The loading screen disappeared.
For a brief moment, the enormous display above the stage showed nothing but the familiar Nervanox emblem. Then the image dissolved, revealing the battlefield beneath a sweeping camera angle.
The audience immediately erupted.
The match had begun.
Nervanox was a five-versus-five battle fought across a symmetrical battlefield divided into three lanes: the Top Lane, Mid Lane, and Bottom Lane. Between those routes stretched the Jungle, a dangerous network of paths filled with neutral monsters and hidden routes that allowed players to move between lanes.
At the far ends of the battlefield stood the two Base Camps.
Destroying the enemy Base Camp was the most decisive way to claim a round, but there was another path to victory. A team could also win by eliminating ten opposing heroes. Once either condition was fulfilled, the round ended.
Today's match would be fought across three rounds, with the first team to secure the required victories taking the exhibition match.
Yet none of that mattered during the opening seconds.
Because before either team could think about destroying a Base Camp or reaching ten eliminations, they first needed to establish control.
The five members of Seishin Academy immediately separated.
Risa headed toward the Jungle.
Kana moved toward the river-side bushes, using the natural cover to scout the enemy's movements.
Hikari took the Mid Lane.
Kazuha moved toward her Lane.
And Ruko...
He disappeared from the central battlefield almost immediately.
The opening minutes of Nervanox were rarely decided by spectacular plays.
They were decided by information.
Who reached their lane first.
Who revealed their position.
Who controlled the first wave.
Who secured the first jungle monster.
Who could force the opposing team to reveal their intentions without revealing their own.
Every player understood that.
Risa certainly did.
She entered the Jungle with a measured pace, carefully moving between the monster camps while keeping track of the minimap.
Her objective was simple.
Farm.
The neutral monsters scattered throughout the Jungle provided experience and gold, allowing her hero to develop without competing with the other players for lane resources. More importantly, the Jungle gave her access to multiple routes toward the lanes.
If an enemy overextended...
She could appear behind them.
If one of her teammates was pressured...
She could rotate.
If the opposing jungler attempted an invasion...
She could intercept them.
Risa's eyes moved constantly between her character and the minimap.
"Everything looks normal so far."
She didn't relax.
In a professional match, normal was often the most dangerous word someone could use.
Across the map, Kana had taken position inside a bush.
She remained completely still.
The foliage concealed her character from the enemy's vision, allowing her to observe the movement around the lane without revealing herself.
Kana wasn't there to fight.
Not yet.
Her job was information.
She watched the enemy minions move down the lane while occasionally checking the nearby jungle entrance.
"If their jungler comes through here..."
She whispered quietly.
"...I'll see them."
Her eyes shifted toward the minimap.
Nothing.
Kana waited.
Then waited some more.
She knew better than to become impatient.
Meanwhile, Hikari was already fighting in the Mid Lane.
Her objective was to clear the first wave as quickly and safely as possible.
Mid Lane was particularly important because of its position.
A player who cleared the lane early could leave before their opponent and rotate toward another part of the battlefield.
That meant helping the Jungle.
Supporting Bottom Lane.
Pressuring Top Lane.
Or simply securing vision and denying the enemy information.
Hikari understood that perfectly.
"Come on..."
She carefully positioned her hero.
Another attack.
Another enemy minion fell.
Her eyes immediately shifted toward the minimap.
The moment the wave was cleared, she could rotate.
That was the advantage she wanted.
The advantage Ruko had emphasized during their practices.
Don't just play your lane.
Play the entire map.
And while the other members of Seishin Academy began establishing their positions...
Inori was waiting.
She stood inside a bush near the edge of the Bottom Lane.
The location was close enough to the enemy tower that she could observe the approaching lane while remaining concealed.
Her chosen hero, Yamashiki, stood completely still.
The marksman held one of her weapons at the ready.
Inori's eyes remained fixed toward the path leading from the enemy side.
She was waiting for Kazuha.
Their opponent's marksman.
The player who would be facing her directly.
Inori had already imagined how the first few minutes would develop.
Kazuha would arrive.
The first wave would meet.
Both marksmen would test each other's positioning.
One would attempt to gain an advantage.
The other would respond.
Simple.
Predictable.
At least...
That was what Inori expected.
A faint rustling sound came from the lane.
Inori's attention sharpened.
Someone was approaching.
She adjusted her position inside the bush.
Her fingers rested lightly against the controls.
"Come on."
She expected to see Kazuha.
Instead—
A flash of light suddenly tore across the lane.
