lars grabbed Yuel's shoulders and shook them in excitement. "We gonna become pros, yo!"

"Heh, that again," Yuel smiled. This secondary stadium was still far from the real pro scene, but it was the closest they've ever gotten to their goal. They'll start by conquering the scrimmages, then conquer the regionals, and finally win the nationals. At that point, they'll surely catch a glimpse of the pro scene.

"Your waiting room is here," Ms. Stone led them behind the stage after exchanging a few words with some man, probably the organizer for the scrimmage.

"Please be ready on stage five minutes before the match is set to begin," the man stopped to instruct them. "And, make sure to keep your room just the way you got it. I'll be checking it after the scrimmage."

Everybody nodded in understanding and entered the room behind the stage. It was spacious enough to accommodate at least ten people, with some comfy sofas and a big table in the center.

"Make sure you don't litter," Ms. Stone also warned them. "They check the rooms before they let you go. If they don't like what they see, they'll keep you here to do the cleaning work."

"Bleh, sounds like a pain," Luke made a face. "Make sure y'all behave, guys."

"That's all," Ms. Stone headed to the door. "From here on out, follow the referee's instructions. I'll be staying at a nearby Cafe. Call me if there's any trouble."