This is North High School, your everyday public learning facility. In my right hand is an installation CD to some popular video game. The schoolmate that is lying flat on his back writhing in pain is the Computer Club President who is also the guy who handed the game to me. Directly to my left is Mikuru Asahina clad in her maid outfit oh-so perfectly. She, along with four other random Computer Club members, seems concerned for the well-being of the poor guy who just got assaulted with a drop-kick from the tyrant to my right. That said tyrant also happens to be the leader of my own daily after-school activities. She is Haruhi Suzumiya, a girl whose energy and enthusiasm knows no boundaries. As for the reason why she attacked the Computer Club President to begin with...

"So, you wanna duel? Who are you guys anyway?"

...Sometimes it's just best not to ask. But for the sake of clarity, allow me to explain.

Only moments before the Computer Club President was leveled, he and a few other members came to our doorstep and asked for Haruhi. Since she was on cleaning duty, I acted as her representative. As Haruhi suggested we were, in fact, challenged to a duel to this PC game that I am holding. Now the lot of us are in this small room together, with Haruhi, Koizumi, Nagato, Asahina and I representing our side of this challenge.

"We downloaded a new game and we want to fight you and your SOS Brigade... thingy.. in it! And if we win, you have to return it to us!"

With that exclamation, the President pointed to the sole computer that sat on the Literary clubroom floor. As the President stated, they really are the original owners of this tower. My apologies, but I'd rather not get into how we became its owners for the time being; it's a long, sad story.

"Sure, you got it," Haruhi responded without a second thought. "If you want to fight us so badly, then we accept your challenge! Now then... what will you guys give us if we win?"

"Well let's see," the President responded with a confident smirk. "How about four brand-new laptops? That's one laptop for each member."

Haruhi's eyes lit up as much as anyone would have after such an offer. Even if the said laptops were throwaway bargains, we're talking about one-thousand dollars worth of merchandise at the very least!

"You're pretty confident aren't you..? All right. Now that I think about it you guys don't have any girls in your club, do you? If you win, we'll give Yuki to you. How about that? I'm sure you guys can find a good use for Yuki! Since you guys are putting up for computers against mine, Yuki helps to even out the stakes! Not sold, huh? How about Mikuru instead? You two already gotten to know each other, right?"

Asahina winced. Did you really have to bring that up, Haruhi? Anyways, this has to stop.

"How about you be the prize? If you're going to bet anything, why don't you offer yourself for once? Stop being so selfish.."

"Just cut it out already!" Shouted the challenger. "Just the computer will be fine, so let's leave it at that and get on with explaining the rules!"

"Hmph..."

Yet another average day in the SOS Brigade, huh? Good grief.

"Say Kyon," Koizumi finally spoke. "May I see that game disk for a second?"

"Sure..."

After examining the front and back of the standard CD case, Koizumi continued with his casual smile. "So the name of this game is 'League of Legends,' huh? That's an appealing name if I do say so myself. I'm looking forward to playing this game with everyone."

I anticipated that kind of systematic response from you. Nevertheless, I must admit that this development could have been much worse...

"The game is an online champion battle simulator. Five players versus five. The battle will begin at four o'clock, one week from today. Until then, you should brush up on your skills. We'll be disappointed if you're too weak."

"How generous of you to give us our prizes in advance," said Haruhi while examining one of the laptops that the Computer Club delivered.

"Heh. There's no way we can annihilate this club if we don't do it like this, right?"

Actually, wouldn't it be easier to hold the entire challenge in the Computer clubroom? That way everyone would be in the same environment. Now that I think about it, that would mean everyone would be in the same room as Haruhi.. which means that this approach was probably for their own safety... Smart.

After directly connecting our computers to the HUB (that was also given to us by the Computer Club), everyone booted up their laptops while Haruhi installed the game on her station. Koizumi used the CD case to locate the homepage of the game site for everyone. As everyone began to create their accounts, Koizumi found his way to the tutorial page.

"The main objective of 'League of Legends' is to cooperate with your allied champions and destroy the enemy's Nexus located at their base," Koizumi read aloud. "In addition to enemy champions, other obstacles include enemy minion waves, enemy turrets, and neutral monsters scattered throughout Summoner's Rift. Dealing with all of the above will reward one or both of the following: Gold which can be used to purchase powerful equipment, and Experience Points which are necessary to enhance your character's overall performance in battle."

So this is a role-playing game, huh? I've played my fair share of those back in junior high, so it might not be as hopeless for me as I thought. Let's take a look at the champion tab, shall we? Just as I thought... All of these champions have different statistics such as health, power, and ability. Also, each champions' fighting styles are separated into categories such as melee, ranged, and magic users. So far, it looks simple enough to me.

