The energy in Axiom Netcafe had transformed completely. What started as casual tournament atmosphere had become electric anticipation. Every seat in the spectator area was occupied, with people standing three-deep along the back wall. Ethan could feel the weight of their attention even before the match started.
"Center screen privileges," Marcus said, trying to keep his voice light despite the visible tension in his shoulders. "No pressure, right?"
"Just another game," Riley said, but even her usual calm had an edge to it. She was clicking through her champion mastery pages repeatedly—a nervous tic Ethan was beginning to recognize.
Jake said nothing, but his jaw was set, eyes fixed on his monitor with laser focus. Sophie had her headphones on early, blocking out the noise, her breathing measured and deliberate.
The projection screen displayed their team name alongside their opponents: **Mixed Bag vs. Shadow Protocol**.
Diana's voice came over the loudspeaker: "Players, you have two minutes to enter champion select. Spectators, please silence your phones."
The crowd complied, but the anticipatory murmur continued—a low, constant buzz of conversation.
"They can't repeat that performance, right?"
"Shadow Protocol won't make the same mistakes Nebula Rising did."
"I heard Shadow Protocol's jungler, NyxDarkness, is ranked in the top 200 nationally."
"This is where we see if Mixed Bag is real or just a lucky game."
Ethan pulled on his headset, adjusting the mic. His hands were steady—steadier than they'd been in years. In his old world, this kind of pressure would have crushed him. The eyes watching, the expectations building, the fear of proving everyone right that he wasn't good enough.
But here, in this world where everyone already expected him to fail, the pressure felt different. Liberating, almost. He had nothing to lose and everything to prove.
"Ready?" Riley asked, her voice coming through comms.
Four responses, crisp and determined:
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Let's do this."
The champion select screen loaded.
---
Shadow Protocol appeared in the lobby—five names that Jake had already researched: NyxDarkness, StormChaser, CelestialBlade, SilverArrow, and MoonlightGuard.
"They're no joke," Jake said, his screen showing a detailed spreadsheet of their statistics. "NyxDarkness has a 67% win rate on aggressive junglers over 200 games. StormChaser mid has the highest DPM in the regional amateur scene—623 damage per minute average. Their bot lane has been playing together for eighteen months."
"What's their weakness?" Ethan asked.
Jake hesitated. "They play aggressive early, but they have poor objective control in the mid game. If they don't snowball a lead by fifteen minutes, their win rate drops to 43%."
"So we survive their early aggression and punish their macro play," Riley summarized.
"Easier said than done," Sophie spoke up quietly. "StormChaser is known for roaming. I'll need jungle proximity to avoid getting caught."
"I'll be there," Ethan said.
The draft phase began. They were red side this time—second pick, but last counter-pick advantage.
"They get first choice of strategy," Riley noted. "Let's see what they show us."
Shadow Protocol immediately banned three champions: **Kaelen the Shadow Assassin**, **Lee Sin the Blind Monk**, and **Graves the Outlaw**—all aggressive, mechanical junglers.
The crowd reacted immediately.
"They banned Kaelen!"
"They're targeting Ethan specifically."
"Smart. Don't let him repeat that performance."
Marcus leaned over. "They're scared of you, man."
"Good," Ethan said calmly. "Fear is useful."
Mixed Bag banned in response: **Syndra the Dark Sovereign**, **Akali the Rogue Assassin**, and **Zed the Master of Shadows**—high burst champions that could delete carries.
Shadow Protocol's first pick locked in immediately: **Elise the Spider Queen** for NyxDarkness.
"Aggressive jungler, early game focused," Jake confirmed. "Expected."
Riley thought for a moment, then made their first pick: **Jarvan IV the Exemplar of Demacia** for Ethan.
The crowd murmured their approval.
"Jarvan—solid pick."
"Not as flashy as Kaelen but still mechanically intensive."
"Good team fight presence with his ultimate."
