The bus arrived at ProCenter.

"Nia, we're here," Yuel addressed the black hairball that was curled up on the chair. "Hey, wake up." There was no response.

"Earth to Nia," Kai joined the effort, but it was to no avail. Rather than sleeping, it’s more like Nia’s consciousness slipped into an entirely different dimension and took a nap over there. Nobody's words reached her. She was slumber incarnate.

"Haha," Luke was getting a kick out of this spectacle. "Hey Yuel, wasn’t it you who told her to take nap? Welp, you reap what you sow. Haha."

"Ugh," Yuel didn't have a retort. Indeed, he was the one who suggested Nia to take a short nap during the ride. It should’ve helped Nia save up energy before the scrimmage.

This troublesome girl was notoriously known for falling asleep around 3 pm every day without fail, even in the middle of club activity. That absolutely wasn't allowed to happen today. The scrimmage was set to begin around 14:30, so it’ll definitely go beyond 15:00. Nia had to stay awake throughout the entire thing. No naps allowed.

So, Yuel tried to prepare for it ahead of time by letting Nia sleep during the ride. However, the idea backfired. Nia was stuck in her infamously uninterruptible slumber before the scrimmage even began...

"Hey kids!" The bus driver shouted. "Are you coming off or what? I'm shutting the doors."

"Just a second, driver dude!" Lars shouted across the bus. "We got a sleepy-head over here!" He and Vincent were standing at the bus doors like guards, preventing the doors from closing. This hooliganism was clearly testing the driver's patience.

"C’mon, Nia," Kai shook Nia’s shoulder.

"Mufu..." Nia produced an alien sound and shook off the intruder. Then, she returned to her silent, peaceful slumber.

Seriously, this girl... Yuel exhaled a sigh. Nia's brain worked in mysterious ways. One moment she could be 100% concentrated on the ongoing match, then as soon as it was over - she shut down like a robot that ran out of batteries.

"How about some chocolate?" Vincent suggested as he scrolled on his tablet. "According to my bottomless sea of knowledge, the first thing Nia always does upon waking up is to stuff herself with a bar of chocolate or five. It must be a spiritual ritual that recalls her soul from the Slumber Dimension and brings it back to Terra!"

"Chocolate, huh," Yuel opened one of the pockets in Nia's bag, the one from which she produced an infinite amount of sweets every day. As usual, the small pocket acted like a gate to another dimension, one that housed an entire chocolate factory in it. Where was she even getting all this chocolate from...?

"Nia, it's a Knickers," Yuel unwrapped the chocolate and waved it in front of Nia's nose.

Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff. Nia's nose reacted to the stimuli. She was like a little kitten considering a meal.

"Am!" Nia bit the chocolate. Slowly, her eyes opened up.

"Good morning," Yuel said. "We've arrived. Let's go."

"Mffmff." Nia nodded while taking small, but swift, bites at the chocolate. Eventually, she rose from the chair. The bus driver was ready to pop a vein at any moment and started walking towards them, so they fled the scene like a bunch of hooligans.

"Man, that driver was about to unleash his ult on us, haha," Luke laughed.

"Dude was legit mad," Lars laughed too.

"Seriously, we’ve just arrived and you're already causing trouble," Ms. Stone glared at them.

"Sorry. Won't happen again," Kai lightly bowed her head. It wasn't her fault, but she had to take responsibility as the captain.

"Hmph, as long as you understand," Ms. Stone scoffed and entered ProCenter. She strode with a confident posture across the various halls, as if she knew the place like the back of her hand.

Ironically, this non-gamer woman was more familiar with this gaming center than the team. She has been supervising the Classmancers club for years now, so she got to visit this place at least thrice a year. Therefore, unlike the awe-struck team members, Ms. Stone quickly traversed the entire place, taking the shortest routes and making zero stops to look around.

"Oh, behold!" Vincent pointed at some arcade machines. "They even got Dekken 8 and King of Warriors 15! Truly, ProCenter is the one and only multi-purpose gaming center!"

"Actually, they got a bunch of those nowadays," Yuel corrected. With the rise of esports, competitive gaming almost became commonplace. To one degree or another, everybody gamed nowadays. Be it video games, mobile games, board games, or even chess.

Yes, ProCenter even had a hall for playing chess. It was smaller compared to many other sections, but it existed and could house at least twenty matches at once. Not too shabby.

Multi-purpose gaming centers like this have been popping up around the country in recent years. Apparently, it was an eastern trend that has been slowly creeping its way to the west. It was the same with how Classmancers was first accepted in schools in the east, only much later made its way to western schools.

Still, little by little, things were progressing. In a couple of years, there were probably be more gaming centers like that in the region. Then, hopefully, teams won't have to ride for nearly two hours in order to hold a scrimmage.

