“Vinnie, give it a rest,” a woman interrupted Vi’s passionate lecture about the importance of high-quality produ.

  “Oh, mom.” Vi stopped. “You’re up.”

  “Yeah, I am.” the woman nodded. Her big gsses almost slid off her nose, but she pushed them back right before the act happened.

  “I introduce thee my birth giver!” Vi dramatically stretched both arms. “The one and only Nightowl Designer! If you ever find yourself in a need of ag ad or a masterfully edited video, don’t hesitate to apply!”

  “Cheers.” The woman zily waved with one hand as a greeting while c a big yawn with the other. “The name’s Nicole.”

  “Yuel.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Nicole said. “This kid won’t sting about the amazing pyers the club got this year.” She ed a hand around Vi and caressed his head.

  “M-Mom!” Vi shifted his eyes away. His cheeks turned reddish.

  “What?” Nicole pouted. “I’m not allowed to show my affe for my child anymore? Did you already grow out of it!? Oh, how fast kids grow up!” Her eyes teared up a little.

  “N-No, that’s not what I meant!” Vi’s voice was shaky. He ressed between a rod a hard pce. “Just, not in front of others...”

  “What is there to hide?” Nicole asked ily. “There’s nothing deviant about a mother loving her son.” She hugged Viightly.

  “Guh!” Vi produced a silly sound. His cheeks flushed and he shifted his eyes between Yuel and the ceiling.

  So, there are things in this world even the finds embarrassing. Yuel thought to himself.

  The loud usually seemed immuo the cept of “embarrassment”, as if the word didn’t eve in his diary. But, turned out there were simple things like this that embarrassed him just fi was kind of cute.

  I’d also have a stroke if my mom fawned all over me in front of my friends. Yuel smiled wryly. But, at least, it was good to know Vi was on good terms with his parents.

  Holy, with how he’s always ag, I couldn’t help but question the parenting he was receiving. But, turns out they’re nid g parents, although a little etric I admit.

  Fabio and Nicole were on the quirky side, but there was nothing wrong with that. If anything, they were probably spoiling Vioo much, seeing as they turned a blio the nonsense he outing 24/7.

  What would Yuel’s mom do if Yuel started ag like Vi?

  I’d be dead. Totally dead. Yuel gulped.

  He could already imagine his head rolling on the floor after being run over by a guillotine. Yes, it’d be that macabre. His mom would bring him back to his senses in a snap. She was that sort of scary woman.

  After a while, Nicole released Vi and tihe topic she started earlier.

  “Vinnie, I’m sorry to break it to you, but Yuel here is right. You spend too much time on each video. It’s alright when you do it as a hobby, but it’s a different story when you got a deadline. In these cases, finishing on time is more important than quality.”

  “But, the impact of the videos...” Vi pouted in protest but his weak tone implied he gave up.

  “Just stick to the basics this time,” Nicole advised. “It’s not like the raw footage will be goer you finish the video. You always enha ter if you o.”

  “Oh, that’s true indeed.” Vi nodded. “In that case, the first version we produce will merely be a draft for our future Oscar-winning produ!”

  “Yeah, that’s a good way to think of it,” Nicole said. “I’m here if you need any help.”

  “Thanks, mom!” Vi saluted his superior from the Videocrafting Division.

  “Oh.” Nicole turo leave but then stopped to stare long and hard at Yuel. “I may be mistaken, but are you a chess pyer?”

  “I do py chess as a hobby,” Yuel said.

  “Did you enter any tours around here? Like, a couple of years ago, maybe?”

  “I did. I even won the regionals once.”

  “Aha! I k!” Nicole dashed out of the room. “Wait right here!”

  A few mier, she returned with a printed article. It was titled “The La Princess Is ELIMI the Finals!”

  “That’s yht?” Nicole poi the boy featured in one of the smaller images of the article.

  “Yeah, I think so,” Yuel said. Holy, it was hard to tell. The shot was taken from far away and wasn’t very clear.

  “Oh! I was not aware of this legend!” Vi grabbed the article and sed it with great i. “I see! As expected from the man who calls himself Chessmaster! You’re indeed a master of chess!”

  “Um, yeah, right...” Yuel produced a dry ugh. Yeah, I picked “Chessmaster” because I py chess, let’s go with that...

  “It’s amazing,” Nicole said. “Chess isn’t some easy game for kids. Also, the article mentions this ‘La Princess’ received private lessons from many top-level professionals, so she’s probably ahead of the petition from just that. This is what money get you, huh.”

  Nicole’s eyes glinted with jealousy and it was only natural. Anybody would feel like a peasant in front of the “La Princess”. From her doll-like features to her fashionable clothes which surely cost an arm and a leg - everything about the La Princess screamed WEALTH.

