60 Summer Break Begins (1/2)

As the school year ended, summer vacation began. This was Yuel's second summer since he started playing Classmancers.

Last summer, he and Lars spent the whole time playing together to climb the ladder in Ranked. That was their best indication of improving at the game. But this summer, they had a concrete goal in mind: surpassing Howard and Ellen. The goal was huge and stared them right in the face, but they weren't sure how to actually reach it.

Unlike ranking up in Ranked, there was no linear progression toward this goal. How will they know if they're getting any closer to beating Howard and Ellen? Was there any specific training regime they could use to get there faster? Unfortunately, Yuel didn't have an answer and Lars didn't even bother thinking much.

”Don't worry, yo.” Lars always said. ”Let's just keep playing and climb these ranks! We're just two ranks below them, so we gonna beat them in no time!”

”Online rank doesn't decide everything, you know.” Yuel always retorted. They were at ”Diamond I” right now, whereas Howard and Ellen were at ”Challenger IV”. They were indeed only two ranks apart. Though, in Diamond and Challenger, even a single rank required tons of grinding.

Still, in theory, they could eventually catch up with Howard and Ellen if they grind a whole lot. Unfortunately, that didn't mean anything for their position in the club. Clubmates had a certain amount of respect toward online ranking, but it couldn't single-handedly decide who'll play on the first string. There were many other factors involved.

For one, there's each player's ”main role”. Even though Yuel and Lars had the highest online ranks after Howard, Ellen and Roi, it didn't mean they could just take the 4th and 5th spots on the team. Their main roles were Support and Carry, which were already taken by Howard and Ellen. So, there weren't any open spots to claim.

So, how about Lars's suggestion of beating Howard and Ellen's ranks? Well, Howard was new captain so he decided the roster. Beating his online rank won't be enough to make him surrender his spot. The only true way to force Howard to step down was by making him admit defeat. In other words, making him admit Yuel was the superior Support and that the team would have a higher chance of winning with Yuel on the team

So, while beating Howard's online rank could be a good first step, it's far from enough. Yuel had to do more, to aim higher. But, he had no idea where exactly he should aim or how high he should get.

In the end, all he could do was spend the summer practicing, just like last time. Lars dropped by every day and they played Classmancers from morning to evening. Lars even slept over a few times so they could play some more.

Julia also tagged along. She didn't visit every day like Lars and she vehemently refused to sleep over, but she also poured hours upon hours into the game. This was also the same as last summer, except for her big shift in attitude compared to last year.

Julia firstmost came over because of Lars, no question about it. However, she also displayed a much more genuine desire to better herself.

”Hey, you,” Julia called out. ”Take a look at this.” She shoved her tablet into Yuel's face. ”How should I've played here? This guy mopped the floor with me.”

”Let's see,” Yuel grabbed the tablet before it smashed his nose. ”For starters, you pushed too hard here. Aeromancer is good for defending, so random aggression won't get you far.”

”Yeah, I know that stuff.” Julia glared at him as if he was making a fool of her. ”But, the heck was I supposed to do instead then? The guy was hugging his tower all day like it's his baby.”

”One idea is to bait them outside.” Yuel slid his finger across the screen, drawing paths from Mid Lane to the neutral Griffin Camps and the enemy Hyena Camps. ”Pretend you're going for one of their camps while they're turtling. It won't work on everybody, but some may be tempted to chase you. That's when you catch them off guard and finish them off.”

”Oh, that's an idea!” Julia nodded, then shifted her eyes aside. ”But of course I already knew that. Hmph.”

”Sure.” Yuel rolled his eyes. Even though Julia changed her attitude toward the game, her attitude toward Yuel remained the same. Oh well.

Over the year, Julia greatly improved her defense and offense. Her tight defense was no longer as wasteful as before because she developed the confidence to not ward every single pixel on the mini-map. Her offense was also fiercer thanks to her secret training with Ellen, or so Yuel heard. He barely got any chances to see it in action because Julia refused to use it in front of Lars.

Julia didn't admit it, but she was also chasing a rival. Gilbert was assuredly going to be StormBlitz's new Mid Laner next year, so Julia had to surpass him to get a chance to play competitively. Just like Yuel and Lars, she also lagged behind her rival by two ranks. Julia was at Diamond III, whereas Gilbert was in Diamond I.

Fortunately for her, gaps within Diamond division were much easier to close than the gap between Diamond I and Challenger IV. So, she actually had the highest chance to catch up to her target this summer. Who knows, she might even become a starter before Yuel and Lars. That is, if she were as passionate as them.

”I'm pooped,” Julia sighed as she dropped on the sofa. ”Say, don't you guys wanna do something else for a change?” She made it sound like she's asking both of them, but her eyes were locked on Lars. ”It's summer and stuff. We could go to the beach or just hang out at the mall. We didn't get to do anything fun last summer. I don't wanna spend another summer cramped in this room.”

”Hey now,” Lars said. ”We went to the beach once, remember?”

”Oh yes, of course I remember.” Julia's eyes turned sharp like knives. ”You mean that one time when I thought we're going to have fun at the beach, but turned you were talking about doing a flipping marathon aaaaall the way to the beach and back!”

”Nah, that's no marathon. It was just like five kilometers.”

”That's marathon enough for me!” Julia hissed. ”Anyway, I'm talking about hanging out for real, not working out or playing Mancers.”

”Well,” Yuel said. ”You have girl friends you can go with, right?”