"It's here," Ms. Stone finally stopped and opened a big door. It revealed an empty stadium, with a big stage in the back. It was one of the smaller stadiums in ProCenter, definitely not on par with the ones they used for pro matches. Nevertheless, it was a serious stadium that was used for professional gaming.

Finally, Yuel and Lars climbed all the way up here. This time, they weren't here as the second-string. No, they were the first-string, the main fighting force. And, for all intents and purposes, this scrimmage served as the prelims for the regionals. The fight for the top started here!

"We did it, we got here, yo!" Lars grabbed Yuel's shoulders and shook them in excitement. "We gonna become pros, yo!"

"Heh, that again," Yuel smiled. This secondary stadium was still far from the real pro scene, but it was the closest they’ve ever gotten to their goal. They'll start by conquering the scrimmages, then conquer the regionals, and finally win the nationals. At that point, they'll surely catch a glimpse of the pro scene.

"Your waiting room is here," Ms. Stone led them behind the stage after exchanging a few words with some man, probably the organizer for the scrimmage.

"Please be ready on stage five minutes before the match is set to begin," the man stopped to instruct them. "And, make sure to keep your room just the way you got it. I'll be checking it after the scrimmage."

Everybody nodded in understanding and entered the room behind the stage. It was spacious enough to accommodate at least ten people, with some comfy sofas and a big table in the center.

"Make sure you don't litter," Ms. Stone also warned them. "They check the rooms before they let you go. If they don’t like what they see, they'll keep you here to do the cleaning work."

"Bleh, sounds like a pain," Luke made a face. “Make sure y’all behave, guys.”

"That's all," Ms. Stone headed to the door. "From here on out, follow the referee's instructions. I'll be staying at a nearby Cafe. Call me if there’s any trouble."

"Got it," Kai nodded.

"Good luck out there. Don't feel too bad if you lose. That's up to par for this club." She said something rather insulting with an innocent shrug. Then again, given the club's past records, such low expectations were perfectly normal. Stratus was the biggest underdog of the region for years. Little did Ms. Stone know that this year will be different.

"We not gonna lose," Kai proclaimed. "We'll take the regionals this year, just you watch."

"Bold words. I'll believe it when I see it." On that note, Ms. Stone left.

"Calling dibs on the sofa!" Luke darted across the room and leaped on the big sofa chair, the only one of its kind here. The sofa sank a little under him, making it look like he was floating on water.

"Tch, I wanted that one," Nia muttered. That chair looked so comfy. She could easily have a comfortable nap over there. So... comfy.... zzz.

"Did you just fall asleep while standing?" Yuel questioned.

"Ah!" Nia jumped. "N-No such thing! Nothing to see here. Move along."

"Seriously. How can you still be sleepy? You just slept for over an hour during the ride. "

"That didn't count."

"Excuse me?"

"It wasn't that comfy. I'd give that sleep a 4/10."

"Is that so," Yuel grumped. Turned out his master plan wasn't very effective. Even after sleeping for so long on the bus, this girl was still somehow sleepy. In fact, she was sleepy enough to almost fall asleep while standing.

"Are you going to be okay?” Yuel asked. “The match is starting in ten minutes."

"T-Ten minutes..." Nia clammed up all of a sudden. "Oh, I feel even sleepier now. Yeah, so sleepy. Zzz."

“Could it be you’re nervous?" Yuel asked.

"Zzzzzzzz."

"I know you're awake," Yuel pinched her cheek.

"Aiya!" Nia jumped like a kitten splashed by water. "It hurts."

"Just to make it clear, you're not trying to bail out at the last moment, are you?"

"N-No way,” Nia answered in a very unconvincing tone. “That huge scary stage didn't scare me even one bit. Yeah."

"So, you are nervous," Yuel sighed. "That’s normal. I also barely slept the night before my first scrimmage. But, this time it was much better. You get used to it."

"Yeah, I'll overcome it. By sleeping!" Nia already laid down on the big sofa.

"No,” Yuel retorted. “You'll overcome it by playing matches and getting used to the atmosphere."

"Goodnight. Zzz."

This girl will be the end of me. Yuel sighed deeply. "Kai, can you please handle this troublemaker? Hm? Kai?" The captain was nowhere to be found.

"With my Information Blackhole, I can tell that nature has called her," Vincent explained in a needlessly roundabout way.

"Is that so," Yuel twisted his lips. I hope she returns soon. She’s pretty much the only one here who can force Nia to move.

"By the way," Yuel started. "How are you doing? Nervous?"

"Nervous? Such a cursed word doesn't exist in my dictionary," Vincent waved his hand. "I'm more than prepared to set foot in the realm of gods and fight to the death!" Despite claiming so, his right leg was shaking wildly, like a rocket that’s about to take off.

