"You're not joking, right?" Louis asked in disbelief after a fleeting moment of silence.
Once again, I shook my head. A smirk still lingered on my lips. "Yohann, use your reversal combo. Make sure to aim it towards Faker. I'll take care of Ice Breaker and assist you with Faker afterward," I briefed Yohann about our new plan and quickly glanced at Louis and Trey to give them instructions. "Faker and Desert King had exchanged lanes. Kill Desert King first and try to hold Alpha Male as long as you can."
Though I could sense their disapproval, Trey and Louis still did their part. It would be easier for them since Desert King's an easy opponent than Faker. The only one who could do immense damage to them was Faker. If they killed Desert King right away, they could focus on dealing with Alpha Male. That way, they could resist him longer.
Executing our plan, Yohann dealt with Faker by attacking with his thunderbolt. Even with the high accuracy of Yohann's aim, Faker almost dodged his bolt, leaving him with only minimal damage. Contrarily, instead of charging at us like Faker, Ice Breaker played safe by staying closer to the tower.
"Coward…" I whispered, out of the blue, and charged at him―luring him to run away from the tower after hitting me with an aimless snowball.
Not so fast. You can't run away from me.
Increasing my APM, I performed five-combo skills in less than two seconds and ended him with my flaming arrow.
"Stryker has slain Ice Breaker."
I clenched my jaw with a grin on my lips and returned to the tower. By the time I got back, Yohann's HP was almost empty. Still, I needed to commend him for leaving Faker with only eighty-five percent left on his HP.
"Zero Killer has slain Desert King."
"Fuck, yeah! Finally! A kill!" Louis celebrated on his own while I stalked Faker from the bushes to remain invisible.
I nodded to myself. That kill would be enough for Louis to regain his composition and do even better. He still wasn't at his peak earlier because he was overwhelmed by Alpha Male. But since his engine was starting to heat, it wouldn't be long 'til his full force was unleashed.
"Dragon Ranger has slain Dark Eight."
Quickly, I glanced at Flint, who seemed very serious. I never heard him speak even once. He was doing great, killing the enemy and destroying the towers in the mid lane, but I needed to quickly give him instructions before our plan went out of hand.
"Flint, you're doing great," I commended him.
He smirked cockily. "I know."
"But you need to slow down…." I smiled a bit. "Let him kill you once."
Flint stopped tapping on his mouse to look at me for a moment. "Are you serious?"
"Told ya!" Louis squeezed through our conversation to make a commentary while his eyes were focused on the screen and his fingers continuously pressing keys. "Our plan for today's game: Suicide!"
I chuckled and looked at Flint again. "I'm serious."
His eyes narrowed while his brows furrowed to show his grimace.
"But don't make it too obvious, or they'll see through our plan." I gave him one last reminder and turned my face back on the game.
"We have a plan?" Flint got lost and even more confused.
Without answering Flint and another word to spare, I jumped out of the bushes and released my poison arrow on Faker. "Yohann, give Faker one last thunderbolt, then recall to replenish your life. Leave him to me."
"Copy that," he murmured, then struck Faker with his thunderbolt as a farewell gift.
While Faker was frozen and vulnerable, I took that opportunity to cast rain on him with my arrows, setting his HP down to sixty percent. If he thought I was already done, well, he thought wrong. With three seconds left in his state of vulnerability, I rewarded him with a better farewell gift than what Yohann gave him earlier—it was a gift of peace and death.
"Stryker has slain Faker."
"That's our captain!" Trey clapped his hands and shouted with so much enthusiasm.
"Alpha Male has slain Phantom Grim."
I gave Trey a look, and he was stunned as he stared at his screen before he shrugged his shoulders and calmly sat down. "Well… It was in our suicide plan to get killed anyway…."
"Uhuh…" Louis' tone was filled with sarcasm. "But you left me alone to deal with this monster, Trey."
"Sorry," Trey apologized right away. "I got excited when Ryker killed Faker."
"Alpha Male has slain Zero Killer."
"Well… Fuck…" Louis calmly cursed when he was killed after trying to fight one-on-one with Alpha Male. "At least I brought his HP down to fifty."
My lips twitched, trying to stop myself from laughing at Louis' funny comments. I needed to focus on the development of our plan. Louis died at the right time. He and Trey were able to hold Alpha Male that long. Once Dark Eight kills Flint, we needed to shuffle right away, so I waited for that moment to arrive―which didn't take long.
"Dark Eight has slain Dragon Ranger."
"Good job, Flint," I simply said while tracking down Alpha Male's movement on the map.
"It's the first time I have heard a captain acknowledging his teammate for getting killed."
As a matter of fact, Flint was right. But it was essential to our plan, so why wouldn't I commend him?
"What the…" Trey trailed off, which caught my attention, so my eyes traveled back to the map just to confirm. "Alpha Male recalled. I almost had him."
I nodded. I couldn't stop smiling anymore.
They already took the bait. It was finally the time to execute our plan.
After taking a deep breath, I started to give out new orders to the team. "Yohann, stay on the bottom lane with Trey. Louis, move on to the mid lane. Flint, be on the top lane with me and focus on Faker." I smirked with a clear mindset and strong conviction to win the game. "And, of course, my last command: Have fun and kill-all-you-can."
My team roared as their morale had been boosted.
"Now, that's what I'm talking about…." Flint whispered to himself with a smile on his lips.
Just like what I expected, Faker and Alpha Male approached the top lane. For sure, they had planned to eliminate me by working together. But with Flint, there was no way they could succeed. Dark Eight remained in the mid lane because he got to kill Flint once—there was no need for him to change lanes. Louis could take care of him since his engine was on full power. And since Yohann already knew how to deal with Ice Breaker and Desert King, he and Trey could easily defeat them.
Fearless Flint aggressively charged at Faker without hesitation, leaving me with Alpha Male. Cocking my head on my right shoulder, I shifted to a comfortable grip on my mouse and placed my fingers on the keyboard properly—getting ready for one-on-one combat with the opponent's best player.
I am Stryker. I play to win, not to lose.
Following my quick mental chant of mantra, I attacked Alpha Male with my arrow spear. He returned a ball of fire, which scratched my HP down to ninety. His accuracy was no joke. It made me even more excited.
Like water flowing along with the movement of waves, my fingers surfed on the keyboard to continuously attack Alpha Male. He was trying to aim at me with his special skill, but I constantly moved in different directions at a speed I knew he couldn't catch up with. But he then released lava, which spread toward my direction. Slightly damaged by it, I was stunned for three seconds, giving him a chance to burn me simultaneously with his ball of fire and flaming sun rays. I kept my HP checked and saw that I was down to forty-five.
I bit my lower lip. I had never been that badly damaged before. In my usual game, my HP wouldn't go down past sixty.
In most cases, that's one of the critical periods when you will start doubting and questioning yourself if you still got the game in your control. And that's also the time you should step up even more, instead of going down the drain and dragging your self-esteem with you. Because once you let those doubts and insecurities eat you up, you already lose the game even before you get killed.
But here's a thing: Losing isn't a part of my life.
I am Stryker. I play to win, not to lose.
When I recovered from being stunned, instead of throwing my arrow spear from a long distance, I jumped closer to his space and stabbed him, giving his HP a drastic fall. He only had twenty percent left. Without mercy, I brought it down to zero as I released my flaming arrow.
"Stryker has shut down Alpha Male."
The corner of my lips rose, and my team cheered like it was their own kill.