Vincent’s dad finished “interviewing” Yuel and they proceeded to Vincent’s room, the so-called “Den of Videocrafting”. There was no sign of Vincent’s mom anywhere.

“She’s still sleeping,” Vincent said. “Yesterday, as always, she braved through the depths of the night to unleash her art on the world, for she is the Nightowl Designer!”

“So, she pulled an all-nighter?”

“Indeed.” Vincent nodded. “She works from home, so her schedule can get quite peculiar indeed.”

“But, she will wake up at some point during the day, right?”

“Indeed, indeed. Fret not, for we shall be able to borrow her advice if we find so necessary.”

“Good.”

They reached Vincent’s room.

“Welcome to the production studio!” Vincent stretched both arms to present his room as if it was some big agency. “Please, come inside. Don’t be shy.”

“Sure.” Yuel stepped in. A loud and colorful sight assaulted him immediately.

No walls.

There were none.

This room had no walls anywhere in sight.

Well, that wasn’t accurate. Of course, the room technically had walls. However, none of them were visible. Why? Because countless posters covered them from head to toe.

There were many different colorful posters of eastern cartoons, the ones Vincent referred to as “anime”. The entire background was so stacked with images, to the point it was impossible to tell the actual color of the walls.

“How do you like my shrine?”

“It’s... colorful, I guess.” Yuel instinctively took a step back. This room was as loud as its owner. It had this uncanny ability to make Yuel shudder.

“By the way, have you watched the anime I recommended?” Vincent pointed at one of the posters. “Here, you know which one this is?”

“Um...” Yuel had no idea. He didn’t have the time to check out any of these shows. There was nothing wrong with admitting that, so he should just give a straight answer.

With that said, being inside Vincent’s territory made that difficult. All the colorful huge eyes on the were staring at Yuel, judging him with their smirks and smiles.

“So, you haven’t watched them,” Vincent concluded.

“Sorry, I haven’t,” Yuel apologized. Not sure why I’m apologizing, though.

“This is Kill Note,” Vincent explained. The poster showed a man holding a notebook, with some grotesque creature standing behind him.

What kind of show was it? Knowing Vincent, it was probably something about a boy summoning demons from a cursed notebook.

“This is Psycho License.” Vincent pointed at another poster. This one had people holding comically oversized guns. It looked like some sort of action flick, just drawn in anime style. It was probably all action and no substance, the worst kind of shows.

“And this is Mono Piece.” Vincent continued presenting more and more posters, trying to get Yuel tempted to watch something, anything.

I’m not going to bite. Yuel resisted. We didn’t meet up to do an anime tour.

“Then, how about we watch the first few episodes together?” Vincent suggested. “I’m sure you’ll love it! It’s a brilliant series of suspense and mind-games!”

“I’ll watch it when I have the time,” Yuel made an empty promise. “I’m here for the review video, not to watch shows.”

“Worry not, for we have the entire day ahead of us! One episode is but 20 minutes long.”

“That sounds like something a procrastinator would say,” Yuel remarked. “It starts with a small distraction, but then time flies by and you haven’t even started.”

“Sounds like you have personal experience with that.”

“That’s basically every group study ever.” Yuel sighed.

Many kids, and even teachers, raved about studying in groups. However, in Yuel’s experience, it was always a recipe for disaster.

Every study group he joined was a circus. The other kids were more busy messing around, thinking they got plenty of time on their hands. Then, before they realized it, the group study was over and they hadn’t done a single thing.

What Vincent suggested was dangerously close to that mentality. In theory, they had at least 10 hours to work on the video. It sounded like a tremendous amount of time that’d be enough to accomplish about anything.

But, the moment you got sidetracked, it always took an indefinite amount of time to get back on track. Even though Vincent said each episode was “only 20 minutes”, that was a trap. It was going to tempt them to watch more episodes, which in turn will waste many precious hours of their day.

“It’s just another 20 minutes, no problem.” Vincent will surely say after every single episode.

I can already imagine how the entire thing will play out. Yuel shuddered.

