Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.17 Ch.21: Sonya's Stubbornness

"Anyway," Cato said. "As fun as it is to tease you on this topic, we have to move on."

"I'm glad at least one of us is having fun here..." Sonya rolled her eyes. "So, it sounds like you want to suggest something?"

"Yes, we have to decide how we deal with Vanishing moving forward."

"Is there a need to change anything?" Sonya asked. "I made one mistake but I've been doing a good job otherwise, right?"

"Yes, you have," Cato agreed. "But, let's not forget it was the early-game and a fairly tame one at that. There weren't that many distractions for you until now."

"True. Aside from Beat's one unexpected outburst, there really wasn't much."

"And yet, Vanishing still slipped past you."

"Geh..." Sonya walked right into that one. "You just won't give it a rest, will you? As I said, I was just-"

"Preoccupied, right? Even though you've just admitted that the early-game was tame."

"Ah." Sonya stumbled again. It was a masterfully prepared trap, laid right under her nose.

"The mid-game is where I expect things to get chaotic for real," Cato explained. "Of course, our plan is to draw out the game until the late-game and let Matt carry us to victory, but I'm sure Stratus won't play along peacefully."

"Yes, that's my prediction as well."

"That's why, when it comes to a human computer like you who enjoys analyzing anything and everything, I'm afraid you're going to hit one of these 'stack overflow' thingies."

"Are you implying Stratus is going to divide the game by zero?"

"Haha, who knows." Cato shrugged. "I wouldn't put it past them."

"Is that so." Sonya pushed her glasses. "Alright, I understand what you're getting at. You're saying that, since I've already blundered in the 'tame' early-game, it implies I'm almost guaranteed to make another mistake in the mid-game."

"Bing bong! We have a winner! As expected from my smart secretary~"

"Who's a secretary?" Sonya gave him the evil eye but then just sighed in resignation. "Hmm. I still think I'm going to stick to my guns and claim that I can keep track of Vanishing even in the mid-game."

"My, stubborn much?"

"Maybe I am," Sonya admitted. "It just irks me. This whole thing with Vanishing supposedly 'erasing herself' from everybody's minds - it's illogical, incomprehensible. That kind of thing can't possibly exist."

"Yet, you experienced it first-hand in this game."

"I'm not convinced," Sonya insisted. "That was just a mistake on my end. If I didn't get distracted by Beat, then none of that would have happened."

"Don't you think that the very fact it was possible to distract somebody of your analytical level is a testament to Vanishing's impressive skill?" Cato asked. "You were wholly dedicated to that cause of supervising her, yet she slipped right under your nose."

"She didn't really..." Sonya wanted to argue further on that point but she realized it was a dead end. No matter what she says, the fact remains that Sonya lowered her guard against Vanishing. But, whether that was just an innocent mistake or a testament to Vanishing's stealth skills, that part was open for interpretation.

"Alright." Sonya sighed in defeat. "I see you're going to push this narrative no matter what, so I'll bite. Let's suppose Vanishing is a little good at making her opponents pay less attention to her, and let's assume it even works on me to an extent."