"I have some iing news for you~" One day, Cato showed up in front of Fiona with a smirk. Of course, he practically always wore a smile, but this one was bigger and more sihan usual. Fiona was almost wary of hearing this news.

  And, in a way, she was correct. The tale Cato told her was something that probably was best left untold.

  "You won't believe who I just saw the other day. My Cssmancers club had a scrim against another school, and guess who I saw pying oher team? her than your most beloved chess rival~"

  Yuel Fermond. Yes, it was him, pying for StormBlitz, the team that supposedly posed the greatest threat to the ed regional champions.

  Despite being but a freshmaually participated in that important scrim as a sed-string. What's more, acc to Cato, the man performed quite well for such a young pyer.

  At the time, Fiona was not familiar with that “digital sport”, so she did not have a strong opinion on Yuel's performaher way; she had to trust Cato's narrative on that.

  However, what did intrigue her was the fact Yuel Fermond didn't show up to the regional chess tour, yet he did show up to that Cssmancers scrimmage. And, based on Cato's words, the man pyed very petitively.

  So, did Yuel abandon chess in favor of that video game? Is that how it was?

  In fact, he did mention something to this effect ba grade school as well. When Fiona fronted him about the match he lost to Cato, Yuel mentioned he was busy with "other matters" that had higher priority for him.

  Could it be he was talking about Cssmancers back then? Was that the "higher priority" matter he prioritized over chess?

  At the time, Fiona did not sider video games to be a legitimate petitive field, therefore her rea was quite bitter upon hearing Cato’s news. But at the same time, she was curious as well.

  Why did somebody as talented as Yuel Fermond choose to abandon chess for a video game? And, there was Cato, too. He also peted in Cssmancers. Though he tinued practig chess as well, it was clear where his priorities y.

  On top of that, Karen also pyed that video game. She did not seem as serious about it as the two boys, but she heless raved about it every now and then. She even invited Fiona to join her on occasion, but naturally, Fiona deed the invitations.

  Iingly, on some other days, Karen ranted about the game nonstop and told Fiona to stay away from it instead. It looked like an iing love-hate retionship.

  Ultimately, as all these curious factors accumuted, Fiona’s curiosity finally got the best of her. She folded and decided to veo this unknown world of video gaming.

  Though, to be precise, she only focused on Cssmancers. The few ames she tried before it was just a gateway fetting used to the medium.

  The more Fiona learned about petitive Cssmancers, the more appreciation she developed for the video game as a legitimate sport. It was definitely very different from ventional petitive sports, yet its core was very much the same.

  Knowledge, skill, and experiehese three pilrs were as important in this esport as they were in any other sport. Not to mention, there was a lot of meta information to unpack here.

  Before all of this, Fiona thought video games oed to pass the time in leisure. However, petitive Cssmancers proved her wrong.

  In many ways, learning a MOBA game proved to be more taxing than pig up most real-life sports. There was tons of data to unpad process. There were so many csses, so many items, and some many terms to learn.

  And, it did not help that Fiona had o no experieh any of that. As a result, it took her very long to get used to the sheer magnitude of information.

  However, no sport was unlearhat was Fiona’s firm belief. With the aid of professional coaches and with enough hard work, she mao bee a pyer who occasionally even stumped Cato in Duel.

  As her i in the esport increased, Fiona developed a new point of view on her unfulfilled rematch with Yuel Fermond. If the man was so dedicated to Cssmancers now, then Fiona likely had no ce of having a satisfyich against him in chess. So then, how about challenging him at his own game instead?

  Cssmancers was no chess but it offered more than enough strategic aveo pete in. So, Fiona and Yuel could settle the score in this game as well.

  By the end of the day, chess was just one specific game. It was highly regarded due to its rich history and elegant design, but there were plenty of ames out there with tactical depth. For example, there were Shogi, Go, and many others.

  Truly, there was no she of alternative games to choose from. It just so happehat Yuel chose to focus on Cssmancers. So, Fiona could challenge him there.

  Ultimately, it was not necessarily a “chess rematch” she was seeking. Fiona simply wao face this irritable man once again and prove that she had quered the weakness Yuel exposed back then.

  To that end, fag him in Cssmancers will do. And so, Fiona decided on her course of a.

  Except, there was one problem: Cssmancers was a team game. Fiona could not py the game petitively by herself.

  Fortunately, she already had Karen on her side, but two pyers were not enough either. Fiona needed a team. And, not just any team, but ohat was officially reized and could participate in the regionals.

  That was wheory came a full circle auro St. Mary’s Junih. The school was old-fashioned in many ways but it was making strides to moderself, as shown by the existence of the volleyball club.

  Following that successful trend, would it be too much of a stretch to request the school to open a Cssmancers club? Yes, it probably was.

  Real-life sports were familiar to the on fardless of age, but what about esports? Most likely, the elders of the school’s staff were not even aware that video games could be pyed petitively. In fact, even Fiona was only loosely aware of the cept for most of her life before Cssmancers. sidering all that, St. Mary’s was likely not ready yet to adapt to suovel cepts.

  With that said, the school valued Fiona as a “mascot” of sorts. She was like a magical creature whht fame and media attention to the school. Therefore, had some leverage to start off with.