In the hypothetical alternative timeline, in which he agrees to watch an episode, they will waste at least five hours on that side-activity. As a result, they won’t finish the video in time and the match review will become a disaster. Due to that, the team won’t improve fast enough and they will eventually face StormBlitz unprepared at the regionals, leading to their crushing defeat.

That’s one future I absolutely can’t allow. Yuel gulped. “No, we’re not watching anything. Let’s get started on the video.”

“I see, I see. Uptight as ever.” Vincent nodded in understanding. “Truly, such overwhelming seriousness, befitting the supervillain known as Chessmaster!”

A villain...? Yuel decided not to ask, to avoid further sidetracking.

It felt like Vincent was always searching for the best ways to derail conversations. He was a happy man as long as he could spout his over-the-top nonsense.

That’s why I can’t give him any opportunities to start anything. Yuel steeled himself. I have to be straight to the point. This is like dealing with a wild animal that can attack at any moment.

“Very well then.” Vincent sat down in front of the computer. “Let us begin our videocrafting!”

“I sent you the timestamps yesterday,” Yuel said. “Did you see them?”

“‘Did I see them?’ Kukuku, who do you take me for? I’m the man known as Information Blackhole! As soon as you decided on the timestamps, I already knew their exact contents! Yes, that’s right, I was aware of them before you even sent them to me!”

“That’s an impressive skill.” Yuel nodded. Too bad it’s all nonsense.

With that said, Vincent at least glossed over the timestamps document. It was already open on his PC before they came into the room. And, the video editing software was also ready.

Despite how hard the clown was trying to procrastinate a moment ago, he was unexpectedly prepared. He was raring to go, just like Yuel. In fact, this happy-go-lucky clown even went the extra mile.

“These marked timestamps...” Yuel mumbled.

“Kukuku, so you have noticed! Such a sharp eye, as expected from the one who can tell others’ weaknesses at a glance!”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

What sharp eye? I’d have to be blind to not notice all these marked timestamps. They’re literally bolded, italicized, and marked in yellow. And, these timestamps... aren’t mine.

“They’re my additions,” Vincent explained. “Just as you dedicated your precious time for the noble cause of analyzing the replay and finding the greatest of moments, so have I. Combined, our timestamps shall reveal all the truths of that fateful match!”

“You did all that?” Yuel blinked.

There were many marked timestamps and they had brief descriptions attached to them, similar to how Yuel organized his own timestamps. Vincent clearly poured hours into compiling all of this. That was so unexpected.

This duality of Vincent always made the guy difficult to read. Was he a lazy bum who only cared about messing around and procrastinating? Or, was he a serious hard-worker who did everything in his power to help the team? He was both and neither. Truly, a mysterious existence that followed alien logic.

“Wait, these timestamps...” The descriptions attached to them were a little odd. They were stuff like “VanishingFlower strikes down the unsuspecting Dark Knight!” and “Gunz exhibits his skills as the Insane Beast of the Apocalypse and strikes down DragonMaster! The defender becomes the victim!”

The timestamps had bombastic names that sounded like clickbait titles. And, in a classic Vincent fashion, they were filled with many silly terms. Yuel’s brain was losing cells just from skimming through this content.

But, silly titles alone were still alright. What really bugged Yuel about these timestamps was the content. There was an odd consistent theme for all of them.

“None of these are misplays by our team.”

“Indeed, they are not,” Vincent agreed. “On the contrary! These are glorious moments of victory! The first time VanishingFlower overcame her stage-fright and correctly ganked the Dark Knight. Or, that one time Beat conquered her anger and taught TheLegend a hard lesson! Those were all amazing fateful moments!”

“But, since they were good plays, there’s no much to criticize about them. There’s no point reviewing them.”

“Oh, that’s where I vehemently disagree with you, o cold-hearted Chessmaster,” Vincent objected. “Reliving your moments of defeat is definitely insightful, but reliving your moments of victory is just as important!”

“I don’t see how.”

“If you only focus your attention on your mistakes, you’ll start believing you played terribly the entire match. It will shatter your confidence as a player and will make you lose faith in your own skill. Not to mention, it could be detrimental to your future performance as well. It might spell doom for your entire future career!”