The draft continued in careful escalation:
Shadow Protocol: **Orianna the Lady of Clockwork** (mid), **Jax the Grandmaster at Arms** (top)
Mixed Bag: **Ahri the Nine-Tailed Fox** (Sophie, mid), **Shen the Eye of Twilight** (Marcus, top)
Shadow Protocol: **Kai'Sa the Daughter of the Void** (ADC), **Thresh the Chain Warden** (support)
Mixed Bag: **Ashe the Frost Archer** (Jake, ADC), **Leona the Radiant Dawn** (Riley, support)
The compositions were clear now. Shadow Protocol wanted to dive and pick off targets with Elise, Orianna, and Thresh working together. Mixed Bag had built a composition around engage and lockdown—Jarvan, Shen, and Leona could layer crowd control while Ahri and Ashe provided damage from safety.
"It's a team fight composition," Riley said with satisfaction. "If we can group properly, we win."
"Big if," Jake cautioned. "They're going to try to catch us out before we can group."
The loading screen appeared, and Ethan took a deep breath. On the projection screen above, their champions loaded in, five versus five, the audience watching every detail.
"Okay team," Riley's voice came through, measured and confident. "They're going to come hard early. Ethan, play safe for the first few minutes. Don't give them the kills they need to snowball."
"Agreed," Ethan said. "I'm not the win condition this game. We are."
The gates opened.
---
The first five minutes were a chess match played at breakneck speed.
NyxDarkness on Elise was everywhere—showing in top lane at 2:45, appearing bot at 3:30, contesting Ethan's red buff at 4:20. The pressure was relentless, forcing Mixed Bag to play defensive, to second-guess every move.
"She's good," Marcus said, barely escaping a gank top with a sliver of health. "Really good."
"Tracking her is impossible," Sophie added, forced to use her Flash early when StormChaser on Orianna roamed up with Elise for a diving attempt.
The crowd was engaged, leaning forward in their seats.
"Shadow Protocol is showing why they're established."
"This is different from last game. Mixed Bag is on their back foot."
"Can Ethan carry again under this kind of pressure?"
At 6:15, disaster struck. Jake got caught out bot lane—Thresh hooked him, Kai'Sa followed up, and despite Riley's best efforts to peel, their ADC died.
First blood to Shadow Protocol.
The spectators reacted with a mix of satisfaction and disappointment.
"There it is. Reality check."
"Shadow Protocol is too coordinated."
"Mixed Bag can't handle this level of aggression."
"Stay calm," Riley's voice came through comms, steady despite the setback. "We scale. Just farm and survive."
But Shadow Protocol wasn't giving them time to scale. At 8:30, they caught Marcus split-pushing, collapsing on him with four members. He used his Stand United ultimate to try to save Jake in a bot lane skirmish, but it left him vulnerable top. Another kill.
At 10:45, StormChaser caught Sophie in mid, her Orianna ultimate perfectly placed. Elise followed up with her cocoon. Kill number three.
The gold difference swelled: 2,100 in Shadow Protocol's favor.
The crowd's mood shifted noticeably.
"This is more what I expected."
"Shadow Protocol is taking them apart systematically."
"Ethan can't carry every game. The team gap is too big."
Ethan felt the pressure—not on himself, but on his team. He could hear the frustration creeping into their voices, the mistakes compounding because of urgency and desperation.
"We need something," Marcus said, uncharacteristic tension in his voice. "We can't just bleed out like this."
Ethan checked his items. He had his core jungle item and was working toward his second major item—**Black Cleaver**. Not optimal yet, but functional.
He looked at the map, studying patterns. Shadow Protocol was playing aggressive, yes, but aggressive with purpose. They were rotating as a unit, never catching just one person but always collapsing with numbers advantage.
But that aggression had a cost—they were prioritizing kills over objectives.
"Dragon is up in one minute," Ethan said. "They're going to try for it because they have pressure."
"We can't contest," Jake said. "They're too far ahead."
"We don't contest," Ethan replied. "Riley, come with me. Everyone else, push your waves and pressure towers. Make them choose."