"There's no shame in being nervous," Yuel said. "Everybody is like that on their first time."

"Oh, so even the poker-faced, steel-hearted, Chessmaster experienced the horror of nervousness on his first scrimmage?"

"N-No, not really," Yuel shifted his eyes away. "I just figured it's a common thing"

"Ya dudes all gotta relax," Lars placed his hands on Yuel's shoulders and delivered a DEADLY BONE-CRUSHING massage.

"Guh!" Yuel jumped. That grip must’ve dislocated his shoulders! It broke his back!

But, it only hurt at first. A couple more seconds of that superhuman grip and it actually started feeling good, relieving some invisible weight from Yuel’s shoulders. Lars's deadly massage was actually fairly effective, as long as one could survive it.

"Oh! I know, I know!" Lars jumped around like an excited puppy. "Let's do dat cool thing they always do in other sports! Ya know, where they gather in a circle and yell motivational stuff."

"Is that really necessary?" Yuel frowned.

"That's a brilliant idea!" Vincent nodded repeatedly. "A huddle is the perfect way to instill the team with motivation and confidence! That's why it's so common in other sports."

"Yeah, I also read something to that effect, but..." Yuel cast his eyes downward. He never actually got to experience anything like that himself. That's a given, considering he could never get into any competitive sports teams until he discovered Classmancers.

"Okay, let's do it," Yuel said. It sounded like a barbarian practice, but it was popular in other sports for a reason. Classmancers was a team sport like any other, so they should get the same benefits from huddling, whatever they were.

"But, what's the speech?" Yuel asked.

"Kukuku," Vincent cackled. "No idea! That's up to Kai to figure. She's the captain."

Somehow, I don't see her as the type to deliver any grand motivational speeches...

"It's okay!" Lars proclaimed out of nowhere. "Ya just gotta yell some stuff that sounds cool and everybody gonna get pumped! That's how we did it at the basket club. Stuff like 'We gonna take the world championship, yooooooooo!'"

"Pft," Yuel produced a muffled chuckle. The image of Kai shouting that line flashed through his mind. It was one of the most bizarre pictures ever. No way that'll happen.

A few minutes before they had to head out, Kai returned and the trio shared their idea with her.

"Huddling, huh," Kai pulled her cap downwards. "Do I have to? Just get pumped on your own."

"No can do, cap," Lars insisted. "Ya gotta tell us we gonna win and stuff!"

"Indeed!" Vincent followed up. "The Captain class gives you the power to bend reality to your will with mere words! Shall you breathe your ideals into words, they will be unleashed onto the world!"

"I'm not exactly a fluent speaker..." Kai's words trailed off. Her cheeks turned a little reddish. Damn, just when I finally calmed down.

Can it be she's also nervous? Yuel wondered. Thinking of it, aside from being crowned with the title of the "captain", nothing about Kai made her particularly special compared to the rest. Just like everybody else, this was her first official match. She also needed a morale boost.

"Hey, Lars," Yuel spoke up. "Maybe you should handle it this time? You were the captain in the basketball club, so you got some experience with it, right?"

"Yeah, I can do it no problem," Lars turned to Kai. "Ya fine with that? I mean, it should be the captain's job and all."

"Yeah, I give you permission to handle it," Kai lifted her chin in a self-important manner. Phew, bullet dodged.

"Okay, let's gather, everybody!" Lars called everybody to the center of the room. Nia was still in a half-asleep mode, so Kai dragged the sleepyhead over there.

They formed a circle and hunched a little, all following Lars's example. It made them look like a baseball team before a match. It was kinda awkward, but it was an interesting experience in its own way.

"Okay, my dudes!" Lars boomed. "It's our first scrimmage and all. Ain't nobody seen how good we are yet. The world ain't ready for this smoke, yo! Let's go out there and kick some fine ass! We gonna beat these dudes, then the regional, then the nationals, the world cup, and even the galaxy cup! Let's go, yooooo!"

"YOOOOOOO!" They followed up on the catchphrase and thurst their hands toward the ceiling. It was embarrassing but it somehow felt right in the heat of the moment.

"Gufu, my ears..." Nia shook her head and rubbed her sleepy eyes. The thundering yell slapped her awake.

"Okay, let's go," Kai walked ahead of the team. There was no longer any trace of hesitation or nervousness on her face, and the same applied to everybody else. Right now, she was looking like a confident captain that everybody felt comfortable following. Lars's silly over-the-top speech worked wonders.

And so, Stratus set out for its first official scrimmage. Everybody, even Ms. Stone, thought this team will crash and burn like in previous years. However, they will be proven wrong. The Stratus of this year was nothing like the bottom tier team of the past. They'll debut with a blast and take the world by storm! They'll prove they had more than enough skill to compete even with the powerhouses of this region!