CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! Thunderous applause roared from the audience.

“Whoa, this is harsh, haha...” Ronald cracked a dry laugh as he glanced at the audience. “I mean, I know that most of these guys are probably not here to watch us win, but damn. I thought we were more popular than that, haha...”

“Hmph.” William scoffed. “They're just celebrating the fact the underdog won, nothing more. It’s not like they’re happy about our defeat per se.”

“Yet, they do scorn us indirectly,” Sonya said. “Essentially, they’re saying it was a miraculous win by Stratus and that we, as the supposed regional champions, messed up big time.”

“Hmph. You’re free to interpret it in any way you want,” William said. “I wouldn’t take it so seriously, personally.”

He said that yet his fists were clenched underneath the table. Even though he understood that the applause was primarily aimed at Stratus and that it didn’t intend to attack the Leopards, it didn’t make him feel any less irritated by the situation.

So, this is how applause sounds to the top dog when they lose, huh.

Until today, William had never experienced such a situation. In most tennis tournaments he found himself as an underdog, so there wasn’t much reason to clap for the winner when Willaim lost.

However, every once in a while, he successfully toppled the crowd favorite contrary to everybody’s expectations. Sometimes this earned him loud applause, celebrating that his hard work bore fruit. Frankly, moments like that felt great for him as the underdog.

But, what about the crowd favorite who lost the match? How did he feel about that applause? William never bothered asking such questions because it wasn't his concern.

But this time, he found himself on the opposite side of this scenario. His team was the crowd favorite and yet they lost terribly to a barely functional meme team. And so, the crowd’s loud applause no longer invoked any positive feelings.

On the contrary, it felt as if everybody was sneering at the “champions” who couldn’t even defeat the “weakest team in the region”. It was a truly aggravating experience, so much so that it felt reasonable to outright ban this kind of behavior during competitions.

Well, I personally can handle this, but I’m not so sure about the others. William glanced at his teammates in order. They’re not looking good. This might affect our morale for the upcoming games.

The applause washed over everybody like a destructive tsunami. Nobody could possibly stay indifferent to it.

Ronald was forcing himself to maintain a smile but that smile was fragile. As much as he claimed that he enjoyed the thrill of this challenge, he definitely didn’t imagine the team could possibly lose any games here today. That surely must have changed his entire perception from “fun” to “aggravating”.

Unlike him, Sonya didn’t even try to hide her displeasure. She knotted her brows and wore a stern expression. “I can’t believe we’ve actually lost to this game” was written all over her face

Much of what transpired in this game must have gone against Sonya’s understanding of proper game theory. This game denied many of the things that Sonya believed were absolute about Classmancers.

As for Matthew, it was difficult to tell what he was thinking about this turn of events. He rarely expressed any emotions beyond calling things a “drag”, so if he had any strong feelings about this defeat, then he was bottling them very convincingly.

And then, finally, there was Cato. As the captain of the team, he must’ve felt the blow stronger than anybody. Especially, considering he promised the team an overwhelming victory in this second game.

And, he probably meant every word of it. Cato really planned to go against his usual twisted nature and wrap up this game properly without dragging things out.

It was a serious promise that lifted everybody’s spirits after the previous game. It reassured them that Stratus only came close to winning the first game due to Cato’s unnecessary stalling.

And, this second game was supposed to prove that. By winning convincingly without any stalling, the Leopards should have proven to everyone that Stratus was no match for them.

It was reassuring at first, but now it’s coming back to bite us. William frowned. I’d be lying if I said I’m completely unaffected by any of this. We came into this game with high morale and a lot of conviction, so that’s why this result hurts as much as it does.

To add insult to injury, their opponents were using an extremely off-meta lineup, almost a laughable meme. Yet, Stratus utilized these unconventional tools almost perfectly, kicking the Leopards off the high horse.

And boy, what a high horse it was. Falling to the ground from that height almost crushed their souls. Yes, it was that painful, even for William.

