บท 446: The Meme Is All We Have

[Why now?] Luke shuddered. [Why with this club? I swear this is such a hilarious story.]

After Luke left the tryhard soccer club behind him and decided to become a "casual" player, he ironically found himself closer to the pinnacle of the competitive scene than ever before. The moment he stopped caring about training hard and getting into the first-string, he somehow got promoted into being a key player on a team that had a real shot against the regional champions. It was a pepega story through and through.

[So, WTF am I supposed to do now?] Luke clenched his fists. [I'm already dedicated to being a top-tier memer. That's the only area in which I've been training all this time. Even if you ask me now, I can't revert back to being a tryhard. I don't have it in me.]

Even if he were to start tryharding now, it'd take him ages to catch up to the others with meta classes. Not to mention, his heart will never be 100% into it, which will surely hamper his growth and performance.

So, it was simply impossible for him to go meta at this point. He has come too far to turn back. All the blood, sweat, and tears he went through in order to perfect his memes was not something he could ever discard.

[Even if you give me Shadow Walker or any other "broken" class - I wouldn't know what to do with it. I'm sure I'll perform worse with Shadow Jungler than with any of my memes. Yes, even worse than my spicy Cleric Jungler, heh.]

In the 2+ years Luke has been playing Classmancers, he never bothered to study the top-tier classes that everybody raved about. For him, the only reason to look up tier lists was to learn which classes were reserved for meta slaves and should be avoided by the cool kids. This was probably the opposite of what 99.9% of the player base used tier lists for.

[I just didn't want to feel like I'm tryharding again.] Luke thought. [The whole point of video games is to have fun, not to train to become some sweaty eatsports player. Yet, here I am, playing on the competitive stage in ProCenter and beating up the regional champions...]

This was a joke, a legit one. It was harder to come up with a dumber comedy story than this.

Seriously, how the heck did a memer like Luke end up on a stage like this? It was comedy gold.

Nevertheless, Luke was here at this very moment, so he had to deal with this crap. It was a pain in the ass, but it also felt weirdly good at the same time. The duality of man.

[I don't wanna be a tryhard, but it feels good when I have an important role on the team and get to trash the biggest meta slaves of the region. This is so stupid, haha…]

After coming this far, a part of him wanted to take things more seriously and legit help this team win the whole thing. Like, he wasn't anybody's best friend here or anything, but nonetheless, all these bruhs became an important part of Luke's daily life.

Even though he was just a memer, he developed a sense of comradery with everybody after playing with them on a daily basis. During a match, Luke knew he could entrust his back to his bros. And, the same way he felt comfortable relying on them, he also wanted them to rely on him.

[But, there's nothing more I can do.] Luke smiled wryly. [Sure, I wasn't born a memer, but was molded into one a long time ago, so I'm far too gone. I can no longer return back to playing "normally". It'll take me years to relearn everything about these so-called "meta classes". Bleh. The term alone makes me want to puke.]

He was a memer with tryhard tendencies, but also a tryhard with memeing preferences. And unfortunately, he couldn't do anything to change that.

"I'm sorry to disappoint ya all," Luke finally spoke up. "But, I can't turn into a tryhard all of a sudden. That's just ain't me, ya know? I mean, this team turned out to be surprisingly awesome and I'd really like us to win, but I can't just go meta all of a sudden. Some things are just impossible like that."

"Is it really that hard for you to learn at least one or two meta classes?" Yuel asked.

"Yep, it's mega hard. It's at least as hard as it is for you to learn how to play a meme or two."

"And yet, I [did] study how to play your memes. It was a truly unpleasant experience and I wanted to give up on it many times, but I did it all the same."

"Haha, yeah, that's true..." Luke smiled wryly. [I forgot this guy is like the epitome of tryhard. He's so tryhard that he shit talks my memes but is still willing to spend his time researching them. I can't beat that. I'm not hardcore enough.]

"Welp, you're just something else, man." Luke dodged the confrontation. "Clearly, I'm not on the same level as you."

"Then try getting closer to it, please."

"Nah, it won't happen. Your level of obsession with the game is borderline insanity, ya know?"

"Is it? I think this much is an expected amount of effort for somebody who is seriously aiming to win the regionals."

"Actually, no," Kai interjected. "I don't like doing this, but I gotta agree with Luke on this one."

"Hey!" Luke pouted. "What do ya mean you 'don't like it'? Rude."

"It's because most of your takes on this topic are rubbish. You're the prime example of a lazy bum who doesn't take the competition seriously."

"Hey, hey, I'm not THAT bad, am I? Didn't you see my DK mop the floor with these so-called 'champions'? Just so you know, I've trained hella hard to make my DK work this well. So, you see? I'm working real hard!"

"Sure, sure." Kai rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I reluctantly agree with you that it's unrealistic to hold anybody to Yuel and Lars's standards. They're hardcore on a whole other level."

"Yep, totally."

"I don't like to admit it," Kai testified. "But, even I feel left a little behind sometimes. I already take the game far more seriously than most, but even I can't compete with how obsessed they are with the game."

"Dang, even cap feels this way?" Luke cracked a laugh. "These bruhs are total fanatics, word."

"With that said," Kai stressed. "That's no excuse to not try harder. For example, you could stick around for a little longer after regular training hours. But instead, you always run home straight away as if you have a family with five kids to feed."

"Hey, hey. Even if I tune out early from the club, it doesn't mean I don't practice at home, you know?"

"Oh?" Kai blinked. "Are you saying that you do?"

"Well, sometimes." Luke shifted his eyes away, which made the answer sound dubious at best. "I mean, how do ya think I brought my DK to this level? Tons of secret training, hehe~"

"Seriously? That makes this even sadder." Kai spat a sigh. "So you DO have the motivation to train harder every now and then, but you rather spend all that energy on preparing a meme that you didn't even bother informing us about, just so you can 'surprise' us or whatever. Are you for real?"

