Back-To-Back

Back-To-Back

Pandora stared at the television screen without being able to blink; the entire living room was in complete silence. Not even a fly dared to disrupt that moment—at any second, the game-defining fight could happen. She gripped her shirt tightly without turning her gaze away. Her hands were clasped in front of her body as if she were praying, repeating softly: "please, please."

The group of three friends was almost climbing on top of each other from the tension.

That was the last tournament of the year. The ultimate fight everyone spent the whole year playing for.

Hall of Destiny, a 5v5 MOBA game. Currently, the most popular game, and that was the most anticipated final. The world championship. There were other international tournaments during the year, but the world championship was different. Qualification for it depended on the teams' performance throughout the year; additionally, whoever won any other international tournament had their spot guaranteed, and the last regional tournament also guaranteed a spot. The matches were intense, featuring rules, maps, and items exclusive to that period.

That year, Royal Mountain dominated almost the entire scene, losing only the trophy of the second regular phase. And now they were fighting for the back-to-back championship.

Everyone stopped to watch that final, the last game in a BO5. The rules for the final game changed. Hall of Destiny featured six different maps in the world championship, with no repeating allowed between games; the losing team would choose the map, and both teams knew the choice. Except for the last game—the map selection would be random, and both teams would only find out the moment the game started, with no bans and a completely blind pick for champions. It was all or nothing.

— I can't watch! — Pandora turned her gaze to her friend for a few seconds.

Diana and Pandora had known each other since high school; it all started when Diana noticed a keychain of one of the Hall of Destiny characters on Pandora's bag. From then on, their friendship began, and they never drifted apart.

Diana's short hair, which had been perfectly neat before the series started, was now a mess after so much fidgeting from nervousness. She hugged one of the cushions tightly and turned her face away at any change in the game.

— Diana, stop it! Open your eyes! No! No! No! Somar can't die! — The argument stopped before it could even begin.

The decisive fight started with a mistake by Royal Mountain's support. Pandora stared at the screen with wide eyes. The fight unfolded, with ROM trying to hold the line even without their support to heal. The casters' voices were getting louder and louder.

The health bars were dropping lower and lower—another kill for the enemy team, and none for ROM.

— They can't lose now. No, no! — Pandora put her hand to her hair, clutching her greenish strands between her fingers.

The enemy team still had half their health, two ultimates, and only one person had been eliminated. Any attempt to stop them from reaching the base was a failure.

The camera showed the faces of ROM's dead players while the enemy team approached the final objective.

Then, the miracle.

— LUGUS! — The group screamed at the same time.

Pandora stood up from the couch, staring at the screen with absolute attention. The team that previously had four people down now had only one left. S4 was advancing confidently to take down the last objective of the game, but they didn't expect ROM's mage to still have his ultimate, locking the four of them in place and landing the full combo on the enemy team's main damage dealer, eliminating him in one second. With Snowxy's help, Lugus managed to eliminate two more, leaving only the support.

— GO, TELEPORT! WIN THE GAME! — The three friends screamed nonstop, looking at the screen. Diana hugged her cushion tightly, and Pandora paced around the room while staring at the display.

When the enemy base fell and the five members of ROM stood up, hugging and celebrating the victory, the living room exploded in cheers.

— I could kiss Lugus right on the mouth! — Pandora shook one of her friends hard. — WE ARE BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONS!

— Lugus is truly the best in the world. Look how calm he is celebrating, even after saving a disaster. I would be crying on stage.

— Flin, you would be crying just from winning — Diana gave a light punch to her friend's shoulder. — And someone is already crying, even without being the one on stage.

Their eyes turned to Pandora, who was wiping away tears. She stuck her tongue out at her friends, rolling her eyes.

— I am crying, so what! You can't judge me. — Diana brought her hands to Pandora's cheeks, squeezing them while shaking her face from side to side. — Ow! Ow!

— Wow, Dora is such a crybaby.

— Diana!

The celebration of Royal Mountain's victory and Lugus's play lasted for several weeks. In the entire Hall of Destiny community, people could only talk about how Lugus acted even at a disadvantage and secured the title. ROM became the first team to win the world title twice, while Lugus simply continued writing his history as the best player in Hall of Destiny.

The off-season period didn't dampen the fans' spirits; in fact, it only made them more excited. The transfer window—the moment everyone was waiting for—arrived. Fans wanted to see that team together one more time, but it was hard to keep a roster together, especially after winning a world championship. High offers, new talents emerging... but ROM took the risk.

ROM kept their entire roster, and comments on social media exploded. Expectations were high, with people saying they would have a perfect year. If last year they had lost only one title, this year they would win them all.

Then the season started. Pandora was alone this time. Looking at her laptop, it was the start of the first regular phase—three rounds of single games that would determine their placement on the table, which teams should fight for league qualification, and overall standings.

— What? No! No! Why are you guys playing like this? – Pandora fell backward onto her mattress, rubbing her hand over her face.

ROM's first game was against Fear. It shouldn't have been a difficult game. Fear was a good team, but ROM had always won those matches without any trouble. It shouldn't be any different this time.

The end of the first game arrived, but the result was not what was expected. Comments from haters celebrating and fans outraged by the poor performance flooded the livestream chat nonstop.

Pandora stared at her laptop in complete disbelief; it didn't even look like the same team that had won the world championship last year.

— How? — The final statistics showed Fear's victory.

The charts for damage, gold, and objectives were all in Fear's favor. It was as if they had played that entire game alone. The team that had dominated the scene the previous year hadn't even been able to react throughout the whole match.

Diana appeared at the door of Pandora's dorm room, walking in excitedly, and started asking about the game. Diana rooted for ROM, but she only liked watching the matches during international tournaments, so her source of news was always Pandora.

— How many kills did our dear Lugus get in this game? And did we have an amazing play from our...? — Diana looked at her friend's devastated expression and furrowed her brow. — We didn't lose, that's impossible. We never lose to Fear.

Pandora turned the laptop toward Diana, showing that not only had they lost, but they had lost badly.

— Did they put the substitutes in to play? — Pandora pointed to the in-game names, showing that the starters had played. — It was just a bad game. It's the beginning of the season, they must be getting used to the changes, and it was just one game—these things can happen. ROM loses the first game a lot of times in a series. Don't look like you're at a funeral.

The day of the second game came, and another defeat. Pandora grew increasingly outraged to see how that team was playing. Zero team synergy, silly mistakes happening—even the casters were in disbelief at the poor performance.

The last game took place and ended in a victory—a hard-fought victory against a bottom-table team. Comments from fans of other teams said that ROM's bad phase had arrived, while others claimed they had just gotten lucky last year.

For the first time in his five-year career, Lugus was in the relegation zone and would have to play the qualifiers.

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