Jake was spectating, which made it worse.
"Don't feel any pressure," Jake said in voice.
Pause.
"…But if you choke this I'm never letting you live it down."
"Mute," Raxian replied flatly.
He didn't mute him.
The match loaded.
Diamond promo.
Final game.
Gold pulse steady.
Not flaring, not reckless.
He wasn't trying to prove anything mid-match.
He was just… playing.
Clean rotations.
Controlled engages.
He didn't overextend after securing the first pulse core.
Didn't flame when bot died twice.
Didn't tilt when jungle missplaced a ward.
Jake was quiet for once.
Which was more unnerving than trash talk.
Late game.
Objective contested.
two pulse cores flickering around it.
Raxian didn't rush.
Waited.
His ultimate charged.
Fully stable.
He activated.
Gold didn't explode violently.
It expanded.
Controlled, refined.
Enemy mid collapsed first.
Then jungle.
Then—
Victory screen.
Gold pulse flooded the arena.
DIAMOND.
For a second, he just stared.
Jake screamed.
"FINALLY."
Raxian leaned back slowly in his chair.
Diamond banner unlocked.
New cosmetics.
New border.
Shiny.
Visible.
Jake instantly typed in the group chat.
Jake: HE DID ITJake: 2 weeks late but whatever
Raxian rolled his eyes.
Marcus: about timeTess: congrats, idiotBruce: proud of you
A pause.
Then:
Ethan: welcome up
That one hit different, Ethan had been in diamond for a while after all, and he played the hardest role, jungle.
Jake wasn't done.
Jake: technically 1.5 weeks behind me
Rax: technically shut up
The banter rolled for a few minutes.
Memes.
Clips.
Jake threatening to screenshot it forever.
Then it quieted down.
Raxian stared at the Diamond badge on his profile.
This was it.
This was supposed to feel—
Big, accomplished.
Instead…
It felt like he'd just stepped onto another treadmill.
He expected relief.
Instead he felt—
Neutral.
The room was quiet.
Neon lights humming in the closet.
Energy drink half-finished.
He leaned back.
"…That's it?"
His avatar stood in the private chamber.
Gold pulse dimmed to its normal glow.
It looked at him.
Waiting for instruction.
He didn't queue again.
-
The next day.
Notification.
He almost ignored it.
But the username made him freeze.
test me?
He stared.
Opened it.
test me?: congrats on diamondtest me?: rematch?
He blinked.
Was she joking?
Diamond.
Against her?
She'd wiped his team like it was a tutorial.
New banner didn't change mechanics.
Cosmetics didn't change skill gap.
He typed nothing.
Closed it.
Opened Raze's chat instead.
Xar: she messaged me
RazeFlicker: who
Xar: test me
Pause.
RazeFlicker: oh
RazeFlicker: and?
Xar: wants rematch
Longer pause.
Raze was probably smiling.
RazeFlicker: so?
Xar: she's challenger level
RazeFlicker: so?
Xar: diamond is still free for her
RazeFlicker: good
Raxian frowned.
Xar: good?
RazeFlicker: yeah
RazeFlicker: you don't get better fighting people worse than you
Silence.
Raxian stared at the screen.
Raze added one more line.
RazeFlicker: you wanted to climbRazeFlicker: this is climbing
That hit.
Raxian switched back to her chat.
Hands hovered over the keyboard.
He could ignore it.
Could protect his new badge.
Or—
He typed.
Xar: when
Three dots appeared almost instantly.
test me?: now
He exhaled.
"…Of course."
He hit accept.
Custom Arena.
No teammates.
No excuses.
Just him.
And her.
The map loaded into a reduced corridor field.
No pulse cores.
No objectives.
Pure duel parameters.
His gold pulse flickered steady.
He adjusted his grip on the mouse.
Across from him—
test me?
Her avatar stood relaxed.
Spear resting lightly in her hand.
Purple pulse thin. Controlled.
No emotes, no greetings.
Timer dropped.
321
Engage.
He moved first.
Testing range.
Spacing carefully.
She stepped forward once—
Then vanished.
Not visually flashy.
Just—
Gone.
His eyes darted left.
Right—
A shift in air behind him.
He turned—
Too late.
Purple pulse condensed mid-air.
She reappeared from shadow.
Spear already mid-thrust.
It pierced straight through his chest.
Precise.
His screen cracked with gold light.
Stability bar shattered instantly.
He hadn't even cast.
Hadn't reacted.
His avatar fell backward.
Flat defeat.
He blinked at the screen.
"…What."
He hadn't even seen the mechanic.
Had she blinked?
Shadow-stepped?
Pre-positioned?
His pulse spiked.
Queue option appeared for rematch.
He didn't click it.
Instead—
His fist slammed down on the desk.
The keyboard rattled.
"WHAT WAS THAT."
He exited the match.
Opened chat immediately.
Xar: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT??Xar: YOU INVITE ME JUST TO DO THAT??Xar: ??!!
Three dots appeared.
Then stopped.
Then appeared again.
test me?: you left
That only made it worse.
Xar: obviously
Pause.
test me?: why are you angry
He stared at the screen.
"Are you serious."
Xar: you wiped me in 2 secondsXar: why invite me if you're just gonna—
He didn't finish the sentence.
Her reply came.
Calm.
test me?: i wanted to see what you learned
That hit differently.
He typed fast.
Xar: OBVIOUSLY NOTHING COMPARED TO YOU
There it was again.
Comparison.
Gap.
Defeat wrapped in ego.
Silence.
Longer this time.
Then—
test me?: you reacted
He frowned.
Xar: yeah?? because you deleted me??
test me?: no
Pause.
test me?: you reacted before thinking
His jaw tightened.
That was unfair.
That was—
Accurate.
He hovered over her profile.
Delete friend.
His finger almost clicked.
Almost.
Instead—
She sent another message.
test me?: you're still playing to win
He scoffed.
Xar: THAT'S THE POINT
test me?: no
He stared.
Three dots.
test me?: the point is to understand
Silence.
His pulse wasn't stable anymore.
It felt like Diamond night again.
She added one more line.
test me?: you didn't even try to read me
That sat heavy.
Because he hadn't.
He'd rushed.
Assumed.
Expected a trade.
Expected a duel.
He never paused to see what she was setting up.
Delete friend still hovered under his cursor.
He exhaled slowly.
Closed the profile window.
Didn't delete her, didn't reply either.
He leaned back in his chair.
Gold pulse in his chamber flickering unevenly.
For the first time—
He understood why Diamond felt empty.
He wasn't climbing skill.
He was climbing ego.
And she had just shattered it again.