Inori's eyes widened.
A concentrated blast of energy shot directly toward the bush.
There was almost no warning.
The projectile moved so quickly that an ordinary player might not even have registered it before being hit.
Inori reacted immediately.
She moved Yamashiki sideways.
The energy blast passed through the space where her character had been standing only an instant earlier.
It struck the ground behind her, exploding into a burst of light.
The audience gasped.
Inori stared at the direction from which the attack had come.
Then she smiled.
"...I knew it."
She didn't need to see the character.
She knew.
That attack belonged to Estan.
Ruko's 3rd signature hero.
The very hero he had choose after he banned his signature hero during the draft.
And yet...
There it was.
Inori's eyes narrowed with amusement.
"So that's how you're doing this."
Rhatlos emerged briefly from the opposite side of the lane.
Ruko wasn't trying to fight her directly.
He was testing her.
A simple projectile.
A single poke.
Nothing more.
But the meaning behind it was obvious.
He wanted to know how she would react.
Inori didn't give him the answer he wanted.
Instead, she slowly retreated from the bush.
She moved toward the safety of her side of the lane while keeping her attention on the enemy.
Her eyes briefly shifted toward the approaching wave of siege warriors.
The first wave had arrived.
In Nervanox, lane warriors were essential to the early stages of every match.
Every fifteen seconds and forty-five seconds, a new wave spawned from the central Base Camp and traveled toward the three lanes.
Each lane received two warriors.
One was a Siege Warrior, designed to provide stronger pressure against defensive structures.
The other was a Ranged Mage, capable of attacking from a distance while remaining behind the frontline.
They marched down their assigned lanes toward the opposing Base Camp.
For the players, these warriors were more than disposable units.
They were resources.
Defeating them provided gold.
Gold allowed players to purchase equipment.
Equipment increased their power.
Power allowed them to control their lane.
And lane control created opportunities to rotate, invade the Jungle, pressure objectives, and eventually destroy the enemy's defenses.
In other words...
Even something as simple as killing a lane warrior could contribute to winning the entire match.
Inori understood that better than most.
She positioned Yamashiki carefully behind the incoming warriors.
She wasn't going to recklessly chase Ruko.
Not yet.
Her eyes remained fixed on Rhatlos.
The enemy hero had already disappeared from sight.
Ruko was hiding again.
Inori's smile returned.
"So you really are testing me."
She glanced at the approaching wave.
Then toward the minimap.
Then back toward the direction Ruko had vanished.
The opening exchange had lasted only a few seconds.
No one had been eliminated.
No tower had fallen.
No major objective had been taken.
Yet the atmosphere surrounding the match had already changed.
The audience had expected the return of an old professional player to be exciting.
They had expected Inori to dominate because of her years of uninterrupted experience.
They had expected Ruko to struggle against someone who had continued playing while he had stepped away.
But now...
Ruko had shown the first sign that he wasn't simply returning to Nervanox to participate.
He had come prepared.
And Inori?
She looked almost happy.
Because after years apart...
She had finally found the opponent she had been waiting for.
Across the battlefield, Ruko watched the Bottom Lane from a safe distance.
His eyes remained focused on the minimap.
He had already confirmed what he needed.
Inori had dodged.
She hadn't panicked.
She hadn't counterattacked recklessly.
She had simply repositioned herself and continued farming.
Exactly as he expected.
Ruko leaned slightly closer to the screen.
"Still the same."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Good."
The first wave continued marching toward the opposing towers.
The game had only just begun.
Neither team had gained a point.
Neither team had lost a player.
But beneath the quiet opening of the match, both sides were already making their first calculations.
The battle for the map had begun.
The first wave of warriors had barely reached the Bottom Lane when the atmosphere around the battlefield changed.
At first, the audience had expected the opening minutes to be relatively cautious.
Both teams were still gathering information. The junglers were farming. The mid laners were clearing their waves. The roamers were watching for rotations. Nobody wanted to give away an unnecessary elimination before the match had properly developed.
Yet on the Bottom Lane, caution lasted only a few seconds.
Ruko and Inori had already found each other.
The two former Nerva players stood on opposite sides of the lane, their heroes separated by the approaching wave of warriors.
Ruko's Estan moved first.
A burst of magical energy gathered around the hero's hand before he released it toward Yamashiki.
Inori reacted immediately.
The moment the projectile left Estan's hand, Yamashiki shifted sideways.
The attack passed within a fraction of her character model.
The audience collectively inhaled.
