When They Beg, I Rise!

Lemira stared at her computer screen, her tone even, "But my aim is the national team."

[Ms. Lemon, you should join Reapers for sure. National team's a shoe-in with them.]

[SkyBlaze is a one-hit wonder. They're only in the running because of the playoff. That team's not up to snuff!]

[Exactly, I've heard there's some management issues in SkyBlaze. Their talented sister has been sidelined until they're nearly out of the competition, and then she comes in and pulls off a twelve-hit combo!]

Seeing these comments, Lemira spoke up, "As for which team to join, I haven't decided yet. The game's about to start."

She logged into the game, getting ready for the player-versus-player combat.

But Alaric, hearing her response, was so mad he smashed his keyboard! Evelina, feigning sympathy, said, "Alaric, don't be so angry. She's just riding her current wave of fame, trying to up her price. We could always offer more money." Alaric frowned, "It's no use."

"Alaric, let me give you a hand. I've got an idea."

Evelina watched the live stream on the computer, a cunning glint in her eye.

In the middle of her game, Lemira sneezed a couple of times, feeling a chill down her spine.

But her momentary distraction gave her opponent the chance to hit her with a powerful move, leaving her critically damaged.

Lemira focused intently, using her agility to take cover inside a building. After waiting for a bit, she found an opportunity to leap out. Realizing she was about to pull off the twelve-hit combo, she quickly stopped herself.

Even without using the twelve-hit combo, Lemira still won the match. Seeing she had won, Lemira finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The live chat exploded: [If I'm not mistaken, was that the setup for a twelve-hit combo just now?]

[Absolutely, as a fan of King, I've practiced the twelve-hit combo countless times. I'm very familiar with that jump!]

[Ms. Lemon, were you about to use the twelve-hit combo?]

Lemira, seeing the comments, knew this would happen.

She responded, "I'm also a huge fan

of King and have practiced the twelve-hit combo once, so it just came out haturally in that situation. But as you all know, landing a successful twelve-hit combois incredibly difficult!"

That was a close call. Lemira felt a bit guilty.

After the match, there was a ten-minute break.

[Ms. Lemon, someone's calling you out on VibeCast, are you going to respond?]

Lemira clicked on the link a fan sent, and it took her to Evelina's live stream!

Evelina sat in front of her computer, wearing a white dress, the beauty filter turned up to maximum, looking every inch the innocent beauty.

Evelina's eyes were red, [Ms. Lemon,

I don't understand why you suddenly broke our agreement to join PixelStage. Alaric saw your potential before you were famous, talked to you so much, and taught you a lot about the team. And then you turn around and don't want to cooperate. That really hurts.]

Evelina had her share of die-hard fans, and plenty came to Lemira's stream to hurl insults.

Lemira's lips curled in a cold smirk, "First off: I never agreed to sign with SkyBlaze. Second: I got where I am on my own."

Evelina continued with her tearful

act, "Everyone knows someone who's never been trained by a professional team couldn't possibly be this skilled. Miss Lemon, even if you wanted to break the contract, you could've parted on good terms. Instead, you turned to PixelStage. You're playing really unfair!"

Lemira was visibly annoyed. She opened up the game's chat box: [Here are all the conversations I had with SkyBlaze's captain. The truth is right here!] She made the conversation with Alaric public.