And, these were just the members’ feelings. How did Cato, the captain, feel about all this? How was he going to deal with this depressing outcome?

I have to say, I don’t envy him even one bit right now. William thought. It’s during situations like this that I’m reminded of why I passed on the opportunity to become the captain. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in his shoes right now.

Was Cato strong enough of a man to withstand this pressure? Or, will he crumble along with the rest of the team?

The fate of today’s scrimmage might as well be resting on his shoulders right now. If he succumbs to despair like the rest of the team, then he’ll drag down the morale along with him. The team will start underperforming left and right, leading to terrible results.

Well, I suppose that subbing Jin in would save our arses if push comes to shove. William thought. But, I’m sure nobody wants things to reach that point.

Adding Young-Jin to the roster was as good as admitting defeat. It was a last resort that should only be employed against the strongest of teams, in situations where victory wasn’t assured. It’s not something that’s supposed to happen against a team like Stratus.

Alas, at this rate, the chances of Young-Jin subbing in were only increasing. In fact, the guy will surely voice his displeasure with the team’s performance once they come off the stage. He had an almost religious obsession with “saving face”, so he probably saw this defeat as an absolute disgrace.

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But in the end, whether any of that comes to pass was up to Cato. If he crumbles apart like the rest of the team, then nobody will have the willpower to stop Young-Jin from forcing his way in.

Perhaps, some team members would even find relief in that. With Jin on the team, victory will be all but assured.

But, was that really something anybody here wanted? No, of course not. Relying on Young-Jin was as good as using hacks in a game.

The Leopards came here today to fight and win on their own merits. They didn’t want to coast to victory on the back of some monstrous Korean player.

Everybody here was a good player, therefore they should have no problem seizing victory against a team like Stratus.

But, somebody has to reassure the team that this is still the case. William thought. Can you do that, captain?

William has been staring at Cato for a while now, practically drilling a hole through the guy. So far, there was no hint of the captain taking any action.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

Amidst the thunderous applause and the team’s dejected looks, Cato remained silent in his seat. He stared vacantly at the screen in front of him.

『DEFEAT』

The red words were still smeared on his screen, refusing to fade away. They insist to remind Cato that his team, the supposed “regional champions”, had just suffered an embarrassing defeat.

This is... Cato chewed his lips, unsure how to reorganize his messy thoughts.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! The noise didn’t help him either. In fact, it felt like it was knocking on his head, trying to crush his skull.

Heh, you lot must be thinking that this is some juicy entertainment, aren’t you? Cato tried to form his usual cynical smile but he struggled to do even that. My, I can’t even put on one of my fake smiles? What is the world coming to? It looks like I’m more shaken by this than I thought...

No matter the obstacle, no matter the magnitude of the defeat - Cato was always supposed to maintain a smile. As long as he smiled, he could fool himself into thinking he wasn’t bothered by any of it.

What’s more, smiling in the face of defeat often irritated the winner. It usually angered them or creeped them out. It was usually such a delightful sight~

Yet, Cato struggled to put on such a smile at the moment despite how important it was.

This isn’t just about fooling myself this time. Cato glanced at the rest of the team. This time, I need to fool a bunch of people all at once.

As expected, a heavy atmosphere was weighing down on the entire team. Frustration was eating away at everybody’s souls amidst the loud applause.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! The people from the audience just refused to shut up. It felt like this applause has been going on for an eternity and more. There was no end to it.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! The loud noises hammered on everybody’s heads. Everybody lowered their heads to some degree or another, as if unable to bear the heavy hits of the audience. Morale was at rock bottom.

But, I’m not allowed fall down like this. I’m the captain, the overlord of this little army. Cato asserted. Normally, it’s a cool position of authority that gives me many privileges, but sometimes it comes with caveats like this, too. In dire situations like this, I’m the one who’s obligated to stay on his feet and exhibit confidence, or else I won’t be worthy of wearing the mantle of a captain.