"Ninety-seven champions..?" Asahina muttered to no one in particular with her eyes fixated on her screen. "Maybe the reason she is missing is because..."

"Is everything alright, Miss Asahina?"'

Mikuru stammered before replying, "Oh! Y-yes! I was just looking at the list of characters."

Did Asahina say that there were ninety-seven champions in total to choose from? It's good to have variety, but isn't that a bit excessive?

"Hey, what gives?" Haruhi asked. "How come I can't see anything in front of me? It's all dark..."

"Let's see," Koizumi replied after clicking on a few areas. "Ah yes. This is a mechanism referred to as Fog of War. Because of this, you are only permitted to see the areas occupied by yourself or any of your other allied units. Another method of enhancing your vision is to purchase either Sight Wards or Vision Wards from your ba-"

"Hey look, an enemy turret!" Haruhi interrupted. "If I destroy one of these, We'll be rolling in dough, right? In that case, leave it to me! SOS Brigade, charge!"

"A-ah wait, Miss Suzumiya!" exclaimed Asahina "You should wait for your minions before you-"

[A turret has slain SOSBrigade1!]

"What? I barely got to scratch it!"

Something tells me that we're in for a long week... But hey – at least we have Nagato on our side. As I say that, I turn to the petite intellect of our group... who is... trying to operate her mouse by waving it in the air..?

Hokkaido, we have a problem...

"Argh! This champion healed itself in the middle of our fight! How cheap is that!"

You know what they say, 'use what you got..'

…

"Argh! Why can't I do anything when I'm stunned!"

Isn't it obvious?

….

"Hey guys, look! I found a sea serpent! I'm going to attack it!"

[A minion has slain SOSBrigade1!]

"Ah, that serpent is referred to as Baron," explained Koizumi. "According to this guide, it is highly recommended that you do not engage in battle with that creature without a powerful party."

"Now you tell me... Argh, this game is so frustrating!"

…

This is the gist of what has been going on in the Literary Clubroom for the past few days. The five of us would get together after-school and practice playing this online game to prepare for the upcoming competition with the Computer Club. With almost one-hundred different champions to choose from, each practice match against the AI Bots turns out to be a unique case of trial and error. In my case, I discovered that my overall performance is better when I control close-ranged fighter champions. Asahina has been experimenting with the many ranged characters in the game. Koizumi has started taking a liking to the tank subcategory, while Nagato has chosen the 'Random Champion' option every time. As for Haruhi...

Haruhi has been sticking with one champion this entire time – a ranged champion named Ezreal. Personally, I don't understand what she sees in this guy. From what I've seen and read, all of Ezreal's attacks are pure damaging projectiles with the exception of one skill, which is a short ranged teleport. Even with that, Haruhi only uses that skill to rush recklessly into battle. Most of the time, she is on the losing ends of a skirmish; and when she does win, at least one of us is helping her pull it off. What makes this even more troublesome is the fact that Haruhi always begins the match occupying the middle lane, which is the most direct path to the enemy Nexus (and to our own). In short, Haruhi's stubborn nature makes things very difficult for us in the long-run... Is it just me or am I starting to get a bit into this?

"I'm going to the ladies' room," Haruhi declared. "Kyon, hold the middle lane for me in my place."

And with that command, Haruhi temporarily left us. After producing a meaningless sigh, I just remembered something important that I wanted to say to everyone (minus Haruhi):

"Hey guys... about this duel coming up... let's just try not to cheat, okay?"

"Cheat? Us?" Koizumi responded while directing his attention towards me.

"Yeah. This time all alien, esper, and time-traveling methods of cheating are one-hundred percent off-limits. Got it? We will fight fairly and accept the outcome whatever that may be. That is the best way."

Koizumi displayed his common grin before replying, "So you won't mind if we just happen to lose the game?"

I think anyone would mind if they lost a formal duel, but this is by no means a mandatory game that we have to win. The only thing that's at stake is the computer that we stole from them in the first place. Although, if that were to happen, I'd have to do something about that hidden Asahina cosplay gallery...

"Putting the end prize aside," Koizumi continued. "Let us not forget what else is at risk from losing this match."

"What do you mean?"

"Surely you remember that Haruhi does not like to lose anything, am I right? When she feels that she's about to lose something, she creates a Closed Space. Once that happens, I trust you know what happens next. After all, you've seen it with your own eyes."

I don't care whether that happens or not. Haruhi needs to eventually grow up and realize that everything in her life cannot go as she sees fit.

