Dudes were throwing a party in Top Lane. There were ganks, fights, and kills. It sounded like lots of fun!

Unfortunately, Lars had to miss out on it. While the others were partying in Top, he was pushing Bot all by himself. He demolished the Bot Turrent and continued pushing forward.

He was overextending but it was a safe overextension. Nobody gonna come and gank him from behind since everybody else was busy in Top. This was the perfect opportunity to split-push!

And so, Lars pressed on. After destroyed the Turret, he targeted the Bot Golem next.

This is cool and all, but I wish I was fighting in Top instead. Lars smiled wryly. Taking on strong opponents was way more fun than split-pushing all by himself out here. But, somebody had to do this and he was the best man for the job.

The team was at a disadvantage right now, and this was a golden opportunity to turn things around. Once he destroys the Golem, it’ll put a stop to the enemy’s momentum and will force them on the defensive. That’s when Lars will get plenty of chances to duke it out with strong dudes!

So c’mon, Golem Dude. Let’s finish this real quick. Lars followed his minions into the Golem’s area. He had to shoot down this dude as fast as possible. One “Fan the Hammer”, coming right up!

BAM. BAM. BAM. BAM. BAM. He fired nonstop.

At this stage of the game, Fan the Hammer unlocked the ability to fire five consecutive shots. And, in a few levels, Lars will even be able to fire six shots! And, it could actually go all the way up to seven shots, but that’s only at Lv.20. That’s when Fan the Hammer would become OP for real, but there was still some time until then.

Okay, all of ‘em hit the jackpot! Lars nodded to himself. He successfully landed all five shots on the Golem’s face. More specifically, on the big gem sticking out of the Golem’s forehead.

There was no real point behind it. Headshots didn’t count on the Golem, and there was no need for Lars to nullify the Golem’s resistance to skills at this time. The shots of Fan the Hammer counted as “basic attacks”, so they were already plenty effective on the Golem. As such, hitting the Golem’s core didn’t yield any advantages in this particular situation.

Nevertheless, Lars insisted to nail every shot on that forehead. Maybe it wasn’t important right now, but it’d be critical when he pushes with his teammates.

If I go easy on this one, my muscle memory might go numb. Even though he practiced hitting the Golem’s core almost every day, it’d mean nothing if he can’t nail these shots in a real match.

This wasn’t like a regular daily practice. There was a lot of pressure when playing on the competitive stage and making critical plays. His body had to adjust to all these factors in order to perform as effectively as he practiced.

Therefore, no shortcuts were allowed. He refused to go for the easy shots, especially when there was no enemy defender to pressure him at the moment However, that part was going to change soon enough.

“It appears DragonMaster has recalled,” Vincent reported.

“He’s probably going to defend Bot,” Yuel deduced.

“Okey-dokey!” Lars replied. It was about time. The enemy allowed Lars to parade all over Bot until now, but there was no chance they’ll surrender Bot Golem without a fight.

Destroying this one Golem had the potential to flip the entire game on its head, so of course the enemy had to act. But, no problem! Lars will absolutely destroy the big dude!

Shortly after Yuel’s warning, the Berserker showed up in Bot. DragonMaster came to defend the super important objective. But, this was no reason to stop pushing! Gotta keep going, yooooo!

“You’re not retreating?” Yuel asked.

“I gotta take this Golem out.” Lars continued shooting the Golem nonstop from the edge of the area. Every bullet perfectly struck the gem on the Golem’s forehead.

“It’s dangerous,” Yuel warned. “You better retreat.”

“I can retreat, but then what? What we gonna do next? Defend Top?”

“Well, yes...” Yuel answered reluctantly.

The enemies were still threatening Top with their presence. They weren’t discouraged by StormMonster’s death and continued pushing, no doubt aiming to reach the Golem. They had to be stopped in their tracks.

So, it’d be great if Lars returned and helped out with the defense efforts in Top. But, just as he asked, “what’s next”? How will they win from that disadvantageous position? If all they do is continue deflecting incoming attacks without going on the offensive, they’ll never win at this rate.

Normally, the defending team would be waiting for the attacker to commit a mistake and then mount a counter-attack. However, for that to happen, two requirements had to be met.

First, Stratus’s defense had to be solid enough to outlast the enemy’s pressure. Second, Taurus had to be careless enough to commit a big mistake on the offense.