"She dodged it!"
But Inori didn't simply retreat.
Yamashiki immediately raised her weapon.
A burst of bullets tore across the lane.
Ruko moved Estan backward.
The projectiles passed through the space where Estan had been standing only an instant earlier.
Ruko's eyes narrowed.
He immediately dashed sideways.
Another attack from Yamashiki followed.
He avoided it by the smallest possible margin.
Then Estan responded.
Another projectile.
Another dash.
Another exchange.
Within seconds, the Bottom Lane had transformed into something entirely different from the rest of the battlefield.
There were no reckless dives.
No unnecessary commitments.
No player throwing everything forward simply because they had an advantage.
Instead, Ruko and Inori were testing one another.
Every ability was calculated.
Every movement had purpose.
Every attack was designed to force the other player into a reaction.
And neither of them was giving ground.
The audience began to realize what they were witnessing.
"Wait..."
A student near the front of the venue leaned forward.
"Are they actually keeping up with each other?"
Another spectator stared at the screen.
"That's Inori."
"She's supposed to be controlling the lane."
"But Ruko isn't letting her."
The commentators struggled to keep pace with the action.
"Incredible! Ruko's movement is preventing Inori from establishing her usual pressure!"
"He's not backing away from her poke!"
"He's answering every attack!"
The crowd erupted again.
Inori's reputation had been built around this exact kind of gameplay.
She was famous for controlling the distance between herself and her opponents.
She didn't need to rush forward.
She didn't need to take unnecessary risks.
Instead, she would gradually chip away at an opponent's health while maintaining a safe position, forcing them to choose between retreating and continuing to fight from an increasingly disadvantaged position.
It was a suffocating style.
Against most players, once Inori established her rhythm, escaping that pressure was incredibly difficult.
But Ruko wasn't allowing her to establish it.
Every time Inori attempted to create distance, Estan moved with her.
Every time Yamashiki fired from range, Estan answered with a projectile of his own.
Whenever Inori attempted to reposition, Ruko anticipated the movement and adjusted his angle.
The strange thing was that Estan shouldn't have been able to create this kind of pressure so easily.
He wasn't considered one of the obvious marksman counters.
He wasn't a traditional long-range specialist.
He was a Mage-Fighter.
His strength came from combining ranged harassment with mobility, using his dashes to constantly change his position and make his attacks difficult to predict.
It was an unusual choice.
Perhaps even a strange one.
But in Ruko's hands...
It made sense.
"He's using Estan to match her movement."
Risa quietly observed from the Jungle.
Her eyes remained fixed on the minimap and the Bottom Lane.
Kana, who had been monitoring another section of the battlefield, glanced toward the screen.
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"It is."
Risa answered without hesitation.
"Estan's margin for error is extremely small."
Kana looked at her.
"But he's not making mistakes."
"Exactly."
Risa's expression became slightly more serious.
"That's the problem."
On the other side of the map, Hikari was watching the exchange whenever she had a moment between clearing waves.
Her expression gradually changed from nervousness to disbelief.
"He's actually fighting her..."
She had watched Inori's replays.
Everyone had.
She knew how difficult it was to fight someone who could maintain pressure without becoming predictable.
Yet Ruko wasn't being pushed backward.
He wasn't being forced to retreat.
He was fighting back.
Equal pressure.
Equal aggression.
Equal control.
And that realization sent another wave of excitement through the venue.
"He's not getting dominated."
"He's actually trading with her!"
"How is Estan keeping up with Yamashiki?"
The answer was simple.
Ruko understood Inori.
Not merely her hero.
Not merely her mechanics.
Her habits.
Her timing.
Her decision-making.
Years ago, the two of them had played together on the same professional team.
Ruko had seen Inori's gameplay countless times.
He knew how she approached a lane.
He knew how she reacted when an opponent moved toward her.
He knew when she was likely to attack and when she was trying to bait a response.
Most importantly...
He knew that Inori didn't attack simply because she could.
Every movement had a reason.
Every shot had a purpose.
And Ruko had spent years studying that exact mentality.
On the Bottom Lane, another exchange began.
Yamashiki fired.
Estan dashed.
The bullet passed behind him.
Ruko immediately turned.
His cursor moved.
Estan released another magical projectile.
Inori saw it.
She reacted.
Yamashiki moved.
The projectile grazed past her.
Barely.
Inori countered.
Another shot.
Ruko dodged.
He answered with another skill.
Inori moved again.
The two characters seemed to dance across the lane.
