"Matt, you haven't talked much in this meeting,” Rodriguez said. “Do you mind answering Ron’s question? Tell us what was the big difference between how Ron and Will played."

Do I have to? Matthew made a face. What a drag...

But, orders were orders. Matthew more or less understood where the coach was going with this, so yes, he could answer. It was just a pain to do so.

"William cooperated with the team’s defense plan for the most part, and he also got some kills along the way,” Matthew said. “Meanwhile, Ronald just... did whatever he wanted, basically. Sometimes he went along with the plan, other times he did the complete opposite and disregarded his safety."

"Correct, that about sums it up." Rodriguez nodded. "Ron, you said that following the team’s plan was the ‘mature’ thing to do, but it seems like your inner brat took over midway. You couldn’t stay ‘mature’ for the entire game"

"I dunno, I think I was pretty mature about how I did things," Ronald insisted.

"Does having more deaths than kills count as 'mature' in your eyes?"

"Geh.” Ronald groaned but didn’t concede just yet. “T-That's just how things turned out in this one game, yeah. But, next game will be different for sure...!"

"I believe nothing exemplifies your bratty behavior better than the desperate attack you launched on Vanishing while she was deep inside enemy territory. That was the epitome of your recklessness."

"But hey, I got the kill!"

"And, you also died, if I recall."

"Ugh..." Ronald lowered his head for a moment but soon bounced back. "But, that kill was totally necessary, right? I mean, I took down that darn Vanishing, of all people! She was the biggest thorn at our side the entire game."

"That was just your way of getting revenge for all the times you were forced to retreat in the lane because of her, wasn't it?"

"Maaaaaybe~" Ronald rolled his eyes up. “I mean, she has been giving trouble to the entire team, right? Like, she's the main reason we had to stay on guard all the time."

"Yes, it seems she did play a major role in that decision,” Rodriguez said. “Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, it is,” Cato affirmed.

"Right?” Ronald nodded. “So, I had to take her down and give us some freedom. I did it for the team!"

"Or, so you say," Cato interjected. "I'm pretty sure you just wanted to sate your own bloodthirst."

"Nah, bruh. I totally did it for the team! I had to free us all from that suffering!"

"But, as I told you before, Vanishing's threat level was going down as the game went on,” Cato explained. “The closer we all stuck together, the harder it was for her to get any kills."

"Hmm. Yeah, that makes sense to me."

"But, remind me, what did you do instead of sticking with the team?” Cato asked. “Oh, that’s right, you dove headfirst into enemy territory in order to fight Vanishing."

"For freedom and justice!"

"For brainless self-satisfaction, more like. You completely disregarded our entire game plan with that one play."

"Yeah, well, I guess it was a little extreme, haha." Ronald laughed dryly. "But hey, I got the kill! It’s the only kill we ever got on her!"

"I did kill her once in a team fight," Willaim corrected.

"Oh right, you did, bro.” Ronald nodded. “But, anyway! Mine was the first kill we got on that dang ghost! It was a game-changer!"

"No, it wasn't," Cato said matter-of-factly. "We just traded one-for-one."

"A hero for a ghost!"

"An idiot for an assassin," Cato corrected. "Though, I admit, it would have been a nice play if you had gotten away alive."

"Which I almost did!"

"But didn't."

"Ugh.” Ronald’s shoulders slumped. “Seriously, do you have to be such a wet blanket about it?"

"Why yes, I have to. Otherwise, none of this will get through your thick skull."

"Rude."

"In short," Cato summarized. "That kamikaze play you did was totally uncalled for. Stratus had the advantage at the time, so exchanging kills greatly favored them."

"How so?"

"I explained that to you earlier…” Cato sighed. “Oh, right, I forgot I was dealing with a literal baboon here..."

"Whoa, whoa! Insults, much?"

"Yes, that was uncalled for," Rodriguez agreed. "Not everybody is well-versed in such high-level considerations. As the captain, you should strive to fix your teammates’ issues, not ridicule them."

"Right, my bad~" Cato gave a half-hearted apology. "Alright, I'll teach you the ins and outs of this topic later. Expect a five-hour lecture on the topic."