”You don't get it, do you? Dumbass” Julia puffed her cheeks. ”I wanna go to the beach with-” She paused and threw a glance at Lars, then turned away with a tint of blush on her cheeks. ”Nevermind, forget it.” She dropped again on the sofa. ”Guess we'll just rot in this boring room the whole summer. Great.”

”Welp,” Lars scratched his head. ”I kinda get it. Playing at the same place with the same people kinda burns you out. I wanna keep playing Mancers, but maybe we can make things more fun somehow?”

”More fun?” Yuel asked.

”Ya know, revolutionize stuff. Change the atmosphere. Do some cooler stuff..”

”Hmm,” Yuel pondered. So, Lars meant to keep playing Classmancers but to do so with a novel approach or in a different environment. That's indeed a good way to combat burnout.

Admittedly, Yuel was also getting a little sluggish during this routine. It didn't bother him at all last summer, probably because Classmancers was still new for him. But after spending a whole year playing Classmancers seriously in a club, the game lost most of its novelty.

Interestingly, Yuel didn't feel that way during the year. Everybody had been practicing every day in the clubroom, yet every time felt fresh and new in its own way. Sure, there was some repetition, but it didn't feel this bad.

What was the difference? Why was practicing in the club usually fun, whereas meeting up in Yuel's room was burning them out? It's probably the number of people. They had 15 members in the club, so there was a lot of variety. Team lineups and compositions varied wildly during practice matches and even the roles people played were different. Yuel usually played Support, but sometimes he was had to fill in as a Top Laner or Jungler.

This variety and flexibility of club practice was something this room severely lacked. It's only the three of them here, which wasn't even enough to complete a full team. The only ”variety” they had was when their online teammates stole their main roles, so they had to adapt. But, that always felt like nothing more than an inconvenience.

Another factor that played a role in the burnout was the location itself. Even though the clubroom sometimes felt stuffed because of all the computers, it was rather big and offered a lot of space. Compared to that, Yuel's room felt jail; tiny and restricting.

There was the option of playing in the living room, but he wanted them to take turns playing on his computer so they don't become overused to tablets. Sadly, his computer was in his room. He suggested temporarily moving it to the living room for the summer, but his mom rejected the idea.

So, whoever was going to play from the computer had to stay in Yuel's room, while the rest could play from the living room. Lars said that's silly and beats the entire point of gathering together, and Yuel agreed. Thus, there's no choice but to play together in Yuel's room. Ugh, it's really cramped.

The third factor of note was that there's only one PC here. Lars didn't like playing on tablet because apparently, it's harder to execute his superhuman shots there. So, he brought over a laptop whenever he could. It wasn't exactly optimal because there wasn't much space for a laptop with a mouse, but Lars preferred that over a tablet.

So, most of the time Yuel and Julia took turns playing on Yuel's PC. Julia actually liked playing on tablet and argued she's fine with Yuel always staying on PC, but Yuel objected. Playing on a tablet was a different experience from playing on PC, so it might create some bad habits. Competitors played on PCs during tournaments, so it's important to hone mechanical skill on PC.

[So, what can I do with this?] Yuel wanted to convert his observations into a solution. First, the number of players. The most straightforward approach was to call other club members and play together with them. Especially, Roi and Dan would be great additions because they'd fill in the missing Top Laner and Jungler roles. Playing as a full premade team would also allow them to climb ranks faster, so it's a win-win for everybody.

But, Yuel couldn't possibly call them over. The room was already cramped, so shoving more people in here would make pack them like sardines.

”So,” Lars said. ”How about we play at the club?”

”At the club?” Yuel blinked. ”But it's summer vacation. The school is closed.”

”Is it though? Some srs bsns sports clubs practice during the summer, so don't see why we can't. My basketball club did that in grade school.”

”Hmm, I suspect that'll require getting Burton involved,” Yuel said. For starters, they probably had to get permission from their club supervisor, Mr. Burton. There's a chance Burton will have to be physically present at school to permit this activity, in which case there's no chance. He didn't care about Classmancers or the club. The supervisor role was forced on him and he wasn't particularly thrilled about it.

”Ask him then.” Lars pushed.

”No, he may suspect something. I'll talk to Howard and Aron first. I'm sure they know.”

”You do that,” Lars nodded and clenched a fist. ”Worst case, we'll bust our way in!”

”Yeah, no.” Yuel shook his head. ”You don't want the club to get into trouble, do you?”

”Meh, what they gonna do about it? Probably just scold us or something.”

”You talk like you're a veteran at getting scolded by teachers. Not surprising, with your grades.”

”Weeeeelp, haha.”

Later that day, Yuel called Howard about this topic.

”You want to practice at the club room?” Howard asked. ”Alright, go ahead. You haven't lost the key I gave you, did you?”

”Of course not. Getting in isn't the problem. You sure it's alright? We don't need Burton's permission or anything?”

”Yeah, according to the rules you need him at school to 'supervise' you.”

”Figured...”

”But who cares, right?” Howard chuckled.

”Huh?” Yuel raised an eyebrow.

”Just do it.”

”You telling me to break the rules? Nice start, new cap.”

”Nobody gonna give a shit. Just don't wander around the school too much and you'll be fine. If they question you, tell them you forgot something in the clubroom and came to fetch it. A no-brainer.”

”Can't believe I'm hearing this from the captain. If it were Aron, he'd object for sure.”