481 Nervous First Wave

[H-Here I am.] Ben gulped as he arrived on the lane. [T-This is where the trouble starts for real.] A shiver ran across his arms as he spotted Challenger. His right hand was shaking on top of the mouse.

He was no longer in Kansas, this wasn't an allied territory anymore. Ben was in Top Lane and about to compete with his opponent for lane control!

What's worse, his lane opponent was the one who gave Vincent a lot of trouble in the last game. In fact, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Ben was subbed in for the sole purpose of dealing with this dangerous foe.

[I need to perform at least as well as Vincent did, preferably better.] Of course, Ben was well aware that he was a worse player than Vincent overall. He didn't have nearly as much knowledge, experience, or versatility. Truly, he was interior to Vincent in almost every possible way.

However, there was one particular area in which Ben excelled, probably even more than Vincent did. Yes, even Ben with his shaky self-esteem was able to claim as much.

[I can defend.] Ben thought. [That's what I was subbed in to do, right?]

His job here was quite simple: to protect the lane from Challenger's aggression. And, as far as that specific goal was concerned, Ben might be able to do a slightly better job than Vincent.

[A-At least, I think I have a chance to accomplish it. That is, if I can get rid of all this shaking first.]

Even after he took five deep breaths, his body refused to relax. There was simply too much tension in the air, one could cut through it with a knife.

[The audience is watching, my teammates have expectations, and the enemy is looking for opportunities to end me. Gulp.]

His meager existence was suddenly exposed to so much attention the moment he stepped on the stage. And especially now, with a powerhouse like Challenger right in front of him, Ben felt the pressure beating him down.

[B-But even so, I have to do it!] Ben did everything in his power to convince his shaky body. [B-But the shaking just won't go away. I think I just have to play like this for a while...]

There was no time to lallygag. The first minion waves had already clashed in the middle of the lane, so despite the numerous shivers, Ben had to handle the situation accordingly.

But, what was the right approach here? The enemy was a mighty Dragonborn, one that was capable of stomping even strong players like Vincent. What was Ben even going to do about this mighty foe?

[Sometimes, Yuel criticizes me for not being aggressive enough in the lane. But, I assume this isn't going to be one of these cases.]

This was one of these games where Ben didn't have to worry too much about attacking. Against Challenger, Ben was tasked with only erecting an unbreakable wall of defense. His primary job was to avoid surrendering any lane control to the enemy, that's about it.

[So, I'll make sure to do just that.] Ben nodded to himself. In his mind, he knew exactly what had to be done. However, the enemy had no intentions of making any of this easy.

As soon as the two armies clashed, Challenger charged forth with Draconic Rush, knocking Ben's frontline toward the backline! With all of Ben's minions packed in one area, Challenger unleashed Draconic Flame, slicing through all of them with a blade of fire!

Just like that, with two attacks, Ben's army lost over 60% of its HP. And, Ben didn't even get the chance to lift a finger yet.

[S-So fast and decisive!] Ben gulped. [This isn't going to be easy...]

The enemy was brimming with confidence here. Challenger had no qualms about spending both of his skills right off the gate. Doing so actually put him in a rather dangerous position, but Ben had no way of exploiting it as a Vanguard.

[He knew I won't be able to do anything, that's why he went for this.] Ben thought. [He's aggressive, sometimes even a little reckless, but he knows what he's doing. After all, he plays for the Leopards.]

There were no shabby players on this elite team. The Leopards didn't have any weak players like Ben to drag them down. Each and every one of them was a top-tier competitive player.

[A-And then there's me, who is somehow expected to confront players like this.] Ben gulped. He knew he had to punish the enemy's bold play, yet he couldn't bring himself to lift a finger. The enemy's competitive aura was too overwhelming. There wasn't a single shred of doubt in any of Challenger's moves.

"Ben, you better retreat," Yuel advised.

"Oh! R-Right!" Ben backpedaled from the scene. He missed his opportunity to punish the opponent, so he had to evacuate.

Following the bold attack of Draconic Rush + Draconic Flame, Challenger proceeded to slice and dice Ben's minions. The enemy minions also joined the massacre and eliminated Ben's entire army.

It all happened in a blink of an eye. Ben's mind struggled to keep up with these rapid developments. It's like his brain was frozen.

[T-This is bad.] Ben gulped. [It's been less than two minutes into the game and I've already lost lane control…]

Naturally, Challenger pressed on with his lane advantage. He commanded his army to invade Ben's tower.

[I had one job.] Ben thought. [All I had to do was to protect the lane from things like this. And yet, the game has barely started and I've already messed up…]

At this rate, he was going to do a worse job than Vincent on the defense. The team will lose the entire game because of Ben's blunders!

"Is there a reason you didn't taunt him when he advanced?" Yuel inquired.

"Ah, well…" Ben's eyes shifted from side to side. "I just… Um, I mean… Err…"

"Just to be clear, you knew that using Provoke was the play there, right?"

"Y-Yes! I knew, I just…"

"You got tense, I assume?" Yuel asked. "That's fine. As long as you know what needs to be done."

"Oh, it's…. fine? Really?"

"Well, of course, it's not really 'fine'," Yuel said. "It's never 'fine' to give the enemy any momentum."

"R-Right. I'm very sorry about that…" Ben hung his head.

"But, this isn't the end of the world," Yuel said. "This is only the first wave. What really matters is that you know how to handle this situation next time. As long as you don't let him repeat this routine, then it'll be fine."

"Y-Yes! Next time, I won't let him get away with it!" Ben promised.

"That's good to hear. Though, before that, you still have to deal with the current attack."

"Oh, yes, that's true."

The enemy army was about to invade his tower's area. The minions weren't capable of delivering lethal damage to the tower this early into the game, but it was nonetheless imperative to deny any attacks on the tower.

If Ben allows small hits like that to pass through, then the enemy will slowly but surely grind his tower to dust. It was actually very common to lose towers to small repeated attacks like this.

"You know what to do, right?" Yuel confirmed.

"I think I should stomp them right as they enter the area."

"Yes, that's what you should do. I hope that this time you won't freeze up."

"I-I'll try my best…"

"You can relax, dude," Lars interjected. "It's not like the whole world is at stake here or anything, ya know? Anybody can make a mistake or two, especially in a big game like this. Ya just gotta learn from it and keep moving forward!"

"R-Right, thanks." Ben nodded and took a deep breath. This was probably at least the 27th time he did it today, all in a futile attempt to calm down his nerves. However, this time, it was actually somewhat effective. Lars's words really helped Ben overcome his worry, at least temporarily.

[I was subbed in to defend the lane.] Ben reminded himself. [That's the one thing I have to do well, no matter what. It doesn't matter how strong the opponent is - I just have to do this!]

Ben closed his eyes and hit both of his cheeks. SLAP! There was a loud sound, but probably nobody heard it because of the headphones. And, hopefully, nobody from the audience saw it either because their eyes should be glued to the big screen right now.

[I-It'd be pretty embarrassing if somebody actually saw this...] Ben nervously looked around him for a moment but then returned his focus to the game. This was no time to worry about petty matters like that. He had to fully concentrate on the next wave, which has already arrived in the lane.

[This time, I won't mess up. I know what I have to do.] Ben took yet another deep breath. The fast beat of his heart slowed down a little, but it seemed like he had no choice but to keep playing the game while distracted by all sorts of symptoms like this. This was probably how he had to roll in order to get used to the pressure of playing on the competitive stage.

And so, the next minion wave arrived...