Last year, Jennifer (ComboBreaker) in particular excelled at jumping back on her feet from any misfortune. The girl could convince literally anybody, even a random passerby, that her team was absolutely going to grasp victory.

At first, she did it as the captain of the second-string, and later she continued doing that even after she joined the first-string. Jennifer’s conviction in victory bordered on madness, but it did a great job of boosting the team’s morale through the roof

Likewise, Tim (Fenrir) was just as good at keeping his teammates on their feet. Though, in his case, it’s more like he was a fearless beast who couldn’t even comprehend the concept of being overwhelmed by the enemy.

Yes, Tim was the type to instill terror in his foes, not the other way around. So, under the leadership of such an unshakable monster, it was no surprise that the rest of the team was filled with confidence.

Then, what about Cato? Could he also put on such a strong front in order to reassure his teammates that everything was alright? Was he also the same kind of strong leader that everybody could rely on?

Sadly, I’m not as good as these lunatics. Cato admitted. But, in the same way Jenny had her fanatic belief in victory and Tim was a fearless monster, there are some things that only I can do.

And, one of those things was the ability to smile no matter the circumstances and to spout playful nonsense to alleviate the atmosphere. This was an armor Cato created for himself many years ago, back when he was suffering many defeats against stronger chess players.

Out of the many coping methods he tried out, smiling and acting playful were the most effective. Even after a crushing defeat, being all smiles allowed Cato to psychologically retaliate against the winner and undermine their victory.

And, that’s what I have to do here as well. Cato pressed his hands against the table and pushed himself upwards.

His body felt like lead. Either he weighed a ton all of a sudden, or his arms had no strength in them.

Regardless, after a short struggle, Cato successfully rose up. But, as he tried to gain stable footing, the noise from the crowd almost knocked him over again.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! The loudness was threatening to beat him down, but Cato endured the humiliation and straightened his back.

My, this is sure harder than I expected... Cato twisted his lips over and over, trying to form the smile he wanted.

It was supposed to be the ever-familiar smug smile. He had done it countless times before. And yet, at the moment, Cato found it difficult to replicate.

Nonetheless, after enough attempts, he succeeded in recreating the smile. He felt that his lips finally curved just the way he wanted them to. Slowly but surely, he was putting his usual armor against the suffocating atmosphere.

But, that alone wasn’t enough. This time, the goal wasn’t just to irritate the winner.

The entire audience was on Stratus’s side, celebrating the unlikely victory. In other words, Cato’s “enemies” were the crowd itself.

Therefore, just smiling a little wasn’t going to counter this powerful force. Likewise, it wasn't going to be enough to lift the team's spirits.

I have to make it clear to everybody that this game’s result is not a big deal. Cato looked at his own palms. Can I really do it, though?

In reality, he was probably more frustrated than anybody else about this outcome. He was the captain who promised the team victory, reassuring them that Stratus was easy prey as long as Cato didn't drag the game out for his personal entertainment.

But now, that very speech came back to bite him.

As promised, Cato restrained himself and didn’t stall at all. In fact, he didn’t get an opportunity to do so, not with how aggressively the enemy had been playing.

So, the Leopards couldn't blame the outcome of this game on Cato. They felt as if they had lost this match fair and square.

Furthermore, this outcome cast a shadow of doubt on the result of the previous game. It surely made some of the members wonder whether they truly stomped Stratus in the first game.

And now, Cato had to do something about all this mess. He had to act the part of the captain and reassure the team once again that everything was fine.

If he fails to do so, then the team will end up carrying these scars into the next games as well. Surely, the lack of morale and the negative thoughts will make them underperform.

At this rate, losing to Stratus might end up becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more the team members will keep doubting their own skills, the less likely they’ll be to utilize them fully.

To counter all of that, Cato joined his palms together. This was the only solution that came to mind.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

He joined in on the audience's applause...