"I know Mom doesn't regret a thing about me," that last comment was a low blow so no one was surprised that Key replied but her stable smiling expression took them back
"And, I've always been the family's disappointment, no surprises there," she chuckled and gave the finishing blow to the opponent's base and the word 'VICTORY' flashed on the screen
"I don't know why you hate me, I just did what I want, something I didn't earn out of privilege." Key smiled before waving her hand at the camera
"See you on my next live," she said and turned off her camera, finishing her live
"What's for lunch?" she asked her teammates with a smile
"Are you alright? Those comments were pretty harsh, you know." Alexei said and Key looked at him innocently before nodding her head
"It doesn't hurt much, just the second to the last comment, because that was a low blow." She answered
"So, what's for lunch?" she asked again still as lively as she was that morning, there wasn't any hint that she had just been ridiculed by the viewers of her live moments ago
She was even humming a playful tune softly while walking to the kitchen, unbeknownst to her Rio felt a slight familiarity with the tune she's humming.
He felt like he had heard it somewhere but can't pinpoint where exactly and it somewhat gave him a sense of nostalgia.
"You should have this," Quant gave her the large chicken leg
"Eh~ are you sure about this, Quant?" She asked and Quant smiled
"Okay, thanks!" she smiled and sat down next to him at the table
"You handled that well, congrats," Rasheed said while they were eating and Key looked at him
"Did I apply your lesson well, captain?" she asked and Rasheed nodded his head which made Key smile
"What lesson? Isn't this unfair of you, cousin, you gave her a lesson when you left me alone to strive on my own." Alexei asked in a slightly melodramatic way
"Tss, I didn't teach her anything," their captain replied
"He just answered my question and said that if I could bear the weight of the industry's light, only then will people welcome me the way they welcomed all of you." Key answered and turned her attention back to her food
"By the way, team, let's have a meeting about the line-up after you eat." Bright took their attention and they nodded
After eating, they headed to the strategy area for the meeting. No matter how many times she's been in the strategy area, Key still can't help but feel amazed at the miniature version of the game's map laid out under the glass of the table, also the chibi character figurines on the side of the wall.
To her, this would be her dream gaming area, not that their gaming area is bad, but this is her ideal personal space.
"Now that everyone's here, please look here, in the monitor," Dewy said taking their attention and they looked at the 64" flat screen before them
"These are your gaming statistics," He pointed out the bar graphs under each member's profile
"First off, Rasheed, Opal, and Quant are part of the line-up, no questions asked."
They nodded because in frankly speaking, in that room, their captain, Rasheed, top-laner, Opal, and support, Quant, are the only ones who don't have any competitors to their position in the team so their position in the starting line-up is secured.
"Next, El, Rio, look here," Bright called out the two mid-laners
"These are your statistics," a bar graph appeared and in most of the shinigami used by the mid-laner players, El and Rio's skills are equal
El had a higher ranking with Blitz and Fidens on the graph so when Bright announced El as the one to play in the Autumn Play-off starting line-up, they weren't surprised.
"Congratulations, El," Rio said with a smile
"You did well, Rio," El said and Rio smiled
"As for the two of you, Alexei, Key," Bright called the two off-laners
"Look here," he said and their gaming statistics on all the shinigamis flashed on the screen
The two were almost equal in all aspects and shinigami, if not for Key excelling in Lann, the hardest shinigami to ever control in the game, and Foschia, her favorite, giving her a strong boost.
However, what surprised the rest of the team is when their statistics were then compared to that of the rest of the team.
Alexei's rank was obviously on par with that of the mid-laners, forward, and support as those positions play almost the same shinigami as the off-laners, with the exception of the assassins.
"Oh, so this is what those games were for," Alexei said nodding his head when he saw their statistics
"I had Key and Alexei play as off-laner, top-laner, support, forward, and mid-laner during training in these past few months when I noticed something about their gaming statistic." Bright said
"Wow," they can't help but feel amazed upon seeing Key's statistics on par with almost all of them, even the top-laner's fighter class shinigami
"I so hate Chasseur," Key muttered under her breath when her statistics on the shinigami 'Chasseur' appeared on the screen next to Alexei's
"Huh? Why?" Alexei turned to her
"He's the hardest one to control, Alexei, I can't control him well." She replied and shook her head
"Wow, you're still struggling in that case, huh?" Alexei couldn't help but chuckle at her statement
"So, Key, are you ready?" Dewy asked in a jesting manner and Key nodded her head
"Yes, ready!" she said and kiddingly saluted with the four fingers of her right hand
"Congratulations, Key," Alexei said and Key smiled and placed her hand down
"Thank you for not holding back, Alexei," Key said smiling and they chuckled
"Well then, I expect all of those in the line-up to continue improving your skills and never to miss training, and the same goes to those who are part of the reserved line-up, alright?" Bright said
"Yes, coach," replied the seven JLNC members with a smile
"No one's slacking!" Dewy added in a serious expression but broke into a smile
"Okay, back to training," Bright closed the folder on the glass table and turned to monitor off
They descended the stairs and headed to the gaming area again, they went back to sit in front of their respective monitors before logging into their games.
"How much air time have you accumulated so far, Key?" Quant asked while she's logging in
"Hmm, three hours every day for five days before the photo shoot, although I just did some voiceovers and all that without showing my face, then," Key looked up with her head leaning on her gaming chair, and began calculating how much air time she had accumulated so far, "then after the photoshoot, three hours every day."
"That's twenty-seven out of the 45-hour airtime requirement. Then earlier, I started at around 6:10 and finished at 11:30, that's five hours, so thirty-two hours, I only need to accumulate thirteen hours." She said and turned to Quant
"Shouldn't you lay low for a while, I mean those keyboard warriors are still on the hype and out for you," Alexei asked her and Key smiled before shaking her head
"They can't actually hurt me and as Captain said, only by showing them that I can bear the light of the industry will I prove to them that I deserve to be here." She said with her eyes glued on the screen while smiling innocently
"Besides, wouldn't it be better if I use that to my advantage to show them that I am not just a pretty face?" her smile was innocent but her eyes couldn't hide the glint of mischief glistening within it