"Split pressure?" Riley caught on immediately. "We trade dragon for towers?"
"We trade dragon for time. And then we set up for the next play."
It was a calculated sacrifice. Shadow Protocol took the dragon at 12:30, as expected. But Mixed Bag pushed down two towers—top and mid—forcing Shadow Protocol to respond, pulling them out of their aggressive positioning.
The crowd noticed the shift.
"Wait, they're not fighting for dragon?"
"They're taking towers instead. Smart macro play."
"They're slowing the game down. Buying time to scale."
At 14:00, with Shadow Protocol trying to push their advantage, Ethan made his move.
He had been tracking NyxDarkness, studying her patterns. She was aggressive but predictable—always pushing for the same angles, always confident in her mechanical superiority.
When she appeared bot lane, Ethan was already there, waiting in the bush. As Elise went in for her cocoon on Jake, Ethan's Jarvan emerged with **Golden Aegis**, shielding through the damage, then followed with **Demacian Standard** and **Dragon Strike** combo, knocking her up.
Riley followed with her Leona engage, locking Elise down. Jake, who had been bait, turned and unloaded with Ashe's **Volley** and auto-attacks slowed by her passive.
Elise died in the 2v3, and suddenly Shadow Protocol was the ones caught out of position.
"THEY GOT NYX!" someone in the crowd shouted. "The shutdown gold!"
700 gold for killing the enemy jungler who had been on a killing spree. The gold swing was significant.
But Ethan wasn't done. "Marcus, TP bot. Sophie, push mid and rotate. We're taking this fight."
What followed was organized chaos. Shadow Protocol tried to retreat, but Mixed Bag collapsed on them with perfect coordination. Marcus teleported in on his Shen, taunting CelestialBlade on Jax. Sophie arrived with Ahri, landing her **Charm** on StormChaser. Riley and Ethan layered crowd control while Jake provided consistent DPS from range.
Three kills for Mixed Bag. Zero deaths.
The spectator area exploded.
"WHAT A TURNAROUND!"
"That's the Mixed Bag from game one!"
"Ethan just outplayed the early game aggression!"
"They set that up perfectly!"
The gold difference evaporated. From 2,800 behind to only 300 behind in one team fight.
"Good call," Riley said, genuine respect in her voice. "That was perfect patience."
"We're back in this," Marcus said, energy returning. "Let's go, let's go!"
The game shifted. Shadow Protocol, confident in their early lead, now found themselves on even footing. And Mixed Bag's composition—built for team fights and scaling—was starting to come online.
At 18:30, they took their first dragon. At 20:45, they secured Baron when Shadow Protocol tried to contest but couldn't match their team fight power. Jarvan's **Cataclysm** ultimate trapped three members, Leona's **Solar Flare** stunned them inside, and Orianna's ball—carried by Shen—unleashed a devastating **Command: Shockwave** that dealt massive area damage.
Four kills. Baron secured.
The crowd was on their feet now, the earlier skepticism completely gone.
"THEY'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO WIN THIS!"
"From 2,800 gold behind to 3,000 ahead!"
"This is insane macro play!"
"Mixed Bag is REAL!"
At 26:37, with Baron buff empowering their minions, Mixed Bag pushed down mid lane as a unified front. Shadow Protocol tried to defend, tried to find picks, but Mixed Bag played it perfectly. They moved as one unit, vision control preventing flanks, crowd control chaining whenever Shadow Protocol tried to engage.
The final team fight happened at the inhibitor. Shadow Protocol had no choice but to fight or lose. They committed everything—Elise diving the back line, Orianna flash-ulting for a desperate multi-person knockup, Thresh trying to hook priority targets.
But Mixed Bag was ready.
Marcus absorbed the engage with Shen's **Spirit's Refuge**, blocking auto-attacks. Riley peeled perfectly with Leona's full combo. Ethan created a zone of control with Jarvan's ultimate, splitting the enemy team. Sophie darted in and out with Ahri's mobility, dealing damage safely. Jake, positioned perfectly, landed a cross-map **Enchanted Crystal Arrow** that stunned both enemy carries.