"Haha...” Ronald laughed dryly. “Can I refuse?"

"Absolutely not. Right, Coach?"

"Indeed." Rodriguez nodded. "This is an important game theory topic.."

“Ugh, fine…” These two aren’t humans, they’re lecture demons! Yes, demons, I tell you!

“Anyway, that’s how it is,” Cato summarized. “That kill wasn’t nearly as beneficial as you think. On the other hand, your death was detrimental to the team.”

“Oh c’mon, it wasn’t that bad, was it?” Ronald insisted. “Sure, I understand that game theory or whatever suggests that trading one-for-one is not great for the team at a disadvantage, but that’s all there is to it, right? I doubt it’s THAT big of a deal.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"The point is that it IS a big deal," Cato argued. "It’s a much bigger deal than you seem to realize. Every unfavorable trade like that made it so much harder for us to catch up."

"In fact, it's more than just that," Rodriguez added. "It also threw the team's game plan into disarray."

"Meh, that sounds like an exaggeration..." Ronald said so, but he wasn't so confident after seeing that the coach was dead serious.

"Remind me," Rodriguez said. "What was the team's game plan, again?"

"Well, it’s more Cato's plan than the team’s, really."

"It doesn’t matter who suggested the plan, the fact remains that the entire team was sticking to said plan. At that point, it became the team's plan."

"Eh, fair enough," Ronald conceded. "Welp then, the team's plan was to wait it out and play defensively until late-game."

"Correct. And, what exactly does ‘playing defensively' intel?"

"Eh, like, turtling? Retreating a lot? Minimizing risks, stuff like that."

"Yes, that's correct, broadly speaking.” Rodriguez nodded. “So, tell me, should a game plan like this prioritize minimizing deaths?"

"Yeah, I guess it should…"

"And yet, despite being a part of a team that decided to follow such a game plan, you acted recklessly across the board. Do you not see a problem with that?"

"Weeeell..." Ronald was starting to see the bigger picture, as much as he didn't want to.

"You were like a cog that didn’t properly align with the rest of the machine, making all of it creak,” Rodriguez said. “It threw off the entire team’s balance."

"Hmm." Ronald knotted his brows. This was a heavy topic he couldn’t fully digest in just a couple of minutes. He needed more time to properly think about this accusation in order to determine whether it was justified.

"I'm sure everybody agrees that you caused us a lot of problems." Cato roped everybody into the discussion. "Ronald's recklessness made it difficult for all of us to make good defensive team plays, right?"

"Definitely," Sonya responded. "Defending with four players is that much harder than doing so with five. This forced us to spread ourselves thin, which led to further deaths and disadvantages."

"Dang..." Ronald smiled wryly and looked away. Sonya isn't pulling any punches, huh. And, unlike Cato, I know Sonya isn't the type to say things like that just out of spite. I bet everything she’s saying is "facts and logic" as far as she's concerned.

Maybe, just maybe, Ronald was really underestimating the impact of his actions. He knew all along that his occasional recklessness didn't quite mesh with Cato's boring game plan, but he didn't realize it affected everybody this much.

Sounds like I might've really played a big part in why the team lost so badly. If so, that's really awkward...

All he wanted back then was to get rid of the biggest enemy threat. Cato and Sonya were too preoccupied with that one phantom girl, so Ronald felt like he had to smack her down.

Buuuuuuut, I guess I also wanted to score some kills to compete with bro. Ronald finally admitted, at least to himself.

"Okay, I get it,” Ronald conceded. “Looks like I did cause a lot of trouble without realizing it. Sorry about that."

"Instead of apologizing," Cato said. "I'd much rather prefer if you promise to work on this issue so you won’t repeat the same mistakes."

"Yeah, you're right." Ronald nodded. "It's a promise then! I'm going to get WAY better at this!"

"Do you mind elaborating on what you mean by 'this', exactly?" Rodriguez requested.

"Eh, like, I haven't really figured out how to call this yet, but 'team synergy', I guess?” Ronald scratched his head. “Basically, making sure I don’t get in the way of the team’s 'game plan'. At the very least, I should avoid straying from the plan as much as possible."