Unfortunately, neither seemed likely. Stratus’s defense was nothing special and Taurus was an airtight team with few openings. Not to mention, the enemy’s Triangle was incredibly overwhelming.

More than likely, Stratus will cave in to pressure long before Taurus commits a punishable mistake. In fact, that’s exactly how they lost the last two games.

Lars’s concern makes sense. Yuel summarized. If we don’t keep pushing now, when will we?

The situation was turning from bad to worse by the moment. If Lars retreats from Bot now, the team might never get another chance to go on the offensive again. But, was that reason enough to let Lars keep pushing Bot against DragonMaster?

It was incredibly risky. If Lars dies here, it’ll be checkmate for Stratus. The team will have no chance of recovering after losing the Queen.

“I mean, let’s be real for a sec,” Lars said. “Ya really think this dude is good enough to kill me? I think not. But hey, you fought him the most, so you tell me.”

“Hmm...” Yuel mulled over this unexpected question.

DragonMaster was a decent player, but not a particularly overwhelming one. Vincent struggled against the guy a little, but DragonMaster shouldn’t pose much of a threat to Lars. At least, not in a regular duel.

Unfortunately, the current situation wasn’t a duel. Lars had to focus on pushing the Golem while fighting the defender, so the circumstances were playing against him. He was a handicapped challenger.

And yet, despite understanding what kind of situation he was in, Lars still leveled that question. In other words, he was asking how big was the skill gap between him and DragonMaster. Was it big enough to cover for Lars’s disadvantage?

I wish I knew. Yuel frowned.

Accurately measuring player skill under various circumstances was one of the biggest challenges for him as a shot-caller. There was too much uncertainty and too many factors involved in this delicate process.

One of Yuel’s biggest self-improvement goals was to be able to make such calls on demand. Unfortunately, he hasn’t made much progress in that area ever since he set it as a goal. There was no obvious method for improving his skill in this particular area.

Is it something I can only learn by experience? Yuel wondered

Analytical techniques that didn’t have “hard rules” were a pain to study. There was never a “correct” way to master them. They mostly boiled down to “intuition”, which was the result of accumulated knowledge and experience. In other words, vague mumbo-jumbo.

Then again, some people say my shot-calling is just “guessing”. Yuel smiled wryly.

By playing chess for years as a kid, Yuel developed the “intuition” for reading his opponents’ quirks. After repetition upon repetition, he acquired the ability to make educated guesses about his opponents’ mindsets based on how they played. And, when he applied that experience to Classmancers, it happened to work here as well.

But, without all that chess experience, how would he start learning this “intuition” from scratch? Most likely, he wouldn’t have had any clear directions to follow. He’d just have to play many games and carefully observe his opponents. With enough experience and knowledge, intuition will naturally mold into shape.

I guess it works the same way for comparing player skill. Yuel concluded.

So, was Lars strong enough to keep pushing against DragonMaster? Yuel couldn’t find the “correct” answer, and he probably never will. It was all down to intuition and educated guessing.

I’m not sure I have enough experience to make a confident call here. Yuel thought. Or, maybe I’m just lacking confidence? If I don’t start making educated guesses at some point, I’ll never get better at them.

In terms of raw strength, Lars was much stronger than DragonMaster, especially when using a Gunslinger. If they fight each other, it’ll be like an adult fighting a baby. There was absolutely no chance DragonMaster will be able to win.

But, that only applied to a fair. duel Things were completely different during a Golem push. Lars’s decision-making was still rough around the corners and he still committed careless mistakes every now and then, some of which proved fatal. And, a Golem push was the kind of situation in which a little bit of overextension could easily result in death.

Was Lars’s superior skill enough to cover up for that grim disadvantage? Yuel couldn’t answer for sure by himself. But, then he remembered something. There was another player on this team who was good at deconstructing players, but in a very different way from Yuel.

“Vincent, what do you think?” Yuel asked. “Do you think it’s safe for Lars to keep pushing?”

“Oh, you’re consulting moi?” Vincent blinked. “To think there’s a puzzle that can even stump Chessmaster.”

“Sorry, but we don’t have time for that nonsense. Please, just tell me what you think. You also fought DragonMaster, so you should have some data to work with.”

“Hmm. It is indeed a difficult question, one that has been stumping scholars for generations.” Vincent nodded in agreement with the nonsense he was spouting. “In my humble opinion, DragonMaster is a fine warrior, but he is no match for the God of Headshots.”