  However, that was not going to be enough to vihe principal and Fiona k. So, this was where the volleyball club returned into the picture.

  The coach, and the school by extension, were quite desperate t Fiona into the club. They were almost literally beggio participate.

  That was when advice from Fiona’s dad came to mind. “Sometimes, you might have to do a big favor to another person or an institution, even if it means sacrifig something important in exge. But, there is o be too agitated by that. The important part is making sure the other side uands just how much you’re sacrifig for them. You want to make them feel ied to you. Sometimes, such is the way of business.”

  Following that advice, Fiona made it clear to the school just how much joining the volleyball club would invenience her. She went through many such discussions with the coad the school principal. So surely, at this point, they should have started feeling at least a little guilty about pestering her so much.

  Thanks to this setup, if Fioo ultimately honor their request, then the school would be ied to her. That would bee a leverage she could use against them in order to push for the establishment of a Cssmancers club.

  But, naturally, simply joining the club will not do. To make the school even more ied, Fiona had to prove herself as an invaluable part of the volleyball team. In other words, she had to immediately bee a starter ahe team to victory.

  The more petitions the team wins thanks to Fiona’s tribution, the more depe everybody will bee on Fiona's presehere. At that point, she will be in a winning position to present her demands.

  Fortunately, once Fio her mind, it was easy enough for her to put in the effort. At any sport she picked, winning had always been a natural goal for Fiona. As such, this whole "ploy" barely eve like one.

  Overall, Fiona's short-term goal was the same as always: py to win. The whole part about using her participation as leverage for Cssmancers became a sedary priority until Fiona proved herself as a volleyball pyer.

  Truth be told, it was a harsher road than expected. Uhe other sports Fiona practiced, volleyball was a team game, therefore Fiona alone could not trol everything by herself. So, although it was clear she had the makings of an excellent pyer thanks to her ihleticism, it was impossible for her to carry the eeam on her excellence alone.

  Fortunately, the club’s coach was very passionate about the sport and had a knack for teag it, so a few other club members also sprouted into dependable teammates. This lifted a huge weight off Fiona’s shoulders. She did not actually have to carry the eeam all by herself, which was the main aspect of team games that she always disliked.

  Overall, Fiona brought in satisfactory results. She became a starter as a freshman and the club won the regionals that year. Unfortunately, the nationals remained outside their reach. Winning there would have practically guarahat Fiona could request just about anything from the school, but as.

  In the end, though Fiona failed to gain maximum leverage, she heless established herself as a remarkable pyer. There was no question in anybody’s mind that she was an irrepceable part of the team.

  Therefore, she still had a on in her hands, even if it was not quite as strong as she had hoped. And so, at the start of her sed school year, Fiona presented her request: "I would like to form a Cssmancers club."

  Needless to say, the board of education was baffled. They exged awkward gnces as they tried to process what Fiona was asking for.

  At first, they shot down the request on the spot. They used the typical outdated arguments about video gaming not being "educational" or "dylike".

  But, that was alright. Fiona came prepared. She did her resear advance by asking some of the teachers' opinions about esports.

  "Same as other bame sports you are familiar with, petitive video games, namely esports, have solidified themselves as a popur and widely practiced activity nowadays,” Fiona expined. “As a chess pyer myself, I was quite entranced by the amount of depth and plexity this video game offers on the petitive level."

  Fiona hit the board with a lecture she practiced in advance. She made sure to stress that even though esports involved "video gaming", there was a distinct differeween pying them for fun and using them as a vehicle for petition.

  Amidst the many arguments she pced, Fiona also made sure to remind the school that she only joihe volleyball club because the school pleaded with her.

  "At the time, I had no i in partaking in volleyball,” Fiona said. “As far as I was ed, it was a team sport that had absolutely nothing to do with me. And, sidering how little free time I have in my daily schedule, addi another sport to the mix was, and still is, a very big itment for me."

  bined with a few other strong arguments, Fiona ultimately made the school submit to her demand. However, not without pg some ditions first. The first and most important of which was Fiona's tinued participation irad volleyball clubs.

  That much was expected. Fiona excelled in both clubs and brought medals to the school, so they did not want to lose their golden goose.

  Furthermore, they ily hihat the deal will be called celed in case Fiona’s impressive achievements in trad volleyball suffer as a result of her dividing her focus between more clubs now.

  Furthermore, they insisted that this newborn Cssmancers club had to prove its "worth" at the regionals, or else they would have to "reevaluate" the matter. In other words, they will shut the club down if it does n the school enough clout.

  Truly, from start to end, the school was nothing but selfish. Fiona even sidered g the deal multiple times because of the school’s absurd demands.

  heless, in the end, she stuck through with it. As absurd as the arra was, such absurdity was not alien to the “La Princess", the one famous for partaking in so many different petitive sports at the same time.

  And so, Fioablished the Cssmancers club, remained irad field club, and tinued practig in the volleyball club. This tight schedule was why Fiona and Karen had to get to the school's gym so early in the m.

  There awaited them their usual "rival", or at least that was what the girl often called herself...

  DarkestCymore