  As such, the average peasant couldn’t help but be awed. Even Yuel was a little overwhelmed by that girl’s prese first, which was why he crashed and burned so hard during their first game.

  Thankfully, he calmed down by the sed game and mounted a eback. And, in the end, he even grasped victory.

  “Oh!” Vi excimed. “It says the La Princess is a former national champion! She eveo pete against kids from other tries!”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard of that,” Yuel said. “I believe she ended in 3rd p the world championship. It’s a great achievement.”

  “Third p the entire world of chess!?” Vi’s eyes sparkled.

  “Only among kids that age, so mostly grade-schoolers.”

  “heless, that’s spectacur!” Vi made hird p the entire world! She is a mighty valkyrie who won’t lose to anybody! You speak lightly of this, but you took down a real superstar with your own two hands! You’re practically a world-css chess pyer!”

  “Sorry to disappoint, but I never made it to the world championship.”

  “Impossible! How so!? Didn’t you win the regionals by trampling over the La Princess!?”

  “Yes, but I lost at the nationals. I came in 4th.”

  “4th? I see...” Vi finally quieted down a little. “That’s still impressive, of course. But, how could it be? I mean, you crushed the idol who established herself as a world-css fighter! You were destio wiionals and prove your mettle at the world championship!”

  “I wasn’t good enough,” Yuel said matter-of-factly. “There were strong oppos at the nationals.”

  “But, didn’t the La Princess defeat these oppos before? And, you defeated the princess, so...”

  “She pyed them a year before that,” Yuel expined. “It’s possible they improved a lot sihen.”

  “Indeed. I see, I see.” Vi nodded repeatedly. “They were bitter rivals whom the princess mercilessly crushed a year earlier. They must’ve spent the entire year w themselves to the boraining day and night in preparations for the fateful rematch! As, the target of their revenge was not present at the nationals that year, so they unleashed their revenge on you, the substitute who vanquished her! Sutense drama!”

  “Perhaps.” Yuel shrugged. “Also, holy, I think she was just better than me.”

  “The La Princess? Better than you? Even though you defeated her?”

  “Like in every sport, skill isn’t ‘one-dimensional’ in chess. Just because I defeated somebody, that doesn’t automatically make me ‘better’ than them. Bad matchups exist, as well as other factors such as pressure and ck of preparation.”

  “Oh, I see! It’s like the cssic story of the underdog team taking the reigning champions by surprise and pulling the rug from uhem!”

  “I’d like to believe I was better than just an ‘underdog’ at the time, but yes, that’s abht. It was overall a bad matchup for her.”

  “Oh! The plot this!” Vi leaned in to hear some more. “So!? How did you do it!? How did you outdo the world-css valkyrie!?”

  “Yeah, I’m ied too,” Nicole leaned in as well. It seemed she shared a simir passion for sports stories as the rest of this household.

  “Um...” Yuel backed away a little. The pressure was on. “I’m not sure how well I expin it to people who don’t py chess. Hmm.”

  “Expin it to me like I’m five,” Nicole requested something absurd.

  “Well, in a nutshell, it was a bad matchup for her,” Yuel repeated.

  “You already told us,” Vi said. “But, we wish to hear details! This article only goes on and on about the La Princess herself. It only mentioned your name oween the lines, even though you were the winner! Whoever wrote this article is a disgrace to journalism!”

  “Yeah, exactly,” Nicole agreed. “When they first gave me an outline of the article, I thought the focus will be on the winner. But, all they sent me were photos of that ‘princess’. They even instructed me to make sure her photos were the most eye-catg part of the article. I literally had to beg them to se least one photo of the actual winner.”

  “Such corrupted journalism!” Vi waved an angry fist. “The industry is rotten to the core! I ’t believe you accepted such a work, mom!”

  “Work is work,” Nicole said. “It was good money. I couldn’t refuse it just because I didn’t like what they were fog on. My job is to make the photos go well with the article, not to decide the article’s tent.”

  “That’s true, but...” Vi hung his head. The journalist inside him was screaming and kig like an angry baby.

  “You ’t really bme them,” Nicole said. “Journalism is just business in the end. The La Princess already made a name for herself back then. Besides, she’s a looker and she’s from a rich family, so it’s no surprise they put the spotlight on her instead of an unknown like Yuel. But yeah, it didn’t sit well with me either, so that’s why this article was stu my head for all these years.”

  “So, that’s how ynized Yuel on the spot,” Vi realized. “I uand, mom. That article was haunting you in your dreams all this time, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah, ever sihat day, I could never get any sleep at night.” Nicole leaned on her son as if about to fall asleep. “Every night, I would recall the sins I’ve itted. Every time I pced a picture of the La Princess oicle, a part of me died along with it.”

  “It must’ve been rough.” Vi patted his mom’s shoulder.