My insight produced a disturbing giggle from Koizumi.

"Impressive. I must admit that I am a bit envious of you right about now. The level of trust between you and Miss Suzumiya has enhanced significantly over this short period of time."

I don't really understand what Koizumi is talking about, but I have more important things to worry about. Three of the enemy AI bots have come to attack the lane I am defending, so I have to concentrate on protecting the turret. Luckily for me, Nagato prepared a highly effective flank with this round's random character that she selected. The sound of menacing crows screeched on cue with Nagato's ambush, and the enemies' life meters melted faster than the Wicked Witch of the West. Something that powerful has to be that character's level six (ultimate) skill, right?

"Thanks, Nagato."

Nagato simply nodded while continuing to hammer away at the keyboard. Speaking of Nagato.. why is her external mouse disconnected? Did she give up on figuring out how to use it?

"Nagato..."

"What?"

"About what I said earlier, I'd like to ask that from you too. If it can be helped, no cheating during the main event, alright?"

Nagato shifted her attention to me for a solid moment before looking back at her monitor.

"Understood."

With one simple word, Nagato erased all worries from my mind with the exception of the main concern...

Just how well are we all going to fare tomorrow?

The day of the tournament. The Computer Club President visits our room at approximately thirty minutes before the scheduled competition. He presents a single sheet of paper at the edge of the table.

"Before we begin this duel, I would like everyone to write down the names of the characters that you all will be using in this game."

"What!" Haruhi protested. "And give our killer combo away at the very start? Fat chance, buddy!"

Aside from Haruhi, I'm still unsure as to who everyone else is going to pick... and I doubt that she knows either.

The President waves his hands around frantically in response, "No, no, that's not it at all! Look here, we've even written down who we will be using in advance! Look all you want. Copy it, if you really want to!"

"I see," said Haruhi as she eyed the paper for a second time. "Then what is the point of doing this?"

"Did you ever look at the custom skins available to your favorite character? Well if you write your names and champions down right now, we can get you a coupon for one custom skin of your choice. Consider this as a consolation prize in advance."

"Oh, I see," said Haruhi as she rubbed her chin. "Well I'm not really interested in something like that, but if you're just going to give it to us, then there's no reason to refuse either."

Once Haruhi decided to agree with the terms, The five of us began to sign the sheet one-by-one. I was to sign second next to Haruhi. Upon looking at the paper I confirmed that Haruhi will play as Ezreal – just as I thought. That's right, the Computer Club has their list of characters written on this paper don't they? Let's take a peek... Tryndamere, Singed, Vayne, Veigar, and Caitlyn? I don't recall having the option to train against either one of these champions as AI bots... Either these names all escape me or I have never seen either one of these champions in action.. are all of these people really on the roster? Whatever, I'm just going to write down my selection now.

Once everyone followed suit, the president recollected the paper and examined it.

"What the... hey, Miss Asahina?" the President called. "Which Champion is this? I don't remember anyone that goes by this name..."

"Eh..? Ah! I'm sorry! I must have been thinking about something else! P-please let me change my answer!" Mikuru stammered while she hurriedly erased her entry with a flushed face.

Once Asahina changed her answer, the President confirmed for a second time. "Ah, so you're going with this one, huh? That's a good choice coming from you."

"Oh... really?"

Haruhi impatiently scowled, "Alright, enough flirting! Go on and set up or whatever! We need to do the same."

Our lead opponent retreated to his station, and the lot of us booted up our computers – with the exception of Nagato, who was already in the room logged on before any of us got here. So this is it, huh? We're at our last minute preparations and I still don't know who anyone picked except for Haruhi.

"I will be choosing Lux the Mage for this round," our lovely Asahina answered. "Who will you be?"

Throughout most of the week, the champion I've taken a liking to the most happens to be Garen the Fighter, so I might as well go with him again.

"As for me," Koizumi added. "I will be using the Tank known as Taric. While he is not much in terms of power, I believe that his utility will prove to be very useful on the battlefield."

That just leaves Nagato. Is she just going to pick 'Random' again? Just as I wondered this, she turned her computer screen to my direction, revealing the Champion image of a strange furball of a creature... Teemo the Swift Scout? I think I recall Asahina trying him out and not doing very well... I wonder if Nagato will be any better?

Several minutes later, all ten contestants logged into the designated chatroom. After confirming that our free skins have been redeemed properly, our screens simultaneously faded into the loading screen. In X amount of time, this challenge will conclude and one team will go home in utter defeat. Okay, that last line was a bit generic, but you get the idea!