Every attack came with a response.
Every dodge created another opportunity.
The audience could barely follow the sequence.
Then—
One projectile connected.
Estan's attack struck Yamashiki.
Her health bar dropped.
Not by much.
But enough.
The crowd erupted.
"Iori got hit!"
"No way!"
Ruko had finally landed one.
Across the stage, Inori stared at her health bar.
For a brief moment, she remained completely still.
Then...
She smiled.
Not an annoyed smile.
Not a frustrated smile.
A genuinely pleased one.
"So you really can do it."
Her fingers moved.
Yamashiki immediately returned fire.
The attack struck Estan.
Ruko's health dropped by nearly the same amount.
The exchange ended almost as quickly as it had begun.
Both players retreated a short distance.
Neither had gained a decisive advantage.
Neither had been forced out of the lane.
Yet the message had already been delivered.
They could hurt each other.
The audience understood it.
The players understood it.
And most importantly...
Inori understood it.
She had expected Kazuha.
That had been the player she originally prepared to face.
She had expected to test herself against Seishin Academy's marksman and see how much the young player could endure against someone with years of professional experience.
But this...
This was something else entirely.
Inori glanced toward Ruko's side of the screen.
Her expression softened into a quiet smile.
Earlier, during their team's preparation, her teammates had laughed about Seishin Academy.
They had called the team weak.
They had dismissed their experience.
They had treated the exhibition match as though victory were already guaranteed.
Inori had said nothing.
She had never joined them.
Because she knew better.
There was one person on that team whom she could never underestimate.
Ruko.
If there was anyone capable of keeping up with her...
It was him.
And he had not disappointed her.
Not even slightly.
Years had passed since Nerva dissolved.
During those years, Inori had continued playing.
She had competed.
She had trained.
She had faced countless opponents.
She had encountered talented players from different teams and different regions.
She had defeated some.
She had lost to others.
But none of them had quite felt like this.
None of them understood her movements in the same way.
None of them could respond to her pressure before it became overwhelming.
None of them could look at the same opening she saw and recognize it at almost the exact same moment.
Ruko could.
And that realization made her smile widen.
"So this is what you've been doing all this time..."
She glanced at Estan.
"You really did change."
Across the lane, Ruko watched Yamashiki carefully.
His expression remained focused.
He wasn't thinking about the audience.
He wasn't thinking about the rumors surrounding their match.
He wasn't thinking about his former career.
At this moment, there was only the battlefield.
Only Inori.
Only Estan.
Only Yamashiki.
And the narrow stretch of Bottom Lane separating them.
Ruko adjusted his position.
Inori did the same.
Neither player wanted to be the first to make a mistake.
The lane warriors continued fighting around them.
Their attacks collided in the center of the lane while the two players remained just outside the range of immediate danger.
The next wave would arrive soon.
The Jungle would soon become more active.
Hikari would eventually rotate.
Risa would have opportunities to gank.
Kana would begin moving through the map to provide vision.
The match would eventually become a five-on-five battle.
But for now...
The entire world seemed to have narrowed to two players.
Ruko.
And Inori.
Inori's eyes remained fixed on the screen.
Her smile had not disappeared.
For years, she had continued playing Nervanox after Nerva dissolved.
She had kept improving.
She had continued challenging herself.
She had searched for opponents who could force her to use everything she had learned.
Most matches eventually became predictable.
She would establish her rhythm.
Her opponent would struggle to keep up.
Eventually, they would retreat.
Eventually, she would gain control.
But today was different.
Today, someone was standing directly in front of her.
Someone who refused to be pushed around.
Someone who could return her pressure with pressure of his own.
Someone who understood exactly what she was trying to do.
Inori's fingers tightened slightly around the controls.
Her smile became unmistakable.
"Finally..."
The word escaped so quietly that nobody outside her immediate surroundings could hear it.
She looked at Ruko's character once more.
"...Someone who can actually keep up with me."
The first exchange had ended.
But neither player had truly begun fighting seriously yet.
The opening minutes had only been a test.
A measurement.
A way of determining how far the other had come.
And judging by the expressions on both of their faces...
Neither had any intention of slowing down.
The rest of the map continued moving around them.
The Jungle monsters spawned.
The lane warriors advanced.
The Mid Lane shifted.
The Top Lane began its own struggle.
Yet on the Bottom Lane, something far more important had already happened.
Inori had finally found what she had been searching for.
After years of playing without Ruko...
She finally had someone who could give her a run for her money.