Rise

“WOOT WOOT! The championship is ours! WOOT WOOT!” “YEAAAHHHH! Sing with me, bros! CRUSH! Crush every enemy! AND SEAL! Seal our victory!” “Good job! You guys were all amazing! I’m so happy!” “That was a great game! BunBun and Lin Feng’s perfect synergy carried us to the win. We might actually win this thing! We’re going to be the Champions of Shanghai!”

Liu Yue, Yang Fan, and Ren Rou were rooting for High School 13 to win, while Ouyang cupped his hands around his mouth and sang a victory song. High School 13’s students in the audience fell silent, listening to the two team members and looking at the victory crest on the large screens above the stage. The last hints of anxiety and fear that their club was going to eventually screw up disappeared and was replaced with boundless joy. Lin Feng and An Xin had done it! The magic couple had not only won Game 3 in the Finals and brought High School 13 to championship point, they’d also torn Shanghai High School apart at the seams! They left nothing of them whole!

“WE WON! We’re going to win! We’re going to win!” “Hahaha! With Lin Feng and An Xin, no one can beat us!” “Look at Zeng Rui! Just look at him! We’ve won! Hahaha!” “He looks like he saw a ghost! Man, he must be feeling shitty!” “Lin Feng and An Xin are our magic League couple! WOOT WOOT!” “CRUSH THE ENEMY! SEAL OUR VICTORY! Let’s fucking goooooo!”

✹

Shanghai High School’s team retreated backstage after Game 3. But even here they could still hear the audience, a thousand voices booming in their ears. They could even feel the floor shaking from the audience jumping up and down. Zeng Rui looked at his teammates and said, “I need some silence. I need to think.” Never in his wildest dream did he expect to find himself in this position. We’re losing. We’re going to lose! I’m losing to that thundering dumbass! How can this…

Zeng Rui shook his head until all distracting thoughts were gone. He sat down on a fold-up chair. Then he placed his elbows on his knees and rested his head on his hands. Think. Think! He rubbed his temples, focusing only on the game ahead of him. The external stimuli disappeared. His teammates disappeared.

Zeng Rui found himself in a dark space with only himself. How did it get to this? I need to think of something to deal with those two… But we dragged out the previous game just so I could think of how to deal with them. I couldn’t think of anything! I always know how to win. There is always a way! How are they… What are they… His head was throbbing and his eyes were bloodshot. He could hear his teammates talking again and the faint sound of the audience in the background, but he ignored them. He grabbed his phone and started searching the internet. I need to find something. Maybe if I… He didn’t even know what search terms to put in, or where to look. He sighed and put his phone back in his pocket. We can’t deal with them. I can’t deal with them. They’re too good together. How are they so good?

A tournament official walked up to Shanghai High School’s team and informed them that the next game was about to begin and that they had to go back up on stage. Zeng Rui nodded and looked past the official. He saw the audience roaring and cheering outside. He didn’t want to go and he could tell his teammates didn’t want to go out there either. But they had little choice. Zeng Rui took two deep breaths, then raised his head and looked at his teammates. “We’re not giving up. This next game is ours. I’ll tell you guys how as we go. Let’s get back to the computers.” I still have time. Walk slowly to the stage. Take our time in Champion Select. There’s still time to think of something. There must be something we can do, right…?