  “Yeah, it was. I even used all my knowledge te the one photo I had of Yuel, but all I got was this blurry mess. I’m terribly sorry!”

  “It’s okay.” Yuel had no idea how to react to this sob story. The details were probably exaggerated beyond measure, but it sounded like Nicole genuinely felt bad for how this article turned out. Maybe she even really lost some sleep over it.

  “Alright,” Nicole said. “Jokes aside.”

  “It was a joke!?” Yuel facepalmed so hard he almost sent his head flying.

  “Don’t worry, I didn’t lose a wink of sleep over it.” Nicole smiled. “But, I really didn’t like this article, that’s why I still remember it.”

  “I see...” Yuel felt like an idiot for falling for that one.

  When Vi utting on a show, it was usually over-the-top and very obvious. pared to that, his mom was like an Oscar-winning actress.

  I’ll have to carefully examine everything she says from now on. She won’t trick me again!

  Somehow or ahe versation derailed into discussing the corruption of the journalism industry and how they were pushing a narrative with this article. But, it was fine si excused Yuel from talking about the match against the La Princess. Or, so he thought...

  “Well?” Viuro Yuel as the versation died out. “In the end, how did you dethrohe princess!?”

  “Yeah, tell us.” Nicole pressured as well.

  This duo is really something. Yuel was overwhelmed. This felt exactly like overextending into eerritory without backup. Enemies were ganking him from both sides, going straight for the kill. It eless 1v2 situation. Zero ce of escape.

  “Basically, I threw her off her game.”

  “Details!” Vi insisted. “More. Details.”

  “Yes, please.” Nicole backed him up.

  “Ugh...” Yuel backed away from the interrogators, but his back eventually hit the wall. There was o run. He was ered!

  Guess I’ll just have to talk. Yuel sighed. “Feel free to stop me if you don’t uand what I’m talking about.”

  “No problem!” Vi promised. “My Information Bckhole shall absorb all your input and process it into tiny digestible bits of information that even a baby would uand!”

  “That’s a veool you got,” Nicole said. “Where do I order one of these?”

  “I’m afraid you won’t find it in any regur store. After all, it’s crafted by her than yours truly..”

  “How much do you charge for it?”

  “Sorry, ma’am. This item is not for sale.”

  “Stringy.” Nicole pouted as she gently pinched Vi’s cheek.

  “Ahem, anyway.” Yuel cleared his throat. “Long story short, the La Princess is a strong theory pyer who pys by-the-book. She clearly studied all the positions we went through in our first game and I didn’t try anything unorthodox to throw her off. That’s how I lost the first game.”

  “I see, I see!” Vi nodded repeatedly. “So, you lost the first bout, but your Mystic Eyes of Weakness Perception perfectly captured the fw in her game pn, didn’t they? Then, in the game, you mixed things up and pyed wildly!”

  “Something like that,” Yuel said. “I stayed away from standard moves in order t her into unexplored territory. Thankfully, some of my moves successfully fused her, and in turn, her solid game pn fell apart.”

  “Devilishly brilliant!” Vi excimed. “So, how did the final game go!? What manner of genius trickery did you pull there!?”

  “I didn’t do anything different. I think she was still hung up on her mistakes from the previous game, so she was very distracted.”

  “So, she was her own undoing,” Nicole ented. “Iing analysis. I wish they included at least half of that iual article.”

  “Exactly my thoughts,” Vi agreed. “They only presehe princess’ perspective, making bnk statements like ‘she fought hard until the bitter end’. That’s a disgrace to professional matalysis! They’re selling a braindead narrative for the on folks! That’s such low-quality journalism. They should’ve asked dad to cover it instead.”

  “Yeah, he’d weave a ale out of it,” Nicole said. “He’d also take some good photos of the actual winner.”

  “Even with eborate matalysis, I’m not sure it’d make for a better story.” Yuel smiled wryly. “In the end, you could say I was just lucky. If I pyed her again after that, I’m sure I’d lose by a huge margin. She’s a better pyer than me overall. I just took her by surprise that day.”

  “Victory is victory,” Nicole said. “On that day, in that match, you were the better pyer. You should hold your head up.”

  “Thanks.” Yuel smiled softly. I wish my dad saw things that way. He criticized me to no end about that match. And, that was the st serious match review I had with him...

  They discussed the chess article some more. The duo of mother and sed Yuel into a flow that was impossible to escape.

  Thankfully, at some point, he mao wheel the versation back to today’s main topipiling a video for tomorrow’s match review!

  “Oh, indeed.” Vi nodded. “I pletely fot about it.”

  Great. That’s only kinda the entire point of me ioday. Yuel sighed.

  And so, after yet another ued detour, the two of them returo the main topic of today’s meeting...

  DarkestCymore