Last chance qualifier

Yuusuke curled up in his bed as he stared at the TV. A day had passed since his loss to Pnina, yet he still hadn't gotten over it.

"And we got some exclusive news for ya! Most of the teams for the Global League have been finalized. Good thing too since it starts up on the 20th. First up, the Pnina Sapir beauty queens featuring Mimoko, Hagemi, Noa, Fran, Oiva, and Collette. Then we've got the Alaskan Wildlife Tours Rooks featuring Peter, Okisato, Hubert, Arun, Solveig, and Utami. Talk about star power, but Ewetube's got some too with Iori, Carol, Igjat, Venera, Iorwerth, and Hanuman forming the Ewetube Stream Team. I feel this might be the weakest team yet, at least in comparison to the others. The Bondiliego Powder Kegs also got power with Jad, Diederich, Miralem, Checheyigen, Nándor, and Esma making up the team. Esma was previously over 2000, but took a small dip to 1995. Perfect in terms of this competition as it makes her one of the strongest players on that board. The Eegorvola Kingmakers also got a strong line-up of Tsar Grigori, Kaiser Richthofen, Rasputin, Vlatka, Prof Skaberghast, and Fjolla. However, it's the final team, the Sally Nemo Team, which still has yet to finalize things," Kisha stated.

Images of Xiu, Nikolina, Zsa Zsa, Ugnė, and Vsevolod all appeared on screen.

"We're looking for an under 2000 who's also a guy, so if you fit the criteria, get your ass down to the Skytree. Event starts at 5. What if no one shows? Well, they'll literally pick a staffer for the company that's never played chess before. So come on, get over here!"

The door to Yuusuke's room slammed open as Hagemi barged in. "I don't give a shit what you say, your ass is going there. And this time, you better not fuck it up."

"I'm not good. I'm a failure. I should just quit."

"Won't learn about-"

"I don't care anymore. I've been playing for how many years? Everyone's eclipsed me. All I do is embarrass myself. I'm tired of it."

"Never used to whine like this. What was it?"

"It... ..."

Yuusuke went into a deep think to try and figure out the answer to that question.

"Just get your ass moving. Botch this, and no more video games."

"WHAT!?"

"I'll also throw your ass into a chess training program. Get dressed!"

...

Arriving at the venue, Yuusuke found strangely little presence around the recruitment table.

"Ah, are you under 2000?" the staffer asked.

"Yeah?"

"Perfect, than would you like to join the team?"

"Just like that?"

"Yup. We need a player now, so sign that contract."

But as Yuusuke attempted to do so, a hand slammed down on the paper. "As if. A failure like this should never be allowed to bask in any spotlight."

Yuusuke gritted his teeth as he recognized the voice and turned to come face-to-face with a goth pretty boy in a yukata and geta.

"Yumehara... You fucking fuck. It's always gotta be you, huh."