“That’s an exaggeration if I ever heard one,” Yuel said. “Nobody is going to think they’re bad just because you show them their mistakes. If they’re serious about improving, they’ll accept the criticism and learn from it.”

“Such heartlessness, as expected from a supervillain.” Vincent nodded. “In theory, you’re correct. A serious player wouldn’t get depressed over a single piece of criticism. But, what if they go through an entire session filled with nothing but criticism toward them and their teammates? Isn’t that depressing beyond belief!?”

“No, I don’t think it is. Mistakes were made and we’re going to discuss them. That’s all there is to it.”

“Indeed, mistakes were made,” Vincent agreed. “However, imagine this scene: You’re being shown one mistake. Then, another mistake. And then another, and another, and another. Before long, the entire match will be painted as a pile of mistakes. The entire team will look like a dysfunctional unit capable only of committing mistakes. Is that the kind of grim picture you wish to paint with your match review?”

“No, of course not,” Yuel said. “All I want is to discuss the mistakes. I’m not trying to say we played poorly. We won, so everybody should already know we performed well overall.”

“Just because they’re aware of such truths at the back of their heads doesn’t mean they’ll remember them throughout the match review. If you hammer them with nothing but showcases of their mistakes, all that negativity will fill up their brains to the brim. Before long, they’ll start thinking that they severely underperformed and that their victory was but a fluke.

“I think you’re exaggerating,” Yuel argued back but he wasn’t too confident. There might be some truth to Vincent’s words.

Going over replays of a player’s mistakes was similar to scolding them over and over. At some point, the target might start seeing the scolder as a “villain” whose entire purpose in life was to scold. Even if all that scolding actually had good intentions behind it, none of it will reach the target audience.

For example, there was Yuel’s bumpy relationship with Julia. “Frankly, that Cryomancer played terribly.” That’s how Yuel criticized Julia’s performance the first time they met.

It sounded brutal and Yuel probably should’ve phrased it better, but he had no ill intention. He simply wanted to make it clear that Lars was losing in that 2v2 game due to Julia’s shortcomings as a Support. It wasn’t his intention to belittle her or anything like that. He simply pointed out her mistakes in the hope she learns from them.

But, Julia didn’t see it that way. She thought Yuel was acting like a jackass who was looking down on her.

If Yuel just presented his criticism better and mixed in a couple of praises in-between, then Julia’s first impression of him would have been far more positive. Perhaps, they would’ve started out on much better terms and could avoid dramatic fights like the one that tore their friendship apart.

“Okay, you may have a point,” Yuel conceded. “We can include a couple of good plays in the video.”

“Indeed, we shall! It will boost the team’s morale through the roof!”

“But, let’s not overdo it,” Yuel insisted. “We don’t have time to compile all the good and bad plays together. We need to focus on misplays that can teach us valuable lessons.”

“Worry not, for I’ve already begun my craft yesterday!” Vincent dramatically zigzagged with his mouse, passing through many folders at lightning speed. “Behold, the fruits of my labor!”

He opened a video, showing the first sample from his big list of “good plays”. It captured the moment Nia successfully snuck up to the Dark Knight and killed the guy. It was definitely an important turning point in that game, an occasion to celebrate. Nia will probably feel good if she watched this, but...

“This is definitely something...” Yuel wasn’t sure how to respond to the editing work on this video.

The footage started with Nia creeping toward Top Lane. So far, so good.

But then, dramatic ominous music started playing in the background, accompanied by Vincent’s narration. “VanishingFlower is slowly but surely making her way to Top Lane. Is the enemy aware of this incoming rotation!?”

The video cut to the Dark Knight. The guy was playing confidently on the lane without showing any hints of caution. “It appears not! DragonMaster isn’t expecting it in the slightest!”

The video cut back to Nia and the music escalated. It turned into a full-blown action theme as Nia appeared on the lane and assaulted DragonMaster.

“AND IT’S A KILL!!! Six and a half minutes into the game, Stratus draws first blood! Will that become the first step toward their victory!?”

