"Good job getting out alive," Kai said. "I thought we were both goners."

  "Yeah, I did get away," Yuel said. "But, I didn't really help."

  "Hey, you tried," Kai averted her eyes. "Gotta admit, you were pretty sharp back there. Almost pulled me outta that crap."

  "Um, sure," Yuel was taken aback for a moment. What oh? This was the part where Kai was supposed to pin about his failure to help. And, about the fact he went for such a hopeless suicidal py. In fact, everybody should criticize him for making that mistake.

  "That rescue operation was slick, yo!" Lars nodded. "Gave me the shivers. Almost pulled it off, almost! But dat Aron, I'm tellin' ya. Real killer."

  What’s going on? Yuel looked around in fusion. It’s as if he wandered into some crazy alternate reality, one in which his gank was an acceptable py. It was crazy.

  "Yeah, man," Luke tuned in. "That gank was something else. Learned a bunch from it."

  "It was really nice," Ben nodded.

  "Such a splendid dispy of radeship!" Vi made noise.

  I 't tell if these guys are serious or making fun of me. Yuel made a face. Though, admittedly, their words felt was rare for others to praise his pys in this manner.

  Normally, everybody only ever praised his shot-calls and reads. However, here they were praising his... What, exactly? "radeship"? The fact he didn't give up on Kai until the very end?

  It was the same praise people gave him whenever he fought for the life of his Carry to the bitter end. For him, it was just a tactical decision. He judged that he could keep the Carry alive at the expense of his own life and that doing so would be the team more than his own survival. Therefore, he struggled until the very ee the odds stag against him.

  There was nothing particurly genius or amazing about these pys, but others often praised him for them. That never made much sense, but Yuel just went along with it. He assumed his teammates uood the tactical decision he made and simply praised him for it, nothing more.

  However, the current situation was different. His decision to gank Top was objectively a mispy. He calcuted ahead of time that the ces of success were slim-to-none and it indeed failed in practice. Even worse, this mispy cost the team a lot of momentum because Aron injured Yuel heavily, f him to recall to base. So, for a short time, this game became a 1v3 situation with only Lars left to hold the fort. It was a terrible position.

  Yet, his teammates praised such a py? Even though it was so helplessly foolish?

  Ah, I guess they just didn't know. Yuel smiled wryly. In this entire club, only he figured that the gank eless suicidal py. The rest must have thought there was a real ce of success, that's why they sang him praises for his futile efforts. Ignorance is bliss.

  Still, there was ohing this py did achieve. The whole reasohrew himself into this pointless danger was to make it up for Kai. She has been prissy at him from the beginning of the match, even though he hasn't really done anything wrong. So, with this gank, he was hoping to mend things a little. He thought that maybe, just maybe, if he gets Kai alive out of that situation, she'll be grateful enough to let bygones be bygones.

  Unfortunately, he failed to get her out. A, Kai still seemed grateful enough. She appreciated the fact he tried so hard to get her out of that predit, regardless of the fact he failed. So, maybe that py wasn't a total waste after all.

  Iing. So, mispys have an ued be like that. Yuel o himself. He felt like a stist who has just discovered a new element of nature. It was such a bewildering reveal.

  But, none of that ged one important fact: Kai's reckless charge at Freezer was foolish and irresponsible. It put her in that losing situation and cost her her life. This was a huge issue and it had to be addressed.

  It was a shame to ruin this positive atmosphere, but Yuel had to crify the situation. He couldn't let this slide, for it’d send the message that Kai's py table; it definitely wasn't.

  "Kai, what was the big idea there?" Yuel asked as carefully as he could. "You were asking to get ganked."

  "Ah, well..." Kai averted her fad scratched her nose. "It wasn't my brightest idea ever, I admit."

  "That's putting it lightly. It was suicidal."

  "Hey, whose fault you think it is that I gotta go for these desperate pys? My ne disadvantage ain't gonna resolve itself, you know.”

  "Yes, but dying sure improved your situation."

  "I thought I could get him," Kai clicked her tohat damn Freezer turned out to be pretty good. It's like he saw it ing."

  "He does seem to have an acute game-sense," Yuel nodded. Freezer hasn’t done much this game, but each of his as was remarkably on-point. He was always in the right position, at the right time, and using the right skill.

  "But, of course he’s good!" Vi excimed. "After all, Freezer possesses the Third Eye of Truth! He see through anything and always make the correct py!"

