Monday arrived. It was the day of the match review.
The night before, Yuel rehearsed the presentation he prepared until late into the night. He memorized all the major details from the Taurus scrimmage and in which order he wanted to go over them.
There were many things to discuss. Hopefully, everybody will stay attentive throughout the entire thing.
The compiled video should help with that cause. It’ll shove everybody’s mistakes right into their faces, to make sure the problems were impossible to miss or ignore.
On top of that, it’ll be great material for them to review on their own in their free time. Truly, this one video will play an enormous role in the entire process. That is, provided Vincent finished it on time...
“I’m terribly sorry!” Vincent opened with this intense apology. “I couldn’t finish it in time!”
“Wha-!?” Yuel jumped. “But, you said you’ll have it done.”
“I’m well aware of the pact I made. Therefore, I must repent by swallowing a thousand needles! I’m guilty as charged! End me now!”
“Ugh.” Yuel gulped.
This was bad. Terrible, in fact. Without the video, the match review was doomed!
How was Yuel going to hold the presentation without the finished video!? Everything he prepared for today was under the assumption he’ll have the finished video at his disposal!
No, wait. Calm down. Yuel took a deep breath.
Yesterday, when he left Vincent’s house, more than half of the video was already done. So, it’s not like everything was lost. In the worst-case scenario, they’ll just have to split the review into two sessions.
Or, if too much is missing, we can postpone the review by one day. Though, I rather strike while the iron is hot. After so many days, everybody might forget what they experienced on stage back on Friday. As such, it was crucial to deliver the match analysis as soon as possible.
“So, how much of the content is missing, exactly?”
“Most of it.” Vincent hung his head.
“... excuse me?”
“Almost the entire video! It’s pure silence! It has nothing!”
“What?”
“The narration! It’s not there!” Vincent facepalmed with both hands in a dramatic fashion. “My grand plan was to narrate each and every segment of the video, but time is a cruel mistress. It didn’t slow down to allow me to do so, not even for a moment. As a result, we’re left with a silent, raw video. I’m terribly sorry!”
“Wait, forget the narration. What about the actual content? Which parts you didn’t put in?”
“Hm? What are you talking about?” Vincent cocked his head. “Obviously, I’ve finished compiling all the parts you requested. However, the narration and music! They’re not there! I’m terribly ashamed!”
“...........” Yuel felt like smacking this clown. The guy almost gave him a heart attack with that dramatization. “So, only the narration is missing?”
“Yes, and some of the music. If you wish to call me a traitor, I’ll understand. After all, I’ve failed you!”
“No, not really.” Yuel shrugged. “I never expected any narration or music to begin with. I just needed you to arrange the recordings in the right order. I trust you did that?”
“But of course. I followed your instructions to a T. I also compiled a separate video for each player, to make it easier for them to find their own plays.”
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“That’s great thinking,” Yuel said. “This way, even lazy bums like Luke won’t have an excuse.”
“Indeed, indeed.”
Yuel opened the videos on the club’s old-gen PCs. The PCs were old, but they were more than enough to run this presentation.
In addition, they connected a projector to the PC. One of the few benefits of their basement club was the easy access to all the random things lying around, such as that projector. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a white screen to project onto, but the white walls of the basement sufficed.
One by one, the club members came in. Kai, Lars, Luke, and Nia. Everybody else was here, except for the usual suspect.
“Looks like Ben won’t be coming,” Vincent informed after checking his text messages.
“Again!?” Yuel ranted. “Is he a member of this club or what?”
“Well, Ben’s situation is a little...”
“He didn’t come to the scrimmage and now he’s skipping the match review. Why are we allowing all of this!?”
Yuel was so busy with the match review over the weekend that he completely forgot about Ben. But, this was a big topic.
Ben skipped on the club’s first scrimmage. Skipping practice was one thing, but skipping the scrimmage as well? And, even the match review? That was too much.
As far as Yuel was concerned, Ben couldn’t be considered a real part of the club at this point. That guy was a parasite occupying a spot that could be given to someone more worthy. This couldn’t be tolerated!
“Relax, dude.” Lars massaged Yuel’s shoulders. “Ya stressing yourself out before we even started. Ya got a meeting to run first, remember? Let’s talk about Ben after that.”
“Guh.” Yuel realized everybody’s eyes were on him. They were all waiting for him to start the match review. “You’re right. My bad. Let’s get started then.”
The pressure must be getting to him. He rehearsed the contents of this presentation many times over the weekend, but delivering them in front of a real audience was a different story altogether. The nerves kicked in before he even noticed.
It’s okay. I’ve done this before. Yuel took a deep breath.
By Aron’s demand, Yuel delivered a couple of presentations like this back in StormBlitz. Looking back on it, that was an unusual responsibility to place on a freshman.
Most likely, Aron was setting Yuel up as a vice-captain already back then. Alas, it was a responsibility Yuel abandoned in order to stand right here, in this godforsaken basement.
But, there were no regrets. Stratus was definitely a team ridden with problems, but it was a small united team where everybody hanged out together. Yes, everybody, save for the one frequent troublemaker...
Okay, forget Ben. Yuel shook his head. This isn’t the time for that. I’ll make sure to interrogate Vincent after the presentation. For now, I have to concentrate on the match review.
“Thanks for coming,” Yuel started out.
“Haha, what is this, a seminar?” Luke laughed.
“Shush.” Kai shot the guy a look.
“Thanks,” Yuel said quietly and continued. “Vincent and I put together this presentation and video. You’ll each get a copy of it, as well as a personalized video featuring your own plays. So, I expect you to review them on your own afterward.”
“Geh, sounds like homework.” Luke made a face.
“Now then,” Yuel continued as if he didn’t hear that. “The purpose of this match review is to analyze the major plays we made, focusing mainly on the misplays that could’ve been avoided. Keep in mind that I’m not doing this to shame anybody, but to bring these plays to everybody’s attention and to make sure we learn from them.”
“In short,” Luke said. “Ya gonna make us look like Bronze players, ain’t ya?”
“It might end up looking that way, so I feel I should apologize ahead of time. I know I can be a little brash at times, but really, all I want is to bring these plays to your attention and help you improve.”
“Indeed, indeed.” Vincent nodded. “Fear not, brave warriors. No matter how many defeats you see yourself suffer in today’s show, you must always remember it’s not the end of the world! What’s done is done. Learn from your history in order to create a better tomorrow!”
“Heh, I bet he spent all night coming up with that one.” Luke snickered.
“Haha, probably.” Lars laughed. “But real talk, my dudes. Don’t worry too much. After you listen to what Yuel has to say, you’ll probably feel like the worst players in the world and you’ll regret all yo life decisions.”
How is that supposed to console them!? Yuel made a face.
“But,” Lars continued. “Just give it a few days to sink in, then you’ll realize everything he said was true and you should learn a lot from it.”
Not the most encouraging of introductions but it’s something, I guess. Any injection of extra “energy” was welcome here, as Yuel was too stoic for his own good. So, it was good to have loud goofs like Vincent and Lars to hype things up.
“So, let’s begin.”
For the next few hours, he’ll be tearing everybody’s plays to shreds and pointing out their gravest mistakes. Hopefully, everybody will take the criticism the right way and will use it to improve, instead of losing all their confidence...