The video ended on that cliffhanger.

“So, how was it?” Vincent asked with a confident smile.

“It was... well done, actually,” Yuel admitted. “I’m not a fan of ventilated commentary, but it can work well when it’s in small doses like that.”

“Right? Right!?”

“The cuts back and forth were also nicely done. They created a nice cinematic experience. I’m sure Nia will be happy to see it.”

“Oh, stop it. Your words are too kind for little old me.” Vincent wore an embarrassed smile.

“But.”

“Oh lordy, there’s always a ‘but’, isn't there?” Vincent’s shoulders slumped. “Very well. Hit me with your worst criticism! Is it the quality of the voice recording? Or, do the cuts feel a little forced? Simply inform me of my wrongdoings and I shall fix them post-haste!”

“There’s nothing particularly wrong with the video itself,” Yuel said. “The production is decent.”

“But of course it is! My mother personally supervised the birth of this piece of art. She would not miss a single detail!”

He’s getting way too defensive before I even said anything. Yuel smiled wryly. “Listen, It’s not about the quality of the video. Well, technically, it IS about the quality, but-”

“Indeed, I’m aware! It’s not 4k. That’s one of your complaints, isn’t it? I wished for it to 4k as well, but mom said it’ll take an eternity to process it and the video will weigh more than a tank. So, as I didn’t have much time on my hands, I had to cut corners and produce it in 1080p. I’m terribly sorry for such a low-quality production!”

“Low quality?” Yuel narrowed his eyes. “1080p is HD, literally ‘high definition’. That’s not low quality by any means. Just calm down. I wasn’t actually going to criticize your video.”

“Nay, impossible! Lies and deceit! There’s no way the bearer of the Mystic Eyes of Weakness Perception would not find numerous faults with something he lays his eyes on!”

“There is one big fault and it’s in the amount of effort put into this video. Tell me, how long did you spend making it?”

“It was a labor of many hours.” Vincent puffed his chest proudly. “For example, this segment here had to be recorded thrice to deliver three different perspectives. Then, I had to slice them and combine them with perfect timing. Oh, and the narration! That took a couple of shots, but I believe it turned out well. And of course, the music and some visual effects, and...!”

“That’s my problem with it,” Yuel cut in. “You created something great, but you’ve spent way too much time on this one play. Don’t tell me you plan to spend that much time on each and every play.”

“Such was my intention,” Vincent admitted. “I’m already halfway done with the second play on my list. I’m certain that, by the end of the day, I’ll finish producing all the plays from both our lists!”

“No, you won’t. Not if you put that much time into every single play. We don’t have time for that. All we need is to record the replay at the important moments and stitch these recordings together. No need for special cuts, music, or narration.”

“B-But what about the impact!? Moments of glory should feel epic, whereas moments of failure should feel devastating! Isn’t it so!?”

“You’re right, it’s nice to have extra effects. But, there’s no time for that. I’m planning to do the match review tomorrow while the scrimmage is still fresh in everybody’s memory, so we have to finish it by then.”

“So, we’re not doing any narration?”

“No. I’ll handle the explanation during the presentation.”

“T-Then, how about some dramatic music, at least!?”

“Unnecessary. Besides, I believe it can always be added later.”

“Indeed, that’s true. Alright, then no music or narration. But, we’ll still show each play from multiple perspectives for maximum impact, right? Right!?”

“It’d be nice but there’s no time to plan it out. All I’m asking for is a simple compilation video. Please.”

“But, but...!” Vincent was desperately trying to come up with something. He couldn’t imagine these videos delivering maximum impact without all the flashy elements.

The videos had to be memorable! They had to burn themselves into the players’ minds and be desirable for rewatching, to make the players revisit both fortunate and unfortunate moments alike! That was the ultimate videocrafting technique...!

“Vinnie, give it a rest.” A woman’s voice invaded the room. The Nightowl Designer made her entrance!

What a complicated mess this was turning into. Yuel merely came here to create a basic compilation video, but new things kept popping up one after another. We haven’t even started and I’m already getting tired...