  "Sounds a little too invincible, don't you think?" Yuel asked.

  "He might as well be." Vi nodded with a dramatic expression. "Have any of you actually outpyed him this game so far? Nay, I say."

  "That's..." Yuel didn't have a rebuttal. Ihey haven't made Freezer sweat this match at all. It always felt like he was on top of the situation.

  Back during the scrimmage with the Leopards, Freezer's sloppy execution seemed like the main thing holding him back. And, there was no trace of that weakness in this match. So, at least so far, Freezer truly passed himself as an oppo without any oints to speak of.

  "Actually, I dodged one of his shots," Kai said.

  "Oh, correct!" Vi nodded. "True, there was one suexpected exge. Your Rhythm Reader bested the Third Eye of Truth in that sario! No matter what truths his third eye might reveal, they're powerless against the reality-bending Noble Phantasm that is Rhythm Reader!”

  “So, you’ve only surprised him oh impressive meical skill,” Yuel said. “But, the sed time you failed to dodge his attack, hence you failed to escape alive.”

  “I didn’t fail,” Kai objected. “That bastard didn’t even give me a ce! He pulled me in with one ball and smacked me with another. I couldn’t even move.”

  “Huehue,” Luke cackled. “Sounds like he crushed ya with his balls.”

  “Oh, shut it,” Kai rolled her eyes.

  “Freezer’s skill aside,” Yuel wheeled the versation ba topic. “Kai, you should’ve known it’ll end poorly if you charge at him like that.”

  “Well, what else was I supposed to do, genius? He had all the ne trol and you werely helping me. Sure, you made him retreat a little every now and then, but that didn’t ge anything. You should’ve e to gank for real.”

  “That wouldn’t have...” Yuel didn’t finish the sentence. Acc to his analysis, ganking Top wouldn’t have borne any fruit for the team. However, that was just his own persoimation of the situation. Kai didn’t see things the same way, so she wanted a gank.

  Despite that, Yuel didn’t provide her with one. He kept repeating the same “remote intimidation” tactic without fully expining his reasoning to Kai. No wo didn’t instill much fidence.

  As the shot-caller, it art of Yuel’s job to do something about that situation. At the very least, he should’ve reassured his teammates that he had a pn and that everything will be alright. Yet, he hasn’t doher of those. He just kept pying silently, keeping his ih analysis in his own head.

  In truth, he had all sorts of ideas in mind. The matchup in Top was ierrible and things were rough in Bot as well. However, their team position should be able to hold the upper hand in team-fights, so it was a good idea to wait for mid-game.

  Alternatively, instead of struggling to defend two hey could abandon one and trate all their forces oher. It was a gamble, but it could’ve givehe spark they needed faining momentum. More than anything, it would’ve instilled Kai with more fidence about the future of the match.

  In the end, Yuel deemed that pn too risky and dismissed it. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any other bright ideas aside from waiting for mid-game. Therefore, he went passive. He decided there was not much for him to do at that point in the game, so he just remotely supported Kai by intimidating Freezer, without truly resolving her problem. He didn’t do anything to give her any hope.

  So, no wonder Kai decided to take matters into her own hands. She lost all faith in Yuel, so she had to do something about the situation herself. All that piled pressure gave birth to her reckless kamikaze attack.

  If it were Howard in my pce, he'd know how to instill fiden his teammates. Yuel bit his lip. Even though that reckless attack was undoubtedly Kai's fault, Yuel shared some of the bme as well. If only he did a better job reassuring his teammates about the future of this match, they wouldn't bee so frustrated with the current situation. It was a grim failure on his end.

  I still have a lot to learn. Yuel sighed i. Why was it so difficult to pruide his teammates? The answer was obvious: they weren't chess pieces. They were human beings, with their own minds and ideas. Therefore, they needed more than just ft orders in order to perform. Even though Yuel should've known that, he made the same old mistake. Darn it.

  "Hey, dude," Lars called out to Kai. "I know how it feels. I also wanna charge in ahe heck outta Trever. But, ya 't just decide to do that stuff by yourself. You gotta tell us whatcha pnning so we help ya."

  "Huh, well..." Kai shifted her eyes away.

  "The guy is right, you know," Luke tuned in. "Where's your unication at, cap?"

  "Indeed, such solo pys are no good," Vi added. "It was like a py made by a pouting child rebelling against his parents."