“Heck yeah!” Lars exclaimed. “I’m tellin’ ya, I got this!”

“However, Chessmaster,” Vincent continued. “You’re the one who played with Gunz the most, and you also fought DragonMaster three games in a row today. As such, if anybody posses the forbidden knowledge here, it should be you.”

“Yeah, I know. But...”

“If you know that much but you’re still reluctant, then you must have specific concerns. You better voice them now, for we humans aren’t gifted with telepathy. We can’t tell what’s weighing on your mind.”

“Fair enough.” Yuel realized he was committing the usual mistake. He was stuck thinking and overthinking everything inside his own head, without sharing his thoughts with anybody.

In situations like this, it might be a good idea to take a page from Vincent’s book and blurt whatever was on his mind. There was no point mulling over this alone.

“I know Lars is stronger,” Yuel said. “But, he’ll be fighting with a handicap while pushing the Golem. One wrong move and he’ll die.”

“A valid concern indeed,” Vincent agreed.

“No problem!” Lars insisted to hang around the Golem’s area, waiting for the next minion wave to lead the way. “I’ll be fine! I ain’t gonna do anything stupid, promise.”

“I wish I could take your word on that.” Yuel sighed. “We all know you sometimes get carried away in 1v1 situations like this.”

“That’s all in the past, my dude,” Lars promised. “Did ya already forget? I’ve been playing lots of Mid the past few months. I admit, I needed some hand-holding at first, but nowadays I’m not asking you for much advice, right?”

“You still ask me what to build every game.”

“Haha, ya got me. But, I’m talking besides builds. Like, about my plays and whatnot. I’ve been doing my own thing for the most part, right?”

“Yes, that’s true, actually...” Yuel didn’t realize it until now because it happened so naturally.

Indeed, Lars stopped asking too many questions about playing Mid. The goof learned how to handle himself alone in lane and his performance has been steadily improving. He could take care of himself just fine without any hand-holding.

Even during today’s scrimmage, Lars held his ground against a strong opponent like Nirvana in Mid. He didn’t ask Yuel for any advice aside from which items to build, as usual. Before Yuel noticed, Lars learned how to play independently and handle difficult situations all by himself.

“Mid was hard as heck at first,” Lars admitted. “It made me realize I was derping a lot. All this time, you’ve been supporting me in Bot and clearing up the messes I made.”

“I’m glad you realized.”

“Haha, harsh.” Lars laughed. “So anyway, without ya in Mid, I suddenly had to deal with lots of stuff myself. I got rekt a lot at first, but it was all good. Thanks to all these failures, I became way stronger! I’m no longer the same Lars I was before! Now, I’m a Super Lars! I can do stuff alone no problem!”

“Such confidence.” Yuel smiled wryly. Was there a limit to Lars’s neverending confidence? No, probably not. This goof probably believed he could grasp the sun if he put his mind to it. That’s the kind of strong-willed player he was.

Should I trust his confidence this once? Yuel wondered.

It was all true, Lars improved tremendously in recent months. And, more than anything, his entire mindset underwent an overhaul. He became aware of the importance of defense and actively worked to improve in that area.

I probably have Ellen to thank for some of that. Yuel smiled meaningfully. It was that trickster fox who forced Lars to realize the importance of making careful decisions. And, playing Mid allowed Lars to practice many situations in which careful decision-making was necessary.

It’s true that Lars hasn’t been making many terrible misplays recently. Yuel thought. He rarely gets carried away and his defense is usually airtight. Even against Trever in the 3v3, Lars held his ground and waited for the right moment to strike. He really evolved, so...

“Okay, I leave it to you,” Yuel said. “If you’re so sure you can handle it, then go for it. We need to take down this Golem in order to win.”

“Aww yeah! Now we’re talking!” Lars pumped a fist.

“Just remember: if you die, we lose the game. No pressure.”

“Haha, works for me!” Lars grinned. “The higher the stakes, the more fun it is!” And so, he stood his ground and waited outside the Golem’s area for the next minion wave.

The enemy Berserker was fast approaching with full HP, ready to tear Lars apart. But, there was no reason for worry. He’ll overcome this ordeal! He’ll destroy the Golem while fending off the Berserker! Believe it, yoooooooo!