“My, my~” iled impishly. “It’s impressive that they still keep going.”

  “Shouldn’t we this up already?” Sonya asked. “The longer we drag this out, the riskier it’s getting for us.”

  “Oh, please. This is just our usual strategy, isn’t it?”

  “More like, your strategy. I don’t remember ever advog a strategy that needlessly drags out the game.”

  “My, so rebellious~”

  “No, but really,” Sonya insisted. “Aren’t we dragging this out more than usual? We should finish them off already.”

  “Yeah, !” Ronald tuned in. “We’ve already won, so let’s move to the one! Chop chop!”

  “I agree,” William said. “This is getting tiresome. We could’ve fihis game at least five minutes ago if you just let me push all the way.”

  “Just a liiiiiiittle longer,” Cato said. “We finally got to py det oppos for once, so we have to make sure we crush their spirits VERY thhly~” He smiled like an angel as he said that.

  “You damn sadist.” Sonya made a face.

  “Not gonna lie, dude legit be creepi sometimes.” Ronald ughed dryly.

  “This is just STRATEGY, guys. STRATEGY.” Cato insisted. “You uand, right, Matt?”

  “I guess so.” Matthew shrugged. “I mean, I agree this is getting a little b, but this is an actual strategy. Our oppos are wasting way more energy than us right now. So, if they keep tryharding so much without taking a break, then they’ll wear themselves out.”

  “Yes, yes! Exactly!” Cato nodded. “We’re squeezing out all their mental juices right now. And, if they keep being this persistent, then they’ll be pying like zombies in the games~”

  “Do we really have to resort to such cheap tactics?” William asked. “We’re clearly strohan them even without these me tricks.”

  “My, you’re the st person I expected to hear that from. I thought you’re a big fan of using your smarts to defeat strong oppos.”

  “Yes, emphasis on ‘strong’ oppos. I don’t think Stratus fits that description.”

  “Oh, is that how you see it? Even though you weo-neck with Gunz and lost?”

  “Hmph, I didn’t lose. It was just a matter of not having enough time to adapt. The ime I duel him, I’ll beat him vingly.”

  “My, is that so? Then, I ’t wait to see that~” iled impishly. “Anyways, until that actually happens, I firmly believe we should regard Stratus as a ‘strong’ team. I mean, if our stro fighter ’t beat their stro fighter, then you ’t really say we’re ‘stronger’ on all fronts, you?”

  “I’ll get it do game, mark my words.”

  “I’ll hold you to that. Until then, I’d like to tinue using this long-term strategy and keep wearing down our ‘strong’ oppos.”

  “Tch, suit yourself.” William sighed and didn’t argue any further. In the end, he is right. I didn’t crush Stratus as vingly as I should’ve.

  And so, by the time the debate died out, everybody was ba board with Cato’s long-term strategy.

  Easy. iled to himself. All I needed was for Matt to back me up a little and for Will to step down. That’s how I get myself a ving majority vote. Oh, how I love democracy~

  With William bending the knee, Ronald wasn’t going to objey further either. So, that left Sonya as the sole rebel, but this robot won’t ever object to the majority vote.

  Just like that, the eeam ended up greenlighting Cato’s strategy. No matter how “questiohey sidered it, they were going to keep dragging this game on and on without delivering the finishing blow. It was so much fun~

  I wonder, what’s going to happe? Cato licked his lips. What will you do, my dear Yuel? Will you swallow your pride and surrender? Or, will your team run out of patiend will rebel against you? Either way, it’ll be aertaining show for sure. I’m so gd you’re such a sore loser~

  More often than not, pyers who favored fast aggressive tactics also happeo burn out just as quickly. They started off strong and swift, but they also called it quits as soon as they hit a wall. Essentially, it was “all-or-nothing” for them.

  But, Yuel wasn’t quite like that. Even though he usually sought a swift victory, he was more than ready to py the long game if needed.

  Perhaps it was his chess experiehat taught him the importance of struggling until the very end. Even though many high-level games were practically decided during the mid-game, there were still times whee-game had the st word.

  And, MOBA is even more uable than chess. There’s so mu for human error that anything happen.

  For example, that doofus Ronald might overextend at some point and die. In turn, that’ll hamper the team’s power during team fights, possibly leading to further deaths and to losing trol of the game.

  Just like that, with a simple domino effect starting from one fool’s mistake, the entire game might flip on its head in an instant. And, knowing that such a sario ossible, Yuel had no choice but to keep pying. Giving up wasn’t an option, not in a petitive game. That’s probably what that sore loser thought.

  This is almost as fun as messing with Fiona. iled wildly. Ah, I just ’t get enough of it. Soooo good~

  He literally shook from the ecstasy. The mere thought of toying with Yuel’s eeam like puppets gave Cato shivers of pleasure.

  Oh, this isn’t good. I might get addicted to this~ Cato thought. As Sonya said, if we drag this out for TOO long, then it might actually start getting a little risky. But, this is SO MUCH fun~

  There was nothier than watg a sore loser struggling to the bitter ee impossible odds. And, bonus points when it was a strong pyer, somebody who wasn’t easy to crader normal circumstances.

  But, I did it. I cracked you, Yuel. I did my homework on you and it’s paying off now. It’s just like our chess match~

  Back then, too, e to the match prepared. He knew all about Yuel’s victainst Fiona, so he naturally studied this hreat. At the time, trampling over Yuel sounded about as attractive as defeating Fiona.

  And, it was really almost as fun~ iled from ear to ear. He was just as stubborn as I expected.

  Even oo established a far superior position on the board, Yuel tiruggling until the bitter end. The fact Cato didn’t go for the kill right away enced Yuel to tirugglie how hopeless his odds were.

  Most oppos would’ve given up at that point, especially the aggressive pyers who banked on the mid-game to seal the deal. But, not Yuel. Even though his early aggressiohrough, he tinued fending off Cato’s attacks while desperately searg for an opening.

  As long as your ce of winning isn’t a round 0%, you’ll keep struggling, right? You’ll keep rag your little brain to find some sophisticated solution that might not eve.

  Cato shuddered at the mere thought of this, as it was both exg and horrifying at the same time. It was delightful to force a stubborn oppo like this into such a difficult dilemma, but ost felt bad for the guy. Almost.

  I be a sore loser sometimes too, so I know the feeling. iled wryly. I bet that, in his shoes, I’d be trying just as hard to find a solution. So really, you have my sympathies, Yuel, you really do. So, that’s why I’m going to keep bullying you~

  Truly, there was no greater joy than messing around with strong, stubborn oppos. Creating the most unbearable hell for them was true art~

  So , show me how you pn to end this story. Are you going to submit? Or, to burn yourself out? Or, maybe your teammates will crumble first? Either way, this is going to end in tragedy for you, and I’ll be here to witness it~

  And so, the victim tinued his pointless struggle.

  Will Yuel actually be able to ge anything by fighting until the very end? Certainly not. heless, he’ll keep trying anyway.

  It was a simple matter of his pride as a petitive pyer. As long as the possibility was there, Yuel will refuse to give up. That’s what made this so fun~

  And as expected, under Yuel’s and, Stratus tiruggling on all fronts. They fended off ining attacks and jumped on every opportunity to terattack. But, of course, Cato’s shot-calling shut them down at every turn. He had plete trol over the board here, like an overlord looking down on rabble.

  It was a dead end for sure, yet Stratus tihe futile struggle. And, their endless suffering was soooo sweet~

  DarkestCymore