Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story

Vol.5 Ch.4: Can't Go on the Offensive

『An ally has been killed!』

For real? Julia blinked. Roi? Beaten by that loser? Oh, it was a gank. That made more sense. After all, there's no way Roi would lose against that loser GG.

But, this isn't good. Are they gonna focus Mid next? Okay, on the bottom half everybody is in place. On the top side... missing. Julia knotted her brows. Taison didn't stay in Top to push the undefended lane. Meaning, he was either counter jungling or... he gonna gank Mid!

Julia immediately turned around. Dying right now would be the worst. Lars did a great job gaining an advantage in Bot, but Roi totally blew it in Top. So, now the kill count was 1-1 and each team dominated one lane. If Julia dies now and loses Mid, she'll be blamed for losing the entire game and everybody will point fingers at her. Lars will hate her! Nuuuuuu!

Nope, not having any of that. Back, back, back! All the way to the tower! Gilbert was kinda running out of steam anyway, so he'll retreat any-

"Excuse me!?" Julia blurted. That stupidface didn't retreat! He advanced instead! Even though Gilbert only got like 30% HP and 25% MP, the guy was acting like he was all that. The nerve!

Okay, let's see how long you dare to stay here. Julia activated Whirlwind to summon raging winds in the center of the enemy wave. Of course, she didn't miss the chance to hit Gilbert along the way. Unfortunately, he dodged the spell after being hit by just a single tick of damage. Can't you play like Bronze sometimes? Stop being good at this game.

But, of course, Gilbert gotta be good like that. After all, he was StormBlitz's Mid Laner, at least for now. If Julia just scores a kill on him...!

Take that! And that! Two basics, two misses. Grr, that slippery bastard! Gilbert stayed just close enough to be within Julia's attack range, but also far enough to quickly step out of it. It's like he had a sixth sense to tell delicate border between the two. Did he have a uni degree at "Spacing" or something? Jesus.

Worst of all, Gilbert refused to budge. He stayed on the offensive even though he was running low on HP. It's as if he was asking to get killed. Like, seriously, did he think Julia won't dare to rush him?

You won't attack. Gilbert confidently pushed forward. Going on the offensive with 30% HP was normally against his better judgment, but there was an exception to everything. One such exception was Julia's extreme tendency to stick to defense, even to turtle if necessary.

Julia already displayed her strong intent to stay on the defensive in the previous game. She remained on guard that entire game, even though she was playing an aggressive class like Electromancer. And, this game, she went for Aeromancer, which told she was fully committed to the defensive game plan. It was just like Howard briefed them: Julia only played defense.

Therefore, Gilbert extended more than usual into enemy territory. He put aside his balanced playstyle and went full offense to pressured Julia with everything he had. Thanks to that aggressiveness he shaved the Mid Turret's HP, little by little. These small pushes stacked up to sizable damage and gave Gilbert a big lead in term fo Turret health.

So, even now with just 30% HP, Gilbert pushed hard. Every little bit of damage to the enemy Turret will go a long way. In addition, this may tempt Julia to go on the offense and then...

Darn it. Julia twisted her lips. She couldn't do it after all. To punish Gilbert for this overextension, Julia will have to fully commit to the offense. But, there was the risk of getting ganked by Taison and besides, going on the offensive for real required her to... Ugh, she couldn't do it. Julia had to stay on the defensive, there had to another way to punish Gilbert.