"You should avoid that 24/7," Cato insisted. "Just stick to the plan like a good boy."

"That's an exaggeration," Rodriguez objected. "No game plan is perfect. There are always exceptions to the rule, including situations in which risky aggression is perfectly justifiable even within the scope of a defensive game plan. For example, Will understands how to balance the two very well."

"Fair enough," Cato conceded on that point. "In short, strive to become more like your older brother, kid. He’s someone who does his own thing almost all the time, but he still cooperates well with the team."

"Yeah, of course he does, he’s a pro!" Ronald exclaimed. "All along, my goal has been to become an awesome player just like him!"

"You often say that, but your playstyles couldn't be more different."

"Welp, yeah, we do kinda play differently,” Ronald admitted. “It’s always been that way, even back in Tennis."

"So, I say it's time for you to put your money where your mouth is and actually emulate some of your brother's finesse, don't you think?"

"You betcha!" Ronald pumped a fist. "I'mma make sure bro teaches me all the details about how he played this game so well!"

"Oh my," Cato directed that at William. "Looks like you’ve got yourself a pupil~"

"Thanks a lot..." Willaim made a face. He wasn't thrilled about this idea at all, for many reasons. But, this was what the club and coach desired from him, so he better comply. "Fine. I'll tutor him on this game."

"You're the best, bro!" Ronald gave a thumbs up. "But don't worry, you won't need to teach me that much. I’ve already figured the gist of it, so next game, I gonna be a hundred times better!"

"That is, if you're even going to play in the next game," Cato pointed out.

Throughout the entire conversation, a pair of sharp eyes had been spearing everybody. It was the Emperor, applying pressure from across the room. And, he deemed this his cue to step forward.

"I play next game," Jin said. "That is what we promised."

"True, we did," Cato admitted. "Which means, I must boot somebody out of the team. My, I wonder who it's going to be~"

"Just boot yourself, bruh," Ronald suggested. "It gonna make it hella easier for us to play when you don’t shove your annoying 'game plans' down our throats, haha."

"Very funny." Cato smiled but not really. "Anyway, you're out, Ronald. Bye-bye."

"God dang it! Oh well." Ronald resigned to his fate. He had always known that he was playing here on borrowed time, so this wasn’t anything new.

Still feels bad, though. Ronald sighed. Like, the only reason I'm not considered a “proper” member of the team is that I'm a junior. But, the funniest thing? They’re kicking me out, but subbing in a freshman instead. Life is so unfair sometimes…

In the end, skill triumphed over everything. The Emperor was younger than Luke, yet also stronger than him in practically every way. So, as much as this substitution irked Ronald, he couldn't bring himself to object.

And so, Ronald stepped down from the team like the outcast he was, giving way to the Emperor.

"Disappointing game," Jin said. "I thought you were confident about winning."

"We sure were," Cato said. "But, they caught us off guard with that one tricky play in Mid. Stratus really outdid themselves in this game."

“You made more mistakes than that, as Coach explained.”

“Yes, we didn’t play perfectly,” Cato admitted. “But, we’re only humans, you know? Everybody makes mistakes. But, don’t worry, we’ve learned many important lessons there. We’ll do way better in the next round.”

“I hope so.”

It’s not like Jin particularly cared about the team or how these mediocre players performed. It’s just that, unfortunately, his ticket to the pro scene was currently tied to this lowly team. So, when the team looked bad, it made Jin look bad as well.

Though, depending on how I look at this development, it might actually be favorable for me. Jin thought. “Stratus managed to push the Leopards to a corner”, that's probably the image most people have of this scrim right now. So, if I manage to single-handedly destroy that weak image, it’ll give me a good chunk of credit points.

If the Leopards thoroughly destroy Stratus in the final game, it will highlight Jin's contribution. Everybody will understand that subbing in Jin made a huge impact, proving just how far above the competition he was.

So, I can’t just play to win. Jin asserted. I have to thoroughly crush Stratus.

With that conviction in mind, Jin joined the Leopards for the fifth and final game.

The end was nigh for Stratus. What little fame they gained today with their shallow trickery will evaporate without a trace after this game.