Ace.
Nexus towers fell. The Nexus itself cracked, then shattered.
At 28:14, **VICTORY**.
The spectator area erupted in genuine, unreserved celebration. People were jumping, shouting, phones out recording the final moments.
"MIXED BAG WINS!"
"THEY CAME BACK FROM A HUGE DEFICIT!"
"THAT'S TWO-ZERO! THEY'RE GOING TO SEMIFINALS!"
"THESE GUYS ARE LEGIT!"
Ethan pulled off his headset, exhaling long and slow. His hands were shaking slightly now—not from nerves, but from the adrenaline comedown.
"Holy shit," Marcus said, laughing in disbelief. "Holy shit, we actually did it. We came back from that!"
Riley was beaming. "That was clean. That was textbook team play."
Jake nodded, a rare genuine smile on his face. "Optimal. That's the word. We played optimally under pressure."
Sophie, quiet as always, simply gave Ethan a high-five. "Good calls."
The post-game statistics appeared on the center screen:
**Ethan (Jarvan IV): 3/1/11 - 68% Kill Participation**
**Team Gold Comeback: 2,800 deficit converted to 3,200 advantage**
**Vision Score: Mixed Bag 142 - Shadow Protocol 87**
The crowd read the numbers, and the respect was palpable.
"Sixty-eight percent kill participation. He was involved in almost every kill."
"The vision score difference—that's why Mixed Bag won."
"They outmacro'd Shadow Protocol completely."
"This wasn't individual talent. This was team play."
Shadow Protocol's members stood from their station, walking over to shake hands. NyxDarkness, the jungler, looked at Ethan with a mixture of frustration and respect.
"You baited me bot side," she said. "I thought I had you. That was... really well played."
"You played great early," Ethan said sincerely. "Made us work for it."
She nodded, then hesitated. "Are you really... I mean, how long have you been playing seriously?"
"Recently," Ethan said. "Just recently got serious about it."
NyxDarkness studied him for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Well, keep going. You're good. Really good." She glanced at his team. "All of you are."
It was genuine respect—competitor to competitor, regardless of gender. Ethan felt warmth spread through his chest.
As Shadow Protocol left, the spectator area remained packed. No one was leaving. They wanted to see who Mixed Bag would face in semifinals.
Diana Rivers appeared again, her tablet showing the updated bracket.
"Congratulations, Mixed Bag," she said, and there was no skepticism left in her voice—only professional respect. "You're in the top four. Thirty-minute break, then semifinals."
"Who are we facing?" Riley asked.
Diana smiled. "Phantom Edge. They just finished their match—beat Crystal Gaming 2-1. And..." she paused for effect, "the other semifinal is Eclipse Nova versus Starfire Academy."
The crowd reacted immediately. Those were the two favorites—both established teams with tournament experience.
"So if we win," Marcus said slowly, "we face either Eclipse Nova or Starfire Academy in the finals."
"When we win," Ethan corrected with a small smile.
Diana raised an eyebrow. "Confident. I like it. Phantom Edge is good though. Don't underestimate them." She turned to leave, then stopped. "Oh, and Ethan? There are some people who want to meet you after the tournament. Scouts. Recruiters. Just FYI."
She walked away, leaving them processing that information.
"Scouts?" Sophie said quietly. "Already?"
"Two games," Jake said, analytical as always. "Two very different games—one mechanical carry performance, one macro and team play showcase. That's diverse skill demonstration. Of course scouts would notice."
Marcus was grinning ear to ear. "Dude, we're getting NOTICED. Do you know how insane that is?"
Riley was more cautious. "Don't get ahead of ourselves. We still have two more matches. Let's stay focused."
But even she couldn't hide the excitement in her eyes.
Ethan stood, stretching. "I need air. Be back in twenty."
"Want company?" Marcus offered.
"Nah, I'm good. Just need to clear my head."
