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THE BRUNETTE sat in front of her laptop, headphones on. Her eyes were clear and focused on the chess board in front of her.
She was so going to win this. Or at least, that's what she told herself.
Her roommate sat behind her, on the bed, clutching a pillow against her chest, feeling second hand nervousness.
"How many games did you say this Vik guy won?"
Trisha blinked at the question. "1569."
A stunned silence.
"Repeat that."
"I've already repeated it like 10 times now, Reya."
"How many games have you won, Trisha?"
Trisha sniffed. "1200."
"Okay. Okay. 1200. That's close. That's good." Reya mumbled. Trisha gave her a side eye.
"Okay, I'll shut up now. You go ahead and focus." Reya mumbled, still nervous.
The sparkly green header at the top of the laptop read ChessInternational Annual League Indian Server Finals.
It was pretty hard to not get intimidated by just looking at that title. And then there was her opponent. Vik12nayak. He was a legendary player in the server. He had nearly a ten thousand followers and didn't follow a single person back. He won practically every game he played, with ease.
He should've been playing professional chess with his skill and talent.
There were 5 minutes left for the game to commence. The official commentator had already logged in and was checking her mic. In the previous leagues, there had been no commentator but this time the organization hosting the mega-popular chess website had decided to add to the excitement by hiring one.
It only made Trisha more nervous.
Trisha watched the time. 4 minutes were left. Suddenly she heard a 'ding!' ringing in her ears, startling her.
A dialogue box had popped up on the side.
Vik12Nayak sends friend request - Approve? Deny?
Trisha blinked. Huh?
Nervous and somewhat apprehensive, she clicked on approve. Immediately, she received a message.
Good luck.
Trisha blinked. With trembling fingers, she wrote back 'same to you' and clicked on send.
She turned around to face her room mate.
"My opponent just sent me a friend request and then messaged me 'good luck'. Would you say this is some sort of an intimidation tactic?"
Reya peered at her, confused.
"The match will begin now. The AI algorithm of the website will decide on who will be taking which side - black or white."