  "Alright, alright, I get it already," Kai made a face. "Yeah, it was a dumb py and I should've discussed it first. I was just trying to get something done, okay? Jeez, you guys are assholes."

  They're siding with me? Yuel blihis was rare. Normally, he was the received end of the rge group. It seemed his pointlessly valiant efforts during the rescue-gank moved these guys. So, even irrational mispys had some uses, huh. I don’t think I'll ever be able to deliberately make such pys, though.

  "Alright already, I'm sorry and all," Kai said. "Anyway, do we have an actual pn now or what?"

  "As I said before," Yuel started. "The pn is to beat them during the mid-game with our superior team-fighting potential. Though, the current situation threw a little wren that pn. Even with better position, we'll have trouble pushing them back from this disadvantageous position."

  "Gah! Will you drop it already? I apologized."

  "I'm just stating the facts as they are," Yuel stopped for a moment. Maybe tinuing with this line of thought isn't the brightest idea. The team already feels disced enough as it is.

  Acc to his analysis, Kai's death and the loss of Top put them in a jeopardy. In a small and limited mode like 3v3, he couldn't find any immediate solutions to this disadvantageous situation. Most likely, whained momentum first in this mode often carried all the way to victory.

  However, saying any of that out loud will only put a damper oeam. All of it was facts a important to share, but maybe Yuel should keep this to himself. After all, Lars was ner to taking reckless indepe as when push came to shove. So, painting this situation as hopeless might motivate the goof to pull something crazy. That wild beast has beeraining himself pretty well retly, but there was o tell for sure.

  "They'll most likely take Top Tower now," Yuel expined. "Sometime after that, I expect all three of them to push Top for the win. So, we'll have to gather there and fight back. As I said, we got an advantage in team-fights, so we just have to beat them. We wieam-fight, we win the game."

  "Okay, I like it!" Lars gave a thumbs up. "Let's kick up their butts, yo!"

  "I suppose that works," Kai nodded.

  Did I do it? Yuel wondered. Did I reassure them about the future of this match?

  At the very least, he wasn't met with any objes, that was a start. But, was it really a good idea to not disclose all the facts with his teammates? Acc to his analysis, their ces of fighting back this momentum were slim to none.

  I suppose that's something for me to mull over. Yuel smiled wryly. He was the shot-caller, so it to him to figure out a winning game pn and calcute the risk-reward ratios. His teammates didn't have to know their ces were exceedingly low. As long as Yuel brings victory in the end, all this discing analysis was irrelevant.

  Easier said than dohough. Yuel frowned. If they fight 3v3 while defending Top, they were bound to lose. Even with their team-fighting adva was uhey could beat Aron's experieeam. At best, it'll be a tinuous draw and the enemy will gradually pressure Yuel's team into submission.

  So, they needed an alternative. But, what else could they do in this small game mode? There were only the three of them here, nobody else to rely on. Yuel didn't have many pieces to work with.

  Should I try backd? Yuel wondered. Viking's ultimate made it great for split-pushing nes. So, while the enemy is busy attag one ne, he could bst through the other ne.

  But, that means leaving Kai and Lars without a frontline. Yuel shook his head. That idea was a bust; way too risky. It seemed their only option was to stand their ground and fight to the bitter end.

  We'll just deal with it as it es. Yuel nodded. For now, I o focus ouation at hand. What will Aron do after g Top?

  Naturally, the enemy was going to start by demolishing the Top Turret. But, what's ? Kai was dead and Yuel had to heal up at the base. So, it left Lars all aloo hold the fort.

  Aron will try taking Lars out. That was the only reasonable clusion. Aron could capitalize on this advantageous situation in many different ways, but he was definitely going tet Lars . After all, Aron knew all too well how dangerous Lars could be. The faster he kills the beast, the better.

  "Lars, watch out," Yuel warned. "Aron will try ganking you soohan ter."

  "Lemme at him, yo!" Lars excimed. "I'mma avenge you guys no problem, believe it!"

  "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, keep your distance from the jungle. Don't let them lure you in."

  "Roger. I'mma sit here like a tank. 200% immovable! Ain't nobody gonna pull me into the jungle!"

  "Good," Yuel nodded.

  And so, one of the most critical periods of this match began. If the enemy take Lars out, the game will be ht then and there. However, if Lars survives, there will still be a ce. It'll be an uphill battle from there, but they'll have a ce to pull it off during team-fights.

  Please, Lars. Just don't mess up...!

  DarkestCymore