He made his way through the spectator area, and people parted for him—some reaching out to congratulate him, others just watching with newfound respect. The whispers followed him:
"That's him. That's Ethan Cole."
"He's actually really good."
"Maybe we've been wrong about male players..."
"No, he's exceptional. Exception, not the rule."
"Still, makes you think..."
Ethan climbed the metal stairs back to street level. The evening air hit him like a splash of cold water—refreshing after the stuffy basement atmosphere. The sun had set fully now, Silvercrest City's lights painting the streets in neon colors.
He pulled out his phone, half expecting another message from the mysterious "C," but there was nothing. Instead, he saw notifications from social media—he'd been tagged in multiple posts, clips of his plays circulating on forums and streaming platforms.
One post caught his eye: *"Ethan Cole proving gender doesn't matter in esports. This is what peak performance looks like."*
Another: *"Mixed Bag demonstrating that skill > stereotypes. @VictoriaCole your brother is INSANE."*
Vicky. He wondered if she was watching, if she'd seen the games. What would she think?
"Didn't expect to see you out here."
Ethan turned sharply. A figure stood a few feet away, leaning against the railing—a young woman, maybe his age, with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and sharp, intelligent eyes. She wore casual clothes, but there was something deliberate about her posture, like she was always ready to move.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," she said, a slight smile playing at her lips. "I'm Claire. Claire Hartley."
The name clicked immediately—she was ranked high in solo queue, known for playing support and jungle. He'd seen her name in leaderboards.
"Ethan," he said. "But you already know that."
Claire laughed softly. "Yeah, everyone in there knows who you are now. Hell of a performance."
"Thanks. You compete?"
"Sometimes. I play for Meridian Institute's collegiate team. We're more casual-competitive—not quite pro circuit but higher than underground tournaments." She pushed off the railing, walking closer. "I watched both your games. The first one was impressive mechanical skill. The second one was impressive game IQ and team coordination."
"Trying to scout me?" Ethan asked, half-joking.
"Maybe. Or maybe I'm just curious." Claire studied him with those sharp eyes. "You play differently than most guys I've seen compete. There's no hesitation, no second-guessing. You commit to your calls. Where'd you come from?"
"Nowhere, really. Just... decided to take it seriously."
"Hm." Claire didn't look convinced, but she didn't press. "Well, you've got semifinals coming up. Phantom Edge is good—their mid laner, Aurora, is one of the best in the amateur scene. She'll roam hard, try to get NyxDarkness-level pressure."
"You know them?"
"I know everyone in the scene. Or I try to." She pulled out her phone, tapping a few times, then showed him a screen. "Here. Aurora's recent matches. Study her roam timings. She's predictable if you know what to look for."
Ethan looked at the data—detailed notes, patterns, tendencies. "Why are you helping me?"
Claire shrugged. "Because it's interesting. You're interesting. A male player performing at this level? That doesn't happen often. I want to see how far you can go." She paused. "Plus, I like underdogs. And whether you realize it or not, you're the underdog in every match you play."
She started to walk away, then stopped. "Oh, and Ethan? If you make finals, and if by some miracle you win this tournament, you're going to have a target on your back. Every female player who's been told they're only good because there's no real male competition will want to prove you're a fluke. Just... be ready for that."
"I am," Ethan said quietly.
Claire smiled-a real smile this time, not analytical or measuring. "Good. I'll be watching the rest of your games. Don't disappoint me."
She disappeared into the evening crowd, leaving Ethan alone with his thoughts.
The message on his phone earlier. "C.
Claire.
She'd been watching from the beginning.
Ethan smiled slightly, pocketing his phone. The pieces were starting to come together-allies, rivals, the growing attention. This was bigger than just a tournament now.
This was the beginning of something that could change everything.
He checked the time. Twenty-five minutes since he left. He should get back.
As he descended the stairs back into Axiom, he heard the crowd's energy even before opening the door. The semifinals were about to begin, and the entire cafe was buzzing with anticipation.
Time for the top four.
Time to prove this wasn't just a Cinderella story -it was the start of a legacy.