"Weeeelp, it does sound a little silly when you put it that way." Luke scratched his head. "But hey, Yuel already chewed me out enough, so yeah, I understand now. It's better to keep you posted on what spicy meme I'm preparing."

"Even before that," Yuel said. "The fact you spend your spare time practicing a meme instead of improving with good classes is a huge problem in itself. Why can't you pour even half of that energy into learning at least one meta class?"

"Bruh, ya always ask me this and I always give ya the same answer. Playing meta just ain't my thing, you know? I can't get myself motivated to learn or play it. So, no way I gonna perform well with any of this shit."

"And as I always say, if you pick a meta class, then at least our overall team comp will be much more stable. But yes, we've had this conversation a thousand times by now, so let's put it aside for now."

"'For now'...?" Luke made a face. "Please don't tell me you gonna keep harassing me about this. "

"Always. Without fail. 24/7."

"Nuuuuuuuuu!"

Yuel and Kai sighed at this response. It was evident that they were going in circles here.

There was simply no changing Luke's attitude right now. And, even if they somehow manage to achieve such a miracle, this hardcore memer didn't have a single meta class he could play on demand. It was a lost cause.

"So, in short," Yuel summarized. "It sounds like we're stuck with Luke as our best option at the moment, and his best options are all memes."

"Yeah, sounds like it." Kai shook her head. "We'll have to wait until Nia wakes up to kick him out."

"Whoa, rude," Luke exclaimed. "You two are bullies, you know that? You're only thinking about how to get rid of me. Scary."

"Is that supposed to be a Nia impression?"

"Ehe."

"EHE TE NANDAYO!?" Vincent shouted some nonsense that only made sense for the memers.

"Anyway," Luke said. "I really don't get why you're racking your brains so hard. I mean, DK is my spiciest meme at the moment, so clearly I should be playing it. It's the same way you make Lars pick Shooter or Slinger when it's available."

"Except, Trickshooter and Gunslinger are actually good classes that can be picked in any comp. But, Dark Knight isn't. It's a class that only works a very specific game plan that's incredibly dangerous and difficult to pull off, especially when the enemy is ready for it."

"Welp, life always gonna be hard, man." Luke shrugged. "So, gotta use the best stuff you got and keep moving forward."

"That's..." Yuel didn't want to agree with anything Luke had to say on this topic, but this particular point was true. No matter how much Yuel ranted about being stuck with an "unreliable Jungler", complaining about it wasn't going to change anything. He simply had to adapt and find a novel way to utilize Luke's trained Dark Knight.

[Though I have to say, he's sure feeling himself after that game.] Yuel frowned. [I'm glad we won, but I feel that outcome will only make Luke more hellbent to continue using memes. Sigh.]

After tasting such a sweet victory, there was no convincing Luke that his memes were ineffective on the competitive scene. After all, the evidence spoke for itself. He used a meme to utterly trash the regional champions. So, what was better proof that his memes were viable?

[Unfortunately for him, there's this little thing called 'adaptation'.] Yuel thought. [Winning one game hardly matters in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure the Leopards already adapted to this lineup. They'll shut us down on the spot if we try to use it again.]

The team won that one game, but at what cost? Now, Luke had even more reasons to never touch meta classes for the rest of his life. This was a rough trade.

[A part of me almost wishes we lost that game, just to avoid this problem. But, I didn't want to lose, so...]

It was quite an internal struggle. Yuel worked very hard to secure the team's victory but there was also a part of him that hoped to see Luke mess up and fail. Crashing and burning should've helped convince that goof to take things more seriously.

But instead, they ended up winning in a very convincing manner. This result placed Luke on a high horse. There was no talking him out of using memes anytime soon.

[At least, it won't happen until he suffers that inevitable defeat.] Yuel thought. [But, I'm definitely not going to arrange something like this on purpose, especially not against the Leopards.]

This scrimmage was already an uphill battle, so Yuel didn't really have the luxury to think about the benefits of losing any games here. Stratus had to keep fighting hard to get these difficult wins.

[At the bare minimum, we have to drag that mysterious Korean player to the stage.] Yuel thought. [If we return home today without achieving at least that much, then that'll count as a crushing defeat for the entire team as far as I'm concerned.]

With all these considerations in mind, it was a bad idea to let Luke pick Dark Knight again. It'll be the same as throwing him to the wolves.

But at the same time, what alternatives did Yuel have?

[None. I have nothing.] Yuel sighed deeply. [After all this back and forth, it seems like I'm back to square one.]

Of course, there was the option of making Luke pick one of his other memes, but most of them were Setup Junglers. Such picks promoted a defensive playstyle, which wasn't the kind of jungling Stratus needed against the Leopards' hyper-defense.

[Especially, if they switch to their other formation, then they'll have much tighter defense on lanes.] Yuel reasoned. [That'll be a nasty formation to break through without a threatening Jungler.]

All this back and forth was starting to turn into a headache. Yuel couldn't believe he was forced into this kind of stupid dilemma, the kind that shouldn't exist on the competitive level.

At this point, after bashing his head against a wall for so long, he actually started to favor a rerun of the Dark Knight Jungler as well. He couldn't believe that he fell so low, but that's how much the situation was forcing his hand.

In the many simulations he ran in his head about today's scrimmage, he never considered a situation like this. He was prepared to use Dark Knight on the stage, but he didn't expect to win in such a pronounced way that made Luke's Dark Knight look good.

This was an unexplored scenario. Yuel needed a few good hours to mull over this problem and simulate various possible outcomes.

Alas, he didn't have such time. He had to make his decision NOW.

But, even now, he still had no conclusive answer on this matter...